The Root Beer Lady at History Theatre in St. Paul ended with a standing ovation, that continued for nearly a minute after it’s star and writer Kim Schultz left the stage. I don’t remember ever experiencing that before. One thing’s for certain, Minnesotans love their Root Beer Lady and Kim Schultz brought her vividly to life for us on stage tonight. You rarely leave the History Theatre without a little curiosity stoked to learn more about the subject of the evening’s entertainment and for me, that has never been truer. As soon as this review is posted I’ll be googling the hell out of Dorothy Molter, of that you can be sure. If you don’t know much or anything about Ms. Molter, do yourself a favor and don’t google her. Instead, click on this link RootBeer and get yourself some tickets and hear about her from Kim Schultz.

Schultz heard about Molter during a stay in Tofte, MN. Fascinated by what she’d heard, she found a book written about her in the Tofte library. After reading that and doing some more research she began writing this one woman show. I really don’t want to say much about her story as I knew little going in, and not knowing all the details was a wonderful gift. Molter permanently to Knife Lake in the Boundary Waters area of Northern MN after spending three summers working at the Isle of Pines Resort for her friend Bill. She never left, becoming the last resident of what became the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Her story is about the love she had for the area and her determination to live her life the way she wanted to, where she wanted to, in a time when that wasn’t really done. The story is full of humor and emotion, astonishing facts, and moments that will leave you in awe of what Molter was capable of. It’s an inspirational true life tale of real Minnesota original, and I found my eyes got a little watery by the end. She is an example of the ways in which people touch each others lives. When the going gets rough, the woman the Saturday Evening Post dubbed, the “Loneliest woman in America” always found that she had many, many, many friends.

It’s clear that Kim Schultz connected with Molter as her portrayal is so affectionate. She embraces the wonder of a young Molter experiencing the majesty of the wilderness, and gradually over the course of 80 minutes imperceptibly changes into the mature woman who spent 56 years living in the place she fell in love with. From a wonderstruck young woman to a full blown wilderness character, effortlessly and believably. While it’s definitely Schultz’s show, she gets some wonderful assistance with the production. Chelsea M. Warren’s set is a wonderful combination of Molter’s cabin and the outdoors with large tree trunks towering into the rafters and a canoe beached on the shoreline. Kathy Maxwell’s video design creates a background that changes the season, shows us the beautiful blue skies of a sunny day and the millions of stars in the night sky. Finally, Katherine Horowitz sound design needs to be mentioned for, if nothing else, the sound of the birds that come and eat food from Molter’s hands.

The Root Beer Lady runs through February 19th at the History Theatre for more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.historytheatre.com/2022-2023/root-beer-lady

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I am also a member of the Twin Cities Theater Bloggers, you can read roundups of shows by my colleagues and I on facebook @TwinCitiesTheaterBloggers. Follow that group, It’s a great way to see reviews for shows I don’t get to or to get another bloggers take on one. We have some exciting things in the works for 2023 for the TCTB and our readers, follows us to be the first to know about those happenings. Including our Prom Date with the TCTB!! see below for details. Click on this link and select the March 4th matinee performance https://bit.ly/PromDateWithTCTB

Theatre in the Round Players (TRP) is having one hell of a season, perhaps their best since I’ve been a regular attendee. The Book Club Play is definitely in the conversation for the best production I’ve seen by the company. The position is currently held by Red Herring way back in 2017, but this is giving that show a run for its money. Containing all the elements you might look for in a good book; drama, comedy, social commentary, romance, The Book Club Play touches on all the qualities of the books it’s characters read. But above all, it’s a comedy, one that draws much of it’s humor from the best possible well that of character. The play is written by Karen Zacarias, whose ability to create characters that can be summed up as a type, but then refuse to be simply that character tagline. This is my first exposure to Zacharias’s work, and excited that another of her plays Native Gardens is going to be produced next month at DalekoArts in New Prague. This is the sort of play that I like to recommend for couples who don’t get out to the theater often or as a great night out with a group of friends. TRP tickets are very affordable and there is no way you’re not going to leave the theatre saying “we should go to the theater more often that was really fun!”

