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| with Keith from Life in Revue and Rob from The Stages of MN on marathon day at the Guthrie |
But The History Plays is not the only great thing the Guthrie did this year, it's simply the crown jewels (if you'll pardon the pun) of a fantastic year of theater, perhaps one of my favorite years at the Guthrie in my 20+ years as a subscriber. From a deliciously thrilling production of the classic play Dial M for Murder, to the heart-warming and heart-breaking new play The Heart Sellers (playing now through January 25) and everything in between, the Guthrie offered one wonder after another. They brought us touring productions of two solo plays by two of our best living American stage actors: Bill Irwin On Beckett and Patrick Page on Shakespeare's villains. We were also treated to Dominique Morisseau's powerfully relevant play Skeleton Crew (a remount of sorts of the 2020 production by Yellow Tree Theatre, directed by Austene Van), regional premieres of the 2023 Pulitzer Prize winner English and the epic story of The Lehman Trilogy, and the 50th production of their beloved annual production of A Christmas Carol. And last but not least, their summer musical was the cult classic Little Shop of Horrors, leaning heavily into the show's B-movie roots and featuring a dynamite mostly local cast and incredible design (including multiple versions of the ever-growing blood-thirsty plant), for a darkly comedic and musically delicious good time.
The Guthrie may be our flagship theater, but what makes this community great are the many many theater companies offering diverse, new, interesting programming. Here are some of my favorites (in alphabetical order; click the show title for full review):
Plays
- Early this year, Children's Theatre Company remounted their original adaptation of Alice in Wonderland but I saw it for the first time, and it was utterly delightful. It featured a talented adult and youth cast (with rising star Audrey Mojica in the title role), inventive design, physical theater, traditional pantomime, and good old fashioned theater magic.
- Mixed Blood Theatre Company returned to original programming this year after a couple of years' hiatus, with two regional premieres of relevant and thought-provoking plays. The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington was a wild and fantastical romp through history, but The Ally was one of the best plays I saw this year, brilliantly staged by Mark Valdez directing for the first time as Artistic Director, with some of the best performances I saw all year from this ensemble cast led by Sasha Andreev (a complete 180 from his previous comedic role in The Reunion).
- In her second of two solo plays this year (see below), #TCTheater favorite Angela Timberman embodied Texas governor Ann Richards in Prime Productions' regional premiere of Ann (written by and originally starring Holland Taylor). She was fierce and funny and almost made me believe in politics and politicians again. Almost.
- In early spring we were treated to Angela Timberman's first solo play, the gut-wrenching Apples in Winter at Gremlin Theatre, in which she actually baked an apple pie on stage while giving a 90-minute monologue about a mother saying goodbye to her son before his execution for his crimes. (Honorable mention to Gremlin's production of the thriller Rope, featuring a talented young cast and spot on design.)
- The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) is a whirlwind trip through all 37 of Shakespeare's plays, and I saw this comedy classic for the first time this year by Jackdonkey Productions (who also did one of my favorite Fringe shows). The talented trio of Amanda Espinoza, Adam Iverson, and Noah Hynick ran around the theater, improvised, and just had a great time (which means the audience did too).
- Nocturnal Giraffe's regional premiere of the new comedy-horror play Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors was "more funny than scary, unless we're talking scary good." The five-person cast was fantastic, many of them pulling double and triple duty, with ridiculously campy and over-the-top performances. The play, fresh from Off-Broadway, is "written in modern language, with intentional anachronisms and pop culture references," with simple yet effective design in the intimate space at CFPA, and was really the funnest thing this Halloween season.
- New company Spacetime Theatre made a strong debut with the Lee Blessing play Eleemosynary about three generations of women, featuring a fantastic trio of actors in August Chaffin, Katie Tuminelly, and Tara Borman (who had a strong year, with great performances in Scotland, PA and Steel Magnolias), in a story that travels across space and time.
- Penumbra Theatre brought us the story of a high school girls' basketball team in FLEX, and all the drama that goes along with being a teenage girl in this difficult world. The talented young cast actually dribbled, passed, and shot baskets on stage, as they experienced friendship, betrayal, and community.
