"The Welkin" by Frank Theatre at Gremlin Theatre

My previous experience with British playwright Lucy Kirkwood is the three-person drama The Children, an intimate, personal, and political story about the fallout of a nuclear disaster, which Jungle Theater produced in 2019 shortly after it premiered on Broadway. Her 2020 play The Welkin is quite the opposite in scale, featuring a cast of 16 and set in the 18th Century. But it's similar in the way it deals with thorny issues that are both personal and political, and I can't think of a better theater company to bring us the regional premiere than Frank Theatre. It's epic in scale and length (nearly three hours) and in the way that it depicts the arduous life of women in 18th Century England, with parallels to the here and now. The cast is a veritable Who's Who of #TCTheater female actors, and watching them tell this story on Gremlin's intimate stage under Wendy Knox's expert direction is a thrill, if a bit of a dark and depressing one. So take a nap, have an afternoon coffee, and go see this astounding regional premiere production of The Welkin (continuing through March 29).

"The Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui" by Frank Theatre at the Ivy Building for the Arts

Frank Theatre's production of Bertolt Brecht's 1941 play The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui has been selling out for the last three weekends, with no tickets currently available for their final weekend. Turns out people are hungry for a three-hour play satirizing Chicago gangsters / 1930s Germany / 21st century America. In this 2017 adaptation by Chicago playwright Bruce Norris, the comparisons to our current political situation are not subtle, as fictional gangster Arturo Ui slowly gains control over the city of Chicago through its economic, political, and judicial systems in a way that's terrifyingly familiar. Frank Theatre, and its Artistic Director Wendy Knox, are experts at interpreting Brecht, and at holding up a mirror to our present moment, and this play may be the most timely and relevant one yet.

"Sanctuary City" by Frank Theatre at Open Eye Theatre

Just about a year ago, Frank Theatre introduced the work of Polish-American Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Martyna Majok to #TCTheater with the play Ironbound, about which I wrote, "It's only mid-January, but I'm confident this will be one of the best plays of 2024." That statement proved to be true; Ironbound did indeed make my list of 2024 favorites, and was nominated for five Twin Cities Theater Blogger Awards (winning one). Frank was smart to go back to that well and bring us another Majok play this year. Sanctuary City is another powerful and timely drama with fantastic performances by the small cast, spot on design, and impeccable direction. See it Thursdays through Sundays at Open Eye Theatre until February 23 (note: Open Eye is a small space and some performances are already selling out, so don't wait too long to get your tickets to see what could be one of the best plays of 2025!).

"Ironbound" by Frank Theatre at Gremlin Theatre

Leave it to Wendy Knox to discover a new-to-#TCTheater playwright who has written (at least one) gorgeous, funny, devastating, and very human play about immigrants, poverty, classism, sexism, and so much more. Ironbound is believed to be the first of Polish-American Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Martyna Majok's work to be produced in the Twin Cities, and it's a stunner. As per usual, it receives top notch treatment in Frank Theatre's production, with beautifully raw and real performances from the four-person cast and an understated but effective design. It's only mid-January, but I'm confident this will be one of the best plays of 2024. It plays Thursdays through Sundays at Gremlin Theatre until February 11. Click here for info and tickets, and watch for Frank's remount of another fantastic and relevant play, Fetal, playing at their intimate studio space in late February. After a very long hiatus, it's a joy to have Frank Theatre back with two strong plays, that are probably among my favorites that I've seen them do.

"Fetal" at Frank Theatre

For their first show back from the pandemic, Frank Theatre is bringing us a world premiere new play written in reaction to the Supreme Court's 2022 decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. Fetal puts a personal face (four personal faces, actually) on this issue that has long been used as a political cudgel, with little regard to how decisions and laws affect actual humans. In just 80 minutes, we go through this journey with four fictional women who represent countless real women whose choices have been taken away from them in the last year and a half. And it's a smart, thoughtful, engaging, and inspiring play, just what I've come to expect from Frank Theatre. They're performing it in their intimate (read: tiny) studio space which means seating is very limited, so make your plans and get your tickets soon. Performances continue Thursdays through Sundays until November 19, and if you attend the Sunday matinee you also get to attend one of the best post-show discussions in town, in which experts on the topics discuss how the issues of the play affect us in real life.

