Tuesdays With Morrie at Chanhassen Dinner Theatres is Inspirational, Funny, and Thoughtful.

Gabriele Angieri and Ryan London Levin Photo by Tom Wallace Photography

Tuesdays with Morrie is a memoir published in 1997 by Mitch Albom. It had an initial run of 20,000 copies. After exposure on The Oprah Winfrey Show, it made it onto the New York Times nonfiction bestseller list, where it stayed for over four years. It has now sold over 17 million copies worldwide and been translated into dozens of languages. Albom reconnected with his favorite college professor after seeing him on Nightline and learning he had ALS. The bulk of the book and this adaptation consists of the weekly Tuesday sessions Mitch has with Morrie Schwartz before his death. The production is less sad and much funnier than I anticipated. Did I cry? Come on, faithful readers, you know damn well I did. But Albom and Hatcher avoid easy manipulation and obvious heartstring-pulling moments. They are not concerned with making you cry; they are much more interested in sharing the wisdom Morrie has gained over his lifetime and exploring the love between these two men. Schwartz was a teacher, and these Tuesday meetups are his final class. He isn’t looking for Mitch’s sympathy; he is trying to help him be the best version of himself he can be. Like Morrie, the play is less concerned with dying and more concerned with sharing how we can live our best, most fulfilling lives.

The adaptation is by Albom and Jeffrey Hatcher, who is number six on the list of most-produced playwrights in America for the 2026–27 season. Hatcher, who resides in the Twin Cities, has four additional shows running locally this season. His adaptation of Dial M for Murder opens at Theatre in the Round on November 20. His adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities runs April 3 through May 23 at the Guthrie Theater. His adaptation of Rope opens at the Park Square Theatre on July 28, and his new musical with Glensheen collaborator Chan Poling, Love on a Stick, has its world premiere next summer at the History Theatre in St. Paul. I am a fan of Hatcher’s thrillers, whether they’re his original scripts, like Holmes and Watson or the recent The Butler Did It, or his adaptations of older properties, like Dial M for Murder and The Turn of the Screw. This is the first non-thriller I’ve seen of Hatcher’s, and it solidifies my opinion that he is one of our finest working playwrights.

The production marks the directorial debut of Twin Cities actor Serena Brook, who, along with directing this show, is starring as Miss Hannigan in Annie on the Chanhassen Dinner Theatres Main Stage. She’s excellent in that role, a standout of the production. As for her directing future, based on this show, I’d say it’s as bright as her acting career. The show doesn’t have a moment of fat on it. Brook doesn’t allow the actors to pause, knowing that those are the moments in which maudlin tendencies might peek through. She keeps it real, she keeps it moving, and she keeps the characters positive. In that way, she avoids emotionally manipulating us and allows the positive and inspiring messages to be the focus. We laugh too much to be sad, at least for too long.

Ryan London Levin and Gabriele Angieri play Mitch and Morrie, and their performances are naturalistic and filled with an easy humor that makes the audience bond with them quickly. Levin’s Mitch narrates the play as if he were looking back on it from beyond the end of the play. As such, he addresses us directly more often, allowing him to share his inner thoughts as well. This makes sense since Albom was the author of the book; he had those insights to draw on. Levin uses that to build an easy rapport with the audience, and it also allows for a stronger contrast to the emotional reticence he shows throughout his actual time with Morrie.

Angieri’s Morrie is alert, intelligent, and quick with a witty response. He’s also devoid of cruelty. There is a warmheartedness that Angieri brings to the role. He shows how effective a teacher Morrie is by using humor and little conversational moments to slip in his philosophies. He never seems to be teaching; he’s just talking, and when he finishes, you realize he made you laugh and somehow also shared something profound. The two performers play off each other so beautifully that when they hugged each other after their bows, it felt genuine. The best compliment you can give a performer after a show is that, for the runtime of the show, you believed they were those people.

