"Teen Idol: The Bobby Vee Story" at History Theatre

This winter, History Theatre is bringing back their original play with music based on the life of local rock and roll legend Bobby Vee. You would be forgiven for not recognizing the name (especially if you didn't live through the '60s), but you would surely recognize some of his hits (e.g., "Devil or Angel," "Take Good Care of My Baby," "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes"). And that's why we have the History Theatre, to bring us edutainment about parts of our local history that we maybe don't know as much about as we should. Teen Idol: The Bobby Vee Story premiered in 2016, and the creators collaborated with Bobby's sons Jeff and Tommy. Bobby Vee died from complications of Alzheimer's during that first run of the show, bringing an extra poignancy to it. On second viewing, Teen Idol really feels like a Jeff and Tommy's love letter to their parents - a clean-cut Midwestern boy who for a short time was one of the biggest music stars in the world, and the woman who loved him but didn't sacrifice herself for his career. The play has been tweaked a little, with three new songs added, and by my count about two-thirds of the 24-person cast are new to the show. But it's mostly the same as last time: a play that transcends the jukebox musical to tell the story of how one star survived his rise to and fall from fame with grace and dignity intact, thanks in part to his family.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2018: "Right, Wrong or Bomb! A Dating Musical"

Day: 5

Show: 17

Title: Right, Wrong or Bomb! A Dating Musical

Category: Comedy / Dance / Musical Theater

By: Backyard to Broadway Productions

Created by: Rosie Sauvageu Nestingen, Shannon McDonald, and Brittany Shrimpton

Location: Mixed Blood Theatre

Summary: An original musical about life and dating in the social media age.

Highlights: I saw this musical when it premiered a few years ago, and while I thought it had promise, I did have a few issues with it. The main character (Jill) seemed to be only focused on finding a man. But for whatever reason, I enjoyed it much more this time around. About the premiere I wrote: "It feels like a small-scale musical, in a good way, and with a little trimming would work great as a short and sweet 90-minute-no-intermission show." Creators Rosie Sauvageu Nestingen (music and lyrics) and Shannon McDonald and Brittany Shrimpton (book) have done just that, only 60 minutes. Maybe it was being forced to make cuts, or the fact that director of both versions Shanan Custer also co-wrote Not Fair, My Lady! which takes a very real look at women in musical theater, but this version feels more like a focus on Jill and all her relationships, including her female friends and her mother (who in this version is less of an unpleasant stereotype of a "cougar"), and a study of not just relationships but life in the social media age. The cast (Anna Larranaga, Delanie Wiedrich, Per Nestingen, Rachel Austin, Teri Parker Brown, and Thomas Matthes) is all new and all great, the songs are fun and clever, and there are a few cute winks at the audience. Sometimes less is more, and editing makes things better. This version of A Dating Musical seems fresh, tight, funny, relatable, and just right.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.

"The Incredible Season of Ronnie Rabinovitz" at the History Theatre

This really is an incredible true story. In 1960, a 15-year-old Wisconsin boy was friends with both Jackie Robinson, who broke major league baseball's color barrier, and the 35th American President John F. Kennedy. One would think that this was a story made up to create a great play, except that it's true. Ronnie Rabinovitz met JFK through his father, a prominent lawyer in Sheboygan who worked on Kennedy's campaign in the 1960 presidential primary. Ronnie also wrote fan letters to Jackie Robinson, who responded, leading to a lifelong pen-pal relationship that included telephone conversations and in-person meetings. When the History Theatre's Artistic Director Ron Peluso heard this story, he commissioned Midwest playwright Eric Simonson to write a play about it, which was presented as part of last year's "Raw Stages" new works festival. The Incredible Season of Ronnie Rabinovitz is now being presented with a full production at the History Theatre's downtown St. Paul stage. It's a really engaging and entertaining look at baseball, politics, and civil rights through the eyes of one precocious teenager.

JFK and Mr. Rabinovitz talk politics
(photo by Scott Pakudaitis)

There's lots of fourth wall breaking in this play, with Ronnie beginning the play talking directly to the audience and acknowledging that this is a play in which he's telling his remarkable story, and breaking into the action several times to explain things to the audience. It's quite a clever and effective device, a great way to relax and engage the audience. The action of the play flashes back and forth between two evenings when the two Jacks are in the Rabinovitz home on separate occasions. Kennedy wants Robinson's support in the election, and asks Ronnie's father to talk to him about it. But Robinson supports Humphrey first, Nixon second, and won't be budged. A scene showing the meeting of the two men explains why. Already retired from baseball in 1960, Jackie was active in Civil Rights, and his visit to Wisconsin prompts racist graffiti that seems to upset Ronnie's father more than it does Jackie.

