The Tin Woman Is All About the Heart at the Historic Mounds Theatre

Doug Thompson, Elizabeth Efteland, Matt Berdahl, Stephanie Wipf, and Dorian Chalmers Photo by BTE Media Co

100 Percent Human Theatre presents The Tin Woman by Sean Grennan, a title that has multiple meanings in regards to its protagonist Joy, a woman who like the Tin Man of Oz needs a heart. The play is directed by Joy Donley whose 16-year-old son Lewis’s organ donations have benefited 60 individuals. Donley knows first hand the power inherent in such a gift, in the comfort from knowing that something positive can spring from such so unimaginably tragic. She has poured all of that understanding and compassion into this project and it culminates in such a cathartic moment that we leave the theater feeling as if a weight has been lifted from us all. You will cry more than likely but it is not because something is sad, but because something beautiful and healing has occurred. For my money, those are the best tears, they cleanse and renew us, and that’s how I felt leaving the theater tonight.

Joy, the character is the recipient of a heart transplant from Jack who is a son and brother. While Jack’s family mourns, Joy isolates. Her friend Darla tries to get her to re engage with the world, but there was already something broken within Joy before her heart went bad. Grennan’s script reveals multiple metaphorical meanings, the Tin Woman is certainly a reference to the character from The Wizard of Oz but it is more than the fact that Joy physically needs a heart transplant. She not only literally needs a heart but she figuratively does as well. She is isolating and has broken up with her boyfriend. Judging by her reactions to her nurses inquiries about a boyfriend or fiance, and to a man asking for the cinnamon in a flashback scene set pre-heart surgery in a cafe, she isn’t interested in a relationship. We get a hint as to why Joy doesn’t let anyone into her heart from a conversation she has with her friend Darla about her childhood. Jack’s family is grieving, his mother, Alice, and sister, Sammy are trying to move forward and get excited at the prospect of meeting Joy after she has sent them a letter of thanks. His father Hank though has heart issues of his own, as Alice stated at one point, the next time Hank talks about his feelings will also be the first time. Hank doesn’t want to deal with his sons death and he doesn’t want to meet Joy. Present throughout the play, sometimes in flashbacks but mostly as an unseen and unheard presence is Jack. His minimal interactions as the spirit never take on a supernatural aspect, but they do lend an emotional element, Jack’s hands are like the hands of fate causing a person to finally hit the right button to access an image on a digital camera, or the touch that causes someone to finally feel connection and warmth.

At intermission my favorite performance was Greta Grosch who plays the Nurse and Joy’s friend Darla. Grosch is great fun in both roles providing much of the humor. I know that the description so far doesn’t sound like it’s a comedy, and I wouldn’t go so far as to say it is. But, like life itself, it has a lot of funny moments. The feeling on the rest of the cast was that they were good, but that’s because all of the other characters are for the most part shutting down their emotions. By the end of Act II, it would be hard to pick a favorite, everyone built up their characters defences so well that when they finally fall away it’s an emotional release for everyone in the theater. Joy is played by Elizabeth Efteland, Alice by Dorian Chalmers, Sammy by Stephanie Wipf, Hank by Doug Thompson, and Jack is played by Matt Berdahl. Efteland plays the closed off Joy as someone who seems used to having her share of food at the dinner table stolen, wary and unengaging. When she confronts Hank about his behavior it’s like she finally has decided to fight for her share of the food. Chalmers is great as Alice, her matter of fact dealings with the grumpy Hank feel authentic, Thompson’s responses feel a little more like line readings particularly in the first act, but he really comes through once Hank and Joy begin to interact. Wipf, is quite engaging as the free spirited, blog writing, preschool teacher, Sammy. Overly touchy with the hug averse Joy, and likely to begin crying at the drop of a hat, this is mostly played with humor, but our first one on one scene with her shows us a more subtle side as she conducts story time with her preschoolers, we see her getting a little sad, but she covers it well, a tricky thing to show us the emotions the character is feeling but at the same time, concealing.

The Tin Woman runs through April 13th at the Historic Mounds Theater in St. Paul. I was quite moved by this production and in that rare way where you are crying but because something is more beautiful than sad. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://100percenthumantheatre.com/

To learn more about organ donation and to register to become a donor if you are not already go to https://www.life-source.org/

Now more than ever in the wake of the most recent election and the hailstorm of stupidity and hate it has unleashed, theater companies need you and we need them. Buy tickets to shows, go out and support work that reflects diversity and inclusiveness. Donate to your favorite theater companies, don’t wait until they are on the brink of shutting down. We all need to stand up and fight for our theaters whose funding is under attack for promoting inclusion, equality and diversity. In short, theaters are being threatened for sharing stories that reflect our countries cultural and racial diversity.

