WE GOTTA BINGO! Set for its Minneapolis Run at Hennepin Stages 1/8-31/2010

We Gotta Bingo!, the Actors Theater of Minnesota's wildly popular and hilariously interactive dinner theatre experience (up until now, a St. Paul favorite), is moving across the river for a Minneapolis run January 8-31, 2010, at Hennepin Stages, 824 Hennepin Ave. Centered around the reluctant merger of two small and feuding Catholic parishes-one Irish, one Italian-We Gotta Bingo! invites audiences to actively join in a raucous bingo fundraiser set in Der German Brew Ha Ha, a beer hall. Tickets are on sale now. Visit www.HennepinTheatreTrust.org

During the rollicking evening the audience is transformed into bingo-playing, Irish or Italian parishioners (complete with requisite jokes) competing for cheesy prizes. Time out is taken for polka dancing led by the Voekal Chords, a three piece band showcasing accordionist Nancy Lovegrin Lewandoski who can fire off "Beer Barrel Polka" and Outkast's "Hey Ya" with equal aplomb. Dinner features hor d'oeuvres and a yummy lasagna dinner with desert, plus Helmut Voekel's fully-stocked bar including, of course, beer. If the two factions succeed in raising money to support their expanded congregation, the diocese will even provide matching funds!

The checkered cast of characters makes the most of the absurdly fun situation. Bucky Fuller is the cocktail- swilling, ladies man emcee (with Eric Webster reprising his role) and Mary Ed Sullivan (Michelle Myers) navigates the crowd in her tricked-out, motorized bingo-mobile wheelchair. The proudly dysfunctional Dimini family with Rudy (Michael Levin), Rosa (Michelle Hutchinson) and Jeremy Dimini (Andy Kraft), who is also the youth choir director, keeps the volume up while Irish Father Duncan (to be cast soon) holds the roof down.

Hennepin Stages is known for its intimate, off-Broadway shows and audience-friendly productions including earlier runs of Hey City Theater's Tony n' Tina's Wedding and Smokey Joe's Café. Current and upcoming shows are A Don't Hug Me Christmas Carol running through January 1, 2010, and the outrageously trashy Dixie's Tupperware Party set for February 9-28, 2010.

TICKET INFORMATION
We Gotta Bingo! runs January 8-31, 2010 at Hennepin Stages (824 Hennepin Avenue, Mpls., 55402). Show times are Thurs. and Fri. at 7 p.m.; Sat. at 5 and 8:30 p.m. (no 8:30 shows Jan. 9 or 16); and Sun. at 5 p.m. Tickets, including dinner and the show, are on sale now and range from $49.50 to $69.50 depending on seating preference. Tickets may be purchased in person at the State Theatre Box Office (805 Hennepin Ave., Mpls, 55402), online at HennepinTheatreTrust.org, or through Ticketmaster by calling 1-800-982-2787 or visiting a Ticketmaster Ticket Center. Groups of 10 or more should call 612-373-5665 for information and reservations.

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