The Stages of MN: Looking Back at the Year That Was 2025!

2025 has been a very eventful year for The Stages of MN. I want to thank you, faithful readers and now viewers, for being here. Knowing you’re out there reading and watching is what keeps me doing this. I especially want to thank those of you who come up to me at shows, introduce yourselves, and share your thoughts on what I’m putting out there. I love getting those photos together too, let’s try to ramp that up even more in 2026.

Of course, the biggest thing that happened in the world in 2025 was the launch of The Stages of MN YouTube Show and Podcast. On June 18, the first episode premiered, featuring an interview with Austene Van, Artistic Director of Yellow Tree Theatre. Since launching, I’ve released 24 full episodes as well as four mini-episodes covering the Minnesota Fringe Festival.

When I launched the show, I was unemployed and able to devote a lot of time to its creation. Even so, with the addition of the YouTube show, adjustments had to be made to accommodate the increased workload. After my application for more hours in the day was rejected, I determined that two things needed to happen: first, I needed to cut back on the number of shows I saw, and second, I needed to tighten things up. That became even more true once I acquired full-time employment. Easier said than done.

In 2024, I posted 147 blog entries, compared to 168 in 2025, though some of those were tied to episodes. The average word count per post in 2024 was 1,001 words, while 2025 saw a decrease to an average of 903, progress! Blog views grew from 72,200 in 2024 to 74,500 in 2025. Episodes of the YouTube show received 4,364 views in 2025, and the channel currently has 140 subscribers. The blog has 375 subscribers, up 160 from 2024.

Subscribers are wonderful, and we love them, but the vast majority of views come from social media. The site continues to grow steadily, which means more people are seeing the reviews, and hopefully more people are getting out to see live theater. Readers can help the site grow by following The Stages of MN on Facebook and Instagram. Like, share, and, why not subscribe? When you see a review you like, like it. When you see one you love, share it. Encourage friends to follow as well. The more visibility we have, the further the reach, and the more likely it is that someone who isn’t a regular theatergoer will stumble across a post and be inspired to check out a show.

Creating new audiences for live theater needs to be the objective of anyone in theater or anyone who loves theater. The second objective is to create or promote great theater, which hopefully leads to goal three: turning occasional theatergoers into regular theatergoers. I’m trying to do my part. I saw over 190 shows in 2025 and wrote reviews of 189 separate productions.

Now comes the moment where I share my Top Fives for 2025 in three categories: Touring Productions, Locally Produced Plays, and Locally Produced Musicals. These lists are not ranked; they are listed alphabetically.

The Stages of MN Top 5 Touring Productions:

& Juliet
Kimberly Akimbo
Life of Pi
Phantom of the Opera
The Wiz

The Stages of MN Top 5 Locally Produced Plays:

A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Guthrie)
Pride & Prejudice (Theatre in the Round)
Primary Trust (Guthrie)
Somewhere (Guthrie)
Three Sisters / No Sisters (Theatre Pro Rata)

The Stages of MN Top 5 Locally Produced Musicals:

Endometriosis: The Musical (Theatre in the Round)
Lizzie: The Rock Musical (Open Eye Theatre)
Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 (Elision Playhouse)
Once on This Island (Artistry)
Whoa, Nellie! The Outlaw King of the Wild Middle West (History Theatre)

Every year I add a few performers to my personal “Must-See” list, actors, dancers, and singers who stood out over the course of the year. Sometimes they’re artists I’ve never seen before; other times they’ve moved from “I really like what they’re doing” to “I need to see everything they do.” A few of the names that already adorn that list: Tyler Michaels King, Max Wojtanowicz, Joy Dolo, Shanan Custer, Daniel Petzold, Em Adam Rosenberg, Jeffrey Nolan, Allison Vincent, Brendan Nelson Finn, Grace Hillmyer, and Noah Hynick, to name just a few.

Here are the additions to The Stages of MN Must-See List for 2025:

Tara Borman (Endometriosis: The Musical at Theatre in the Round; Rollicking! A Winter Carnival Musical at History Theatre)
Dustin Bronson (A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Guthrie; Love and Baseball at Artistry; Misery at Yellow Tree Theatre)
Antonisia Collins (Robin Hood at Zephyr Theatre; Once on This Island at Artistry)
Anna Hashizume (Grease at Chanhassen Dinner Theatres; My Fair Lady at Theater Latté Da)
Stephanie Kahle (The Crucible at Night Fire Theatre; Breach at MN Fringe; Pride & Prejudice at Theatre in the Round)
Nubia Monks (Paradise Blue at Penumbra Theatre; The Nacirema Society at the Guthrie; Primary Trust at the Guthrie)
Hawken Paul (Legacy of Light at Theatre in the Round; Bart and Arnie from Melancholics Anonymous; Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 at Elision Playhouse; multiple MN Fringe shows)

It was another great year for theater, and I’m very much looking forward to 2026. I hope you are as well. I write about theater and love it, but I’m not an extrovert. That said, I genuinely enjoy meeting readers and artists, so if you see me at a show, please stop over and say hi. Ask for a picture, and I’ll put you in the “At a Show With…” montage in future YouTube episodes.