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Think I may have steered you wrong on a show? Well, I’m also a member of the Twin Cities Theater Bloggers (TCTB), where you can read review roundups of shows by m’colleagues and I when you follow us on facebook @TwinCitiesTheaterBloggers. New things are in the work! Click here to go to The Stages of MN YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@TheStagesofMN. Right now there is just a short introductory video, but there will be much more coming this summer. For now, check out the intro video and subscribe to the channel so that when we fully launch you’ll be the first to know!

Which Middle Name of ‘Philip Seymour Hoffman’ are YOU? at the Phoenix Theater in Minneapolis

How do you write about this? That’s the first thing that I said when it was over. I think the best description I can give for theater folk is that it is super Fringey. But not everyone knows what that means and might think it has a negative connotation, it doesn’t. It’s almost like saying it’s unique, creative, or atypical of live theater, unless of course you are at a Fringe Festival, than something described as being very Fringey is very much like everything else, except probably completely different. Now that I’ve clarified that and used as many words as possible to do so, let me tell you the premise of the show. Two friends are trying to prove that an online quiz they took titled Which Middle Name of ‘Philip Seymour Hoffman’ are YOU? to which the answer is always Seymour. Of course it’ll also give the incorrect answer which is Seymoure, with an E at the end. Why do they want to prove this? Because the creator of the quiz Doug Pickle has threatened to cancel them unless they can prove that the answer of Seymoure actually appears. They have taken the quiz thousands of times and never been able to repeat the answer of Seymoure that they once got.

That is the set up, the punchline is the next 75 minutes which is spent racing around the theater having volunteers from the audience take the quiz. If that sounds like it would get boring or repetitive, fear not. The writers Jake Mierva and Danylo Loutchko who also perform the show along with their computer person Sarah Halverson, who can be seen folding laundry between quizes, have solved the repetition issue. Each time you take the quiz it’s completely different, but even more than the questions changing the humorous idea behind each round of questions changes. Not to give too much away but for example one round might be trivia questions about Philip Seymour Hoffman, the next might show you pictures and ask you what sound is this picture? The variety of the quizes along with the surprises that might come from the audiences answers is from where much hilarity ensues. For those who dread interactive shows, rest assured you have to raise your hand and volunteer, and you learn fairly quickly it’s a safe place to volunteer. There are also some side bits that get performed throughout the show between quizes which are clever. Like the repeated deliveries from Doug Pickle which taunt them, and motivational speeches when one of them starts feeling hopeless and wants to give up. Mierva and Loutchko’s manic energy alone is worth the time and price of admission.

Which Middle Name of ‘Philip Seymour Hoffman’ are YOU? is incredibly silly and fun and is running through March 16th at The Phoenix Theater in Uptown. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://allegedtheatre.com/on-stage/

Now more than ever in the wake of the most recent election and the hailstorm of stupidity and hate it has unleashed, Theater companies need you and we need them. Buy tickets to shows go out and support work that reflects diversity and inclusiveness. Donate to your favorite theater companies, don’t wait until they are on the brink of shutting down. We all need to stand up and fight for our Theaters whose funding is under attack for promoting inclusion, equality and diversity.

Tired of missing reviews from The Stages of MN? Do you find yourself left out when all your friends are talking about that great new play that you didn’t even know about? Never fear, that need never happen again. Now you too can subscribe and have every post from The Stages of MN sent directly to your email box. No more hoping the algorithm works in your favor and you actually see a post on facebook or Instagram. No relying on so-called friends to tip you to the best shows in town. To subscribe on your computer: from the home page on the right, enter your email address and click subscribe. On your mobile device scroll to the bottom of the page and do the same. You can also follow me on Facebook, @thestagesofmn click follow and on Instagram thestagesofmn.

But that’s not all! You can also read some of my reviews syndicated on the MN Playlist website https://minnesotaplaylist.com/ from time to time. Think I may have steered you wrong on a show? Well, I am also a member of the Twin Cities Theater Bloggers (TCTB), where you can read roundups of shows by m’colleagues and I when you follow us on facebook @TwinCitiesTheaterBloggers.

