The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane Charms at Stages Theater Company

Leah Rimstad and Asher Rilen Photo by Amy Rondeau Photography

Based upon the novel The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by celebrated Newbery Award winning Minnesota author Kate Dicamillo this production at Stages Theatre Company is warm, emotional, and utterly Charming. I’ve not read the novel but I am familiar with the story from attending the Minnesota Opera’s Edward Tulane in 2022 during its world premiere. The highlight of that show was the extravagant production design while in this version Scenic Designer Sarah Brandner seems to benefit from going the opposite direction. Not that there is no design, it’s that rather than being lavious and detailed here Brandner is subtle, simple, and all the more entrancing for it. Rather than being wowed by spectacle we are drawn in by a design that pulls us into the characters. With moments as simple as the sky lighting up with stars, which the audience I attended the show with, made up of a few hundred grade schoolers were audibly wowed by. They loved it and old as I am, I confess I did as well.

The story follows the journey of Edward Tulane a rabbit made of China. Edward is given at first by a grandmother to her granddaughter Abilene. The Rabbit is represented on stage by a Rabbit doll but also by a young actor named Asher Rilen who gives voice to Edwards inner thoughts. When we first meet him Edward is very vain and only cares about how he looks and himself. The girl dearly loves him and makes everyone in her family include him, but whatever they say is just noise to him, he’s only interested in himself. One day when the family goes on a vacation on a large ship Edward is lost overboard, he spends months and months at the bottom of the ocean until a storm comes a long and churns up the sea. A fisherman catches Edward in his net and brings him home to his wife, who makes him a dress and names him Suzanna, he is happy there until fate steps in again and he is separated from them. The plot continues on in episodic fashion with Edward being taken in by various people with their own stories to share and their own names to give him. The constant is that everyone he goes to loves him and by the time he has been smashed and then repaired and placed in a doll shop, he has learned to love and is no longer concerned with just his appearance.

There are separations and there are deaths in the story, there is cruelty, but there is also kindness. Director Anna Crace handles the darker aspects with skill, presenting them as the tragedies or injustices that they are, so that the younger members register them. Then she moves on, because a play like life has to move forward. Asher Rilen is very good as Edward, it’s a difficult role for a young actor to be the main character but also not be aloud to act out their role physically, relying almost entirely on a vocal performance, while appearing on stage and not fidgeting. Asher finds the stillness that is needed and accomplishes way more through his performance than had he been able to act out the role of Edward physically. The young cast all do a great job, there is none of the awkwardness or self conscious hand movements that you sometimes encounter with younger performers. The two adult cast members, Grant Hooyer and Charlene Hong White, both of whom play multiple characters throughout Edwards journey are both excellent in every persona they take on. They are great examples to the young cast of how to create multiple distinct characters within a play.

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane runs through October 27th at Stages Theatre Company in Hopkins. It’s the sort of children’s show that will also enchant the adults in the audience, making it a great show for the whole family. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.stagestheatre.org/the-miraculous-journey-of-edward-tulane/

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William Shakespeare’s King Lear Lets the Crazy Flow at Theatre in the Round

Being a Shakespeare fan, I myself find it odd that I’d never read or seen the King Lear produced. I knew the plot had to deal with a King who gets upset with his daughters, but that was about it. I had no idea that it was the template for The Jerry Springer Show. There are very few characters who are not either mad or really really mean. If you are not either of those things, chances are you’ll get your eyes gouged out or something along those lines. The only chance you have if you’re sane is to disguise yourself as someone of a lower class. Thankfully with everyone else being mad, a little makeup and a change of clothes is enough to convince people you know well that you’re someone else entirely. When you go, and you should go, be sure to pick up one of the yellow sheets at the entrance of the theater it’s a little guide to the play, that will help you follow things a little easier. With probably about an hours worth of cuts made to the play, I think the guide is useful and much appreciated.