The Stages of MN is always open to partnering with theaters to participate in or help facilitate pre- and post-show discussions or events. If that’s of interest, reach out. We’re also always looking for sponsors for the YouTube show. If you’re interested in sponsoring an episode, email me at robdunkelberger@thestagesofmn.com. You don’t have to be theater related, if you’re a reader or viewer with a business to promote, reach out and we’ll figure something out.

This year I also launched The Stages of MN +1 Club. I usually get two tickets to shows, but when a plus-one cancels or everyone’s busy, I text the +1 Club. Want in? Send me your name and phone number. When I have an extra ticket, I’ll text the group, and the first person to reply directly gets to come see a show with me for free. No group-text chaos allowed.

Thank you, as always, for your continued support, faithful readers and viewers. And now, in the immortal words of Carol Jackson:

“Go see a show!”

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 weekly 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.

Somewhere is a Play For Us at the Guthrie Theater

The Cast of Somewhere Photo by Dan Norman

It was the best of times; it was an age of analog dreams, when imagination was golden. It was before the dawn of cable television and 200 channels, before smart screens and the instant gratification of DVD’s and DVR. It was long, long ago in a world that feels far, far removed from today, a world where there were movies you could only see when they aired on television. Some of them were so special that you could count on them airing once a year, and it was an event.

My love of musicals was born in those early years, with annual screenings of The Wizard of Oz, The Sound of Music, and West Side Story. By the early ’80s, I wouldn’t say we had cable television, but we certainly stole it. With that proliferation of channels, and the addition of the VCR more musicals found their way into my orbit. I’ve spoken before of knowing The Music Man by heart before the age of ten, and Man of La Mancha made such an impression that even today I cannot see the flaws in the film version, though others assure me they exist. As a kid who loved musicals, romance, and Batman in equal measure, West Side Story was the one I acted out most often. It had a rumble, for God’s sake. Somewhere is the story of an even earlier generation, a family as much in the thrall of musicals and popular entertainment as I was.

Somewhere takes its name from a song in West Side Story. It is a beautiful family drama about both the power and the burden of dreams. The Candelaria family moved to Manhattan from Puerto Rico so the absent father, Pepe, could pursue his dream of becoming a singer and dancer. While he travels with a band, the rest of the family struggles to survive and follow their own dreams. Inez, the mother, is the dream pusher, always encouraging her children to reach for the stars. Alejandro, the oldest child, has stepped into the role of responsible adult, making sure the bills are paid and dinner is on the table. Once a dancer with small roles on Broadway, he hasn’t danced in two years. As often happens, when everyone else lives for their dreams, one person steps up to manage reality for the rest. His younger sister Rebecca is also a dancer, and his brother Cisco dreams of being an actor. A chance reconnection with Alejandro’s best friend Jamie, who was essentially raised as a Candelaria, sparks new possibilities. Jamie works as an assistant to Jerome Robbins, the Broadway director behind West Side Story, which seems to always be in the ether of this play. The play explores the give and take between dreams and reality and the importance of living with both.

Somewhere is billed as a play with dance. There isn’t a lot of it, but what there is is terrific, and I don’t think anyone in the theater would have objected to more. Maija Garcia does an excellent job with the choreography, including an ingenious onstage costume change. It’s a moment where the very real drama of the characters takes a soaring grand jeté away from reality, if only for a moment. Director Joseph Haj has such a firm grip on the production that the moment lands perfectly, despite completely fracturing the play’s realism. It’s a bold choice, and it pays off beautifully.

Maggie Bofill, as Inez, is so buoyantly enthusiastic as the ever optimistic mother that when she softens into a remembrance monologue about how she first met Pepe, the shift in energy acts like a vacuum, pulling us fully into the moment. Preston Perez grounds the piece as the ever sacrificing Alejandro, trying to rein in everyone’s dreams just enough to protect them from heartbreak but without extinguishing those dreams altogether. He is also an impressive dancer, and along with local rising star Sam Stoll, who plays Jamie, they deliver some truly elegant footwork. It’s wonderful to see Stoll making his Guthrie debut; he’s terrific in the role.

