Grumpy Old Men the Musical From Minneapolis Musical Theatre is a Rather Fun Adaptation of the 90’s Film.

Jim Ahrens, Michael Fischetti, Ward Eames, and Quintin Michael Photo by Molly Jay Photography

Grumpy Old Men: The Musical, based on the 1993 film, is a perfect fit for the theater company Minneapolis Musical Theatre, which specializes in “Rare Musicals. Well Done.” This is certainly a rarely performed musical and, as is often the case, there’s a reason for that. The show itself isn’t of the quality that a larger theater like Theater Latté Da or the Guthrie Theater is likely to mount. But what MMT does is take those not-quite-hit-worthy efforts and, as their slogan promises, do them well.

The smaller budget, the mix of professional and community theater actors, and sets that lean more on creativity than realism are exactly what make a show like this work. To see Tyler Michaels King, Erin Capello, Tod Petersen, and Roland Hawkins II perform this on the Guthrie thrust stage, surrounded by a set that cost 20 times MMT’s budget, would shine far too bright a light on the material. At this level, we forgive the show’s imperfections, in fact, they become part of its charm. I don’t know if a lavish set could be any more charming than the clever creations scenic designer Maggie Mae Sulentic has devised. Actually, I do know: it would be a step down.

This material was never meant to stand beside Les Misérables or even Legally Blonde. Just as the original film wasn’t aiming for the magic of When Harry Met Sally or Groundhog Day, it was meant to be fun, light entertainment. And if memory serves, it was. I haven’t seen it since 1993, but I remember laughing and, despite it being aimed at people much older than my then tender 21 years, finding it quite enjoyable.

That’s what this is, too. Though I will say, I don’t think most modern 21-year-olds would find it as entertaining as I did. The sweet spot here seems to be my age and older, which, thankfully for MMT, my highly scientific observational poll suggests makes up about 75% of theatergoers. The trick, as with any show, is finding that audience and making sure they know about it. So if you’re under 40 and this doesn’t seem like your cup of tea, let your parents know, they’re going to have a blast.

The grumpy old men of the title are two former friends who have been feuding for more than 30 years. Their rivalry gets a fresh burst of energy when they both fall for a new widow who moves in across the street. Her home furnishings, especially a statue of her late husband, are among the many clever set pieces that add delightful touches to the production.

There’s also a subplot involving their children that might feel unnecessary, if not for the charming performances of Jillian Bader and James Lane, who win you over completely. Jim Ahrens and Ward Eames play the titular grumps, trading barbs and insults like seasoned pros. There are also a couple of real crowd-pleasers. Punky, played by Lisa Denninger, is essentially the show’s version of Woody from Cheers, and if you don’t know what Cheers is, this show probably isn’t for you. Denninger nails the comedy, but she also surprises vocally, arguably the strongest singer in the cast, if I’m being honest (and you know I always am). The other standout is Michael Fischetti as Grandpa, the role made famous by Burgess Meredith in the film. He’s just as funny, and just as inappropriate here.

Grumpy Old Men: The Musical is a great show to take in with a group of friends, say, ages 50 to 87. It runs through April 19th at the Conn Theater in Minneapolis. For more information and tickets, visit https://www.aboutmmt.org/2025-26-season/

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Hmong Futures: The Future of Us A World Premiere From Theater Mu.

The full cast of “HMong Futures: The Future of Us” Photo by Rich Ryan

Hmong Futures: The Future of Us is the new play by Katie Ka Vang, having its world premiere from Theater Mu. It’s the story of three generations of a Hmong American family a mother, daughter, and granddaughter. It is, to be sure, a story about family, but also about community, or our found families.

Fhoua comes to the home of her mother, Zong, whom she hasn’t spoken to in five years. We learn from a phone call with her own daughter, Maly, who is away at camp, that she has something difficult to ask her mother. We suspect she wants to ask if they can stay with her. There is a lot of information we are not privy to at first, which is gradually revealed. That withholding mirrors a key theme of the play: these characters don’t speak openly about important things, and the script reinforces that by keeping certain details from us.

The secrets matter, of course, but the real thrill of the production, and where Katie Ka Vang truly excels, is in the voice of the characters. Their exchanges, their frustrations, all ring true. The way they talk around issues, saying one thing while meaning much more than they verbalize, feels authentic and deeply observed.