The Effect at the Jungle Theater

Kamani Graham and Becca Claire Hart Photo by Janet Eckles Media

The Effect is brilliant at smuggling in multiple ideas within a 90 minute entertaining story. It’s one of my favorite types of plays, I don’t mean 90 minutes no intermission, but that is always a plus. What I’m referring to is a play that tackles serious or thought provoking themes, but does it with humor and an emotional story that we as an audience can connect with. Written by Lucy Prebble,The Effect follows two test subjects, Tristan and Connie, for a clinical trial of a new antidepressant medication. When the two begin to develop feelings for each they are uncertain whether the feelings are real or actually a side effect of the medication. We also Follow the story of those conducting the trial Dr. Lorna James and Dr. Toby Sealey, who have a complicated past. The play is designed to bring up a lot of questions that it doesn’t answer, which is great, because they don’t have definitive answers, they are questions calculated to make us think. It makes us think about Love, Drugs, Depression, guilt, bias, responsability, connection, and morality. It’s also really quite funny and charming.

Kamani Graham who plays Tristan is not someone I’ve seen before but I hope to see a lot more of. Graham creates an easy rapport with Becca Claire Hart who plays Connie, drawing the more reserved Connie out with his humor and carefree approach to life. Hart does a great job of showing us Connie’s guarded nature, her tendency to overthink every situation. The two play their characters so well that it’s very easy to believe that their attraction as they both embody a quality the other lacks but could maybe use a little of. Dr. Lorna James is played by The Jungle Theater’s Artistic Director Christina Baldwin and Dr. Toby Sealey is portrayed by Greg Watanabe. Baldwin plays her character as strong and in control, but by the end reveals her to be perhaps the most fragile of the four. Watanabe brings a likeability that is key to making his character more than just a representative of big pharm, he isn’t supposed to just be a stand in for a villain, he’s meant to represent someone who is trying to do their best in an imperfect world. He has faults, but he also cares.

Technically the show is very accomplished, from the set design by Benjamin Olsen to the Costumes by Sarah Bahr which have an authentic clinical feel. But what really worked very well is the Projections which were designed by Leslie Ritenour. Throughout the play we get everything from messages like “Dosage increase to 100mg” to brain scan images. We also get these abstract images that look like chemical reactions in the brains which just really helped to convey what was happening between Tristan and Connie.

The Effect runs through March 30th at the Jungle Theater in uptown. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.jungletheater.org/the-effect

This Girl Laughs, This Girl Cries, This Girl Does Nothing, This Blogger Beamed With Joy at Ten Thousand Things Theater Latest Triumph

Joy Dolo, Maggie Chestovich, and Katie Bradley Photo by Tom Wallace

“… and tell a world’s worth of stories”
This Girl Laughs, This Girl Cries, This Girl Does Nothing by Finegan Kruckemeyer

Tonight Ten Thousand Things Theater (TTT) proved once again that you don’t need a large budget, huge sets, or elaborate costumes to make great theater. Armed with a few simple props and costumes, performed with all the lights up and in the round This Girl Laughs, This Girl Cries, This Girl Does Nothing is as entertaining and creative as anything else you’ll see on any stage. In a world that wants to whitewash our Theaters, TTT offers up a diverse cast telling a story that encompasses the entire planet with a message about self love, helping others, and family. The play is a modern day variation on a fairytale about three sisters, triplets who suffer a loss and then are taken into the woods to be lost. Though triplets, they are very different from each other. Albienne was the oldest and enjoyed cake, Beatrix was next and she was a child of the sun, Carmen was the youngest and carried the world upon her shoulders. When they are left in the woods they each decide what the best course of action will be for themselves and at age 12. They separate, Albienne goes forward out into the world, Carmen stays in the forest, and Beatrix goes back in search of their Father. The play follows each girls story until they are in their thirties and find their way back to each other. Along the way they will first serve others, and then learn to serve themselves.

The five person cast all play multiple roles and every member of this ensemble contributes equally, making it a very special production. Joy Dolo plays Albienne, I have a soft spot in my heart for Dolo. The first time I saw her perform was a show called Every Brilliant Thing. It’s a show where the audience have slips of paper and when she says the number on the slip of paper you have to say or do what is on it. I got the slip that said I was her Father, and I had to make a toast at her wedding. Since that night, she has held a special place in my heart, not just because I played her Father for a minute or two, but because of the connection she made to the entire audience. A connection I have experienced again and again in her performances including this one. Dolo has a way of interacting with the audience that makes them feel welcome and included rather than on the spot. Katie Bradley plays Carmen who just about had us falling out of our seats with laughter as she goes on a feeding frenzy of woodland animals. Maggie Chestovich plays Beatrix, and her character has a manic energy and feistiness, not afraid to go full on wild and crazy when she tries to cheer up a city full of depressed people. The cast is rounded out by Tyson Forbes who plays among many other roles, their Father and Marisa B. Tejeda who among others plays their Mother.