The play opens with King Lear proclaiming that he’s going to divide his kingdom between his three daughters, Goneril, Regan, and his favorite Cordelia. He asks them each to tell how much they love him, Goneril and Regan flatter him sickeningly and he bestows a third of his kingdom on each of them and their husbands. Cordelia, tells him she loves him but doesn’t go overboard and this angers the King. So he banishes her and gives her third to the other two daughters. It isn’t long before the King who is clearly losing his cognitive abilities is being treated horribly by his remaining daughters and is eventually left to fend for himself in a raging storm. The Earl of Gloucester who in the B plot has two sons, Edgar who is honorable and Edmund who is a villian. Edmund has his evil fingers in everybody’s pies, convincing their father that Edgar is plotting to kill him and making romantic advances on both Goneril and Regan. Gloucester gives aid to the King and for this, the sisters have his eyes gouged out, on stage. In an ironic turn of events it seems that everyone who is practicing a deception in terms of who they are, are the only true and honest people in the play. The villains are all out in the open, even if some of their tricks are done behind peoples backs.

Lear is played by Meri Golden and she does an excellent job in the role. Her manic pacing and constant movement is a nice physical expression of the Kings restless and unmoored mind. Tim Perfect is well cast as the Earl of Gloucester he brings an air of nobility to the role of what is probably the most honorable character in the play. Luke Langfeldt as his evil son Edmund is perfectly sneary, the kind of villain you want to boo whenever he appears. Langfeldt seems to be having a great time with the role. Taylor Evans does a nice job as Edgar and especially when he is in disguise as “Poor Tom” a mad beggar that the King befriends. I also really enjoyed the work of Danny Kristian Vopava as the King’s Fool, while a lot of his lines aren’t funny, the spin he puts on his line readings are. Patti Gage, Deanne McDonald, and Olivia Denninger as Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia do a nice job as well particularly Gage and McDonald who get more stage time and are meatier female characters than we usually get in Shakespeare. It seems to me that the three sisters could be the inspiration for Cinderella and her two evil step sisters.

The production is directed by George M. Roesler and It moves along at a nice pace, but there are definitely some staging issues. Several scenes took place in the upper areas of the audience, almost directly behind me, It was impossible to see what was happening from my seats. The set design is by Greg Vanselow is simple which allows it to be versatile, there is no need for any scene changes, characters can just exit and enter and we are in a new location. The heavy lifting is done with great panache by Lighting Designer Mark Kieffer and Sound Designer Robert Hoffman. Their creation of the raging storm is a highlight for the lighting and sound.

King Lear runs through October 6th at Theatre in the Round Players in Minneapolis for more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.theatreintheround.org/king-lear/

A Wrinkle in Time Full of Stage Magic at Theatre in the Round

A Wrinkle in Time is an American Newbery Award winning young adult novel published in 1962 by Madeleine L’Engle. Cherished by many, not me, but many. I’m not saying it’s not a good book, I’m saying I haven’t read it, and honestly now I wish I had. A little research has informed me that there are actually 5 books in the series that make up the Time Quintet. A Wrinkle in Time tells the story of Meg Murray, her younger brother Charles Wallace and their new friend Calvin O’Keefe who are sent on an adventure through time and space to rescue the Murray children’s father. The story takes us to several different planets where the trio will encounter strange beings and a powerful darkness known as It. Their guides on the journey are the three Mrs. W’s: Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which, who it is suggested by a line of dialogue could perhaps be the three Witches from Macbeth.