Somewhere runs through February 1 at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis.
For more information and tickets, visit:
https://www.guthrietheater.org/shows-and-tickets/2025-2026-season/somewhere/

The Final Episode # 24 of The Stages of MN… Before The Holiday Hiatus. Five Reviews of Seasonal Shows

So I had my annual gathering of my friends from the North Pole this week, we had a great time, but they can be a bit much. Getting them all to sit still long enough to get the photo above was A Christmas Miracle! They wanted to know what I thought of all the holiday themed shows still playing around town. So I gave them the quick run down on five of them and thought I should share them with you faithful readers and viewers. So that is what this weeks episode is, 5 quick reviews! Enjoy and I’ll see you on the other side of New Years, when we’ll return with all new episodes of The Stages of MN. You can watch the episode here bit.ly/TSOMNEpisode24YouTube or listen to it here https://bit.ly/TSOMNEpisode24Podcast

Rollicking! A Winter Carnival Musical at History Theatre thru 12/21 https://www.historytheatre.com/2025-2026/rollicking-winter-carnival-musical A Christmas in ochopee from New Native Theatre runs from 12/3 thru 12/21 https://www.newnativetheatre.org/a-ch… A Christmas Carol…More or Less runs from 11/28 thru 12/28 at Yellow Tree Theatre https://yellowtreetheatre.com/christm… A Nice Family Christmas at Lyric Arts Through 12/21 https://www.lyricarts.org/nice-family-christmas A Double Feature of Free Pirate Musicals celebrating Fortune’s Fool Theatre at the Hive Collaborative through 12/21 https://fortunesfooltheatre.org/what-were-doing

Also we have one Final “At a Show With….” Segment before we close out the year. We’ll be back in early 2026 with more Stages of MN.

A Christmas in Ochopee From New Native Theatre When You are Ready for Something Completely Different

A Christmas in Ochopee, the remount from New Native Theatre first produced two years ago, is like nothing else I’ve seen this holiday season. It has none of the things we normally associate with Christmas shows, no snow, no carols, no turkey dinner. Instead, we get the Everglades, basketball games, and an alligator. But while the trappings may be different, the chaotic family dynamics are universal. I was rather taken with its shaggy Christmas charms, and it was refreshing to mix things up a bit.

The play follows Christmas Day with the Weetley family on a reservation in the Florida Everglades. Bo Weetley, the father, has already bet the money from a landscaping job he hasn’t even been awarded yet on a basketball game, the same money he planned to use to take the family to Disney World for Christmas. Meanwhile, Donnie Boy, the youngest son, is unexpectedly released from prison when the arresting officer forgets to show up in court, resulting in the case being thrown out. His brother Joseph is bringing his fiancée home for Christmas but forgot to tell his family they’re engaged… or that they’re vegans. And fiancée Audrey hasn’t gotten around to telling him that she’s pregnant. Add in a Barney Fife-esque cop and an antagonistic uncle, and you have the makings of a Christmas spiraling entirely out of control, with very little assistance required.

Montana Cypress’s script somehow keeps everything clearly delineated even as the story turns increasingly chaotic, which, as I began summarizing the plot, I realized is kind of amazing. The script is tight, though the direction occasionally feels a bit loose, perhaps due to a few less experienced cast members. The ensemble is uneven, but several performers shine. Benjamin Wilson as the father is especially strong. He seems born to play the role and doesn’t hit a false note the entire show. Mato Wayuhi as Donnie Boy delivers a manic goofball energy and dim-witted charm that perfectly explains his place in the family. In a smaller role as Joseph’s childhood best friend Summer, Shinaana Secody displays that enviable skill of simply knowing how to be on stage. We would have loved to see more of her.

I’m sure there are cultural nuances I missed, jokes specific to reservation life in the Everglades or references that went over my head. But I never felt like an outsider. I enjoyed the show because I recognized the characters as people I’ve known, and the situations are universal even when the details are not. The production has a chaotic charm, gets surprisingly physical at times, and offers quieter moments when its larger-than-life characters become grounded and deeply relatable.

A Christmas in Ochopee runs through December 21 at 825 Arts in Saint Paul.
Visit New Native Theatre’s website for more information and to purchase tickets:
https://www.newnativetheatre.org/tickets.

New Native Theatre is the largest Native-led nonprofit theater company in the country, now in its 16th year. Let’s make sure it has another 16. Please go see the show, and if you can’t make it, consider making a donation. It’s important that these voices are heard and these stories are told, and the best way to ensure that is by supporting New Native Theatre.

