Significant Other Speaks Truth through humor at Lyric Arts in Anoka

Emily Hensley, Eva Gemlo, Lyreshia Ghostlon-Green, and Noah Hynick Photo by Molly Weibel

Significant Other by Joshua Harmon is a play I saw performed in my first year as a Theater Blogger. That is to say I remember seeing it, remember thinking it was funny, but that’s about it. As I watched it play out at Lyric Arts the structure of the show came back to me but not the details. So the jokes felt fresh and no ones performance was competing against a previous interpretation. Lyric Arts leading man and 2024 Twin Cities Theater Blogger Award Winner for Favorite Emerging Artist, Noah Hynick, absolutely owns the role of Jordan. A late 20’s gay man living in New York City who is feeling more and more alone as his circle of friends begin to get married and have families. This is not an unusual situation in any circle of friends, and while the play really only explores it from Jordan’s perspective, there is frequently a reverse feeling for those who have paired off, they can also miss hanging out with friends who are unattached. When you have kids it can be even more of an adjustment, the difference being that instead of living in that state 24/7, it really only draws your attention occasionally, when you hear about some exciting night out. My point is that Harmon’s script will ring true whether your the last one standing single or were the first to pair off, we can all relate to some degree. It would be interesting to see Harmon write a follow up in say 20 years as the characters become empty nesters, which is accompanied by some similar feelings I can assure you.

Hynick gives a hilariously neurotic performance as Jordan, but he grounds it in an emotional rawness that connects with the audience. We laugh at him, with him, and out of our own recognition of that awkward uncertainty that most humans struggle with at some points. Whether he’s sweetly bending the ear of his Grandmother Helene or his best friend Laura, every moment feels grounded in character. Helene is played wonderfully by Miriam Monasch. The role is so well written to begin with, where we witness Jordan having a variation on the same conversation each week with his Grandma. The humor of which is matched with a feelings of genuine love that comes from those moments with our childhood heroes, which is what Grandparents are in many ways. The loom large in our childhood memories, making us the center of their worlds for these brief moments. Their weekly walk down memory lane of the picture of Jordan that is still her favorite and the stories that go along with it. There is so much truth in those scenes, the humor of repeating the same thing over and over but at the center, the sense that it’s really about the love between them. The entire cast is great but I do want to quickly acknowledge the other stand out in the cast which is Eva Gemlo as Laura. Jordan and Laura have an arguement towards the end of the show and Gemlo brings it all to that scene. Yes this is Jordan’s story, but she makes him and the audience acknowledge that everything isn’t about him. It’s one of the scenes that really raises this script to the next level, we understand what Jordan is feeling, but just because it’s his story doesn’t mean the world in which it takes place revolves around him. Gemlo’s Laura, doesn’t choose to just humor the protagonist, she stands up for her right to have her wedding be about her. I think it will be telling how each audience member responds to that scene, I think the narcissists in the audience will side with Jordan. But I’d also be curious to see if there are divides along generational lines as well. Everything Jordan is feeling is valid, but there is a time and place for sharing those feelings, and sometimes we just need to keep them to ourselves in the moment, recognize that a painful day for us, is one of the most important and special days of another persons life, and allow them to enjoy that time.

This production is directed by Max Wojtanowicz with care. He allows his actors to find their characters and trusts that the humor will work all the better for it. Michaela Lochen’s set design is very interesting, we have window frames along the back wall giving us a feel of NYC neighborhood streets. When the characters look at a painting or a picture on the wall they look out at the audience but along the back wall of the stage we get a visualization of what they are looking at. Lucas Granholm has some very effective lighting cues. I especially liked when Jordan keeps opening his computer to see the photo of a man he has a crush on, as he lifts the screen of his laptop open Granholm has a light come up on another area of the stage and we see the character there posed like the photo he’s looking at.

