Annie Returns to Chanhasen Dinner Theaters in Fantastic New Production With Rising Star Eve Scharback as Annie

Annie acts as sort of a stealth missile of a musical. Everyone knows it, either from the movie or having seen it previously on stage. Just about every theater company has mounted a production, particularly community theaters. So when it comes up, there is an instinct to dismiss it or, when choosing between two shows, go with the less familiar. What we forget is just how good a production of Annie can be. Case in point: Chanhassen Dinner Theatres’ new production is the best I’ve ever seen! The cast is phenomenal, with a special emphasis on the juvenile performers who make this classic musical feel fresh and new!

As with all long-running professional productions featuring school-age performers, the children’s roles are double-cast. The performance I saw featured Eve Scharback as Annie. Scharback had already impressed me in multiple productions at Theatre Latté Da as Small Alison in Fun Home and Young Alice in their Next Festival reading of Alice in Neverland. It’s unclear if she is trying to corner the market on roles that begin with the letter “A,” but if that is her goal, I’ve no doubt she will achieve it. My prediction is that we are seeing the start of a career actor, one destined to be one of the Twin Cities’ go-to performers. Want to see a star born? Get out to CDT’s production of Annie. Eve Scharback is already shining with a brilliance akin to the North Star. I’d love to go back and see the show with the other cast as well, if they are as good as this, I’d say CDT has locked in the best young performers in the area.

Scharback is surrounded by six or seven other young actors, any of whom would outshine most performances in any community theater production. Special mention has to be given as well to Lucy Anderson, who played Molly this night. Director Tamara Kangas Erickson has guided Anderson straight into the hearts of the audience with her perfectly timed moments of comic relief. The audience was eating out of her hand as she was wheeled offstage in her bed while changing into different poses.

The adult cast is stellar as well. The role of Miss Hannigan, played to perfection by Carol Burnett in the film version, must be a daunting role, knowing that much of the audience will subconsciously be measuring your performance against hers. Serena Brook easily overcomes any resistance to her performance, and it is the standout of the adult cast. Also very impressive, as always, is Anna Hashizume as Grace Farrell, whose voice stands out due to her complete control of every note and the fullness of her sound. In the role of Daddy Warbucks was Dante Jamar Lamonte Murray, whom I’m unfamiliar with, but he’s a welcome surprise, with a nice, rich voice and an easy chemistry with Scharback’s Annie.

If you don’t know the story of Annie, all you really need to know is that it’s a show perfect for the whole family. Kids will love it, adults will love it, even the family dog will love it, though they probably aren’t allowed in. Annie’s dog Sandy is played by Addison, a professional “Sandy” who has performed the role all over the country. The role is small, but when Addison is on stage, she always hits her mark.

Annie runs through February at Chanhassen Dinner Theatres in Chanhassen. For more information and to purchase tickets, go to https://bit.ly/ANNIECDT. The wonderful thing about CDT is that not only do you get a great show, but a delicious meal as well. And don’t forget to add a dessert. I can personally vouch for the tiramisu and the salted caramel cheesecake, both are to die for.

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.

Don’t rely on Facebook or Instagram algorithms to keep you in the loop about great shows. Subscribe and have every post from The Stages of MN delivered straight to your inbox. It’s the best way to make sure you never miss out on the theater action. To subscribe on a computer, enter your email address on the home page (right-hand side) and click subscribe. On mobile, scroll to the bottom of the page to find the same option. You can also follow me on Facebook @thestagesofmn and on Instagram thestagesofmn.

The Stages of MN YouTube channel is home to the Stages of MN Show. You can watch it by clicking here. Be sure to check out the latest episodes and subscribe so you’ll always know when a new one drops. Not sure you agree with one of my takes? I’m also part of the Twin Cities Theater Bloggers (TCTB), where you can find review roundups from my colleagues and me. Follow us on Facebook at @TwinCitiesTheaterBloggers.

On the Razzle! is a Linguistic Delight and a Very Enjoyable Farce at Park Square Theatre in St. Paul

Brendan Nelson Finn, José Sabillón, and Emil Herrera Photo by Dan Norman

On the Razzle by the late Tom Stoppard opens Park Square Theatre’s 51st season to much laughter from the appreciative audience. This farcical comedy has quite the heritage. The story began as a Viennese play in 1842 titled Einen Jux Will er Sich Machen by Johann Nestroy. It was then adapted twice by Thornton Wilder, first in 1938 as The Merchant of Yonkers and then again in 1955 as The Matchmaker, which was then the basis for the musical Hello, Dolly!. Stoppard’s version eliminates the Dolly Levi character altogether. She isn’t missed, though certain aspects of the plot of Hello, Dolly! are still present. This feels completely fresh. Nestroy’s almost 175-year-old play was clearly a fertile source of inspiration.