"The Convert" by Frank Theatre at Gremlin Theatre

Two years ago, the Guthrie premiered a new play Familiar by Danai Gurira. You may know her from a little movie called Black Panther or the obscure TV show The Walking Dead, but before her success on the big and small screen she started her career in theater, including at St. Paul's Macalester College. Now Frank Theatre is bringing us the regional premiere of her 2012 play The Convert, having previously produced Eclipsed in 2010 (which went on to become Danai's first show on Broadway). While Familiar is a dramedy about a Zimbabwean-Minnesotan family (based on her own), The Convert is a much more serious look at the history of Zimbabwe, in particular the colonialism and missionary work in which the English tried to subdue, subjugate, and convert the native Shona people. In particular it tells the story of one young woman who seems to happily convert to Roman Catholicism, but feels conflict at leaving the ways of her people behind. It's an intense play that humanizes the people on all sides of this conflict, as always thoroughly and thoughtfully realized by director Wendy Knox, the strong seven-person cast, and the creative team.

"Escaped Alone" and "Here We Go" by Frank Theatre at Gremlin Theatre

To begin their 31st season, Frank Theatre is returning to one of their favorite playwrights, Caryl Churchill. They're presenting two of the 80-year old British playwright's newer works, the short plays Escaped Alone and Here We Go. I don't know if these two plays were meant to be performed together, but they work very well with each other, dealing with similar themes of aging and death. Director Wendy Knox admits that they are "a couple of weird pieces," but I found them to be weird in a good way, a meaningful way. Odd, perplexing, surprising, funny, charming, sad, poignant, and profound are just a few of the adjectives that could be used to describe these plays. And as always, the audience is in good hands with Frank's excellent cast and design team to lead us through the weirdness to the truth of the piece.

"The Cradle Will Rock" by Frank Theatre at Gremlin Theatre

"When the wind blows, the cradle will rock." This sweet and innocent lullaby takes on a whole new meaning in Frank Theatre's production of the 1937 musical The Cradle Will Rock. Don't feel bad if you've never heard of it; I hadn't either, and really had no idea what I was getting myself into when I went to see it at Gremlin Theatre last weekend. For a piece that was so revolutionary at the time (the original production was shut down due to its pro-union stance and skewering of the power structure), it's still extraordinarily relevant. It feels like it could have been written in 2019. As usual, director Wendy Knox and her cast and creative team have created a manifestation of the written play that is incredibly detailed, thoughtful, consistent, and true to the message. And better yet, they do it in 90 minutes with no intermission. In the past I've had problems staying engaged for over three hours at a Frank show; no matter how good the play is, that's both a physical and a mental challenge for me. But 90 minutes seems the perfect length for this sort of thing. They fully but succinctly tell the story in an incredibly effective way, without the premise wearing thin or any redundancies. It's truly a rousing and gripping piece of theater (with music!) that will stay with you long after you leave the theater.

"Marie and Rosetta" at Park Square Theatre

For two nights in a row, I experienced rousing gospel music as part of #TCTheater. In other words, was a good week. The night after seeing Penumbra Theatre's annual gospel rendition of the nativity story Black Nativity, I attended opening night of Park Square Theatre's regional premiere of the new play Marie and Rosetta, the true story of lesser known gospel legend Sister Rosetta Tharpe. Written by Playwrights' Center affiliated writer George Brant, Marie and Rosetta imagines the night of the first performance of Rosetta and her protege/duet partner Marie Knight. A night in 1946 Mississippi when there was no room at the inn for two black women singers, so they rehearsed and slept in a funeral home with a kindly owner. This play with music paints a beautiful picture of these two very different women, their music, and their relationship, as well as the hardships both faced in their lives and careers, and brings these two musical legends to vivid life. A "joyful noise" indeed.

"The Visit" by Frank Theatre at the Minnesota Transportation Museum

To open their 30th season, intrepid nomadic #TCTheater company Frank Theatre is bringing us The Visit in the Minnesota Transportation Museum. This is actually the second play I've seen in this unique and super cool venue (see also Wayward and Mission's co-production of Ghost Train). Both plays are set (at least partly) in a train station, so the museum is a perfect location. Filled with vintage train equipment and displays (which you can wander through before the show and at intermission), the museum is fascinating but also kind of dark and creepy and cold, and smells a little like a garage. Which is the perfect atmosphere for Swiss playwright Friedrich Dürrenmatt's absurd "tragicomic" play. This is a very Frank play, with a huge and talented cast and great commitment to the highly stylized design and tone of the play.

"Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again." by Frank Theatre at Gremlin Theatre

Potatoes and bluebells and watermelon, oh my! Just before Frank Theatre's production of Alice Birch's new play Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again, I posted on Instagram: "I'm not sure what I'm in for but I'm pretty sure it's gonna to be awesome. And 70 minutes no intermission." I was right on all counts. I'm still not entirely sure what happened, but it definitely was awesome, and short. Short, intense, and powerful. A six-person cast, a half dozen or so scenes, and a descent into organized chaos. All around the concept of feminism, and deconstructing our assumptions and language around it. Brave and outrageous and impactful and yeah, pretty awesome.

"Citizen: An American Lyric" by Frank Theatre at Intermedia Arts

Frank Theatre describes their latest production as follows:

A searing representation of the current American zeitgeist, CITIZEN: AN AMERICAN LYRIC [by Claudia Rankine] is a boundary-bending work of poetry/prose/criticism, adapted for the stage by Stephen Sachs. A 6-member "ensemble piece... floats between dream and reality, narration and performance, and challenges its audience's perceptions," as it examines the ways racism pervades daily life in America, from highly visible news accounts to the daily microaggressions that render certain citizens invisible in our culture.

That's a pretty apt description for this piece that is more than theater, it's a lesson for how to be in this world. But it doesn't feel like a lesson, it doesn't feel preachy, rather it lays bare the flaws in our society in the way that we deal with race, historically and currently. Only four more performances remain this weekend, and if you're interested in a powerful, disturbing, and transfixing piece of theater that goes beyond mere performance, I recommend that you reserve your tickets now (the show I attended was sold out).

"The Good Person of Setzuan" by Frank Theatre at an Abandoned Rainbow Foods

Yes, you read that right. Last night I saw theater at an abandoned Rainbow Foods in South Minneapolis. It was definitely the strangest place I have ever seen theater, but not the strangest place Frank Theatre has ever done theater. According to a note in the playbill from Artistic Director Wendy Knox, Frank used to do a lot of shows in a found space, until they settled into more conventional spaces like the Southern and the Ritz in recent years. Some last minute changes this year caused them to get creative again, and with the dearth of small theater spaces (just as we gained The Crane Theater, we lost Bedlam Lowertown), theaters need to get creative. Frank has made terrific use of this space in their latest production of a Brecht play - The Good Person of Setzuan. Frank + Brecht = weird, but weird in a creative, interesting, entertaining way. Although the 8 to 11:15 pm runtime was way too late and long for this morning person (can we not all just agree to start all shows at 7:30, and can't we edit super-long plays into something more manageable?), it's a very well-done, intriguing, thought-provoking, entertaining play in typical Frank style.

"Buyer and Cellar" presented by Hennepin Theatre Trust at New Century Theatre

Imagine being so wealthy and successful that you need to build a mall in your basement just to hold all of your excess stuff. Such is the situation that living legend of stage and screen Barbra Streisand has found herself in, as described in her 2010 book My Passion for Design. Playwright Jonathan Tolins has taken his fascination with this idea, and Barbra herself, and turned it into a successful Off-Broadway play Buyer and Cellar. Hennepin Theatre Trust has brought this delightfully amusing one-man show to Minneapolis, starring the uber-talented local theater artist Sasha Andreev and directed by acclaimed director Wendy Knox of Frank Theatre. The one-person cast and many-person creative team have come together to create a wonderfully entertaining evening of theater that is funny, fantastical, chock full of pop culture references, and surprisingly touching. Playing through April 24, you would be wise to pencil this one into your theater schedule.

"The Arsonists" by Frank Theatre at the Ritz Theater

"That was a strange one." This comment overheard as I was leaving the Ritz Theater last night pretty well sums up Frank Theatre's latest venture The Arsonists. It's weird, even for Frank. I typically love Frank's brand of weird; their work is always challenging and thought-provoking and usually delightfully bizarre. But this one was a little too out there for me, although I can appreciate the artistry of what director Wendy Knox and her team have created. And after sleeping on it and reading about the play, I have an even better appreciation for it. If you can hold on for the ride, this absurdist play has some funny and thought-provoking moments. But it is most definitely a strange one.