Mitch is the character I related to, the one in whom I saw parts of myself. I know not everyone has that favorite teacher who was more than a teacher, but I did. His name was Ted Larson. He was my film teacher, my boss the summer I worked promotions for The Straw Hat Players Summer Theater program at Moorhead State University, my mentor, and my friend. Like Mitch and Morrie, our time together when I was in college went way beyond the teacher-student connection. We had dinners together, saw movies together, and he was a guest at my first wedding. And like Mitch and Morrie, when I left college and moved to Albuquerque, Ted told me to stay in touch, and I didn’t.

When he heard my first wife and I were getting divorced, he called the bookstore I was working at in New Mexico to talk to me, to make sure I was OK. I didn’t get 14 Tuesdays with Ted. I got two more visits. One was to introduce him to my second wife and Alex, our first child. I envy Mitch Albom that he got the chance to reconnect, to let Morrie know what he meant to him. Maybe if Ted had lived 15 years instead of five, I’d have had the chance to tell him what a more mature man came to understand too late: that I loved him, and that despite the fact that I had a wonderful father, Ted had also filled that role for me. It would have been great to thank him for all he showed me and taught me. And that, I think, is the most important thing Tuesdays with Morrie is telling us: say those things now. You never know when it will be too late.

Tuesdays with Morrie is running through November 29 at Chanhassen Dinner Theatres’ Playhouse Theatre Stage. It’s a much smaller and more intimate theater, perfect for a show like this. Smaller theater, but the same great food and beverage options. For more information and to purchase tickets, go to https://chanhassendt.com/series/tuesdays-with-morrie-2026/

Don’t forget to keep an eye on the new website 79 Seconds on Stage a free and full guide to local theatre in the Twin Cities.

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Twin Cities Horror Festival XV Final Six Reviews: Kalinga: Feast of the Fallen, Bicentennial Auger, The Sludge, Shed, Carmilla, and Music & Monsters: A Grand Guignol Double Feature

These are my final six reviews of the Twin Cities Horror Festival XV, and with these, I will have successfully seen and reviewed all 14 shows in this year’s festival. I don’t think I could have finished with a stronger lineup. All six shows I saw today fall into the bloody good category, which is the highest category you can achieve at the TCHF, at least in the system I just made up. Not only was every show a winner today, but the lineup also mirrored the diversity and variety of the TCHF.

If you haven’t seen everything yet, or haven’t seen anything, there are still six days left of the festival, and you now have reviews of all the shows to help you figure out which ones are must-sees. But listen, a lot of shows have been selling out this year, so don’t wait and see. Figure out what you want to see, go online, and get tickets. This really is the best way to celebrate Monster Month. Not only are the shows a blast, but the whole vibe of the festival, its atmosphere and community, is so unique. Find some time between now and Halloween, when the festival closes, to check it out. Here is a link to the festival website so you can get all the details and purchase tickets.

KALINGA: Feast of the Fallen is definitely a unique show in this year’s TCHF, and basically any year, really. Created and performed by Saath, a South Asian theater company, this is a show that involves extensive dance. The show reimagines an ancient South Indian tale of a great battle and the goddess Kali and her ghostly followers, who descend and feast upon the remains of the battle.

First of all, the dancing is amazing. To be honest, that is the one thing I did expect from this production, and I wasn’t disappointed. What I did not expect was the atmosphere they created, first by having a cast member wandering through the audience ahead of the show, creeping us out. And I mean that as a compliment! I love when shows engage with us in this way and create anticipation for what is to come.

I think I was expecting them to tell a story that could tangentially be labeled horror through dance. But this was a full-blown horror production, not in the sense that it was too scary or too bloody for anyone, but in the way they used many of the techniques we are accustomed to at the TCHF: props of severed limbs, some very cool and unexpected makeup effects, and strategic lighting cues.

This really was a delight to behold and very effective as horror dance theater. I hope this company returns to the TCHF in the future with new stories told in their unique style.

Bicentennial Auger takes over the studio space for the second half of the festival. Each festival, two shows share the space, one at the start of the festival and the second toward the end. The studio space allows shows to have more complex sets because they don’t have to be loaded in and out in ten minutes before every show.

