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BWW Reviews: Yellow Tree Theatre Recruits an All-Star Team for their Sweet, Funny, Beautiful Production of THE RAINMAKER
Sometimes something or someone comes along in life that changes everything. Such is Starbuck, aka THE RAINMAKER, to the Curry family in Depression era middle America in N. Richard Nash's play 60-year-old play. Yellow Tree Theatre is mounting a lovely new production of this play with an all-star team...
BWW Reviews: World Premiere of TEST PILOT Finds Moments of Flight
Test Pilot, a world premiere dance opera co-created by Penelope Freeh and Jocelyn Hagen, opened at the O'Shaughnessy Theater in Saint Paul on September 12 as a part of the Women of Substance series at St. Catherine University....
BWW Reviews: THE NEW ELECTRIC BALLROOM Offers a Complex, Disturbing, and Completely Engrossing Enda Walsh Play
Enda Walsh seems to be a perfect match for Frank Theatre. Their mission is 'to produce unique work that stretches the skill of the artists who create the work while simultaneously challenging the everyday perceptions of the audience.' In other words, they do weird stuff, but weird in the best possib...
BWW Reviews: TigerLion Arts' Outdoor Walking Play NATURE at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum Embodies the Spirit of Nature Through the Lives of Emerson and Thoreau
I went for a walk today. The sky through the trees caught my eye. The sound of music floated in and out between the calling of the birds, and the smell of the late summer prairie was all around me. I followed Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau through their lives, studies, and friendship. I...
BWW Reviews: THE WHITE SNAKE Mesmerizes Audience with Magical Storytelling
When it comes to differing accounts of a story, which do you believe - the logical or the mystical? "The White Snake", directed by Tony winner Mary Zimmerman, asks this question many times whenever the tale of the magical snake reaches a fork in the road where the story could be explained by the div...
BWW Review: Multiple Fantastic Performances by Just Two Actors Highlight the Return of The Jungle Theater's Hit THE MYSTERY OF IRMA VEP
Vampires, werewolves, Egyptian mummies, English moors, haunted portraits, a sophisticated Lord and Lady, an Irish maid, a Scottish stable hand, and a euphonium. Mix it all up and you have the ridiculous and hugely entertaining farce that is THE MYSTERY OF IRMA VEP. This 2010 Jungle hit is back again...
BWW Reviews: TAKE IT WITH YOU, Live Radio Theater from Duluth, Charms with its Great Music and Hometown Humor
There's something cool going on in Duluth. I mean, there are lots of cool things going on in Duluth; it's one of Minnesota's top tourist destinations, with the lake and the big ships and all. But specifically on the music-theater front, which is what brings joy to my heart, there is something new an...
BWW Reviews: Sally Wingert Transports the Audience through 20th Century Jewish History in Minnesota Jewish Theatre Company's ROSE
Who can resist a one-woman show by Sally Wingert, one of the Twin Cities best actors? Add to that an intimate in-home setting and an epic story that encompasses the entire scope of Jewish history in the 20th Century, and you have an unforgettable evening of theater. Minnesota Jewish Theatre Company'...
BWW Reviews: The Ordway's BROADWAY SONGBOOK: THE FIRST 100 YEARS OF BROADWAY is Once Again an Informative and Entertaining Look at Musical Theater History
The Ordway is opening its fourth season of the BROADWAY SONGBOOK series with a retrospective of the first 100 years of Broadway. If you're like me, your first question is - when did Broadway begin? It's debatable, but Professor James Rocco - who presides over what feels like a college seminar on mus...
BWW Reviews: Minnesota Fringe Festival Mid-Week Favorites - FAILURE Is A Success!
It's day 7 of the 11-day Minnesota Fringe Festival, in which 169 one-hour plays, musicals, dramas, dance performances, and comedy shows are presented at 19 venues across Minneapolis. I've seen about half of my 30-some planned shows, and one stands out above the rest - Failure: A Love Story. I love t...
BWW Reviews: The Guthrie Theater's VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE Entertains with Deliciously Over-the-Top Comedic Performances
In a lovely bit of symmetry, the Guthrie is closing a season that began with Chekhov's Uncle Vanya with a new play by Christopher Durang that uses Chekhovian characters and themes in a decidedly modern way - Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. Whatever Durang's inspiration was, the result is a hila...
