"Secret Warriors" at History Theatre

Did you know that Japanese Americans served in the U.S. Army as translators, interpreters, and interrogators during WWII, at the same time that their families were imprisoned in internment camps back home? I didn't either, but I do now thanks to History Theatre's world premiere new play Secret Warriors. As always with History Theatre's original, often commissioned, plays and musicals, Secret Warriors shines a light on a little known aspect of history, usually with a Minnesota connection, and draws a straight line from the past to the present. Today, the very law that was used to intern Japanese Americans (the Alien Enemies Act of 1798) is being used to justify mass deportations, and we're seeing a rise of division and hate crimes. Director Lily Tung Crystal sums up this parallel in the program and the questions that this excellent new play raises: "What lessons from the past must we carry forward to ensure history does not repeat itself? How do we reconcile patriotism with the injustices committed by our own government? And what does it truly mean to be American?" Remembering our history is so important, and what better way to do that than through an engaging and entertaining play? You can learn about and pay homage to these Secret Warriors at the History Theatre in downtown St. Paul through April 19 (click here for info and tickets).

"Red and the Mother Wild" by Transatlantic Love Affair and Illusion Theater at Center for the Performing Arts

This spring, Transatlantic Love Affair is back at Illusion Theater, the artistic partner of this Minnesota Fringe-born physical theater company for a decade and a half. TLA typically debuts new original pieces at Fringe, and then in the next year or two continues to develop and expand the show into a 75-ish minute piece produced by and staged at Illusion. This year, they're remounting/revisiting their 2011 Fringe hit Red Resurrected, which I first saw in 2013 in the expanded Illusion Theater version. Retitled Red and the Mother Wild and with some additional content/themes added, it's still an exquisitely lovely and achingly beautiful piece, as all of TLA's work is. It's essentially a coming of age story of a young orphan girl who finds her purpose in the supposedly dangerous woods, told without any props or set pieces (or shoes), but simply using the voices, bodies, and souls of the talented seven-person cast. Experience the magic that is TLA at Center for the Performing Arts in Uptown through April 12.

"The Show" by E/D at Red Eye Theater

The uniquely special theater partnership known as E/D, comprised of Emily Michaels King and Debra Berger, is remounting their glorious pink explosion of a show entitled simply The Show. Originally scheduled for March 2020, The Show finally premiered in the fall of 2022. And now, two and a half years later, they're bringing it back. As they mention in the intro, a lot has happened in the last two and a half years. They're different, and we're different. The Show may be a little different, but it's pretty close to what I remember of the original, which is and "emotionally raw, thoughtfully executed, and completely engrossing show by two uniquely talented artists, who combine to form a whole greater than the sum of its parts." Read on for my review of the 2022 production (with some slight modifications), and then click here for all of the details and to purchase $20 tickets through April 5 only. I guarantee you will not see a more original Show this year.

"The Mousetrap" at the Guthrie Theater

The world's longest running play has arrived at the Guthrie! Agatha Christie's murder mystery The Mousetrap opened in London's West End in 1952 and has run continuously ever since (give or take a global pandemic). I first saw the play three years ago at Lyric Arts, so it wasn't too far into the Guthrie's delicious new production that I remembered whodunit, but that did not diminish my enjoyment of watching the mystery play out. If you've never seen the play before you are in for a treat, as Christie's well-plotted mystery has a plethora of quirky characters who all have a secret and could be the murderer. But even if you know whodunit, it's a pleasure to watch this dreamy and mostly local cast perform a beloved classic on this gorgeous set. See The Mousetrap on the Guthrie's proscenium stage now through May 13.

"Triassic Parq" by Minneapolis Musical Theatre at LUSH Lounge and Theater

Minneapolis Musical Theatre is back with another rare musical, well done. Triassic Parq is another in the vein of the campy spoof musical (see also Silence! The Musical), which is not my favorite kind of musical, especially when I'm not that familiar with the source material, but it's a lot of fun. This rock musical is a loose retelling of Jurassic Park from the point of view of the dinosaurs. I don't really know the movie (I pretty much only watched it recently when Minnesota Fringe did it for their annual Five-Fifths fundraiser), so I can't speak to the plot similarities or references. But it's probably kind of like what Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is to Hamlet (for my fellow theater nerds) - showing us what's going on with the minor characters on the other side of the main action. In this case, those minor characters are dinosaurs, who are also going through some challenges and transitions of their own. Triassic Parq is a celebration of community, friendship, identity, and finding oneself. It's playing Saturdays and Sundays (plus one Monday night pay-what-you-can performance) through April 13 at LUSH Lounge and Theater in Northeast Minneapolis, which is the perfect venue for this show. You can also arrive early and have dinner or brunch in their dining room before heading into the event space for the show.

"Witch" by Walking Shadow Theatre Company at Open Eye Theatre

The new play Witch, by Playwrights' Center affiliated writer Jen Silverman (author of The Roommate and The Moors), is an absurd and funny little play that's difficult to describe. It's a loose retelling of the 17th Century play The Witch of Edmonton, which is based on the real-life case of Elizabeth Sawyer, one of tens of thousands of women accused of and executed for being a witch in the middle ages and early modern era across Europe and the US. But the play also focuses on a wealthy landowner and his heirs, and the idea of selling one's soul to the devil, and things take many unexpected turns. The themes of women's agency, and selling your soul to gain power, make this four hundred year old story scarily relevant. Walking Shadow Theatre Company's production is well-executed in the intimate space of Open Eye Theatre, with a talented six-person cast. Witch continues through April 13 (note: "intimate" means small audience, so don't wait too long - some performances are already sold out).

