Tina – The Tina Turner Musical is a story of second acts and comebacks having come of age in the 1980’s. I was familiar with Tina Turner’s music from that period and aware that she was divorced from Ike Turner, who was an abusive husband. When it came to Ike and Tina Turner, beyond two or three of their 60’s and 70’s hits, I was more or less unfamiliar with their music or the details of their lives. This made for an interesting first act filling in the biographical details, and hearing some really good but unfamiliar classic R&B songs. As interesting as the first act was, like Tina’s career, the show really comes alive in the second act. Realizing what a comeback Tina Turner really made is astonishing. Speaking of astonishing, be warned, do not leave at the curtain call or you are going to miss the best part of the show. The show ends with an encore after the curtain call, basically a showstopper after the show ender, which was in and of itself a real showstopper! I had a great time Tina – The Tina Turner Musical, it brought me back to my teenage years when songs like “Private Dancer” and “What’s Love Got to do With It?” where featured.

The book for the show was written by Katori Hall with Frank Ketelaar and Kees Prins. It begins with a young Anna Mae singing in church loudly, which embarrasses her mother but pleases her father. This results in what we assume is a typical partner of an argument between her parents that leads to physical abuse. Anna Mae’s mother leaves her husbanding taking her older sister Alline with her, but leaving Anna Mae behind to be raised by her Grandmother. Later, when she is 17 her mother sends for her to come live with her and Alline. Alline takes her out with her friends where she eventually meets Ike Turner, where he discovers she’s a good singer, and convinces her mother to let her tour with him. Ike renames her Tina Turner, they get married, and he forces her to promise never to leave him. Ike is a controlling and abusive man, who is clearly at the mercy of his fragile male ego. After 16 years of marriage, Tina finally decides she must leave Ike. She apparently has the worst divorce lawyer on the planet as she then spends the next however-many years working every singing gig she can book at night just to make ends meet, even after she’s been a charting R&B singer. The success she has after taking a chance on a new manager and switching to the Rock-N-Roll genre is like a fairytale.

The Performance I saw had 11 changes to the posted cast list and I see the matinee on Thursday is cancelled due to illness. The actor I saw perform as Tina Turner was understudy, Parris Lewis. I didn’t know the understudy was in while watching the performance. I had no reason to suspect it was an understudy because she put on one heck of a good show. Garratt Turner was Ike Turner and he plays the brutalizing control freak so perfectly, that when Tina finally has enough and fights back, the crowd cheers when she lays him out. As you would expect the singing is very good throughout and there was one particular singer that really won the crowd over. Ayvah Johnson as young Anna Mae is fantastic, she really gets a nice spotlight moment in that encore I mentioned. Believe me you want to stay until the end of this production!

The production is directed by Phyllida Lloyd with Anne Shuttlesworth as Musical Director and Conductor. The show flows well and while somewhat small feeling in comparison to something like Ain’t Too Proud, I think that makes the final moment before the curtain call really pop! The physical confrontation in particular are handled rather convincingly, thanks to the Fight Direction by Sordelet Inc. The Set Design and Costume Designs are by Mark Thompson, and it’s very simple set that is augmented creatively by Jeff Sugg’s Projection Design. The final set reveal is really impactful and is well assisted by the projections used. Bruno Poet’s Lighting Design makes you feel like you are in the audience of a rock concert. It’s a smallish scale production but an effective one.

Tina – The Tina Turner Musical runs through March 12th at the Hennepin Theatre Trusts Orpheum Theatre in Downtown Minneapolis. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://hennepintheatretrust.org/events/tina-the-tina-turner-musical-broadway-tickets-minneapolis-mn-2023/ .

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.

My fellow Twin Cities Theater Bloggers and I would like you to be our date to The Prom at Chanhassen Dinner Theatre March 4th matinee performance! We have a discount code that will save you $20 per ticket, and we’ll be hosting a talkback afterwards with the Director Michael Brindisi and cast members Monty Hays, Maya Richardson, and Tod Petersen. click on this link to purchase tickets, the code should apply automatically to get you that discount. And hey, if you cannot make it to the March 4th performance you can use that code for any performance through March 12th use the code TCTB1 for $20 off each ticket. Follow the TCTB on facebook @TwinCitiesTheaterBloggers.

