McAdo a Hilarious New Adaptation of The Mikado From Gilbert & Sullivan Very Light Opera Company

Mary Kettlewell, Brandt Roberts, and Graham Remple Photo by Stephen Hage

McAdo is the fourth Gilbert & Sullivan Very Light Opera Company (GSVLO) production I have reviewed and it is my favorite. I’ve written before about the accessibility of Gilbert and Sullivan, how it seems like the bridge between traditional opera and musical theater. All of that is true here, if you like musicals, you’ll enjoy this. Yes, there will be some lyrics you will not catch, this is particularly true when a large portion of the cast all sings at once. But it’s in English and for the most part if you tune your ears in you catch more than enough. What you don’t catch you simply enjoy the beauty of the voices singing and the wonderful full orchestra performing Arthur Sullivan’s music. There are two completely different casts for the main roles for the show that alternate nights. I saw the Sullivan cast, I’m sure the Gilbert cast is great as well, but for myself, if I had time in my schedule to see it again, and I wish I did, I’d see the Sullivan cast again. There are Performers in roles that I cannot imagine anyone replacing them.

The Gilbert Cast and the Sullivan Cast Performance Schedule:

The Gilbert Cast	The Sullivan Cast
Friday, November 1^st, 7:30 pm	Saturday, November 2^nd, 7:30 pm
Sunday, November 3^rd, 2:00 pm	Saturday, November 9^th, 2:00 pm
Friday, November 8^th, 7:30 pm	Sunday, November 10^th, 2:00 pm
Saturday, November 9^th, 7:30 pm	Friday, November 15^th, 7:30 pm
Saturday, November 16^th, 2:00 pm	Saturday, November 16^th, 7:30 pm
Sunday, November 17^th, 2:00 pm	Friday, November 22^nd, 7:30 pm
Saturday, November 23^rd, 7:30 pm	Sunday, November 24^th, 2:00 pm

McAdo is Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Mikado transplanted from Japan to Scotland thus removing a lot of troublesome and dated material. The adaption actually began with Gilbert and Sullivan Austin, as in Texas. Director Joe Andrews added some of his own tweaks including a hilarious prologue that was pure genius. This isn’t pure G&S, it’s possibly better, certainly for our times. The program contains a synopsis which I highly recommend you read before the play, it allows you to relax and enjoy the proceedings without worrying if you are catching everything. I’m not going to go into the plot here, it’s absurd, imagine Monty Python wrote an opera, well it’s not quite that silly, but it’s pretty damn silly. What is really great about it, is the two people you assume are the villains of the piece really aren’t. They play against the stereotypes of the Government official and the young lovers rival.

If you have never seen a Gilbert and Sullivan show, this is the one to see, it is so much fun and that is due to the wonderful direction of Joe Andrews, musical direction of Randal A. Buikema, and an energetic and playful cast. I can’t mention them all so I’m going to just give a nod to a couple of favorites. First off is Brandt Roberts as Coco, who is the guardian and fiance of Wynn Somme, the young love interest, we assume he’s going to be a villain, considering he’s also the town’s high Executioner. But no, he’s harmless and fairly good intentioned. Roberts is magnificent, his body language in itself creates a fully formed comedic character. He has the tone, the exact level of absurdity down, but he also has a great singing voice, that adds a sweetness to the character. Joe Allen plays Pubagh a town official…actually the only town official, he holds every office except that of the High Executioner. Here again is a character that we assume will be a villain, but by the end you really like him. I’m not sure we are really supposed to have that reaction, I think we are supposed to be indifferent at best, but I think this works better. Allen plays up the comic elements of the character his ambition and snobbery, but when the going gets rough and heads might roll, he’s in there with the rest of the characters trying to find the happy ending. Other performers that caught my eye and that were doing something special to draw the audience in or give us that extra laugh or surprised us with another dimension to their characters were Mallory Rabehl, Therese Kulas, Deb Haas, and Scott A.Gorman.