Significant Other is an insightful and very funny play that will delight mature audiences. This is not a play for anyone under say 16 years of age, and frankly I don’t think many under the age of 20 will have much of a chance of understanding it’s subtler truths. It’s also a really brave choice for Lyric Arts to produce and I hope audiences will reward the risk by embracing it and telling their friends to go see it. Significant Other runs through June 22nd at Lyric Arts in Anoka. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.lyricarts.org/significant-other

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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Between Riverside and Crazy is an Engrossing Play Filled With Fascinating Characters at Park Square Theatre

Isabella Dunsieth, Darius Dotch, Terry Hempleman, Laura Esping, Emil Herrera Photo Courtesy Dan Norman

Between Riverside and Crazy is a Pulitzer Prize winning play by Stephen Adly Guirgis playing on the main stage at Park Square Theatre in St. Paul. It’s a story about specific people in a specific place and time. It deals with race but only in the way in which being black or white affects the characters lives. What I mean to say is that race is not the primary focus of the play. The story focuses on Pops, played by Emil Herrera who has been battling the city for eight years trying to get them to pay him 5 million dollars in compensation for being shot six times by a police officer whom he alleges called him a racial slur. He was an off duty police officer at the time he was shot, and he is black. I know that it sounds like a play all about race, but that is just one of several plot lines that propel the story. Pop now retired on 3/4 pension is living in his rent controlled apartment with his son Junior and his girlfriend Lulu, played by Darius Dotch and Isabella Dunsieth, along with Juniors friend Oswaldo, played by José Sabillón. They each have their own things happening that contribute to the overall story of Pops’ world. There’s also his former partner from his days on the force, Audrey and her Fiancé Lt. Caro played by Laura Esping and Terry Hempleman. Caro is trying to get Pops to settle with the city. Then there’s the Church Lady played by Kiko Laureano, who brings unexpected tangent into what may or may not have been real or imagined. Whatever it is, it’s pretty graphically performed and not for children.

The cast does a fantastic job of engrossing us in the lives of the characters. Guirgis’ play takes it’s time revealing the various conflicts and relationships which works to it’s benefit. We become interested in the characters to the point where we don’t really care if there is conflict, part of you just wants to sit back and watch these folks live their lives. The dialogue is colorful and entertaining and it’s not only fascinating what the characters say, but how they say it. Herrera is in every scene and he’s very natural and funny as Pops, it’s a great performance that feels lived in but not weary. I really enjoyed Sabillón’s performance as Oswaldo, a not very bright former convict who has 90 days of sobriety. The opening scenes between Herrera and Sabillón are among the most humorous and touching. Dunsieth is also very strong playing Lulu, who also isn’t too bright but has captured the good opinion of Pops. Dunsieth is so outrageous in the role, it’s hard not to see what charms Pops.

The other star of the show is the set by Benjamin Olsen, it’s a very realistic recreation of Pop’s apartment with a living room, kitchen, and even fire escape. The set is rich with details like the unwashed windows and ceiling light fixtures hanging from a nonexistent ceiling. Director Stephen DiMenna seems to understand the importance of making the space in which we spend our time with these characters, a way to ground them in reality. One aspect that I felt could have been tightened up were the slightly overlong scene changes; however, this did give Sound Designer Fred Kennedy a chance to play some great music during the changes. Lighting Designer Marcus Dilliard has some very effective lighting cues especially at the end of the first scene between Pops and the Church Lady. I tend to think that what happens is a reflection of Pops physical state, not a statement of something supernatural, but the way it’s handled by Dilliard makes it an intriguing moment that is open to interpretation. Matthew J. LeFebvre’s costume designs are great especially every little thing Dunsieth wears, just look at those boots in the photo above, they really help establish some unspoken things about Lulu.

Between Riverside and Crazy runs through June 8th at Park Square Theatre in St. Paul. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://parksquaretheatre.org/

Whoa, Nellie! The Outlaw King of the Wild Middle West is a Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius Don’t Miss This World Premiere Musical at History Theatre.

The question I asked as I left the Theatre after seeing Whoa, Nellie! The Outlaw King of the Wild Middle West was not what did I like best or what were the shortcomings… It was this, was there anything about that show that wasn’t brilliant? The answer is a resounding no! It’s all brilliant. Every cast member, every song, every costume, every element of the set design, every lighting cue. Look at that photo at the top of this review, that isn’t just one moment, the entire show is filled with bold choices that create imagery and emotional imprints on the brain. This show solidifies Laura Leffler as one of the great Directors of the Twin Cities Stages. Her direction is dynamic, simultaneously intimate and epic.