The five together along with the Director Markell Kiefer are masterful storytellers. They convey everything from the changing of the seasons to battles with Vikings with simple movements, small props, and hats that represent the sun and the moon. They use so little, yet use every tool available to them to convey so much. The play is performed to live musical accompaniment by Composer and Music Director Julie Johnson, which is so light and sweet that it floats around the audience lifting us up on it gentle melodic waves. The set and props are designed by Joel Sass, one of the most creative theater designers in the Twin Cities. Equally capable of wowing us with detailed and fabulous designs at Open Eye Theatre or stunning us with the simplistic creativity of a TTT production. The lovely and multifaceted costumes are by Sarah Bahr. The Choreography is by a master of movement, Jim Lichtscheidl, whose ability to complement and enhance the story physically adds immeasurably to the charm of the show.

This Girl Laughs, This Girl Cries, This Girl Does Nothing is filled with humor and creativity, it is exactly the kind of show we need right now. A show that embraces the art of storytelling in a way that inspires us to hope and love and engage. As with all TTT shows this one travels around the area, to find out where they are performing, on what dates, and to grab your tickets go to https://tenthousandthings.org/

The Little Mermaid is a Visual Treat at The Ordway

The Little Mermaid is a musical based on the 1989 Disney animated film of the same name. When the animated film came out it ushered in a second golden age of animation for Walt Disney Studios which had been floundering for over a decade. It also introduced the the musical form to a new generation, suddenly there was an animated film that had great songs. It was like a Broadway musical, but in animated form. It’s no surprise that it would be adapted into a Broadway musical years later. The strange thing is that Universal turned Wicked into a two part movie the first part running as long as the stage musical, and it works great. Disney has taken the reverse route and turned an 83 minute film into a two and a half hour stage musical, and it’s too much. The show would be really good at 90 minutes, and would be perfect for it’s target audience. At well over two hours even without the intermission time, it’s padded with songs that just are nowhere near as good as the originals by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman. Am I saying skip it? No I’m not, I just want you to go in with the correct expectations. What works, works great. Those original songs are still great. And the production design, specifically all of the stage magic employed to create a world under the sea is fantastic. You will believe a Mermaid can fly.

The cast is game, they are doing their best to sell those new songs. Leianna Weaver as Ariel has a wonderful voice, which is a good thing given that the Prince has fallen in love with the voice. My other favorite in the cast was Dana Orange as the crab Sebastian, partly because my two favorite songs from the show are “Under the Sea” and “Kiss the Girl”, which are very Sebastian centric. Orange captures that calypso voice I loved from the film perfectly. By the way, if you don’t know the plot of The Little Mermaid by now, and need a synopsis to help you decide whether or not to go. This isn’t the show for you. If you loved the movie and those songs, you’ll have a really nice time with this. I attended with a ten year old girl and a twelve year old boy, neither of whom had seen the movie, and they both enjoyed it, the young lady more than the young man, but it still elicited a thumbs up from both. So take your kids they will be amazed at all of the visual tricks and special effects. But this doesn’t transcend and become a crossover show. This is not The Lion King. But hats off to the design team and cast for making it worth the extended run time.

The Little Mermaid runs through December 29th at The Ordway Center for Performing Arts in St. Paul. For More information and to purchase tickets go to https://ordway.org/events/disneys-little-mermaid/

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever! Is a Great Holiday Show For Families at Park Square Theatre

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever! may not be all that, but it’s pretty good, and for about three minutes towards the end it achieves greatness. Those three minutes alone are worth the time and price of admission. You’ll know when the moment is if you go because a character will tell another that someone is crying. Which is when I realized I was as well. The moment belongs to River Clementson and is so unexpected that it felt like a Christmas miracle. In what is a fairly entertaining if slightly underwritten comedy from playwright Barbara Robinson, there is a moment of clarity and beauty. I’m not sure where Miss Clementson came from but I’m excited to see where she goes from here. The story is about the staging of the annual church Christmas Pageant, only this year the woman who usually runs it is in the hospital. It’s up to Gabe Bradley, one of the fathers of the narrator of the story, young Beth Bradley, to take over the Christmas Pageant. It’s the same every year so it should be impossible to mess up and it would be, except for the Herdman kids. Six kids who have never been to church and have a reputation around town that would make Scut Farkus and Grover Dill run for cover. They get the idea that they want to be in the pageant, chaos and humor insue.

