Sorry for the delay in the Blog post on the new episode. Here is the link to the YouTube episode https://bit.ly/TSOMNEpisode10YouTube and the podcast https://bit.ly/TSOMNEpisode10Podcast. This episode features a talk with my friend and fellow Twin Cities Theater Blogger Jill Schafer of Cherry and Spoon. We discuss our roles in a new segment called What The Hell’s a Theater Blogger. You can view all of Cherry and Spoons reviews at http://www.cherryandspoon.com/
Looking for something to watch on this long holiday weekend? Well if you haven’t already checked out the latest episode of The Stages of MN YouTube show or podcast it’s uploaded, ready, and waiting for you! This episode is our annual Theater season preview for the 2025-2026 theater season. We feature 13 Minnesota Theater companies is this episode from companies you may have never heard of to a look at Hennepin Arts Bank of America Broadway on Hennepin season.
Peter Christian Hansen and Sara Marsh Photo by Alyssa Kristine
Come Back, Little Sheba the latest from Dark & Stormy Productions is a strong play featuring some truly great performances from it’s leads Peter Christian Hansen and Sara Marsh. Marsh is miscast as a frumpy overweight housewife, but she’s so good that I prefer to say the fault is with the script that tries to insist the character has those qualities. Marsh finds here own way to accomplish what playwright William Inġe wanted from the character. While I’ve never seen the play before or the 1952 film adaptation, I suspect that Marsh’s interpretation is deeper and more nuanced because she doesn’t rely on that outdated archetype. Hansen and Marsh play Doc and Lola who have been married for twenty years. Doc is almost one year sober, but the presence of their renter, a young college student named Marie, begins to weigh upon Doc’s sobriety. It isn’t the cliche of the older man tempted by the young vibrant woman, it’s the memories her lifestyle brings to the surface. The career as a Doctor that he had to give up when Lola got Pregnant and they had to marry.
Hansen plays Doc as a man working the program, who is making amends to his wife by maintaining a pleasant attitude and being helpful. He is the one making sure that the breakfast is ready for Lola and Marie, trying to make everything run smoothly. He projects a virtue on Marie that isn’t there and feels unrealistic by todays standards. When he realizes she is a normal girl, it brings forth old doubts and repressed guilt about his and Lola’s start in life. He gets every aspect from the sobriety to the slip just right. Marsh slowly reveals the cracks in Lola’s confidence, her uncertainty about how to reconnect with Doc. We see hints of someone recovering from the trauma of living with a substance abuser. When she realizes the Whiskey bottle has vanished and Doc is late coming home, the fears and anxieties come in glimpses and waves. But like all partners of addicts she has to keep his secrets and hide what she is afraid has happened from Marie and others. Marsh shows us in that moment how every choice she has made performance wise up to that point has all stemmed from these moments. It’s a portrayal that seems deceptively simple at the start only to be revealed by the end to be an intricately crafted and complex performance. She give us a character that longs for connections but has been forced into a world of isolation, who clings to hope through the belief that her dog Sheba, who has been missing for months will come home one of these days.
Don’t depend on a Facebook or Instagram algorithms to ensure you hear about a great show. You can subscribe and have every post from The Stages of MN sent directly to your email box. It’s the best way to ensure you don’t miss out on any of the theater action. 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. You can also follow me on Facebook, @thestagesofmn click follow and on Instagram thestagesofmn.
The Stages of MN YouTube Channel is home of the weekly The Stages of MN Show which you can view by clicking on this link https://www.youtube.com/@TheStagesofMN. Check out the latest episodes and Subscribe to the channel so you’ll always know when a new episode has dropped. Think I may have steered you wrong on a show? Well, I’m also a member of the Twin Cities Theater Bloggers (TCTB), where you can read review roundups of shows by m’colleagues and I when you follow us on facebook @TwinCitiesTheaterBloggers.