"Things of Dry Hours" by Frank Theatre at the Playwrights' Center

Playwright Naomi Wallace's One Flea Spare, staged by Theater Coup d'Etat, was one of my favorite theater experiences last year. So I was eager to see more of her work in Frank Theatre's production of Things of Dry Hours. Frank always does interesting, thoughtful, meaningful work, and this one is no exception. Dealing with communism, racism, and sexism in 1930s Alabama, Things of Dry Hours doesn't on the surface bear much resemblance to One Flea Spare, set in plague-ridden 17th Century London. But it's another dense, poetic, and thought-provoking piece by this playwright and this company.

Tice Hogan is a communist in 1932 Birmingham, one of the few places in that time and city where black and white people could come together as equals. He tells us in the opening monologue that he owns two books - a big Bible, and The Communist Manifesto, a slim volume but just as important to him. But being a member of the party could also get him in trouble with the local mining company, so when an unknown white man comes knocking at the door of the house he shares with his daughter Cali, saying the party sent him, he's suspicious. Corbin was fired from the mine and hit the man who fired him with a steel pipe, probably killing him. He gives Tice the name of a mutual friend who says that he could shelter him. Tice reluctantly agrees to let him stay for one week until things cool down, and eventually begins to teach him about communism. Cali gives him porridge in the morning and soup in the evening, but Corbin wants more from her, first a kind word, then a kiss. Cali takes a shine to him too, but knows that nothing good can come of that.

There's a lot going on in this play. The idea of communism and the struggle of the working people to be treated fairly, the extreme and overt racism of 1932 Alabama, and gender inequality. I found the most powerful of these to be Cali's stories about life as a poor black woman who earns a living doing laundry for rich white people, gathering bits and pieces of their lives where she can. She's able to briefly turn that power dynamic on its head in a bit of play-acting with Corbin, so perhaps just for a brief moment he can understand what it's like to be her.

Hope Cervantes, Warren Bowles, and Sam Bardwell

Director Wendy Knox and her three-person cast do a great job bringing this complicated story and layered characters to life, including Hope Cervantes as Cali, Sam Bardwell as Corbin, and Warren C. Bowles, stepping into the role of Tice just the day before the first preview. Other than the fact that he relies on the script in a few scenes, there's no sign of this last-minute change, the three actors work together well. John Beuche has created a simple and lifelike set for them to play on, with a raised wooden floor representing the living space of the cabin with runways leading to it from either side, and bare trees in the space outside the cabin. Completing the scene is the wonderful soundtrack of what I like to call old-timey music playing before the show and at intermission (sound design by Dan Dukich).

If I hadn't read it ahead of time, I'm not sure I would have known Things of Dry Hours was written by the same playwright as One Flea Spare. I don't see a lot of of similarities, other than obscure titles and a strangely poetic analogy that ties the story together. In One Flea Spare it's water on stone, in Things of Dry Hours it's an apple (which I admit I didn't completely get, it would require a bit more contemplation on a better night's sleep). But it's a fascinating and well-done story that's worth the effort (continuing at the Playwrights' Center through October 4).

"Love and Information" by Frank Theatre at the Ritz Theater

I admit it, I'm an eavesdropper. I love listening to other people's conversations when I'm out in a public place. But that's not really eavesdropping; what am I supposed to do, plug my ears when someone is having a conversation at the table next to me?  I'm just being observant. Or you could say, gathering information. Frank Theatre's production of Caryl Churchill's new play Love and Information is a lot like eavesdropping on conversations around you. You don't get the full story, it might be cut off before you want it to, or it might drone on and on as you wish it would stop. An ensemble of 14 actors performs over 50 short scenes in about 90 minutes, each with different characters in different situations, but all revolving around the theme of how we gather, receive, share, and process information. It's a truly unique experience at the theater, and one that's quite fascinating and thought-provoking.

This is where I usually do a brief plot summary, but there is no plot in this play. Scenes range from a few seconds to several minutes in length, and typically involve just a few people. They may be full conversations, or more often just fragments of a conversation, or fragments of a sentence even, that show us just a fragment of these characters lives. Some don't make any sense, some are so compelling I'd like to see them expanded into an entire play. Scenes take place in a shoe store, a beauty parlor, a dinner party, a prison, a restaurant, a bedroom, or in the great outdoors. Set pieces are moved on and off the stage relatively quickly during the frequent scene stages, while eclectic music plays.

the cast of Love and Information

The script comes with no character or set descriptions, and even the order of the scenes is somewhat loose. Director Wendy Knox and this fantastic cast, each of whom bring something uniquely interesting to the piece, have done a wonderful job constructing the piece and making it endlessly surprising, perplexing, and fascinating. And kudos to Kathy Kohl for designing the many many costumes to help define the characters that we may only see for a few seconds, and to the actors for the many many costume changes required. The whole thing demands precise choreography both onstage and off, and they pull it off without a hitch.

