Hundred Days is a Beautiful Rousing Joyous Show at the Elision Playhouse.

The entire wonderful cast of *Hundred Days* Photo by Jolie Morehouse Olson

Theatre Elision’s latest production Hundred Days feels like a cross between a concert and the musical sections of Once if you’ve seen the stage musical version performed. There are two performers playing the characters of the shows songwriting duo Abigail and Shaun Bengson plus six musicians. The story, which is implied to be autobiographical tells the love story of Abigail and Shaun through folk-punk music. The 100 days of the title refers to a dream Abigail has had since the age of 15 where she’s seated in a booth at a diner with her husband and told by a Dr. that he will die in 100 days. When Shaun discovers this, and it’s the reason she’s pulling away, they decide to try and live an entire lifetime in those 100 days. It’s an interesting premise and as good as any to use as a structure for the duo’s songs, whether or not it is true. To be clear, I don’t know nor does it matter. What is true are the emotions the characters are feeling, the rush of feeling that initial spark of connection, of talking all night telling each other your life story, the things you share, and the things you keep hidden. If you think back on those romances that have been significant in your life, doesn’t it feel like those first hundred days are like a lifetime of excitement and discovery?

Christine Wade and Ryan Lee play Abigail and Shaun, with Lee also strumming away on guitar throughout. They are perfect together, with their voices complimenting each other beautifully. They also both have the acting chops to pull us into the darker moments. Those moments are few, but do require someone with the skills to convey them in basically a concert staging rather than the way a traditional play or musical would be staged. Taking this even further out of the realm of traditional theater, the actors interact a bit with the members of the band who also provide vocals. While Lee and Wade are definitely the leads, the band is so integral to the joyous mood of the piece that I have to list them as well. So much talent on view here with Emily Hensley on accordion, Benjamin Emory Larson on keyboards, Joni Griffith on Violin, Rae Wasson on Cello (surely the most poignant of instruments), Miles Whealy on drums, and Harrison Wade on guitar and also the Musical Director of the production. Together they create an atmosphere that I’d almost describe as rowdy but not in a bad way. There is at times almost an Irish Pub band feel to it that I just loved. I wouldn’t mind getting to this again before the run ends, it really does feel like an hour and change spent listening to some great music, but with the added element of a love story.

I found Hundred Days to be an uplifting and beautiful musical jam session. The show runs through March 22nd at the Elision Playhouse in Crystal. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.elisionproductions.com/hundreddays

more than ever in the wake of the most recent election and the hailstorm of stupidity and hate it has unleashed, Theater companies need you and we need them. Buy tickets to shows go out and support work that reflects diversity and inclusiveness. Donate to your favorite theater companies, don’t wait until they are on the brink of shutting down. We all need to stand up and fight for our Theaters whose funding is under attack for promoting inclusion, equality and diversity.

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Fifty Boxes of Earth From Theater Mu is Good In Spite of its Missteps at Park Square Theatre

Alex Galick, Mina Moua, & Che’Li Photo by Rich Ryan

Fifty Boxes of Earth by Ankita Raturi is having its world premier from Theater Mu at Park Square Theatre in St. Paul. It is a two hour play with a lot of interpretive dance that would be greatly improved with four words Ninety Minutes, Less Movement. At its heart it is a play about xenophobia and transphobia, but it loses its clarity by trying to force some sort of variation of the Dracula legend upon its narrative. The story revolves around a community garden in which three characters interact. Q has just moved to this country and brings with them 50 boxes of earth. This is a take on Dracula’s 50 boxes of his native soil that he needs to fill his coffins with. Q meets John, who manages the community garden in which Q has reserved a plot. The third character is John’s daughter Mina, who prefers to be called Harker. Q is the other, John is the bigot, and Harker is the way the world should be. John takes an instant distrust to Q, while Harker and Q bond over the planting of their garden and talk of Q’s son who will be coming to live with them after the garden is ready. The garden grows strange things and in foreign dirt, so John does everything he can to sabotage Q’s garden, even trying to destroy it.

