Musical Mondays at LUSH, March 2024

This is your regular reminder that if you're not at LUSH Louge & Theater on the first Monday of the  month, you're missing some fabulous music-theater entertainment! Earlier this week Max Wojtanowicz hosted the 94th Musical Mondays, featuring some super talented local singer/actor/performers. The good news is that if you missed it, you can catch the next one on April 1 (no foolin'). Just follow them on Facebook or Instagram for all the deets. 

The talented five-person cast performed solos, duets, and group numbers (accompanied by Bob Kelly on keys, Kyle Baker on bass, and Beth Varela on drums). The fun part of Musical Mondays is that they get to choose what they want to sing, which allows us to get to know them a little, and typically see them perform something they might not otherwise be able to. (The other fun part of Musical Mondays is the people watching - the audience is chock full of #TCTheater artists, which warms the heart at how supportive this community seems to be.)

Here are March's artists, as well as where you can next see them:

• Annika Isbell - she's wide open (somebody please cast her, she was so fantastic in Crazy for You at Artistry!)
• Bradley Johnson - with The Forge Series (more on that a bit later)
• Maggie Mae Sulentic - set building for Coachella?!
• Lisa Vogel - in Sound of Music at Artistry (directed by Max), opening in April
• Kyle Weiler - directing a pair of one-act operas with Minnesota Opera March 9-23 (listen to my fellow blogger Keith's interview with him on our podcast Twin Cities Theater Chat - available wherever you get your podcasts)

And here's the songlist (posted by Musical Mondays on their social media after the show):

• If You Knew My Story (Bright Star) - all
• The Streets of Dublin (A Man of No Importance) - Kyle
• On My Way (Violet) - Annika
• Anytime (by William Finn) - Bradley
• You Matter To Me (Waitress) - Kyle and Annika 
• What More Do I Need (Saturday Night) - Lisa
• Maria (West Side Story) - Maggie
• Who I’d Be (Shrek) - Lisa, Kyle, and Bradley
• What is This Feeling (Wicked) - Maggie and Annika
• The Life I Never Led (Sister Act) - Lisa
• When The Booth Goes Bright (Amelie) - Kyle
• The Man That Got Away (A Star Is Born) - Maggie
• Sexy (Mean Girls) - Annika
• No Time At All (Pippin) - Bradley
• What I Did For Love (A Chorus Line) - all

For your suggested $5 donation (which goes directly to the artists), you are entered for a chance to win tickets to a show in town, and lately they've been giving away at least a half dozen pairs of tickets, if not more! Another cool feature is a preview of an upcoming performance, which this month was The Forge Series. I hadn't heard of them before and it sounds super cool - readings of new works of music-theater by local artists. They performed a song from the upcoming The Myth and the Mountain, which they'll be doing at Illusion Theater's space at Center for the Performing Arts on Monday March 11. Color me intrigued.

photo credit: @cherryandspoon Instagram