This one features a great set designed and built by Derek Lee Miller. It’s an ice house, the kind used in Minnesota winters for ice fishing. It’s a great-looking set that also includes some surprises for the audience.

The story concerns two siblings who haven’t seen each other in seven years, meeting up to go ice fishing. There is tension between them, which we will come to understand. The show features great performances from the cast: Noe Tallen, Dave Gangler, and Jared Reise.

It also features effective use of music, no surprise there, as the show is written and directed by Sam Landman, who can occasionally be found DJing and whose musical knowledge is as eclectic as it is extensive. This is a man who wrote a They Might Be Giants musical but filled it with deep cuts rather than the band’s more popular songs.

There have been several very well-written shows at the festival this year, and this is right up there with the best of them. Landman has an ear for dialogue that sets his scripts apart from others. They are funny without relying on jokes and go in directions you do not expect.

The Sludge is a family-friendly show. It’s the one show this festival where I’ve seen multiple youngsters in the audience. That doesn’t mean it’s for kids; it means it’s for everyone. Shows at the TCHF run the gamut from gory and scary to quirky and funny, and this one leans very heavily into the humor.

The story follows two sets of mothers and daughters. One, Elliot and her daughter Viv, is going through a divorce, and the other, Drew and her daughter Harper, are the friends they go and stay with. Harper is a science nerd who discovers something she can’t identify in the woods and brings it home. This is the sludge of the title. As we discover, it is not the harmless piece of nature Harper supposes it to be.

The script is definitely funny, but is it as funny as the show itself? What I’m getting at is that a lot of the humor comes from the performances as much as it does from the script.

The one thing this show makes abundantly clear is that Rita Boersma, who plays Drew, is a Twin Cities treasure and quite likely the best line reader in Minnesota. I’m not entirely sure she can speak a line without eliciting at least a grin from the audience. Don’t get me wrong, the entire cast is very good and very funny, but Boersma makes sorting socks funny.

It was also nice to see Victoria Pyan in several roles, including Harper’s soccer coach. I’m really starting to wonder how this talented young woman flew under my radar until recently.

This is a very funny, all-ages-friendly show without being aimed at children. I enjoyed it as much, probably more, than any kid would. Written by Rachel Teagle and directed by Jenny Moeller, the dialogue has such a natural, off-the-cuff feel to it that you’d almost think it was improvised.

Shed is this year’s entry from TCHF veterans Dangerous Productions. Faithful readers or regular attendees at the TCHF might remember this company as the tarp team. They are known for being the theater company that actually tries to scare the audience. They are masters of pointing flashlights out into the audience to surprise us with jump scares involving how or what comes onstage while we are blinded by the light. They also generally put on the bloodiest shows, hence the tarp.

This one was actually a little restrained for Dangerous Productions, but what they did in terms of effects was extremely effective.

Jay Kistler, who is usually in Dangerous Productions’ TCHF shows, plays Jeff, a guest on a podcast. He’s there to tell the story of the Man in the Shed, but what starts out ordinarily enough becomes more and more bizarre as the host, Natalie, doesn’t just want Jeff to tell the story but wants them to act it out. Add in a third performer, who plays the man in the shed in his underwear and a pig’s mask, and all bets are off.

With this company, you expect the unexpected, and that certainly happens. This is bloody, to be sure. It has several genuinely frightening moments and also manages a few laughs.

There’s a reason Dangerous Productions always gets a slot at the TCHF: they never disappoint. They are the one company you can rely on to try and actually be scary. And let’s face it, when people think of horror shows, blood is one of the things that comes to mind. With Dangerous Productions, you know there will be blood.

Carmilla is an adaptation of the classic 1872 vampire novella by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu.

Every October in The Stages of MN household, we try to watch only horror movies. Now, Mrs. The Stages of MN, Micky to her friends, can’t really handle things that are too scary or too bloody. Therefore, we watch a lot of older horror movies, and this year, among other movies, we are watching the Hammer Films Karnstein Trilogy. The first film, The Vampire Lovers, is based on Le Fanu’s novella. This source material, you may be surprised to learn, predates Bram Stoker’s Dracula by a quarter of a century.