(Pictured Em Adam Rosenberg Photo by Rick Spaulding)

Whoa, Nellie! The Outlaw King of the Wild Middle West is an original musical written completely, that means book, music, and lyrics by Josef Evans. I’ve seen Evan’s work before in his outdoor summer shows for Open eye Theatre, Loch Mess and Hair Ball both of which were light hearted, fun, and silly shows. I enjoyed them quite a bit, but they did not prepare me for these exquisite compositions. Even the silliest of songs seemed musically complex as is the narrative of Nellie King, whose story the show tells. The story unfolds as a vaudville show from beyond the grave. Nellie King, like so many real life legends of the late 1800’s, is obscured by mythology. What’s true? What’s fiction? So who better to help tell her story than a group of fellow long deceased legends. Some who helped create the myths like Nellie Bly and some who were mythologized like Annie Oakley. There are performers who were famous for impersonating the opposite sex, which touches on King’s tendency to dress as a man at times throughout her life. Everything is overseen by Bert Williams who acts as an emcee for the show, and if that makes you think of another musical, I don’t blame you for going there. It’s a role performed by John Jamison II and he’s magnetic to the point of stealing the show, and he would if the rest of the cast wasn’t as strong as it is.

(foreground) Em Adam Rosenberg. (background l-r) Erin Nicole Farsté, Jay Owen Eisenberg, Leslie Vincent, Therese Walth. Photo by Rick Spaulding

Em Adam Rosenberg continues their ascent as one of the most talented rising stars of the Twin Cities. Rosenberg keeps astonishing me show after show. They play the humor of Nellie’s wild and crazy antics with a slow and gradual slid towards the tragic. In the opening we see more of the legend, by the end we will see something of the truth. We begin by getting a sense of how the legend began and end with how the woman began. Every aspect of Rosenberg’s performance is as pitch perfect as their vocals which are stunning. As is Rosenberg’s apparent mission in life, they made me cry, again. This time their accomplice was Grace Hillmyer, who charmed us last year in Kinky Boots at Lyric Arts and here is hauntingly touching as the Child, a character shrouded in mystery that only Nellie occasionally sees.

This is where things get hard, as with the recent Theatre Pro Rata shows Three Sisters and No Sisters, every single person in this cast deserves a paragraph of praise. But, that would take me all night and you would stop reading so I’m going to be brief, but please understand I have to mention them all and the shortness of those mentions does not reflect the quality which is universally sublime. All of the cast with the exception of Rosenberg play multiple characters I’ll likely be mentioning just one of my favorites for each. Tod Petersen, Leslie Vincent, and Jay Owen Eisenberg have been praised in this blog many times, the reason for that is because they are versatile and gifted and they put those talents to great use in Whoa, Nellie!. Petersen’s greatest moments come at the end when he is reunited with Nellie twenty years after they first met. Vincent as Annie Oakley gets some fun insider jokes related to the show Annie Get Your Gun, and gets to put those wonderful pipes to work in the song “You Gotta Be Crazy (Not to Go Crazy)“. Eisenberg gets to do some wonderfully quirky character bits, he does this set jaw, and worried eyed expression as a man accused of steeling a horse that hit me just right, it’s such a small thing but it brought that character right to life. Erin Nicole Farsté plays Aida Walker and the music she makes with that vocal instrument of her’s might be proof that there is a God. Therese Walth plays Nellie Bly a reporter who fills in segments of the narrative with a no nonsense approach that pays tribute to the real Bly’s role in journalism history. Thomas Bevan rounds out the cast playing multiple roles but he’s especially good as Edward Loudon, one of Nellie’s multiple and likely simultaneous husbands and perhaps the one man Nellie actually loved.

Erin Nicole Farsté, Tod Petersen, Grace Hillmyer, John Jamison II, Leslie Vincent, Thomas Bevan Photo by Rick Spaulding

Alright I can feel you scanning down the screen to see how much longer this is so I’ll try and wrap up with quick mentions of the design team. Joel Sass designed the sets and I could have told you that without looking at the program. It has that Open Eye Theatre attention to detail, every brush stroke, every silhouette, every curtain, and every floorboard is precise and stunning. Sass has found a wonderful collaborator for his style in Lighting Designer Grant E. Merges, there are so many moments in which the light helps to create an image that feels iconic. Bryce Turgeon is the costume designer and creative doesn’t seem to do his work justice. So many wonderful designs but hands down my favorite was Nellie’s final costume which includes a cape made out of headlines from newspapers about her. The hats are all wonderful as well and while I didn’t notice them, because I just don’t, my wife assures me that every shoe and boot in the show was to die for. Great Sound Design work by C Andrew Mayer and Prop Designs by Rebecca Jo Malmstrom, and Choreography by Joey Miller, everyone working together creating a breathtaking experience on every level.