The strong cast begins with the adorable and exuberant Jack Alexander as Ronnie. Mark Benninghofen is great as always as his father, and Teri Park Brown provides much of the comic relief as his mother. Peter Middlecamp plays JFK with the suave charm a Kennedy requires, and Ansa Akyea is comfortable in the role of Jackie Robinson, which he also played in Children's Theatre Company's Jackie and Me last year. Rounding out the cast are E.J Subkoviak with an amusing turn as the sheriff, and Jim Stowell as a frustrated striker.

Jackie Robinson in the Rabinovitz living room
(photo by Scott Pakudaitis)

The very cool set (by Rick Polenek) looks like it's from a 1960s TV show. But not with the harsh realism of Mad Men, more like the nostalgia-tinged sitcoms from the era. Picture Rob and Laura Petrie's living room, in color. In fact that sums up tone of the play as well, it's a little like a 1960s sitcom, with the precocious child, the hard-working, stern, slightly comic father, and the apron-wearing mother making her husband drinks and hors d'ouevres. It just so happens that into this sitcom wander two of the most famous Americans of the 20th Century. The play includes many amusing local references (cheese curds!), although I couldn't figure out why Wisconsonites would be Atlanta Braves fans, until I discovered that they were the Milwaukee Braves until 1965, and the Brewers didn't arrive until 1970.

The Incredible Season of Ronnie Rabinovitz is the History Theatre doing what it does best - presenting an entertaining and informative new play about a moment in Minnesota (er, Wisconsin) history that has larger implications to American history. It's an entertaining, engaging, nostalgic look back at the extraordinary friendships of one ordinary youngster. Playing through February 23, with discount tickets available on Goldstar.com.*



*If you've never used Goldstar.com, I highly recommend that you sign up. They offer half-price (or better) deals for many theaters around town. You'll receive a weekly email that will tell you about some of the deals available. Click here for more information and to see all of the great deals currently offered.

"Love & Marriage: What A Difference A Year Makes!" at Illusion Theater

What a difference a year makes! Last year at about this time, Minnesota was preparing to vote on an amendment that would constitutionalize marriage as between one man and one woman, excluding many of our population from the rights and benefits legal marriage carries with it. Illusion Theater participated in this debate by presenting a charming musical review show, created by Roberta Carlson and Michael Robins, that featured interviews with real-life couples. One year later, the amendment in question has been voted down by the people of Minnesota, and earlier this year our governor Mark Dayton signed marriage equality into law. Illusion is responding to this new development by presenting a sequel: Love & Marriage: What A Difference A Year Makes! It's similar to last year's show, but with some cast changes, many new songs, and a few follow-up interviews with the couples. As charming and entertaining as last year, but with a decidedly more celebratory air because, as they sing, "love is the law!"

While the music and the singers are fantastic, at the heart of this show are the interviews with many different couples - old and young, gay and straight, new love and established love, famous (to a MN theater geek like me) and not. They talk about all phases of a relationship, interspersed with songs from the cast that reflect the sentiment. From exciting new love ("Every Little Thing He Does," "How Will I Know") to to break-ups ("Rolling in the Deep," "Somebody I Used to Know") and everything in between. Performing these songs are six professional singer/actors and five talented young people who fill out the chorus and have a few star moments of their own. The professional cast includes an exuberant Neal Beckman, Teri Parker-Brown (singing a beautiful version of one of my favorite songs "I Can't Make You Love Me"), the powerful-voiced Rachel Hurst (with, I assume, her daughter Kennadi, proving that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree), the adorable Aeysha Kinnunen (a scene stealer as Lydia in Pride and Prejudice at the Guthrie this summer), Randy Schmeling (a voice I always love to hear), and the super-smooth Dennis Spears. Gary Q. Lewis has choreographed some simple dance moves that enhance the performance.

Love & Marriage: What A Difference A Year Makes continues at the Illusion Theater through October 20. It deserves a bigger audience than the one that was there the Thursday night I attended, because it's a fun, charming, touching, beautiful look at the many different kinds of couples and relationships, who are really the same when you get right down to the important things. Not at all preachy, just sweet and funny and real.

the cast of Love & Marriage