McAdo is a show I cannot recommend more highly, it’s such an enjoyable night at the theater, when I wasn’t laughing I was sitting there with a grin all over my face. The prologue really sets the tone on this one and I think will perfectly key those new to G&S into the vibe of the show. McAdo runs through November 24th at The Conn Theater in Minneapolis. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://gsvloc.org/

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The Turn of the Screw Prolongs That Halloween Atmosphere at Gremlin Theatre

Peter Christian Hansen and Julia Valen Photo by Alyssa Kristine

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James is one of the great classic ghost stories, it was most famously adapted into the film The Innocents (1961) starring Deborah Kerr and most recently as the second season of Mike Flanagan’s Netflix horror anthology as The Haunting of Bly Manor. Jeffrey Hatcher who seems to have a play being produced at every theater in town this year, has fairly faithfully adapted the story into a play for two actors. Julia Valen plays The Woman while Gremlin Theatre Artistic Director Peter Christian Hansen plays The Man. Following the plot of James’ story, Valen primarily plays the role of narrator and Governess of two children Flora and Miles at Bly Manor. She has been hired by the children’s Uncle and guardian to take charge of them and under the strictest instructions never ever to bother him for anything. Hansen plays the Uncle and then every other character that comes into the play, mainly the housekeeper Mrs. Grose and Miles. Flora in this play is very timid and completely silent. Not long after assuming her post at Bly Manor, she begins to see what she comes to believe are the Ghosts of the former Governess and the Caretaker. She believes these ghosts are attempting to influence the children and that she must do everything in her power to severe any connection between the ghosts and her charges.

Carl Schoenborn is listed as both the Set and Lighting Designer which makes perfect sense as the lighting seems to act as part of the set. What does exist in a physical sense is a staircase towards the back of the stage, there are no other elements aside from the performers and the lighting and sound designs. This minimalist approach works well when you have two actors playing all of the characters but are not going the comedic route. We are already suspending our disbelief to the extent of accepting Hansen as multiple characters of different genders and ages the idea of a detailed set that tries to emulate some semblance of reality feels out of place. This lies somewhere between physical theater and theater of the mind and the design perfectly reflects that. I responded strongly to this shadowy production, which builds mystery and tension throughout and ends with an unexpected revelation, that works really well within the framework of James’ story. Both Valen and Hansen are well cast, with Hansen successfully navigating the difficult task of performing as a 10 year old boy without being childish or annoying.

I love a good ghost story and Gremlin Theatre’s production is a great way to extend Monster Month. The Turn of the Screw runs through December 1st at Gremlin Theatre for more information and to purchase tickets go to https://gremlintheatre.org/

Helen, Ten Thousand Things, Need I Say More?

Liv Kemp, John Jamison II, And George Keller Photo by Tom Wallace

Helen, the latest production by Ten Thousand Things (TTT) and the last under the purview of exiting Artistic Director Marcela Lorca, ends soon. I was able to squeeze in a late run performance but if you are going to catch this one you’ll want to act fast as the final performance is November 10th. That being said
I’m going to keep this short and sweet. My experience with Greek tragedy isn’t abundant, my first exposure was in Jr. High seeing something at the old Guthrie Theater, this would have been mid 1980’s, my second was actually Helen during my first year of college at NDSU either Fall 1991 or Spring 1992. Both of those were amazing looking productions, but If I remember correctly they put me to sleep. I’d say two out of three Greek tragedies have put me to sleep. I bring that up to point out that in my limited experience, and as is the case with Shakespeare, TTT is how you want to experience it.

They have a way of making centuries old works feel fresh and invigorating. Surely the adapters of Euripides classic John Barton and Kenneth Cavander have something to do with that, but I’ve seen enough TTT productions now to know they bring their own source of magic to the works. Marcela Lorca directs the play and choreographed the movement. She leaves the companies helm on a high note and we hope that the new incoming Artistic Director will be able to carry on with the extraordinary quality of TTT work. Working here with Composer and Music Director JD Steele, they have added an element of soul to that of the traditional Greek Chorus, which usually jarringly taking us out of the play. Here it makes the narrative sing. George Keller is fantastic as Helen but then everyone in every TTT production I’ve ever seen has been amazing. So just a couple of others to single out and then I’ll let you click on the link and see if you can score tickets for one of the last remaining shows. Lynnea Doublette, John Jamison II, and Bradley Greenwald all play a named role but also form the chorus, they all bring something special to their characters but also shine vocally.

