"Promise of America: A New Celebration of Jewish American Song" at Six Points Theater

Back in 2021, the Artistic Director of Six Points Theater (then called Minnesota Jewish Theatre) Barbara Brooks created a virtual musical revue called Promise of America: A Celebration of Jewish American Song as part of their "Theater Six Feet Apart" season (which also included outdoor programming). I watched it, but have no recollection of it; the COVID years are a blur at this point, five years removed. Barbara noted in the program that she's gotten many requests to bring this show back, live and in person. She decided to do it now, to conclude Six Points' 31st season, in honor of America's 250th birthday, as a celebration of the many contributions of Jewish Americans to this country, specifically in the area of songwriting. In this new, expanded, and LIVE version of Promise of America, four excellent singers perform songs from the early 20th Century through today by artists from Irving Berlin  and the Gershwin brothers, to Nissim Black and Regina Spektor. Jewish people and Jewish culture are an inextricable part of America, and this show beautifully highlights their contributions in the area of popular music. Join the musical celebration at Six Points Theater now through May 17.

"The Cake" at Theatre in the Round

Once again, Theatre in the Round is bringing us a regional premiere of a new and very relevant play. Just a few weeks after closing How to Catch Creation, about Black artists now and in the past, they opened The Cake, about a conservative Southern baker forced to confront her beliefs when they contradict her heart. Written in 2017 by playwright and screenwriter (including for a little show called This is Us) Bekah Brunstetter, the play speaks directly to the divided and divisive world that we live in, that has only gotten more extreme in this second iteration of the current administration. The play is not preachy, the characters feel like real and complex characters instead of mere caricatures, and the conversations had are awkward and necessary. It's sweet and funny and spicy, and in the end provides hope that maybe we can overcome our differences if we're willing to have tough conversations, and look past our differences to find our shared humanity. The Cake plays weekends through March 15 at the oldest theater in Minneapolis, and if all the talk about cake gives you a craving for it, you may be rewarded.

"The Happiest Man on Earth" at Six Points Theater

"Family first, family second, family last. And we are all family." When Six Points Theater programmed the solo play The Happiest Man on Earth, based on a Holocaust survivor's memoir, for their 31st season, they couldn't have known that it would play at a time when Minnesota has shown the entire world the true meaning of these words. We are all family, we are all Minnesotans, and when you come for any of us, you come for all of us, and we will stand up for and protect our neighbors, our family. This 80-year-old story of surviving Nazi Germany has an eerie resonance to what's happening right here, right now. People afraid to leave their houses to go to work or school, citizens and lawful immigrants carrying their papers around as protection, armed government agents abducting people off the streets and imprisoning them in detention centers where they're treated inhumanely. I'm not calling anyone Nazis, they were a special breed of evil, but the parallels are unmistakable to anyone who's looking. We need to remember our past in order not to repeat it, and since there are fewer and fewer people alive who lived through the Holocaust, plays like this are an excellent way to do that. Six Points' regional premiere of The Happiest Man on Earth is a gorgeous and moving production that is at times difficult to watch, but also provides hope that humans can survive unthinkably horrible times, and come out on the other side better and stronger, and choose happiness. Experience this beautiful true story through February 8 only at Six Points Theater in St. Paul's Highland Park neighborhood.

"The Last Yiddish Speaker" at Six Points Theater

The new play The Last Yiddish Speaker by Deborah Zoe Lauer had a rolling world premiere just last year, and now Six Points Theater is bringing us the regional premiere. And I'm so glad they are because it's an urgent, necessary play. It feels like a warning call, like a very possible look into our future if this country, this world, keeps going in the direction it's going. The direction of fear, hate, otherism, nationalism, and division. The play is brilliantly written and expertly executed by the cast and creative team at Six Points, for a gripping 90+ minutes that's unsettling and disturbing and eerily familiar. Go see The Last Yiddish Speaker, a prime example of art holding up a mirror to the world, playing at Highland Park Community Center through November 9.

"An Act of God" at Six Points Theater

The 2015 (and 2016) Broadway play An Act of God, written by former The Daily Show head writer David Javerbaum, is delightfully irreverent but still respectful of faith. Think The Book of Mormon (which is referenced), or that scene in Spelling Bee in which a contestant asks Jesus to help them win the spelling bee and Jesus shows up to say, "It's not the kind of thing I care that much about." On Broadway the character of God, who speaks directly to the audience, was played by a man, but Six Points Theater wisely chose beloved #TCTheater veteran Sally Wingert to star in their new production, and I truly cannot think of anyone better to embody God. The play is so smart, so funny, so relevant, and this production, with a talented cast and sharp design in the intimate space in Highland Park Community Center, is really just the best. If you're looking for a hilarious comedy with substance, that'll make you laugh and nod your head in agreement and maybe gasp a time or two, don't miss An Act of God!

"Just for Us" at Six Points Theater

NYC-based comedian Alex Edelman's comedy special Just for Us, about that time he, a Jewish man, attended a White Nationalist meeting in Queens, won both a Special Tony Award and an Emmy Award (it's available on Max, where I watched it). A comedy show may seem like an odd choice for a theater, but it's really less of a stand-up show than it is a solo storytelling show, like you may see at a fringe festival. And in fact, it debuted at Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2018. Six Points Theater's Artistic Director Barbara Brooks has inquired about the rights for years, so when they finally became available (after Alex performed it over 500 times), Six Points became the first theater in the country to produce it. And #TCTheater artist Ryan London Levin became the first actor to perform it, other than the playwright. It's a brilliantly written piece (don't just take my word for it - ask the Emmy and Tony voters!), confronting some really ugly parts of our world with humor and honesty. Ryan gives a fantastic performance (you'd never know it was his first solo show), and I really can't imagine anyone else in the role (other than Alex, of course). This show is really funny and engaging, using laughter as a weapon against bigotry and hate. I think the world could use a little more of that. See it at Highland Park Community Center now through November 10.

"The Wanderers" at Six Points Theater

Fresh from a successful Off-Broadway run, the new play The Wanderers by Anna Ziegler opened at Six Points Theater last weekend. The compelling story of two seemingly different couples is well told by this cast and creative team. The thought-provoking and relatable play explores themes of marriage, the parent/child relationship, identity, and legacy. The Wanderers continues at Six Points Theater's home in the Highland Park Community Center in St. Paul through May 14.

"Operation: Immigration" streaming from Minnesota Jewish Theatre Company

One of the hits of last year's Minnesota Fringe Festival was #TCTheater artist Avi Aharoni's solo show Operation: Immigration, which was the highest selling Fringe show at Mixed Blood. Now, Minnesota Jewish Theatre Company (where Avi has frequently performed) is offering an updated and filmed remount of the show as part of their 2020-2021 season, entitled "Theater Six Feet Apart." Avi and the creative team (including director Robert Dorfman, cinematographer Ryan Melling, sound designer Reid Rejsa, and lighting designer Todd M. Reemtsma) have done a great job transferring the on-stage show to a filmed production. One of the great things about the Fringe show is that Avi played very well off of the live audience, which of course is gone here. But he's still very personable as he tells the story of his twice-immigrant father, an Iranian Jew, and how delving into this story has influenced his own identity. One thing that remains true about this updated version of the show is this, that I wrote in my review last year: "This is a fascinating and inspiring immigrant story, about a man who sacrificed his whole life for his family's safety and security. But even more than that, it's a love letter from a son to a father, one that it was a privilege to witness."