Patience From The Gilbert & Sullivan Very Light Opera Company at The Howard Conn Theater

Sam Vinitsky as Reginald Bunthorne, Mallory Rabehl as Patience, and Joe Allen as Archibald Grosvenor

Patience is I believe my fifth Production of The Gilbert & Sullivan Very Light Opera Company (GSVLOC) and while it turns out to be my least favorite so far, it was still a very enjoyable evening. Perhaps it’s that it seems like they took a little less creative license with this one or maybe it’s because it’s one I was completely unfamiliar with. There is no “I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General” or resetting of the action to the Scottish highlands. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t a thoroughly enjoyable production, because it is. Two things remain constant across all of the GSVLOC productions, the exquisiteness of the music from the orchestra under Musical Director Randal A. Buikema and the vocal quality of the actors. In fact this show may have contained my favorite vocal performance so far in that of Mallory Rabehl in the title role of Patience. Director Gary Briggle has done an excellent job of staging the opera and again as is always the case with GSVLOC productions, everything from the sets by Wendy Waszut-Barrett, costumes by Barb Portinga, lighting design by Carl Schoenborn and Choreography by Tinia Moulder, is top notch.

The plot of Patience involves 20 lovesick maidens who are all in love with the local aesthetic poet Reginald Bunthorne. Reginald however loves none of them but rather Patience, a dairy maid. Reginald does however love the attention the 20 lovesick maidens bestow upon him daily. When the Dragoon Guard return to discover that their former sweethearts are all now infatuated with Reginald they are at a loss. Enter Archibald Grovsvenor, whom loved and was loved by Patience when they were just five years old. Unfortunately, Archibald in the intervening 15 years, has become by his own modest estimation the most beautiful man in the world. Realizing that love needs to be unselfish they conclude that there is nothing unselfish about loving a perfect being and therefore, cannot marry. As you might have guessed the 20 lovesick maids on seeing Archibald, transfer their affection to him, all except Lady Jane, the oldest of the maids, who retains her devotion to Reginald. I don’t want to say any more about the plot but if you guessed that Jack and Larry have to pretend to be aesthetic poets to convince Mr. Furley that the women he saw them with down at the Regal Beagle, were just inspirations for their poems, then you get where it’s going.

The major theme of Patience is the satorizing of the late 1800’s aesthetic movement, and it is where much of the humor comes from. The portrayals of both Reginald and Archibald rely heavily on playing up the affectations of the aesthetic poet. Sam Vinitsky as Reginald is very funny playing up the role, not only as an actor but as the character who confides at one point that he hates aesthetic poetry as well. Joe Allen as Archibald, plays it with such elevated narcissism yet with just the perfect dash of charm that you don’t hate the character but affectionately roll your eyes at him. Allen does a complete about face towards the end and the change is striking and very fun. Another favorite in the cast was Lara Trujillo as Lady Jane, something about the way she played the character so devoted and so crushed when spurned was very amusing. As mentioned earlier Mallory Rabehl is extraordinary as Patience, her beautiful voice matches her characters purity and as my wife pointed out she’s cute as a button and uses it to instantly endear the audience to her character.

Patience runs through April 6th at The Howard Conn Theater. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://gsvloc.org/on-stage/

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

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

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

Legacy of Light at Theatre in the Round

Anna Olson, Rachel Postle, and Emma Tonn Photo by Tom Taintor

Legacy of Light is the second ply by Karen Zacarias that I’ve seen at Theatre in the round. The first was The Book Club Play which has a run coming up at Lakeshore Players this March. Of the two plays The Book Club Play is the more entertaining of the two, but Legacy of Light is definitely the more ambitious work. The scenes alternate between France in the 1700’s and New Jersey present day. They have common themes connecting the two timelines, astronomy, love, pregnancy, ensuring family is cared for, nontraditional procreation relationships, and family histories. The connection happen thematically and by the end the two threads don’t just compliment each other but actually intersect in several surprising ways. It’s generally well acted, though it wasn’t until the second act that the characters gelled into what they are intended to be.

