"The Addams Family" by Unlabeled Theatre Company at Park Square Theatre

I saw my second production by Unlabeled Theatre Company this weekend, and it was once again so heart-warming, inspiring, and fun. Unlabeled has a unique performance model, in which they pair an actor with a disability or who is neurodivergent with a neurotypical actor - a "shadow partner." Because everyone deserves to be part of theater, whether that's on stage, backstage, or in the audience. And theater is the better for it. In this difficult time in our country when inclusion, accessibility, and diversity seem to be dirty words, it's reassuring to know that our theater companies are continuing to not just say these words, but live them. The Addams Family is a musical that's all about familial love and loyalty, if a bit odd and macabre, and is another great choice for this company. The one-weekend-only run concludes tomorrow (click here for tickets), with their next scheduled production the super fun Something Rotten! next January.

"Pop Up Musical" at Plymouth Playhouse

Musical theater is just the best thing, isn't it? If you agree, head west to the Plymouth Playhouse for the latest incarnation of the delightfully irreverent tribute to the love of all things musical theater, aka Pop Up Musical. Four friends, who just happen to be super talented local music-theater artists, created this show for the Fringe Festival a few years ago. It was so successful that they've expanded it and continue to bring it to various venues in the area (including the Jerome Hill Theater, where I saw it in 2013). The talented cast sings 24 songs from 24 different musicals, 23 of which I've seen on stage. Wow, am I a nerd the target audience for this show! While belting out showtunes, the cast also shares fun bits of trivia in the VH1 Pop Up Video style, using signs and video projections. It's truly a must see for anyone for whom the great American musical theater cannon holds a special place in their heart (and their iTunes).

You may have seen these four performers on stages around town. Jennifer Eckes, Judi Gronseth, Kevin Werner Hohlstein, and Timm Holmly have known each other and worked together for years (we get to learn how they all met through the pop ups during the song "Friendship"). Video screens on either side of the stage display pop ups, as well as images of things related to the song (famous magicians and clowns during "Magic To Do" and "Send in the Clowns," a photo of an actual "Edelweiss"). The cast also holds up signs with pop ups, harkening back to the show's low budget Fringe origins, and these are perhaps the most fun. While someone is pouring their heart out in song, one of their cast members picks up a sign from the big stack on one of the four podiums, and parades it around the stage like Vanna White, facial expression telling all. Signs can also be props - the blue fans of "Sisters," animals for "Circle of Life," and Annie's hair (which gets multiple uses throughout the show).

The pop ups take three forms: fun and interesting trivia about the shows and songs themselves (when it opened, Tonys, stars, backstage gossip), tangential info about a word or idea in the song (we learn that Kleenex is a proprietary eponym during "Suddenly Seymour," and about the invention and cost of champagne during "Hey Big Spender"), and personal info about the cast (Judi was born the year that Sound of Music premiered, Kevin slept on the sidewalk to get tickets to RENT). We learn how many times the words "Tomorrow," "Popular," and "Tonight" are sung in the respective songs (16, 14, and 38!), and some common malapropisms for the opening line of "Circle of Life" ("ingonyama nengw' enamabala," or "penguin mama, penguin has a mama?").

Timm Holmly, Jennifer Eckes,
Judi Gronseth, and Kevin Werner Hohlstein

All of these shenanigans almost distract you from the fact that these four can really sing. They all have powerful, gorgeous voices, and perform with great enthusiasm and delightful camp. Songs come from such beloved and diverse musicals as Avenue Q and Fiddler on the Roof, Xanadu (featuring some impressive roller skating tricks by Kevin) and Les Miserables. The cast fights over who gets to sing one of the most beloved musical theater songs, "What I Did For Love" from A Chorus Line. Who wins? The audience, because they all end up singing it. Unfortunately they sing to a recorded karaoke-like track, but they acknowledge and poke a bit of fun at that. And they sound better than any karaoke singers I've ever heard! Still, I would love to see how the dynamic would change with a piano accompanist replacing the recorded track; it could lead to some fun interplay with a 5th person onstage, as well as greatly improving the quality of the music.

If you, like me, obsessively listen to musical theater cast recordings, define your life in terms of musical theater milestones, and constantly quote showtunes, this is a show for you. Because Jennifer, Judi, Kevin, and Timm love musical theater as much as you and I do. But unlike you and me (well, me anyway), they have the talent to sing and perform these songs and entertain an audience with their non-verbal written-on-signs banter. Pop Up Musical plays in the cozy theater in the basement of a Best Western for just three more weekends, don't miss it! See the Plymouth Playhouse website for more info, and visit Goldstar for discount ticket deals.