For more information about Helen and to purchase tickets go to https://tenthousandthings.org/helen/

Twin Cities Horror Festival XIII Day 8 Review: Schaulust

With this final show I have attended all of the TCHF XIII productions and yet somehow I still didn’t get a Bingo. Oh well, sometimes it just isn’t in the cards. Besides I think the prize was a toothbrush and who the hell wants that, am I right? We want candy!!! I have to say that for the first time in my TCHF attendance which began in 2019, there wasn’t a single show that I had to write a bad review about. Hey they weren’t all great, but there wasn’t a bad one in the bunch. The more amazing thing, and what shows that this years producers were real risk takers, is that Allison Vincent wasn’t in any of them. Last year that was the one ingredient that guaranteed a hit show, so for no one to have cast her in a show was a very ballsy move. You can read my reviews of everyone of the productions in this years festival which continues through 11/4/24 at The Stages of MN. For more information and to purchase tickets to the remaining shows go to https://www.tchorrorfestival.com/

Schaulust written and performed by Keith Hovis is part musical, part horror show, and all character study of an unstable mind. Hovis plays Wyatt a man who likes to watch, not in a creepy sexual way, but in a creepy everyday kind of way. He describes how it led to his break up with his boyfriend, though it wasn’t the watching part, the boyfriend was fine with that, it was something else, his need to not be needed. After the break up he finds a couple of people online who need money and agree to install a camera in their homes so he can watch them in exchange for money. Again not in a creepy sexcam way, just watch them playing video games, cutting their nails, sleeping on the couch. I’m not sure who to credit with the scenic design but it’s extremely well done. Wyatt’s home is a window into his fraying and disintegrating mental health. You can see the benefit of Schaulust playing in the Studio space, it has allowed for a fairly elaborate design, which really does inform our understanding of the narrator. It’s also one of the handful of shows that has some real horror elements, which I always think is a nice touch at the horror fest. It’s well written and acted, Hovis’ performance is all in and his songs were perfectly suited to the material. It’s one of the most polished and effective shows of the entire festival and I can say that because I saw them all!

Terrified of missing reviews from The Stages of MN? Do you find yourself afraid and all alone in the dark when all your friends are talking about that great new play that you didn’t even know about? Never fear, that need never happen again. Now you too can subscribe and have every post from The Stages of MN sent directly to your email box. No more hoping the algorithm works in your favor and you actually see a post on facebook or Instagram. No relying on so-called friends to tip you to the best shows in town. 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. You can also read some of my reviews syndicated on the MN Playlist website https://minnesotaplaylist.com/ from time to time.

Mauritius a Tense Edge of Your Seat Production From Stage North of Minneapolis

Sarah Dickson and Peter Moore Photo by Toni Solie

The best way I can think of to describe Mauritius is to say if the Coen Brothers wrote a pla, this is likely what it would be. A great script by Theresa Rebeck that ratchets up the suspense scene after scene. Filled with characters of questionable morals, the audience is kept off balance as you are never sure who can be trusted or what they are capable of. Not a comedy by any means despite an opening that feels like it could go that way, it does contain a dark vein of black comedy running through it. In fact, this script is so good and it’s relatively simple to stage that I’m amazed I hadn’t heard of it before and that it isn’t performed more frequently. Peter Moore, who directs as well as performs in Mauritius, has staged the show in the round with minimal set. For those familiar with Ten Thousand Things productions, it very much has that feel. Moore uses the space very effectively and the minimal set and proximity of the audience to the performance space allows us to really focus in on the performances which are outstanding. I attended a matinee performance on opening weekend which was at best 1/4 full. It reminded me of one of the reasons I write this blog, to try and shine a light on shows that the average theatergoer hasn’t even heard of. This is one of those shows that should be playing to sold out houses, you couldn’t ask for a more rewarding and entertaining thriller to attend.

The play opens when Jackie, a young woman whose mother has just died, enters a stamp collecting store to ask the owner Phil to look over a stamp collection given to her by her mother who thought it might be worth something. This innocent inquiry puts her into contact with Dennis who hangs out in the store as a lookout for a wealthy but dangerous collector named Sterling. It turns out she has a couple of stamps that are quite valuable and she needs the money. But the ownership of the stamps is disputed by her half-sister Mary, who despite not having been around for decades wants to claim ownership as they came from her Grandfather on her father’s side which is of no relation to Jackie. The tension arises and builds as we watch to see if the stamps are genuine, how much they are worth, whether Jackie will be able to sell them, if she’ll get fair value, or if she will even survive to the end of the play.

