Georgiana & Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley at Lyric Arts is Like They Caught Joy in a Bottle and Sprayed the Audience With it.

Morgan Kempton and the cast of Georgiana & Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley Photo by Molly Weibel

Georgiana & Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley by Lauren Gunderson & Margot Melcon is the third and final entry in the Christmas at Pemberley cycle of plays that revisits the Bennet family from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. The other two plays Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley and The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley were performed in 2022 and 2023 at Lyric Arts. Now if you didn’t see the previous plays I can assure you that you will not be lost. They are designed to be seen as individual plays, seeing the others allows you to see how they all fit together, but is entirely unnecessary. That said if you can see the others anywhere now or in the future do so! I love all three of these plays and will see them again and again. When you see as many plays as I do in a year the ones you saw last Christmas become fairly hazy. I saw Georgiana & Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley at the Jungle Theater in 2022 and loved it loved the cast, this production just obliterated any memory I had of it. The cast of this production is astonishingly great. There isn’t a look or a line reading, whether it be comedic or heartfelt, that isn’t done to perfection! Whatever magic Jane Austen had, she has passed on to Lauren Gunderson & Margot Melcon because I get the same tears of boundless joy whether I’m experiencing Austen’s works or theirs. They capture the exact same emotional response, which is a swell of overwhelming happiness.

This story focuses on Georgiana Darcy, Mr. Darcy’s younger sister, and Kitty Bennet, Lizzy Darcy’s youngest sister. It’s their turn to find and possibly lose love. The two girls have become the best of friends and spend much of their time together. For Georgiana, love comes in the person of Henry Grey whom she has only met once after a piano recital but has been corresponding with via letters for almost a year and has invited him to visit on Christmas. They both have fallen in love with each other through their letters and a shared passion for music. When they finally meet again at Pemberley, they are both so shy it will require their friends and family to get them to come out and tell each other how they feel. Accompanying Henry is his friend Thomas O’Brien who is instantly smitten with Kitty. So now we have the two pairs of lovers and in true Austen form, there will be letters that reveal secrets, arranged engagements, and meddlesome siblings. The hazards are many, not the least of which is Mr. Darcy who by the end of Act I will have seemingly torpedoed the match between Henry and Georgiana. Act II takes place about six years later on another Christmas and I’ll be damned if I didn’t want to stand up and shout “It’s a Christmas Miracle!” at the end. There was always a message in the script about gender equality and the reality of the lives of women at that time in history, but it feels even more timely and urgent than it did just two years ago.

I know what a third of you are saying, “it’s a chick play”. First of all, I don’t think you should say that, I know what you mean, but it sounds kinda derogatory. Secondly, no it isn’t. Steel Magnolias is a chick play, a very good one by the way. But Georgiana & Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley is a universal play, it is concerned with love, that is an emotion that all genders have experience of. So mothers, girlfriends, and wives don’t be afraid to take the men in your lives to this, and men don’t be put off by Jane Austen or showing an emotion now and then. I promise you will laugh, you may cry, and in the end you will not regret the two hours you spent in the theater. In fact this is the kind of show that will have you asking next year “So is anyone doing one of those Christmas at Pemberley again this year? I’d go with you if you wanted to go.” While we are on the topic of next year, though maybe this is a two year away thing. Some theater company, the Jungle Theater or Park Square perhaps needs to make the bold decision to produce the entire trilogy in Rep. That would be amazing, let’s get to work on that shall we? While we are planning that I’d like to suggest that you sign up Marci Lucht to direct it as she did and absolutely phenomenal job with this production at Lyric Arts. There is an interlude at the opening of Act II that acts as a dialogue free exploration into the minds of the characters, showing through movement a combination of what is in the characters hearts and the passage of those six years. It’s inspired bit that I don’t think is scripted, but that was beautiful in execution, like the set had come alive and we are watching a ballet of pillars.