The plot revolves around… well, it’s kind of complicated. There is a pair of young lovers whom the guardian of the young woman is trying to keep apart. He is sending her to his sister-in-law’s to get her away from the young man. Meanwhile, he has hired a new servant who he sends to arrange for a dinner for him and Ms. Knorr, whom he plans to marry, in the city. The guardian, Zangler, happens to be the owner of a fancy grocery store. Before leaving, he promotes his head clerk to partner and the apprentice to clerk. Of course, as soon as he leaves, they close shop and head to the city as well, looking to have some fun.

From there, a lot of things you may have seen on Three’s Company happen. The humor comes at you from various directions. There are mistaken identities, multiple tartan capes, and more malaprops than you can snake a tick at. The script is very adept at finding humor in the language, but it doesn’t shirk at some good old fashioned physical humor as well.

A play like this works or doesn’t work based on the cast. Stoppard’s script is nonstop with the verbal and physical humor, and it needs a certain skill set from the performers to pull off. This cast, for the most part, makes the show succeed. In the main roles, Christopher Hayhurst and Nate Turcotte are superb as Zangler’s employees who get mixed up with two women, one of whom is Zangler’s fiancée. They are played by George Keller and Greta Oglesby. The four of them are great fun to watch. In fact, those are the most interesting characters in the show, and thankfully, we spend the most time with them.

There are a couple of scene stealers in the cast. The first is Norah Long, who plays multiple characters. The one that sticks out the most is the woman who works in the shop, Gertrude, but a close second is the sister-in-law whom the young woman is being sent to stay with, and her story about her brush with love.

The second scene stealer, and he’s a highlight of the show, is Brendan Nelson Finn. Again, he plays multiple characters, but there are two that are outstanding. The first is as a waiter, and the second, and best, is as a coachman obsessed with women. It’s a hilariously over-the-top character that elicited big laughs from the audience.

The final star of the show is the set design by Benjamin Olsen. I think we make about eight changes in location during the course of the show, and the transformations are more than wheeling a table on stage or flying in a couple of flats. Large walls and even staircases are shifted around. It’s an impressive set, and the cast and crew do a good job of making the transitions quick.

Director Stephen DiMenna assists with this by having characters at times come off of the stage into the auditorium to continue scenes as the transitions are being made on stage. It’s a very effective choice to minimize the distraction of the set change.

On the Razzle runs through October 25 at Park Square Theatre in St. Paul. For more information and to purchase tickets, go to https://www.parksquaretheatre.org/on-the-razzle

Waiting For Godot Is Very Funny. Who Knew? At the Guthrie Theater

Jimmy Kieffer, Jim Lichtscheidl, Will Sturdivant and David Strathairn Photo by Dan Norman

I’ve been waiting for Waiting for Godot for decades. I started my college career as a Theater Arts major before transferring to film studies. And you can bet that my first class in that department was History of Theater, in which I read about Samuel Beckett’s influential play. All I knew was that two men wait for a man named Godot, who never comes. It sounds bleak and important and impenetrable, doesn’t it? I knew it was an important piece of theater, and so I’ve always been on the lookout for it, knowing that I must see it at some point if I was ever to earn my wings.

I went into tonight with conflicted feelings, mostly excited to finally see this landmark play, but also with apprehension. What if I don’t get it? How will I write about it? What if it never ends? Seriously, what if the show never ends and three weeks from now we are still trapped in our seats watching two men sitting on stage waiting for someone? How would we be fed? Where would we sleep?

Well, I’m home, and that didn’t happen. And just like that time I ran into a pair of pale green pants with nobody inside them, I now wonder what I was scared of.

ONE OF THE GREATEST PLAYS OF THE 20TH CENTURY!!! is daunting. Seeing Waiting for Godot, however, was a joy. Writing about Waiting for Godot could be daunting, or it could be fun. I choose fun.

The plot: two men, Didi and Gogo, meet up, as they always do, to wait for a man named Godot. They talk of this and that, despair, suicide, and try to find ways to pass the time. Along the road comes a man named Pozzo, who is accompanied by his servant Lucky, whom he keeps tethered to a rope and occasionally uses a whip to incentivize. They all interact, then Pozzo and Lucky leave. A boy comes and tells Didi and Gogo that Godot cannot come today, but he will come tomorrow. The men decide to leave. They do not. End of Act One. Act Two: a variation on Act One.

