Brian Michaels - Page 6

This play is based on an award winning novel by Mark Haddon and tells the story of 15 year old Christopher who decides to solve a crime. The play doesn't come out and say it but Christopher seems to be on the autism spectrum.

Moon Over Buffalo is a 1995 play by Ken Ludwig that marked the return to Broadway for Carol Burnett after a 30 year absence. This is a funny, family friendly play that is sure to bring laughter to the whole audience. The story focuses on the Hay family in the 1950's who are stage legends. It's a small but powerful cast, with many faces that local theatre lovers will recognize.

The music of Abba always seems keep coming back, and with the adaption of stage musicals and movies based on that music it is more popular than ever. Rebecca Saari and the Fargo Davies Theatre Department decided to bring that music to the stage this year. Director Saari even dedicated the show to her own mother JoNell.

There is a reason that many consider Moorhead High Schools Theatre Department as one of the top in the area. They always seem to step it up every single year and this was no exception. Director Rebecca Meyer-Larson said that she was waiting online and secured the rights for Newsies about 30 seconds after they became available. This is a show she has wanted to put on since the 1992 movie.

Another show I knew almost nothing about going in, but those usually end up to be some of the best ones. In the lobby before the show I did hear one attendee telling someone 'most of the characters are actually dead' so that was my basic knowledge of the show before it started. I won't give a lot away because I thought it was great to be surprised.

If you need any more evidence that Newsies is popular just look around Fargo-Moorhead as 3 different productions of the show are being put on this year. What I love about our local theatre community is that you can watch multiple productions of the same show and each school puts their own special touches into the shows. Fargo North High and directors Tom & Rachel Gillen are the next to tackle this show and they did not disappoint. Led by a 22 member pit orchestra directed by Greg Schultz to get the music flowing. I assume most are familiar with the story, but just in case Newsies is based on the real life newsboy strike in New York in 1899.

For anyone not familiar, The Laramie Project is a play from 2000 originally created by Moises Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project. This play is about the reaction to the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard, a gay student from them University of Wyoming in Laramie. Moises and other members conducted hundreds of hours of interviews to create the production.

In what might be the biggest production ever brought to the stage by FMCT, Mary Poppins is a wonderfully done show that is fun for the whole family. With almost 60 members in the cast & crew plus another dozen in the pit orchestra this was no small undertaking but director Adam Pankow knocks another one out of the park.

The annual Gooseberry Park Players summer production had its opening night. This year co-directors Darcy & Lauren Brandenburg decided to tackle Big Fish this year. This show isn't as well-known as

Director Hardy Koenig took us back to the 80's, 1980 to be exact, in the FMCT adaptation of XANADU. The show is based on the book and motion picture (Starring Olivia Newton John).

Moorhead High Theatre Presents The Miracle Worker.

After spending the past decade teaching and directing in the West Fargo school district Adam Pankow took over as Artistic Director of FMCT last year. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is his first full directing job since starting his new position.

Minnesota State University Moorhead's School of Performing Arts recently produced their version of The Who's Tommy: The Musical. Presented on The Gaede Stage over 4 days.

All For One And One For All with Fargo Davies Theatre presents The Three Musketeers.

The Fargo Moorhead Community Theatre's production of Calendar Girls is such a delight. The play is based on the movie, which in turn was based on true events. I do have to say that I never saw the movie, so I went in with no comparison whatsoever.