"Glensheen" at the History Theatre

Last night I saw History Theatre's smash hit original musical Glensheen for the 5th time, and loved it as much as I did when I saw the Raw Stages reading over ten years ago. It's unheard of for a local theater's wholly original musical to be this successful, coming back year after year (after year) and continuing to sell tickets. While History Theatre has created many fantastic original musicals that I hope to see again (including I Am Betty, which returns this fall), for some reason (or many reasons) they struck gold with Glensheen. Specifically, dark musical-comedy gold. When you take Minnesota's most famous and strange murder mystery* (the brainchild of retired Artistic Director Ron Peluso), add a script by one of Minnesota's most prolific and talented playwrights Jeffrey Hatcher, and a score by beloved local musical Chan Poling, how can you go wrong?! At this point it's pretty easy for History Theatre to mount this show - pull the gorgeous set and costumes out of storage, plop the original cast on stage, and press go. But the great thing is, the show still feels fresh and exciting, with this dreamy cast still (and probably even more) fully embodying these characters that they know so well. You can read my full review of the original production here (which has remained largely unchanged), or scroll down for ten reasons to see Glensheen (again), continuing through July 14.

"Happy Holi-Dane" at the History Theatre

In addition to fully staged (and usually original) plays and musicals, and readings of new works (that eventually become the former), the History Theatre is presenting a series of concerts this season. I attended the first of four last night, an old-fashioned holiday* variety show called Happy Holi-Dane. Amiable host Dane Stauffer (star of History Theatre's smash hit original musical Glensheen) has been doing this show for several years. I hadn't seen it since 2019, and this year's show was similar but different, with a slightly different cast of special guests. A great time was had by all, but if you missed it, don't worry. You still have an opportunity to see concerts headlined by Thomasina Petrus, Lori Dokken, and the History Theatre's own Buddy Holly - Nicholas Freeman (click here for details, dates, and tickets). And get ready for readings of five new works in Raw Stages 2024 in January.

"Glensheen" at the History Theatre

Seven years after its premiere, History Theatre's original musical Glensheen (based on the tragic and bizarre murder of one of Minnesota's most famous heiresses) is still going strong! What has become an annual event took a pause during the pandemic, and returned this year with a tour through Minnesota and a three-week stint in St. Paul. I saw it last night for the third time, and was once again impressed by this wholly local creation. Playwright Jeffrey Hatcher's script is so clever and witty (you can also catch his Sherlock Holmes mystery play at Park Square just a few blocks away), local musician Chan Poling's score is so catchy and fun (original cast recording available at concessions), and this seven-person ensemble is so talented in bringing it to life; I don't know how many times they've done this show (five of the original cast members have returned), but they still make it exciting and heart-felt and playful every time. You have one more week to visit Glensheen, site of Minnesota's most famous true crime case (which bears more than a few similarities to 2004 documentary and recent HBO series The Staircase). Click here for tickets, and keep reading for my review from the 2015 production (with a few updates):

"The Lady with All the Answers" streaming from Lakeshore Players Theatre

Recently recorded on stage at the beautiful new Hanifl Performing Arts Center in White Bear Lake, the one-woman show about advice columnist Ann Landers, The Lady with All the Answers, is now streaming from Lakeshore Players Theatre. #TCTheater favorite Shanan Custer inhabits the woman behind the famous words, whose real name was Eppie Lederer, as she navigates a challenging time in her life and the wish to share honestly with her readers. With full set, costumes, lighting, and even a bit of crowd laughter from the crew, filmed from several different camera angles, it really feels like an engaging and entertaining theater performance that we just happen to be watching from home.

"Spamtown, USA" at Children's Theatre Company

A character in the new play Spamtown, USA, premiering at Children's Theatre Company, says that writing a play about the mid-'80s Hormel strike in Austin MN is a horrible idea. He couldn't be more wrong. CTC has a way of speaking to children in an intelligent and engaging way, as does playwright Philip Dawkins (see also: The Sneetches). One of my favorite playwrights, Philip Dawkins never doesn't make me cry with his lovely and touching depiction of the full range of humanity, and this play is no exception. It's less about the intricate details of the strike, and more about how the people, in particular the children, of Austin were affected by it. In an endearing bit of fourth-wall breaking, the play admits that some of the facts and timelines are mixed up, but the emotions are true. At it's heart it's a story about how family, community, and friends survive a deep conflict that divides them in a way that seems irreparable. Sounds like a great idea for a play to me.

The Ruth Easton New Play Series at the Playwrights' Center

Have you been to The Playwrights' Center lately? Their Ruth Easton New Play Series is in full swing, in which they present two readings of a new work of theater the first (or second) week of the month, December through April. Unfortunately I can't make it to all of them, but the ones I have seen have been creative, interesting, new, and read by a fab cast full of #TCTheater faves. You never know what you're going to get at PWC, so why not take a chance and be part of the new play development process? Read on for more details on this month's reading and other readings in the series, then head out to the Playwrights' Center tonight to catch the second reading of Malvolio! Did I mention it's FREE?!

