Peggy Sue Dunigan - Page 2

Opening on the past Saturday night at the Ordway Center, MN Opera staged a magnificent production of Giuseppe Verdi's 1853 Opera La Traviata. Verdi's breathtaking love and death opera accompanied by Francesco Maria Piave's libretto was adapted after Alexander Dumas' 'Lady of the Camellias' or 'La Dame aux Camelias. In Verdi's reimagining of the Dumas novel, his music showcases the prodigious talents and voice of the protagonist, Violetta. For the company's opening night, Nicole Cabel masterfully sang the challenging operatic role.

Was Eva Peron a saint or sinner, or perhaps merely an incredibly determined woman who changed the face of Argentinian politics? In an elegant stage presentation of the award winning Evita, Lyric Arts on the Main Street Stage delivered a theatrical jewel to their audiences this past weekend. Andrew Lloyd Webber's music and Tim Rice's book and lyrics garnered Drama Desk and Tony Awards to became the first British musical to win the prestigious award of Best Musical in 1979. Inspiration for the production came from Mary Martin's biography 'Evita: The Women with the Whip' and forged the basis for the Webber/Rice collaboration with contemporary themes that resonate in the 21st century. Political upheaval in South America and other world regimes rock the globe in current news headlines, where revisiting Evita gives audiences a forum to contemplate these cultural concerns.

Accept an invitation to a grand adventure when Children's Theatre Company (CTC) of Minneapolis produces a condensed, world premiere version of J.R.R, Tolkien's "The Hobbit." The popular novel, which happens to be a best selling children's book of all time, has remained in print since being published in 1937. This classic, literary legend will be transformed by British actor, director and playwright Greg Banks, who travelled from his home in the Cotswolds, England, just north of Bath, to frigid and then spring-like Minnesota so he could direct the production. From his cozy, Cotswolds environment, Banks' renown hails from rewriting literary classics into a condensed version where the story shines, especially in theater for young audiences.

On a middle of the month March weekend, Children's Theatre Company (CTC) of Minneapolis on the United Health Group Stage, offered their audiences a Middle Earth journey when they presented the World Premiere The Hobbit.  Based on one of J.R.R. Tolkien's bestselling novels, the British actor, director and playwright Greg Banks adapted and then directed the production, which featured an original musical score by fellow Brit Tom Johnson. The classic story of Middle Earth Dwarves reclaiming their culture and treasure stolen form them by a fire breathing creature imagines adventure and exhilaration galore, enough to last an entire evening and long after the actors leave the stage.

This past weekend at the Ordway Center, MN Opera unveiled their World Premiere The Fix in tribute to the All-American sport and spirt of baseball. The story created through the company's New Works Initiative by Eric Simonson, who wrote the libretto and also directed the production, was accompanied by composer Joel Puckett. With glowing nostalgia, the 1919 White Sox under Charles Comiskey's ownership and headed by baseball great Shoeless Joe Jackson, sought to 'fix' the 1919 World Series, which disappointed baseball fans across America.

Anoka's Lyric Arts in the Main Stage Theater reprises a 200 year old tradition when the company stages Jane Austen's famous bestselling novel Sense & Sensibility--For the company's recent production, which opened on a February weekend, Director Natalie Novacek choose an adaptation by actor/playwright Kate Hamill, whom the Wall Street Journal awarded  Playwright of the Year in 2017. Known for her contemporary takes on classical novels, Hamill channels Austin's spirit by incorporating forty percent of her original text, and invokes sixty percent of Hamill's innovation to create the hybrid script. This method abridges the lengthy literary novel  and allows for immense interpretation where audiences will ultimately benefit and enjoy.

Deep into the Minneapolis midwinter ice and snow, book a ticket for the Guthrie's As You Like It on the Wurtele Thrust Stage and travel to the forest. William Shakespeare's tribute to the delights and folly of love. Set in the Forest of Ardenne, the evening promises a brief respite to city life in this playful and complex comedy set in contemporary times under the debut Guthrie direction of Lavina Jadhwani.

Riding a bicycle into the  theater, similar to a charming pied piper, Autumn Ness, rings a bell to call the tiny tot audience into the Gargill Studio at Children's Theatre Company in Minneapolis. In CTC'S production,The Biggest Little House in the Forest, a play adapted from the picture book by Dijemma Bider, Ness invites her audience in while saying 'Winter's outside, but it's spring in the theatre.'

The Guthrie''s Proscenium Stage recently opened a production of The Great Leap, where playwright Lauren Yee envisions two basketball games between the United States and China through two university teams: San Francisco University (SFU) and Beijing University. One of the play's premises asserts that the SFU coach, Saul, claimed to the Beijing coach Wen Chang at the first 1971 game: "No Chinese team will ever beat a US. basketball team." 

n the midst of a polar vortex this winter, MN Opera sends an early valentine filled with warmth to the Twin Cities in their production The Italian Straw Hat at the Ordway Center's Orchestra Hall. This comic Italian opera set in 1950's Paris plays similar to a French farce while sung in Italian and accompanied with English subtitles. Composed and written by Nino Rota and his wife Ernesta, the composer earned accolades for his film scores written for Federico Fellini, and "The Godfather," both the first and second versions. In this opera, Rota's mid-century comedy, a groom's horse eats an expensive straw hat on the morning of his wedding day while his father in law's patent leather shoes fit too tight. Sound extraordinary? Yes, all is wondrous mayhem as this Parisian wedding spins out of control and delightful events happen on stage throughout this enchanting opera.

