Victor Invictus

Victor Invictus is everything I was expecting the shows to be my first year covering the TCHF back in 2019. It has everything: Frankenstein’s Monster, Murder, Mad Scientists, Dark and Stormy nights, blood and quite literally guts. This is a continuation of the Frankenstein story following his creature decades after the creator’s demise. There is an effort between the Creature and a female scientist to track down portions of Victor Frankenstein’s journal in an effort to fix the creature’s body and mind. The creature is haunted in his mind by the voices of those whose body parts he is the sum of as well as that of Frankenstein himself. There are surprises and twists along the way. It’s a spooky great time! Added elements that set this show above the rest are numerous. First there is a live organist accompanying the production adding a suitably atmospheric score written and performed by Steven Zubich. There are Foley and sound effects created live by Andrew Rosdail like an old time radio broadcast. The Creature is a life-size puppet, a creative touch that really added to the “monster story” feel. It’s beautiful creation designed and built by the co-director and co-writer of the show Marc Berg, his partner in the directing and writing of the play is Thalia Kostman. It’s wonderfully puppeteered and voiced by Braden Joseph, Keegan Robinson, and Thalia Kostman. A wonderful cast all around with a standout being Thomas Buan who first came to our attention last August playing Pooh Bear in the Stages of MN Fringe of the Day Award winner Who’s Afraid of Winnie The Pooh. This is definitely one for classic horror fans to catch.

Remaining Show Times
Wednesday, October 26th 10:30pm
Thursday, October 27th 6pm
Saturday, October 29th 7:30pm

Rating:
Language – 1
Violence – 4
Blood – 3
Warning: lightning flashes, loud screams
Recommended Age: 13+

Bad Egg

Bad Egg is a twist on the film version of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Veruca Salt, here known as V, tells her version of what happened that day in the chocolate factory. Taking place a couple of years after the events of the original story it’s V’s first day in a new school and everyone thinks they know her, that she is a bad egg. V will share her story which is acted out as she tells it. It’s funny and dark and contains themes of abandonment, guilt, and revenge. It makes us look at this beloved childhood tale in a whole new light. Written and directed by Denzel Belin, it’s an off the wall idea that works incredibly well. Moving between cartoonish to darkly dramatic with perfect ease under Belin’s guidance. With wonderful performances from the entire cast, particularly Bella Maldonado as V, who sells the “girl unfavorably characterized by today’s media” approach, and Phil Schramm whose wonderfully goofy performance as The Kook, aka Willy Wonka, effectively channels Gene Wilder’s Wonka.

Remaining Show Times
Tuesday, October 25th 7:30pm
Thursday, October 27th 10:30pm
Saturday, October 29th 9pm

Ratings (1-5)
Language – 1
Violence – 3
Blood – 2
Age Recommendation: 13+
​Warnings: Discussion of Child Harm, Darkness, Screaming

All Your White Darlings

All Your White Darlings emerges as probably the best show of the TCHF Season XI. Dangerous Productions, the theater company behind this show, is always near the top, always among the bloodiest and genuinely scary of each years productions. This year it trades in a portion of scary and replaces it with social commentary. The brilliant script by TCHF Executive Director Duck Washington replaces scares with horror holding a mirror up to society and making us confront ourselves. Smart doesn’t do the script justice, it makes us confront white privilege in both glaringly obvious ways and subtle insidious ways as well. Theo is a “diversity hire” black man brought to Nile Island, a seeming utopia in which to work and live. After a year there are a total of eight black people on the island. When white islanders begin to be murdered in response to each new killing of a black man my police around the country, suspicion falls on the those few black residents. We see the true colors of Theo’s white coworkers and lover and in doing so we are asked to reflect on how we would ourselves react. Even Theo, the victim of the story, makes certain assumptions and that is where the script really shows it’s skill. Everything about this production is top notch especially the performance of Chad Heslup as Theo. Other standouts in the impeccable cast are Jay Kistler as Gary, an all to realistic unhinged white resident with a grudge to bear, and Sean Dillon as Sam Theo’s recruiter and boss. If I made this sound like medicine, I’ve sold it short, it’s also a fantastic entertainment that keeps you engrossed until the very end.