Minneapolis Musical Theatre (MMT) is one of the theatres that led to the creation of this blog. Their production of Be More Chill was a show I saw, loved, and then went to a second time bringing a group of 12 friends and family members to share the experience. Their latest production Analog and Vinyl doesn’t elicit that level of enthusiasm, but MMT is a company I always find worth my time. MMT’s tagline is “Rare Musicals. Well done”, in this case it’s easy to see why this musical is rarely performed, it’s just not that great, it’s not bad, it just feels like these ideas have been used before and more memorably. It is well done, the let down isn’t in the production itself, but in the material. This is a show where the parts are better than the whole.

Analog and Vinyl‘s book is by Michael Berresse & Paul Gordon with music and lyrics by Gordon. It tells the story of Harrison who’s vintage vinyl record store is about to close if he cannot come up with the back rent by 9:00 AM the next day. He’s also being audited by the IRS and needs to come up with money to pay his tax debt. There’s also a non-employee named Rodeo Girl, who showed up 11 days ago and is clearly interested in him, to which he is oblivious. She seems to have gone off her ADHD medications, and as a digital girl seems, the total opposite of the analog Harrison who doesn’t even own a cell phone. Enter The Stranger whom it will be revealed to be Satan, this happens early on so isn’t much of a spoiler, who offers them what they most want but at the cost of their souls. Satan isn’t presented with horns and a pitchfork, but comes in the guise of a nonbinary being who when asked if they should be addressed as a woman says “sure”. Satan will come and go throughout the day as Harrison and Rodeo Girl debate taking the deals and reveal more and more about themselves. It’s not a bad plot but the details seem like someone forgot to go back and do a second draft. Harrison is trying to get Rodeo Girl to organize a section of the inventory at the beginning and then reveals the tax audit that is weighing on him. A little later it’s revealed about the back rent deadline and the tax audit doesn’t really come up again. Pick one, you don’t need both. Then he’s wanting Rodeo Girl to start packing the inventory since he’ll be losing the store, so why were they not working on that earlier rather than organizing the albums? It feels like sloppy and lazy scripting. The best parts of the script are Rodeo Girls stream of consciousness rambles and basically every scene with Satan. The songs themselves are fine, but nothing sticks out as particularly memorable.

At the performance I attended the role of Harrison was played by the understudy Kyle Camay, it’s the weakest link performance wise but I think that is understandable. As the understudy you’re not attending the same level of rehearsal time to completely find your character, and in this case that was made more apparent by contrast with the other two performers who were exceptionally good. Kudos to Camay for jumping in, and I don’t want to leave the impression that he was bad, he was fine in the role. Grace Hillmyer is not someone I’ve noticed before but she was ideal casting as Rodeo Girl. She handles both the comedic and the dramatic moments with equal ease and her vocal work is lovely. Bradley Johnson as The Stranger steals every scene he’s in. It’s a wonderfully witty and over the top performance, by far the most entertaining element of the show. His vocals are the most confident of the cast and he pulls of some sweeter moments performance-wise that scriptwise seem a bit wrongheaded.

The production is directed by Vanessa Brooke Agnes with musical direction by Brenda Varda. The band, as is always the case with MMT, is tight sounding with the musical quartet providing everything needed. The Scenic Designer is Joel Moline and was much more elaborate than I was expecting given the size of the facilities at the Phoenix Theater. I liked the smattering of concert posters and record displays. There are also some nice lighting touches by Lighting Designer Grant E. Merges.

Analog and Vinyl runs through March 12th at the Phoenix Theater in uptown for more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.aboutmmt.org/analog-and-vinyl/.

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.

My fellow Twin Cities Theater Bloggers and I would like you to be our date to The Prom at Chanhassen Dinner Theatre March 4th matinee performance! We have a discount code that will save you $20 per ticket, and we’ll be hosting a talkback afterwards with the Director Michael Brindisi and cast members Monty Hays, Maya Richardson, and Tod Petersen. click on this link to purchase tickets, the code should apply automatically to get you that discount. And hey, if you cannot make it to the March 4th performance you can use that code TCTB1 for any performance through March 12th. Follow the TCTB on facebook @TwinCitiesTheaterBloggers.