The Director Penelope Parsons-Lord has chosen to produce the show using only practical effects so there are no projections or recordings used. For the most part this approach works and in fact is one of the charms of the production. There are a few aspects of the story for those of us not familiar with it that are a little hard to follow. When they reach the planet Camazotz where Mr. Murray is imprisoned, much of what occurs there is hard to follow in the literal sense, though you get a general understanding of what happens overall. I mention this because the play is appropriate for younger audiences say Ten and up, but those unfamiliar with the story might get lost during this section. In terms of the production design I enjoyed the fairly barebones approach; I always like what I call stage magic. It really is a combined effort to create the illusions used to illustrate the fantastical elements of the story. Lighting Designer Mark Kieffer makes excellent use of Black Light technology for the interplanetary traveling sequences. The team behind the characters’ looks: Co-Costume Designers Krista Weiss and Penelope Parsons-Lord, Makeup/Hair Designer Robin Gilmer, and Puppet Designer Elliot Van Winkle create some very distinct images and creatures very simplistically.

The three leads are all relatively new to me; Ryan Pierce as Charles Wallace, Harriet Spencer as Meg, and Tic Treitler as Calvin. Pierce has it the toughest, being the biggest of the three but playing the youngest (six years old in the book), it’s an uphill battle, but I’m not sure most child actors would be able handle some elements as when the character is possessed by the spirit of It. Spencer and Treitler have an easier time suspending our disbelief, as they are playing 13 and 14 year olds. They also somehow create a romantic connection between the two characters that you can sense but I’m not sure is explicit in the script; in my research I find it foreshadows their relationship in the later books. My favorite performances were those of the Mrs. W’s played by Shelley Nelson, Robin Gilmer, and Ariel Pinkerton. Nelson’s portrayal of the quirky Mrs. Whatsit who is the quirkiest of the three is especially fun.

Highly recommended for fans of the book or those who have seen one of the two screen adaptations. I think foreknowledge of the plot is a great help in following certain elements of the plot. The story is full of ideas, themes, and concepts that I think an audience not struggling to follow the plot will focus in on more completely. A Wrinkle in Time runs through July 14th at Theatre in the Round Players for more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.theatreintheround.org/home/season-placeholder/72nd-season/wrinkle/

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Apples in Winter Erases Theater and Creates a Reality at Gremlin Theatre

Angela Timberman Photo by Alyssa Kristine Photography.

A one handed play requires the very best performer to hold an audience’s attention for 90 minutes on their own. Gremlin Theatre is apparently aware of this and thus cast Angela Timberman who not only keeps our attention but keeps us utterly and completely enthralled. Apples in Winter by Jennifer Fawcett tells the story of Miriam who spends her time upon the stage making an apple pie. While preparing and baking the pie in full view of the audience she slowly reveals why she is making the pie. A slice of her apple pie is what her son has requested for his last meal before he is executed for a crime he committed 20 years ago. He was a drug addict, that isn’t an excuse for his actions, this story isn’t about him, it’s about Miriam. He has been incarcerated for 20 years for a crime he committed, what the play shows us is that his mother was essentially serving this sentence with him. It’s one of a parent’s worst nightmares, what do you do when your child has done something that many find unforgivable. We know how to grieve for the families of the victims, but how do we treat the family of the one who has killed someone else’s children? Fawcett’s play builds slowly and steadily from Miriam speaking to us about making pies to slowly revealing the details of where she is and why. It has been twenty years of routines and isolation and as her son approaches the end of his time, she is faced with losing her routines, and the toll his crimes have taken upon her.

Back to Angela Timberman, her performance as Miriam is like a masterclass in acting. Emotionally and technically flawless. There is a moment towards the end when Timberman feels sick and needs to sit down, but there are no chairs and so she finds herself on the floor. Let me be clear, I have seen Timberman perform multiple times, I know her on sight, and I know her to be an accomplished actor. In that moment when she sinks to the floor, I had to actually restrain myself from going to her and putting my arms around her. I wasn’t seeing Angela Timberman anymore, I was seeing Miriam. She is going through all the stages of someone who has loved someone with addiction issues goes through. She was trying to be the caregiver, she was blaming herself, and ultimately she was angry about the lies and deceit and pain she had been put through. And in that moment I wanted to go to her and tell her it wasn’t her fault and hold her for a moment, so she had a minute when she didn’t feel like she had to hold up the world on her own. The kicker is that on top of giving such a convincing and emotional performance, she made a pie, without a recipe! I can’t make a dish I’ve made dozens of times without referring to the recipe a couple of times, let alone monologue a script and give a performance so good that you make an experienced theatergoer forget they are in a theater watching a performance.

