by CHRISTINE SARKES SASSEVILLE Russ King’s hilarious holiday drag satire pokes fun of ethnic groups, religion, lesbians, bad sweaters and Rosemount. No group is safe from Miss Richfield 1981’s sharp-tongued, spike-heeled humor. King’s hysterically funny Miss Richfield 1981’s Christmas Cone of Silence is a holiday tradition for many repeat audience members and a break from treacly holiday fare for newcomers. King’s beauty queen alter ego,…
by CHRISTINE SARKES SASSEVILLE The 11th annual Ivey Awards last evening recognized and showcased the work over the past year of the metro area’s professional theater companies and artists. Joe Dowling, the Guthrie Theater’s recently retired artistic director, was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Critically-acclaimed newcomer, actor Mikell Sapp, who gave a moving acceptance speech, received the Emerging Artist Award…
by CHRISTINE SARKES SASSEVILLE Guthrie Theater’s new artistic director Joseph Haj could not have chosen a more timely and relevant play to open his first season than Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, now through October 25 (recently extended) on the Wurtele Thrust Stage. As he states in the program’s introduction, “There is a timeliness to…
by CHRISTINE SARKES SASSEVILLE The Matchmaker, now on Park Square Theatre’s Andy Boss Thrust Stage, is writer and playwright Thornton Wilder’s (Our Town) satirical and humorous take on class differences, new wealth, love and the importance of having adventures. This is the play that was later turned into the iconic Tony-award winning musical, Hello Dolly!, starring Carole Channing and the 1969…
by CHRISTINE SARKES SASSEVILLE How do you navigate the cultures of the Middle East and America’s heartland as an Arab-American experiencing an identity crisis? A trio of plays by impressively talented local Arab-American playwrights and artists explore this theme and are showcased this week through July 12 at Mixed Blood Theatre. The festival is organized by a group of Minneapolis-based artists of the…
by CHRISTINE SARKES SASSEVILLE Camelot, now at the Ordway through Sunday, offers a lush set design and costumes, classic Lerner and Loewe lyrics and the timeless Arthurian Knights of the Round Table fable of love, honor, chivalry and justice. The brilliant set design of the musical (Kevin Depinet) and orchestration (Marshall Keating) were freshly reimagined and updated to evoke a slightly…
by CHRISTINE SARKES SASSEVILLE Stephen Schwartz of Wicked and Godspell fame and Director Diane Paulus have created a wildly entertaining and exhilarating revival of Broadway’s original 1972 Bob Fosse iconic version of Pippin, now at the Orpheum Theatre through Sunday. With soaring vocals, jaw-dropping acrobatics, charming and relatable characters and a cute kid and a dog, Pippin offers…
By ERIKA YASMEEN SASSEVILLE, Guest Reviewer Lorna Landvik, nationally known author and locally known actor/playwright presents an annual solo improvisation show on the Bryant-Lake Bowl stage through the end of January. From the moment she steps on stage, Landvik creates interesting and energetic audience-suggested characters, complete with costumes and props. Wigs, facial hair and 70s rec…
BY CHRISTINE SARKES SASSEVILLE Recently, Aisle Say Twin Cities lost the second of its two founding members as life pulled them in different directions. Sophie Kerman announced that she was moving on in her last post, a review of the Ivey Awards. Anna Rosensweig left us in 2012 to complete her Ph.D. and begin postdoctoral…
by CHRISTINE SARKES SASSEVILLE and RACHEL ADAMOVICH The dilemma in reviewing the Pulitzer Prize-winning play The Heidi Chronicles at the Guthrie Theater is to describe a transformative and near perfect theater experience without sounding clichéd. From the bravura performance of lead actress Kate Wetherhead as Heidi Holland to the equally excellent supporting cast, music, staging,…
Aisle Say - Twin Cities 