Remaining Show Times
Tuesday, October 25th 9pm
Friday, October 28th 6pm
Sunday, October 30th 7:30pm

Ratings (1-5)
Language – 5
Violence – 5
Blood – 5
Warnings: Themes of racial violence.
Suggested Age: 16+

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. 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.

Reverend Matt’s Monster Science: Gillman Genesis (Guillermo del Toro Variant)

Reverend Matt’s Monster Science is the banner under which Matthew Kessen performs comedic but factual lectures about Monsters. A staple of the festival, I first saw his lecture entitled Feminine Inhuman when I was covering the TCHF my first year of reviewing. This year the lecture is entitled Gillman Genesis but there is an interesting twist – he has two different lectures that perform on different nights. The Milicent Patrick variant which I saw on opening night centers around the woman whose credit for creating The Creature From the Black Lagoon has only recently been restored after decades of being wrongly attributed to a her ego bruised white male boss. The second variant which I saw yesterday focuses on contemporary horror master Guillermo del Toro, who created his own Gillman for his masterful film The Shape of Water. In this lecture he explores del Toro’s biography a bit but mostly delves into his monsters. I won’t give away any of the details I’ll just say that I find these lectures to be highly enjoyable. As a fan of monsters who poured over books about them, particularly the old Universal Studio Monsters as a kid, I feel a kindred spirit with Rev. Matt. His love of his subject matter and his wit drive these fun filled lectures.

​Remaining Show Times
Monday, October 24th 7:30pm – Mother of Monsters (Milicent Patrick)
Saturday, October 29th 4:30pm – World Full of Monsters (Guillermo del Toro)
Sunday, October 30th 1:30pm – Mother of Monsters (Milicent Patrick)

Ratings (1-5)
Language – 0
Violence – 0
Blood – 0
Jokes – 5
Suggested Age: 13+ 

Edgar Perry

Edgar Perry is written and performed by Katie Hartman and Nick Ryan, known as The Coldharts. It is a fictionalized version of the life of Edgar Allan Poe during young adulthood. It’s central idea is that Edgar is mentally ill, and there are two sides to his personality competing for control. It’s also a musical. This is one of the best shows I’ve seen so far at TCHF. It’s also the one that clearly needed more rehearsal. Hartman and Ryan are very good performers, and their script is unique and clever, but they do stumble over their lines occasionally and had a couple of minor issues technically as well. That said I’m sure every performance after this will be better and better. The Lighting and costumes are also especially effective creating some moments of actual fear towards the end. Their run was cut short by the opening night performance being cancelled so there are only three performances left. I highly recommend this one!

Remaining Show Times
Monday, October 24th 9:00pm
Thursday, October 27th 7:30pm
Sunday, October 30th 3pm

Ratings (1-5)
Language – 3
Violence – 3
Blood – 1
Suggested Age: 13+

For more information about the TCHF in general, each of these shows, and to purchase tickets go to https://www.tchorrorfestival.com/

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.

Spooky and Gay Cabaret.

Spooky and Gay Cabaret is writer performer Bruce Ryan Costella’s little bit of everything show. This visiting artist from Orlando Florida tells spooky stories, sings songs and performs stand up comedy bits. Two things really stood out were the lighting and his stand up bits that counted down things like the gayest songs and the worst Halloween candies. The lighting was especially effective and impressive considering he controlled it all himself while performing, it was simple but very effective. It’s a fun show and Costella plays a charming MC to his own set of mini acts. It’s the sort of low budget DIY show that is perfect for the little Horror Festival that could, and I think it says a lot about this Festival, that it does attract artists from other states. Of course he’s gay and from Florida, why wouldn’t he wanna leave there and come here? And for the record, I stand with Costella on the Tootsie Roll but I like Dots!