This article also appears on Broadway World Minneapolis.

"Pop-Up Musical" by the Producing House* at the Jerome Hill Theater

Do you remember the "Pop-Up Video" show on VH1, in which they played videos with little bubbles that "popped up" on screen displaying various trivia and facts about the video? Imagine that, but with live performers singing songs from musical theater. Such is the premise behind Pop-Up Musical, and it's a clever one. The show premiered at the Fringe Festival last year; I wanted to see it but didn't get to it, so I'm glad that they're remounting the show at the new Jerome Hill Theater in St. Paul. It's a really fun time, especially for musical theater lovers like myself. The chosen songs are well-known classics, both old and new, and the pop-up facts are alternately interesting and informative, and silly and tangential. Four talented local singer/actors perform the songs with as much enthusiasm as they hold up their signs. They are accompanied by a pretty awful and cheesy karaoke musak track, but they acknowledge that and poke fun at it. They don't take anything too seriously, and appear to be having as much fun as the audience. It's like musical theater night at the karaoke bar, except your friends are not this talented or clever (at least mine aren't).

The four performers are real-life friends who have known each other and worked together for years. (They remind me a little of the gang behind [title of show] and Now. Here. This.) Jennifer Eckes, Judi Gronseth, Timm Holmly, and Kevin Werner Hohlstein all have fabulous voices and delightfully expressive faces that say as much as the "pop-up" signs they hold up, in a tightly choreographed sort of dance as they move through the stack of posters on their music stands. Sometimes the information is factual (year of premiere, composers, Tony awards), sometimes only barely related (Kleenex is a proprietary eponym), sometimes personal (Judi is the same age as this show, Kevin slept on the street to get tickets to RENT). Everything is tongue-in-cheek, and the audience was laughing throughout the show.

Of the two dozen songs in the show, there isn't one that I didn't know, and very many of them that I know and love dearly. If someone had asked me to name my twenty favorite musical theater songs (oooh, that sounds like a great idea for a future blog post!), there would have been much overlap with this list, which includes selections from musicals as diverse as Sweet Charity, Wicked, Guys and Dolls, Avenue Q, Hair, La Cage aux Folles, and A Chorus Line. A few favorites:

• No matter how cheesily delivered, "Suddenly Seymour" from Little Shop always gives me chills! And Jen and Kevin sound fantastic!
• I can never hear "Seasons of Love" too many times, and it always makes me want to clap and sing along. Long live Jonathan Larson's message of love, hope, and living life every day!
• "Suddenly" from Xanadu is a perfect choice for this, because the show itself is wonderfully cheesy (and it gives Kevin an excuse to don rollerblades and skate around the small stage). In fact I had to listen to the soundtrack on the way home, it's a perfect soundtrack of summer.
• The only serious moment is during the gorgeous ballad "Bring Him Home" from Les Miserables, in which the pop-ups present facts about overseas forces and a plea for peace. Timm sounds just beautiful on this song (and I can't wait to hear Dieter Bierbrauer's rendition when BCT does the show this fall).
• Judi pours her heart out singing "Send in the Clowns" from Sondheim's A Little Night Music, but that doesn't stop the rest of the cast from cracking (written) jokes about clowns!
• Perhaps the most impressive musically is this cast of four singing all parts in the complexly layered "Tonight Quintet" from West Side Story, even more difficult considering they're singing to a track without a conductor.
• What musical theater cabaret show is complete without a song or two from Hair? In this case it's a medley of the opening and closing numbers - "Aquarius" and "Let the Sun Shine In." (If you love Hair as much as I do, or perhaps more importantly if you've never seen it, go see 7th House Theatre Cooperative's production of the show this summer, starring top young local musical theater talent.
• Similarly, "What I Did for Love" from A Chorus Line is another must. The cast fights over who gets to sing it, and this time Kevin won. But not entirely.
• "The Circle of Life" from The Lion King features various mis-translations of the opening line and a crazy parade of animals, both drawn and acted.

I could go on and on (did I mention they sing two dozen songs in under two hours, including intermission?), but I'll leave a few surprises for you if you go see the show. And you definitely should if you're a musical theater fan who wants to hear some of your favorite songs sung by pros, learn a bit about musical theater history, and have a good laugh. The show continues Wednesdays through June, buy tickets here.

*The Producing House is also responsible for bringing us 2 Sugars, Room for Cream, Power Balladz, and Trick Boxing (now playing at the Southern Theater). I think I like them!