- No favorites list is complete without Ten Thousand Things, and this year they did what they do so well - a fantastical fairy tale that feels grounded and real. Walls that talk, magical hats, two time periods, and the missing wife of a neglectful husband all came together in the most magical way in The Hatmaker's Wife, with TTT's trademark playful and personable style.
- Lakeshore Players Theatre's ambitious 2023-2024 season continued with the solo play I Am My Own Wife performed in the intimate black box space of their White Bear Lake theater. It's a rarely done play (I've only seen it once before, at the Jungle more than ten years ago) about an East German transgender woman known as Charlotte von Mahlsdorf - antiques collector, museum curator, and gay icon. Directed by Craig Johnson and starring Lewis Youngren playing all of the characters and their many accents, it was an "inspiring, moving, well told story" at this theater in the 'burbs.
- Brittany Parker gave one of the best performances of the year in Frank Theatre's Ironbound, a play by Polish-American Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Martyna Majok about "what happens when the American Dream fails its citizens, especially women, immigrants, and those stuck in a cycle of poverty and violence." (Frank is doing another Majok play soon - Sanctuary City opening January 31 at Open Eye.)
- A Jumping-Off Point is "the kind of play that I love, one in which complex characters discuss relevant issues in a personal and relatable way, with no easy answers, no winners or losers." Jungle Theater's regional premiere production this spring featured "an excellent three-person cast [Vinecia Coleman, Gabriel Murphy, and Ashawnti Sakina Ford], savvy director [Shá Cage], and brilliant design team [that perfect yellow room!]."
- Alex Edelman won a Tony and an Emmy for his comedy show Just For Us, in which he (a Jewish man) infiltrates a White Nationalist meeting. Six Points Theater's Artistic Director Barbara Brooks pursued the rights to this play for years, and was rewarded by being the first theater in the country to produce it with an actor other than the playwright - Ryan London Levin in a fantastic performance that was charming and personable and real. (Honorable mention to Six Points' production of Harvey Fierstein's Torch Song, featuring another fantastic performance, this one by Neal Beckman as drag queen Arnold.)
- Stage North moved south (to St. Paul) with another wonderful production of a rarely done play. Mauritius made stamp collecting into a riveting tale about grief, family dynamics, and greed. Staged in-the-round with a talented five-person cast and a breakout performance by Sarah Dickson.
- The Birth Play Project applied their mission of telling birth stories to the classics. Specifically, one of Shakespeare's "problem plays" Measure for Measure. Co-directors/adaptors Madeline Wall and William Edson turned the focus onto a relatively minor character who gives birth in prison, while the main action of the play swirls around her, staged in an intimate bare-bones way.
- My favorite offering from the oldest theater in Minneapolis, Theatre in the Round, was Men on Boats, which featured neither men nor boats. Rather, "an all-female or non-binary cast telling the story of the first government sanctioned expedition down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon, with nary a boat on stage." It was playful and fun and adventurous, while commenting on themes of Manifest Destiny, discovery, and masculinity. (A close second - Craig Johnson's new adaptation of Chekhov's dramedy The Seagull, which he also directed.)
- The Physicists was another weird and darkly funny little play by Dark and Stormy Productions. Peter Christian Hansen, Pearce Bunting, and Alex Galick played delusional patients in a sanitarium who believe they're famous scientists (or do they?) in this "rumination on science, scientists, and the responsibility they bear for the deeds done with their work."
- How do I describe Radiant Vermin? It was very dark, fourth-wall breaking, and shockingly funny. Perfectly executed by Lyric Arts and this fantastic cast (Danielle Krivinchuk, Callie Baack, and Noah Hynick again, who was also a great Black Stache) and creative team, it was something totally unexpected, which is a welcome treat for someone who sees 251 shows a year.
- Santa's Surprise Party was a silly little holiday play of not much more than an hour, but what I loved about it is it reunited the team from DalekoArts, which closed its doors last year. Now operating as The Mechanical Division, Ben Thietje (playwright), Amanda White (director), and Co. delivered an original, funny, ridiculous, and heart-filled show, just like we're used to.