We live in the information age. We have endless amounts of information literally at our fingertips. People share some of their most personal and intimate information on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and whatever the kids are using these days. But what do we do with that information once we have it? Does it make us happier? Does it make our lives better? These are some of the questions this piece raises, in a fresh and modern way that's perfectly suited to this age of short attention spans. Love and Information continues at the Ritz Theater through February 22.

"Grounded" by Frank Theatre at the Playwrights' Center

Drones are everywhere. The increased use of unmanned aerial vehicles in war is all over the news, and is even the focus of this season of Homeland. But you never think about the person behind the drone, the one who's flying it remotely and pushing the button to make the hit on the target, to sometimes devastating effect. Frank Theatre's Grounded does just that. A fighter pilot who has been grounded is reassigned to fly military drones from half a world away. In this one-woman show starring the always excellent Shá Cage, we watch this pilot adjust to her new job, new family, new schedule, until the effects take their tole and she's no longer as grounded as she appears.

The unnamed main character is the epitome of a tough fighter pilot, loving nothing more than being up in "the blue" and fighting for her country. She's forced to give that up, at least temporarily, when she falls in love and gets pregnant. After a few years at a desk job she longs to return to the blue; even though she loves her husband and daughter, it's not enough. She reports for duty and is told she'll be remotely flying drones rather than going up in planes, and is assigned to a base outside of Las Vegas. She initially thinks she's being punished, but is eventually convinced that drones are where it's at. She moves with her family into a house in the suburbs and begins her daily 12-hour shift of flying drones, returning home to her family at night. War as a 9 to 5 job may sound nice, fight the bad guys during the day and then go home to your family, but this pilot learns that it's not as easy as it sounds. It becomes increasingly difficult for her to separate her day job of killing "military age males" from her home and family life in the suburbs. Instead of transitioning out of war mentality once a year on leave, she has to do it every day, and soon the lines begin to blur, to the detriment of both her work and home life.

Shá Cage as the grounded pilot
(photo by Tony Nelson)

Before the show, Sousa marches get the audience into the military mood. About five minutes before the show starts Shá Cage walks out and stands at attention, her arm in salute (you try holding your arm in salute and see how quickly your arm fatigues!). Shá is an excellent choice for this role. She's strong enough to command the stage and play this strong woman, but also convey her vulnerable side with her family, as well as the cracks that begin to appear as she struggles with the transition between the two. I attended a preview, so Shá had her script in hand, flipping pages and occasionally glancing down at it to orient herself in the 90 minute one-woman show. But this did nothing to take away from her fully realized and emotional performance. And she's only going to get better over the course of the run as the script is let go. Her performance is allowed to shine in the simplicity of the design; the stage is bare except for a chair and bench, with only subtle changes in lighting to set the tone (set by Joseph Stanley, lighting by Mike Kittel).

Grounded is a fascinating look at the sacrifices made by and challenges facing those who work in the military, at home and abroad, as well as more generally the challenges of being a working mother. It also touches on the idea that everything we do is being watched. An idea which, if not totally true, seems to be where the world is moving, which is a disturbing thought. Grounded continues at the Playwrights' Center through November 23.

"Berlin to Broadway with Kurt Weill" and "Candide" by Skylark Opera at E.M Pearson Theatre

For their annual summer festival, Skylark Opera is presenting the Leonard Bernstein classic operetta Candide and the musical revue Berlin to Broadway with Kurt Weill. The two shows run in rep, with just four performances each over two weekends. I've attended the festival for several years now, and as a musical theater geek who doesn't know much about opera, I always appreciate seeing shows that fall on the more opera side of the music-theater spectrum, presented in an accessible way (Skylark always performs in English) with fantastic casts and musicians performing beautiful music. This summer's shows are both wonderful examples of that.