The cast is fantastic at making the dialogue feel natural while conveying the unspoken meaning beneath it. Sharon Omi, as Zong, is excellent as a mother shaped by a different country and a more survival driven life. Nancy Ma is stunning as Fhoua, a woman so accustomed to avoiding conflict that she struggles to reconnect with her mother and seems ready to slip away again. Melody Her, as the 16-year-old Maly, is one to watch. This is my second time seeing Her perform, the first was in Again, also by Vang, with songs by Melissa Li, which I loved, particularly Her’s performance. A college graduate, she can still convincingly play a teenager without it ever feeling forced or artificial.

Rounding out the cast is Greg Watanabe as Unclefriend, a very funny role and part of the found family Zong has built. Mason Yang appears as Aben, a young man helping out in the cooperative Zong is part of and also staying with her. He is also 16, and he and Her share a nice scene in which they open up to each other about their family situations.

A final note on the set design by Sarah Bahr. The set places the interior of Zong’s house upstage, with her garden downstage. The characters actually garden at various points, and it beautifully blends their inner lives with their connection to nature and farming. It’s a wonderful achievement and an impressively executed design.

Hmong Futures: The Future of Us runs through May 3rd at the Gremlin Theatre in St. Paul. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit https://www.theatermu.org/hmong-futures#gsc.tab=0

Mama Mia, Here We Go Again at Lyric Arts in Anoka!

Holli Kingdon, Lisa Vogel, Emily Jabas, and Raquel Ponce Photo by Molly Jay.

I really wanted to like Mamma Mia! at Lyric Arts in Anoka. I love this theater and find it, along with Yellow Tree Theatre in Osseo, to be key to growing new audiences. I’m so, so, so, so, so sorry that those of you who haven’t already purchased tickets will likely not get to see it. The show opens Friday night, and they let me attend the preview on Thursday because, well, the entire run sold out more than a week before it even opened. I think it was the only date in the first two weeks they could squeeze me in.

Unfortunately for you, I didn’t like the show, I loved it! And so I feel terrible that you have to read about what you’re destined to miss.

I’ll be completely honest: I’ve always loved the music of ABBA. I thought the Mamma Mia! movie was terrible, and I was surprised to find that, despite that, when I finally saw it on stage, I really enjoyed myself. This is probably the fourth time I’ve seen the musical live, but all the others were national tours. This is a pared-down version compared to those, with talented, but, for the most part, not Broadway caliber performers. So why is this the best version I’ve ever seen?

One reason, and I don’t mean to take anything away from the tremendous job director Kassy Skoretz has done with the staging, which is fantastic, is the choreography by Michael Terrell Brown. It’s the real star of the show. The choreography is filled with so much character that it feels like the driving creative force behind the production. Brown, months before the audience even walks in, seems to anticipate their reactions and gives them exactly what they want, along with what they didn’t know they wanted. The movement is confident, full of bold choices and wildly theatrical flourishes that, if they didn’t land, could sink the show. But there’s no fear of that here, everything works. I think the only Lyric Arts audience I’ve seen more enthusiastic in the decade plus I’ve been attending, was opening night of The SpongeBob Musical, those cats were Beatlemania-level excited. I’m genuinely mortified you won’t get to see this.

Another winning aspect of the production is the cast. There are varying levels of vocal ability, and in fact, many performers, particularly Lisa Vogel as Donna, seem to grow over the course of the evening. She starts out solid, quite good, and then at some point becomes great. Does that make the performance feel uneven? Not at all. It feels like Donna is finding her confidence, and maybe Vogel is too, but it works. That’s true across the cast: they’re not polished in the way you might expect, but they feel real. You instantly like them. They surprise you. They connect with you, sometimes literally (I had a flipper land on my head during the show, and I loved it).

It’s a cast where I could go on all night about how good everyone is. But again, and I am sorrier than it is humanly possible to be, if you didn’t already get tickets, it would just be rubbing salt in the wound. And, you know… sleep. I will say that the three men playing Donna’s exes, Eric Lee, France A. Roberts, and Keith Reilly are perfectly cast. Emily Jabas and Holli Kingdon, as Donna’s best friends, are even better. Each gets a number that had the audience screaming with joy: Jabas kills “Take a Chance on Me,” and Kingdon has the audience foaming at the mouth with “Does Your Mother Know.” Both numbers soar even higher thanks to Brown’s brilliant choreography. And I should clarify here, it isn’t Bob Fosse, it doesn’t stun, it delights. And one last comment on the cast Raquel Ponce as Sophie, is magical, the heart of the show.