I’m Stephen King’s number one fan. Although, I don’t really feel comfortable saying that after witnessing the extremes to which Annie Wilkes goes as the number one fan of writer Paul Sheldon in Misery. Misery which opened Friday night at the Yellow Tree Theatre in Osseo is an adaptation by William Goldman of his screenplay adaptation of the novel by Stephen King. The book and the film are excellent, and now the play adds another successful medium translation. For those of us who know both the novel and the film, Yellow Tree’s production still has the power to entertain and thrill. For those unfamiliar with either, I think it will be an exceptionally engaging thriller. Even knowing what’s coming, my attention was still held throughout thanks in no small part to the excellent performances by the plays cast. If you have anyone in your circle who is unfamiliar with Misery, take them and watch how these two master storytellers, King and Goldman, have them on the edge of their seats.

The play opens with writer Paul Sheldon waking up in the home of Annie Wilkes, his self declared “number one fan”. He doesn’t know where he is or what happened to him. He learns from Annie that he had a car accident due to a snowstorm and that luckily she found him and was able to pry him out of the wreckage and get him back to her house in the woods. He has a badly dislocated shoulder and both legs were broken. Luckily for him, she’s a former nurse who was able to splint his broken legs and has a stockpile of painkillers to help him manage the pain until he can be moved to the hospital. Unfortunately, the phone lines are down because of the storm and the road to the hospital is undrivable, or so Annie says. Annie, whom at first seems to Paul like a Angel of mercy, slowly reveals herself to be more a harbinger of misery. It starts with little moments of odd behavior which become increasingly more disconcerting. Soon it becomes clear to Paul that his number one fan loves him so much, she has no intention of ever letting him go. The play becomes an exercise in suspense to see if Paul can outwit Annie and survive until help can arrive.

George Keller has the unenviable task of stepping into the role of Annie Wilkes, iconically played by Kathy Bates who won the Best Actress Oscar for the role in the film Misery. Wisely, Keller doesn’t attempt to emulate Bates portrayal but instead makes it her own adding an edge and a stronger air of intelligence to the character. The dialogue and the actions are the same but the motivations feel tweaked which give the performance a freshness. Bill McCallum is a worthy opponent in the cat and mouse game. We can see him learning early on that Annie isn’t as easily manipulated as her goofy initial impression gave him reason to believe. He’s able to charm her, but he gets caught a few times trying to be too patronizing and we can see him weighing what she will buy and what she’ll see through. It’s a remarkably intelligent performance requiring McCallum to spend half the play in a bed using mostly just his face and voice to create his character. Then the role requires him to do some compartibly physical acting and in doing so, sells the pain the character is in, that’s made worse by said physical exertion. Valencia Proctor appears in a small role as Sheriff Buster who comes looking for Paul on a couple of occasions. Proctor doesn’t get much to do, but gets one of the best surprises in the whole show.

The show is directed by John Catron who handles the staging fairly effectively. There are a couple of moments that could have been handled with more clarity and precision. On Paul’s first secret escape from his room, there is some business with some pills and a timer, that is called back to later in the play. What happens with the timer doesn’t play quite right and isn’t clear to the audience what, if anything, is actually supposed to be happening with it. I think the suspense could have been even greater as well if the cat and mouse angles had been a little sharper, but those are all just thoughts on how to make something that works, even better. The Scenic Designer Justin Hooper has made wonderful use of Yellow Tree’s limited stage space. It’s a one location set but within the location we get Paul’s room, the kitchen, the livingroom, the hallway, and the front steps of Annie’s home. Hooper uses a technique that has worked well at Yellow Tree before on creating partial structures so we understand where the rooms are but we can see through them into the ones behind. Doors only exist physically one third of their reality, so the actors can use the doors, we know where they are, if they are open or shut, but they don’t obstruct us from seeing what’s happening on the other side of them. There are some neat prop and effects-work which I don’t want to spoil. Sadly, it’s hard to evaluate the Sound Design by Jeff Bailey. The Yellow Tree’s sound system was experiencing technical difficulties and it was a bit distracting at times, but the show is absorbing enough that it will not spoil your enjoyment. These things happen in smaller theatres. If it happens at the Guthrie, they have the resources to have it replaced or fixed right away. Yellow Tree, and theatres like it, don’t have those same resources. In fact, the pandemic has placed many of these smaller theatres in precarious financial situations, and it’s only through the support of audiences that they can keep putting on these wonderful productions. These are important venues for reaching new audiences and providing theatre going opportunities for those who don’t live in the city. You can support Yellow Tree Theatre by going to their shows but you can also make a donation. They need a new sound system, if you’ve enjoyed their productions in the past I urge to to go to this link and make a donation https://ci.ovationtix.com/35626/store/donations/39012.