This adaptation is written and directed by Cara White. Carmilla is told from the perspective of Laura, who, under hypnosis, relays the story to a doctor who is concerned about her health. She is the focus of Carmilla’s desire.

The play is unabashedly erotic without being explicit. Carmilla is the prototype of the lesbian vampire. The relationship between Carmilla and Laura, played by Maretta Zilic, is less that of hunter and prey and more romantic in nature.

Zilic is quite good in the role of Laura, as is Mahmoud Hakima, who plays Gen Speilsdorf, who arrives at the end of the play seeking to destroy Carmilla, who killed his daughter.

TCHF Artistic Director Nissa Nordland, who is also responsible for the blood effects in the show, which are very well done, brings an air of otherworldliness to the role of Carmilla. Fitting for a character who exists outside the natural world.

The show features some great costumes and set pieces. It’s always nice to have a classic story in the mix, and I appreciated how White didn’t try to modernize or sensationalize the story but remained faithful to the themes and ideas of the original.

We talk about the variety of the TCHF as a strength, and this final batch of shows really showcases that aspect. Music & Monsters: A Grand Guignol Double Feature was the perfect show to end the day with because it is itself a showcase for that variety.

The first tale is very much one of those supernatural stories you’d get in an episode of a horror anthology TV show like The Twilight Zone or The Veil. It concerns a man who arrives at a boarding house to rent a room. He is drawn to the music coming from another tenant’s room. That tenant is violently opposed to engaging with the new renter or sharing anything about his music with the man. But is it to maintain control of the music, or is the music itself the one really in control?

After that tale ends, we get a series of quick, hand-related jokes and gags that are extremely funny and act as a palate cleanser after the more-or-less played-straight first tale.

Then we go into our second story, which is a take on the Frankenstein story. This mixes comedy with some gore and blood-effects work. There is excellent use of shadow work in the opening creation scene and the conclusion of the tale.

This show is definitely not for kids. There is an erect, though clothed, penis on display for a lengthy amount of time, and let’s just say things don’t end well for the penis, in a moment that is both hilarious and terrifying.

The four-member cast of Kaitlen Osburn, Nick Miller, Jesse March, and Kathryn Cesarz is very strong, equally effective in the initial dramatic scene, the silly, almost vaudevillesque bridging sequence, and the funny but also horror-heavy second tale.

Don’t forget to keep an eye on the new website 79 Seconds on Stage a free and full guide to local theatre in the Twin Cities.

Twelve Angry Men at Lyric Arts is Guilty of Being Terrific Beyond a Reasonable Doubt

I first encountered 12 Angry Men in the seventh grade. We watched the film version in English class. I’m not sure why, but as a kid who grew up on black-and-white movies, I took to it immediately. It’s one of those films I go back to every five or six years for another screening, one I’ve probably purchased in every format I’ve collected over the years: VHS, LaserDisc, DVD, and Blu-ray. This is the second stage adaptation I’ve seen, following the musical version from Theatre Latté Da a few years back. Watching Twelve Angry Men today reinforced my feelings that this is a story that doesn’t lend itself well to the musical form. As with the film, this is a fast-paced, no-frills, emotionally raw, and tense drama. Coming in at a lean 85 minutes with no intermission, the play speeds by, with the drama steadily ticking upward like the mercury in the thermometer measuring the increasing heat of the unairconditioned jury room. Lyric Arts’ production hits the mark with an exceptional cast who quickly and believably deliver twelve distinct personalities.

Twelve Angry Men is set in a Chicago city courthouse on a particularly hot day, in the 1950s, I assume, based on the set design and costuming. The play opens with a voice-over of a judge giving the jury their instructions, reminding them that if there is reasonable doubt in their minds that the defendant committed the crime he is being tried for, they must vote not guilty. With no air conditioning, nerves are already raw as the twelve jurors file into the room to deliberate on a murder trial in which a nineteen-year-old Black man is accused of murdering his father. Based on the conversations as they take their places around a long rectangular table, it seems like they are all of the opinion that it is an open-and-shut case and that the boy is guilty. They take a vote immediately and discover that there is one vote for not guilty. The next 80 minutes or so have the characters debating the case, with Juror 8, the holdout, slowly convincing others that there is reasonable doubt.