In the past we follow Emilie du Chatelet, who is the wife of the Marquis du Chatelet, the mother of
Pauline, the lover of both the young poet Saint-Lambert, and the older Voltaire whom she collaborated with on philosophical and scientific works. She becomes pregnant at 42 and fears due to her age and the fact that she almost died from a previous pregnancy that she will not survive the childbirth. In the present day we follow Olivia, an astronomer who may have discovered an embryonic planet, she’s a cancer survivor who can no longer bear children. She and her husband Peter contract a young woman named Millie to be a surrogate for their child. Millie is doing it for the money so that she and her brother Lewis can pay off their debts which have mounted since the death of their mother the previous year.

David Denninger as Voltaire and Hawken Paul as Saint-Lambert and Lewis, are the two Actors who seem to have taken their characters, at least initially in directions that don’t mesh with their characters at the end. But perhaps this is the script or Kari Steinbach’s direction. Voltaire at first seems to be a character we are to see as ridiculous, but that idea is completely wiped from our idea of the character by the end. Saint-Lambert seems the young romantic before becoming ridiculous. Their fight at the outset while humorous seems to come at the cost of a unified character. Paul’s second character Lewis remains constant throughout, which is that of a completely idiotic tunnel visioned and illogical manchild. Paul plays the role well, but it is a character that is hard to feel anything but frustration and dislike for. Rachel Postle as Emilie du Chatelet, Anna Olson as Olivia are very strong as is Emma Tonn as Millie and Pauline, though there is more for her to do as Millie she does get a few good scenes as Pauline as well. Finally Mark Sweeney gets to show a little versatility as a rather direct and centered man in the past and a more easy going, and low key husband in the present day storyline.

The set design by Sadie Ward works well with some creative lighting cues from Lighting Designer Bill Larsen. The apple tree being a nice touch and the math equations and celestial markings painted on the floors and walls combined with light projections of astronomical shapes are nice touches. The period costumes are especially well realized by Costume Designer Colleen O’Dell. Legacy of Light runs through March 16th at Theatre in the Round. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.theatreintheround.org/legacy-of-light/

The Fight Has Begun. Support Yellow Tree Theatre

“But when you act, you take us away from the squalor of the real world” – From Evita Lyric by Tim Rice

Last Night I did something I rarely get to do, I went to a show for the second time, just to experience and share the joy of it. That show was A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Guthrie Theater, but it could as easily have been a show at Yellow Tree or any of the dozens of actively producing theatre companies in the Twin Cities area. On the ride home after we had dropped off my son and his fiancée and had finished discussing the play, my wife and I got talking about current events. The thought kept coming into my head, this is why we go to the theater, to raise our spirits and take us away from real world for just a few hours. That is one of the many reasons that the theater is so important. Not only does it help us escape, but it has the advantage over streaming at home in that it gets us out of our houses, out into the community, sharing an experience with more than just those on the couch next to us. We are so fortunate here in the Twin Cities to have such a vast and diverse theater community, but it is under attack. If we want to protect that community we have to step up now.

This morning I received an email from Yellow Tree Theatre in Osseo, who has produced some wonderful theater out in the suburbs. Below are some quotes from the email:

Yellow Tree Theatre relies heavily on national and statewide grants to support our mission. Recently, we have been informed that statewide and federal arts funding have dramatically decreased or have been canceled making grant funding even more competitive and affecting our immediate cash flow. This is a drastic decrease like we have never experienced before.

These challenges threaten not only our ability to keep our doors open but also our ongoing core mission:

Providing access to the arts for everyone, including underserved communities in North Minneapolis and the surrounding suburbs.

Championing diverse voices—stories by and for artists of color, women, LGBTQ+ communities, and others historically marginalized in theater.

We believe that theater should reflect the richness of the world around us. That’s why we remain committed to producing bold and inclusive work.

But We Can’t Do It Without You.

If you believe in the power to build bridges, spark conversations, and create change, we ask you to stand with us today. Every dollar makes a difference. Every gift fuels our ability to continue. Donate today to help us sustain our mission, keep our doors open, and continue making Yellow Tree Theatre a home for all.

