"42nd Street" at Bloomington Civic Theatre

"Come on along and listen to the lullaby of Broadway."

"Come and meet those dancing feet, on the avenue I'm taking you too, 42nd Street."

"We're in the money, we're in the money, we've got a lot of what it takes to get along!"

Those are just a few lines from the classic musical 42nd Street, which I was surprised to learn first appeared on Broadway in 1980, having been adapted from the 1933 original movie musical. I've seen it twice before, on tour and at the Chanhassen, and what I remember most about it is wanting to tap-dance down the sidewalk to my car after the show. There's something about tap-dancing that's so infectious and invigorating; it makes me want to go sign up for the first tap-dancing class I can find, even though I've never worn tap shoes in my life! From the moment the curtain rises to reveal more than a dozen pairs of tap-dancing feet, to the rousing performance of the title song at the end of the show, Bloomington Civic Theatre's 42nd Street never loses that energy.

42nd Street is one of those great musicals about musicals, where the unknown becomes a star. Peggy Sawyer arrives from Allentown, PA, lands a role in the chorus of a new Broadway musical, and takes over the lead role when the veteran Dorothy Brock is injured. The show-within-a-show format allows for several musical numbers that have no bearing on the plot but are just fun to watch.

Highlights of the show include:

• First and foremost, the amazing choreography by Michael Matthew Ferrell, who also directs. This show is all about the tap-dancing, and the choreography here meets that challenge - sharp and fast and thrilling.
• A talented ensemble that very capably performs that intricate choreography.
• Fabulous 1930s period costumes by Ed Gleeman.
• One of my favorite things about BCT is the full orchestra that always sounds rich and beautiful under the direction of Anita Ruth. Yay for the pit orchestra!
• Larissa Gritti is quite charming as our heroine Peggy, with a lovely voice and super fast feet.
• Michael Fischetti, last seen as Colonel Pickering, again impresses as the famous and fearsome director who finds new life and love of the theater through his young star.
• Last but not least - Bonnie Erickson as the veteran actor who passes the torch to Peggy, and the very funny team of Betti Battocletti and Steve Zehr as the writers of the show-within-a-show who also provide the comedy bits.

In the last year or so, I've learned that you can always count on Bloomington Civic Theatre for quality productions of classic musicals. Even if much of the cast is comprised of "amateurs" with day jobs, they obviously pour their hearts and souls into the theater every night. 42nd Street runs through September 16 - check it out if you love a classic musical.  Next up - a Sondheim show I've long been wanting to see, Sunday in the Park with George.

the cast of 42nd Street

"Outside Providence" by Dark & Stormy Productions

If you're walking down 10th Street in downtown Minneapolis and you see some crazy people yelling out of a doorway, or perhaps you peek in the windows and see them yelling at each other while a bunch of people are sitting on chairs watching, don't be alarmed. It's just theater. I wouldn't blame you for not recognizing it as such - it's not like the theater you probably are familiar with. It's raw, real, and intimate, happening all around you in three separate locations in the space as the audience moves around to follow it. It really feels like eavesdropping on a conversation, which can be awkward because these are very intense, personal, heavy conversations! But it makes for some pretty amazing, unique theater.

Outside Providence* is comprised of three one-act plays by Edward Allan Baker. They are not related in terms of the same characters or storyline, but they are most definitely all connected in theme. All three deal with relationships (sisters, a married couple) among working-class people in Providence, Rhode Island (for those of you who, like me, know nothing about Rhode Island except that it's the smallest state, think South Boston). These people do not have easy lives or relationships. In Rosemary with Ginger, two sisters meet in their old neighborhood to enter their mother in a contest, bringing up issues of their past and present. Face Divided features a wife who loses herself in her small, closed-in life while her husband is off working and playing in a band (kind of like a poor, modern-day Betty Draper). Dolores again features two sisters, each with troubles of her own. These are desperate people who do desperate things, but continue to love and support each other. A note from the playwright explains it best: "A good dramatist puts misery on its feet and makes it entertaining, engaging an audience's interest so as to evoke empathy for those members of our species who are trapped - especially women."

the cast of Outside Providence

Four actors (Catherine Johnson Justice, Alayne Hopkins, Sara Marsh, and Ryan Lindberg) portray these complicated characters, and each gives an amazingly open, truthful, raw performance. In the fully-lit room, the actors are so close you can see the look in their eyes, and all you can see there is the desperation, hope, and everything in between that the character is feeling. It's pretty powerful stuff. The space is interesting and unique - an office on 10th Street in Minneapolis with windows looking out to the street where you can see passersby curiously looking in, adding to the feeling that this is happening right here in the real world, not on some distant stage.

