The Brave New Workshop has opened with their annual seasonal show, this year titled Fifty Shades of White: A Minnesota XXXmas. Unlike their seasonal shows for the past few years, this is all new material. Many of the skits, with an emphasis on the naughty side of Christmas, are high-energy and hilarious—but I did miss the usual rendition of “The 12 Days of Christmas” which was always the highlight of past seasonal shows.
Within the first two minutes of RZA’s directorial debut, The Man with the Iron Fists, we see a man’s arms get pulled out of his sockets in a Kung Fu dinner brawl. And so the dominant tone of gory, zany unexpectedness that’s embedded in RZA’s flick is sprung upon us rather quickly. By the time the end credits invade the screen, we’ll have seen enough dismembered and punctured body parts to fill an episode of The Walking Dead. Yes, The Man with the Iron Fists likes extra servings of blood with its screen time, but there’s also some fun and laughs to be found amidst the guts strewn about the floor. Just watch where you step. Continue Reading
On November 17, opening night for the 2013 production of A Christmas Carol at the Guthrie Theater, the show had to be paused just before the Fezziwigs’ party: a man in the audience experienced what was feared to be a cardiac arrest, and paramedics came to take him to Hennepin County Medical Center. He was conscious and waving as he left, but the incident gave an added resonance to the classic story’s YOLO theme.
December is a peculiar month for theater. While I can’t find data to support this hunch, it seems plausible that more theater tickets are sold in December than any other month, as families who otherwise never see plays make reservations to see holiday chestnuts. Many of the Twin Cities’ best theater companies, though, go into holiday hibernation, unwilling or unable to compete with the big downtown juggernauts.In previous years we’ve published a comprehensive guide to holiday theater, but it was becoming harder and harder to find new things to say about what are basically the same shows year in and year out. Instead, this year I’m posting this relatively brief, completely subjective guide to notable shows on local stages next month. Please share your own recommendations in the comment section below.The behemoth that must be acknowledged before all others is the Guthrie Theater’s Christmas Carol, a reliably traditional interpretation that for many families is the beginning and end of all Twin Cities theater. Continue Reading
As the lights dim and the Children’s Theatre Company’s production of Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas is about to begin, a voice recites a poem, complete with Seuss-ian fantastical words and playful rhymes, asking audience members to turn off their electronic devices. Unfortunately, this is the most creative piece of writing in the show.
There are few things better than seeing a performance that does justice to a favorite book, and few things worse than having it fall short. So it was with intrepid anticipation that I went to see Jeffery Hatcher’s version of Henry James’s novella Turn of the Screw currently being presented by Torch Theater Company at the Minneapolis Theatre Garage. From the first moment, in the language of the show, it seduced me.
The 1980s lives on with an attitude in director Adam Shankman’s Rock of Ages: a movie adaptation of a Broadway play of the same name. Along with covers of ‘80s rock and roll staple hits by bands ranging from Def Leppard to Whitesnake, Rock of Ages is also affluent with little details from the decade of decadence: leather pants that creak and squeak, hair that’s frozen in rollicking waves by a combination of trigger-happy fingers and hairspray cans, and black eyeliner seen on more men than women. The film has a free-spirited, lets-party-now-and-think-later flavor, and yet it also has characters built with haunted, intelligent layers. Continue Reading
On May 1 and 2, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater was in town at the Orpheum Theatre. Artistic director Robert Battle admitted when he opened the show that “We haven’t been here for a few years, but we’re here now. I’m happy and I want to share my happiness.” He said that he measures the audience’s happiness by ticket sales. The dancers performed for a packed house.
During the announcement time (near the last 15 minutes of each Workshop), each section indicates their “wishes”. The desire for additional people — this may mean you, is at the top of everybody’s list.