Berlin to Broadway with Kurt Weill
Rather than a traditional musical or opera with characters and plot, this piece is a compilation of songs by German-American composer Kurt Weill. I have only recently become familiar with Weill, first at last year's Patti LuPone concert in which she sang several of his songs, and then just this spring, when I saw not one but two productions of Weill's most well-known work, The Threepenny Opera. What I liked best about Threepenny was the music, and the more I hear it the more I like it. Berlin to Broadway is a beautiful showcase of the work of this great composer and his complex, interesting, and gorgeous melodies. It's the kind of music that the more time you spend with it, the more you appreciate it.

Four singer/actors and a six-piece band, under the direction of Sonja Thompson, lead us through the life of Kurt Weill, from the beginning of his career in Berlin, to his exile in the Nazi era to Paris and eventually America, to his growing success in his new homeland. The songs are structured chronologically, with one or another of the actors giving a short explanation to establish place and time. Several songs from each piece are presented together, giving us a taste of what the show is like. Wendy Knox, who also directed Frank Theatre's recent production of Threepenny, directs the piece and has truly created a whole that's greater than the sum of its parts. Songs and shows flow from one to the next, with visual interest created by slight costume changes and movement around the stage. It's almost like seeing several little shows in one great show.

Christina Baldwin and Bradley Greenwald
(photo by John Engstrom)

This four-person cast is a dream - Christina Baldwin, Dieter Bierbrauer, Vicki Fingalson, and Bradley Greenwald. This is my first time seeing Vicki onstage, but she fits right in with the other three who I already knew were wonderful. Each of these four voices is stunning on its own, and all of them joined together in four-part harmony is something quite special. But these professionals don't just sing the songs, they also act the songs, adding humor or pathos where required. Some of my favorite moments from the show are: the entire Threepenny section because that's the music I'm most familiar with; Dieter and Bradley singing the rousing "Bilbao Song" (Bradley Grünwald und Dieter Bierbrauer singen auf Deutsch, es war das Schönste auf der Welt!); Christina singing the classic "Pirate Jenny;" Bradley singing the poignant "September Song;" Dieter's absolutely lovely rendition of "Lonely House;" Vicki's sweet love song "That's Him;" and the comic highlight - Christina's hilarious "Saga of Jenny" backed up by Dieter and Bradley.

In short, Berlin to Broadway with Kurt Weill a wonderful exploration of the life of an important musical composer, one I didn't previously know much about, with gorgeous music sung by four impeccable voices.

Candide
Leonard Bernstein is another great American composer, and this 1956 operetta is one of his most celebrated works. Unfortunately it was bogged down by a troublesome book that went through several rewrites over the years. Skylark is presenting a combination of two more recent and more successful revisions. Based on the 18th Century novella by Voltaire, Candide is a satire that skewers the establishment of both 18th Century France and 1950s America. In the broadly comical plot, the bastard Candide is thrown out of his uncle's castle after falling in love with his cousin, the lovely Cunegonde. War breaks out, the castle is destroyed, everyone thinks everyone else is dead, the lovers reunite and travel the world looking for a place to be happy. Lots of other crazy things happen, which eventually disavow the optimist teachings of Dr. Pangloss, that we live in "The Best of All Possible Worlds" and everything that happens is perfect and wonderful. It's a wild romp accompanied by beautiful music.

Jennifer Baldwin Peden, Gary Briggle, and Peter Middlecamp
(photo by John Engstrom)

The huge cast and twenty-plus piece orchestra create a rich and luscious sound, with only three microphones hanging overhead to provide additional amplification of these beautiful trained voices. As the title character, Peter Middlecamp sings like a dream. Jennifer Baldwin Peden (yes, Christina and Jennifer are sisters - such talent in one family!) is adorable and hilarious as Cunegonde, and does unbelievable things with her voice, especially in the famous aria "Glitter and Be Gay." Gary Briggle plays Voltaire, a sort of narrator and guide through the show, and he's wonderfully ridiculous in the other characters he plays. All of these elements combine and build to the stunningly gorgeous finale, "Make Our Garden Grow." This song almost feels like it's from another show; up until then all of the songs are comic and tongue-in-cheek, but this song is unabashedly sincere and completely lovely.

The two productions share much of the same creative team, including set designer Ann Gumpper, with the moving staircase set pieces being used for both shows. Costume Designer Lynn Farrington has put the Berlin to Broadway cast in classy period clothing, with a few accessories for some of the roles being played. The wardrobe for the Candide cast is more colorful and cartoonish, with the ensemble wearing Converse tennis shoes.