We are going to see this more and more often going forward. Theaters will close, but let’s not let it happen today, let’s not let it be Yellow Tree. I’ve written before about my belief that these theaters like Yellow Tree and Lyric Arts in Anoka create a valuable link in reaching the goal of creating new theater audiences. That goal is more important now than ever before. We can make the theater community stronger by building that audience. I’m going to ask you to click on the button below and make a donation to Yellow Tree Theatre if you can. I’m also going to ask all of you, faithful readers, to take someone new to a show in the next few weeks. Let’s build that audience up!

https://ci.ovationtix.com/35626/store/donations/39012

Need ideas of what to see?

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

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

School Pictures Schools the Audience at Theater Latté Da in Northeast Minneapolis

Writer-performer Milo Cramer in School Pictures at Theater Latté Da. Photo credit: Dan Norman.

Milo Cramer’s solo show School Pictures Which just won a 2025 Obie Award makes its local premiere at Theater Latté Da. A low tech, low key, delightfully quirky and quick 75 minute show that makes you laugh and think. Cramer wrote the show about a five year period in his life when he tutored students in New York City. Cramer sings with a voice that won’t win him any singing contests. And yet, it’s his slightly high pitched kinda in and out of key quality that gets the audience on his side right from the start. It’s charming and relatable, as are his instrumentations which are simplistic. He’s telling us up front that he’s not a musical theater major who composes songs for full orchestras, he’s just like us, with an ability to carry a tune and learn a few cords on a ukulele. He’s just here to sing us a few silly little comedic songs about some teenage kids he tutored and their sometimes eye rolling attitudes and problems. He lulls you into a sense of comfort and humor and then, there is the big reveal!

As you can see in the photo accompanying this review there are sheets of colored paper with names on them on a bulletin board. Cramer goes through them sequentially, each is a seperate song/story about a student he taught. They are each unique and humorous as little episodes, but the cumulative effect is building to that big reveal. Which is where Cramer takes the audience to school asking us to do a few math problems and giving us facts about the inequity of the New York City school system. The conclusions are eye opening to the uninformed and audiences may find themselves grateful they don’t have kids in that school system. Well, ask an educator at an North Minneapolis Middle School I know of and you will hear stories that will make you furious at the Minneapolis School Board. After the stories I’ve heard from several educators I’m left with the conclusion that like the President they want the public education system to fail. When the students first went back after Covid, the school would repeatedly falsely report there were no covid cases when there were dozens of cases per grade. Guns in the school not being reported by the administration, teachers being told to lie about. Teachers being blamed for getting assaulted. Teachers without text books for students. I have a niece and nephew in South Minneapolis schools which are much better, and have more resources, but that could all easily go away very soon.

The education system in this country has been at a crisis point for a long time now. We need more resources directed at schools, so that we don’t lose dedicated teachers who go unsupported with no resources and no support. But the worst thing is that there is a large segment of a generation of kids that are not being given the opportunity to succeed. Why would anyone want that? Well, you might want that if you wanted a generation of people who didn’t have skills or knowledge to question things. People who haven’t been taught problem solving skills. People like that would be easy to control through fear and misinformation. And if you eliminate independent sources of information, you can control the message and the people. You can continue to keep the wealthy educated and rich, and you can keep the nonwhite and/or poor, in survival mode. These are the thoughts that Cramer’s show stirred up in my mind as I drove home from the show. So cute and funny? Yes, but also with a message of real value and substance.

School Pictures runs through March 2nd at Theater Latté Da. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.latteda.org/school-pictures

The Ostentatious Outlaws of Neehai Valley or Why I Love Theater so Damn Much

Tonight, or I suppose technically it was last night, I attended a workshop and stage reading of a new musical in the works from Keith Hovis commissioned by Trademark Theater. I haven’t attended a lot of staged readings, my schedule is usually so full with shows to allow for it. I am so grateful I attended this one. I’m not going to review the show here, this is a work in progress, though to my mind it’s ready now to be fully mounted. But I do have to write something because it’s after midnight and I’m so excited by what I just saw that I’m not going to be able to sleep until I get something out of me. Hovis, who wrote the book, music, and lyrics has created something very special here. It’s the sort of show that’s hard to categorize because it’s more than one thing. First and foremost, it’s hysterically funny. Secondly, it’s a musical without a single dud or time filling song, every single one is memorable. But it’s also social commentary, representation, raunchy as hell, and moving. In short, it’s genius. But more important than what it is, is how it made me feel. I can only describe the feeling of being in the room when this display of creativity, humor , and humanity was happening as feeling fully alive. This is the feeling a theater junkie like me is always chasing. We feel lucky if we feel a quarter of this feeling, it’s so rare to have this strong of a reaction, and this was just a reading. Wow.