This is the first production from Dark & Stormy Productions, a new theater company dedicated to creating theater to draw in a younger audience, specifically the 18-35 age group. I wouldn't know anything about the lack of theater geared toward that audience; I'm (slightly) outside of the target age group, and even when I was in that age group, I was still a theater geek who obviously had no problem finding theater that I wanted to see. But I'm all for anything that brings more people to the theater. This first attempt is definitely exciting, immediate, and entertaining, short and intense and to the point. Mission accomplished. (Outside Providence is playing now through September 15, all seats are pay what you can, more information can be found here.)


*I received one complementary ticket to Outside Providence.

"Trick Boxing" by Sossy Mechanics at the Guthrie

The last production I saw at the Guthrie's Dowling Studio was a dance piece about swimming. And now - a dance piece about boxing*. Both shows feature the grace and dance-like movements found in sport. But Trick Boxing, by husband and wife duo Brian Sostek and Megan McClellan, aka Sossy Mechanics, is about more than just boxing. It's a delightful love story told through theater, dance, and puppets.

The storyteller guiding us through this little tale (set in the 1930s or 40s) is a gambler and boxing manager named Buck. He discovers a young immigrant who's fast on his feet and decides to turn him into a boxer and use him in a scheme. While training for his first match, Dancing Danny David wanders into a dancehall and meets Bella, the sister of a boxer previously used by Buck. She decides to help Danny get out from under Buck's thumb.

The two actor/dancers play about a dozen different characters in the story, with nothing more than a change of accent and body stance to distinguish them. Brian plays Buck, Danny, Bella's brother, a scary evil gambler, the bookie, and several other characters. He often is on stage alone, having conversations with himself, the movement and words of one character flowing seamlessly into the other. In perhaps the most amusing scenes of the play, the boxing matches are represented by puppets in a tiny ring, with Brian doing the play-by-play. And then there's the dancing. Whether it's Bella training her brother, or a demonstration of boxing moves, or Danny and Bella at the dancehall, it's truly a delight to see.

I've seen Brian and Megan dance once before, and I've seen Brian in several things as an actor, but I've never before witnessed the full extent of their talent. It's a true pleasure watching artists tell stories using their own unique gifts, and I love the Guthrie for supporting artists and helping them do what they do, while making it easily accessible to theater-goes. You should take advantage of that while you can and go see the show, playing now through September 2. While Swimming with My Mother made me want to go swimming, Trick Boxing makes me want to take swing dance lessons!


*I received one complementary ticket to Trick Boxing as part of the Guthrie's "Blogger Night."

Fringe Festival 2012: Ash Land

Day: 5

Show: 16

Title: Ash Land

By: Transatlantic Love Affair

Created by: Diego Lopez

Location: Rarig Thrust

Summary: A very loose re-imagining of the classic Cinderella tale, in which our heroine is now a farmer's daughter somewhere in the plains of middle America in the last century. Ellie's beloved mother dies, leaving her and her father devastated and with a farm to care for in a drought. Ellie's aunt marries her father in order to help care for her and the farm, but decides to sell it. Ellie goes to the town banker's party to try to stop the sale, where she meets his kind and handsome son. And then, it begins to rain.

Highlights: I saw this show at the Sunday night "Audience Pick" encore performance, and I'm so grateful I had a chance to see it. I found it to be achingly beautiful. A steel guitar (played by Harper Zwicky) accompanies the action and sets the tone for the show (if there's an instrument more mournful than a steel guitar, I've never heard it). Transatlantic Love Affair (what a cool name for a theater company) does physical theater (see also Live Action Set), which means that the eight actors in the cast portray everything in the world they create, not just the characters. They are the waving wheat, the water pump, the pigs, the doors and windows, the car, and most delightfully - the rain. It's so playful and inventive, and reminds me of a phrase I often use to describe Ten Thousand Things - the power of collective imagination. With zero props or set pieces the cast (with the help of the music) is able to transport everyone in the room to a specific time and place. Of special note in the cast are Adelin Phelps as our heroine Ellie, Derek Lee Miller as her grief-stricken father, Isabel Nelson as her gone but not forgotten mother (you can just feel the love between them in this sweet little family), and Heather Bunch as the "evil" stepmother, who's just trying to get by like everyone else. This is the first show I've seen by Transatlantic Love Affair; I missed Ballad of the Pale Fisherman when it was at Illusion Theater earlier this year, but you can bet I won't make that mistake again when Illusion again hosts them for Red Resurrected early next year.