"Happy Holi-Dane" at History Theatre

A few nights ago, I attended a super fun old fashion holiday variety show, live! The one night only event Happy Holi-Dane was presented as part of the History Theatre's new History Theatre presents series. Hosted by Dane Stauffer, star of History Theatre's smash hit original musical Glensheen (which is returning next summer to St. Paul and Alexandria), the show also featured Dane's talented friends, including some of the Glensheen cast. Dane is an amiable and personable host, and the evening was full of songs, skits, laughs, singalongs, and touching moments, just like those holiday variety specials of old.

Fresh Ink: New Works at Illusion Theater

Every summer, Illusion Theater presents readings of new works. It's been way too long since I attended a "Fresh Ink" reading - three years! But I remedied that this year by attending the first of four performances of the staged reading of a new play by local playwright Jeffrey Hatcher. And I hope to get to one or both of the other new plays, also by local #TCTheater artists Carlyle and Barb Brown and Beth Gilleland. Like readings at the Playwrights' Center, this series is a great way to experience a new play and participate in the development process. In a way, we're the test audience, to see how the play lands and allow the playwright to make adjustments if necessary. Readings are only $10 each and run Thursday through Sunday evenings for the next three weekends (click here for more info).

"Hamlet" at Park Square Theatre

The Guthrie is currently staging a fantastic production of Romeo and Juliet, and now, across the river, Park Square Theatre brings us an equally fantastic production of Shakespeare's other most popular and produced play, Hamlet. The two make a nice pairing; both are youthful and modern with fantastically talented and energetic casts. This Hamlet, adapted, directed, and designed by Joel Sass, features a condensed cast of just nine, some gender-swapping (which provides more roles for women in male-heavy Shakespeare plays), and what I would call a breakout performance by Kory LaQuess Pullam in the title role, except that he's been breaking out for a couple of years in #TCTheater. Last year the Twin Cities Theater Bloggers chose him as our favorite new artists/one to watch (a choice he's continually reaffirmed this year), and the StarTribune recently called him "the fastest rising prince of Twin Cities theater." If you're not yet aware of Kory's work, as an actor on various stages around town, as a playwright and artistic director of Underdog Theatre, or as a founder and improviser with Blackout Improv, you will be now. He leads a talented ensemble in an interesting and inventive new production of one of Shakespeare's best.

"The Paper Dreams of Harry Chin" at History Theatre

I just got back from my annual trip to NYC, "center of the universe," where I saw six Broadway shows in five days (read my mini-reviews here). While I was there, I also took a walking tour of the Lower East Side through the Tenement Museum, which I highly recommended if you're in the city. The tour was fascinating and served to reinforce the idea that the history of the Lower East Side, the history of New York City, the history of America is an ever-changing story of immigrants. Immigrants who have come to this country in search of better opportunities and better lives for their families. Unfortunately, our history also includes an ever-changing story of prejudice and discrimination against immigrants. Today, it's Muslim and Mexican immigrants that face the brunt of it. But the idea of keeping immigrants out due to fear is not a new one; in 1882 the first legislation against the immigration of a specific race was passed - the Chinese Exclusion Act. Local playwright Jessica Huang's new play The Paper Dreams of Harry Chin tells the true story of one Minnesota family affected by this legislation. In keeping with the History Theatre's commitment to tell the untold stories of all Minnesotans, it's a beautiful and affecting look at the very timely and relevant issue of immigration through the very specific story of one family.

"A Gone Fishin' Christmas" at Yellow Tree Theatre

Original Christmas plays at Yellow Tree Theatre have become a beloved tradition in the last 9 years. Due to a happy accident, Yellow Tree was forced to produce their own play (written by co-founder Jessica Lind Peterson) when they lost the rights to the play they were intending to do their first season. This was the basis of the plot of that first play, Miracle on Christmas Lake, which after three successful runs inspired a sequel Miracle of Christmas Lake II that also ran for a couple years. Then came A Hunting Shack Christmas, and now this year we head to the icehouse for A Gone Fishin' Christmas. All of these plays follow a similar blueprint - a small Minnesota town with adorably quirky characters, the "citiots" who return to the small town they grew up in and make some sort of a life change. It's not the most original of plots, but it works, and provides a framework for Minnesota humor, outrageous antics, and lovely quiet moments of family and connection. There's a reason that Yellow Tree's original Christmas plays are so popular and sell out virtually every performance - they are a perfect mix of heart and humor wrapped up in local jokes that we love so well, with a talented cast that makes these characters and the sweet and silly story sing (literally and figuratively). And Gone Fishin' may be the best of the bunch. A few tickets remain (with best availability at weekday matinees) so get your tickets now to experience this hilarious and heart-warming tale.