The basic plot is, “Ana is a Type A personality who lives in a letter-perfect world with an adoring husband, the perfect job, and her greatest passion: Book Club. But when her cherished group becomes the focus of a documentary film, their intimate discussions about life and literature take a turn for the hilarious in front of the inescapable camera lens. Add a provocative new member along with some surprising new book titles, and these six friends are bound for pandemonium.”

From the Theatre in the Round Website

That’s basically all you need to know of the plot because the humor and heart of the play comes from the characters and their relationships. TRP has gathered a very talented group of actors who know how to bring Zacarias complex characters to life, always avoiding making them into caricatures. Probably the easiest example to illustrate what I mean is Ben Tallen as Rob, Ana’s husband. He plays what in the shortest description would read like a dumb jock trophy husband. But he isn’t written that way, but the aspects that are, Tallen plays against making his character more real by subverting the expectation. Siri Hellerman plays Ana, the most uptight character, she has to fall apart as the others find themselves. She could have come across as a very unlikeable character but again, Hellerman plays the unattractive elements in a way that we empathize way more than we think we would. Rachel Postle gives a very naturalistic performance as Jennifer, an old friend and longtime member of the book club, who isn’t too thrilled with having cameras recording her book club nights. Eni Ogundipe is not someone we’ve seen before, she plays Lily, the young new to town, and recent addition to the book club. Ogundipe is a little green performance wise, but she definitely has a quality that captures the audience’s attention. She’s the young, hip, but very smart woman who tries to shake up the book club a little bit with her off message book choice. Tony Burton plays Will, who is Rob’s best friend, Ana’s first love and whom Lily assumes is gay. He plays Will perfectly so that we have made the same assumption Lily has, but he doesn’t overplay it so much that we can’t believe his denials. It’s a tricky line to walk, for the humor and the character to work, you have to play with some stereotypes, but you don’t want to overplay it and end up playing a stereotype but Burton masters the balancing act. Finally, in between each meeting of the Book Club we get Bailey J. Hess, playing different characters doing a little comedic bit about books. It’s the kind of fun character work we used to see at TRP from Mark L. Mattison. It’s a little palate cleanser between scenes and they all work really well.

The Production is directed by Shanan Custer, a Twin Cities favorite who stopped needing to prove anything long ago. A gifted performer she is also a sure hand at the helm of a production. The timing and staging of the play has her wit written all over it. Not content with a fantastic script, it’s her influence I suspect that guided the actors to making those choices that expand the reality of their characters. One flaw of the show was some of the sound design work by Scott Gilbert. As scenes begin there is an audio announcement of the book and author for that weeks meeting. Frequently, they are too soft to be heard or come on too soon and are drowned out by the audience applause for the previous bit by Hess in one of her unique character creations. Perhaps that will smooth out as the run continues and they have a better sense of the audience reactions. Greg Vanselow’s Set Design is basically some living room furniture, the one neat creation are the four large camera boxes stationed in the four corners of the living room which the actors have fun either talking to or trying to avoid looking into.

The Book Club Play runs through February 19th at Theatre in the Round Players in Minneapolis, for more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.theatreintheround.org/home/season-placeholder/current_season/book-club/ . This one comes very highly recommended!

Don’t want to miss a single review from The Stages of MN? You can subscribe and have every post sent directly to your email. To Subscribe on your computer: from the home page on the right, enter your email address and click subscribe. On your mobile device scroll to the bottom of the page and do the same. Also you can follow me on Facebook, search @thestagesofmn and click follow and on Instagram thestagesofmn.

I am also a member of the Twin Cities Theater Bloggers, you can read roundups of shows by my colleagues and I on facebook @TwinCitiesTheaterBloggers. Follow that group, It’s a great way to see reviews for shows I don’t get to or to get another bloggers take on one. We have some exciting things in the works for 2023 for the TCTB and our readers, follows us to be the first to know about those happenings. Including our Prom Date with the TCTB!! see below for details. Click on this link and select the March 4th matinee performance https://bit.ly/PromDateWithTCTB