by ANNA ROSENSWEIG Conceived by Open Eye Figure Theatre’s co-founder Michael Sommers, this new marionette play, A Sorcerer’s Apprentice, is an adaptation of Goethe’s 1797 poem Der Zauberlehling. Most viewers, however, will be more familiar with the version featured in Disney’s Fantasia (1940). Remember the famous scene with Mickey Mouse and the brooms? Sommers’ version…
by ANNA ROSENSWEIG It’s easy to forget just how many common English expressions and turns of phrase come from Shakespeare’s plays. One of the pleasures of hearing his plays performed today is noticing these expressions and situating them in their Shakespearean contexts. Take As You Like It. We’re all familiar with the famous declaration “All…
by SOPHIE KERMAN As a general rule, my inner skeptic is not a fan of musicals – but a killer concert, on the other hand, I can totally get on board with. American Idiot, a recent addition to a slew of one-dimensional pop-inspired musicals (Mamma Mia!, Spring Awakening, etc.), bypasses all of my cynicism by presenting…
by SOPHIE KERMAN American audiences seem to have a special fascination with the world of the British upper-classes. Whether it is a fixation on the fates of Jane Austen’s characters or an addiction to BBC’s “Downton Abbey,” there is something about the poise and apparent ease with which the British conduct their financial and romantic…
by ANNA ROSENSWEIG What happens when two over-privileged adult children throw a birthday party for their wealthy father? This is the premise of Crashing the Party, a new play by Josh Tobiessen that wonders whether the tenacity needed to achieve the “American Dream” can be passed from one generation to another. Once one generation has…
by SOPHIE KERMAN Blair Thomas may have just changed the way I think about puppet shows. While In the Heart of the Beast has made itself known for its kid-friendly, large-scale puppet theater, Thomas’s Hard Headed Heart is not for children and only partly about puppets. This trio of short pieces, each an adaptation of a different…
by SOPHIE KERMAN After wowing Minnesota Fringe Festival audiences for the past two years running, Isabel Nelson has brought 2010 Fringe Festival Favorite Ballad of the Pale Fisherman to the Illusion Theater mainstage. After being blown away by Red Resurrected at the 2011 Fringe, I was excited to see the expansion of Pale Fisherman, the show that…
by ANNA ROSENSWEIG Judy Garland played an important role in my childhood. I literally wore out my VHS of The Wizard of Oz, the 1939 hit with MGM studios that propelled her into stardom at just sixteen. And my family’s folklore has it that for weeks at a time I insisted on being called Dorothy.…
by SOPHIE KERMAN Although witty, suspenseful and well-acted, the Jungle Theater‘s latest production is not a Valentine’s Day offering for the insecure couple. As you get sucked into the detective work and criminal reverse-engineering that drives Frederick Knott‘s Dial M for Murder, you may find yourself glancing sideways at your date and wondering just how much…
by SOPHIE KERMAN With its latest offering of Werther by Jules Massenet, we start to see the trajectory of the Minnesota Opera‘s 2011-12 season. Having started the year with the user-friendly Cosí Fan Tutte and continued with the innovative Silent Night, the Opera now presents a completely different kind of audience experience. Werther, based on…