BWW Reviews: Mu Performing Arts' Production of Sondheim's A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC is Another Must-See Summer Musical
A few weeks ago I wrote that the Guthrie's My Fair Lady is the must-see summer musical. Correction: it's one of two. Mu Performing Arts' production of Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music should also be on your must-see list; it's every bit as good as My Fair Lady. The songs might not be as 'humm...
BWW Reviews: CAT IN THE HAT Has the Desired Effect at Children's Theatre Company
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....
BWW Reviews: Lyric Arts Company of Anoka Does Jonathan Larson Proud with their Production of RENT
RENT gets me every time. Seeing it for the 14th time is just as thrilling, emotional, and epic as the first time I saw it 17 years ago. I can't even put into words why it has such a strong grip on my soul. It's just such a beautiful message of love, hope, community, and life, made all the more poign...
BWW Reviews: The Guthrie Theater's Gorgeous New Production of MY FAIR LADY is a Musical with Style and Substance
There's a reason My Fair Lady is one of the most beloved musicals of all time. Not only does it feature a bunch of wonderful songs by Lerner and Loewe that have become classics, but it's based on the George Bernard Shaw play Pygmalion that deals with issues of class, gender, societal expectations, a...
BWW Reviews: In The Jungle Theater's Beautiful Production of THE HEIRESS, a Woman Discovers Her Own Power through Pain and Heartache
Last weekend I saw the classic play The Heiress, about Catherine, a wealthy heiress lacking in social graces with a stern father and an unexpected suitor. I was having a hard time wrapping my head around the play until I had a sudden revelation the next morning - Catherine is Mad Men's Peggy. The He...
BWW Reviews: 7th House Theater Collective's Inventive Take on LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS is Deliciously Fun and Entertaining
The great thing about the Twin Cities theater community is that not only can you see big lavish productions at the Orpheum, Ordway, or Guthrie, but you can also see small low-tech productions in odd or tiny spaces that will surprise and delight you every bit as much as those big productions, or even...
BWW Reviews: Skylark Opera Showcases Two Celebrated 20th Century American Composers in its Summer Festival
For their annual summer festival, Skylark Opera is presenting the Leonard Bernstein classic operetta Candide and the musical revue Berlin to Broadway with Kurt Weill....
BWW Reviews: Minneapolis Musical Theatre's BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON is an Entertaining and Controversial Political Satire
Minneapolis Musical Theatre's production of BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON, a Broadway musical with sharp political satire and social commentary wrapped up in a great emo-rock score, has sparked controversy....
BWW Reviews: Yellow Tree Theatre's Zany British Comedy THE 39 STEPS is Good Old-Fashioned Theatrical Entertainment
Yellow Tree Theatre concludes their excellent sixth season with the zany British spy thriller comedy THE 39 STEPS, in which just four actors play dozens of characters and employ many delightful theater tricks to tell a story and entertain....
BWW Reviews: SISTER ACT's Diva Nuns Steal the Show
The nuns of SISTER ACT are the heart and dancing sole of this musical version reset in 1970s Philadelphia....
Videos
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Footloose: The Musical Open Door Community Theatre (6/20-6/28) |
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The Music Man Ordway Center for the Performing Arts (12/08-12/27) |
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Jewelry Power Elite Dudley Riggs Theatre First Floor (7/24-8/01) |
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Rockin’ The Island: Stone Temple Pilots, Skillet & Theory Of A Deadman – 2 Day Pass Treasure Island Amphitheater (6/26-6/26) |
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Emily Johnson / Catalyst: Overflow Radio Northrop (10/09-10/12) |
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The Who's Tommy Orpheum Theatre (3/30-4/04) |
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SIX Ordway Center for the Performing Arts (6/17-6/28) |
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The Who's Tommy Orpheum Theatre Minneapolis (3/30-4/04) |
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Paul Taylor Dance Company Northrop (9/26-9/26) |
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Riverdance State (5/29-5/31) |
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