"Tales of Hoffman" by Mixed Precipitation at Silverwood Park

I've been sitting outside watching Mixed Precipitation's unique, playful, modern opera / pop music mashups for over ten years now, and it's one of my favorite #TCTheater summer traditions. Their "picnic operetta" transformed into a "pickup truck opera" during the pandemic, a tradition that's still going strong. It appears they've retired the old blue Ford, and are using a red Chevy Colorodo this season, which will take them to 11 counties in Minnesota before their season ends on September 13. They've got plenty of performances in the Twin Cities, as well as several points south, so bring a chair or a blanket, pack a snack, and go enjoy some outdoor public art in a park near you.

"Wait Until Dark" by Dark and Stormy Productions at Gremlin Theatre

Minnesota Fringe is over and the new #TCTheater season has not yet begun, leaving a gap that we have come to count on Dark and Stormy Productions to fill. They came through again this year with a show that is literally dark, the 1966 Frederick Knott play Wait Until Dark. The previous two productions I've seen have used prolific local playwright Jeffrey Hatcher's adaptation, but this one uses the original script (which was adapted into a 1967 film starring Audrey Hepburn). It's a gripping thriller with an unlikely heroine - a blind woman who uses her heightened other senses to outsmart a bunch of criminals to protect herself and her husband. As always with Dark and Stormy, this production features a talented cast, tight direction, and importantly for this show, a detailed design that pitches us unto total darkness and makes us feel like we're in that terrifying apartment. Wait Until Dark is playing at Gremlin Theatre through September 13, but you might want to see it before or during Labor Day Weekend, because after that the #TCTheater season comes in like a lion.

"The Algorithm is Gonna Get You" by Brave New Workshop at the Dudley Riggs Theatre

It's been way too long since I've been to the longest running comedy theater in America - our very own Brave New Workshop, currently performing at the Dudley Riggs Theatre (named after BNW's founder) on Hennepin Avenue, operated by Hennepin Arts. Specifically, I haven't been there since last year for their annual holiday show (not counting a couple of shows I saw in the first floor theater, which HA also uses for comedy programming). But I made up for it by attending opening night of their brand new show, The Algorithm is Gonna Get You, which is one of their best in recent years. The way that it taps into, and exploits, and makes fun of the way that we're addicted to our phones and the effects of AI on... everything, is very clever. And, as always, hilarious. I literally laughed until I cried. So if you're in need of a live in-person laugh with other humans in a room together, put down your phone for a couple hours and get more Brave New Workshop in your algorithm (playing weekends through November 7).

National Tour of "Dirty Dancing: The Musical" at the Ordway Center

One of the most beloved movies of all time (at least to those of us of a certain generation) is back on stage and LIVE! Eleanor Bergstein's stage adaptation of her hit 1987 movie Dirty Dancing is opening a brand new North American tour right here at the Ordway in St. Paul. What used to be known as Dirty Dancing: The Classic Story on Stage (and stopped at the Orpheum across the river in 2014) has been revamped with an all new creative team under director Lonny Price, and a new name: Dirty Dancing: The Musical. "The classic story on stage" is a more appropriate subtitle (and is still being used in the UK), but Americans love musicals, so Dirty Dancing: The Musical it is! Despite the fact that technically this is not a musical, it's a play with music, and in this case that's a very good thing. Meaning, they didn't turn this iconic story into a muuuuusical by writing new songs for the characters to sing to each other, it's really just the movie we love recreated live on stage with fantastically talented dancers, singers, actors, and musicians. If you love Dirty Dancing, as so many of us do, it's an absolute thrill to hear this iconic soundtrack played and sung live and watch the iconic dance moves, as this love story we know and love so well plays out exactly as we expect. It's a comfort, and a joy. And it's here for a nice long run, through September 6, so head to lovely downtown St. Paul, eat in one of the many restaurants (I love Ruam Mit), maybe even stay overnight at one of the downtown hotels (I recommend the charming boutique hotel Celeste, in an old convent), and have the time of your life. But please buy your tickets only from the Ordway's official site, not from any third-party vendor (which could be a scam).

"Ghost Quartet" by Theatre Elision at the Overlook at Fort Snelling

Minnesota Fringe may be over, but adventurous art continues! For their 8th production of the Dave Malloy song cycle Ghost Quartet, Theatre Elision is moving outdoors, telling this fun and sometimes spooky ghost story under the sky and stars. This is my 5th time seeing this show (including last year's all-star cast reunion), and I like it better every time. Rather than one straight-forward narrative, the songs weave together four stories that intersect and overlap in what could be confusing ways if you think about it too much. But it's such a great example of storytelling and world-building through song, and adding the element of Nature only makes it better. But they only have 4 more performances, and all are free (although they request that you register, and happily accept donations). Head to the historic Fort Snelling, a site that has plenty dark history and ghosts (as music director Harrison Ford noted in his pre-show speech), for some music-theater magic. And make plans to continue on the Dave Malloy journey with Theatre Elision - they've got three more of his shows on the schedule, including a remount of the sold out Great Comet, and two regional premieres!

