"Hairspray" on tour at the Ordway Center

20 years after premiering on Broadway and winning eight Tonys, Hairspray is back on tour, and it's as fun, infectious, and inspirational as ever! The tour stopped at the Orpheum in Minneapolis last year, but I missed it, so I hadn't seen a production since 2015 at Artistry. It's one of my faves (I saw the tour twice in the mid-aughts, as well as the Chanhassen's production in 2011), so it was more than time for another visit to this big-haired and big-hearted version of 1960s Baltimore. Thankfully the Ordway is hosting this super fun and high energy tour for one short week and there are limited tickets still available through Sunday, so head to downtown St. Paul to watch the nicest kids in town dance and sing about anti-bullying, inclusion, and integration.

Broadway tour of "Beetlejuice" at the Orpheum Theatre

Beetlejuice is another in a long line of movie-to-musical adaptations. But as such, it's a pretty good one. I usually prefer more intimate character-driven musicals (that's what Theater Latte Da is for), but it's also fun sometimes to see a big, bold, loud, outrageous, over-the-top musical. And that's what Beetlejuice is - over the top in every way. Costumes, sets, puppetry, slight of hand tricks, performances - everything is big and loud and in your face. And it works; the crowd (some of whom were dressed in costume) was super into it on opening night, and it's a fun and wild ride. The 2019 Broadway production was nominated for 8 Tony Awards, but didn't stand much of a chance against the brilliant Hadestown, which was nominated for 13 and won 8. It closed on Broadway in January, and this tour has been running since just before then. It stops in Minneapolis for one week only, so if you're a fan of the movie, or musicals about death, or loud and fun musicals, click here (and only here) to purchase tickets for this limited run.

"Bullets Over Broadway" on tour at the Ordway Center for Performing Arts

I didn't have high expectations for Bullets over Broadway, the 2014 Broadway musical based on the 1994 Woody Allen film now playing at St. Paul's Ordway Center, because it's: a) a movie adaptation, b) a jukebox musical, and c) written by Woody Allen (who has one of his characters say, "The artist can be forgiven anything if he produces great art." Um, no). None of these are my favorite things. But low expectations often leads to a better experience, as it did here. While definitely not "great art," Bullets over Broadway features some fantastic choreography, great performances by the talented ensemble (although they're a little too white than what is acceptable in a post-Hamilton world), and period songs that are well chosen and for the most part sound like they were written for the story.