This is undoubtedly one of the best theatrical experiences of the year and you should not miss the opportunity to see something this bold and original. I promise you will not leave this show disappointed. I plan to see it again, which is hard with my schedule but there is no way I’m letting this one go without experiencing it at least one more time. Whoa, Nellie! The Outlaw King of the Wild Middle West runs through June 8th at History Theatre in St. Paul. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.historytheatre.com/2024-2025/whoa-nellie-outlaw-king-wild-middle-west

& Juliet Dazzles at the Orpheum Theatre

Rachel Simone Webb and Michael Canu Photo credit Matthew Murphy

& Juliet is a jukebox musical using popular songs from a time in which I did not listen to popular songs. That said, I recognized several and the ones I didn’t know I still enjoyed. There are those who shun the jukebox musical, but I prefer them by far to most of the movies adapted to stage musicals, at least the songs are likely to be good. & Juliet takes place on opening night of Romeo and Juliet and the Authors wife Anne Hathaway has gotten a babysitter and come to London to attend. But she isn’t happy with Will’s ending and she proposes a new one in which Juliet doesn’t kill herself. Instead, she flees her family who want to get her to a nunnery, she heads to Paris with her besties April (a role Anne has assumed for herself) May, her obviously gay first bestie, and her nurse. There she finds herself hitched to another ill advised suitor, one who is really in love with May. Add to this, a back from the dead Romeo and a bickering Mr. and Mrs. greatest writer in the English language, and you have the makings of high drama, but what you get is pure fun with a capital FU.

Set against a fabulous design, this has hints of Moulin Rouge, not as big and splashy, but somehow more organic and magical. Like the perfect balance of stage magic to heighten the emotional highs without being garish. Like Moulin Rouge but with some sense of decorum. So hats off to the design team; Soutra Gilmour, Set Designer; Paloma Young, Costume Designer; Howard Hudson, Lighting Designer; and Andrzej Goulding, Video and Projection Designer. The book is by David West Read and for Shakespeare enthusiasts, he packs it with Easter eggs, from lines in his plays to little details in costume and historical details. It’s a very funny script and it’s packed with positive messaging from LGBTQA+ issues to female empowerment. The music and lyrics are by Max Martin and Friends, which a search tells me that there is one original song “One More Try“, the rest are existing pop songs co-written by Martin.

Corey Mach and Teal Wicks play Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway, and they are both very good. Mach especially has a great voice and Wicks plays everything as if it’s just occurring to her, which is fitting for the time period historically, though the design is sort of Renaissance Modern, which isn’t a quibble, I kinda loved it. Daniel J. Maldonado has just recently replaced Michael Canu as Romeo on the tour, so the photo attached to this review show Canu, but I couldn’t bear to part with that photo, as it was one of my favorite moments in the show. I enjoyed Maldonado’s performance and other favorites included Nick Drake as May, Paul-Jordan Jansen as Lance, father of Juliets new fiancé and an old flame of the nurse, and speaking of the nurse she wonderfully portrayed by Kathryn Allison. But as good as everyone else is, the star of the show and the one that just nailed everything was none other than Juliet herself, Rachel Simone Webb.

If you are on the fence on this one, I highly recommend it, it’s not that often that you get to just sit back and laugh and rock out and be genuinely wowed by the spectacle of a show. This is one of the shows where the crowd is super into it and screams fun. & Juliet runs through May 18th at The Orpheum Theatre in downtown Minneapolis. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://hennepinarts.org/events/and-juliet-2025

Violet From Ten Thousand Things Is a Bus Trip Worth Taking

Annika Isbell, Tom Reed in the background Photo by Tom Wallace

Violet is another tribute to the inventiveness and creativity of the artists that gravitate to Ten Thousand Things (TTT). This is the company whose modus operandi is that their entire set, props, and costumes have to fit in a U-haul trailer. They do this so they can travel with the shows making theater available to all. They travel all over from senior living homes to recovery centers and correctional facilities. They perform in the round with all the lights up and they rely on the actors to create most of the world in which the shows take place. It takes creativity to direct and skilled actors to help paint the world of the story on the canvas of the audiences minds. While they eschew the use of lighting they do, as you may suspect, utilize music, which is very handy when performing a musical. And here is where I issue the words of caution I have shared before, but failed to heed myself this time. Don’t sit next to Music Director Sanford Moore. I’m sure he’s a lovely man, it’s not that, it’s just that being right next to the music at a show performed in the round with no mics, some of the lyrics get drowned out. It’s my own fault, I know better, I just forgot, but I encourage you to sit on the opposite side of the room for a more balanced sound.

