Beautiful: The Carole King Musical is “Some Kind of Wonderful” at Chanhassen Dinner Theatres

Shad Hanley and Monet Sabel Photo by Dan Norman

This isn’t my first production of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, I saw the touring production that came through Minneapolis about five or six years ago, but it is undoubtedly the best. The production has an intimacy and organic flow to the narrative that alluded the national touring Company. Certainly it’s filled with the same great music and I’m sure that previous cast was good, but it’s hard to imagine a better Carole King than Monet Sabel. I remember feeling as if the previous production was simply hitting bullet points on a plot outline. The Co-Directors, father and daughter team of Michael and Cat Brindisi, have wiped away all the disjointed story telling I sensed before and have staged a production that lives and breathes. The smooth and thoughtful handling of transitions and the passages of time create a sense of life moving fluidly forward and of a story unfolding like the images on a tapestry rather than simply taking us from A to B on a road map. The show hits right in my pop music sweet spot, while my friends were moshing to Pearl Jam in high school I was listening to my Buddy Holly, The Beatles, and Billboard Top Rock’n’Roll Hits for the years 1957-1961 CD’s. This music is part of my DNA so I was bound to love that aspect of the show particularly knowing the musical side of things would be handled by Chanhassen’s wonderful orchestra under the musical direction of Andy Kust. They sound suburb as always.

But the show is better than the music, it sidesteps the typical criticisms one levels at the Jukebox musical, it tells a story that features music rather than a story that has a million popular songs awkwardly shoehorned in. Sabel’s performance mirrors that sentiment, it is a natural lived in performance that incorporates singing in it’s exploration of the character. The songs work so well because King wrote about her life in her songs, even the early teen targeted songs, spoke to her life, whether she was always conscious of it or not. “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” speaks to all of us in a way but it is a specific reflection of her own insecurities, particularly in her relationship with her husband Gerry Goffin, played here by an excellent Shad Hanley. Hanley’s speaking voice sounded a little overtaxed, but thankfully his singing didn’t and his character work was solid. Other standouts in the cast were Shinah Hey and Alan Bach as Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann, fellow songwriters and Carole and Gerry’s best friends. They provided perfect little moments of humor without becoming the comic relief, they had their own arc and their relationships with each other and Carole and Gerry felt substantial. The cast members who collectively played The Drifters and The Shirelles were absolutely fantastic and really showed off some nice choreography by Tamara Kangas Erickson. The leads of both groups, John Jamison II for The Drifters and Quinn Lorez for The Shirelles, are hair on the back of the neck raisingly good.

Part of why the show flows so well is how the Directors handle the transitions. There are a lot of scene changes and in many productions it means deadstage time as set pieces are moved on and off. What the Brindisi’s do for many changes is have the lighting change the character move out of one area of the set continuing on with their scene as the set changes behind them. Eliminating the grind to a halt, blacked out stage, with nothing happening while changes are made that can suck the energy from a shows momentum. Other times the set change is as simple and swift as rotating a piano to a different angle, all of these techniques keep the show moving quickly, sweeping us along rather than leaving us waiting in the dark. One of the key things a Director, or two, needs to do to ensure their production feels fluid is to get the scene changes and transitions right and this is one of the best examples I’ve ever seen of doing just that. Part of that success surely goes to Nayna Ramey whose scenic design helped to make those transitions and changes work. I also admired the lighting design by Sue Ellen Berger, which played a role in scene transitions but also contained some fun cues like the starlights that came on over the audience during the song “Up on the Roof”, it was a magical little touch. I also absolutely adored the period costumes from Barbara Portinga including a superfast and crowd pleasing costume change done by Katemarie Andrews as Little Eva as she begins to sing “Locomotion”.

