Elise Langer

Briskly written and dynamically staged, this world premiere tells a complicated, true, little known story with wit and economy. From the early days of commercial airlines, stewardesses were hired based on looks, required to pass weekly weight checks, forbidden to wear glasses or marry, and fired automatically when they reached age 32. They were also not allowed to apply for the higher paying bursar jobs. Though it took decades, literally, a stewardess named Mary Pat Laffey got all that to change, persisting with a lawsuit under Equal Employment statutes that derive directly from the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Ten Thousand Things is a treasure: a company dedicated to bringing live theater to marginalized and underserved audiences for free. Founding Director Michelle Hensley retired in June of 2018. So this production is the first in new Artistic Director Marcela Lorca's inaugural season, and is directed by Randy Reyes, who is Artistic Director of Theater Mu locally. The mission of TTT is clearly in safe hands, especially given the extant structure of the Artist Core, a group of veteran performers who provide guidance and active advice to the organization.

The McKnight Theater Artist Fellowships at the Playwrights' Center recognize Minnesota theater artists other than playwrights whose work demonstrates exceptional artistic merit. The fellowship provides a $25,000 award as well as access to $7,000 in development funds. Selection is based on a commitment to theater arts, evidence of professional achievement and a sustained level of excellence in the applicant's work.

Michelle Hensley, retiring Artistic Director and Founder of Ten Thousand Things, is a gift. A gift to theater, a gift to Minnesota, a gift to the world. She taught us a new way to do theater, a new way to experience theater, one that considers who the audience can and should be, which is everyone. Read her book ALL THE LIGHTS ON if you want to know more about it, or go see her beautiful swan song THE GOOD PERSON OF SZECHWAN, which is also the first play that TTT ever did nearly 30 years ago when Michelle started it in California. We've been lucky enough to have TTT as a vital part of the #TCTheater community for 25 years, a tradition that will continue after Michelle's retirement under the leadership of new Artistic Director Marcela Lorca. One can only hope that all of the artists and audience members she's worked with and influenced in those years will continue on this tradition of inclusive, accessible, imaginative theater that is unlike anything else.

We're halfway through the 11-day, 15-venue, 167-show Minnesota Fringe Festival. I've seen 25 shows, with another 20-some on the schedule for the next five days. Here are a few of my favorites so far. I haven't seen everything on my must-see list yet, so be sure to check that out for more recommendations and tips for Fringe newbies. And you can read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here. There are five days left of Fringe - so get out there and see some shows! Full schedule, venue, and ticketing information can be found on the Fringe's handy dandy website.

It never fails. Whenever I go to see a Ten Thousand Things show, the storytelling is so clear it's as if I'm truly seeing it for the first time, even if it's a piece I've seen one or many times before. In their signature bare bones theater style, they've cut out all the fluff from the beloved musical FIDDLER ON THE ROOF to get right to the heart of the story. Even though I've seen the show twice in recent years, I've never been so caught up in and felt so deeply the story of one man's struggle with holding to his traditions, while still loving his family as they begin to change and grow out of those traditions. The brilliant Steve Epp makes Tevye so real and human, and along with the other eight members of this terrific ensemble playing multiple characters, makes the world of Anatevka palpably real and somehow modern, despite still being anchored in time and space. Because 50 years after it was written, this story about a family of refugees fleeing persecution and violence in their beloved homeland to find safety in America is as timely as ever.

Children's Theatre Company (CTC) is thrilled to kick off the new season with the acclaimed return of Pinocchio, the clever adaptation of Carlo Collodi's classic Italian folk tale that dazzled CTC audiences when it premiered in 2013. The production is created by Greg Banks who has created many highly-acclaimed adaptations, including The Jungle Book, Robin Hood, Huck Finn, and Romeo and Juliet. This production, like Collodi's story, explores the magical moments when make-believe becomes real.