Raturi’s script builds effective relationships between the three characters and that is its strength. The weakness as I’ve mentioned is the attempt to somehow tie this to the Dracula mythology. I know they are trying to view that through a modern lense, but nothing really matches up in any way that justifies the connection. Make it a alternate world and it still works as a modern day fairytale or myth. Director KT Shorb accompanies the narrative with five ensemble players, choreographed by Ananya Chatterjea, who dance about and seem to represent the plants of the garden, or the gardens mental health. I’m not the best with interpretive dance. Though I didn’t dislike what the ensemble did necessarily, I do think there was too much of it. The story doesn’t need any of it, but it would have been better if it merely occurred during the action of the play, but it felt at multiple times, including the opening, that it was merely adding to the runtime. Those more into dance might feel differently. Technically the show is excellent with nice set design work by Mina Kinukawa, Puppet Designs and builds by Oanh Vu & Andrew Young, very immersive sound design and musical compositions by Katharine Horowitz, and effective Lighting design by Karin Olson.

The five Ensemble players are Eliana Durnbaugh, Kiko Laureano, Mars Niemi, Alyssa Taiber, and Taylor West and while they do what they are asked very well, I think they are over utilized. Q’s plants grow very rapidly and without having either very elaborate props or frequent long blackouts, the ensemble is necessary to produce those changes on stage and that alone would have been effective. The problem is that it feels like the Director and Choreographer felt the need to justify the dancers presence and so expanded the movement into something that detracts from the story. The three leads are all very compelling as is the central plot and the themes it explores, it doesn’t benefit from a supposed Dracula connection. Che’Li plays Q who is the stand in for Dracula, if Dracula wasn’t a villain, didn’t need to avoid sunlight, didn’t drink the blood of their victims, or really do anything mean, cruel, or… wait how is Q Dracula again? Alex Galick plays John who we assume must be a stand in for Jonathan Harker in Bram Stoker’s novel, except here he’s a terrible xenophobic fact denier whose actions are unconscionable. Mina Moua plays Mina aka Harker and the relationship she and Che’Li develop in the roles is the heart of the play and it’s greatest accomplishment. Galick’s performance as John is superb, I know because I got so angry at him during the performance that I caught myself giving him the finger. When an actor makes you react that viscerally it’s usually a combination of the actors talent and the writer’s skill at character creation.

Ultimately there are more positives than negatives and I do recommend the show. I write so much about the misteps because they are what holds it from going from a good play to a very good play. The truth is, you don’t have to change anything but the characters names and no one in a million years would draw any comparison to Dracula. The fifty boxes of earth can work as it’s own device in this modern day myth, the number which comes from Stoker’s story can be changed to four, considering that is the number of boxes they actually use in the play. Do that, so you are not distracting the audience by having them try and create in their mind a correlation to the famous novel that just wont come into focus. Honestly, the story doesn’t need it. Trim 15 to 20 minutes, most of it movement unrelated to anything needed in terms of set and plot, and you have a very good, maybe even great play. As it is the greatness is there and hopefully those who read this review and attend the show will have their expectations set appropriately and will ignore any thoughts of vampires and just enjoy the story at hand and know that the dancing, while too long, doesn’t ever go on ridiculously too long.

Fifty Boxes of Earth runs through March 16th at Park Square Theatre in St. Paul. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.theatermu.org/fifty-boxes

More than ever in the wake of the most recent election and the hailstorm of stupidity and hate it has unleashed, Theater companies need you and we need them. Buy tickets to shows go out and support work that reflects diversity and inclusiveness. Donate to your favorite theater companies, don’t wait until they are on the brink of shutting down. We all need to stand up and fight for our Theaters whose funding is under attack for promoting inclusion, equality and diversity.

The Effect at the Jungle Theater

Kamani Graham and Becca Claire Hart Photo by Janet Eckles Media

The Effect is brilliant at smuggling in multiple ideas within a 90 minute entertaining story. It’s one of my favorite types of plays, I don’t mean 90 minutes no intermission, but that is always a plus. What I’m referring to is a play that tackles serious or thought provoking themes, but does it with humor and an emotional story that we as an audience can connect with. Written by Lucy Prebble,The Effect follows two test subjects, Tristan and Connie, for a clinical trial of a new antidepressant medication. When the two begin to develop feelings for each they are uncertain whether the feelings are real or actually a side effect of the medication. We also Follow the story of those conducting the trial Dr. Lorna James and Dr. Toby Sealey, who have a complicated past. The play is designed to bring up a lot of questions that it doesn’t answer, which is great, because they don’t have definitive answers, they are questions calculated to make us think. It makes us think about Love, Drugs, Depression, guilt, bias, responsability, connection, and morality. It’s also really quite funny and charming.