The current show at Brave New Workshop Hypocralypse Now features a return of what I think of as the core group of comedians Lauren Anderson and Denzel Belin, Isabella Dunsieth, Doug Neithercott who returns after a short absence, and returning to the fold after a longer absence is Taj Ruler. You couldn’t ask for a better cast. The script, aside from a fart sketch that wears out it’s welcome, almost immediately is very funny. So why did I leave the theater a little depressed. Maybe I picked the wrong week to go off my antidepressant. Or, maybe the world is just so grim and messed up that dealing with it, even in a humorous way, is too much. For many of us, the coping mechanism right now, as our country positions itself to become the evil empire of the 21st Century, is to tune out. Not watch the news, not read any further than the headlines, which alone are enough to depress Roger Rabbit. The saying “it’s funny because it’s true” is spot on, the problem is “it’s scary because it’s true” is equally accurate. It’s cathartic to laugh about the things that scare us, but when we’ve been repressing those things, once the laughter stops we are left staring into the face of those scary truths we were ignoring. I’m not advocating the strategy of ignore difficult things, like most coping mechanisms, I don’t think that’s a very healthy way to navigate the world in general. But, the reality is that sometimes we do the easier thing, hopefully in order to replenish our inner strength in order to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing, end them.
The sketches that really work, like the one that parodies the old School House Rock short “I’m Just a Bill” about the big beautiful bill, succeed because they point out the hypocrisies of those who passed it. There is a sketch involving the White House Press Secretary that kills with the audience again because the comic caricature of Karoline Leavitt isn’t much of a caricature, as outrageous of as it is, it’s scar… I mean funny because of how true it is. The game show sketch called “This or That” perfectly distills what is wrong with a percentage of this countries population, a far to large a percentage. My favorite Skit involves Lauren Anderson as a bear, I know you’d think it would be Neithercott, explaining to a Maganite (this may be a new word) how when you read something on the internet you should click two more times to get closer to the truth. It’s a great skit because it uses the examples that I, and the other humans with a sliver of common sense, are incredulous that anyone could possibly believe. But it also reminds us that far too many of our fellow citizens will believe any insane thing that they are told, while also ignoring every fact or refuse to use logic to come to any conclusions that don’t agree with what they wish was true.
Hypocralypse Now is very funny but if you are currently “head in the sand” stage of coping with life, be aware of the dangers inherent in this show. In order to laugh at something we need to acknowledge it first, and some of you may not be ready for that. The best thing about the show is that it ends with a series of improv games which act as a palate cleanser for the evening by avoiding the political. It’s the right note to end the evening on. Hypocralypse Now runs through November 1st at the Dudley Riggs Theatre on Hennepin Avenue in Downtown Minneapolis. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://hennepinarts.org/events/hypocralypse-now-2025
Don’t depend on a Facebook or Instagram algorithms to ensure you hear about a great show. You can subscribe and have every post from The Stages of MN sent directly to your email box. It’s the best way to ensure you don’t miss out on any of the theater action. 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. You can also follow me on Facebook, @thestagesofmn click follow and on Instagram thestagesofmn.
The Stages of MN YouTube Channel is home of the weekly The Stages of MN Show which you can view by clicking on this link https://www.youtube.com/@TheStagesofMN. Check out the latest episodes and Subscribe to the channel so you’ll always know when a new episode has dropped. Think I may have steered you wrong on a show? Well, I’m also a member of the Twin Cities Theater Bloggers (TCTB), where you can read review roundups of shows by m’colleagues and I when you follow us on facebook @TwinCitiesTheaterBloggers.
Faithful readers, hopefully you are subscribed to The Stages of MN YouTube channel and already saw that a new episode was up. Apologies for forgetting to do a blog post for those who aren’t. But, a good reminder I guess to subscribe so you’ll know whenever a new episode is available. Double apologies to the podcast listeners as I still have a touch of Fringe brain and completely forgot to edit that version and post it until last night. Both are now up so view and/or listen to your hearts content.
This weeks episode I’m joined by m’colleague Jill Schafer over at Cherry and Spoon to reflect on this years Minnesota Fringe Festival. We discuss 10 of our favorite shows as well as a few honorable mentions. This week’s episodes are actually quite different between the YouTube version and the podcast version. While the YouTube version is always longer and the preferred version because of it. The differences are usually simply a matter of the exclusion of the “At a Show With….” photo montage. Well this week rather than a minute long that segment is four and a half minutes long as it covers the entire Fringe Festival. So, if you took a photo with me at Fringe this year you are probably in that episode. Also The footage of the Fringe Awards from the Closing night party has been excluded from the podcast as I think it relied heavily on the ability to read the captions in order to know who won everything. Also missing is the segment showing what shows won the highly commented on, usually with something like “What’s this now?”, The Stages of MN Fringe of the Day Award winners. That segment contained no audio other than music and so would only serve to prolong the podcast episode without adding any info to listeners. That list by the way is, in order of the day they were seen not ranked:
In The Garden of American Heroes
Hamluke
Joan of Arc For Miss Teen Queen USA
The Book of Mordor
The Gentlemen’s Pratfall Club
Songs Without Words (or, The Mendelssohn Play)
Grief, It’s What’s For Dinner
50: A Totally Rad Comedy About the Gnarly Reckoning of a Gen Xer!