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2026: Wrap-Up and Favorites

The 33rd annual Minnesota Fringe Festival, my 16th, flew by in a whirlwind of shows, friends, snacks in place of meals, parking, cold brew, traipsing across Cedar-Riverside, getting tokens, giving tokens, and standing in lines. I saw 39 shows this year and there are probably as many more I wish I could have seen, but such is life, and such is Fringe. It's not possible to see every show, but I saw some great ones, which I've listed below. Don't forget to follow Minnesota Fringe for their events and programming throughout the year, and follow your favorite Fringe artists to see what else they're up to. The 2026-2027 #TCTheater season is full of plenty of adventurous art, it's just usually longer than an hour and not all located in the same place.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2026: "Empty Nest"

Day: 10

Show: 39

Title: Empty Nest

Category: Clowning / Comedy / Improv / Physical Theater / Spoken Word / Storytelling

By: Zabel Weinhagen

Created by: Laura Zabel and Levi Weinhagen

Location: Rarig Stoll Thrust

Summary: A comedy show with heart about the experience of sending your child off into the world.

Highlights: This show was on my must-see list, but because of the quirks of the Fringe schedule, it was the last one I saw in the festival. It turned out to be the perfect way to end what was a fantastic Fringe, just a fun, easy, pleasant kind of show that deals with big themes in an honest but light-hearted way. The show is framed with a parody of Waiting for Godot, in which two parents wait for their child to text or call them. Then Levi and Laura turn back into their charming, personable, relatable selves, and perform a half dozen or so sketches or vignetts. They tell us about their ten biggest mistakes in raising their daughter (all hilarious and relatively harmless), they talk about new activities they've discovered together, they wordlessly show us the challenges of getting a good night's sleep, and even renew their vows with the help of the audience. Each of them has a storytelling monologue, Laura's about peri-menopause, Levi's about his relationship with his father, expanding the subject matter beyond just parenthood and into life stuff. Funny, relatable, insightful, silly, with some physical humor, just what I expected from this duo.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here. 

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2026: "Foshay! You Know The Tower - Now Hear The Story"

Day: 10

Show: 38

Title: Foshay! You Know The Tower - Now Hear The Story

Category: Drama / Musical Theater / Original Music / Historical content

By: TROMPE L'OEIL

Written by: Kevin Bowen & Lynn Bow

Location: Rarig Stoll Thrust

Summary: A musical about the man behind the Foshay Tower, the tallest building in Minneapolis for over 40 years.

Highlights: The Foshay Tower is a fixture in the Minneapolis skyline, but I've never thought about where the name came from, or even if there was a person behind it. As we learn in this new musical (which premiered as a full-length musical at Open Window Theatre in 2023), Wilbur Burton Foshay was a businessman with big dreams. If you're thinking maybe he's similar to another businessman who like to see his name in big letters on buildings, he's not. He took pride in paying his workers fairly, and insisted that his tower (modeled on the Washington Monument) be built with 100% union labor, despite the fact that Minneapolis was "not a union town." This condensed version of the original musical somehow fits 19 songs into an hour (although a half dozen of them are instrumentals or reprises), and tells the full arc of Foshay's rise to the top, and his fall when the stock market crashes shortly after his tower opens, landing him in jail for mail fraud (he's pardoned decades later). It understandably feels like things wrap up too quickly, and I hope to see the full-length version sometime (it feels like the kind of show that would work well at History Theatre and benefit from their process). The songs are catchy and clever, expressing the emotions of the story and characters well. The two lead actors, Landon Hudson and Elisheva Scheuer as Mr. and Mrs. Foshay, give fantastic performances, with great support from Michael Chapman, Jessica Peters, and Samm Nordstrom as multiple characters. With simple set and costumes that evoke the period, this feels like a nice sampler of a promising musical that I hope to see more of.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here. 

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2026: "FAST Death of a Salesman"

Day: 10

Show: 37

Title: FAST Death of a Salesman

Category: 

By: alleged Theatre Company

Created by: alleged Theatre Company

Location: Rarig Stoll Thrust

Summary: An important theater director is desperate to impress his 10-year-old nephew, so he leads a group of theater students through Arthur Miller's classic at a pace kids are used to.

Highlights: In typically meta fashion, Alleged does theater about doing theater. While the idea of getting more young people engaged in theater is one worth exploring, this show is not that. Instead it shows what goes wrong when you try to make theater for a short-attention-span youth. Dr. Duke Didier is a serious director (you can tell because he wears a beret), but what he wants more than anything is the approval of his nephew Braden, who used to love going to the theater, but now will not look up from his device (played I think by an audience member). So he directs a bunch of theater students (and one carnival barker auctioneer, because he can speak fast) to do Death of a Salesman fast, first by acting to a recorded track of the original dialogue sped up, for a ridiculous breakneck Salesman. When that doesn't work, he asks the students' advice, so they try a superhero Salesman, a comedy roast Salesman, a "brain rot" Salesman (I'm so old that went completely over my head). And then finally, at his wit's end, he himself performs some sort of absurd one-man Salesman. His students tell him he should just make the kind of theater he likes for people who like that sort of theater, and let Braden watch whatever kind of theater/entertainment he likes that other people make. What a novel idea; maybe if you make the art you're inspire to make, the right audience will find it, even if that's not your nephew. Written and directed by Jake Mierva, with Jeremy Motz as Dr. Didier and J. McIntyre Godwin, Kait Johnson, Laura Berger, Sarah Halverson, and Steph Callaghan playing the cast playing the Salesman roles, this show is a wild and meta ride.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here. 