A Christmas Carol…More or Less, is Definitely More at Yellow Tree Theatre

A Christmas Carol… More or Less at Yellow Tree Theatre in Osseo turns out to be decidedly on the “more” side. When a small theater company’s entire cast and crew get snowed in after a ski outing, the theater’s owners, estranged husband and wife Charlie and Sarah, decide to perform the show themselves rather than refund the audience. Much like Dante Hicks, Charlie “isn’t even supposed to be there today.” The same closed mountain pass that traps the cast and crew is also preventing him from catching his flight to L.A., where he’s planning to move to write for Wheel of Fortune. After some arm-twisting, he agrees to Sarah’s plea to uphold the sacred tradition that “the show must go on.”

This isn’t my first two-person Christmas Carol—there’s another fantastic one called A Very Good Christmas Carol, written and performed by up-and-coming Twin Cities performers Jeffrey Nolan and Hawken Paul, which leans fully into the manic chaos of two people desperately trying to stage the entire story themselves. If you can’t get into this Yellow Tree production, absolutely check that one out: https://linktr.ee/AVeryGoodChristmas. It’s a laugh riot.

This version at Yellow Tree is certainly funny, but it also leans into the warmth and genuine emotion that a really strong Christmas Carol can evoke. The script gently chips away at the jadedness of two performers who’ve done the show countless times, revealing something unexpectedly heartfelt beneath the comedy.

Paul LaNave and Kate Beahen are wonderfully paired. Beahen is delightful as the determined theater-maker who simply refuses to quit. She’s game for anything, and while LaNave starts by only playing Scrooge (and a few other characters as he warms up), Beahen takes on nearly everyone else, unafraid to throw out a wild accent, a ridiculous walk, or a silly song. She’s disarmingly charming, broad when it needs to be, and surprisingly nuanced, layering disappointed wife, practical producer, and joyful performer into one compelling presence.

LaNave is equally strong, beautifully portraying a man worn down by the life of a starving artist, someone who has let the lure of financial security pull him away from what truly matters. As the performance unfolds, you can see the spark returning to his eyes; the show becomes, in a way, his own tale of redemption.

Will the night end with disappointing realism or a happy ending? You’ll have to come to Yellow Tree Theatre in Osseo to find out. If you can, that is, at the time of this writing, the show is 96% sold out. Wait too long and you may find there are no tickets left… a nice problem for the theater, if not for audiences.

A Christmas Carol… More or Less runs through December 28 at Yellow Tree Theatre in Osseo.
For more information and tickets, visit https://yellowtreetheatre.com/christmascarol.

The Phantom of the Opera Returns to the Orpheum Theater in Best Production in Decades

Isaiah Bailey and Jordan Lee Gilbert Photo by Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman

The Phantom of the Opera returns to the Twin Cities for what must be the seventh or eighth time. This tour is billed as a revitalized production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s legendary musical—based on Harold Prince’s original direction, with staging and choreography by Gillian Lynne, recreated by Chrissie Cartwright. The last time the show toured through Minneapolis, the staging was noticeably different from the version I remembered. While I enjoyed that iteration, I’m thrilled this production brings back the staging I first fell in love with.

For the uninitiated, The Phantom of the Opera tells the story of a mysterious, disfigured musical genius who lives beneath the Paris Opera House and becomes obsessed with a young soprano named Christine Daaé. As he manipulates the opera company to make her a star, Christine is torn between fear, fascination, and her love for childhood friend Raoul. The Phantom’s desperate obsession spirals into jealousy and violence, culminating in a confrontation where compassion becomes his final reckoning.

This is one of those musicals people tend to either love or loathe. I know plenty of musically sophisticated people who dismiss it entirely, but I’m not one of them. My love for this show goes back to my first encounter with it: a high school show choir trip to Los Angeles in 1990, where I saw Michael Crawford in the role he originated in the West End and on Broadway. That performance seared itself into my memory. It was probably the first massive Broadway caliber show I ever saw, and it left its mark. I played the cast recording endlessly, so much so that “All I Ask of You” ended up in my first wedding, which feels incredibly cliché now.

Like every version I’ve seen since, this production doesn’t quite reach the perfection of that first experience, but only just. If you’re a Phantom fan, this may be the strongest tour in a couple of decades.