An Exorcism, Don’tcha Know?
The Wickie
For those with no interest is The Minnesota Fringe Festival, I can assure you, your apathy is only due to the fact you’ve never been. Make a promise to yourself to go next year and give yourself the treat of this wonderful experience. But you can also breathe a sigh of relief as this will be the final Fringe episode of the year. You can access the YouTube episode here https://bit.ly/TSOMNEpisode8YouTube and the Podcast version here https://bit.ly/TSOMNEpisode8Podcast. Don’t forget to like, subscribe, share, and review the show. you can read Cherry and Spoons Fringe wrap up blog post here https://bit.ly/cs_fringe25
Don’t depend on a Facebook or Instagram algorithm to ensure you hear about a great show. You can subscribe and have every post from The Stages of MN sent directly to your email box. It’s the best way to ensure you don’t miss out on any of the theater action. 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. You can also follow me on Facebook, @thestagesofmn click follow and on Instagram thestagesofmn.
I’ve officially launched The Stages of MN YouTube Channel which you can view by clicking on this link. https://www.youtube.com/@TheStagesofMN. Check out the weekly episodes. Subscribe to the channel so you’ll always know when a new episode has dropped. Think I may have steered you wrong on a show? Well, I’m also a member of the Twin Cities Theater Bloggers (TCTB), where you can read review roundups of shows by m’colleagues and I when you follow us on facebook @TwinCitiesTheaterBloggers.
Henry V is one of the Shakespeare history plays that I am fairly familiar with have seen it produced on stage twice now and seen three screen adaptations. I have certainly never seen it done like this. The story of King Henry V of England and his war to conquer France has been used as propaganda for war and against it. Here it is seen through the lens of how the decisions of flawed men have profound effects on the people over which they rule. This is a valid viewpoint and is a way to make the play speak to our times. Shakespeare’s works are so rich and out of copyright that they become easy to adapt in a way that highlights the message a Director wishes to convey without departing the text simply by how you cut it and play it. Here Director Zach Christensen makes some bold choices which are mostly successful, but occasionally perplexing.
First off, the show adds close to a half a dozen songs but not sung throughout, only at the opening of the first Act and after intermission. The songs are well performed by the cast and I get the vibe what they are going for. While not being detrimental to the production, the songs don’t really integrate into the play, but more like live pre-show of music meant to set the tone. There may also be too many of them but they are enjoyable. The biggest and most bizarre change is the inclusion of Falstaff who does not appear in the original play though he does die offstage. Now adding some flashbacks or prologue with Falstaff is not unheard of, in his film version Kenneth Branagh includes several flashback scenes with Falstaff. But here Falstaff is seen in scenes from the Henry IV plays, much as his characters is in those plays, which is a comical character for the most part. But then he actually replaces the role of the Duke of Exeter jettisoning for the most part the traits we associate with Falstaff and playing it as you would Exeter. There is one scene in which the reason for the change became clear and made a certain amount of sense if you wanted to play the scene that way. But it still results in Falstaff for the most part acting completely out of character for most of the play. It’s a questionable choice that kept taking me out of the performance.
The play is well casteven Dominic Schiro as Falstaff is very good, despite the puzzling choice of who he was playing. David Michaeli is very good as King Henry, tackling some very famous speeches and successfully making them his own. It’s a very strong cast with some wonderful and surprisingly humorous performances. Standouts were Amanda Espinoza as among other roles Fluellen, who is the Welsh captain of a contingent of Henry’s army. Noah Hynick, who must be on loan from Lyric Arts, as the Dauphin of France is hilarious as he tries to outbrag his fellow French noblemen on the eve of the battle of Agincourt. Bradley Johnson and Eden Fahy, are particularly good in the the song sections of the show. Overall it’s an exciting and unusual production and while every gamble doesn’t pay off there’s no denying it’s a very interesting and engaging production. The fun thing about Shakespeare is that you can be bold and try new things and I applaud Director Christensen for making some bold choices. Fans of Shakespeare will have seen faithful productions in the past and will enjoy seeing Jackdonkey play around with things. I think it will also appeal to those who aren’t that into a Shakespeare History play as it does what it can to be kinda radical and accessible to all.