Remaining Show Times
Sunday, October 23rd 7:30pm
Monday, October 24th 6pm
Wednesday, October 26th 9pm
Saturday, October 29th 10:30

Ratings (1-5)
Language – 5
Violence – 3
Blood – 0
​Suggested Age: 16+

Writer’s Room

Frankly, part of me feels a little robbed as I was promised Sam Landman. I assume that was his voice, but they never tell us and no one even mentions his name. But oh heck Writer’s Room, I can’t stay mad at you, you are much too clever for that. Like the opening nights Stabby Stab Stab this contains three very good performances, and a voice which may or may not be Sam Landman. The story is Written & Performed by Emily Dussault, Keith Hovis, Sam Landman & Leslie Vincent. Three characters, one a composer, one an influencer, and the third a hacker are all summoned to a room where they believe they will be interviewing for a very high paying position. It turns out they are competing for the job with other teams by coming up with solutions to PR problems that celebrities might have. As the play progress we begin to wonder what happens if you don’t get the job? It’s a well told story with lots of twists and surprises, it isn’t too scary really, but it is exciting and it has a nice amount of humor as well. This was the closest thing I’ve seen at the festival so far this year that resembles what we would think of as a traditional play, but…….nah, you’ll have to see it for yourself.

Remaining Show Times 
Sunday October 23rd 10:30pm
Wednesday October 26th 6pm
Friday October 28th 9pm
Saturday October 29th 3pm

Ratings (1-5)
Language – 4
Violence – 3
Blood – 3
Recommended Age: 16+

Stabby Stab Stab

Stabby Stab Stab is a collaboration between two local favorite theater companies that attendees of The MN Fringe Festival and Twin Cities Horror Festival (TCHF) will know well, Special When Lit and the Winding Sheet Outfit. A dramatization of the 2014 true crime popularly known as “the Slender Man Stabbing” that focuses solely on the two 12 year old girls, Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weir who committed the heinous crime. The show is a reminder that people are more than the one worst thing they’ve done in their lives. It doesn’t try to excuse their actions but it does help put things in perspective and bring to the forefront that these were 12 year old children. We gain some understanding of the loneliness and the intense need to connect that the two girls whose inner world seems as real to them as the one outside their heads. It reminded me of the wonderful true crime based film by Peter Jackson Heavenly Creatures.

The girls are brought to vivid life by the shows Playwright Nissa Nordland Morgan as Morgan and Kayla Dvorak Feld as Anissa. Nordland Morgan brings her uncanny ability to play childlike without crossing over into cloying childishness. Her character is the one who stabs and her performance makes clear that the girl is young, naive and suffering from mental illness that has caused a relaxation of her grip on reality. Her script, the result of exhaustive research includes texts between the girls and even a short story written by Morgan. All of this is giving us a picture of the girls tween world view and it brings some modicum of understanding to such an unfathomable act. Dvorak Feld shows her range this month inhabiting a character so completely different from her performance earlier this month in Daleko Arts’ The Thin Place. I couldn’t be sure that it was the same actress until I got home and checked my program from the earlier show such is her transformation.

Stabby Stab Stab is backed with eerily appropriate live musical accompaniment by Derek Lee Miller and Sam Landman. The effective Lighting by Andre Johnson Jr. combined with the projections and Production Design by Director Amber Bjork make this the show to beat at season XI of the TCHF. The opening night performance was sold out and I saw a post on facebook this morning that there were only 8 seats left for Fridays performance. Given the talent and the popularity of the collaborative theatre companies as well as word of mouth I wouldn’t be at all surprised if this shows entire run, which is for this first weekend only, sells out.