I know I didn’t give you a plot synopsis, but it’s Mamma Mia!, you already bought your tickets, and if you didn’t, it doesn’t matter… you can’t go. I assume if they could have worked out an extension, they would have announced it by now, but hey, you can always cross your fingers. I really feel bad for you, because this show is pure joy, and we all need a nice helping of that right now.

Mama Mia runs through May 10th at Lyric Arts in Anoka. Though it’s essentially sold out, if you are dying to get a ticket I encourage you to go to https://www.lyricarts.org/mamma-mia as some tickets may free up. Click on the dates you can go and see if there are any left. A quick glance through a few dates revealed a few single seats at some performances.

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Suffs Enough, Give Everyone Equal Rights Now!

Danyel Fulton as Ida B. Wells and SUFFS Company Photo by Joan Marcus, 2025

I first saw Shaina Taub’s musical Suffs on Broadway on November 3, 2024, two days before the last presidential election. It felt like the perfect show to close out our first trip to New York City, almost uncannily timely. A year and a half later, it hasn’t aged, it’s escalated.

As Republicans once again float efforts to create “legal” pathways to disqualify female voters, under the now-standard excuse of rampant voter fraud that stubbornly refuses to exist in any meaningful, evidence-based way, the story of the 19th Amendment lands with renewed force. It took nearly 140 years after the Constitution was adopted for women to secure the right to vote in 1920. Apparently, it doesn’t take quite as long to start chipping away at it.

Suffs is a passionate and frequently powerful musical, despite its deceptively light title. If you’re expecting something breezy, maybe a number called “Wassup, Suffs?”, you’re in the wrong theater. What you get instead is one of the most musically satisfying new shows in recent years. While it doesn’t chase the pop-cultural sheen of Hamilton, it doesn’t need to. The score leans more traditional, but it’s packed with sharp, witty songs and genuinely stirring anthems. And this all-female cast doesn’t just perform them, they deliver them with purpose.

The show centers on Alice Paul and her efforts to drag the suffrage movement forward, often in direct conflict with the more measured approach of Carrie Chapman Catt. Paul and her fellow suffragists organize a march on Washington the day before Woodrow Wilson’s inauguration, pushing him to support a federal amendment. When that predictably fails, they escalate, protesting, picketing, and ultimately holding a silent vigil outside the White House. For this, they are arrested.

Once the U.S. enters World War I, Wilson effectively frames dissent as disloyalty, because nothing says “defending democracy” like silencing it. This was of course a violation of their first amendment rights. which is of course illegal,as the constitution gives citizens the right of free speech. Or it least it did, I’m not sure much in the constitution other than the right to bear arms is still in effect. I think they call them alternative rights now. The suffragists are imprisoned, subjected to forced feedings and abuse, while the administration lies to the public about their treatment. It’s the kind of history that would feel exaggerated if it weren’t so well documented.

And that’s where Suffs hits hardest. It doesn’t need to twist itself into relevance, the parallels are already doing the work. The show is inspiring, yes, but it’s also quietly infuriating. It reminds you not just of how hard these women fought, but how fragile those victories can be.

It also doesn’t shy away from the movement’s limitations. As the show makes clear, the passage of the 19th Amendment did not mean equal access to the ballot for Black women. Even in victory, there were compromises, and people left behind.

So yes, Suffs is uplifting. It’s also a pointed reminder that progress is neither permanent nor guaranteed. Rights are won, eroded, defended, and, if history is any indication, fought for all over again.

Suffs runs through April 12 at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Minneapolis. If you’re paying attention to the world around you, it’s not just worth seeing, it feels necessary. For more information and tickets, visit:
https://hennepinarts.org/events/suffs

Gutenberg! the Musical! A Historically Fictional Musical That’s so Funny it Should be Considered True!

Tom Reed and Dominic Schiro Photo by Dan Norman

Gutenberg! The Musical! And for good measure, I’m adding another “!”! Why does it deserve a third, and potentially fourth, “!” (I’m not sure, grammatically, if I needed end punctuation after the ! in “”) “.” ? Well, I’ll tell you why (which is when a harp would be strummed and I’d begin to sing), because this is the kind of show that led to the creation of The Stages of MN in the first place. Faithful readers will remember that the actual shows were Be More Chill and Hedwig and the Angry Inch. By some sort of mystical coincidence, the latter was, like Gutenberg! The Musical!, produced at Theater Latté Da, and the star of that show, Tyler Michaels King, is the director of this one. I assume your mind is now blown.