Whether you think you are a Carole King fan or not, I promise you that you are. You will not want to miss catching this show, you’ll be surprised how many songs you know from Goffin and King and their friends Mann & Weil. One of the things that makes Chanhassen unique is the “Dinner” part of the Theatre. It’s not just the famous Chanhassen Chicken, there are many wonderful options and a great selection of beverages including ice cream drinks and delicious desserts. Sometimes dinner theater means a mediocre meal, that is not the case at Chanhassen, the food is as good as the shows, which are terrific. Beautiful: The Carole King Musical runs through September 28th at Chanhassen Dinner Theatres in Chanhassen MN. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://chanhassendt.com/beautiful/ and don’t forget they also have two other stages The Fireside theatre which hosts their concert series and Stevie Ray’s Comedy Cabaret.

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On Beckett, Bill Irwin’s One Man Exploration at Guthrie Theater, Fascinating & Funny in Equal Parts

Bill Irwin in the Irish Repertory Theatre production of “On Beckett.” Photo by Craig Schwartz.

On Beckett conceived and performed by Tony Award-winning actor Bill Irwin is a one man touring production playing at the Guthrie of An Irish Repertory Theatre Production by Octopus Theatricals. I love how these little connections happen in life, just yesterday in the mail I received an imported blu-ray of The Saphead which was silent comedian Buster Keaton’s first starring role in a feature film as an actor. Now it isn’t one of Buster’s own films he was simply cast in an adaptation of a hit Broadway play. How is this a connection? Well, what doesn’t get a mention in the show was that Beckett has 13 film and TV directing credits. His first was a short film titled Film which starred Buster Keaton and was released in the US on January 8th 1966, Keaton died on February 1st 1966. It’s also hard not to see an influence in Bill Irwin’s clowning of the great silent comedians like Keaton and Chaplin. While slapstick in nature, Keaton’s humor always had a more philosophical edge as opposed to Chaplins sentimental and political shadings. Which is all just by way of reminding you, faithful readers, that I love silent comedians. Also, that if you share my love, you should be aware that this show had a delightful amount of physical clowning that scratches that itch nicely. But also to show that there is a link between Keatons work and Becketts and that Bill Irwin, is the perfect man to illustrate that connection.

Irwin’s show is a series of readings from Beckett’s work followed by his thoughts and observations on them. What’s interesting is that he reveals as much about the art and craft of acting in his observations as he does about Beckett and his work. Based on tonight’s performance the conclusion is that Beckett is not entirely knowable, the meaning is in the eye of the interpreter. Which is exactly what Irwin explores in his discussion of the pieces he performs and recollections of stagings he’s been a part of. The performances are funny and challenging in the best possible way. The writing is very very dense, strangely I have had little exposure to Beckett’s work. To my knowledge since I began blogging no one has produced one of his plays in town, or if they did it flew under my radar. I’ve read more about Beckett than I’ve read Beckett. It seems from the sample I got tonight, that he is a writer worth having a lifetime relationship with as one does with Shakespeare. A writer that you can find new meaning is with each performance and at different ages. I’m very glad to have had this primer on Beckett from Irwin, he has piqued my curiosity. In addition watching Irwin’s clowning routines was its own some kind of wonderful. What a wonderful evening though much to short at only 80 to 85 minutes, but as the old saying goes leave them wanting more. Well, I for one want more and intend to look for it in the work of Beckett and if I ever get a chance to see Bill Irwin clowning around again, I’ll be front row center, he is a truly gifted physical artist.