Misery runs through March 19th at Yellow Tree Theatre for more information and to purchase tickets go to https://yellowtreetheatre.com/misery

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. My fellow Twin Cities Theater Bloggers and I would like you to be our date to The Prom at Chanhassen Dinner Theatre March 4th matinee performance! We have a discount code that will save you $20 per ticket, and we’ll be hosting a talkback afterwards with the Director Michael Brindisi and cast members Monty Hays, Maya Richardson, and Tod Petersen. click on this link to purchase tickets, the code should apply automatically to get you that discount. And hey, if you cannot make it to the March 4th performance you can use that code for any performance through March 12th. Follow the TCTB on facebook @TwinCitiesTheaterBloggers.

The Prom was based on a real life incident the book is by Bob Martin and Chad Beguelin with music by Matthew Sklar and lyrics by Beguelin. It’s brilliantly structured, basically a good natured parody of theater actors and a message play about what it is like to be an LGBTQ identifying teenager in middle America. Somehow it weaves these two disparate things into a perfectly flowing musical that never feels anything but organic. The theater groups songs are mainly comical, the songs focusing on Emma and Alyssa are more emotionally rewarding, but that isn’t to say they are not fun. Sklar and Beguelin have created half a dozen truly memorable songs with lines like “Note to self, don’t be gay in Indiana” and “And nobody out there ever gets to define, the life I’m meant to lead with this unruly heart of mine”. Everytime I experience the final song “It’s Time to Dance”, I want to get up and dance myself it’s such a driven and inspiring upbeat song. There’s not a single song I don’t like in the entire show and on my musical playlist where I usually try to limit myself to no more than three songs from any one show, it occupies six slots. When you leave the theatre, you’ll be adding them to your playlist as well.

The Prom is filled with wonderful pairings between performers and characters but none quite as perfect as Monty Hays as Emma Nolan. Emma is the heart at the center of The Prom and my heart overflowed to the point of leaking out through my eyes as I watched Hays bring her to life. In the inclusive spirit of the show, Hays who identifies as transgender/nonbinary, is cast because they are the perfect person for the role. Hays will break your heart in a scene at the close of Act 1 when Emma is completely devastated and blindsided by an act of cruelty. When Emma finds her voice, her way to to fight back against the homophobic community, Hays’s rendition of the song “Unruly Heart” is note perfect. Hays is so open with the audience, that even a middle aged cis male like me, completely identifies with this teenage lesbian. He finds the vulnerability but also the humor and courage of the character in a performance that engages in such a strong emotional way. It has the power to evoke genuine empathy, the kind that has the ability to promote change. The other actor that seems to have arrived at The Prom by way of casting heaven is Tod Petersen as Barry Glickman. Petersen plays the gay thespian with such humor, he’s theatrical because he’s playing a self absorbed actor but he’s not a caricature. Petersen appears to be having a blast with the character and that fun is infectious. There are wonderful turns by Jodi Carmel and Joenathan Thomas as Dee Dee and Principal Hawkins, who’s more mature love story between the delusional star and the grounded educator, becomes another model for personal growth.

The show is directed by Chanhassen Artistic Director Michael Brindisi who has a sure handle on the humor and energy of this musical. Music Director Andy Kust and his band do these wonderfully energetic songs justice. Scenic Designer Nayna Ramey accomplishes a lot with minimal set pieces as there are quite of few locations needed, so the approach is a few things for each that can be brought on and off quickly. It works well to keep the show flowing and it’s always clear where every scene is set. Rich Hamson does a nice job of matching the general look and feel of the Broadway production without feeling slavishly beholden to what has come before. I particularly loved Emma’s Prom outfit and the costumes of the non-equity cast of Godspell. The highest praise goes to Choreographer Tamara Kangas Erickson. One thing that Chanhassen never fails to do is wow us with the dancing in musical numbers. The Prom continues that tradition especially in the prom dance sequences of which there are two. The precision of the dancers is impressive, and there are some fantastic moves from Hayes and Helen Anker who plays Angie during the “Zazz” number.