Sarah Dickson leads the superb cast as Jackie bringing an intelligence to the role that believably cracks into damaged desperation at times. It’s raw and genuine and generates an empathy for the character that leads to real concern for her characters well being. Peter Moore, is chilling as Sterling, who in one scene takes off his suit jacket revealing a shoulder holster. He never pulls the gun out or even mentions it in the scene but, the audiences awareness of its existence ratchets up the feeling that things could go horribly wrong at any moment. Corey DiNardo as Dennis is charming as any conman and one is never sure where he stands and how far he is willing to go. Bill Schoppert is Phil the stamp expert, whose dry and sarcastic responses to Jackie’s initial inquiries makes the first five minutes of the play worth the price of the ticket. Mary, who could easily have been named “Karen” is played with the perfect air of entitlement by Bonni Allen. This whole cast is just perfect and brings this brilliant play into sharp focus, and is one not to be missed!

Mauritius runs through November 17th at 480 arts in St. Paul. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mauritius-tickets-1007942421917

Twin Cities Horror Festival XIII Day 4 Reviews: Gh0stChaser04, The Regular, Campfire Stories

This will be my last batch of reviews until I see the final show Keith Hovis’ Schaulust on 10/30. As I prep this I’m told there is a single ticket left for the final performance of Let’s Summon a Demon at Debbie’s, it’s not to be missed so snatch it up if it’s still available. To read more about all the shows and to purchase tickets goo to https://www.tchorrorfestival.com/tchf-xiii-schedule.html Now without further ado here are my reviews for the three shows I saw on Day 4 of the festival.

Gh0stChaser04 plays like an old episode of the Twilight Zone crossed with Scooby-Doo, yet taken almost entirely seriously. It’s another in the increasingly rare shows that attempts some actual scares and creepiness and for that it is very welcome. This one has a great cast including a couple a favorite comedic performers Rita Boersma and Heather Meyer. The script by Rachel Teagle is clear and witty, particularly in the opening dialogue between the three ghost chasers. Jenny Moeller pulls off a tricky directing job, keeping it mostly grounded but also giving in to the more absurd aspects of the script, the Scooby-Doo aspects if you will. It’s hard to change tone from the realistic to the absurd and then come back to a reality established in the opening, but Moeller makes it work. The plot follows three ghost chasers in the late 1990s and simultaneously a journalist and a spiritualist from the early 1900s. How the two intersect and the surprises in store I’ll leave you to discover in wherever it is that signpost up ahead reads as the next stop.

The Regular is best explained as an episode of Cheers, which it openly acknowledges as an inspiration, gone horribly horribly wrong. Wait, let me amend that, it’s like the funniest fucking episode of Cheers getting hijacked by Kevin Spacey’s character in Seven. Josh Carson writes and directs the show and I’m not sure why he isn’t writing his own number one sitcom, or maybe that’s in the works. I thought the script was brilliant as was the staging including some great fight choreography by Annie Enneking. Filled with clever music cues that add repeated laughs throughout the show. Set in a bar an hour before closing the brilliant Sam Landman plays Charlie who sees himself as the loveable Norm character of the local bar. He banters with the bar staff, the bartender Teddy played by Claire Chenoweth, and the server Wes played by Lukas Ramsey, who humor him. Things take an odd turn though when a stranger arrives played by Jay Melchior who once left alone with Charlie informs him that he’s going to kill him when they leave the bar. Charlie doesn’t know why or what to do with this information or whether the stranger is being serious or not. The four person cast is top notch they make Carson’s jokes feel fresh and spontaneous like the best comedy. Special spotlight though on Landman and Chenoweth, they have the meatiest roles to be sure, but both have that something extra that makes it impossible not to believe their performances. This is a genre mashup of sitcom, thriller, horror, not the most naturalistic performance styles generally, and yet, for an hour they were Charlie and Teddy. This is so far, the best show the Festival.