The play isn’t about the actions of these men; it is about their inaction. What makes the play so enjoyable is what they are saying to each other and how they are saying it. Of course, there is a meaning in all of this, commentary on life and what it all means, or doesn’t mean. But you know what? I just saw it an hour ago. This will take some processing, and it’s also the sort of play where different people are going to come to different conclusions about it.

I want you to see it with your own eyes and let it find its meaning in how you see it. The one thing I can do to help you is to let you know that it is two hours and twenty minutes spent in the company of performers who never let you lose interest for a moment. The show is funny, at times absurd, but also oddly sweet.

Jimmy Kieffer and David Strathairn play Gogo and Didi, and it’s hard not to see the influence of comedic geniuses of the silver screen such as Laurel and Hardy or Chaplin. And before you say I’m projecting my love of cinema onto the play, remember that Beckett’s sole screenplay is for the short film Film, starring Buster Keaton.

It’s fun to have an Academy Award nominee like Strathairn at the Guthrie, but it is anything but stunt casting. He is absolutely perfect for the role, making nonsense sound organic, adding touches of melancholy strategically, and bringing a sense of genuine love for his old friend Gogo. Kieffer, who replaced John Carroll Lynch shortly after rehearsals began, for undisclosed reasons, brings the perfect balance to the pairing. His character is more unsteady; he swings from moody and complaining to smiles and sunshine mid-sentence. It’s great comic timing.

Will Sturdivant gives what is probably my favorite performance of his I’ve ever seen, and faithful readers know that I’m a fan of his work, so that is saying something. He makes Pozzo’s extreme demands both grossly demeaning and hysterically funny. Wait until you see him engage Gogo in helping him sit down.

As his nearly completely silent servant Lucky, can you ask for anyone better in that type of role than Jim Lichtscheidl? Twin Cities theatergoers have had many opportunities to see what he is capable of doing with a stage and no dialogue. I only wish there was more for him to do in this show.

Everything is top-notch, from the bleak set design by Marion Williams to the muted color schemes and worn-down look of the costumes by Trevor Bowen, which fit perfectly with the landscape. Part of the wonder of the play is how funny it is despite the gloominess of the environment. This world is bleak, the lives of these characters are bleak, so why is it so damn funny?

I had an idea as I left the theater for a Minnesota Fringe show, and I encourage anyone to take the idea and run with it: a version of the play with SpongeBob SquarePants as Didi and Patrick Star as Gogo, Mr. Krabs as Pozzo, and Squidward as Lucky. You just do a shortened version of the play with those characters in the roles, minimal changes, a few changes to keep the themes in line but use the SpongeBob universe’s tropes.

I’m so glad I finally got to see Waiting for Godot. I was surprised by how accessible it was, how funny, and just plain entertaining. I also know that there is more under the surface than I’ve covered here, partly because I need to process it but also because I want you to go in without preconceived ideas and see what meaning you take from it. One thing is for sure: you will be entertained.

Waiting for Godot runs through October 11th at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. For more information and to purchase tickets, go to https://www.guthrietheater.org/whats-on/waiting-for-godot/

Ball: A Musical Tribute to My Lost Testicle Will Only Be Bouncing Around Artistry’s Black Box Theater Thru 9/20

Ball: A Musical Tribute to My Lost Testicle celebrates its 10th anniversary with a short run at Artistry in Bloomington. Max Wojtanowicz, who wrote and performs the show, began performing it in 2016. The show is about Max’s battle with testicular cancer. Wojtanowicz is a favorite of, well, probably everyone who has ever seen him perform or worked with him. He’s a walking encyclopedia of musical theater, a gifted actor and vocalist, and if anyone could make a show about testicular cancer shine, it’s him. But it does more than shine. It encourages the audience to internalize it and, in a way, allows it to become a cathartic outlet for their own story.

The show deals with the specifics, which allow it to become universal. One detail here and another detail there will ring true to different audience members. By the end of the show, we have all found something to relate to.

Originally a show at the 2016 Minnesota Fringe Festival, Wojtanowicz gives us a few winks and a couple of saucy signals, but keeps it at a PG-13 level. Which is good, because it means you don’t need to feel any hesitation about bringing your teenage sons to the show. Because the point is to help others either discover they need treatment or show them how you can get through it, you just have to make a start.