When the ingenious gentlemen of Four Humors apply their unique, clever, and hilarious storytelling style to a classic such as THE INGENIOUS GENTLEMAN DON QUIXOTE OF LA MANCHA, it's a thing not to be missed. And even though I've experienced many such unique adaptations by Four Humors, as well as original work, last night's world premiere opening night still gave me something unexpected. As the play points out, everyone knows Don Quixote, even if you're never read the book or heard the name Miguel de Cervantes. Four Humors tells the classic story about honor, chivalry, and madness in a unique way using puppetry projection and by making Cervantes a character in the play, allowing the characters to step outside the story and comment on it. I believe this is Four Humors' debut at the Guthrie, which will no doubt expose a new audience to their often accomplished mission 'to create art that celebrates the humor, stupidity, and beauty of our world by letting the artist connect with the audience in a vulnerable and honest way.'

Enter a world ruled by fevered delusions and far-flung imagination, where a windmill transforms into a giant and a filthy innkeeper becomes a king. Join us in a realm of illusions and experience the story of a man who can no longer leave his beautifully imagined world, even after the curtain has come crashing down.

The Twin Cities area is well known as a great theater town, so it is a fitting home to one of the nation's most celebrated new play festivals. The 32nd annual PlayLabs festival runs October 12-18 at the Playwrights' Center, a 44-year-old organization that is one of just a handful of play development centers in the country.   

?The village of Farmingtown has been devoid of men for so long that when one returns from the far away and long-lasting war, the first woman he meets rushes up to him and inhales him deeply. This hilarious and oddly touching moment at the beginning of Kira Obolensky's new play FORGET ME NOT WHEN FAR AWAY sets the tone for this playful and poignant fairy tale about a soldier returning to a home he once knew. Ten Thousand Things has been on the road with the show for a few weeks, performing at correctional facilities, community centers, and other unlikely venues. As director Michelle Hensley said in her introduction of the show, the fact that this play has resonated with such diverse audiences in different ways is a credit to the skills of the playwright, who has created a world outside of time and space that somehow feels familiar and relatable to everyone. This world is brought to life in the beautifully sparse way that only Ten Thousand Things can do, with a brilliant cast of six performing in a fully lit room in a space so small that they literally trip over the audience. The fanciful story is grounded in truth and made to feel very real by the universality of the story, the charming accessibility of the language, the up-close-and-personal performances by the actors in whom you can feel every nuance of every emotion through a look in the eyes, the twinge of a facial muscle, or a subtle movement of the body. Ten Thousand Things harnesses the magic of theater in its most basic form like no other company can.

What better way to review a Children's Theatre Company show than to have a real mom and her little boy attend and tell us about the experience? This first-hand review by a first-time reviewer will charm you into attending one of the remaining performances as the show closes this Sunday, July 27.

Children's Theatre Company (CTC), in its second year of summer programming following 2013's Ivey Award-winning production If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, remounts Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat beginning May 22 and now extended through July 27. During its run at CTC in 2012, the show, directed by 2013 Ivey Award- winner Jason Ballweber, was a smashing success and subsequently toured to Manitoba, Canada. The Cat in the Hat remains a favorite in the Dr. Seuss canon, and its theatrical reincarnation is high-octane and colorful, brimming with physical humor. Check out a first look below!

Welcome to the Year of the Dragon! In collaboration with the Minnesota Boychoir, Puppet Farm Arts, and Circus Juventas, TigerLion Arts presents the world premiere of The Dragons Are Singing Tonight ~ the musical tale of a nasty dragon at the Southern Theater.

Welcome to the Year of the Dragon! In collaboration with the Minnesota Boychoir, Puppet Farm Arts, and Circus Juventas, TigerLion Arts presents the world premiere of The Dragons Are Singing Tonight ~ the musical tale of a nasty dragon at the Southern Theater.

Welcome to the Year of the Dragon! In collaboration with the Minnesota Boychoir, Puppet Farm Arts, and Circus Juventas, TigerLion Arts presents the world premiere of The Dragons Are Singing Tonight ~ the musical tale of a nasty dragon at the Southern Theater.

Welcome to the Year of the Dragon! In collaboration with the Minnesota Boychoir, Puppet Farm Arts, and Circus Juventas, TigerLion Arts presents the world premiere of The Dragons Are Singing Tonight ~ the musical tale of a nasty dragon at the Southern Theater.

Based on the memoir of Sabina Zimering, Hiding in the Open by Kira Obolensky originally premiered on History Theatre's stage in 2004.

Based on the memoir of Sabina Zimering, Hiding in the Open by Kira Obolensky originally premiered on History Theatre's stage in 2004.