Kamani Graham who plays Tristan is not someone I’ve seen before but I hope to see a lot more of. Graham creates an easy rapport with Becca Claire Hart who plays Connie, drawing the more reserved Connie out with his humor and carefree approach to life. Hart does a great job of showing us Connie’s guarded nature, her tendency to overthink every situation. The two play their characters so well that it’s very easy to believe that their attraction as they both embody a quality the other lacks but could maybe use a little of. Dr. Lorna James is played by The Jungle Theater’s Artistic Director Christina Baldwin and Dr. Toby Sealey is portrayed by Greg Watanabe. Baldwin plays her character as strong and in control, but by the end reveals her to be perhaps the most fragile of the four. Watanabe brings a likeability that is key to making his character more than just a representative of big pharm, he isn’t supposed to just be a stand in for a villain, he’s meant to represent someone who is trying to do their best in an imperfect world. He has faults, but he also cares.

Technically the show is very accomplished, from the set design by Benjamin Olsen to the Costumes by Sarah Bahr which have an authentic clinical feel. But what really worked very well is the Projections which were designed by Leslie Ritenour. Throughout the play we get everything from messages like “Dosage increase to 100mg” to brain scan images. We also get these abstract images that look like chemical reactions in the brains which just really helped to convey what was happening between Tristan and Connie.

The Effect runs through March 30th at the Jungle Theater in uptown. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.jungletheater.org/the-effect

Now more than ever in the wake of the most recent election and the hailstorm of stupidity and hate it has unleashed, Theater companies need you and we need them. Buy tickets to shows go out and support work that reflects diversity and inclusiveness. Donate to your favorite theater companies, don’t wait until they are on the brink of shutting down. We all need to stand up and fight for our Theaters whose funding is under attack for promoting inclusion, equality and diversity.

Life of Pi is a Visual Wonder and Fairly Dark Tale at the Orpheum Theatre

Taha Mandviwala, Toussaint Jeanlouis, Shiloh Goodin, and Anna Leigh Gortner
Photo by Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade

Life of Pi based on the Man Booker Prize winning novel by Yann Martel which was also been adapted into the 2012 film directed by Ang Lee, who took home the Best Director Oscar for it. Despite having seen, and actually owning the film on 3D blu-ray I have very little recollection of it. Odd for a film that was nominated for 11 Academy Awards including Best Picture, and even won four. Yet, I just remember there was a boy on a boat with a tiger. I have never read the novel so I cannot speak to how faithfully it adapts the story to the stage. Life of Pi the stage play is a dark tale of faith told with boundless visual creativity that had me fully engaged and often wonderstruck by it’s artful beauty. The story of Pi, the lone survivor of a cargo ship that sank is told in flashback to Mr. Okamoto, who has been sent to interview him to discover what he can about the ships sinking, and Lulu Chen, who is from the Canadian embassy. Pi tells them of the sinking of the ship and how he managed to survive for 227 days at sea in a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker as well as a Zebra, an Orangutan, and a Hyena. Mr. Okamoto cannot believe the story Pi tells and so Pi tells him another story in which the animals are replaced by people from the ship. Lolita Chakrabarti who wrote the play uses these two versions of the story as a reflection on the concept of religious faith. Okamoto believes the version of the story featuring people but is forced to agree that the one with the tiger is the better story.

Taha Mandviwala is exceptional as Pi, it’s a role that requires a lot of heavy lifting as he has to carry much of the story acting with puppets, that for the most part don’t speak. You know he’s done a great job when he isn’t overshadowed by what could easily be the star of the show, which is the production design and puppets used to create the animals. The marvelous puppets were designed by Nick Barnes and Finn Caldwell in a way that captures the idea of the animal without trying to create a lifelike version that would fool the audience. The puppets are brought to life by puppeteers that are visible to the audience but, rather than taking us out of the play, it adds to the enjoyment as we watch their skilled work in capturing the movement and performance of the creatures. One example beyond the larger animals, which are truly amazing, are a group of fish that swim alongside Pi’s lifeboat, they are probably the most realistic of the creations. But the wonderful design isn’t just confined to the puppets as masterfully executed as they are, the scenic and costume designs by Tim Hatley as well as the video and animation designs by Andrzej Goulding contribute immensely. There is an effect that I’m not even sure how they pulled off where the lines on the background set begin to go all wavey like you are viewing it through a sheet of water. The lighting design by Tim Lutkin & Tim Deiling and the sound design be Carolyn Downing also play important roles and have several very impactful moments, especially during the storm that accompanies the sinking of the ship.