The show seems to be very simply presented a black stage and not a lot in the way of set pieces or costumes aside from a podium and a few pairs of baggy pants and some bowler hats. It’s a testament to the skill of everyone involved that it appears so simple because truth be told everything, especially the Lighting design by Michael Gottlieb, is very specific and much more complex than it appears.On Beckett runs through March 24th at the Guthrie Theater in downtown Minneapolis for more information and to purchase tickets go https://www.guthrietheater.org/shows-and-tickets/2023-2024-season/on-beckett/

Radiant Vermin a Darkly Comic Play at Lyric Arts

Callie Baack and Noah Hynick Photo by Molly Weibel

Radiant Vermin by Philip Ridley is a dark and twisted tale about the evils of consumerism taken to the extreme. A struggling couple who are expecting their first child are given the chance to to move into a home of their own at no charge to themselves. It’s their house lock stock and barrel, the only thing they will have to do themselves are the renovations. It’s a fixer upper you see, but Ollie played by Noah Hynick is handy and his wife Jill, played by Callie Baack, has taste which makes them in the eyes of Miss Dee, played by Danielle Krivinchuk, the perfect couple for the house. Miss Dee is said to represent a new government program whose aim appears to be the gentrification of undesirable neighborhoods. The plan is that Ollie and Jill will fix up their house and that will attract others to the area, and it’s a plan that comes along like a house on fire. The story is told directly to the audience by Ollie and Jill after a disastrous garden party for their sons first birthday. They want to explain to us how they came to live in their dream house. All of which is a faithful set up for the play but at the same time doesn’t prepare you for what you are about to witness. This is the blackest of comedies and it takes the idea of the lack of morality in consumer culture to a whole new level. The script is extremely well written and tackles issues of class, religion, and privilege while being enormously entertaining.

Hynick and Baack give fantastic performances and hats off to the dialect coach Gillian Constable, because they sound authentically British with Hynick having a distinctly early Hugh Grant quality minus the poshness. Their performances really shine in the reenactment of the garden party in which they each play along with Ollie and Jill at least four other characters, it’s a scene that reminded me of the terrific Stones in His Pockets which closed last week at Theater Latte Da. If you caught that show you’ll know what I’m talking about and if you loved it this is another show you should check. I’m not sure if Lyric Arts has Hynick under exclusive contract or what, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him on stage anywhere else, but everything he’s been in at Lyric he has impressed the hell out of me. Krivinchuk along with playing the devilishly well informed Miss Dee also has a scene as Kay, a homeless girl whom Ollie brings home to help renovate the house. The roll is a complete 180 from Miss Dee who is all knowing winks and wicked manipulation, while her performance as Kay is surprisingly moving and subtle in comparison.

The set design by Cory Skold is impressive, it looks like a multistoried construction site, with painters plastic hanging all over and walls exposed down to their studs. The whole thing is pulled together by the lighting and sound design by Shannon Elliott, there are some cues that really help to sell the story as it unfolds. The production is directed by Callie Aho who also services as the Intimacy Director. Aho’s handling of that garden party scene shows a talent for making the fast paced and chaotic still surprisingly clear in terms of who’s who when there are literally 11 characters speaking at once being played by two actors. Radiant Vermin runs through March 24th at Lyric Arts in Anoka, don’t let the drive stop you it’s really not that far and this show is so very worth your time. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.lyricarts.org/radiant-vermin

FETAL, a Brilliant Play That Traffics in Empathy From Frank Theatre

Carolyn Pool, Kate Beahen, Julia Valen, and Elena Yazzie Photo by Tony Nelson

FETAL the play by Trista Baldwin that had its world premiere last fall was such a hit that Frank Theatre is remounting it a mere three months after it closed. I wasn’t able to catch the initial run, m’colleague over at Cherry and Spoon had it on her list of the best plays in 2023, with that and after going gaga over Frank Theatre’s production of Ironbound in January, I was very excited to learn they were remounting FETAL and there was no chance I’d let it slip by a second time. The show runs through March 10th, but already has some sold out performances coming up, don’t let your chance to see this powerful and important work pass you by. Baldwin’s play is set in a clinic in Texas that provides legal abortions to women two days a week. We meet three woman that represent different points on the spectrum of age, situation, and believe systems. While each woman’s story is unique, these characters are not meant to represent all woman, but they are intended to give us a look into the complexities of the issues surrounding a woman’s right to choose and to have power over her body and health. FETAL is what I call an issue play, it’s goal isn’t to simply entertain you, it has a message it wants to relay to you. It’s also the best kind of issue play, it doesn’t simply preach at you, it isn’t trying to win you over with arguments and facts to its point of view. It’s doing what great art does, creates empathy, and it’s doing it in the most effective way there is by reducing it’s beliefs not to an argument, but to a person. If Baldwin simply had her characters tell you that a woman should have the right to say what happens with her body, she would fail in her goal. What she does, and it’s why the play succeeds, she shares her characters stories. It is through the personal that we gain understanding of others not through facts and figures, Data can open our eyes, but stories open our hearts. The other character in the play works at the clinic, she’s not a Nurse or a Doctor but there to do patient intake and go over the state required information that’s intended to scare people out of having an abortion. That’s her job function, but she’s really there to receive their stories, and carry them once they leave so they don’t have too.