​Remaining Show Times:
Friday, October 21st 9pm
Saturday, October 22nd 4:30pm
Sunday, October 23rd 6pm
Monday, October 24th 10:30pm

Ratings (1-5):

Language – 4
Violence – 3
Blood – 1
Suggested Age: 16+
Warning: Suicidal Ideation, Mental Illness

The Shrieking Harpies

The Shrieking Harpies is an improvisational musical performed by Lizzie Gardner, Taj Ruler, Hannah Wydeven, accompanied by Justin Nellis on keyboard. At the start of the show they have an audience member draw from a pumpkin horror theme and then ask for a name to be shouted out. Given these two prompts they improvise a comedic horror musical attempting to create a complete story with a beginning, middle, and end. I’ve said it before but musical improv terrifies me on behalf of the performers, but obviously these three thrive on that danger. They have the comedic and vocal gifts to pull it off. Because it is improve each performance will be unique. The performance I saw used the key word “Devil” and the name “Madeline” from there they use their talents and imaginations to create magic. As with all improve they rely on some established characters types that they can riff on. One of Wydeven’s characters is the horny teacher who’s late for a Tinder date, Ruler is an among others an adolescent with a voice that escaped from a Simpson’s episode, and Gardner is a single parent and overwhelmed by it as well as the inner voice of the Devil. Some of the best moments come when they crack each other up or in our show when Gardner actually scares Wydeven with that inner Devil voice. these shows are always filled with laughs but I’m also equally impressed each time with the quality of their vocals.

​Remaining Show Times
Saturday, October 22nd at 1:30pm
Tuesday, October 25th at 6pm
Friday, October 28th 7:30pm
Sunday, October 30th 4:30pm​

Ratings (1-5)
Language – 1
Violence – 1
Blood – 1
​Suggested Age: 13+

Reverend Matt’s Monster Science: Gillman Genesis (Milicent Patrick Variant)

Reverend Matt’s Monster Science is the banner under which Matthew Kessen performs comedic but factual lectures about Monsters. A staple of the festival, I first saw his lecture entitled Feminine Inhuman when I was covering the TCHF my first year of reviewing. This year the lecture is entitled Gillman Genesis but there is an interesting twist this year he has two different lectures that perform on different nights. The Milicent Patrick variant which I saw centers around the woman whose credit for creating The Creature From the Black Lagoon has only recently been restored after decades of being wrongly attributed to a her ego bruised white male boss. The second variant which I don’t have scheduled but will try and catch focuses on contemporary horror master Guillermo del Toro who created his own Gillman for his masterful film The Shape of Water. I won’t give away any of the details I’ll just say that I find these lectures to be highly enjoyable. As a fan of monsters who poured over books about monsters, particularly the old Universal Studio Monsters as a kid I feel a kindred spirit with Rev. Matt. His love of his subject matter and his wit drive these fun filled lectures.

​Remaining Show Times
Saturday, October 22nd 3pm – World Full of Monsters (Guillermo del Toro)
Monday, October 24th 7:30pm – Mother of Monsters (Milicent Patrick)
Saturday, October 29th 4:30pm – World Full of Monsters (Guillermo del Toro)
Sunday, October 30th 1:30pm – Mother of Monsters (Milicent Patrick)

Ratings (1-5)
Language – 0
Violence – 0
Blood – 0
Jokes – 5
Suggested Age: 13+ 

For more information about the TCHF in general, each of these shows, and to purchase tickets go to https://www.tchorrorfestival.com/

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.

OK here is something really unique and if it’s anything like their last production I attended, it will be a blast. Getting the word out early on this as it runs for only five days and the number of attendees per performance is limited. There is a preview Thursday the 27th and then twice daily Friday thru Monday at 7:00 PM and 9:00 PM with each performance lasting about 1 hour. This is not a sit in your seat and watch a performance type of show. The League will be a multimedia interactive immersive theatre experience.

Audience members step into Holmes’ shoes and team up with Dr. Watson to investigate recent strange events surrounding a local art gallery. Along the way, they uncover a layered mystery, complete with secret aliases, con artistry, an attempted heist…there’s even a large tree branch.

– From Sparkle Theatricals Website

Sounds fun doesn’t it? I’m sure it will be given my past experience with this Theater Company, here’s a snippet from my review of their production Feed Your Head.