The case is intriguing, and the debate about the details of the crime and the questioning of the evidence are great, entertaining stuff. And to be sure, the play works as a tense, thriller-esque drama, but it is really about something larger: it is a microcosm of our society. Sometimes we think we have evolved and become more enlightened than previous generations, or at least we used to. The last decade has revealed that we are closer to the world these twelve jurors inhabit than we once thought. For those interested in looking beyond the entertaining story, there are themes of institutional racism, racism, ageism, and the ways in which our own personal pasts inform how we project onto others.

The cast is solid, with several standouts. As the two ends of the guilty/not guilty spectrum, David Denninger as Juror 3, who is convinced the boy is guilty because of his anger at his own son, and Davin Grindstaff as Juror 8, who feels that before you pass judgment on a man’s life, you should at least discuss it for a little bit, are great sparring partners. Dominic Delong-Rodgers is exceptional as the logical Juror 4, never losing his buttoned-up, emotionless cool while broadcasting intelligence and a sense of fair play. He holds out until close to the very end, but not out of prejudice or personal baggage. Instead, he is weighing all the facts, and one can almost see the scales of justice in his mind and know that if the evidence shifts enough and the scales tip toward reasonable doubt, he will vote accordingly. Abdoul Kondo, as Juror 11, an immigrant, is our reminder of the ideals on which our country is supposed to be founded. This role could easily become a caricature, but Kondo refuses to be just a mouthpiece for ideas. He internalizes the dialogue and makes it organic and character-driven.

Cory Skold’s set design is spot-on, giving us a sense of the ordinary so that we feel like we are in this place at this time without ever distracting us from the people inhabiting the space. Director Julie K. Phillips does an excellent job of ratcheting up the tension as the play goes on. There is a creative choice to black out the set at moments when emotions boil over. At first, I thought it was a lighting cue error, but after it happened a couple more times, I realized what was going on. Despite my initial reaction to the choice, I actually think it’s a brilliant decision. It gives us a moment to breathe and emphasizes those moments so that the points being made, whether it’s a declaration of “I’ll kill you!” or something else, are not lost in the momentum of the play.

My verdict on Lyric Arts’ Twelve Angry Men? GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS! Guilty of delivering a riveting production of a classic that holds a mirror up to our strengths and weaknesses as humans and as a society. Guilty of ratcheting up the tension until the final moments. And guilty of being first-rate entertainment. No reasonable doubt about it!

Twelve Angry Men runs through November first at Lyric Arts in Anoka. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.lyricarts.org/twelve-angry-men

I want to alert you faithful readers to a new Website that has just started up in the Twin Cities. It’s called 79 Seconds on Stage and it is a free and full guide to local theatre in the Twin Cities.

Into the Burrow: A Peter Rabbit Tale Will Delight Younger Audiences Without Boring the Parents at Mixed Blood

Into the Burrow: A Peter Rabbit Tale is an odd choice for Mixed Blood, but somehow they got the word out because the theater was full, with lots of children in attendance. Which is exactly who it is aimed at. But thankfully it’s the type of show that will keep the grown-ups engaged as well.

The show takes place on Peter’s birthday, and it has been one year since Mr. McGregor got Peter’s coat and shoes and hung them up like a scarecrow, and killed Peter’s father and baked him in a pie. That is a detail true to the original Beatrix Potter stories, but it is a startling detail to include. The other odd moment is when Peter appears to be suffering from post-traumatic shock. But perhaps, in our world today, those are the things that replace Bambi’s mother being shot.

The show runs under an hour, and the set and costumes are delightful. The cast is a mix of familiar locals, including Stages of MN favorite Em Adam Rosenberg as Ptolemy the Tortoise, some not-as-familiar locals, and an out-of-towner, Juan Carlos Unzueta, who reprises the role of Peter Rabbit, which he originated in the premiere production. I knew he must be from away, as he was just too good not to have been noticed before locally.