I’ve already praised the entire cast so I’ll try not to go on too long and mention everyone, but I have to make a few remarks. Morgan Kempton and Waverly Ann McCollum play Georgiana and Kitty respectively and you couldn’t ask for better leads. Kempton, uses her characters quiet demeanor in the first act to express her uncertainty and then modifies the same quality in Act II to show an inner strength determination. McCollum shows Kitty to be insightful and energetic, her leaps over the bench in Act I showcase her energy and youthfulness and get a nice laugh. Grace Klapak who is returning to the role of Lydia perfectly plays the least endearing character Austen ever created. Klapak is spot on in her portrayal, she carries herself perfectly, slouching when bored pumping herself up when she wants to be noticed. She knows exactly how far to take it so we understand everyone’s annoyance with her, without actually becoming annoying to us, but rather coaxing laughs from us with her characters unpleasant characteristics. Noah Hynick, frankly I don’t think I’ve ever seen Hynick be anything but perfect in a role. I’m not sure how Lyric Arts seems to have him under exclusive contract, after a performance like this I ask myself again, why isn’t this guy cast in everything at the Guthrie. He is as gifted in his gestures and reactions as he is in his line reading choices. The first time I can remember coming across Mr. Hynick was in 2022 when he appeared in Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley at Lyric Arts and since it feels like he’s been in most of Lyric Arts productions, his timing is unerring, and it’s time to officially add him to the must see list, though he was already there to be honest. William Edson plays Mr. Grey which was the one role I can clearly remember from the Jungle Theater production. It was the first time I really took note of Dustin Bronson because he was amazing, I can’t say that Edson was better, but I can say he was as good! Lastly, I loved seeing Faith Winship as Elizabeth Darcy, she made a strong impression last year in a couple of shows, The Marvelous Wonderettes and She Loves Me, I hope to see more of her soon.

Georgiana & Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley runs through December 22nd at Lyric Arts in Anoka. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.lyricarts.org/georgiana-and-kitty

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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/

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/

Twin Cities Horror Festival XIII Day One Reviews: The Wrench, Let’s Summon a Demon at Debbie’s, The Alchemist’s Bargain, and Doctor Clown

TCHF XIII actually launched a day early this year on Wednesday night with the sold out, one night only, Leslie Vincent Presents: A Monster and Mayhem Cabaret. I think everyone in the audience that night is of the firm belief that this is the way to open every TCHF going forward. Here’s hoping that is in the works for next year. The Festival shows of which there are 11, began on Thursday, each will have 5 performances throughout the 11 days of the festival. To see the schedule and purchase tickets to any of the shows go to https://www.tchorrorfestival.com/tchf-xiii.html . But don’t wait to long, shows have already sold out performances.

The Wrench is a play written by Andrew Erskine Wheeler Who’s Whoosh!… remains in my memory as a highlight of my very first Minnesota Fringe Festival. Here again he dives into a real life event, but this time there is a dark side. A group of actors, most of whom were present at the 1849 Astor Place Riot, have been hired for a new production of Macbeth. The story of their experience with the riot and how it left one of them with a traumatic brain injury is recounted to the young understudy who will have to go on as Lady Macbeth after the leading lady met with an accident. Interesting how often the Scottish Play and it’s curse has been coming up lately, just Sunday it was a very fun antidote in Patrick Page’s All the Devils Are Here at the Guthrie and those of us on the theater beat know of the series of accidents that have plagued Theater Latte Da’s production of Scotland, PA. Wheeler is great as Roscius Denue, who was trampled by horses during the riot and now speaks gibberish most of the time, but has perfect recall of the Shakespearean roles he played before the accident. There is also nice work from Carolyn Pool and Shanan Custer as two actresses that have aged out of the Lady Macbeth role and into the three witches.

Let’s Summon a Demon at Debbie’s is this years breakout hit, and it was so even before anyone saw it. By the time of the first performance four of its five performance slots have sold out. So if you are interested get online and get your tickets tonight, they will be sold out in the next day I’ve little doubt. Is it worthy of all the advance hype, yeah I think it is. The show opens on the home of Debbie, who lives with her menagerie of dolls whom she thinks of as her children. When her doorbell rings for the first time in 10 years and 27 days she is on her guard, but it turns out to be her old friend Cara, that she hasn’t seen in 25 years. Not since the day they and their friend Lucy tried to summon a demon in Debbie’s house during their senior year of high school. Is it scary? not really but it certainly has horrific elements. It’s really a pitch black comedy with some messed up stuff in it. Reagan Kay James is perfect as the uptight and slightly off her rocker doll loving Debbie. Julia Weiss as Cara wows us first by downing and entire bottle of wine in one drink, then with a story about catching her husband cheating on her that becomes more and more outrageous as it goes on and on, none of which can be repeated here for fear on violating some obscenity laws. Ashley Rose Wellman is Lucy whose entrance provides what is probably the plays one genuine moment of fright.