The characters have names in the program but they are never used in the play, instead the three woman are given numbers to protect their identities. This may be to mirror the actual procedures on clinics in Texas or it could be to remove one layer between the characters and the audience. Without names they are even easier to see as yourself or others in your life. What has been used at times to stifle individuality in other real and artistic endeavors, here is used to turn the individual into anyone, it’s an effective reversal that like everything in this play works to connect us to the characters. The women are played by Elana Yazzie, Julia Valen, and Carolyn Pool, the clinic employee is played by Kate Beahen. Sometimes after a show on the car ride home we play a game called who was your favorite, sometimes it’s more of the, who gave the best performance variation. Tonight two responses came to mind. Firstly, no one was better than anyone else, they were all perfect for the role they were playing. The favorite? Well, that is about who you identify with the most and that will vary from audience member to audience member. Secondly, not only couldn’t you say anyone was better than the others, but when everyone is this good, and the story is so much about supporting each other, the thought of judging them against each other felt very wrong. They all made each other better, there was a sense that while the characters were supporting each other, so were the performers. It felt honest, it was simply woman supporting women in every way, beautiful.

A script that creates empathy in a way that will make audiences, who are on board with the playwrights beliefs, think about what they have seen. Many people seem to think that the two sides of this argument are people who don’t want women to have abortions and people who want women to have abortions, but that isn’t it at all. The two sides are those who want to control what other people do and those who think everyone has the right to decide for themselves. So those who want to control others and those who want the right to exercise the free will that God gave us. With a script this good and a cast so so so perfect and brilliant, it would be easy to wrap up this review and feel like I’d done my hobby. But I would be forgetting to acknowledge the incredible work of several other key players in this production. Wendy Knox who is becoming one of my favorite local Directors is batting a thousand. The way she utilizes the wonderful lighting design of Tony Stoeri to highlight each character when it is their turn to share their story. The way she has the characters interacting, with themselves arguing their emotions with their reason through the surrogate of Beahen’s character. The set design by Rick Polenek which turns the Frank Theatre’s Studio (basically their rehearsal space) into a very realistic waiting room of a clinic. The sound design by Dan Dukich is perfectly balanced, it doesn’t ever drown out the performers but also never fully lets us forget, that outside the building, are protesters spewing the hateful rhetoric that Jesus wants them to shout at women who are already having a very difficult time. Last, but not least is Kathy Kohl whose costumes fit these characters perfectly and I’m certain were of great use to the performers in finding their characters. Clothes give the audience an idea of who the characters are but they also help the actors to find who they are as well.

FETAL runs through March 10th at the Frank Theatre Studio for more information and to purchase tickets go to https://franktheatre.org/events/fetal-trista-baldwin/

Clue is Suspiciously Familiar But Devilishly Fun Running Through March 3rd At the Orpheum.