The animals all gather for a surprise birthday party for Peter, and we, the audience, are invited along. Which freaks all the animals out, as they haven’t had good experiences with humans. But we work through that, and the animals devise a plan for getting back into the garden to get food because they don’t have enough. When they execute their plan, we see it via a video presentation of a shadow-puppet show, which is very effective.

There is a great message about working together, sharing what you have, and finding a way for everyone to thrive. The songs are good, and the band is in view of the audience and is made up of Peter’s siblings, Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cotton-tail.

This isn’t a must-see for folks without kids, but if you have kids, say ages 5 to 10, I think they will be really into it. The audience I saw it with seemed to be enjoying it.

Into the Burrow: A Peter Rabbit Tale is running through October 18 at Mixed Blood. For more information and to purchase tickets, go to https://mixedblood.com/product/into-the-burrow/

The Hired Man Is Not what You Expect It to Be, It’s Better! At The Crane Theater From Theatre Pro Rata

Bee Davis, Jessica Winingham, and Phi Hamens Nelson Photo by Alex Wohlhueter

The Hired Man is a show that could be easily spoiled, so I’m going to try and tiptoe around things a bit. Know that this modern-day tale told on a cattle ranch in Wyoming owes as much to Greek tragedy as it does to the Western. And it’s both of those things in their most soap-opera way. That might sound like a dig, but it isn’t; I really enjoyed this one. You may think you know where the story will head at the beginning, but believe me, you don’t. This is like one of Shakespeare’s comedies where everyone loves someone who loves somebody else, or thinks they do.

The story opens with Tim and Ellen, two young folks. He’s 23 and the hired hand on Ellen’s grandfather Hank’s ranch; she is 18 and graduating soon from high school. Tim is falling in love with Ellen, and since he’s already like a member of the family, hopes that he and Ellen will end up working the ranch together once Hank is gone. Ellen is just having fun. They are caught in a compromising position by Hank, who punches Tim, fires him, and tells him to get off his land.

Tim is left adrift, with nowhere to go and no job, and still pining for Ellen. Georgette, Hank’s girlfriend, is worried that if he can throw Tim out so fast, maybe he’ll turn on her too, and so she ups the pressure to get married. They have been together five years, and while she has a home in town, her life is out here on the ranch.

Hank hires a new hired man, or in this case, a woman, named Matty. She comes equipped with a guilty conscience in the form of Linda, whom we realize early on is only in her head, meaning she can see her but no one else can. Georgette is jealous of this hired woman; she doesn’t want another woman around the ranch when she’s trying to get Hank to commit. That’s just the setup, and I’m not going to reveal anything more plot-wise.

No one is an outright villain in this play, with the possible exception of Linda, who has nothing positive to say inside Matty’s head. all of the characters have their motivations and the actions they take a understandable.

The performances are strong. Bee Davis, apparently capable of anything, gives an alternatively playful and smoldering performance. She is the sex drive of the play, and yes, this play definitely has a sex drive. Hot off her performance as a rabbit in Watership Down and writing the beautiful songs for that show, here she brings a seductive energy that convincingly attracts both male and female characters, all while convincingly embodying an18 year old.

Phi Hamens Nelson brings a James Dean quality to the role of Tim. He’s vulnerable in his one-on-one moments with Davis, and he even shows the hurt he’s feeling at being thrown out when he’s trying to make his play at payback. We’ve seen Nelson in a smaller role with Theatre Pro Rata; it’s been nice to see him in meatier roles again here and in last summer’s Fringe show. Definitely one to watch, I definitely think he’s on the right path, and I hope to keep seeing him in more roles.

Jessica Winingham, whom I think I’ve only ever seen in the last Pro Rata production, is fantastic here again. I hope this means she’s living locally and we’ll see her in more things. She brings a toughness to Matty that fits the character of a female hired hand on a cattle ranch, but also shows a sweet side and a vulnerable side. And don’t forget the slightly crazy, talking-to-the-woman-in-your-head side. Every aspect of the character is played just right, from desperate embraces to dawning horror.

