Shanan Custer News

Today Theatre Pro Rata announces its 2016-17 season with its most strongly comedic line-up to date. The season will feature Henry V by William Shakespeare; a remount of 44 Plays for 44 Presidents by Andy Bayiates et al., Goodbye Cruel World by Robert Ross Parker, and Up: The Man in the Flying Chair by Bridget Carpenter.

Backyard to Broadway Productions is proud to present the world premiere of Right, Wrong or Bomb! A Dating Musical, a musical comedy that celebrates the trials, tribulations and joys of dating in the 21st century. The show opens January 28 and runs through January 31, 2016 at the Illusion Theater, located on the eighth floor of the Cowles Center, 528 Hennepin Ave.

A short order cook who is an ex-con and reads Shakespeare. A waitress who's given up her dream of being an actress and is afraid to hope for anything more in life. It may seem inevitable that these two NYC diner coworkers get together, but how it happens is a funny, sexy, awkward, bittersweet little dance in the two-person play FRANKIE AND JOHNNY IN THE CLAIR DE LUNE. From the company that brought us the delightfully disgruntled princesses of Disenchanted comes a very different play, but maybe not so different as it at first seems. In just their second outing, Casting Spells Productions once again delivers a funny, risky, well-cast, and entertaining show. I look forward to seeing what spells they cast in the future.

Casting Spells Productions announces the late fall production of Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune by Terrence McNally at Minneapolis Theatre Garage Nov. 5 - Dec. 6, 2015 (preview Nov. 4) starring Shanan Custer as Frankie and Charles Hubbell as Johnny. Voice of Radio Announcer will be played by Eric Webster. 

Imagine 29 actors -- including some of the most popular names on Twin Cities stages (click here for company list) -- doing scenes from all nine shows in TRP's 64th season -- House of Blue Leaves, Richard III, Fahrenheit 451, and more. And, in every scene, they use only three props -- a chair, a telephone, and a fake cigarette. With the whole show emceed by comedic actress and vivacious personality Shanan Custer. In a fancy dress. 

Imagine 29 actors -- including some of the most popular names on Twin Cities stages (click here for company list) -- doing scenes from all nine shows in TRP's 64th season -- House of Blue Leaves, Richard III, Fahrenheit 451, and more. And, in every scene, they use only three props -- a chair, a telephone, and a fake cigarette. With the whole show emceed by comedic actress and vivacious personality Shanan Custer. In a fancy dress. 

Next Sunday, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, two of the funniest women in America, will host the Golden Globes. Until then, we have Shanan Custer and Carolyn Pool, two of the funniest women in the Twin Cities, presiding over a delightful evening of comedy, friendship, and coffee. Their 2008 Fringe hit 2 SUGARS, ROOM FOR CREAM has gone through many incarnations, won an Ivey Award, and has now landed on Park Square Theatre's new Andy Boss thrust stage. Even though this is the third time I've seen it and many of the scenes and characters are familiar to me, it still makes me laugh until I cry, and marvel at the universality of life experiences, and the thing that binds us all together - coffee. From bad church basement coffee to the gourmet stuff at fancy coffee shops, it's a running theme in many of our lives and helps us get through the day, and the long cold winter. This show is a celebration of that, but more so a celebration of friendship and laughter.

?No matter how bad things get, there's always coffee. Sometimes there's even wine. And when there's both, well that's a good day.

?No matter how bad things get, there's always coffee. Sometimes there's even wine. And when there's both, well that's a good day.

No matter how bad things get, there's always coffee. Sometimes there's even wine. And when there's both, well that's a good day. 2 Sugars, Room for Cream is a series of scenes and original music loosely tied together by coffee created and performed by the 2013 Ivey Award winning duo of Shanan Custer and Carolyn Pool. In their own words, the show is about 'Scenes from life. Stuff we think is funny.'

With Sexy Laundry opening tonight, the entire cast roster for the theatre's biggest season is almost complete. Nearly 300 Minnesota artists - including actors, directors, designers and technical operators - will mount 18 productions on two stages. The season lineup confirms Park Square's commitment to the work of women writers like Amy Herzog, Michele Riml and Alice Walker. The casting emphasizes Park Square as a home for local artists of color, from returning favorites like James A. Williams, T. Mychael Rambo and Regina Williams to dozens of debuts like Dominique Wooten, Kurt Kwan and Sarah Ochs.

TRP opens its 63rd Season with THE UNDERPANTS, adapted by Steve Martin, running today, September 5-28, 2014.

TRP opens its 63rd Season with THE UNDERPANTS, adapted by Steve Martin, running September 5-28, 2014.

Commedia Beauregard, a Chicago-based theatre company, announces the publication of three play collections as part of its Master Works short play festival. This is the seventh time that Commedia Beauregard has held the festival, which translates paintings to the stage, but the first time the plays will be available in print. The new scripts include works based on the paintings of Rembrandt, Van Gogh and Degas. This year's offering, Master Works: The Degas Plays will also be performed at the Den Theatre for one weekend only -- today, May 29th through June 1st, 2014. Shows are scheduled for Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 3:00 p.m.

Commedia Beauregard, a Chicago-based theatre company, announces the publication of three play collections as part of its Master Works short play festival. This is the seventh time that Commedia Beauregard has held the festival, which translates paintings to the stage, but the first time the plays will be available in print. The new scripts include works based on the paintings of Rembrandt, Van Gogh and Degas. This year's offering, Master Works: The Degas Plays will also be performed at the Den Theatre for one weekend only -- May 29th through June 1st, 2014. Shows are scheduled for Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 3:00 p.m.

Theatre in the Round Players (TRP) presents "Love, Loss, and What I Wore" by Nora and Delia Ephron and directed by Shanan Custer in weekend performances April 25 - May 18, 2014.

Voting is now underway for Minneapolis! We have a record number of votes in already, but if you haven't voted yet, click here to vote! If you have voted already, tell your friends.

Lifetime Achievement Award Winner Jeffrey Hatcher was honored by the Twin Cities theatre community Monday, Sept. 23, at a fashionable, eclectic reunion of colleagues, friends and fans at the ninth annual Iveys.

The 9th Annual Ivey Awards honoring the 'Heroes of Twin Cities Theater' are set for Monday, September 23 at 7:30 p.m. This year, the talented, versatile Randy Reyes joins the delightful Shanan Custer to co-host the show at the Historic State Theatre, 805 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis. Tickets ($35-$125) for the extravaganza - featuring a VIP reception, red carpet fashion, live entertainment, awards and after-party - are on sale now. Check out fun promo photos for the awards ceremony below!

On June 7th, 2013 Theatre Pro Rata will open Emilie: La Marquise du Chatelet Defends Her Life Tonight at St. Catherine University in St. Paul, MN.