The Alchemist’s Bargain is a charming puppet show performed using blacklights, which really brought me back to my childhood, when you could get a blacklight bulb and blacklight posters at Spencers Gifts in the mall. I even had blacklight crayons that I used to color with and than look at using the blacklight. The story follows a man who seeks out a Alchemist who he hopes will be able to bring his true love back to life. The Alchemist sends the man on a quest to retrieve three ingredients that he will need in order to bring the loved one back. There is a lesson learned by the end but even if there wasn’t the journey itself is worth attending the show for. It’s a visual treat that ends with the alchemist’s trick. This is a great show for families, kids while marvel at the creativity of the medium, In fact so will their parents. I didn’t just enjoy myself, I was very much delighted by Phantom Chorus Theatre’s production. It’s a great example of the variety of styles and shows on view at the TCHF.

Doctor Clown is this years entry from Dangerous Productions. Typically the one show you can count on to be bloody and scary. Well, that is until this year, the blood is still there, but the scares have been replaced by laughs. Many of the laughs coming from the use of blood. Was I a little disappointed? yes, not because what they did wasn’t successful, it is. And it isn’t because it’s just a bunch of gross out humor, there is actually a fair amount of political and social commentary involved. No, it’s just that the one thing I’ve always found about the TCHF, and I do love the TCHF, is that very few of the shows actually even attempt to be scary. So it’s a little bit of a let down when the one company that can be relied upon to try and get the blood pumping, in more ways than one, doesn’t, at least, not in more ways than one. Of course the company should be allowed to do something different, and this clowning show if very well done. So it is a good show and my hope is that by setting your expectations accordingly you will be able to appreciate it more fully. If you have issues with blood and gore, this is not a show for you, it isn’t used to scare you but it could trigger a gag reflex or two all the same.

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Broomstick Sweeps in the Witching Season at Open Eye Theatre

Broomstick by John Biguenet and designed and directed by Joel Sass will get you in the mood for Monster Month! It is a monologue show that runs about 90 minutes, no intermission, in which a Witch speaks directly to us in the audience as if we are one of the children she took in long ago and who ran away after a “misunderstanding”. Cheryl Willis doesn’t just play one, she really is a Witch! I know because I witnessed her cast a spell over the entire audience. She spins her tales like a spider a web, drawing you ever inward until you are entirely captive to her appetite. Willis is absolutely mesmerizing surrounded by Joel Sass’ always stunning and detailed sets, she moves from one reminiscences to another speaking always in rhyme. The marriage of atmosphere and Willis’s witchy vocalizations at once playful, almost childlike, then underlined the next moment with a tone of menacingly dark humor. It is a marriage of performer and role that comes along only a few times a year. More than just storytelling this is an experience, Playwright Biguenet has written the audience into the script and Willis draws us into our roles like lambs to the slaughter. I have not the words to describe Willis’ accent, something celtic perhaps, but whatever it is, it’s devine. I could have listened to her for another hour. The character she creates is complicated, understanding, devious, sentimental, questioning, innocent, treacherous, and deadly all conveyed with the skillful inflections of Willis masterfully controlled voice.