The show is about two best friends, Doug and Bud, who, thanks to a financial windfall, have rented the Ritz Theater for one night only to present the musical they’ve written together: Gutenberg! The Musical!. The musical (the show within the show) is about Johannes Gutenberg and the invention of the printing press. It is completely fictional and incredibly silly. But the piece is also a send-up of the musical theater form itself, and Doug and Bud get about as much stage time as the characters they portray. When I say “performance,” it’s really a staged reading, in which Doug and Bud play all the roles, aided by an ever-rotating collection of baseball caps to help the audience keep track of which of the dozens of characters they’re embodying at any given moment.

Tom Reed plays Doug. Regular Theater Latté Da patrons may recognize him from another Latté Da production, Stones in His Pockets, where he proved his skill at playing dozens of characters alongside a single fellow performer. A longtime Stages of MN favorite since appearing in one of my all-time favorite musicals, Interstate, he once again demonstrates the comedic timing and musical chops that make him a “must-see” performer for me.

Dominic Schiro first came to my attention a couple of years ago in Ten Thousand Things’ production of The Spitfire Grill, where I immediately found myself asking fellow bloggers, “Who is this guy?” He was far too good for me not to have noticed him before. I knew he could sing, now I know he’s also a gifted comedic actor. Reed and Schiro play off each other beautifully. They make it look effortless (it is not). The supportive banter between Doug and Bud feels genuinely heartfelt, even amid the extremely goofy dialogue, plot, songs, and overall conceit.

Tyler Michaels King is the perfect guiding force for this show. While the book itself is clever, so much of the humor comes from the performances. Michaels King is an accomplished improv performer, as is Reed, and I can only imagine the laughter in rehearsal as they explored blocking, added bits of stage business, shaped reactions, and fine-tuned all the details we don’t consciously see but absolutely feel. A tip o’ the hat as well (don’t ask me where the Irish accent came from [perhaps thinking about Stones in His Pockets] {which is set in Ireland}) to music director Jason Hansen, who even gets in on the action with a few well delivered lines of his own.

This is the kind of show that will have you chasing the theatrical dragon. It’s so fun, warm-spirited, and delightful that you’ll want to see more theater, always searching for that next show that gives you the same high. Do it. Keep going. For in theater, as I’m about to start always saying, here there be dragons!

Gutenberg! The Musical! runs through May 3 at Theater Latte Da. For more information, and to get your fix, visit
https://www.latteda.org/gutenberg-musical

Marie and Rosetta Makes its Long Awaited Appearance at Yellow Tree Theatre and Proves it Was Worth the Wait!

Adair Gilliam and Chaz Shermil Hodges Photo by Alex Clark

Marie and Rosetta, after being postponed last season, finally takes the spotlight at Yellow Tree Theatre, and it was well worth the wait. I have no personal connection to gospel music, but I gained a real appreciation for it, and genuine enjoyment, during the 100 minutes I spent with Adair Gilliam and Chaz Shermil Hodges, who play Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Marie Knight, respectively.

These are perfect roles for both actors, especially Gilliam. I imagine the pool of Twin Cities performers who can handle the intricate guitar work required for this role, while also acting and singing at a high level, is not a large one. But no matter how large that pool might be, I doubt anyone could do it better than Adair Gilliam. Her guitar playing is stunning, her singing remarkable, and her acting equally strong, but she also possesses that intangible quality I can only describe as chemistry with the audience. There’s something in the way she leans into the music, particularly with the guitar in hand, her feel for it, the twinkle in her eye, the smile that spreads across her face as she doesn’t just sing, but communicates the lyrics. It gave me goosebumps, and it will undoubtedly be one of my top theater highlights of 2026, even this early in the year.

Chaz Shermil Hodges is a terrific partner for Gilliam. As Marie, the young protégé Rosetta has taken under her wing, she projects openness and youthful energy, and their vocal performances together are both uplifting and electric.

The story unfolds over their first evening working together, as they rehearse and get to know one another. Interestingly, it takes place in a funeral home. As Black performers traveling the South in the 1940s, their lodging options are limited, so they rely on friends and community connections wherever they go. The women talk about their mothers, the men in their lives, religion, and music, sharing their stories as we come to know them. I found these conversations fascinating, like listening to two people you instantly like open up about themselves. Co-directors Ansa Akyea and Richard Thompson beautifully capture that feeling of connection, the simple act of sitting, talking, and truly listening. It’s something many productions aim for, but few fully achieve.