Friends, this one really touched me. And that's all I ask from theater - to move me in some way, whether it's to laughter or tears, or a different way of thinking about something, or a different way of seeing something. To leave the theater knowing that I'm different than when I walked in, that I've been forever changed (in some small way) by what I've seen. That's what this show did for me. What a wonderful way to end an amazing Fringe Festival.

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Fringe Festival 2012: Last of the Red Hot Flops

Day: 5

Show: 15

Title: Last of the Red Hot Flops

By: Deadbeats Theater

Created by: Britt Aamodt

Location: Gremlin Theatre

Summary: The Victoria Cafe Theatre in St. Paul is about to close down at the end of Prohibition, when a buyer comes into the picture. The performers and staff have to put on the show of their lives to make the sale go through.

Highlights: This is a light, fun show, if a bit loose in plot and inconclusive in the ending (did they save the theater or not?). It's over-the-top in a radio play kind of way. Alice Barry looks and sounds great as the star singer Minnie Hale, Mike Stapp provides some humorous moments as the janitor and reluctant performer Moe, and Michael Fischbein is sweet as Minnie's lovestruck soda jerk suitor. Deadbeats Theater is keeping alive a lost art, radio plays, and as a big fan of A Prairie Home Companion, I approve!

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Fringe Festival 2012: Silence

Day: 4

Show: 14

Title: Silence

By: Yellow Bird Productions

Written by: Jay'd Hagberg

Location: Rarig Proscenium

Summary: A traditional musical with an interesting twist that I've never before seen on stage. It's your typical boy meets girl, boy gets girl, boy loses girl story. But the twist is that the girl is deaf, while the boy is not. The cast is a combination of deaf and hearing, and every character has an interpreter, either to sign or to speak for them. Abby is an aspiring dancer, Mark an aspiring musician, and they find a connection despite their differences.

Highlights: The music is great in a pop/musical theater sort of way, the dancing is lovely, the large cast is talented in singing, acting, and signing, but the beautiful thing about this piece is that it'll make you rethink what music is. It's not just something that you hear (the composer, Jay'd Hagberg, and several members of the cast are deaf). It's also something that you feel, both physically in your body (think heavy drumbeats or bass), and also somewhere deeper, in your spirit or soul. That's what comes through so powerfully in the story of Abby, a young deaf woman who defies the odds to become a dancer, and falls in love with Mark, who is not deaf nor does he know ASL. Canae Weiss, who plays Abby, is also deaf, and is a beautiful and expressive dancer and actor. When Abby "sings" a song, she expresses the song through her face, body, and signs, while an interpreter sings the words. It's a device that works really well. What doesn't work as well is the ending; it felt a little too easy, a little too rushed (at about 40 minutes, this was one of the shorter shows I've seen). We only saw the beginning and end of Abby and Mark's relationship, but not much of the middle. I hope the creators and cast continue to work on the piece and flesh out the middle of the story. This is a great seed of what could be a really lovely and powerful piece of theater, and I look forward to seeing it.

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Fringe Festival 2012: The Music Box

Day: 4

Show: 13

Title: The Music Box

By: Graber and Napolitano Productions

Created by: Elliot David Graber

Location: Rarig Thrust

Summary: Set in 1929 St. Louis, a young writer takes a job with a newspaper to pay the bills, but never forgets about the book that he's written based on stories his beloved grandfather told him as a child. His favorite story is the one about the poet and the prince, and he dreams of the day when he falls in love. So of course, he falls in love with his boss's fiance, a spirited young woman who's not sure she wants to give up her life to move to New York and settle down with the stable, steady man.

Highlights: I feel like I should have loved this show more than I did. All the pieces are there - beautiful original music in the classic musical theater style, appealing performances by the leads, gorgeous costumes, elaborate sets (for the Fringe), even the clever program made to look like a newspaper from 1929 passed out by boys in period Newsies costumes. This is likely to be the most professional-looking show you'll see at the Fringe (check out the beautiful postcard on the left). But I just didn't connect with it as much as I did some other shows I've seen this week. Perhaps it was a little too cliche, perhaps it was too ambitious (see: frequent set changes that went smoothly but perhaps pushed the running time to the one-hour limit). But if you're a musical theater fan, it's still worth seeing for the gorgeous music and production. Libby Anderson gives a great performance as our heroine Zoey and makes you want things to work out for her. She and Jordon Oxborough (could he be Jared's little brother?) make beautiful music together. This show might work better if it were fleshed out into a full production, giving the characters and relationships more room to grow and develop.