The Cast in Rehearsal: Photo courtesy of Trademark Theater
(L-R) Kiko Laureano, Armando Ronconi, Neal Beckman, Hope Nordquist, Em Adam Rosenberg

There are two downsides to an evening like this, I can rave all I want about it, but if you weren’t there, you missed it. I do this because I want to share experiences like this with you, faithful readers, and until they stage it I can’t. The second problem, and there are honestly only a handful of times this ever happens, this cast is so good, that any cast other than this will never be able to measure up. I can only think of two examples of other shows that have had that effect on me. The first was one of the shows that led to The Stages of MN’s creation, and that was Hedwig and the Angry Inch featuring Trademark Theater’s Founder and Artistic Director Tyler Michaels King as Hedwig and Jay Owen Eisenberg as Yitzhak. The other was a a musical called Interstate that opened at Mixed Blood in March 2020, only to be closed early due to the Covid pandemic. I saw both of those three times each, and wished I could have seen them more. I went back, bringing new people each time because I know that live theater exists as it’s happening. Once a shows run ends, it’s over. The next production will be something different. I’m so excited by what I just saw and I’m so sad that I cannot bring you with me to see it again tomorrow night or next weekend. I have no doubt that Trademark will mount this and I’d be very surprised if we didn’t see it in their 2025-2026 season. When it comes, I’ll remind you that this is a moment that you don’t want to let slip away. My greatest hope is that this cast returns as I’m going to have a very difficult time picturing anyone else in these roles. Everyone of them is perfectly cast, they brilliantly mine every line for maximum effect, it’s rare to hear an audience laugh out loud so much. It is almost non stop laughter, but there was one particularly moving moment. Towards the end, Em Adam Rosenberg sings a song that is so eloquent so moving and so beautifully sung, that they had not only me in tears, but also some of their fellow cast members. It’s a moment I wish I could have shared with my son George, it would have connected for him. I hope I get a chance to share that moment with him in the future.

Sanctuary City a Complex and Thought Provoking Drama From Frank Theatre at Open Eye Theatre

Stephanie Anne Bertumen, Clay Man Soo, Keivin Vang Photo by Tony Nelson

Last year Ironbound produced by Frank Theatre and written by Martyna Majok wowed me and my fellow Twin Cities Theater Bloggers receiving five Twin City Theater Blogger Award nominations and winning one. Sanctuary City is this years first offering from the socially minded theater company and is also written by the Pulitzer Prize winning Majok. It’s another thought provoking and challenging play that explores the timely topic of immigration. Uniquely structured, the first act contains dozens of brief moments, memories over a course of a couple of years that establish the close friendship between two teenagers G and B, who live in the US illegally. During these scenes which last anywhere from 10 seconds to a couple of minutes each, we learn that one becomes a citizen and they hatch a plan to marry each other so that the other can legally stay in the country as well. Act two is one scene which explores what happens to that plan when a third person, Henry, enters the pictures as a romantic partner. Every reveal in the second act clarifies the situation while complicating the issue itself. As I sat in the audience I found myself constantly reconsidering what I thought moments earlier.

Majok’s script is brilliantly directed by Wendy Knox who always manages to obscure what should be from the audience while making what we should understand clear. When you see the play you will understand what a complex task that is. Joe Stanley’s set design helps to illustrate the differences between the two Acts of the show and make tangible the idea of the first Act as a series of memories. Act one is performed on a bare stage with a few simple boxes that take the place of a bed or a bench. Act Two is revealed as B’s apartment fully realized indicating that this is happening in real time. Majok’s script further distinguishes this fact by the simplistic, almost black and white aspect of the dialogue and emotions in Act one compared to the intricate and often amorphous reality of the present. Tony Stoeri’s lighting is also intricate to the telling of this story particularly in Act one in which the lights fade down and back up to indicate the jump to a new memory.