Don’t depend on a Facebook or Instagram algorithm to ensure you hear about a great show. You can subscribe and have every post from The Stages of MN sent directly to your email box. It’s the best way to ensure you don’t miss out on any of the theater action. 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. You can also follow me on Facebook, @thestagesofmn click follow and on Instagram thestagesofmn.
I’ve officially launched The Stages of MN YouTube Channel which you can view by clicking on this link. https://www.youtube.com/@TheStagesofMN. Check out the weekly episodes. Subscribe to the channel so you’ll always know when a new episode has dropped. Think I may have steered you wrong on a show? Well, I’m also a member of the Twin Cities Theater Bloggers (TCTB), where you can read review roundups of shows by m’colleagues and I when you follow us on facebook @TwinCitiesTheaterBloggers.
The cast of Singing in the Rain Photo by Alyssa Kristine Photography
During the rush, chaos, and exhaustive exhilaration that is The Minnesota Fringe Festival I found time thanks to a weekday matinee to take in Singing in the Rain at Artistry in Bloomington. A longtime favorite film musical of mine, due to its subject matter revolving as it does around the transition from silent to sound movies. I had never seen a production of this early 1980’s stage version, which closely adheres to the plot of the 1952 film. There had been other opportunities but in a world where we have to choose three or four out of ten possible shows to see some weeks, I think I always opted out of this one, afraid it couldn’t live up to my fondness for the film. If you are a fan of the film you can throw those fears aside, this productions is delightful. The story for those unfamiliar with the film follows the career of Silent film star Don Lockwood who rose up through the entertainment ranks with his best friend Cosmo Brown. Now a big star alongside the,”dumb or something” Lina Lamont, Don has to navigate the changing world of cinema as the “Talkies” become all the rage. Meanwhile, Don has fallen in love with Kathy Selden, an up and coming actress, which puts Kathy in the crosshair of Lina who believing her own publicity mistakenly thinks she and Don are madly in love with each other.
The reason to see this show is the magnificent choreography by Danny McHugh who plays Don Lockwood in the show and the shows Director Kelli Foster Warder. This has some great toe tapping and heal tapping, and well…it has great tapping! A strong ensemble of precision dancers create impressive show stopping dance numbers that will wow even the most casual of dance appreciators. McHugh is great as Don Lockwood which is saying something as he’s filling Gene Kelly’s shoes. Also doing a great job is Armando Harlow Ronconi, who plays Cosmo Brown filling the shoes of Donald O’Connor. Brown’s best song in the film is “Make ‘Em Laugh” and they do a good job of translating it to the stage here. It isn’t quite as slapstick and manic, but honestly I don’t know how you could safely do that on stage night after night, they find a nice compromise. Brittany Mendoza-Peña makes a great Kathy, with a sweet voice and the stage presence to stand up to Don in the early sparring scenes of their relationship. Serena Brook is also very strong as Lina Lamont, a character who’s successful portrayal is judged on how much you can barely tolerate her speaking without actually reaching that nails on chalkboard sensation. Brook perfectly finds that line and stays just this side of it, it’s a gloriously comic performance.
There were some technical elements that I was really impressed with as well. Sarah Bahr’s scenic and costume designs were fantastic, with the costumes featuring some great period style suits and gowns. The set design features a movie screen in certain scenes that is used really creatively in multiple ways. In one scene the actors perform behind it with film grain projected on the surface to give the appearance of an old film. While in other scenes actual video footage is projected onto the screen and it’s here that there’s a special cameo for local Theater fans. As is always the case at Artistry, the music is perfectly done under the steady hand of Music Director Sanford Moore. Singing in the Rain has been extended through August 31st at Artistry in Bloomington. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://artistrymn.org/rain
Don’t depend on a Facebook or Instagram algorithm to ensure you hear about a great show. You can subscribe and have every post from The Stages of MN sent directly to your email box. It’s the best way to ensure you don’t miss out on any of the theater action. 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. You can also follow me on Facebook, @thestagesofmn click follow and on Instagram thestagesofmn.
I’ve officially launched The Stages of MN YouTube Channel which you can view by clicking on this link. https://www.youtube.com/@TheStagesofMN. Check out the weekly episodes. Subscribe to the channel so you’ll always know when a new episode has dropped. Think I may have steered you wrong on a show? Well, I’m also a member of the Twin Cities Theater Bloggers (TCTB), where you can read review roundups of shows by m’colleagues and I when you follow us on facebook @TwinCitiesTheaterBloggers.
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