"Barbecue" at Mixed Blood Theatre

When you see as much theater as I do, you can often see where things are going. Not so with Barbecue at Mixed Blood Theatre. This play did something that theater rarely does - it surprised me. Surprised me in such a huge way that the play I ended up watching was not the play I thought I was watching at the beginning. Surprised me in such a wonderfully clever and challenging way that this post is going to be frustratingly vague and uninformative because I don't want to ruin that surprise for anyone. If you're intrigued, just go see the show and find out what I'm talking about. In addition to being surprising, Barbecue is also really funny and asks some tough questions. Questions about race, questions about our assumptions about race, questions about how different races are portrayed in the media, questions about truth, questions about drug and alcohol abuse, questions about family relations. There's a lot going on at this little family barbecue, and this incredible cast pulls it off brilliantly.

"Glensheen" at the History Theatre

History Theatre's new original musical Glensheen was such a hit last fall, they brought it back this summer. If you missed it last time around, now's your chance to see this clever and wickedly funny musical. And even if you did see it last year, it's definitely worth a second viewing; I enjoyed it even more the second time around. They've brought back the original cast, a talented, charismatic, and hard-working ensemble of just seven actors who seem like more, who are if anything even more comfortable and playful in their many roles than they were last year. Sitting up in the balcony this time, I had a bird's eye view of the action and was even more impressed with this cast, the set, the lighting, the band, the sound, the costumes, and the way every element of production comes together to tell this truth-is-stranger-than-fiction story of Minnesota's most notorious murder mystery. You have until the end of July to see this fantastic new creation and tickets are going fast - don't miss out a second time! And keep reading for my full thoughts on the show from last fall.

"Six Characters in Search of an Author" at Park Square Theatre

I first saw director and playwright Alan Berks' adaptation of the 1921 Italian play Six Characters in Search of an Author three years ago at Gremlin Theatre (one of the last shows in their space on University in St. Paul). I called it "a weird, trippy experience, one that's difficult to explain or make sense of. But it sure is fun to try." I was eager to take that trip again with a slightly revamped version of the show, featuring some of the original cast members and some new ones. It was fun to see it in a new space with some new additions, and with a little more preparation for what I was in for. It's still pretty weird and trippy, and still asks some intriguing questions about reality, fiction, and theater itself. What follows is what I wrote three years ago, but with some updates about this production.

"The Critic / The Real Inspector Hound" at the Guthrie Theater

Two one-act comedies, written by two of my favorite playwrights, covering the topic of theater criticism? I'm in! While I don't consider myself a "critic" I do spend a considerable amount of time seeing theater and writing about it. So these two plays that skewer theater critics (and poke a bit of fun at theater in general) are right up my alley! The pairing of Richard Brinsley Sheridan's The Critic (adapted by Minnesota's favorite playwright Jeffrey Hatcher) and Tom Stoppard's The Real Inspector Hound, written 200 years apart, is genius. This fruitful collaboration between the Guthrie and Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington D.C. features a fantastic cast (that includes actors from both communities) playing in these two very different worlds that both deal with the relationship between theater and theater writing. The result is a hilarious farce, or rather two hilarious farces (or maybe four hilarious farces as both plays feature a play-within-a-play) that is enjoyable for anyone who loves theater. And if you don't love theater, you're in the wrong place.

"Glensheen" at the History Theatre

Americans love a good true crime story. And truth doesn't come any stranger than the story of the elderly heiress and her nurse who were murdered in Duluth's most famous mansion. The murder weapons: a silk pillow and a candlestick. The murder location: the old woman's bed and the grand staircase, where a violent struggle occurred. The prime suspect: the heiress' son-in-law, allegedly acting out the wishes of her daughter who was desperate for money to feed her insane spending habits. The key evidence: an envelope mailed to the son-in-law from Duluth containing a valuable stolen coin. The result of two of the most sensational criminal trials in Minnesota history: both suspects go free, one to later commit suicide, the other to leave a string of suspicious deaths and fires in her wake. I mean really, you cannot make this stuff up. Truth is indeed stranger than fiction. What better subject for a new musical at the History Theatre, known for developing new work that explores important events in Minnesota history? This bizarrely fascinating story practically writes itself, so when talented and prolific Minnesota playwright Jeffrey Hatcher applies his biting and clever wit to the story, along with songs from the famed Minnesota musician Chan Poling of The Suburbs¹ and The New Standards, what you get is dark comedy-musical gold. The potential was there at the reading of the new musical last year as part of History Theatre's annual "Raw Stages" festival,² and it's a pleasure to see how that potential has blossomed into a fully formed piece of music-theater. It's dark and delicious, hilarious and musically entertaining, poignant and tragic.

