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BWW Review: In History Theatre's WATERMELON HILL, the Stories of Unwed Pregnant Women in 1960s St. Paul are Told with Humor, Intelligence, and Compassion.

The History Theatre in St. Paul is committed to bringing new plays and musicals to the stage, usually inspired by true events in Minnesota history. Their yearly Raw Stages festival, a series of workshops and readings of new works, often results in full productions in the following season or two. But I often wonder, what happens next? After a new play or musical is developed, produced, and well-received, where does it go? In the case of 2001's WATERMELON HILL, it comes back again 15 years later. As much as I love seeing new works of theater on History Theatre's stage, I'm thrilled that they brought this wonderful old new work back to the stage, giving it a fresh new production. Inspired by historical events, WATERMELON HILL tells the stories of three young women in the mid '60s, pregnant and unmarried, sent in shame to St. Paul's Catholic Infant Home to wait out their pregnancies, deliver their babies, give them up for adoption, and then leave and never look back. Surprisingly light and funny for such a somber topic, the play brings light to the all too familiar tale of the challenges and lack of education and choices facing women in the past, and perhaps to a lesser extant, even today. Along with THE HOW AND THE WHY and NINA SIMONE: FOUR WOMEN, it's another fantastic choice of theater to present during Women's History Month.

Ordway Presents THE SOUND OF MUSIC

This holiday season, Ordway Center for the Performing Arts is excited to present Rodgers & Hammerstein's The Sound of Music, Dec. 10-Jan. 2. Tickets for the Ordway produced family classic start at $37 and can be purchased online at www.ordway.org, by phone at 651-224-4222 or in-person at the Ordway ticket office.

BWW Reviews: Girl Friday Productions' Rendition of the Classic American Comedy THE MATCHMAKER is an Absolute Delight

Girl Friday Productions is a theater company that specializes in large cast classic American plays. The bad news is they only do one production every two years. The good news is it's worth the wait. In their first time partnering with Park Square Theatre, they're presenting Thornton Wilder's comedy THE MATCHMAKER. With a funny and poignant story about love, money, and adventure, smart period set and costumes, a cast that is sheer perfection, and direction that keeps it all running smoothly, this MATCHMAKER is an absolute delight from top to bottom, start to finish. Go see it now (playing through July 26), or wait another two years for your chance to see this great company.

BWW Reviews: Theater Latte Da and Hennepin Theatre Trust Collaborate on a Spectacular and Poignant Re-Imagined OLIVER!

Theater Latte Da and Hennepin Theatre Trust have formed a beautiful partnership called 'Broadway Re-Imagined,' in which they combine the resources of the Trust with the creativity and innovation of Latte Da to produce a Broadway-sized musical with all local talent and that special Latte Da twist. After the powerful rock musical Aida and the brilliant Ivey Award-winning Cabaret, they return this year with Oliver!, the 1960 musical based on Charles Dickens' novel Oliver Twist. But don't let all those adorable moppets dancing around the stage and singing upbeat tunes fool you. Oliver! is not a light and fluffy happy musical, well, not solely anyway. It's also a dark and somber look at such serious issues as child abuse and neglect, the desperation of poverty, and violence. But fortunately, after all the death and darkness, the curtain call ends with a reprise of a happy number, so we can all leave the theater with that happy musical feeling. But perhaps we also leave with a deeper thought about the relevance and seriousness of what we just saw, wrapped up in a gorgeous musical theater package, to ponder further at a later date.

Theater Latté Da Announces Casting for THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA

Theater Latte Da announced today casting for its upcoming production of The Light in the Piazza, book by Craig Lucas, music and lyrics by Adam Guettel, which will be presented at the Ordway McKnight Theatre March 14 - April 7, 2013.

Park Square Theatre's RAGTIME Closes

Journey back to turn-of-the-century America, where Scott Joplin's ragtime music fills the air with an infectious beat. Ragtime: the Musical, weaves a spellbinding story of three families whose lives collide against the backdrop of New York in 'the American Century'-a white family living the privileged life in New Rochelle, a disillusioned Jewish immigrant bent on achieving success, and a handsome young black piano man courting the woman he loves.

History Theater to Present COCO's DIARY, 3/3 - 3/25

History Theatre will brighten the mood with the world premiere of COCOS DIARY, a new play with music that has been adapted for stage from the pages of a 13-year-old girl's diary.

Park Square Theatre Presents RAGTIME 1/20-2/19

Journey back to turn-of-the-century America, where Scott Joplin's ragtime music fills the air with an infectious beat. Ragtime: the Musical, weaves a spellbinding story of three families whose lives collide against the backdrop of New York in 'the American Century'-a white family living the privileged life in New Rochelle, a disillusioned Jewish immigrant bent on achieving success, and a handsome young black piano man courting the woman he loves.

RAGTIME Comes to Park Square, 1/20-2/19

Journey back to turn-of-the-century America, where Scott Joplin's ragtime music fills the air with an infectious beat. Ragtime: the Musical, weaves a spellbinding story of three families whose lives collide against the backdrop of New York in "the American Century"-a white family living the privileged life in New Rochelle, a disillusioned Jewish immigrant bent on achieving success, and a handsome young black piano man courting the woman he loves.

RagTime Comes To Park Square Theater

Ragtime: the Musical, weaves a spellbinding story of three families whose lives collide against the backdrop of New York in "the American Century"-a white family living the privileged life in New Rochelle, a disillusioned Jewish immigrant bent on achieving success, and a handsome young black piano man courting the woman he loves.

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