The production is well directed by Brian Balcom whose staging allows us to slowly get absorbed into the action, which is small and contained drawing us in. Later moments of explosive emotion are all the more powerful because we were initially drawn into the quiet matter of fact manner of the pie making. The set and lighting design by Carl Schoenborn looks like an institutional kitchen and it is lit that way which really help to remove any sense of theatricality and achieve a sense of realism, that causes reviewers to momentarily forget they are part of an audience. As do the costume and props designed by Sarah Bauer, who choses Timberman’s costume such that we immediately feel we know her type, she is every middle aged mother or young grandmother. Which is a reminder that these horrible things can happen to anyone, anyones child can become an addict. It also helps us to put ourselves in her place and empathize with the impossibility of her position. I also want to mention the sound design by Montana Johnson, which is minimal, but plays a very important role when it comes to Miriam’s recounting of the night her son committed the crime for which he has been condemned. It’s handled extremely effectively signifying the way the sound of rain plays a particularly vivid role in Miriam’s memory of the night, almost the way a smell will sometimes bring back a certain memory.

Apples in Winter runs through April 7th at the Gremlin Theater in St. Paul. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://gremlintheatre.org/apples-in-winter/

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time at Lakeshore Players Theatre in White Bear Lake

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is Simon Stephens Tony Award winning adaptation of the Mark Haddon Novel. I read the book years ago and have now seen the play three times. The first was the National touring production and it was incredible, with an elaborate production design utilizing a complex combination of projection, lighting and sound to simulate the lead character Christopher’s sensory sensitivity. The two subsequent productions I’ve seen, this latest at Lakeshore Players in White Bear Lake, are working with significantly fewer resources. But, despite the limitations, have found a smaller way to represent the world from Christopher’s perspective. Lakeshore players have found creative ways to compensate for budget limitations and have produced a very successful staging of the play. It’s a great play though it does run a little long a 90 minute first act and 80 minutes second act with one 15 minute intermission.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time tell the story of Christopher a young man on the Autism Spectrum, who in trying to discover the killer of the titular dog. Along the way he discovers not only the solution to the murder but deeper secrets as well. The main mystery though is how he will navigate through the dark secrets he uncovers and if we will be able to take and pass his Math A levels. The play deals with the way Mark Thinks and sees the world, the way in which he interacts with his Father, his teachers, friends, strangers, and police. It is at times heartbreaking but ultimately uplifting and positive. When the book first came out Christopher was described as having Asperger Syndrome, a diagnosis now classified as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The play holds a certain extra connection for me as my oldest son Alex was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome when he was young. With both of my songs carrying the ASD diagnosis it is a subject I know something about. The main thing to remember, as they point pout in a pre-show announcement, everyone with this diagnosis is, like everyone on the planet, unique. Christopher’s strengths and weaknesses do not represent those of everyone with ASD. Christopher uniqueness is the lense through which we view this specific story of a broken family. It is a way for those of us in the audience to, not exactly see what the world is like for someone who is on the spectrum, but to see the ways in which the world itself is ableist. Once we have gotten to understand Christopher, seeing the ways he is treated by the police and other people he encounters out in the world, is heartbreaking.