If you're an opera lover, then Skylark Opera's Summer Festival should be on your must-see list. If, like me, you're a bit of a novice when it comes to opera, don't be intimidated. Skylark makes opera fun and accessible, and has chosen two important 20th Century American composers in Kurt Weill and Leonard Bernstein, brought to life by not one but two groups of talented singer/actor/musicians. Both shows have just a few more performances this weekend, pick one or both and go see some opera on a summer evening.


This article also appears on Broadway World Minneapolis.

"The Threepenny Opera" by Frank Theatre at the Southern Theater

Prior to my annual theater week in NYC this year, I had never seen the Bertolt Brecht/Kurt Weill ground-breaking opera The Threepenny Opera, and was unfamiliar with the music, except of course for the standard "Mack the Knife." But in a strange coincidence, I saw it twice in a little over a week - at the Atlantic Theater Company Off-Broadway in NYC as well as a production by Frank Theatre in Minneapolis. I'm happy to have the opportunity to see it twice; it's not an easily accessible piece of music-theater but it's worth the effort. I will try not to compare the two productions because they're so different and wonderful in their own unique ways, but what I find most fascinating is how two groups of people can take the same words on a page and turn them into two completely different theatrical experiences. That's the beauty of live theater.*

First produced in 1928 in Berlin, The Threepenny Opera tells the story of a criminal/mobster/thief named Macheath (aka Mack the Knife) in Victorian London. When Mack marries the daughter of his rival Mr. Peachum, head of the beggars, Mr. Peachum retaliates by trying to get Macheath arrested and hung. Despite Mack's many crimes, it's not an easy task since the police chief is Mack's buddy. But eventually, Mack is jailed and about to be hung when he's suddenly miraculously freed. The story is told through a series of vignettes and songs, with each character getting their moment to be heard.

While the Off-Broadway is perhaps a more classical interpretation, with Macheath in a pinstriped suit, bowler hat, and spats, Frank's production, with Macheath in a leather jacket, make-up, and tall boots, is more modern, grungy, and well, weird (in a good way, although I have to say I miss the spats!). It veers a little further into camp, which really works because it is kind of an odd piece.

Here are some highlights of Frank Theatre's The Threepenny Opera:

• First and foremost: Bradley Greenwald** as Macheath. He's dark and twisted and his gorgeous voice fills every corner of the spacious Southern Theater with no need for amplification.
• Speaking of - I love it when actors in musicals are not miked, and there's nothing to come between their voices and my ears. It's rare, and perhaps difficult to do when mixing sound with a band (or at least that's the excuse I've heard), but with a small band like this (musical director Sonja Thompson on piano and organ, with actors occasionally joining in on various instruments) and the excellent voices in this cast, it's quite possible and creates a perfectly mixed and unaltered sound.
• As Mr. Peachum, Gary Briggle is deliciously mischievous and mustachioed, and well-matched by Janis Hardy as the wig-adjusting Mrs. Peachum.
• Mack's women are all fantastic, from Suzie Juul's absurdly silly Polly Peachum, to Molly Sue McDonald's world-weary Jenny, to Kira Lace Hawkin's slightly crazy Lucy. Particularly excellent is the duet between Polly and Lucy as they're fighting over Mack, hilariously and beautifully sung by both Suzie and Kira.
• I was delighted to see the reunion of Officer Lockstock (Bradley Greenwald) and Little Sally (Elisa Pluhar) from last summer's Urinetown, although in a very different set of circumstances with a very different relationship!
• This is a huge cast and they all do great work.
• The Southern Theater is all decked out with racks of clothing and huge shelves full of tchochkes (set by Joe Stanley), and the costumes (by Kathy Kohl) really help to define the weird and wacky world of this Threepenny Opera.

I've enjoyed my foray into The Threepenny Opera this month, and I have to say I have a greater appreciation of the play and especially the music after a second viewing. Frank's production is well-cast, weird, and entertaining. And with sold out houses that include many theater people, they're obviously doing something right. But be forewarned: with an 8 o'clock showtime and a three hour running time, this is another one that requires a good night's sleep before attending.

*Read my thoughts on the Atlantic Theater Company's production here, and yes I did plagiarize myself for some of the background info.

**Bradley Greenwald will again be singing the music of Kurt Weill (along with two of my other faves, Dieter Bierbrauer and Christina Baldwin) in Skylark Opera's Berlin to Broadway in June, which I hear is also directed by Wendy Knox.