- Lauren Gunderson is one of my favorite playwrights, but Toil and Trouble is not like her other plays, which are mostly set in the past, often featuring historical figures. This modern (or rather 2008-ish) take on Macbeth is smart and darkly funny. Yellow Tree Theatre's production was "clever, fun, absurd, and wildly entertaining," featuring the talented trio of Alex Galick, Olivia Kemp, and Jason Ballweber.
Musicals
- Lyric Arts brought us not one but two regional premiere musicals this year, both with scores written by female singer/songwriters. My favorite was the super fun 9 to 5, with "a fun original score by the great Dolly Parton and an ever-timely theme of women's rights, workers' rights, and the power of women working together." Also great was the Cyndi Lauper-penned Kinky Boots (her 2013 Tony Award for best score was shockingly the first won by a woman solo) that "celebrates the love of shoes and self-identity in a glorious, fun, warm-hearted way," with a star turn by Mitchell Douglas as Lola (reprising his role from the Minnesota premiere at Duluth Playhouse the previous summer).
- Chanhassen Dinner Theatres spring/summer show Beautiful was their third regional premiere in a row. The show was co-directed by father/daughter team Michael and Cat Brindisi (listen to my interview with them here), bringing Carole King's life story and prolific songbook (as well as other songs of the era) to vivid life on stage. To star in the show they brought in NYC-based Monet Sabel who had played the role several times previously, as evidenced by her ease with the role her gorgeous renditions of these familiar songs. And for good measure, the Chan ended the year with a scrumptious production of the beloved classic White Christmas, playing through the end of January but virtually sold out for its entire four-month run.
- Another theater that is always included in my year-end favorites list is Theatre Elision, because simply put no one does what they do - small cast one act rarely done musicals with a focus on women creators and cast. Because truly, who else is going to do a musical about 12th Century nun/composer/scholar Hildegard von Bingen?! In the Green is brilliantly written by Grace McLean (scene stealer in Suffs on Broadway as Woodrow Wilson) and "taps into something deeply human, specifically what it means to be a female human in the world, and the performances by the five-woman cast, accompanied by a three-piece band, are simply stunning." Honorable mention for Penelope, with Elision regular cast-member and vocal director Christine Wade in her first solo performance as Odysseus' patiently waiting wife. (In an exception to their small cast one act rule, there's already a lot of buzz about their regional premiere of the epic musical Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 this fall.)
- Skylark Opera Theatre had to postpone their Sondheim revue musical Marry Me a Little from June to August due to illness, but it was worth the wait. With Max Wojtanowicz and Bergen Baker telling a full story of a relationship with songs (mostly) cut from Sondheim musicals, each one a full story on its own, it was a sweet little show.
- It was another strong four-musical year for Artistry, just the second year since returning from a temporary closure and cancelled shows. But of course the one I loved the most was my favorite musical RENT, that I'd seen 17 times previously but never quite like this. Instead of the Broadway production I'm so familiar with from years of touring, director/choreographer Kelli Foster Warder "breathes new life into it, imagines different ways of placing the scenes around the stage, different ways of pacing the story and scenes, and creates movement that feels fresh and modern." And this wonderful cast made me fall in love with these familiar characters all over again. Rounding out their excellent year was a beautiful and faithful production of my sentimental fave The Sound of Music, a dance-tastic Crazy for You with Anita Ruth's 20-piece orchestra sitting center stage, and a rousing high-kicking Newsies.
- Once again, Theater Latte Da makes it hard to choose a favorite, but if I had to, I would choose the new musical Scotland, PA, which they helped to develop as part of their NEXT series. This "darkly comedic 1970s-fast-food-set take on Macbeth" ... "starts off as this really fun rock musical about working folks trying to get ahead, and ends, well, bloody" and featured a genius cast of local faves led by rising stars Will Dusek and Katherine Fried. Also great were Theater Latte Da's productions of The Color Purple (featuring Nubia Monks in one of several strong performances this year, see also Wine in the Wilderness, The Ally, and A Walless Church); the music-enhanced play Stones in His Pockets starring my new favorite comedy duo Tom Reed Sigmund; the new musical Johnny Skeeky (more on that later); and a magical Cinderella (now playing and extended through January 11).
