Twin Cities Daily Planet (https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/category/theater/page/17/)
Was the Motown era before your time? No problem. For those of us who didn’t get a chance to live through this portion of our nation’s history, Motown the Musical provides an astoundingly realistic depiction sure to transport any viewer to this defining period. Continue Reading
Motown has a certain energy about it, I left feeling enlivened and wondering where this music had been all my life. The show made me feel connected to the songs and the people that created them. Dropping you right into Motown through a balance between fun music and historical context, the show follows Berry Gordy and the artists of Motown from the late 1950’s to the early 1980’s. Along this journey you experience the ups and downs of Motown. From the joy of first number one records to the fear and confusion after the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. they wrote their feelings into the songs and those emotions remain relevant still today. Continue Reading
Jonah and the Whale: A New Musical, now playing in the Dowling Studio at the Guthrie Theater, is the fourth production by local company 7th House Theater. I saw the words “bluegrass musical” and the lovely image of Jonah in the water on the Guthrie’s website and knew I had to see it. Those few things I knew about it were all such bold statements it was bound to be either a train wreck or amazing and just had to know which it was. I won’t draw this out for dramatic effect: It’s on the amazing end of the scale and the show runs through December 28th so don’t wait to get your tickets.Any doubts I had were gone after seeing the stage when I walked in to the room. The set is a conglomeration of well worn, unremarkable items arranged meticulously around what you will learn is the town clock. Continue Reading
Motown the Musical is playing, joyously, at Hennepin Theatre Trust’s Orpheum Theatre through December 28th, 2014. Get yourself a holiday gift and go get a ticket. Based on Motown founder, Berry Gordy Jr.’s (sic), book “To Be Loved,” the musical celebrates Gordy’s talents as a writer, producer, entrepreneur, also his legacy and character while telling the story about the music and stars created at “Hitsville U.S.A.” Starting out with the infamous “dueling” between The Four Tops and The Temptations, the show never stops moving as a fleury of sound, light, and talent brighten the stage. You hear Smokey Robinson, Martha and the Vandellas, Junior Walker and the Allstars, Rick James, Diana Ross and the Supremes, Stevie Wonder and more …. many more. Continue Reading
The story of 2 Pianos, 4 Hands, if you wanted to analyze it, is about chasing dreams, obstinance, frustration, and the quest for identity. Alternately, you could say that it is a string of theatrical vignettes that are alternately funny and poignant. A little myopia might focus on moments recalling Victor Borgia’s musical humor or perhaps what it might look like if Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck had to play a piano duet together (Daffy Duck vs. Donald Duck at the piano isn’t quite the same thing, although Bugs has a solo turn or two at the piano himself). The larger point is not that this play with music is one of these things, but that these are just some of the types of things interwoven into this piano-filled show. Continue Reading
Aristotle described three primary forms of theatre in his Poetics: comedy, tragedy, and the satyr play. Although the mediums, varieties, and forms of theatre have expanded in the intervening millennia, the conceptions Aristotle recorded remain surprisingly valid in describing today’s theatrical entertainments. (See, for example, this video exploring the Aristotelian conception of the tragic hero in Star Wars.) Don’t Hug Me, We’re Married, now playing at the St. Croix Off Broadway Dinner Theatre in Hudson, WI, is a satyr play.If this distinction sounds stodgy and intellectual, fear not–a satyr play is exactly the opposite. They are bawdy, funny, frequently laced with drunken escapades and sexual references, and stuffed with pranks, sight gags, and situational humor. Continue Reading
TC Jewfolk sat down with playwright and TC Jewfolk writer Jenna Zark to talk about her new play The Chanukah Guest, now being performed at the Minnesota Jewish Theatre Company.
TC Jewfolk: What drew you to adapting The Chanukah Guest, a children’s book into a play for the MJTC? Continue Reading
Still looking for holiday gift ideas? Try this entirely arbitrary list of ideas.For Advent/Christmas Music LoversTickets to SPCO’s Messiah concerts.For Bluegrass & Bible LoversTickets to the Guthrie’s Jonah and the Whale: A New Musical.For Circus and Acrobatics LoversTickets to the Pippin Broadway tour.For Classical Music AficionadosTickets to VocalEssence’s PDQ Bach/Peter Schickele Birthday Bash concert.For Date NightTwo ArtShare memberships at the Southern Theater. Unlimited shows and tremendous variety, all for $18/month/person!For People who Love Beer, Subversive Theatre, and Long-Term InvestmentsAn Unlimited Beer ‘Til 2020 package at the Bedlam Theatre.For People who Love Theatre TonsA Fringe Festival UltraPass for unlimited admission as long as Fringe runs.For People who Want to Make Critics Named Basil HappyStage The Last Five Years before the movie comes out.For People who Want to Make Critics Named Basil UnhappyDon’t sing in tune.For People You’re Still Speaking to After ThanksgivingCantus’s A Harvest Home CD.For Readers of Spy ThrillersTickets to Minnesota Opera’s world premiere of The Manchurian Candidate.For Star and Dance LoversTickets to Borealis Dance’s The Night Before Christmas show this winter or Past Forward show this spring.For Theatre Producers who Need a New IdeaSite-specific production on one of the Twin Cities Metro Area’s umpteen frozen lakes this winter. Hint: Short is a virtue when your audience is standing there shivering! Add some audience-interactive components to help keep them warm. Continue Reading
Perhaps the best summary of A Christmas Story: The Musical comes from a couple’s exchange during intermission at a recent performance. “It’s so ridiculous!” said one. “I know, said the other. “And that’s why it’s so wonderful. I need to make all of my friends come see it.” If the volume of laughter is any measure, that performance’s audience wholeheartedly agreed.In a year that has seen more than a few vapid screen-to-stage adaptations touch down in the Twin Cities, A Christmas Story is a breath of fresh air. Continue Reading
When a speechless performance can get the crowd at Orpheum Theatre to applaud and give “woos,” there’s something magical about what’s being presented on stage and the Moscow Ballet’s Great Russian Nutcracker was no exception.Moscow Ballet’s Great Russian Nutcracker North American Tour (West) stopped at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis on Dec. 6 for three performances (at noon, 4 p.m. and 8 p.m.). Minnesota is the 23rd state of 43, on the west side of the United States, to see the 2014 version of this classical ballerina performance. The audience at Orpheum Theatre was in for a treat as they saw local children ranging from ages 7 to 16; perform with the ensemble line-up on tour featuring Anatolie Ustimov and Fedor Zarodyshev as Nutcracker Prince and Alisa Voronova and Olga Pasternak as Masha (in the Russian ballet Clara’s name is changed to Masha). Ustimov and Voronova played their respective roles in the opening show at noon.Uncle Drosselmeyer, played by Andre Litvinov, opens the play and exposes audience to the colorful world. Continue Reading