I can’t think of a more unique and fun activity for a family to do over the next three days then take in one of these shows. It’s fun, it’s not too long, it’s full of humor, a great introduction to kids that maybe haven’t been exposed to much in the way of theater. But also for older kids who are interested in theater it’s a great display of some wonderful creativity and spot on character work. Don’t get me wrong though, you don’t have to have kids, there wasn’t a single person under 20 in my group and I think it’s safe to say we all had a great time

– The Stages of MN read the full review of Feed Your Head here http://bit.ly/2PxFfx9

Do not wait to book this, apparently you will receive clues ahead of the performance via emails and even snail mail, the sooner you book the more information you’ll get ahead of time. For more information and to get your tickets go to http://www.sparkletheatricals.org/theleague. And because you my best friends, here’s a code to use at checkout to save $10 off each ticket SHERLOCK. I’ll be attending Friday Oct 28th the 9:00 PM show so if you want to, we can combine brains and try and crack this case wide open together!

****UPDATE additional discount code I’ve just been sent Buy 2 tickets at full price, get a 3rd for only $10 when you use the code TRIO.

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.

The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society (The MORLS) has transferred their monthly live performances of old time radio scripts from Park Square Theater in St. Paul to the Bryant-Lake Bowl Theater in Uptown Minneapolis. In the wake of the new theater season opening I missed their first performance in September. That was a missed opportunity that I deeply regret as they performed one of my favorite radio scripts from the series, Suspense “The House in Cypress Canyon.” As disappointing as missing that is it’s a nice reminder that one has to seize the moment when it comes to live theater. You cannot binge these things at your own convenience. Theater happens, and then it’s gone. If you’ve never been you are in for a treat.

The MORLS is four performers: Eric Webster, Joshua English Scrimshaw, Shanan Custer, and Tim Uren. Once a month they perform live shows drawing from old time radio scripts. While acting out multiple voice roles, the four also create all of the sound effects and music cues live, creating a theater of the mind. I’ll frequently close my eyes for stretches and just listen and let my imagination create the visuals. These performances are always entertaining. The stories that held audiences glued to their radios in some cases more than 80 years ago frequently still have the same effect. This months program is something a little different as rather than using existing old time radio scripts, the MORLS have written their own scripts and we are getting three stories rather than the usual two. Here’s what is on the program titled Dracula: Principium et Finis

“Dracula’s Guest” from Dead Men’s Tales. Lost in a mysterious cemetery, Jonathan Harker fights for his life against an unknown foe. Eric Webster’s adaptation of the deleted first chapter of Bram Stoker’s Dracula!

“Farewell, My Bloody” from Jimmy Montague, Antiquarian-for-Hire. A madman named Renfield lures Jimmy to an insane asylum where he must confront demons from the past and vampires from the present! Joshua English Scrimshaw continues his hardboiled retellings of supernatural classics with this latest installment in his MORLS original series.

“The Red Six” from Rip Roaring Adventures. Doctor Van Helsing leads a last ditch attack on Castle Dracula! Tim Uren reimagines the climactic final chapters of Dracula as a thrilling radio adventure!

From the Ghoulish Delights website

Sounds appropriately spooky doesn’t it? Aside from the program itself I’m excited about the new venue. I only recently realized after listening to one of their podcast episodes that Bryant-Lake Bowl is where I first encountered these four performers. When my oldest son was just a wee lad he was very into monsters and we would go with my brother and his wife and son to the Bryant-Lake Bowl Theatre and see a serial production called London After Midnight. The four MORLS were all involved in that production, and if I remember right that is where Eric met the others. So I’m kind of looking forward to some waves of nostalgia, and enjoying some tasty food, another perk that the Park Square venue was missing. The show is Sunday Oct 23rd and begins at 7:00, but the doors open at 6:30 and you can bring food and drinks in from the bar area.

For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.ghoulishdelights.com/. Seating is general admission. I’ll be there so if you come make sure to say hi and join us. You can also find information about their podcast at the link above and how to be become a Patreon supporter with all the honors and benefits that entails.