The story follows a young woman named Violet who is taking a Greyhound bus from Spruce Pine, NC to Tulsa, OK in 1964. She is going to see a healing televangelist in hopes that he will use the power of God to remove the large scar she has on her face that was caused by an axe head. On the bus she meets two soldiers one black and one white named Flick and Monty, they are dealing indirectly with their own issues concerning race and the Vietnam war. Those are not the focus of the show, they are just part of setting the place and time of the story. She befriends the soldiers and they form bonds and find solace in each other. The story is intercut with scenes of young Violet and her father, which help to inform the 1964 scenes. Violet feels like an outsider because of the disfigurement, but one of the things I liked about the show is it doesn’t paint her as a victim. There are scenes that could have been told in a way that would make her appear that she was taken advantage of, but the musical doesn’t go there. She gets what she needs from interactions and she knows how to take care of herself.

Annika Isbell plays Violet in her TTT debut, she has a nice voice and I was particularly captivated by her song “Lay Down Your Head“, which to my mind was much to short, as it’s a very beautiful bit of music. I’m not sure if other productions create a scar on Violet and if TTT doesn’t in keeping with their lean approach, but I don’t think seeing the scar would add anything to the production. Mitchell Douglas and Ryan London Levin play flick and Monty and both get moments to take the spotlight. Douglas’s big song is “Let it Sing” and boy does he, I also liked the movement that Director Kelli Foster Warder designed for that song having Douglas up on the seats of the bus in his uniform had a classic feel to it. Levin’s character seems like he’s going to be the typical jerk just out for a good time, but a turn to sincerity, when it comes, feels very authentic. Tom Reed who plays the Preacher, brought me right back to the one of the first times I saw him on stage in what I still consider one of the best musicals I’ve ever seen Interstate: The Musical by Melissa Li and Kit Yan. He’s so good at playing Preachers, and bus drivers, and… oh who am I kidding, he’s always great in everything and this is no exception. The cast is rounded out by very talented cast playing multiple roles including the divine Lynnea Doublette fantastic as a Gospel Singer. Sophina Saggau who plays Young Violet, Kate Beahen as an older woman who befriends Violet on the bus, and Charlie Clark as violet’s father.

Violet is creatively staged by Director Kelli Foster Warder with Music Direction by Sanford Moore, whom I will remind you again not to sit next to. The costumes by Samantha Fromm Haddow have a great period feel to them and the sets and props by Sarah Bahr while simple are extremely versatile and perfect for a TTT production. Violet runs through June 1st at various locations. To learn more and to purchase tickets go to https://tenthousandthings.org/violet/

The Nacirema Society is a Comedy Powered by a Powerhouse Cast at the Guthrie Theater

Dedra D. Woods, Joy Dolo, Nubia Monks, Greta Oglesby, & Regina Marie Williams Photo by Dan Norman

The Nacirema Society is a play about differences, differences between generations and class, between the educated and undereducated, and between those who serve and those who are served. But above all of those it is a comedy that is meant to entertain us, which it does in no uncertain terms. Featuring a wonderfully detailed set design by Takeshi Kata and gorgeous costumes designed by Trevor Bowen, which you can get some sense of in the photo above. But as wonderful as the show is visually and technically, it’s the performances of this marvelous cast that I relished the most. The cast is stacked with powerhouses that get to play light comedy, showing us how great actors bring strong characterizations to every role. This is a play that would work wonderfully with very broad characterizations, but it becomes so much better when you have actors of this calibre who bring fully dimensional characters to bear upon the material.

The Nacirema Society is a social tradition of the affluent and wealthy black families in Montgomery Alabama. It’s 1964 and they are celebrating their 100th anniversary, and the matriarch’s of the Dunbar and Green families are organizing the event which will feature their Grandchildren Gracie and Bobby, whom they hope will marry. Gracie and Bobby don’t love each other but think of each other almost as siblings. Bobby is in love with someone else, but his Grandmother Catherine threatens to cut him off, if he doesn’t do as she wishes. Gracie’s grandmother Grace, expects her to go to the college that women in their family have always gone to, but she wants to go to New York to become a writer. I think from that description you probably think you know what kind of play this is and where things will go. Well, you’re probably wrong. Did I mention the Blackmail scheme, the girl who thinks she’s been thrown over for her rich rival, the long hushed up family secret, and the reporter from the New York Times who is staying in the Dunbar’s house to do a story on the Nacirema Society. The matriarchs try to keep up appearances and keep the skeletons in the closet, while the young people try and follow their hearts. It begins very straightforwardly and then the situation becomes more and more loaded, each scene adds another complication, another ball to try and keep in the air.

