Aimee K. Bryant News

Not often are we treated to a brand new musical theatre piece created by three local legends and acted by a dream cast of eight popular local performers. A NIGHT IN OLYMPUS is a rare treat on all counts. We get to hear directly from the creator and composer, Chan Poling, in this 6 Questions & a Plug.

In the newest work by the creators of the smash hit Glensheen, Chan Poling's rocking rhythms, Jeffrey Hatcher's wicked wit and Bill Corbett's zany imagination come together to create a headlong ride filled with silliness, surprises and good feeling fun. A NIGHT IN OLYMPUS, a fresh musical comedy and tale of transformation, opens tonight, May 7 at 8 p.m. at the Illusion Theater, located on the eighth floor of The Cowles Center for Dance & the Performing Arts, 528 Hennepin Ave. in downtown Minneapolis.

In the newest work by the creators of the smash hit Glensheen, Chan Poling's rocking rhythms, Jeffrey Hatcher's wicked wit and Bill Corbett's zany imagination come together to create a headlong ride filled with silliness, surprises and good feeling fun. A NIGHT IN OLYMPUS, a fresh musical comedy and tale of transformation, opens Saturday, May 7 at 8 p.m. at the Illusion Theater, located on the eighth floor of The Cowles Center for Dance & the Performing Arts, 528 Hennepin Ave. in downtown Minneapolis.

I know next to nothing about jazz singer and Civil Rights activist Nina Simone. But I do know Regina Marie Williams, Aimee K. Bryant, Thomasina Petrus, and Traci Allen Shannon, the four women starring in the new play based on Nina's song 'Four Women.' So I knew I was in for a treat and an education with Park Square Theatre's world premiere of NINA SIMONE: FOUR WOMEN. I was not wrong on either count. Proving once again that everything I know I learned from theater, I now have a greater understanding of the remarkable and talented woman that was Nina Simone, as well as the importance of her music and her voice in the Civil Rights movement. And watching these particular four women, some of the best voices and actors we have here in the Twin Cities, bring full and complicated life to the Peaches, Auntie, Saffronia, and Sweet Thing of Nina's song, is a treat of the highest order.

Fresh off its world-premiere run in Minneapolis, Children's Theatre Company's new production about an 11-year-old spelling prodigy comes to Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. The show is adapted for the stage by veteran playwright Cheryl L. West (Arena's Pullman Porter Blues, Jar the Floor), who partners with celebrated director Charles Randolph-Wright (director of Broadway's Motown and an inaugural resident playwright with Arena Stage, where he premiered his play Love in Afghanistan). AKEELAH AND THE BEE runs now through December 27, 2015 in the Kreeger Theater, and BroadwayWorld has photos from the opening night festivites at Arena Stage below!

All in all, this is a thoroughly enjoyable production and one that I would highly recommend.

'People are complex,' muses Aimee K. Grant, who plays Akeelah's mom, Gail, in AKEELAH AND THE BEE, the new musical at Arena Stage when I sat down with her and her on-stage daughter, 17-year old Johannah Easley (Akeelah) to talk about their experiences with the show. Increasing understanding within and among people is the power of theater, we agree, and Akeelah definitely offers up a story of complex people, young and old. Based on the wildly popular 2006 film of the same name, it's the story of a determined young girl from a difficult situation, competing in the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Akeelah's life is filled with challenges, as are many people's, and that's where this story resonates. Although a tale of triumph over adversity may not seem a new one, each person's story is different, and Akeelah's has layers that will be relatable to many in the audience.

Fresh off its world-premiere run in Minneapolis, where Star Tribune declared "Akeelah and the Bee triumphs," Children's Theatre Company's new production about an 11-year-old spelling prodigy comes to Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. The show is adapted for the stage by veteran playwright Cheryl L. West (Arena's Pullman Porter Blues, Jar the Floor), who partners with celebrated director Charles Randolph-Wright (director of Broadway's Motown and an inaugural resident playwright with Arena Stage, where he premiered his play Love in Afghanistan). Akeelah and the Bee runs November 13-December 27, 2015 in the Kreeger Theater.

Watching the news can make one feel discouraged and hopeless about the state of the world, with increasing violence around the world and in our own neighborhoods. At Pillsbury House Theatre, they're trying to make some sense of it and provide a bit of hope by preaching THE GOSPEL OF LOVINGKINDESS, a new play by Marcus Gardley. It's beautifully and poetically written, full of life and humor that balances out the devastation and death of the situation. It's heavy, and not easy to watch at times, but so worthwhile and necessary. THE GOSPEL OF LOVINGKINDESS is one of those plays that is about so much more than theater.

I went to see Theatre Forever's newest creation NATURE CROWN in the Guthrie's Dowling Studio Theater not knowing what it was about. I left the theater still not knowing exactly what it was about, except that it's lovely, delightful, innovative, poignant, creative, and incredibly moving. The original fairy tale deals with the ideas of home, place, and change, but I'll let creator and director Jon Ferguson explain it: 'It's about returning to a source or place of origin, honoring that place and letting it go, all at the same time. It's about love and change and re-connection. And that's what I hope for everyone. Through the experience of this play I hope that this story and this place becomes yours. I hope that we find parallels between us, to better understand each other, and ourselves, in order to live better together.'