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

This production of the Josefina Lopez play Real Women Have Curves is a collaboration between Lyric Arts and Teatro Del Pueblo. Teatro Del Pueblo produced the play last summer in Minneapolis with most of the same cast, I did not attend that production so am grateful for this remounted production at Lyric Arts. It’s a very well written play originally set in 1987 that has been updated to include cell phones and mentions of Instagram. Dealing with issues that seem as relevant today or even more so then when it was first produced in 1990. It’s a pleasant production that features a cast that so endearing that by the end it overcomes whatever shortcomings they have.

The Script is in the vein of Steel Magnolias or The Dixie Swim Club as it puts the focus on a group of women, in this case Latinas, exploring their relationships with each other while also spotlighting their roles socially and politically in the larger world.

Set in a tiny sewing factory in East L.A., this is the outrageously funny story of five Latin-American women who are racing to meet nearly impossible deadlines in order to keep their factory from going under. And while they work, they talk…about their husbands and lovers, their children and their dreams for the future. Ana, however, has dreams bigger than sewing the rest of her life away. Her world-weary coworkers can’t help but laugh at her ambitions and what they consider her “idealistic feminist philosophies.” As the summer unfolds, the threat of deportation and cultural pressures mount. The women navigate issues of self-image while uniting to achieve their seemingly impossible goals; learning to love and appreciate not only one another, but themselves in the process. A microcosm of the Latina immigrant experience, REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES celebrates women’s bodies, the power of women, and the incredible bond that happens when women work together.

From Lyric Arts Website

What is interesting for a white midwestern male is how universal but also unique the relationships are. Some of the relationship nuances, like the mother daughter dynamics and the willingness to sacrifice for each other could be any group of women. But the constant fear of a raid by ICE, even for those who are no longer illegal, is where we in the audience stop knowing and start learning. That is one of the wonderful aspects of the script, we can relate to the characters in so many ways which invites us into their world. Then we are confronted with aspects we have never had to deal with but because we have been able to relate to the characters it allows us to better onboard the new perspective making the empathy we feel that much more tangible. This is a really good script and the reason to take in the production, it’s let down a little by the execution.

The cast is hard to comment on. They all have moments when they really bring it where you completely buy them in the roles, most of them also have moments where you see them as actors reciting lines they have learned. Most of them do not physically measure up to the roles. The dialogue that pertains to weight and body size loses it’s reality and the message of empowerment and acceptance, is dulled because of this. Maybe it’s wrong to criticize not casting by body type and then in the next sentence praise them for being inclusive in their casting as I’m about to. The role of Rosali is played by a transgender performer Xochi De la Luna, not as a trans character but as one of the women in the factory. This is as it should be, but I think we are still at a point socially that when unbiased gender casting occurs it should be applauded at the theatre companies acknowledged. The one performer who is never seen acting is the performer new to the cast Alice D. Piar Acevado who plays Pancha. She is Pancha from start to finish, the only false moment she has is when she, the petitist of the cast, has to make her declarations of having curves. All that said, by the end of the show, the cast has shown their hearts and whatever they may lack in polish is outweighed by the way they have endeared themselves to the audience.

I’ve seen, reviewed or been a part of enough productions over the years to differentiate between a good script and a bad one regardless of the production. This is a good script, the production at times feels ununified and unfocused. The themes are there in the script but they are not focused in the staging or performances and I think this is attributable to the Co-Directors Lelis Brito and Adlyn Carreras. The show just doesn’t flow as it should, the camaraderie between the women doesn’t feel natural at times. There is the decision to have Acevado get on a chair and change the hands of the clock on the wall everytime there is a passage of time between scenes. It’s a distracting bit of stage management that isn’t needed, ignore the hands on the clock or remove the clock. Perhaps it’s an attempt to recognize the deadline for the project they are working on, if so there’s a better way of handling it and emphasizing it through design and performance. In general, design wise the show looks and great. The set design by Mikha Aleman is excellent as are the lighting by Shannon Elliott and sound design by Eric M. C. Gonzalez.

Real Women Have Curves runs through October 30th at Lyric Arts in Anoka for more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.lyricarts.org/real-women-have-curves

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.