Birds Sing Differently Here

by CHRISTINE SARKES Although this review is published after the brief run of Birds Sing Differently Here at the Guthrie Theater’s Dowling Studio, it serves as recognition of the important collaboration between the Guthrie and the Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project to give voice to the Iraqi-Minnesotan experience. As part of Guthrie’s innovative Level Nine…

Aladdin

  By JACOB FROELICH Nothing stops a show quite like magic. That is, besides spectacle beyond compare and a dazzling tap dance number. You can find all of the aforementioned delights in Disney’s Aladdin, playing now through October 8 at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Minneapolis. Relive the classic rags to riches tale in all its…

In The Heights

By ERIKA SASSEVILLE Lin-Manuel Miranda, son of Puerto Rican immigrants Luz Towns and Luis A. Miranda, Jr. first made a splash when In The Heights (book by Quiara Alegría Hudes) debuted on Broadway in 2008, combining his childhood loves of musical theatre, hip-hop and salsa. Since then, he has won a Pulitzer Prize, three Tony Awards,…

Le Petit Moulin

When offered the chance to see Collide Theatrical‘s latest production, Le Petit Moulin, I didn’t even check my calendar before saying yes (side note: always check your calendar first; I had to reschedule a family dinner. Worth it.). I love all things French and particularly early 20th century history, but more to the point, Collide has always impressed me…

West Side Story

The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts and Teatro Del Pueblo present West Side Story, April 4-16. The musical, based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, places a new pair of star-crossed lovers in Manhattan’s Upper West Side during the 1950’s.

Don’t Hug Me – We’re Married

By Adam Michael Schenck Assuredly, the dinner theater experience hearkens back to a different era of live entertainment, before the days of stand-up comedy and before television provided our laughs in the comfort of our homes. Why then do we go out, in this case, to the Bunker Hills Event Center in Coon Rapids? My…

Fun Home

by CHRISTINE SARKES Fun Home at the Orpheum Theatre is devastatingly honest, achingly funny and worthy of all the praise it has received. The musical won five Tony Awards last year, including Best Musical, and made history as the first show written exclusively by women to win that award. Based on Alison Bechdel’s best-selling and award-winning graphic memoir, Fun Home introduces…

Miss Richfield 1981’s 17th Annual Christmas Show From the Trailer House to the State House – Santa Style!

By Jacob Froelich From the neighborhoods of East St. Paul to the shores of Lake Minnetonka, no one is safe from the loving ridicule of Miss Richfield 1981. She’s bold, sassy and blissfully “Doesn’t Care!” about holding back and following the unwritten rules of ‘Minnesota Nice’. Miss Richfield 1981, as played by Russ King, has been…