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Fringe Festival 2012: Rip

Day: 4

Show: 12

Title: Rip

By: Dovetail Theatre Company

Created by: David Darrow and Kara Davidson

Location: Theatre Garage

Summary: Based on the short story "Rip Van Winkle" by Washington Irving, Rip is a retelling of the classic American folk tale with new original music drawing from American folk and rock music. In this version of the story, Rip is a working man in the 1950s who decides to quit his unfulfilling job in the hopes of seeing the world. But his wife is not on board with this plan, as they have many children to support. Rip goes into the woods with his trusty dog, falls asleep, dreams of meeting the explorer Henry Hudson and his crew, and then wakes up to find himself old and the world changed.

Highlights: The story is a classic and wonderfully retold by playwright Kara Davidson, who's also adorable as the tail-wagging enthusiastic dog. Billy Balmer gives a great performance as the title character, an unfulfilled working man who longs for more. When he wakes from his dream, there's no outward change in terms of clothing or the traditional beard, but you can tell that Rip has aged years just in the way Billy slowly and painfully moves his body. But the most memorable part of the show for me is the fantastic music, composed by David Darrow (who also puts on an English accent to play Hudson). It has that great folky Americana sound that I love, with a bit of rock thrown in as well (a rock song about the Northwest Passage? Strange but brilliant). If there were a soundtrack available, I would have already bought it and been obsessively listening to it for the past few days. In the unlikely event that this acting thing doesn't work out for David, he can always fall back on a career as a singer/songwriter/guitar player. I'll be the first in line to buy his debut album. But back to the show - Rip is not a traditional musical in the sense that characters don't break out into song in the middle of a scene. Rather, it's a series of spoken scenes alternating with musical interludes that are quite separate from the main action, but further explore the idea of the scene. The awesome band is made up of David and the curly-haired brothers (I assume) Ben and Jonas Yela, who play a variety of acoustic and electric guitars, mandolin, percussion, and trumpet. The actors occasionally step out of the scene to join the band in a song. The one fault of the show is that I wanted to see more. The show ends when Rip wakes up, but I wanted to see what happened next. This really feels like Act I, and I humbly suggest that the creators write and present Act II at next year's Fringe, to be followed by an eventual production of the piece as a whole - with a soundtrack available for purchase, thank you!




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Fringe Festival 2012: Answered Prayers

Day: 3

Show: 11

Title: Answered Prayers

By: Nautilus Music-Theater

Created by: Robert Elhai and Jim Payne

Location: Rarig Xperimental

Summary: A musical adaptation of several of the short stories in the collection Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson, Answered Prayers completes the trilogy which also includes last year's Twisted Apples (my favorite show of Fringe 2011) and Untold Lies from 2010 (which I unfortunately did not see). This year's installment introduces us to some new characters in the small town - a teacher who left Winesburg to see the world and has since returned, and therefore is viewed as a bit strange by the townspeople who never left, and the pastor of the town church, who is fascinated by this strange woman to the point of thinking that he's found God in her. The common thread with last year's piece is George Willard, a young writer whose job at the newspaper allows him the opportunity to know many of the townspeople.

Highlights: Like last year's show, the music is beautiful, expansive, and expressive (libretto by Jim Payne and music by Robert Elhai), and wonderfully performed by the two-person band and three-person cast. Norah Long and Joshua Hinck return from last year's Twisted Apples. Joshua reprises his role as George and shows us more depth to the character. Norah, who last year played George's withering mother, brings a different energy to this much different character - a woman who's seen the world and returned to the small town of her birth to find it lacking. They are joined this year by JP Fitzgibbons (performing with laryngitis!) in a powerful performance as the pastor. I wanted to know more about these characters (I'm currently reading the book so hopefully I will), and I look forward to all three acts being performed as a full production. While I was more taken by last year's show and the compelling story of George's mother and their relationship, Answered Prayers adds more layers to life in this small town. I'm curious to see how all the pieces will fit together and the story they will tell as a whole.

Tip: The show sold out the night I was there (the Xperimental seems to be one of the smaller houses), so it might be wise to buy your ticket in advance if you're going to the last remaining show on Sunday at 4.

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Fringe Festival 2012: A Comedy of Edits

Day: 3

Show: 10

Title: A Comedy of Edits

By: Callahan and Lingo

Written by: Allegra Lingo

Location: Rarig Arena

Summary: In a sort of play-within-a-play, what starts off as two writers in a storytelling competition becomes the performance of one writer's play about the process of writing. She's suffering from writer's block, and through a discussion/debate with her friend, is able to find her voice again.