- Ten Thousand Things' stripped down production of the lovely Americana musical The Spitfire Grill brought tears to my eyes with its "simply stunning cast and simply charming design [that] allow the true heart of this piece to shine." It was Peter Vitale's final show as TTT Musical Director leading a tiny band and unmiked singers in an intimate space, with Katherine Fried ripping our hearts out as a recently released prisoner with a dark past trying to make a new life in a small town.
- Lakeshore Players Theatre concluded their ambitious season this summer with one of my favorite musicals, Urinetown. It was just everything you want this social satire about a dystopian world with a water shortage to be - "a fantastic production, with a talented and energetic cast, detailed design, fun choreography, and direction [by Greta Grosch] that hits on all of the humor and relevancy of the script."
- An oldie but a goodie, Children's Theatre Company remounted their original adaptation of A Year with Frog and Toad that made it all the way to Broadway. It's such a charming and sweet show about friendship, with a small but mighty five-person cast, and colorful naturey design.
New work
- #TCTheater artists Oogie_Push's first time as playwright was a lovely personal story called The Adventures of a Traveling Meskwaki, produced by Fill Circle Theatre Company in Park Square's intimate basement space. "It's heart-warming, inspiring, and thought-provoking, as it deals with themes of grief, environmental disaster, and this country's horrific treatment of indigenous people. But the overall feeling is one of hope, community, and connection, and it might make you regard water a little differently."
- History Theatre and Theater Mu joined up to bring us the world premiere new musical Blended Harmony, the true life story of the Chinese-Polish-American sisters from Minneapolis who toured Vaudeville as a singing group and eventually made it all the way to Broadway. This "heart-warming story of family and identity, told with a fabulous swing era score" featured a fantastic local cast and fun dance numbers.
- Another Theater Mu show, the new play Hells Canyon was a "modern dramedy-horror with social commentary," and it was scary! Drawing on a true historical incident in this country's dark past, it follows a group of friends at a cabin in the country and their complicated relationships, with a truly fabulous cast and fantastic design that created more than one jump scare.
- In 2024, Park Square Theatre returned from a year and a half of no shows and restructuring with the long awaited new mystery play by Jeffrey Hatcher and Steve Hendrickson, combining two of literature's favorite detectives - Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot. Holmes/Poirot was sort of like two related one-act plays, with the same talented cast playing different roles and telling a different story, that come together in a satisfying way. Welcome back, Park Square! (They also did an absolutely adorable production of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever starring 18 charmingly rambunctious children, and are continuing this year with a classic and a regional premiere.)
- What do you get when you combine the Puccini opera Gianni Schicchi with the TV shows Succession and Arrested Development? When #TCTheater legends Bradley Greenwald and Steven Epp do it, you get Johnny Skeeky; or, The Remedy for Everything, "the most ridiculous and delightful opera I've ever seen." With a brilliant cast (headlined by the creators) singing wildly funny lyrics to this gorgeous opera music and eye-popping cruise ship design, it was a really fun time.
- Fortune's Fool Theatre's world premiere new play Lincoln's Children is "historical fiction about arguably our greatest president, reminding us that we need to be constantly vigilant in the ongoing fight for justice and equality that Lincoln gave his life for." A smart and thought-provoking 90-minute (or so) play that jumped across centuries and explored relevant themes, well staged in the Crane's intimate studio space.
- Lyric Arts typically doesn't do new work, but for Log Kya Kahenge they teamed up with Exposed Brick Theatre and South Asian Arts and Theater House, proving that three heads are better than one. The family dramedy is specific to the South Asian community, but universal in its themes of "grief, loss, change, mental health challenges, and societal and parental pressure."
- For the second year in a row, #TCTheater artist Kurt Engh created a piece of theater that was new and inventive and forward-thinking. Only Ugly Guys was a modern rom-com about four gay men, starring four talented young actors and using technology (recorded sound, projections of text messages, YouTube videos) in interesting ways. This show was part of Open Eye Theatre's "Guest Artist Series," in which they also hosted Madeleine Rowe's hilariously weird solo show Honey, I'm Home and a remount of the charming Fringe hit Moonwalkers.