Greta Oglesby plays Grace Dunbar as refined and completely unflappable, she never loses her composure, especially when she pretends she has. It’s a skillful and beautifully controlled performance, she appears to be completely devoted to tradition and propriety, but she is also a realist and when she’s most despised by a character who has every right to despise her, she shows that she values more than just her good family name, she wants things a certain way but accepts that the world is changing and she will bend with it. Regina Marie Williams plays Catherine Green, it was such a change from the usually powerful and commanding characters she usually plays. It’s so fun to see her play the one one who gets flustered and faints. Aimee K. Bryant plays Alpha Campbell Jackson, the daughter of the Dunbar’s former maid and mother of Lillie, who is the girl Bobby loves. Bryant is terrific in the role and gets a particularly memorable moment when she gets to tell Grace what she thinks of her and her whole family. The entire cast is great but those three are the the engine behind the whole show and they couldn’t be stronger. What’s so wonderful about this show are is that all the roles are filled with great performers, many favorites including Joy Dolo, Nubia Monks, and Darrick Mosley just to name a few.

The Nacirema Society runs through May 25th at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.guthrietheater.org/shows-and-tickets/2024-2025-season/the-nacirema-society/

Anything Goes at Lakeshore Players

Anything Goes is an enjoyable enough show, the plot is lightweight but it features some great Cole Porter songs. The production is directed and choreographed by Kyle Weiler and I expected to be wowed by the dancing in this one. I kept expecting it throughout the first Act and had just about given up when the show stopping title song came to close out Act I. All of the pent up desire was consummated in one fell swoop. The performance of “Anything Goes” is probably worth attending the show for that alone. Thankfully, while not a must see, there are still plenty of other elements that contribute to an all around good time at the theater. Weiler’s choreography is brilliant and there is more of it on display in Act II, though nothing does or probably could top the ending of Act I. I’m not as high on Weiler’s direction which is only serviceable. I suspect trying to direct and choreograph a show that was very dance heavy spread him a little thin and he wasn’t able to put as much thought into the direction. It feels like there is a lack of connection comedically between the outlandishness of some of the story elements and its staging. The original book for the musical included P.G. Wodehouse among its authors, though this production is based on the 1987 revival, with a new book by Timothy Crouse & John Weidman. I can’t speak to the changes but I’m sure they were allowed more moral latitude in the update.

There are several standouts in the cast, first and foremost is Hope Nordquist as Reno Sweeney a Night Club singer who is performing the entertainment on an ocean liner heading from New York to London. Nordquist gets several great numbers to shine in, the aforementioned “Anything Goes” as well as “Blow, Gabriel, Blow” and “The Dancer in Me” which she goes toe to toe with Lewis Youngren’s Lord Evelyn Oakleigh. Its a fun number that has some nice footwork but also inspired comical moves as well. You may have noticed the absence of a plot synopsis, that’s because it doesn’t really matter, at least in this production. There are multiple sets of romances, none of which we actually care a thing about, there are gangsters and bosses and hiding out and pretending to be someone else. The reason to see this show is for the songs, the dancing, and while we care very little for any of the characters, we still have fun with some of the performances. Other enjoyable portrayals come from Marley Ritchie as the tough talkin’ Erma, who’s full of sass and attitude. Another crowd favorite was Adam Bloom as Moonface Martin, a gangster who is public enemy number 12.

The set design by Justin Hooper is well conceived and constructed with large staircases on either side of the stage leading to an upper platform. I expected Weiler to take more advantage of this Busby Burkeleyesque structure, but there is probably only so much you can safely do on those decently steep stairs, and I’d rather everyone was safe. The toilet in the brig of the ship was an inspired touch. Meghan Kent’s costumes for the most part where well done, though there was a dinner jacket that was hard to ignore that was coming apart at the seems, but that may have been the result of some strenuous dancing. Overall the production ran well technically, with each department adding value to the whole. I enjoyed the show, but I do think that it would be improved if we came to care about the characters a bit more.

Anything Goes runs through May 18th at Lakeshore Players Theatre in White Bear Lake. For more information go to https://www.lakeshoreplayers.org/anythinggoes-season-72-1-1