Stephanie Anne Bertumen who plays G is stunningly good conveying unspoken backstory and emotion through her performance. We not only get a sense of unexpressed emotions and life details but have a sense of what they are without the script actually dictating any of it. Clay Man Soo who plays B, takes as a cue to his character one of the lines his character says at the beginning of the show, “I don’t know what to do.” I’m not saying Soo doesn’t know what to do, I mean that is the key to portraying this character and Soo picks up on it and uses it. B spends his life in Limbo; as an illegal, his live options if he wants to stay in the US are limited, he can’t get aid for school and he needs to work jobs that don’t enforce certain regulations. Because of the introduction of Henry to the plot, he doesn’t know if he’s still going to be able to escape Limbo with G. If he can’t, should he continue to live this life or return to his birth country? Soo perfectly captures a sense of being lost, unsure what he should do, always looking to others for guidance. Henry is played by Keivin Vang and it’s a difficult, at least initially, unlikeable role. Vang does a good job of conveying the characters conceitedness. He enters the play at a point where a third is unwanted by the audience and first impressions are that he is just going to make everything fall apart. But he softens and as more is revealed, we find something to appreciate in the character for a time. It’s here that Majok’s script kicks into overdrive requiring the performers to manipulate the audience’s allegiances from moment to moment.

Sanctuary City runs around an hour and forty five minutes with no intermission. It is a drama, but also contains humor and while it will leave you with a lot to think about and does not end with a super sunny resolution, it’s creativity and performances will leave you feeling excited and engaged rather than depressed. Sanctuary City runs through February 23rd at Open Eye Theatre in Minneapolis. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://franktheatre.org/events/sanctuary-city/

Improv at the Jungle: Off Book is Improv Gold!

In the wake of the tragedy that was the closure of the newly relocated HUGE Improv Theater, the Jungle Theater has stepped up and provided a new home for some of HUGE’s resident shows. One such show is Off Book which I experienced last night for the first time, the next performance will be March 3rd. Off Book is unlike the other Improv I’ve reviewed, though to be honest most of the improv I have reviewed has its own unique angle like this does. Off Book divides its performers into two group. Group one is “Off book” which in theater terms means an Actor has learned his lines, so these artists have memorized a scene from a play. Group two is so far off book that they have never even seen the book. Not only do they have no lines memorized, but they don’t even know what play their fellow actors have memorized. The players take the stage together, one scripted, one unscripted and try to perform a scene from a play. Hilarity does indeed ensue. I think this may be the best Improv I’ve ever seen. Actually, Off Book hands down this is the best Improv show I’ve ever seen.

I’m going to list the lineup from the program and those who know some of the local Actors and Improv Performers will see why this was so fantastic.

ACT I
The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov
Actor: Christina Baldwin
Improviser: Alsa Bruno

The Great Nebula in Orion by Lanford Wilson
Actor: Emily Grodzik
Improviser: Molly Ritchie

Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons by Sam Steiner
Actor: Cheryl Willis
Improviser: Tom Reed

ACT II
The Motherfucker with the Hat by Stephen Adly Guirgis
Actor: James Rodriguez
Improviser: Chris Rodriguez

The Flick by Annie Baker
Actor: Destiny Davison
Improviser: Taj Ruler

Stage Kiss by Sarah Ruhl
Actor: Michael Rogers
Improviser: Jill Bernard

Each scene had the audience howling with laughter and it’s hard to single any out, but if I had to choose a scene that was most likely to make you wet your pants it would be the pairing of Destiny Davidson, who somehow mostly kept it together and didn’t start outright laughing, and the hurricane of hilarity that is Taj Ruler. There’s no point in going into details of what we saw beyond the format because the glorious thing about improv is also the terrible thing about improv, it’s a one time thing! Which is why I’ve decided, now that I’ve found this show, I’m never missing another one. Thank you to The Jungle Theater for giving this show a new home, hopefully a long term home!

Destiny Davison and Taj Ruler Photo by Evelyn Vocu

For more information about Off Book and other Improv at the Jungle shows and to purchase tickets for the March 3rd show and other Jungle events go to https://www.jungletheater.org/improv-at-the-jungle

But that’s not all! Think I may have steered you wrong on a show? Well, I am also a member of the Twin Cities Theater Bloggers (TCTB), where you can read roundups of shows by m’colleagues and I when you follow us on facebook @TwinCitiesTheaterBloggers.