If you're not familiar with the story of Chester Congdon, the East Coast lawyer who very wisely invested in iron ore in late 19th Century Duluth, you should visit the grand estate on Lake Superior that he built for his family (wife Clara and seven children) and left to the University of Minnesota - Duluth upon the death of his last child. Which happened to be his youngest daughter Elisabeth, who never married and lived at Glensheen her entire life, adopting two daughters with whom to share her life, love, and fortune. It's her daughter Marjorie (named for Elisabeth's beloved older sister) upon whom this little tale hinges. Diagnosed a sociopath as a teenager, Marjorie had an insatiable spending habit that put her in constant debt and eventually, allegedly, led her to convince her second husband Roger Caldwell to kill her mother in order to receive her inheritance. The details of the story are too strange to be believed, except, of course, that it's true.

Marjorie Congdon sings her story
(Jennifer Maren and cast, photo by Scott Pakudaitis)

The musical begins on a modern-day tour of the historic Glensheen mansion. The people on the tour become a little too curious about the famous staircase and the tour guide tries to steer them towards the architecture of the house, but to no avail. This fabulous cast of seven then leads us on a tour of bizarre and tragic life of Marjorie and those around her. The musical stays fairly close to the facts of the case, although of course some is conjecture or rearranging to make a compelling story. But don't worry, at the end of the show they tell us exactly what was made up and what wasn't.³ It's all very tongue-in-cheek and darkly comedic, done in the heightened reality style of musicals, but with some grounded and poignant moments that remind us these were real people who suffered great tragedy. The tone walks the fine line of being campy, funny, and outrageous, while not disrespectful to the lives that were lost. The show engenders sympathy not just for the two women who died that night, but also Marjorie's husband Roger, who certainly didn't know what he was getting into when he married her, and perhaps even Marjorie herself. Perhaps.

Highlights of the show are many, including:

• Rick Polenek's rich set looks like a mini-Glensheen, a reproduction of the famous staircase leading up to the stained glass window on the second floor, with stately furnishing and lush carpeting that extends into the audience.
• Director Ron Peluso and his cast make great use of the multi-level stage and the aisles in the audience, drawing us into the story, even at one point using us as potential jurors.
• Musical Director Andrew Fleser (whose piano is dressed out as a bar) leads the just barely visible band through a really great score with big ensemble numbers, soaring ballads, quiet plaintive songs, and some fun and rousing songs, accompanied by Tinia Moulder's choreography.
• Most of the fantastic seven-person cast play multiple roles - maids, cops, detectives, lawyers, reporters, etc. - except for Jennifer Maren, who brings Marjorie to life in all her murderous, arsonous, seductive, sad little girl glory. She's an endlessly fascinating villain, the kind that you love to hate.
• Dane Stauffer is great as the drunken patsy Roger, without making him a caricature. We also see Roger's human side in his confession and death - just another one of Marj's victims.
• Stealing scenes in a multitude of roles, including Elisabeth, her nurse (with a sad and lovely song), and, briefly, Agatha Christie, Wendy Lehr is a delight to watch, most especially in her gleeful turn as a rock and roll defense attorney who may or may not be known "Beshmesher," shimmying her way through a rollicking defense of Marjorie.
• Ruthie Baker, Gary Briggle, Adam Qualls, and Sandra Struthers Clerc gamely jump into whatever role is asked of them, and the seven-person cast seems much larger with all the characters in the story.
• The costumes (designed by E. Amy Hill) help define the various characters and place it in that '70s/'80s timeframe. Marj's wardrobe is particularly fabulous (I'm not sure the real Marj is this fashionable), always in red, reminding us of the blood and fire she leaves in her wake. Barry Browning's lighting design bathes the stage in a red glow when appropriate, as well as creating some startling lighting strikes.

Glensheen is a fantastic new original musical, based on one of the most fascinating true crime stories in Minnesota history. It's a sordid and epic tale just ripe for some kind of theatrical treatment, and Jeffrey Hatcher and Chan Poling have given it just the right kind. A dark and campy musical about a stranger than fiction true crime story? Yes, please! (Playing through October 25.)

1. For more about The Suburbs and other bands of early '80s Minneapolis, go see Complicated Fun next spring, another new piece developed through the "Raw Stages" festival.
2. The History Theatre's "Raw Stages" Festival takes place in mid-January. So when the weather is cold, go see what's hot in new historical theater (including a reading of my favorite new musical Sweet Land).
3. If this story fascinates you as much as it does me, I highly recommend the book Will to Murder, written by former Duluth crime reporter Gail Feichtinger with input from the lead investigator and prosecutor, so it's chock full of details and evidence.