In the depths of Minnesota's January cold, Children's Theatre Company (CTC) presents a story based on a town in England, with a name similar to one outside of Minneapolis, Stillwater. Here, the musical adapted from the 1938 Newbury Honor Book 'Mr. Popper's Penguins.' comes to life under Director Emma Earle. While the entire musical originally premiered through Pins and Needles Productions, Bristol, UK, CTC transports its cast and crew to the Minneapolis stage though numerous charming evenings and afternoons to savor.

Lyric Arts' latest selection, Sarah Ruhl's "Dead Man's Cell Phone," prophetically speaks to the Iphone or smart phone's debut in 2007.  Steve Jobs of Apple Inc heralded the first iPhone in January, 2007, with its release to the public in June, 2007---the same year  Ruhl's premiered her surrealistic play in June, 2007. With the advent of the iPhone, the first touch screens and apps that could be automatically downloaded to your phone brought innovative technology to communications.

Who believes in flying reindeer-Dasher, Dancer and Prancer? One of the seasonal productions on stage at Anoka's Lyric Arts  Main Street Stage titled 'Prancer' had its beginnings in a 1989 Canadian American film written by Greg Taylor. Eventually, Seattle Children's Theatre and Children's Theatre Company Minneapolis commissioned the film for a play in 2016--Th dramatic and charming holiday selection speaks to what does a person, or those in the audience, believe int? Do they believe in magic, even the unseen that requires faith to believe in? 

Bright colors and jingle bell music magically appear on the Lyric Arts Main Street Stage while the time of year leaps back into December, 1968. Harper's Hardware holds their end of year Holiday Happening, or the company's seasonal party, and everyone in the audience attends!  Lyric Arts presents both the inviting entertainment for the company's happening in sync with their own December production through this charming, kitschy in the best way, girl group musical revue: 'Winter Wonderettes.' Written and created by Roger Bean in 2003, with lyrics and arrangements by Brian Baker, this 'juke box musical' features catchy tunes to hum or rock out to while smiling 'all the way' through the evening, and then 'all the way home.' 

Where will a holiday memory be made this season? Somewhere near Whoville staged at Children's Theatre Company (CTC)? The illustrious CTC opened their musical extravaganza' 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' penned by the iconic Dr. Seuss beginning in 1994, and reprises the production from last season. While Theo Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss, created the story in 1957, CTC envisioned a production to touch any young heart despite the actual chronological age. The production's book and lyrics by Timothy Mason together with music by Mel Marvin continue to delight audiences these past 20 years since the musical's inception--and all the memories the production has created in that span of time through the years.

On opening night for the Minnesota Opera (MNOP), the audience in attendance became curiously quieter and quieter, silent, when the curtain rose at the Ordway Center on the company's contemporary award winning opera 'Silent Night.' Commissioned by MNOP in 2011, the music by Kevin Putts combined with a libretto by Mark Campbell transported the opera house to Christmas, 1914, the beginning of World War I, Based on Christian Carlson's screenplay for the film 'Joyeux Noel,' the opera travels to a small, bloodied war zone in a tiny Belgium village along the French boarder, which centers the attention while profoundly affecting those in the audience.

In a spectacular evening celebrating the performing arts and jazz, Interact Center for the Visual and Performing Arts premiered their annual musical "Hot Funky Butt Jazz" in the Guthrie Theater's Dowling Studio The no intermission production carries three wishes for cultural improvisation on the magic of the show's narrator, a voodoo mama, Marie LaVeau. In the process of performing, Interact fulfilled their mission to present the capabilities of artists with disabilities, mental and physical challenges, to participate in every art form, including theater. This mission impacts the 50 plus cast members included in "Hot Funky Butt Jazz," a tribute to the dance hall where jazz originated in the mercurial city of New Orleans at the turn of the 20th century. 

For the Guthrie Theater's  final hurrah on the McGuire Proscenium Stage in 2019, the company presents a hilarious tribute to plates of sardines and humor in the farcical 'Noises Off.' English playwright' Michael Frayn's award winning 1982 play presents an alternative perspective to the theatrical process and everyone who participates in a production's success. Produced for the first time at the Guthrie, the farce features multiple doors, opening and closing, swinging axes, hurdling down steps and fanciful love triangles along with the iconic plate of sardines through this play within a play format.

The Tony Award Wining 2009 'God of Carnage,' opened at Lyric Arts this weekend. The intimate theater offers a splendid production of Yasmina Reza's comic tragedy with sophistication. The 90 minute, no intermission evening presents a plethora of philosophical issues to contemplate, especially in regard to contemporary society. This fascinating evening will uncover the darkest humor alongside frightening realities present in society.

 In a New York Times article dated October 14, 2018, 'A Mexican Man's Fatal Journey to Reclaim HIs Life,' the newspaper retells the story of Adrián Luna, a man from a small town in Idaho. His life scenario reads eerily familiar to the themes in the World Premiere Play at Children's Theatre Company (CTC) titled 'I Come From Arizona.' In another play titled, 'Augusta and Noble,' playwright Carlos Murillo depicts a related story for these character, while in 'Arizona, he relives the story of a 14 year old girl Gabi, who must negotiate attending a new college prep high school in tony North Chicago. She also needs to care for her younger brother, Jesus, while worrying if her father will remain safe while he visits his dying father in Mexico. Both stories, in the newspaper and at the theater retell the plight of immigrants in America, both documented and undocumented, and certainly other than illegal.