Andy Chambers and Jenny Ramirez, as Hank and Georgette, capture that “been together for a while” vibe perfectly, and it’s their scenes together that really sort of ground the play in a less melodramatic way. They feel real.

And what can I say about Wini Froelich? She nails it as the character you do not want to go home with when the bar closes. It is an excellent turn from a great character actor. Just watching her blow her cigarette smoke in Matty’s face is classic.

The set design by MJ Leffler looks great. I loved the bits of grass peeking out from every corner, the hay bales, the benches, it all set the sense of place nicely. The one downside, and I think this was the director’s choice, is that every time the scene changes, everyone in the cast moves pieces around the stage. They do it efficiently, but I’d prefer if they just left certain areas set up to be this location and that location a little more. It would benefit from half the number of set reconfigurations. Otherwise, I thought the direction was very strong.

I don’t often single out the intimacy and fight choreographers, but I think Annie Enneking, who handles both jobs in this show, did great work. There are several physical fights, and they were very well done. And the intimate scenes were also done in a way that the passion came through, but it didn’t feel exploitative.

I went in knowing nothing. I immediately assumed we would be watching a young forbidden-lovers tale once it started, and what I ended up with was very different. The denouement is truly unexpected and hits the audience perfectly.

The Hired Man runs through October 11th at the Crane Theater in NE Minneapolis. From more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.theatreprorata.org/production-history/the-hired-man

The Great Gatsby Launched TRP’s 75th Anniversary MN Themed Season

Cast of the Great Gatsby Photo by Tom Taintor

The Great Gatsby kicks off the 75th season of Theatre in the Round, a season they have devoted to telling stories with Minnesota connections. Gatsby, of course, is written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, a native of St. Paul. One of the greatest American novels ever written, it’s a solid choice for TRP to open this landmark season. I encourage everyone to be a part of this historic season of what is the longest-running community theater in Minnesota.

It was interesting to see this smaller-scale play version after seeing the lavish touring Broadway musical earlier in the year. They both have their advantages. This version is a much less glamorous affair, but the intimacy of the venue also allows for the story to take center stage.

Set in 1922 on Long Island, the story is told by Nick Carraway, a young war veteran who rents a small cottage next to the estate of Jay Gatsby. After receiving an invitation to a party, Nick meets Gatsby, who asks for his help in reuniting with the girl he fell in love with before going off to the war, Daisy. Daisy is Nick’s cousin, who is now married with a child, though not happily. Her husband, Tom, carries on affairs, which everyone, especially Daisy, is aware of. Daisy’s childhood friend Jordan Baker is also on hand as a possible love interest for Nick. The other major characters are George and Myrtle Wilson. George runs a gas station while his wife is having an affair with Tom.

The novel deals with the themes of the American Dream, class, and how the two collide. Much as it is becoming more and more the case today, the dreams of the lower class are decimated by the excesses and disregard of the wealthy. This stripped-down version is less concerned with those larger issues and focuses on the love story and interpersonal relationships between the characters.

The acting overall is done in a slightly mannered fashion. It’s off-putting at first because it’s not what we expect, but I came to enjoy the put-on, old-timey cadences. Gatsby, played by Jake Leif, is scripted to say the phrase “Old Sport” 87 times in his dialogue. There is no way to make that feel organic. The choice is to stylize the entire performance, which works. Likewise, Tom Buchanan, played by John Blocher, affects a unique delivery for all of his dialogue, which works equally as well. It is heightened and a little removed from humanity, which is a perfect representation of the character. Nick, the narrator, played by Gavin Webb, is much more naturalistic in his delivery, which reflects his character’s more genuine nature.