- Trademark Theater is a company dedicated to developing new work, and this year they brought us the comedy horror mystery play The Reunion, written by the Tylers (Michaels King and Mills) and developed with the fantastic seven-person cast. "The result is a tightly woven mystery that's ridiculously funny, but also has some emotional depth in the relationships and experience of trauma."
- In "one of the most raw, vulnerable, heart-breaking, and moving performances I've ever seen," Emily Michaels King bared her heart, body, and soul in Star Keeper, a very personal story about childhood trauma. A story inventively told using movement, recorded audio, video projections, and very specific nostalgic props. Emily always does unique and interesting work, and this is her best yet.
- Bucket Brigade shared stories and songs around the Great Hinckley Fire of 1894 in the new original historical musical Survivors of the Fire, that felt like an epic journey despite the 75-minute runtime. Using the survivors' own words and traditional songs of the period, with sound and lighting design that made it feel like we were in the middle of the firestorm with them, it was a moving and emotional experience. (Recommended companion reading: Under a Flaming Sky: The Great Hinckley Firestorm of 1894.)
- In Walless Church (like wall-less, without walls) at Pillsbury House Theatre, "a loving, playful, heart-warming ritual of a play," three Black women (the divine trio Aimee K. Bryant, Nubia Monks, and Essence Renae) taught us how to create god, in just 70 minutes. Brilliantly written by playwright AriDy Nox, it jumped between the god-making trio and very grounded scenes of different groups of women, with some fourth-wall breaking that brought the audience into the ritual in a healing and communal sort of way. That's my kind of church.
My favorite theater venue in 2024 is a new one that very quickly came to feel like home. #TCTheater couple Eric Morris and Laura Rudolph Morris bought the theater space formerly known as Dreamland Arts (and the attached house, where they now live), and have turned it into The Hive Collaborative. I interviewed them for Twin Cities Theater Chat when they were just beginning last year, and I'm happy to report that their great ideas and hopes for the space have come true, and more. With their company Buzz Music Theater they produced a series based around the concept album (from Jane Austen to Frank Sinatra to Schubert to Ella Fitzgerald), they host a monthly bingo/trivia/music night called 16-Bar Bingo, they connect theater-makers who want to collaborate or learn something new, they provide a venue for nomadic theater companies, and host any number of events. But most importantly they've made it feel like a warm, welcoming, cozy place to be. With snacks!
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| just a couple of Great American B*tches |
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| TCTB at GRSF |
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| with friends (including Julie and Carol from Minnesota Theater Love) at APT |
A bit longer of a drive but totally worth it, I made my second visit to American Players Theatre in the woods in the middle of nowhere, Wisconsin. We saw five incredible plays over three days, four of them in the best theater venue imaginable - an outdoor amphitheater surrounded by gorgeous trees with stars and the moon overhead, or the bright late summer sunlight. It's such a magical, idyllic, all-consuming, wonderful experience that vowed I wouldn't miss a year again.
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| with my cousin and aunt and (a photo of) Dom and Billy |
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| wearing my MN Fringe shirt at ED Fringe (forgive the bad photo I had covid) |
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| with Gavin after a 2010 concert at the Woman's Club of Minneapolis |
2024 brought us countless other tragedies - war, mass shootings, an increasingly violent world, and an ugly divisive election that leaves the future terrifyingly uncertain for many of us. But in times of trouble, I always look to the artists. I recently saw the Bob Dylan movie A Complete Unknown, and was struck by the similarities to our time. The early '60s was a tumultuous time, with war and violence abroad and at home, assassinations of leaders, and a divided nation, and this group of artists, these folk musicians, attempted to start a revolution of peace through music. Artists, specifically theater, give me hope for the future. I believe in the power of theater to change the world. Or at least to change hearts and minds, one at a time, and that's how we change the world.
Here's to a 2025 filled with peace, justice, equality, righteous anger, protest, love, community, healing, and theater. (And snacks!)