Is it weird to say you are proud of a theatre? Maybe, but it’s how I feel about CDT decision to produce The Prom. When they announced it as their next production I was more than a little surprised. I love CDT, they always mount high quality productions of crowd pleasing shows, but they generally tend to play it safe. The Prom is a show that due to it’s characters and themes could alienate some of CDT regular patrons. The sad thing is, if they give it a chance it will appeal to their core audience. I applaud CDT for taking a chance on The Prom. It’s as crowd pleasing and entertaining as anything they’ve ever done and I think it has the potential to bring a younger audience to the theatre. I attend a lot of theater and believe me, audiences in general are skewing older and older every year. It’s important for theatre’s like CDT to attract new audiences, shows like The Prom can help to do that. Due to the themes of the show and the reality that it’s a bit of a gamble, it has a shorter than usual run for a CDT production of only four months. The Prom runs through June 10th, for more information and to purchase Tickets go to https://chanhassendt.com/theprom/. See below for a way to save $20/ticket on performances through March 12th and an opportunity to see it with me and hear from some of the folks who have worked so hard to create this unforgettable theatre experience.

My fellow Twin Cities Theater Bloggers and I would like you to be our date to The Prom at Chanhassen Dinner Theatre for the March 4th matinee performance! We have a discount code TCTB1 that will save you $20 per ticket, and we’ll be hosting a talkback afterwards with the Director Michael Brindisi and cast members Monty Hays, Maya Richardson, and Tod Petersen. click on this link to purchase tickets. The code should apply automatically to get you that discount. And hey, if you can’t make it to the March 4th performance, you can use that code for any performance through March 12th. Follow the TCTB on facebook @TwinCitiesTheaterBloggers.

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.

*note portions of this review have been reworked from previous review of The Prom

Pvt. Wars is a one act play by James McClure having an extremely limited run at Bryant Lake Bowl Theater (BLBT) in Uptown. A stripped down piece of theater, it’s success or failure rests of the shoulders of the three actors. This production is a resounding success. Frankly, I cannot begin to tell you what a relief that was. Full disclosure, one of those actors is a friend whom I hadn’t actually seen perform since our college days. I was excited to see him perform again, but also a little anxious. What if he’s bad? What if the play is bad? Well, the answer is then I’d have to write a bad review or simply decline to write one. What a relief when the lights came up at the end of the play, not only were all three of the performers great, but the play itself is a tight intelligent character study, full of humor and humanity. As I mentioned at the opening, this run is extremely short as is the running time of the play, right around an hour and some change. BLBT is the perfect stage for a show like this, tickets are inexpensive, you can arrive early, order food and drinks to enjoy during the show, and still get home before the babysitter has had a chance to raid the liquor cabinet.

The play is broken into short scenes giving us small glimpses into the lives of it’s three characters over an unspecified time period. The setting is a Veterans hospital in the 1970’s, the characters are three patients, it’s never stated, but it seems they are recovering from psychological injuries rather than physical; though at least one of them was injured in the war. The play isn’t about politics or overt about the war in Vietnam, though the subtext is certainly about the costs of war on those who fight them. The focus is really on the ways in which these three men relate to each other and bond. On the surface, some of them appear to hate each other, but even hate is a way of connecting. Gately, the quiet somewhat simple seeming patient, who is constantly trying to repair a radio. He says that if he fixes it, maybe they’ll let him leave. He knows, and the others remind him, he is free to leave whenever he wants to. This is his way of saying he isn’t ready to leave yet, trying to fix the radio is how he manifests trying to fix himself. When it functions again so, he believes, will he. Silvio was wounded, though I don’t get a sense that he’s still physically recovering from his injury but that the nature of the wound has deeply affected his sense of himself and led him to behave psychotically. He is the volatile patient who is compulsively flashing the nurses that which he no longer possesses. He gets along with Gately but is aggressively hostile to the third patient Natwick. Natwick is the wealthy one who grew up in Long Island with summer homes and private schools. It’s easy to see why he’s a target of intimidation for Silvio, everything about him rubs the working class patient the wrong way. What’s interesting is the way they all interact. We gain insight into their relationships and how they connect to one another in spite of themselves. It sounds heavy, but it really doesn’t play that way. It’s surprisingly funny throughout. Well written humor can be as clear a path into a characters soul as a dramatic monologue.