Life of Pi might remind some of the delightful creations in The Lion King, but believe me the comparisons end there and parents should be warned. There are several moments that might frighten children, and there are also elements of the story that are probably too intense or disturbing for younger audiences. I’d recommend this for mature 13 year olds and above. Life of Pi runs through March 9th at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Minneapolis. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://hennepinarts.org/events/life-of-pi-2025

The Stages of MN

The Rainmaker Feels Very Modern, Very Funny, and Very Worth a Trip to Lyric Arts in Anoka

Eric Knutson, Jack Bonko, Warren Sampson, Nora Targonski-O’Brien, Samuel Burnham Photo by Molly Weibel

The Rainmaker was written in the early 1950’s, set during the great depression, but feels incredibly modern in its approach to interpersonal relationships. The Curry family are losing cattle due to a drought when a Rainmaker comes by and offers to make it rain within 24 hours for $100. That’s the tagline but it’s not really what the play is about. The play is really about believing in yourself, the importance of hope and of having dreams. It’s about the ways in which those without dreams sometimes only see them as dangers, and the damage they can do to those around them in trying to protect them from dreams. I wasn’t sure what to expect, never having seen the play or the famous 1956 film starring Burt Lancaster and Katharine Hepburn, but what expectations I did have were completely off base. I thought it would be a serious drama about the depression and a con man who takes advantage of people down on their luck. Instead it’s a warm, funny, and inspirational work that connects to the audience as they characters strive to make connections to themselves.

Director Ben Thietje has brought together a fantastic cast, some familiar faces and a couple of new ones that were quite impressive. Eric Knutson, as the titular Rainmaker Bill Starbuck, may be a liar but he wants to believe everything he says. His entrance and first scene sets the tone, he is boundless in his quest to find the right line to reel in his prey. With arms outstretched he makes his pitch in the Curry living room as if he was in a large outdoor church meeting tent speaking to a crowd of hundreds. Knutson has the perfect amount of charm to sell the act and make us see the dreamer inside the con man. Nora Targonski-O’Brien is wonderfully subtle and raw as the daughter and sister Lizzie Curry whom her family is worried will never marry, and thus become an old maid. It reminds me of the line in It’s a Wonderful Life when Clarence tells George that if he were never born Mary becomes an old maid!! Like not getting married is the worst possible fate for a woman. It’s a comment on the times in which the play was set and written, but for all that in many other ways it feels very permissive and forward thinking. The entire cast is solid, but there were two performers that I’m not sure I’d really seen before that were both great in their roles. I want to mention them, so as to hopefully have their names stick in my mind so I can watch for them in upcoming productions. Samuel Burnham plays the eldest son and brother Noah Curry and Christopher D. Knutson who plays the Sheriff’s deputy, File. Where other actors need to go big for their roles, these two ground it in a reality, perfect for their characters.

Adding to the evenings entertainment is a wonderful set design by Justin Hooper, Lighting design by Alyssa Kraft, sound design by Corinne Steffens, and some nice costuming from Samantha Fromm Haddow. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the Curry family and it’s script by N. Richard Nash seems as relevant and modern as something written today, seventy years later. The Rainmaker runs through March 23rd at Lyric Arts in Anoka. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.lyricarts.org/rainmaker

Legacy of Light at Theatre in the Round

Anna Olson, Rachel Postle, and Emma Tonn Photo by Tom Taintor

Legacy of Light is the second ply by Karen Zacarias that I’ve seen at Theatre in the round. The first was The Book Club Play which has a run coming up at Lakeshore Players this March. Of the two plays The Book Club Play is the more entertaining of the two, but Legacy of Light is definitely the more ambitious work. The scenes alternate between France in the 1700’s and New Jersey present day. They have common themes connecting the two timelines, astronomy, love, pregnancy, ensuring family is cared for, nontraditional procreation relationships, and family histories. The connection happen thematically and by the end the two threads don’t just compliment each other but actually intersect in several surprising ways. It’s generally well acted, though it wasn’t until the second act that the characters gelled into what they are intended to be.

In the past we follow Emilie du Chatelet, who is the wife of the Marquis du Chatelet, the mother of
Pauline, the lover of both the young poet Saint-Lambert, and the older Voltaire whom she collaborated with on philosophical and scientific works. She becomes pregnant at 42 and fears due to her age and the fact that she almost died from a previous pregnancy that she will not survive the childbirth. In the present day we follow Olivia, an astronomer who may have discovered an embryonic planet, she’s a cancer survivor who can no longer bear children. She and her husband Peter contract a young woman named Millie to be a surrogate for their child. Millie is doing it for the money so that she and her brother Lewis can pay off their debts which have mounted since the death of their mother the previous year.