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2026: "Machinal"

Day: 10

Show: 36

Title: Machinal

Category: Dance / Drama / Mystery / Physical Theater / Literary adaptation / Political content

By: Combustible Company

Directed by: Renee Hatton

Location: Southern Theater

Summary: A 60-minute adaptation of the 1928 play Machinal, about a woman caught in the machine of life.

Highlights: This is a brutal look at the drudgeries of life, work, parenthood, and marriage, and the limitations of women's choices, written almost a hundred years ago but still very relevant today. I saw Clevername Theatre's production of this play a couple years ago, and this shortened version covers the full story of a woman who marries her boss, and then kills him. In fact, I think one hour of this brutal and absurdist story is enough, it's heavy and dark, but beautifully done. As per usual with Combustible, it's visually stunning, using precise movements to represent the machine of work, with silver hoops and silver metal chairs as set pieces creating a consistent look. A hoop hanging on a trapeze rack is used in a couple of scenes to beautiful effect. They also use music well, with some lovely and haunting a capella moments, and appropriately chosen songs of the period like "O Death" and "Send Me to the 'Lectric Chair." The talented young cast is comprised of U of M students or recent grads, Anna Pladson as the woman with ensemble members Alvaro Araque, Ella Eastman-Kiesow, Ella Hendrickson, Gavin Wells, Lily Jones, Matthew Wilhelm, Michael DiPrima, Nitalia Michelle, and Vincent Strunk. It's a dark and ugly story, beautifully and powerfully told. And although Fringe is over, they have three more performances this weekend at St. Croix Festival Theatre in St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here. 

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2026: "Muskie"

Day: 10

Show: 35

Title: Muskie

Category: Comedy / Horror / Puppetry

By: New Endeavors

Created by: New Endeavors

Location: Mixed Blood Theatre

Summary: A parody of the 1975 film Jaws, set in Garrison, MN, on the shores of Lake Mille Lacs.

Highlights: I saw the Jaws musical parody Chum! on the first day of the Fringe, so it seemed only fitting that I see the Minnesota comedy parody Muskie on the last day. From the people who brought us last year's An Exorcism, Doncha Know and the beloved (by me) Buttslasher series, this show is exactly what you think it is - a sincerely campy and very Minnesotan version of the classic movie (that I still haven't seen, but probably should after seeing two parodies of it). When people start mysteriously disappearing in the lake in violent ways just before fishing opener, the mayor doesn't want to cancel the fishing contest because of all the business it brings into the town. The Sheriff is concerned, especially when her brother, a disgraced former champion fisherman, comes back to town and tells everyone that it's a giant Muskie that's causing the disturbance. Eventually the group goes out on the water to try to catch the beast, personified by a beautiful and scary giant puppet (designed by Thalia Kostman and Marc Berg). Written by Andrew Rakerd, directed by Andrew Rosdail, and with a cast that includes Alyssa Fraser, Cayla Marie Wolpers, George Smith, Glen L. Dawson, Henry Lantto, Laura Erchul, Maija Dahlberg, Matt Saxe, and Michelle Schwantes, it's a very fun and fringey parody.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here. 

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2026: "Leave Room for Jesus"

Day: 10

Show: 34

Title: Leave Room for Jesus

Category: Comedy / Improv / Musical Theater / Audience participation / LGBTQIA+ Content / Political content / Religious content

By: Hannah Wydeven

Directed by: Hannah Wydeven

Location: Barker Center

Summary: An evangelist revival show featuring songs, testimonies, and inspiration from Pastor Marla.

Highlights: This show was a bigger energy boost on my final six-show day than the cold brew I was drinking! It was a late add to my schedule based on several recommendations, and I'm so glad I saw it. As one of the Shrieking Harpies, Hannah Wydeven is an expert at musical improv, and in this show applies it to this wildly entertaining character. Dressed in a purple sparkly gown, with big hair and big glasses, Pastor Marla is a stereotypical TV evangelist. She walks through the audience talking to people to get song suggestions (what's something you're struggling with? what advice do I always give!), which she turns into little musical gems that sounds like fully formed songs (except ridiculous). She was joined by a rotating cast of performers over the five shows, and I'm not exactly sure who performed at the one I saw (except for fellow Harpie Lizzie Gardner as one of three backup angel singers, along with Anna Weggel). She had a fantastic keyboard player who improvised right along with her, an actor playing her sullen teenager who literally did nothing but watch Friends on an iPad and try to hide inside her sweatshirt, and two followers planted in the audience, who came up to give testimony, sing a song, or be baptized. By the end we're all converted to the church of Marla, and we're even treated to a visit from Jesus himself (Will Schroeder). It's a fun, joyful, rousing kind of show, the perfect choice for the first show on the last day.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.