And Wojtanowicz knows exactly how to make that message land. He’ll make you laugh, think, feel, then laugh again. It’s ultimately a genuinely uplifting experience, but not in the sweet and sugary way. It gets there through humor and honesty. And song, one of it’s biggest selling points is surely not just the chance to listen to Max sing, but to sing about his testicles.

This is a very special show with a very short run. Only five performances remain, so don’t miss this remount of Ball: A Musical Tribute to My Lost Testicle. It’s a show about cancer, loss, survival, and finding your way forward, and somehow, it’s also a hell of a good time.

Ball: A Musical Tribute to My Lost Testicle runs through September 20th at Artistry in Bloomington. For more information and to purchase tickets, go to https://artistrymn.org/ball

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/

I’m So Glad I Came From Away to See Come From Away at The Phipps in Hudson WI.

There is something about Come From Away. No matter the cast or the venue, there is a feeling that comes over you in the audience where you think, “And here we are. Where the world has come together.” Because more than any other show, there is a feeling of being in the moment with these characters, probably because, for many of us, we were. We were not in Gander or New York, but it was a moment, possibly the only one in my lifetime so far, where it felt like the whole world had come together.

The power of art is to make us feel that we are not alone, and in a world where we are becoming the joke of the world, there is something so necessary about this show that allows us, for 110 minutes, to recall a time when the world had our back and was on our side. It also reminds us of all the qualities lacking in our country’s leaders: empathy, decency, putting others first, the ability and the desire to comfort and care for each other.

This show is truly a moving and uplifting experience. This is my sixth time seeing it, and I’m already excited to see it again next spring when Lakeshore Players puts it on. Some shows, when they come around for the third or fourth time, I’ll give them a miss to see something new. I think this is like RENT, where I’m always going to say yes. I cannot ever imagine regretting attending a performance of this show. This production at The Phipps Center for the Arts has all the power and joy that every other production I’ve seen has.

Come From Away is the musical written by Irene Sankoff and David Hein, based on the true events of September 11, 2001, and the days following. After two airplanes crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City and another crashed into the Pentagon, all air travel was grounded and the airspace above the U.S. was closed. All airplanes inbound were diverted to the nearest airfield outside the U.S. Thus, 38 airplanes carrying about 7,000 passengers found themselves stranded in the small town of Gander on the island of Newfoundland. This small town and its neighboring towns took in these 7,000 passengers from all over the world, fed them, gave them shelter, clothed them, and made them honorary Newfoundlanders.

The show does what must always be done with stories about something as large as 9/11: It focuses on a specific aspect and a smaller group of people. This approach allows us to comprehend the incomprehensible by taking a huge event and bringing it down to a personal level. We get to know key members of the community, passengers, and the pilot of one of the planes, and through them we see this moment in history from a new perspective. The overall focus of the play is on the community coming together and caring for these stranded people, these strangers. Relying heavily on humor that seems very Newfoundlandish but also very Minnesotan.

Come From Away is an important work of art, but it doesn’t feel like it should be. A lighter, more energetic musical would be hard to find. The show moves with the pace and humor of a broad comedy. While the play doesn’t dwell on the tragedy of 9/11 and the negative reactions that came from it, it also doesn’t ignore them. There will be tears, but the kind that come from well-earned moments of genuine empathy, and any moments of sadness are met with feelings of joy at the capacity of the characters to support each other.

Still, while the show barrels ahead from one witty lyric to the next, with all the joy we are feeling, we are also constantly aware of 9/11. In some ways, it reopens a wound that I felt had long ago healed over. But in doing so, it also begins to heal that wound again at the same time. This is a tightrope walk I can’t really wrap my head around. It’s at once life-affirming, joyous, funny, and moving, while also reminding us of a tragedy that changed our world, that shocked and saddened us to our very cores. Yet these disparate elements are not at war with each other; they live organically intertwined, as if the one wouldn’t work without the other.

I imagine if I ever see a production of Come From Away that I don’t like, it will have to do with the cast, because the music and book are perfection. This cast is a great match for the material. There are certain characters that are favorites, like Nick and Diane, fellow travelers from different countries who fall for each other. Here they are played by real-life husband and wife Ben Thietje and Amanda White, who are just darling in the roles. Or the Kevins, the gay couple played here by a Stages of MN favorite, Ryan Lee, and Jeremy Johnson. Again, just ideal in these roles. Then there are characters that stand out in certain productions. Here, the character of Bob, played by Erebi Nyenkan, always gets some laughs, but there was something extra that drew me to the character this time and made her performance one of my favorites.