If you are looking for something that’s funny without being a comedy, scary without being gross or horrifying, Broomstick is the show for you. Here are a group of theater artists that do what Open eye does better than any other theater their size, make every aspect of production work perfectly together and make it look like a million dollar show. Lighting Designer Kathy Maxwell, Costume Designer Claire Looker, and Sound Designer C. Andrew Mayer all put their mark on the show. It sounds and looks fantastic, which is one of the things I cherish most about Open Eye Theatre. Broomstick runs through October 31st at Open Eye Theatre in South Minneapolis. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.openeyetheatre.org/broomstick

Holmes/Poirot Gets Long Awaited World Premiere at Park Square Theatre Proves Worth the Wait

David Andrew Macdonald, Stacia Rice, Daniel Petzold, Bob Davis, Steve Hendrickson Photo by Rich Ryan

Holmes/Poirot the new play from local favorite Jeffrey Hatcher and Steve Hendrickson finally takes the stage at Park Square Theatre where it was originally scheduled as their annual Summer whodunnit in 2023. To be clear, the delay was to do with Park Square’s Financial struggles, which appear thankfully to be righted, and not an issue with the play itself. This play along with Hatcher’s Holmes and Watson are the most satisfying and clever bits of Sherlockian fiction to come along in a long time. I don’t keep up on all the Holmes pastiches but I’ve read a few over the last year, such as the most recent Nicholas Meyer Novels and Robert J. Harris’s A Study in Crimson. For sheer cleverness and enjoyment, nothing tops Hatchers ingenious mysteries. As with Holmes and Watson, the tag line left me unsure how well it would work. For Holmes Poirot it reads:

“Sherlock Holmes never lost a case. Or did he? In this new mystery Holmes comes up against his most diabolical adversary in a tale of intrigue, international politics, wine and murder. And he’s stymied. Enter Hercule Poirot 25 years later to investigate a new crime that rhymes with the first.”
Park Square Theatre Website

It reads like Holmes fails and Poirot comes in and solves it 25 years later, implying he’s the greater detective, which wasn’t what I wanted to see. In the end, while the tag line isn’t entirely disingenuous, in Act One Holmes doesn’t fail to solve the crime, he makes a choice to not reveal the solution, and that reason feels valid to Baker Street fans. Poirot solves another mystery all together in Act two and is aided by information from Holmes’ earlier case. Like the earlier Holmes and Watson, the script itself elements that turn those synopsis on their heads and lead you to twists not guessed at beforehand. Its been probably a decade since I finished my David Suchet Poirot watch, but parts of the Act Two felt like they were inspired by elements from the Christie Stories, the Golfing, the Tramp, the competition between Poirot and Inspector Giraud, I can’t remember if they all come from the same story or if they’re all separate elements from different stories. But it gave Act Two an authentic Christie feel, that felt as different in style from Act One as Conan Doyle’s writing does to Agatha Christie.

There is so much to love about the casting of this show. First the ingenious casting of Steve Hendrickson and Bob Davis in dual roles in which they swap playing the detective and the sidekick during the two Acts. Hendrickson plays Holmes with Davis as his Watson, roles they have played before. In Act Two Davis plays the detective Hercule Poirot with Hendrickson as his Captain Hastings. Perhaps surprisingly give their histories as Holmes and Watson, I enjoyed them even more as Poirot and Hastings. It’s perhaps the nature of the characters, there is a little more to do with the latter, as they are a tad more emotional and colorful duo. Davis’s Watson in the solid by the book gentleman Doctor, his Poirot is witty, and eccentric. Hendrickson’s Holmes is logical and a bit unemotional, whereas his Captain Hastings has more in common with Bertie Wooster than John Watson. These are fun characterizations made even more enjoyable by watching the complete changes these two leads make between the two acts. Other treats in the casting department, it’s great to see Daniel Petzold back at Park Square where he first drew our attention in Airness and Holmes and Watson. David Andrew Macdonald, who was brilliant last year in the Guthrie Theater’s Jeffrey Hatcher adaptation of Dial M for Murder, then stuck around to help out in the History plays, hopefully this means he’s decided to stay in town and add to our pool of Twin Cities Talent. Also nice to see the return of Stacia Rice to the stage, who gives a wonderful performance and is the one Actor who plays the same character in both Acts.

For mystery fans, Sherlockians, and Poirot devotees Holmes/Poirot will feel like Christmas came early. The show runs through November 3rd at Park Square Theatre in St. Paul. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://parksquaretheatre.org/box-office/20242025-season