Jackson Hoemann gives a strong performance as Christopher, understanding that the character is not without emotion, but that he processes information through a set of often rigid rules. He seems to grasp that while the world is made up of shades of gray, that for Christopher it’s almost as if he is color blind and he cannot interpret shades but only sees the world in black and white. Katie Rowles-Perich is particularly strong as Christopher’s teacher Siobhan who’s helps to facilitate the major change from the book to the play, which is that the story is presented as a sort of play within a play. Riley Peltz and Bill Stevens are two of the ensemble actors who did especially nice work with a variety of characters. Of note on the technical production side of things is the work of Scenic Designer Brady Whitcomb. Whitcomb’s plethora of Tetris shaped set pieces that are constantly in movement reconfiguring and interlocking into new scene locations are well constructed and versatile. Certain cubes also contain video monitors that at times convey written information and at others might become a prop like an ATM or microwave oven. The sound design by Born Into Royalty and Alex Clark’s Lighting design, work with the score by Torgo and Whitcomb’s set pieces to, at times, give us an effective simulation of the sensory overload Christopher is experiencing.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time runs through March 17th at Lakeshore Players Theatre in White Bear Lake for more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.lakeshoreplayers.org/the-curious-incident-of-the-dog-in-the-night-time

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I am also a member of the Twin Cities Theater Bloggers (TCTB), where you can read roundups of shows by my colleagues and I when you follow us on facebook @TwinCitiesTheaterBloggers. We also produce the podcast Twin Cities Theater Chat!! which you can access through this link or wherever you enjoy podcasts https://twincitiestheaterchat.buzzsprout.com/ . We post biweekly longer form episodes that will focus on interviews and discussions around theater topics. There is also shorter episodes in which we Bloggers tell you what we think you should get out and see as well as what we have on our schedules that we are most looking forward too.

Feast From Walking Shadow Theatre Company at the Black Forest Inn With Bonus Show Beowulf!

There’s something happening at The Black Forest Inn on Nicollet ave in Minneapolis that you have to experience, and experience is the right word. There are options for seeing Feast, but I highly recommend trying to replicate my experience, which is to attend one of the performances when John Heimbuch is presenting his performance of Beowulf before hand. Then splurge for the full dinner and show version of Feast, though a limited number of show only seats are available at performances. This coproduction of the Walking Shadow Theatre Company and Black Forest Inn is really an inspired partnership, and the venue suits both shows perfectly, in fact I feel like they should be performed together on every date.

We began our evening by grabbing some NA drinks from the bar of the Black Forest Inn, but you can get alcohol enriched beverages as well, that part really isn’t important. Then we settled in as John Heimbuch told us the story of Beowulf as adapted from the Epic poem told to him by the late Charlie Bethel. I chose the word told rather than performed because that feels right, this felt like it owed more to the oral storytelling tradition that would have been common in the time when Beowulf was first written down than it does to modern theater. Heimbuch holds the audience captivated for what feels like it could not have been 60 minutes but was. Time flies by as you are mesmerized by his retelling of the tale of Beowulf, the monster Grendel, and Grendel’s mother. Filled with action, horror, and a very modern dash of humor, it’s the only way to experience Beowulf if you want it to come alive for you. Don’t read it in the original Olde English as I had to in college, if doesn’t come alive, it just lies there, it’s dead ege’s (translation from the Old English is Eyes) staring up at you. It’s a thrilling tale and Heimbuch has a gift for oral storytelling that conveys that excitement to the audience.

Next we used the restroom, that also isn’t really important, but after making a trip into the bar to use the facilities we later learned that there are two in the performance space, so…it kinda is useful information. Then while we ate our meals, there are three choices including one for the veggiesauruses. We were treated to some wonderful guitar playing by Scott Keever (some performances will feature Sycamore Gap), while we dined, this really is a nice way to enjoy a meal, being played music by a gifted musician, I highly recommend it for the digestion. Then It is time for Feast, which is a one woman show written by Megan Gogerty featuring Isabel Nelson as Grendel’s Mother from Beowulf, telling her side of the story. There is so much I want to say about this show, but I also want you to have the same experience I did, which was from the moment Nelson began her performance, not at all what I was expecting. And so I’m not going to tell you anymore about the show itself, just that you should experience it. Nelson’s performance is something you experience because she involves you in it. Don’t worry it’s not audience participation, the most you’ll be asked to do is eat something strange that she pulls out of one of the coolest props I’ve seen, which to give credit where it’s due was designed by Whittney Streeter. The other thing I can say without spoiling anything is that for a production put on in the party room of a restaurant the technical aspects of this show were really tight. Loved the sound design by Richard Graham and there is no lighting designer credited but they did something with the lights at one point that I didn’t expect and that was very effective. Feast is directed by Allison Vincent, who seems to excel at everything she’s involved in from writing, directing, and performing, and this is another home run.