But the one that pulled the most out of me emotionally was DeZhané Antoinette as Hannah, the mother of a NYC firefighter who cannot get word of her son. It’s a role that is written to pull at your heartstrings, but no one has quite made all of the fear, worry, and uncertainty so palpable as Antoinette. Every line spoken, every note sung, is underlined with a sense that her heart may break at any moment. I cry a lot at this show. She earned by far the most tears of anyone in the cast.

In terms of differences besides the cast, the set design by Taylor English adds a substantial raised walkway that is well used, particularly in Nick and Diane’s sweet song, “Stop the World.” The one minor disappointment is the lack of live musicians. It doesn’t really affect our enjoyment of the show, but it’s always fun at the end or in the bar scene when you get to experience the band playing in front of you and getting to take a bow.

If you’ve never seen Come From Away, I urge you not to miss this opportunity. This is a wonderful production of one of my all-time favorites. This is definitely Top 10, probably Top 5 for me. Subject matter turning you off? Just trust me. It will be a powerful, inspiring, and ultimately uplifting experience.

Come From Away runs through September 27 at The Phipps Center for the Arts in Hudson, WI. For more information and to purchase tickets, go to https://thephipps.org/26-27/come-from-away

Pinocchio is Great Fun for the Whole Family, Ignore the 5 to 10 Year Olds suggestion, It’s for Everyone at Children’s Theatre Company

Antonisia (Nisi) Collins, Reed Sigmund, and Dean Holt Photographed by Glen Stubbe

The Children’s Theatre Company’s production of Pinocchio, according to the website, is geared toward ages 5 to 10. I hope that won’t dissuade people from bringing their older children as well, because it worked for me, so I’m sure it will work for them as well. This production is adapted and directed by Greg Banks, whose scripts for Robin Hood and The Hobbit we’ve seen produced over the last two years at Zephyr Theatre and Theatre in the Round. I’m getting a sense of Banks’ style at this point: he takes a classic story and retells it in a non-traditional way. Banks likes to acknowledge that we are sharing a story and shares openly the importance of the audience’s role in bringing their imagination into the theater.

Pinocchio opens not in Italy but in a theater. Company member Dean Holt comes on stage in his painter clothes, ready to get to work painting the set for the upcoming production of Pinocchio. He’s surprised to see us all there and tells us we’ll have to leave. When he discovers we all have tickets for Pinocchio, he convinces the other four members of the painting crew that they should tell us the story since we are there.

They then proceed to perform a seemingly makeshift telling of Pinocchio, using the ladders and scaffolding, paint cans and drop cloths, and even the head of a mop to take the place of props and costumes. This open communication with the audience allows the cast to engage directly at times with the audience, helping to keep the little ones engaged throughout. There was also a nice peppering of clowning throughout. There is nothing like a little good clowning to get an audience laughing together.

The cast is filled with the theater’s core company: Holt, Autumn Ness, Reed Sigmund, and the newest member and 2025 Twin Cities Theater Bloggers Favorite New Artist Award winner Antonisia Collins as Pinocchio. Also joining in, mostly providing instrumental accompaniment, is Victor Zupanc.

Zupanc, as with the style of telling this story, provides young audience members a chance to think about where the sounds they hear in entertainment come from. To see how creatively certain instruments can be used to conjure more than just music.

Holt and Sigmund playing schoolhouse bullies was brilliantly realized, the timing and the facial expressions priceless. Ness gets to pull at our heartstrings, first because the only role they’ll give her is the neighbor, who’s sleeping, later as she tries to deviate from the story to help Pinocchio.

And Nisi Collins… man, did we pick that one right. Pinocchio has a lot in common with the role she played last year in Once on This Island. There is a naivete and a trusting nature to both roles, but there is zero overlap in her performances. She plays the same traits but in a completely new way. I cannot wait to see what she does next.

Pinocchio is perfect for 5- to 10-year-olds, so bring them. But trust me, don’t leave the tweens or teens, or Grandma and Grandpa, at home. This is a very fun show. What I love most about it is the way in which it engages with the audience, not only telling them a story but sharing how we tell a story in theater. It’s the kind of show that could get some young mind thinking about more than just acting, but directing as well.

Pinocchio runs through October 18 at Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis. For more information and to purchase tickets, go to https://childrenstheatre.org/whats-on/pinocchio/