Bryan Bevell plays Gately as a man who takes life as it comes, if radio parts disappear he takes it in stride. He also takes everything literal, and while the character could come off as simple, Bevell gives him an inner stillness and deliberateness that speaks more towards a peaceful wisdom. He’s the peacemaker, the one that both Silvio and Natwick like and seek out, and it’s easy for the audience to see why. When he does get riled up, it’s not to the level of Silvio’s outbursts, it’s modulated perfectly to match the character we have come to know. Natwick is played by Nathan Christopher who tells you everything you need to know about the characters background just in the style of his speech. He perfectly captures that east coast uppercrust Ivy league man, who one senses may have enlisted in order to avoid his fears of not living up to the expectations that come with that background. Christopher plays him in a way that shows us the surface superiority so we understand Silvio’s dislike, but he also shows us the insecurities and fears which help us understand why Gately doesn’t judge him the same way. My friend Ryan Newton Harris plays Silvio. It was my favorite performance of three very good performances. It’s not because he’s my friend but because he has the juiciest role. He’s completely believable as this character who’s messed up but that’s not who Harris is in real life. I don’t have the benefit of comparing the actors to their characters in the other two cases, I’m sure they are nothing like the characters they are playing either. The fact is that Harris has two advantages and he uses them to full effect. He does have the role that grabs your attention, he’s loud, he’s vulgar, he’s threatening. He plays all of that, but he doesn’t overplay it, he keeps it grounded in a reality that makes those outbursts all the more startling. If you go too big, it gets cartoonish, if you don’t go big enough, it falls flat. Harris finds that sweet spot and never leaves it. His timing, of not only his lines but his reactions, are also spot on. His second advantage is I know him, and I can tell you he doesn’t sound like that. From voice to body language he becomes a completely different person than the one I’ve known. That last one may be an unfair advantage, but who ever send life was fair?

The script calls for very little in the way of set design or lighting, which is good because the one thing you can’t call The Bryant Lake Bowl Theater is state of the art. This play doesn’t need anything but the smallest of props and furniture and some well planned lighting cues. The performers including Bevell, who is the Director of record along with Stage Manager Jeni Long, have really created a collaborative piece of theater art. Minimal as the costumes and props et al are they are exactly what you need for this show without anything being wasted. The one thing this show needs is actors who can pull it off, and this production has them! It’s as entertaining and thought provoking as you could want from an evening at the theater.

The remaining Performances are Friday and Saturday February 17th and 18th For more information about the show and to purchase tickets go to https://www.bryantlakebowl.com/theater/pvt-wars.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is one of those rare books that most of us have read at least once thanks to junior high English classes. I would rank it in my top 10 perhaps even top 5, it’s one of the few books that I’ve read more than once, and certainly one of a very small number that I’ve read more than three times. There’s a reason we’ve all read it and why many of us love it, it’s a stone cold classic. There’s a danger in adapting something as cherished as To Kill a Mockingbird is, there are some many ways to go wrong. The more beloved the source, the more critical the audience is of changes or even interpretations that veer away from the audiences own. Aaron Sorkin is a beloved Playwright, Screenwriter and Director and he has brought his immeasurable talents to this adaptation which is faithful yet irreverently original at the same time. The spirit of the book remains intact as does the plot, but the way in which it is told and where the focus lies has evolved. This is also a very, very funny script, and funny isn’t a word I’ve ever used to describe To Kill a Mockingbird. Don’t let that scare you off, Sorkin hasn’t added a bunch of one liners. The humor is appropriate and mostly comes from the unique way in which the story is told. This is, To Kill a Mockingbird as you have never experienced it before, and it is not to be missed.

The story is narrated by Scout, Jem and Dill, but this adaptation changes the focus away from Scout and more upon her father Atticus’s journey. Sorkin fractures the narrative by staging scenes out of order, flashing forward and back throughout the stories timeline. The kids appear in the scenes but also narrate from outside the narrative, often speaking directly to the audience. All of this works, because we all know this story, we are never lost or confused because 95% of us know this book or at least the 1962 movie. Being able to assume that so much of your audience is coming in with that knowledge allows Sorkin to take chances and play with the narrative. The fourth wall breaking was a risky gamble but Sorkin ends up holding a winning hand. First off, everything from the book is here and it’s all handled wonderfully. So much of what surprises and adds humor in this production is the things that were added. The additions enrich and enliven the work without changing the story or spirit of this American classic. I was nervous going into this because in the last couple of years I’ve seen some favorite books and movies recieve terrible adaptations by people who fundamentally did not understand the essence of the work they were adapting. It’s clear that Sorkin knows the heart of this work and not only does he bring it to life, but he makes it feel fresh and new at the same time.