The Cast of Clue Photo by Evan Zimmerman

Any self respecting mystery fan matched their wits against their friends and family growing up over Parker Brothers Clue board game, I am no exception. Having grown up in the 80’s I saw the film version in the theater when it came out in 1985. With a mystery I generally try and askew any research so as not to be inadvertently tipped off to any of the surprises in store. I took the advertising “A New Comedy” at face value, I was shocked, not by the solution to the murders but upon realizing early on that I’d seen this script performed out at Lakeshore Players, which is a community theater company in White Bear Lake, two years ago. So if you’ve seen a stage play version of Clue previously, this is probably that script. You may be wondering if you should see this production if you’ve seen others. Well that would depend on how much you enjoyed the other production. I gave the Lakeshore Players production a positive review, this production dwarfs that one in every possible way. So if you haven’t seen a production of Clue before, or did and really enjoyed it, I’d enthusiastically recommend this one. The two primary reasons are the cast and the production design, both of which are of the highest calibre. Yes, this is probably the kind of show that elicits a review full of Dad jokes and silly word play, you’ve been warned.

I don’t really want to take a stab at running down the entire plot of the show, it is based on the 1985 film, and follows that plot more or less as I recall. For those who haven’t seen the film the set up is a dark and stormy night in a secluded mansion near a washed out bridge, six strangers are invited to dinner. The guests are each given a code name and told not to reveal their true identities. They have been gathered by Mr. Boddy who has been blackmailing each of the guests and now has gathered them together for an unknown reason, dinner is served, murder and mayhem follow in the study over coffee and brandy. This isn’t really a traditional whodunnit so much as a straight up comedy set among the trappings of the mystery genre. The scripts authorial lineage is almost a joke in itself, based on the screenplay by Jonathan Lynn, written by Sandy Rustin with additional material by Hunter Foster and Eric Price, based on the Paramount Pictures motion picture, based on the Hasbro board game Clue. Which of course at the time when the film was made, it was actually the Parker Brothers board game Clue, as Hasbro didn’t purchase Parker Brothers until the early 1990’s. Which is my way of dishing out some red herrings of my own so as not to give any more of the plot away than I have already.

Having seen the script performed before I was struck by how much the performances really affected the comedy. I thought the cast was solid out at Lakeshore in 2022 but this cast knew how to ring twice as many laughs out of the script. There isn’t a weak performance but there were a couple that really stood out as exceptional examples of physical comedy. Mark Price as the Butler Wadsworth is fantastic following in the shoes of the great Tim Curry from the film version. Price’s dry wit in the opening as he greets the guests alerts the audience from the outset to listen for double meanings and word play. His recap of what has happened so far before everyone attempts to guess the killer is a manic tour de force. John Shartzer takes the physical comedy up a notch as Mr Green, there is a scene with a chandelier that doesn’t seem like it should be physically possible. Watching Price and Shartzer square off towards the end in a series of inventive comedic touches that add laughs that simply wouldn’t exist if played by any other actors. The other element that simply cannot be matched on a smaller budget is the set design by Lee Savage. The set features rooms that open like drawers from the wings, walls that drop from the ceiling, including one with a wall safe behind a portrait that gave us an unplanned intermission when some technical difficulties arose. Important to note that Minneapolis is the launch of this National touring production, so the odd hiccup can occur as it isn’t yet the well oiled machine it will undoubtedly become. It was a short delay and oddly added to the fun of the whole evening, and the cast picked up right where they were and carried it off like pros. Assisting in bringing the whole affair to wonderful visual life was the lighting design by Ryan O’Gara which in a really fun touch included flickering the house lights at the start to emulate the lighting effects.