The set design by Michael Haas is limited by the venue, but he utilizes the upper portions of the theater, with each point of a triangle used for a vital piece of the design. In one corner, we have the Saxman, Maje Adams, who plays some tone-setting music. For the most part, it’s an interesting choice, but I was worried at the opening when the sax was threatening to overpower Nick’s opening narration. They should work on lowering the strength of the sax if they can. In the other two corners, we have the iconic billboard with the spectacles and eyes that light up, and the third is the green light that Gatsby can see from his property that marks where Daisy’s house is. I thought all of these design elements were very well done.

The Great Gatsby runs through October 4 at Theatre in the Round. For more information and to purchase tickets, go to https://www.theatreintheround.org/greatgatsby/

The Butler Did It Satisfies the Mystery Lover With a Brand New Sleuth I’m Dying to See More of at Park Square Theatre

Allison Vincent and Steve Hendrickson Photo by Dan Norman

The Butler Did It, the new play by arguably the finest mystery playwright working today, Jeffrey Hatcher, is sure to please any fan of the genre. Done in the subgenre of the inverted mystery, where we witness the killer commit the crime and then watch the cat-and-mouse game unfold between criminal and law enforcement. The format is most famously associated with the TV detective Columbo, for which Hatcher wrote one of the final installments. While this play certainly has shades of Columbo, Hatcher also brings his unique talent for surprising the audience with unexpected twists.

The thing about mystery plays is that there isn’t much you can say without accidentally spoiling the fun. In fact, during the talkback I attended after the show, I realized that even discussing one of the lead characters, and the actor who portrays them, could be considered a spoiler. Even that might be enough for the especially deductive among you to piece things together. Therefore, a play I feel I could write a double-length review about is instead going to get one of my shortest.

The play is set at a school for gentlemen’s gentlemen in 1975 San Francisco. A murder takes place that appears to be a suicide, but we, the audience, know otherwise. Assigned to the case, her first in fact, is the newly appointed Inspector Denise. And that’s about all I dare say of the plot. What I can add is that, for a mystery where you already know the killer, the fun comes from how cleverly Hatcher subverts expectations, how sharp the dialogue is, and how well the cast executes it. The Butler Did It does all three in spades.

Speaking of the cast, there’s exactly one person I feel safe discussing without being hauled away by the spoiler police: Allison Vincent as Inspector Denise. Luckily, I could write about Vincent all day. Hatcher may have modeled aspects of the play after Columbo, but he has created a completely original hero in Inspector Denise. It’s a role that feels tailor made for Vincent, who is one of the most distinctive theater artists in the Twin Cities. Not just a performer, but also a writer and director, Vincent has never once failed to impress. Here, she goes nowhere near Columbo as a character, instead bringing a style and energy entirely her own. Her humor feels like a perfect match for Hatcher’s writing.

After seeing her as Inspector Denise, I’m ready for a full series of plays, a Netflix show, starring Vincent in the role, written by Hatcher of course. Hatcher did mention that of the four future mysteries he’s been commissioned by Park Square Theatre to write, Inspector Denise is a character he’d like to revisit in one of them. Personally, I hope he doesn’t limit it to just one, I’m ready to tag along with Inspector Denise on many more investigations.

I hesitate to discuss the rest of the cast, but they are absolutely perfect. The production is filled with names faithful readers and Twin Cities theatergoers will recognize: Anna Beth Baker, Neal Beckman, Pearce Bunting, Peter Christian Hansen, Steve Hendrickson, and Nora Long. With that lineup and Hatcher’s script, audiences can be confident they’re in for something exciting.

What else can I say without hampering your enjoyment? Director David Ira Goldstein expertly guides the audience through the plot’s twists and turns. Scenic designer Benjamin Olsen has created a wonderful set, which we’re told will be reconfigured and adapted for each of Hatcher’s future mystery/thrillers. Karin Olson’s lighting design features some highly effective cues, from a small gunshot to a large explosion, both convincingly realized. Frederick Kennedy’s sound design includes a delightfully ’70s TV-style motif that brought a smile to my face every time it popped up.

The Butler Did It is exactly what mystery lovers crave, a new play that feels like a classic of the genre. The production runs at Park Square Theatre in St. Paul through August 16. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit https://www.parksquaretheatre.org/the-butler-did-it.