David Denninger as Voltaire and Hawken Paul as Saint-Lambert and Lewis, are the two Actors who seem to have taken their characters, at least initially in directions that don’t mesh with their characters at the end. But perhaps this is the script or Kari Steinbach’s direction. Voltaire at first seems to be a character we are to see as ridiculous, but that idea is completely wiped from our idea of the character by the end. Saint-Lambert seems the young romantic before becoming ridiculous. Their fight at the outset while humorous seems to come at the cost of a unified character. Paul’s second character Lewis remains constant throughout, which is that of a completely idiotic tunnel visioned and illogical manchild. Paul plays the role well, but it is a character that is hard to feel anything but frustration and dislike for. Rachel Postle as Emilie du Chatelet, Anna Olson as Olivia are very strong as is Emma Tonn as Millie and Pauline, though there is more for her to do as Millie she does get a few good scenes as Pauline as well. Finally Mark Sweeney gets to show a little versatility as a rather direct and centered man in the past and a more easy going, and low key husband in the present day storyline.

The set design by Sadie Ward works well with some creative lighting cues from Lighting Designer Bill Larsen. The apple tree being a nice touch and the math equations and celestial markings painted on the floors and walls combined with light projections of astronomical shapes are nice touches. The period costumes are especially well realized by Costume Designer Colleen O’Dell. Legacy of Light runs through March 16th at Theatre in the Round. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.theatreintheround.org/legacy-of-light/

Groucho Marx Meets T.S. Eliot Has its World Premiere at Illusion Theater

Jim Cunningham and John Middleton Photo by Lauren B Photography

Groucho Marx Meets T.S. Eliot is a play by local playwright Jeffrey Hatcher that dramatizes a dinner between pen pals Groucho Marx and T.S. Eliot. Although that sounds way more straight forward than this play actually is. What we get is multiple versions of the evening in which they try it as Groucho’s game show You Bet Your Life, or as a scene from one of the Marx Brothers movies. Like a Marx Brothers film you are never sure where this play will go next. The topics range from old Groucho routines to a debate about whether T.S. Eliot was antisemitic. There is discussion about breaking the fourth wall and then there is breaking the fourth wall. There are a couple of short songs performed and we even get appearances from the You Bet Your Life ducks. It’s laugh out loud funny at times and actually raises some interesting thoughts about issues such as copyright law and happiness. Hatcher crams an awful lot into a brisk 75 minute runtime which flies by but also seems like the perfect length.

The cast consists of Jim Cunningham as Groucho Marx and John Middleton as T.S. Eliot. Let me start with Eliot because I know next to nothing about him and certainly had no idea what he looked or sounded like. I have seen Cats and was aware it was based on his poetry and I seem to have some recollection of his poem The Waste Land coming up in connection with The Great Gatsby. I’ve no idea if that connection is real or imagined to be honest, it’s a memory from about 40 years ago. So Middleton had a lot of leeway to do what he wanted and if the narrative is accurate in terms of his character, he played it superbly. Middleton does a fantastic Chico Marx impression when he and Groucho reimagine the evening as the trial from Duck Soup.

Cunningham has an uphill battle against decades of familiarity with Groucho. I’ve seen all of the films, I’ve watched many YouTube videos of Groucho on talk shows, I used to watch rebroadcasts of his You Bet Your Life with my Dad as a teenager. I was in my twenties but my Dad like to pretend he was a teenager when we watched. It’s hard not to wish that Cunningham had gone a little further towards capturing the Groucho we all know. In every other respect he does a fine job, there are flashes of Groucho, which is a reasonable choice. He presents Groucho as a man who has come to meet someone and have dinner at their house, he gives a flash of performance to please Eliot and the audience but doesn’t want to play the “Groucho character” in his personal life. It’s a valid choice, but it’s not the one the audience is hoping for. Though perhaps the play doesn’t work if he goes the full Groucho?

Fans of either of these two 20th century legends will get a kick out of this what might have happened play. Groucho Marx Meets T.S. Eliot runs through March 15th at the Center for Performing Arts in South Minneapolis. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.illusiontheater.org/groucho-meets-ts-eliot