Highlights: A lot of Fringe shows are sort of low-brow, silly humor (not that there's anything wrong with that), but this is not one of those shows. It's refreshingly intelligent and will keep your mind spinning as you try to keep up with the debate. Allegra is a Fringe regular, but this is my first time seeing her work. She's a wonderful writer, and Taylor ably and adorably shares those words with the audience as he spars with her.

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Fringe Festival 2012: Nightmare without Pants

Day: 3

Show: 9

Title: Nightmare without Pants

By: Joking Envelope

Written by: Joseph Scrimshaw

Location: Rarig Thrust

Summary: A man from the ATF (the Bureau of Alcohol, Taxes, and Feet) has come to confront someone who did their taxes wrong. A woman comes forward out of the audience, and is told that in order to avoid punishment by an evil pony, she must fall in love in the next 45 minutes. After scouring the audience for a possible target, a man volunteers, and much mayhem ensues. Oh, and no one is wearing pants.

Highlights: Did the summary make sense to you? No matter, it's a wonderfully silly premise that leads to a hilarious exploration of memories, relationships, life, and happiness. Playwright Joseph Scrimshaw (of the theater company Joking Envelope) also stars as the ATF man who leads us through this adventure (beware of the first row, you might get picked on). The hilarious Shanan Custer plays our main character who tries to fall in love but is just too practical. Rounding out the fabulous cast are John Riedlinger as the "happiness counselor," John Middleton as "beer can mouth man," and Anna Sundberg as the enthusiastic and perky waitress. I laughed through the entire show and then was surprised by the almost poignant ending. "Oh life (hey life), why are you so unfair? You're full of stupid things, like school and boys and hair." Very profound question, and a sweet ending to a salty show.

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"Chicago" at the Ordway Center

I love a Kander and Ebb musical. Great songs that are endlessly singable (and danceable), a fun and entertaining show, and social commentary on some issue that always seems relevant, no matter how long ago the show was written. In this case, Chicago, now on tour at the Ordway in St. Paul, first appeared on Broadway in 1975, but its commentary on our celebrity and violence obsessed culture has only become more true in the 35 years since it opened. Maybe that's why the 1996 revival is more successful than the original; it's still running on Broadway and is one of the longest running shows in history. I've seen the show four times now, and it's always great. While there's nothing new or different about this touring production (it's the same Broadway revival production that's been touring for years), the cast is fantastic and the show is, as always, spectacular.

Chicago takes place in the 1920s and features two women who are in prison awaiting trial for murder. They are, of course, celebrities, and they use that celebrity to their advantage in the courtroom. America loves a true crime story and a public trial, something that was equally true in the '20s when newspapers were the form of media, and today with the prevalence of "Court TV." Roxie and Velma compete for the spotlight and for the attention of their lawyer Billy Flynn, who will defend anyone for 5000 dollars. In the end they realize that joining forces will get them further than competing with each other, as they take their act to Vaudeville.

I'm not a fan of stunt casting (i.e., casting a big name TV star to sell more tickets, something that long-running shows like Chicago fall victim to), so I was a little leery of "starring John O'Hurley as Billy Flynn." (You know John O'Hurley - J. Peterman from Seinfeld.) But he quickly won me over. We know from Seinfeld he's a great comedic actor, but he's also a "self-taught pianist and classically trained vocalist." Combine those two parts and he's an excellent Billy Flynn, the loveable razzle-dazzler. But of course, the women are the star of this show. Terra C. MacLeod is the perfect Velma, the more experienced and jaded murderess, and Tracy Shayne is also great as the ingenue murderess Roxie, who soon learns how to work the system. Both women have played their roles on Broadway, and their experience and comfort with their characters shows. Ron Orbach also has a long history playing Roxie's nebbish husband Amos, and is delightful especially in his big number "Mr. Cellophane." I saw an understudy for Mama Morton, Kecia Lewis-Evans, and she's great with an amazing range. R. Lowe also deserves a mention as the reporter who isn't quite what she seems - an incredibly voice played for laughs, even moreso when her true nature is revealed (and no it's not Rob Lowe). All of the women and men in the ensemble are fantastic, and beautifully and crisply perform the Fosse-inspired choreography.

If you've never seen Chicago, this is your chance to see a musical theater classic that's deservedly one of the most popular shows on Broadway. If you have seen it before, this is a great production of a show that's worth seeing again if you've got the time and money. (Helping you out on the latter point is Goldstar - half-price tickets still available!) Chicago, in typical Kander and Ebb style, will entertain you with music, dance, and characters, so that you might not even realize they're making an interesting and relevant point about the society we still live in (see also Cabaret and The Scottsboro Boys).