The cast is solid overall, with a few minor quibbles. Daniel Lopez (Raoul) sings beautifully, though at times his constant smiling felt more like musical theatre autopilot than character driven choice. Jordan Lee Gilbert is a stunning Christine, her voice and emotional performance are exceptional. Isaiah Bailey (the Phantom) felt slightly tentative in Act I, but something clicked for him in Act II, and his performance deepened significantly. Of course, every Phantom I see ends up compared, perhaps unfairly, to Michael Crawford’s definitive interpretation. I also enjoyed William Thomas Evans and Carrington Vilmont as the new opera managers; they brought nuance and personality to roles that can easily become one-note.

As always, two things define Phantom: the music and the design. The score, depending on who you ask, is either lush romantic genius or overly popularist fluff. I fall firmly in the first camp. I find it sweeping, emotional, and unforgettable. Some of the most memorable melodies in musical theatre live here.

The production design is equally superb, truly lush in every sense. From the jaw-dropping moment when the chandelier transforms from dusty relic to blazing spectacle in under two seconds, to quieter scenes like the managers’ office framed by rich curtains, the visual world is breathtaking, theatrical, and immersive.

If you’re already a Phantom devotee, consider this a strong recommendation. If you’ve never seen it, now’s the time, if only so you can finally decide whether you’re a Phantom lover or Phantom leaver.

The Phantom of the Opera runs through December 7 at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis.
For more information and tickets, visit: https://hennepinarts.org/events/the-phantom-of-the-opera

My Fair Lady at Theater Latté Da Feels Fresh and New, While Still Retaining its Classic Charms

Tod Petersen, Jon-Michael Reese, and Anna Hashizume Photo by Dan Norman

Usually, when it comes to a long runtime, I secretly wish they’d cut the overture. My thinking is, the show is already long enough, I don’t need a preview of every song I’m about to hear over the next three hours. But here, director Justin Lucero turns the overture into an unexpectedly delightful launchpad.

The entire score is played on two pianos, one musician dressed as an upper-class pianist (Joshua Burniece), the other as a working-class player (Wesley Frye). This establish one of the show’s key themes, class divide right at the top of the show. The playful interaction and energy between them makes the overture feel like a friendly dueling piano act. This was one overture I really enjoyed.

And that’s just the first of many smart choices Lucero makes to pull My Fair Lady into the 21st century. His direction doesn’t ignore the source material’s outdated gender dynamics but he doesn’t let them pass without commenting on them either. In subtle ways he works to undermine them and in doing so makes the show relevant to a modern audience. Perhaps if the producers of Purple Rain had enlisted the services of Lucero, they’d have cracked the code and their Broadway chances would seem more hopeful. The parallels between the two shows, especially in how we now view power, agency, and gender, are striking.

Without question, the heart, soul, and blazing force of this production is Anna Hashizume as Eliza Doolittle. She brings fire, dignity, and grounding to a character who has too often been framed as a fantasy version of compliant womanhood. Hashizume wants no part of that narrative. Her Eliza is sharp, funny, evolving and increasingly unwilling to accept the terms of her transformation.

She’s wonderfully comedic at Ascot, quietly heartbreaking when ignored after her triumph, and electrifying in the final scenes as she claims her autonomy. And, as always, her vocal work is stunning. This role showcases both her classical training and her musical theater skills.

Jon-Michael Reese’s Henry Higgins feels like The Kid from Purple Rain, but this time, the actor has the charisma and nuance to make the character compelling even when he’s insufferable. Reese finds humor and rhythm in Higgins’ arrogance, giving the score a fresh tone without softening who the character fundamentally is. His dynamic with Hashizume feels carefully calibrated, and the result is a very well matched pairing.

Stages of MN favorite, Tod Petersen, brings his inherent goodness, warmth, and perfect comedic timing to Colonel Pickering. His scenes with Norah Long (as Higgins’ mother) are a particular delight. Felix Aguilar Tomlinson rich voice delivers one of the night’s vocal highlights with a powerful performance of “On the Street Where You Live.”

Eli Sherlock’s set is wonderfully ingenious. It consists of two parts, a center column on which the dual pianos are situated with an outer ring that rotates around that stationary center. One side is Henry Higgins’ home with the other side standing in as various locations. Amber Brown’s costumes are exquisite, and when Hashizume appears at the top of the staircase ready to head to the embassy ball her costume takes the entire theater’s breathe away.

Also deserving of praise is the Choreography of Abby Magalee, her work on the song “Wouldn’t it be Loverly” being the standout. Which brings up one baffling thing, I wasn’t sure if I was just hearing it wrong or did they change it from Loverly to lovely? or were they just downplaying that “R”?

My Fair Lady runs through December 28, 2025 at Theater Latté Da in Northeast Minneapolis.
Tickets and info: https://www.latteda.org/my-fair-lady