Campfire Stories like Rev. Matt’s performances will be different every night. The line up changes but the structure is the same. Each night a group of four to five storytellers will take their turn at the microphone and tell true ghost stories. If the opening night is any indication they will run the gamut from funny, to moving, and even genuinely spooky. The show is accompanied musically by its curator and storyteller at each performance Nissa Nordland along with the multi talented Sam Landman. Here is the lineups for the remaining performances:

Monday, October 28th at 6:00 PM

Lauren Anderson

Jex Arzayus

Nissa Nordland

Shannon Twohy

Wednesday, October 30th at 9:00 PM

Lauren Anderson

Shanan Custer

Matthew Kessen

Heather Meyer

Nissa Nordland

Friday, November 1st at 7:30 PM**

Jex Arzayus

Nissa Nordland

Shannon Twohy

Derek “Duck” Washington

ASL Night

Saturday, November 2nd at 10:30 PM

Shanan Custer

Matthew Kessen

Heather Meyer

Nissa Nordland

Drawing Lessons Explores the Power of Finding yourself Through Art at Children’s Theatre Company

Jim Lichtscheidl and Olivia Lampert Photo by Kaitlin Randolph

Drawing Lessons which runs for a couple more weeks at Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis caught me a bit off guard. I was hoping to enjoy it, but I wasn’t expecting to be moved by it the way I was. My favorite audiobook of all time is On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King. Stay with me here, it’s going to make sense. My favorite part of the book is when he sells the paperback rights to first novel Carrie, I cry everytime and I’ve listened to it four times at least. It’s not because now he will be rich and famous, it’s because of the difference it will make in his life to succeed at his art. The fact that now he will be able to more than scrape along an existence for he and his family. That he wont have to hope a short story sells and brings in that extra little bit of cash before one of the kids get sick and needs a bottle of the pink stuff. Drawing Lessons has a moment that felt similar emotionally, and it had the same effect on me as listening to Stephen King recount that moment that freed him from a world of simply existing into one in which he could let go of those concerns and devote his life to creating, the thing he was born to do.

Drawing lessons tells us the story of Kate, a twelve year old Korean American girl who has moved from St. Paul to Minneapolis, is starting a new school and is terribly shy, to the point of not even being able to speak in class. The one thing she has is her drawing. After school she walks to her father’s music studio where he gives music lessons, and through those she slowly makes friends with two classmates over the course of the play. But the person she meets that has the greatest impact on her is Paul who owns a local art supply store and draws a Sunday cartoon for the Star Tribune. Paul’s partner Matt encourages Paul to give Kate drawing lessons, which he is reluctant to do, though she wears him down over time. These lessons not only teach Kate how to grow as an artist but actually teaches the audience something about the artform of cartooning. It’s handled extremely well with video projections on the flats of the stage sometimes even showing us what the actors are drawing live. Kate’s school work is suffering particularly in Social Studies where the teacher threatens to fail her unless she can stop drawing, talk in class, and the worst, give a 5 to 7 minute speech about a cultural topic. Her father forbids her to go to Paul’s store and to stop drawing and focus on school and making friends. Kate’s Gomo (Great Auntie), comes to visit for her Dad’s birthday, and decides to stay as Kate and her father are no longer speaking. During her time there she at first seems like she will be strict and pull Kate further away from her passion but to Kate and our surprise, she encourages her and even teaches her about Manhwa, the South Korean comic form similar to Japan’s Manga’s. When she learns of a drawing contest for which first price is to have your comic book published on the internet and $250 she decides to go for it.

I loved the way this story took the time to also teach us about the techniques and concepts of cartoon drawing. I loved the Scenic Design by Junghyun Georgia Lee and the Projection design Elizabeth Barrett. I loved all of the illustrations by Blue Delliquanti that bring Drawing Lessons to life. I loved the cast with particular kudos to the performances of Olivia Lampert as Kate, Jim Lichtscheidl as Paul, De’Anthony Jackson as Kate’s friend Omar, and Katie Bradley as Kate’s Gomo. I loved that the show opened with the song Wonderwall, which as a Minnesota United fan is very dear to my heart. Most of all I loved the script by Michi Barall which feels authentic, grounded, and uplifting without being corny. I love the fact that Paul and Matt are casually presented as a couple and that the teacher is allowed to be a bitch. I loved the direction by Jack Tamburri, which gives us such creative staging that at times mirrors the lessons that Paul is giving Kate. We see scenes from four different perspectives, we see transitions where we have the actors in poses like different panels in a comic strip that seems to say meanwhile in various location…it all works perfectly

Drawing Lessons runs through 11/10/24 at Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://childrenstheatre.org/whats-on/drawing-lessons/