Gary Hines, an accomplished talent who's best known for his 45-year career with The Sounds of Blackness, is music director for the acclaimed run of THE COLOR PURPLE at St. Paul's Park Square Theater. We got to know a little more about this production and Gary in this BWW Interview.

At first glance, the musicals THE COLOR PURPLE, CALVIN BERGER, and LA CAGE AUX FOLLES may not seem to have much in common. The settings couldn't be more different - the rural South in the early 20th century, a modern day high school, and a drag club in 1970s France. But since I happened to see them all on the same weekend, I couldn't help but draw parallels between them. All three musicals all speak to themes of beauty, identity, self-worth, and having the courage to be who you really are, despite what the world is telling you. In THE COLOR PURPLE, a young, poor, black woman is told that she's ugly and worthless, but after a lifelong journey she arrives at a place of strength and self-love. CALVIN BERGER sets the classic play Cyrano de Bergerac in a modern high school, where a young man feels that his large nose prevents him from getting what he wants in life and chooses to hide behind the handsome popular guy, both of whom eventually learn it's better to be loved for who you are. Finally, in LA CAGE AUX FOLLES, a middle aged man who feels more comfortable dressed as a woman is asked by his own son to hide who he is, but confidently declares 'I am who I am!' Another thing these three musicals have in common is that they can all currently be seen on Twin Cities stages featuring talented local casts. Read on for more details on each, pick one that suits your fancy, and go see a local musical that just may inspire you to love you you really are!

Park Square Theatre will produce the musical The Color Purple featuring a cast of 20 actors, a live orchestra, and some of the finest talent in the Twin Cities on its Proscenium Stage January 16 - February 15, 2015.

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.

The Guthrie Theater presents My Fair Lady, the hummable, quotable, utterly enjoyable musical for the whole family. Playing for the first time at the Guthrie, under the direction of Joe Dowling, My Fair Lady will feature Helen Anker as Eliza Doolittle, Tony Sheldon as Colonel Pickering, Donald Corren as Alfred P. Doolittle - all in their Guthrie debuts - and Jeff McCarthy as Professor Henry Higgins. BroadwayWorld has a first look below!

The Guthrie Theater presents My Fair Lady, the hummable, quotable, utterly enjoyable musical for the whole family. Playing for the first time at the Guthrie, under the direction of Joe Dowling, My Fair Lady will feature Helen Anker as Eliza Doolittle, Tony Sheldon as Colonel Pickering, Donald Corren as Alfred P. Doolittle - all in their Guthrie debuts - and Jeff McCarthy as Professor Henry Higgins. Performances began on the Wurtele Thrust Stage on Saturday, June 28, with an opening slated for tonight, July 4, 2014.

The Guthrie Theater today announced casting for the production of My Fair Lady, the hummable, quotable, utterly enjoyable musical for the whole family. Playing for the first time at the Guthrie, under the direction of Joe Dowling, My Fair Lady will feature Helen Anker as Eliza Doolittle, Tony Sheldon as Colonel Pickering, Donald Corren as Alfred P. Doolittle - all in their Guthrie debuts - and Jeff McCarthy as Professor Henry Higgins. Performances begin on the Wurtele Thrust Stage on Saturday, June 28. Single tickets start at $28 and are now on sale through the Guthrie Box Office at 612.377.2224, toll-free 877.44.STAGE, 612.225.6244 (Group Sales) and online at www.guthrietheater.org.

Hennepin Theatre Trust presents the new theatrical event Standing On Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays, running tonight, May 31-June 16, 2012 at the New Century Theatre. Showcasing funny, heartfelt "mini works" that celebrate the courage to be in a relationship-any relationship, Standing On Ceremony's smart and witty vignettes were penned by playwrights whose credits include two Pulitzer Prizes, four Obies, one Emmy and three Tony nominations. Wendy Knox of Frank Theatre will direct a stellar cast of six Twin Cities actors including Laura Adams, Shawn Hamilton Brown, Aimee K. Bryant, Jim Lichtscheidl and Mark Rhein, with one more actor to be announced soon. With this production, the Trust is working in cooperation with Minnesotans United for All Families, the official statewide campaign working to defeat the constitutional amendment that would exclude gays and lesbians from marriage in Minnesota.

Hennepin Theatre Trust presents the new theatrical event Standing On Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays, running May 31-June 16, 2012 at the New Century Theatre. Showcasing funny, heartfelt "mini works" that celebrate the courage to be in a relationship-any relationship, Standing On Ceremony's smart and witty vignettes were penned by playwrights whose credits include two Pulitzer Prizes, four Obies, one Emmy and three Tony nominations. Wendy Knox of Frank Theatre will direct a stellar cast of six Twin Cities actors including Laura Adams, Shawn Hamilton Brown, Aimee K. Bryant, Jim Lichtscheidl and Mark Rhein, with one more actor to be announced soon. With this production, the Trust is working in cooperation with Minnesotans United for All Families, the official statewide campaign working to defeat the constitutional amendment that would exclude gays and lesbians from marriage in Minnesota.