The show would be worth seeing even without the musical numbers woven throughout, but man, those performances make this one a must-see. Go and swing with Marie and Rosetta which runs through April 19 at Yellow Tree Theatre in Osseo. For more information and tickets, go to https://yellowtreetheatre.com/marie-and-rosetta.

Conscience at Theatre in the Round is a Powerful Yet Entertaining Reminder of How Far We Have Fallen

Mary Lofreddo, Ron Lamprecht, and Alison Anderson Photo by Tom Taintor

You can’t spell conscience without science. Perhaps that’s why so many MAGA supporters seem to lack one, because they reject the other. Scientific truths become “alternative facts,” and when elected Republicans stayed silent as that phrase was first trotted out, they effectively endorsed it.

Conscience, by award-winning playwright Joe DiPietro, tells the true story of the first woman to serve in both houses of the U.S. Congress. In 1950, as a Republican senator from Maine, she delivered a speech on the Senate floor known as the “Declaration of Conscience,” openly condemning the tactics of fellow Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy. This came at a time when Congress was paralyzed by fear, fear of crossing McCarthy and becoming the next target of his reckless accusations.

In that speech, she warned that such tactics would debase the Senate to “a forum of hate and character assassination,” while defending every American’s “right to criticize… the right to hold unpopular beliefs… the right to protest; the right of independent thought.” She also made clear that while she wanted Republican success, “I don’t want to see the Republican Party ride to political victory on the four horsemen of calumny—fear, ignorance, bigotry, and smear.” Sound familiar?

The play does an excellent job dramatizing Margaret Chase Smith’s campaign to stand up to one of the most dangerous figures in American political history. It doesn’t need to force modern parallels, they are sitting in plain sight. By remaining firmly rooted in its historical setting, the play becomes even more chilling. We’re often told we study history so we don’t repeat it. If that’s true, the present moment suggests we haven’t been paying attention.

The play features four characters, all portrayed by excellent performers. Alison Anderson brings intelligence and quiet moral authority to Margaret Chase Smith, while Ron Lamprecht captures the bluster, buffoonery, and menace of Joseph McCarthy. Despite the gravity of the subject matter, the play is often surprisingly light and frequently funny, again, trusting the audience to draw its own connections rather than forcing them.

The remaining roles are equally strong. Mary Lofreddo plays Jean Kerr, McCarthy’s assistant and eventual wife, while Tim Wollman portrays William Lewis Jr., Smith’s loyal advisor, who is also a closeted gay man, another group targeted during McCarthy’s crusade. The strength of these performances is a major reason the show succeeds not only as a history lesson, but as compelling entertainment.

Directed by Sophie Peyton, the production runs just under two hours with an intermission. I’ll admit, I’m often skeptical of intermissions in shows that could run straight through, but in this case I welcomed it. I actually spent much of the break jotting down thoughts from the first act. I also want to highlight Sadie Ward’s set design, which features elements resembling torn fragments of the Constitution, an evocative visual metaphor that complements the play’s themes.

Near the end, the play recalls Joseph Welch’s famous rebuke to McCarthy: “Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?” It’s a line that still resonates, perhaps now more than ever. It’s hard not to think of how rarely that standard seems to apply today. For instance, consider a recent Truth Social post from Donald Trump about Bruce Springsteen:

“Bad, and very boring singer, Bruce Springsteen, who looks like a dried-up prune… has long had a horrible and incurable case of Trump Derangement Syndrome… The guy is a total loser… MAGA SHOULD BOYCOTT HIS OVERPRICED CONCERTS, WHICH SUCK. SAVE YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY. AMERICA IS BACK!!! President DJT”

Those are the words of a sitting president, expressed while the country faces far more serious concerns. The lack of decorum is striking, and it’s difficult not to draw comparisons to McCarthy’s own crass and reckless rhetoric. It’s hard to imagine many other presidents speaking this way with such frequency. Which brings to mind Mike Judge’s film Idiocracy. When it was released in 2006, it felt wildly over-the-top, a broad, absurd comedy. Nearly twenty years later, it doesn’t seem quite so far-fetched. What once felt like satire now lands a little too close to reality.

I’ll leave you with one final quote from Smith’s “Declaration of Conscience”: “It is high time that we all stopped being tools and victims of totalitarian techniques—techniques that, if continued here unchecked, will surely end what we have come to cherish as the American way of life.”

Conscience is the kind of production that feels essential. Theatre in the Round has been having an exceptional season, and this is another strong entry that deserves a wide audience. Conscience runs through April 19th at Theatre in the Round in Minneapolis. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.theatreintheround.org/conscience/