Clue is running through March 3rd at Hennepin Theatre Trusts Orpheum Theatre in Downtown Minneapolis as part of the 2023-2024 Bank of America Broadway on Hennepin season. It’s a great looking production filled with laughs and fun appropriate for anyone 12 and older, a great trip to theater for young teenagers as it’s got a nice blend of creativity visually and overflows with humor. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://hennepintheatretrust.org/events/clue-orpheum-theatre-minneapolis-mn-2024/

Hells Canyon a Horror Play With a Brain, Has World Premiere by Theater Mu at Jungle Theater in MPLS

Ryan Colbert, Becca Claire Hart, Kaitlyn Cheng, Gregory Yang Photo by Rich Ryan

Hells Canyon, the new play by Keiko Green uses the horror genre to explore race, generational trauma, and the complexity of gender and a woman’s body. The first two it deals with fairly head on, the last is more subtextual and requires the audience to think about the play, the characters, their race, and the ways in which woman have been sublimated and exploited historically. If that sounds a bit serious, reflect on the long tradition of works in genres such as Science Fiction, Horror, Westerns or any number of others, to tackle important issues through the use of entertainment and distance from their real world equivalents. Hells Canyon never loses sight that it is a Horror play, its thrilling, scary, and entertaining, all that is required from the genre. But, like the best examples of any genre it’s richer because it isn’t just about the genre trappings, getting the blood pumping and the goosebumps to break out, at its core are ideas which engage the mind as well as the emotions. This is an impressively mounted production and one that any horror fan should be sure to check out. My planned plus one for the show was my wife, when I was preparing before the show I realized it was in the horror genre, not something she really enjoys, so we erred on the side of caution and she hung back. I don’t think that was necessary, I think she could have handled it so if the themes of this sound interesting but you are not a horror person, I’d say take a chance. This is recommended for ages 16+ and I’m linking here to content Warning page from Theater Mu.

The story involves 5 friends with complex relational ties as they prepare to spend a weekend at a cabin in the woods. The cabin is near the location of the Snake River Massacre, where in 1887 seven white men murdered 34 Chinese miners for their gold, they were never prosecuted, this is a true event from history. The characters are Ariel played by Kaitlyn Cheng who is pregnant, her brother Tommy played by Gregory Yang, who is part of a band with Doug played by Ryan Colbert, Ben played by Matt Lytle, and Claire, who is also Ben’s wife played by Becca Hart. Ariel is a surrogate for Ben and Claire due to a heart condition Claire has and also used to date Doug. These are old friends who have some tensions floating around about band business and the pregnancy, when things start to happen that put a scare into the group, the underlying tensions and true feeling begin to bubble to the surface. Cheng and Colbert give the best performances as they seem grounded and natural. Hart is also very good, unfortunately her character is rather unlikeable and most likely to benefit from a mirror in which she could see her own behavior reflected back. A challenging acting bit to play the person who is trying to say the right things and seem caring but is only really concerned with herself. Lytle and Yang are OK, but there is an over the top bor vibe from their performances that keep them from feeling real, particularly in the first act of the play.

Green’s script is excellent even if a little overstuffed with ideas, there are a lot of different themes vying for attention, they all work but there is a sense it might have played a little stronger with a more focused approach. There is an epilogue which adds some shocking information and motivations for a character, but in the final analysis it feels unnecessary and robs the play of a more memorable ending. The direction from Katie Bradley excels in most elements of the production. In the tradition of the great film Director Howard Hawks Green’s use of overlapping dialogue is intended to add an element of realism to a genre work. From a performance standpoint it’s a tricky thing to do and Bradley hasn’t successfully gotten her actors to the point where they seem natural but all the key lines of dialogue are clearly conveyed. These are minimal issues and primarily only occur in that first act. Technically, Bradley handles the production with the skill of a veteran Director. This is a larger scale production with a lot of elements to bring together and she demonstrates how quickly and confidently she’s grown into the role, I’m excited to see what she Directs next, though I hope she hasn’t given up performing for good. It’s a beautifully designed set by Erik Paulson giving us a look at the entire cabin with doors and beams giving us an clear understanding of where walls are meant to be. The Projections by Peter Morrow and Ryan Stopera are effectively used to show us what is happening outside the windows of the cabin, they are used judiciously and create some truly eerie effects. Likewise the lighting design by Karin Olson and sound design by Katherine Horowitz help to make this an effective and at times genuinely scary experience.