Richard Thomas as Atticus Finch isn’t just a bit of name recognition stunt casting, he is perfect as Atticus. Let’s face it, we all see Gregory Peck when we think of Atticus Finch, as a Producer or Director you’d be foolish not accept that. So it’s a smart choice to cast someone who is going to resemble in a physical way the character we’ve all embraced in our minds. Thomas fits that bill, but then he brings his own talents to bear on the role and makes it the Atticus we know, but with a sense of humor. Thomas brings the wisdom and the nobility that is so ingrained in the role but isn’t afraid to embrace the humor Sorkin has added into the script. It makes the character even richer and more layered as a result. There is one bit of stunt casting that is so platent, so obviously cheesy, and so wonderfully fun. Mary Badham plays the small role of Mrs. Dubose, the woman down the street who doesn’t have a nice thing to say to Scout or Jem. Badham played the role of Scout in the 1962 film of To Kill a Mockingbird and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for that film. Shameless? Yes. Fun? Absolutely! Who doesn’t want to see that? The one role that is going to be a bit of a audience divider I suspect is Melanie Moore as Scout. Her delivery is unique, it comes off like a blending of Alabama and Brooklyn. I initially found it very jarring, but I became accustomed to it after about 30 minutes. It’s tough because all of the actors playing the three kids are not kids. Moore, is playing the youngest and probably the largest and most front and center role of the three kids. Scout speaks with confidence, she is a character that calls it like she sees it. Also when she is speaking as her character removed from the timeline of the play, it’s fair to assume she’s not the young Scout but one from a later time and place. It’s a tricky role and one that some are not going to take too. I was won over but do have to admit, it wasn’t perhaps the best way to play the part. I do want to mention a couple of other cast members quickly that were just perfect. Steven Lee Johnson as Dill, of all the three kids who get to address the audience and comment of the proceedings, got the greatest laughs. Dill is always a bit of a character, Johnson really finds the perfect way to bring out his eccentricities but also brings a tenderness to him and intelligence. Dorcas Sowunmi plays the Finch’s housekeeper and the role is given some spunk by Sorkins script, Sowunmi plays the passive aggressiveness with just the perfect bit of sass and pride. That character, as much as any, speaks the audience’s thoughts as if Atticus is our conscience, Cal is our sense of fairness.

Bartlett Sher directs what feels like a very modern production. The scene changes happen smoothly and are almost always covered by having our attention drawn downstage by the young narrators. The show is two hours and 50 minutes with one intermission, but it doesn’t feel long at all. Sher keeps everything moving without a wasted moment, I think the moving back and forward in the plot narrative wise, and having the characters jump out of the narrative to comment on the action, gives it a sense of anything can happen, which is amazing. That’s a testament not only to Sorkin’s script but Sher’s direction as well. The sets are a wonderful representations of the courtroom and the front porch of the Finch home, among other locations. Miriam Buether’s sets moved in and out seemingly effortlessly, the Finch porch comes in from each side of the stage in two halves becoming one long porch in the blink of an eye. Jennifer Tipton’s lighting design adds a classic look to the sets, giving us that sense of a sepia tone past, which feels right where this story lives in our minds.

To Kill a Mockingbird looks like it’s close to selling out, if this is a book you’ve loved, do yourself a favor get one of those last remaining tickets while you can. I have a feeling this is one of the rare non-musical tours that could have sold a second week in the Twin Cities. It’s great and you owe it to yourself to see it while you can. To Kill a Mockingbird runs through February 19th as part of the Hennepin Theatre Trust Broadway on Hennepin Season for more information and to purchase tickets go to https://hennepintheatretrust.org/events/to-kill-a-mockingbird-broadway-tickets-minneapolis-mn-2023/

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

I have made the trek 40 minutes south of my home to DalekoArts in New Prague four times now, I have yet to go home disappointed. Native Gardens, their new production is no exception. Like Playwright Karen Zacarias’ The Book Club Play, which is playing for one more week at Theater in the Round, this comedy draws it’s humor from the characters. Humor that comes from who the characters are, and what their needs and wants are, is almost always richer and deeper than a series of one liners and pratfalls. Though, those can be a lot of fun too. Native Gardens is about themes we can all relate to on some level, race, privilege, what it means to be a good neighbor, and gardening. Themes like that can be serious stuff, particularly the gardening, but the scripts magic trick is in how entertaining it makes exploring these themes. It’s a cast that really owns these characters and a set that once again uses the DalekoArts smallish stage wonderfully. This one led to some interesting discussions afterwards, not just about race and privilege but of theater and it’s changing landscape.

