Workhouse’s Greenhouse Project features Deborah Yarchun in Public Reading Series

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Minneapolis-based playwright Deborah Yarchun is a two-time Jerome Fellowship winner at the Playwrights’ Center. She is also the subject of a hat trick of play readings at the Workhouse Project, including tonight’s free reading of her play Portmanteaux at the Warren Artists Habitat in the Victory neighborhood of Camden. The Daily Planet sat down with Workhouse Vice President Bethany Hummel to discuss this unusual programming concentration.The Workhouse Project–not to be confused with the Workhaus Collective–advertises itself as the only independent theater company that is based in and produces work in North Minneapolis. This assertion is not as easy to confirm as one might think, given the fuzzy accounting of some Fringe, Fringe-like, and fly-by-night operations, but Workhouse has certainly made a name for itself in bringing a breath of fresh theater to an underserved area and audience. The company produces its shows in the Warren Artist Habitat, an auto repair shop-turned intimate theatre and storefront in Camden’s Victory neighborhood. Continue Reading

THEATER REVIEW | Killing Joke Production’s “The Booby Trap”: Not a Norman Rockwell family Christmas portrait

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If you like your holiday family entertainment named after strip clubs, have Hey Rube and Killing Joke Productions got a play for you. It’s called The Booby Trap. Now, when I say holiday family entertainment, I mean that it’s entertainment that’s set around a holiday (in this case, Christmas time) in which a family is present. This is not a play you bring grandma or the kids to see. Not that there’s anything highly outrageous going on—oh, there’s a fair amount of swearing, alcoholism, depending on your tolerance level—blasphemy, and a costume for one of the actresses that doesn’t leave a lot to the imagination. Continue Reading

“Irving Berlin’s White Christmas” at the Orpheum Theatre: Checking cheer off your list

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White Christmas. The seemingly redundant title that promises simplicity and holiday cheer. The average American is all too familiar with the 1954 movie musical classic, starring Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye. This is a show that is best enjoyed with family and while sipping hot cocoa. The production at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis, follows Bob Wallace and Phil Davis, veterans of the Second World War turned powerhouse performing duo (played by James Clow and Jeremy Benton). The story revolves around the wise-cracking pair as they chase after singing sisters Judy and Betty (Kaitlyn Davidson and Trista Moldovan) to Vermont during the Christmas season, expecting snow and instead getting romance, friendship and musical theater! It’s not a very heavy show in case you couldn’t tell by the title. Accompanied by beautiful tunes by Irvin Berlin, this is a story that is inside many Americans’ Christmas memories. Continue Reading

Children’s Theatre Company casts Ivey Award winner, NBC star for “Peter Pan: The Musical”

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The Children’s Theatre Company unveiled today several important casting details for its spring production of Peter Pan: The Musical.The titular boy who never grew up will be played by none other than Tyler Michaels, the recipient of a 2014 Ivey Award in the Emerging Artist category. For those keeping score, in 2014 Michaels has opened shows with starring roles as a cabaret host, dashing prince, fawning sweetheart, store clerk gone rogue, and a man with an eye for Scrooge’s niece–and, despite generally being clean-shaven and dashing from spotlight to spotlight, still appears regularly with a group of bearded men.The role of Wendy will be played by Alanna Saunders, an NYC-based actress who is appearing in tonight’s broadcast of Peter Pan Live on NBC as Tiger Lily–itself a rare piece of casting for featuring this Native American character being played by an actress of Native American heritage.On-stage, Saunders and Michaels will face off against the foil of Reed Sigmund, a CTC regular who sheds his green skin and ogre ears from last season’s Shrek to play the villainous Captain Hook.This production of Peter Pan: The Musical has been reimagined and reworked to remove elements in the original source material that are now broadly recognized as racist and inauthentic; Director Peter Brosius weighed in on these changes in a recent Op-Ed in the Star Tribune. Peter Pan also featured prominently in the decorations and entertainments of CTC’s 2014 gala. Continue Reading

“Irving Berlin’s White Christmas” at the Orpheum Theatre: Christmas with a side of cheese, please.

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Cheese sauce usually makes everything better, like nachos, broccoli and macaroni – and all Christmas movies have their fair share of cheese factor, but sometimes there comes a point where too much cheese can overwhelm everything. Having never seen the movie White Christmas, I was pretty open-minded about the musical. I thoroughly enjoyed the dancing, singing and costumes, and even the cliche storyline, but at times it was just too much. Continue Reading

“Irving Berlin’s White Christmas” at the Orpheum Theatre is a yawn fest

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Tuesday evening at the Orpheum theatre I saw Irving Berlin’s aptly named “White Christmas” expecting something drenched in cheese but entertaining all the same. I was right about the former, but was sadly disappointed in the latter. The show was mediocre at best and boring at worst. The story is of two World War Two veterans putting on a show in a hotel in 1954, told classic broadway-style with jazz hands and giant feather fans. There was nothing wrong with it, in terms of talent of the cast or the production design, but the problem lay in the show’s story and songs. The storyline was so tedious that I found myself yawning almost the whole way through, predictable enough to know the ending from the first act. Most of the songs had me nodding off in my seat. Continue Reading

“Irving Berlin’s White Christmas” at the Orpheum Theatre: Reheated leftovers

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In the spirit of holiday integrity, I try to disavow all Christmas frenzy before Thanksgiving. In a serious breach of my self discipline, I saw White Christmas in time to tell my family gathered Thanksgiving not to see it. In search for a metaphor, I compare White Christmas to reheated turkey: the glamor is gone and now you lovelessly consume it. Continue Reading

“Irving Berlin’s White Christmas” at the Orpheum Theatre: Christmas came too early in favor of too few

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In a state where snow began it’s residency in early November, long before officially being winter, it seems as though many Minnesotans aren’t dreaming of a white Christmas just yet. As Irving Berlin’s White Christmas: The Musical takes the stage at the Orpheum, with opening night prior to thanksgiving and closing night sooner than the month of December, it has it’s work cut out to spread holiday cheer. Continue Reading