Theater Mu’s production of Hells Canyon runs through March 17th at the Jungle Theater. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.theatermu.org/hells-canyon

Silent Sky Soars to Dizzying Heights At Theatre in the Round In Minneapolis

Silent Sky by Lauren Gunderson concluded its opening night performance at Theatre in the Round Players (TRP) to a thunderous standing ovation that you could tell caught the actors by surprise. I imagine, when you are working on a play day after day, you are a little too close to it to know if it’s working as well as you hope. Well I can’t imagine a better production of Silent Sky then I saw tonight, at least in the ways that matter. It’s a small intimate story about one woman’s passion that also encompasses the infinite in terms of the universe and the human spirit. Like her Christmas at Pemberley trilogy, Gunderson exhibits here a gift for the emotional resonance, knowing humor and female empowerment that characterizes the work of Jane Austen. She is undoubtedly the modern playwright successor to that genius of English literature. The only thing that could lessen her work would be a cast who doesn’t rise to its quality, blessedly TRP has assembled a cast that bring humor and heartache in equal measures from reciting the phonebook if called upon. Lucky for us they are instead given Gunderson’s wonderful words and with those they soar to the heavens and beyond.

The story, set in the late 1800’s and early 20th Century tells the true story of Henrietta Leavitt, a pioneer of Astronomy whose contributions have had an immeasurable effect on science and our understanding of the universe. Leavitt left home after graduating college to work at the Harvard College Observatory where she learns that as a woman she is not allowed to operate the telescope. She is put to work instead with the other “computers” Williamina and Annie measuring and cataloging the brightness of stars from photographic glass plates. She is passionate about her work and lives for it forgoing visits home and staying late, sometimes overnight, working on ideas of her own. Henrietta is played Eva Gemlo who recently played Elizabeth Darcy in The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley, and there is much of that character and that of Jo March in Henrietta. Gemlo is marvelous at playing the smartest woman in the room, she is fire and passion, wit and intelligence with a gift for putting her boss Peter Shaw in his place. When an attraction begins to develop between the two, it happens so naturally that one is caught off guard at first but suddenly become excited by the budding romance. Peter is played by Ben Qualley who is a master at be being put in his place, thrown off balance and generally run circles around by his female employees. Annie and Williamina are played by Rachel Postle and Wini Froelich who seem so incredibly in sync and casual with each other I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that they are old friends in real life. These rules are crucial to widening the scope of the play beyond Henrietta’s ambition and the posible love story. They show that Henrietta isn’t the sole woman capable of being more than was allowed of a woman at that time. Through them we see other shades of how woman greatly contributed to the world without getting credit. They also provide a lot of the gentle humor that flows through the piece, Postle and Froelich give wonderful performances creating fully realized characters that it is a joy to spend two hours with. The cast also includes Clare Rolinger as Henrietta’s sister Margaret, through her we also get to see a woman who has chosen to stay at home, marry and raise a family, because that’s not just what most women did back then, but it’s also an acceptable choice for women to make today if they wish. But, we also learn at the end that she composed a symphony, so don’t judge a book by its cover.

The production is directed by Gretchen Weinrich, who obviously generates great performances from the cast finding just the right tone for every scene. There is a some extraneous set piece movements that felt unnecessarily busy, but they didn’t really detract from the production as a whole. Sadie Ward’s Set Design is simple but kind of magical with the cosmos painted on the floor and walls. The lighting design by Peter W. Mitchell continues the motif with star fields appearing all around at various points. I also really enjoyed the costumes by Colleen O’Dell, which isn’t something I ordinarily notice, but the period dress was really excellently realized, particularly the slacks worn by Annie in the last scene.

Silent Sky Runs through March 17th at Theatre in the Round Players in Minneapolis, for more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.theatreintheround.org/home/season-placeholder/72nd-season/silent/