This is a remount of their sold out 2023 run, so don’t wait to get tickets there are several dates already sold out in this run that just opened. Feast runs through March 30th at the Black Forest Inn in Minneapolis, Beowulf is available as a second ticket on 3/16 and 3/23, get both if you can! For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.walkingshadow.org/feast-2024/

Little House on the Prairie at Lakeshore Players

Little House on the Prairie is a musical for those who grew up with the classic TV series and/or read the books by Laura Ingalls Wilder on which it was based. I grew up with both and as such I had a an affection for the material that helped me over some of the hurdles non fans might experience. It isn’t a great musical, but the cast and crew of Lakeshore Players Theatre do a nice job with their production. Newcomers to the story might find it a little hard going but those familiar and fond of Laura’s story will find enough to see them through. Based on the books by Wilder, the musical follows Laura Ingalls and family, Ma, Pa, her older sister Mary and her younger sister Carrie as the journey east to stake a claim in the west. The Government will give them the land if they live and farm on it for five years. As with the TV series, the family is beset by one tragedy after another. The first year is an especially brutal winter and the supply trains can not get through. The second year the crops are all burned up in a wildfire. Add to this, Laura’s sister Mary contracts Scarlet Fever and goes blind. Any fan of the TV series knows that if something can go wrong in pioneer days, it will happen to the Ingalls. But as with the series the focus of the musical is overcoming adversity and the grace and faith in each other with which the Ingalls family persevere.

The musical has a book by Rachel Sheinkin music by Rachel Portman and Lyrics by Donna Di Novelli and premiered at the Guthrie Theater in 2008 featuring the star of the TV series Melissa Gilbert in the role of Ma. This production is directed by Kristin N. Fox with choreography by Ruby Carlson and musical direction by Jack Johnston. The team does a nice job with the the exception of a few odd choices, one of which was at the end of a town fourth of July celebration dance, although rather short, the cast ends in a pose as if they’ve just wowed us with some really tricky footwork. It leads you to expect it’s time for intermission but it isn’t. It’s a bizarre choice that breaks the fourth wall which stuck out to both myself and my companion. The set design by Brandt Roberts makes versatile use of several section of a wood structure that can be rearranged in different configurations to create the different settings, from the Ingalls family house to Oleson’s store, and the schoolroom among others. For needing to be wheeled on and off continuously throughout the production the transitions were surprisingly smooth and quickly accomplished.

The cast has some stand outs both Kate Piering as Laura and Bridget Benson as Mary are very good vocally, their duet on “I’ll Be Your Eyes” was beautifully done and for me quite an emotional moment. Piering has the unenviable task in the first half of the play of being a twentysomething (I’m guessing) playing a younger girl in her early teens. It’s a tricky performance to pull off without grating on the audience and I thought she avoided the usual performance landmines and kept the audience on her side. Other standouts for me were James Lane as Pa who embodies the same characteristics that we came to know and love in the character on TV decades ago. Lane captures the wisdom and decency of the character and also proves to be a strong singer. Malea Hanson is very fun as Laura’s nemesis Nellie Oleson, particularly in her solo song “Without An Enemy” in which she laments the fact that Laura has gone away to be a teacher in another town. She is also great in a nonverbal scene towards the end at a wedding in which she stays in character even when no one is supposed to have eyes on her, always a sign of an actor who has committed to a role.

Little House on the Prairie runs through February 10th at Lakeshore Players Theatre in White Bear Lake. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.lakeshoreplayers.org/little-house-on-the-prairie