Pablo and his pregnant wife Tania have just moved into their new home. Their neighbors Frank and Virginia are an older couple nearing retirement. Things start off friendly enough between the two couples with the sharing of wine and talk about their yards. Frank is hoping his flower garden will finally take first prize when the annual neighborhood eventis judged this Sunday. Pablo, impulsively invited the entire law firm he just joined to a BBQ at his house on Saturday. To get their yard in shape they want to take down an ugly chain link fence and put up a new wood fence. Both couples are in favor of the fence and everything seem to be going great until the surveyor’s come out and discover that Pablo and Tania’s yard actually extends beyond the fence line, in fact it’s happens to be on the other side of Frank’s prized flower bed. That’s when things get tense, to begin with but they escalate from there. Populated with characters we can relate to and understand, Zacarias script refuses to allow us simply to choose a side and sit back and watch the fireworks. Yes, you will likely lean towards one or other of the couples, but it’s hard to ignore that each side does make some valid points. It’s not all black and white, and it illustrates how we can all escalate things when the arguments become emotional. Things we might have been willing to compromise on, come off the table when we feel taken advantage of or disrespected. Karen Zacarias is becoming a favorite playwright in the span of a few weeks.

The cast is very strong particularly Raul Arambula as Pablo and Julie Ann Nevill as his neighbor Virginia. Arambula, has a rich character to play and he’s able to bring out each aspect of the character fully. An intelligent lawyer but also at times an angry young man, who’s tired of being taken advantage of. He’s reasonable until he’s pushed too far, but when that happens we see the the patience wear thin. Nevill plays the established white career woman who’s winding down to retirement and has grown accustomed to her place in the world and home. This perhaps felt like one of the most realistic characters, maybe she reminds me of people I know a little order than I. She is intelligent with that knack for twisting things to turn herself into the victim. What Neville succeeds in is not easy, she plays her so that we see that her entitlement is completely unseen by her. She plays the various cards of her arguments without irony. It’s what an actor needs to do with a character like this, she has to see her character as correct and play it that way. In doing so, she makes what could easily be a straight forward “Karen”, into a person we actually can empathize with at times. Abigail Chagolla as Tania starts off a little slow, before the conversations get heated there feels like there’s a little bit of line reciting rather than acting, but once we are ten minutes into the show and she gets something to do other than exposition, she blossoms. She has a great scene where she finally loses all patience with Virginia and curses her out in Spanish, you feel the heat in that moment and it’s electrifying. Of the four leads Rick Lamers as Frank struggles the most but it’s not a bad performance. It feels like the character is given some business to do that would be hard for anyone to make plausible. There’s a little boy quality to him with his gardening that just seems out of touch with his station in life and perceived place in society. Perhaps it’s the size of the stage working against him. For example, when he’s given a minute or two to show his joy of gardening, he has to content himself with wandering around the 10 x 10 space. His choices probably make it easier to stay busy in that time, but they sort of make us wonder if he’s all there or not.

Native Gardens was directed by Adlyn Carreras and she has a real feel for these characters and the situation. She finds the balance not letting the border dispute slide too far one direction or the other, realizing that staging it as she does, she can draw more people into the characters headspace. If we can see ourselves in both sides, maybe we can find the way towards compromise in our own lives. Robin McIntyre’s set design makes the best use of a stage that is a bit on the smaller size. As you can see in the photo at the top of the review the setting is the adjoining back yards of the two neighbors houses, both of which are well realized. My favorite element is the great oak tree in Pablo and Tania’s yard. It’s something that could have been just suggested by the dialogue and looks off stage or into the audience to indicate where it was located. I love that they actually built it and it looks great.

Native Gardens runs through February 26th at DalekoArts in New Prague, it’s a bit of a trek but it’s always worth it. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.dalekoarts.com/season-11/?wmTabs=native-gardens

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