"The World is Burning, So I Made S'mores" by Brave New Workshop at the Dudley Riggs Theatre

Leave it to Brave New Workshop (the longest running comedy theater in the country) to bring us just the show we need right now, and make us laugh through the fear and uncertainty of this world. A lot of people feel like "the world is burning" (literally in California, metaphorically in wars, mass deportation, endless infuriating executive orders, removal of protection for our most vulnerable people and places), and sometimes it feels like there's nothing we can do about it but "make s'mores." Which in this case means - see a comedy show that makes us laugh. And truly, one of the things that makes this country great, and that we have to protect, is the freedom of our artists to tell stories, make jokes, and poke fun at the current administration, past administrations, and ourselves. If you're looking to escape the troubles of our daily world, this may not be the show for you. And if you think the world is pretty great right now, this may not be the show for you either. But if you want to sit in a room and commiserate and laugh with other humans about the crazy things happening daily, as a way to release a bit of the stress and recharge for the continued fight, then The World is Burning, So I Made S'mores is definitely the show for you. See it at the Dudley Riggs Theatre on Hennepin Avenue weekends through May 17.

"The Light in the Piazza" by Duluth Playhouse at the NorShor Theatre

If no theater in the Twin Cities is going to do the gorgeous musical The Light in the Piazza (at least not in 12 years since Theater Latte Da's wonderful production), I will happily drive two hours to see Duluth Playhouse's production at the historic NorShor Theatre. In fact, if it weren't so hard to get away from my busy theater schedule for a few days (because if I'm going to Duluth, I'm staying for more than just a day or one night), I'd see everything they do. It was more than worth the drive to see this beautiful production of the 2005 multiple Tony-winning musical featuring a stunningly gorgeous score (written by Adam Guettel, grandson of Richard Rodgers of Rodgers and Hammerstein) and a beautifully romantic story, with a twist. The talented mostly Duluth-based cast (led by #TCTheater favorite Kersten Rodau), lush 16-piece pit orchestra, and lovely design transport you to a summer in Italy long ago. If you're in the Duluth area or can make the trip - do it. This is a musical that doesn't get produced very often, and it absolutely shines in this Duluth Playhouse production. But don't wait, the show plays Thursdays through Sundays for two more weekends only.

"Patience" by The Gilbert and Sullivan Very Light Opera Company at the Conn Theater

Just when I think I've seen every Gilbert and Sullivan show, The Gilbert and Sullivan Very Light Opera Company (GSVLOC) introduces me to another silly delight. No, the number of comic operas that this pair created is not infinite, it's 14, but when GSVLOC only does one or two shows a year, it takes a while to cycle through the repertoire. In my ten years of attending GSVLOC shows (they've been around for over 40), I've seen nine different operas and only one repeat (although last fall's The McAdo was such a delightfully unique reworking of The Mikado as to almost feel like a different show). This spring's offering is the ridiculous and delicious Patience, which skewers the aesthetic movement of the late 19th Century. If you don't know what that is, no worries (think Oscar Wilde); the show is basically about the way we mere mortals worship artists and celebrities, to ridiculous extremes. Patience continues weekends through April 6, with a talented onstage cast and offstage orchestra, both too large to count.

"The Book Club Play" at Lakeshore Players Theatre

Sometimes a book can change your life. Sometimes so can a book club. Such is the premise of Karen Zacarías' hilarious play The Book Club Play, which I first saw at Theatre in the Round two years ago* but was more than happy to revisit at Lakeshore Players Theatre. The play is essentially a study of humanity as seen through the very specific phenomenon known as the Book Club, and the life changes brought about in all of our characters through several very eventful meetings. It's also an exploration of books, literature, art, and what makes some worthy and some not, some popular and some not. And are those two things mutually exclusive? You can see the very funny, real, and relatable The Book Club Play at the Lakeshore Players Theatre in lovely downtown White Bear Lake through March 23 only.

Broadway tour of "Dear Evan Hansen" at the Ordway Center

The second Broadway tour to come to the Ordway in as many weeks (and the second tear-jerker), Dear Evan Hansen is back in town for one week only! The 2017 Tony Award-winning musical was last seen at the Orpheum in 2019, and seeing the show again last night I was reminded just how good it is. When it premiered in 2017 it was so modern and relevant and almost revolutionary in the way it depicted the effects of social media on young people. Now, eight years later, some of the specifics of the technology have changed (Tik Tok and Snapchat and who knows what else have replaced Facebook and Twitter), but what hasn't changed is the power of social media to both join us together, and to further bullying and abuse. This musical also deals with mental health issues and suicide among our youth, which is still a very concerning problem. The power of musical theater is that it can bring awareness of these issues to the general public, as well as reach struggling individuals in a visceral way, and maybe help them to feel less alone, to reach out for help, to live for the promise of a better day. You, too, can be found at the Ordway Center in downtown St. Paul through March 16.

"Invisible Fences" at Open Eye Theatre

There's something really special happening at Open Eye Theatre right now. They're remounting the 2023 show by Gaelynn Lea and Kevin Kling, a "musical fable" that celebrates diversity culture. And not only sharing the work of disabled artists, but creating a welcoming environment for disabled people to enjoy the arts. I saw more people of varying abilities in the sold-out audience at last night's show than I've ever seen at the theater. Which makes me wonder, what can other theaters do to make their work and their spaces not just more accessible, but more welcoming to the disabled community? But regardless of what your abilities are, Invisible Fences is an utterly charming, engaging, funny, poignant musical about friendship and accomplishing seemingly impossible goals by working together. This short run is almost sold out, so act fast to witness the magic at Open Eye Theatre.