One thing that is special about this production is that of the 21 cast members there are only 3 adults. Don’t let that scare you, this isn’t like going to the Christmas Pageant at church. While yes, the acting ability is uneven, the vast majority are quite good, and no one is bad. I don’t know if you’ve ever been in a Christmas Pageant, I have, I’d almost forgotten that until I saw this show. I think I was a Shepard, but I may have just been a donkey, still I’d rather be a donkey than an elephant any day and twice on Sunday. If you’ve ever been in one or had to sit through one, you’ll know they are, more or less, the same. You’ll probably also mirror the sentiment of one of the fathers in the show who is always asking if they have to go to it. Thankfully that is a joke in the show but not the reality of this show. Typically, I try not review the performances of children, so aside from singling out River Clementson’s show stealing performance, I’ll restrict myself to the adults. Berto Borroto plays Gabe and Nathan Tylutki plays his husband Ned. While the roles are not written incredibly deep they bring to it a casual, give and take that feels genuine. Beth Gilleland plays basically all of the other adult roles, most of them Church ladies talking on the phone. She does a nice job changing voices and carrying on conversations with herself. I’m glad they went the route of just having one actor play all those roles, it added a nice sprinkling of humor.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever! runs through December 22nd at Park Square Theatre. A great family show it runs a little under 80 minutes with no intermission. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://bit.ly/49ITRAZ

Twin Cities Horror Festival XIII Day 8 Review: Schaulust

With this final show I have attended all of the TCHF XIII productions and yet somehow I still didn’t get a Bingo. Oh well, sometimes it just isn’t in the cards. Besides I think the prize was a toothbrush and who the hell wants that, am I right? We want candy!!! I have to say that for the first time in my TCHF attendance which began in 2019, there wasn’t a single show that I had to write a bad review about. Hey they weren’t all great, but there wasn’t a bad one in the bunch. The more amazing thing, and what shows that this years producers were real risk takers, is that Allison Vincent wasn’t in any of them. Last year that was the one ingredient that guaranteed a hit show, so for no one to have cast her in a show was a very ballsy move. You can read my reviews of everyone of the productions in this years festival which continues through 11/4/24 at The Stages of MN. For more information and to purchase tickets to the remaining shows go to https://www.tchorrorfestival.com/

Schaulust written and performed by Keith Hovis is part musical, part horror show, and all character study of an unstable mind. Hovis plays Wyatt a man who likes to watch, not in a creepy sexual way, but in a creepy everyday kind of way. He describes how it led to his break up with his boyfriend, though it wasn’t the watching part, the boyfriend was fine with that, it was something else, his need to not be needed. After the break up he finds a couple of people online who need money and agree to install a camera in their homes so he can watch them in exchange for money. Again not in a creepy sexcam way, just watch them playing video games, cutting their nails, sleeping on the couch. I’m not sure who to credit with the scenic design but it’s extremely well done. Wyatt’s home is a window into his fraying and disintegrating mental health. You can see the benefit of Schaulust playing in the Studio space, it has allowed for a fairly elaborate design, which really does inform our understanding of the narrator. It’s also one of the handful of shows that has some real horror elements, which I always think is a nice touch at the horror fest. It’s well written and acted, Hovis’ performance is all in and his songs were perfectly suited to the material. It’s one of the most polished and effective shows of the entire festival and I can say that because I saw them all!

Terrified of missing reviews from The Stages of MN? Do you find yourself afraid and all alone in the dark when all your friends are talking about that great new play that you didn’t even know about? Never fear, that need never happen again. Now you too can subscribe and have every post from The Stages of MN sent directly to your email box. No more hoping the algorithm works in your favor and you actually see a post on facebook or Instagram. No relying on so-called friends to tip you to the best shows in town. To subscribe on your computer: from the home page on the right, enter your email address and click subscribe. On your mobile device scroll to the bottom of the page and do the same. You can also follow me on Facebook, @thestagesofmn click follow and on Instagram thestagesofmn. You can also read some of my reviews syndicated on the MN Playlist website https://minnesotaplaylist.com/ from time to time.