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 Cyrano, at the Park Square Theatre, offers swoon-inducing romance and swashbuckling action in this modern adaptation by Michael Hollinger. J C Cutler in the title role and Emily Gunyou Halaas, as Cyrano’s love interest Roxane, deliver poignant and tender performances that had many audience members sniffling during several romantic exchanges. The small cast takes on…
by SOPHIE KERMAN Director Amy Rummenie couldn’t have picked a better time of year to stage a drawing room farce: if you’re feeling stuck in the doldrums of a long, cold January, The School for Lies is just the kind of diversion to shake off a winter chill. The play, by David Ives, is a very loose adaptation…
by CHRISTINE SARKES SASSEVILLE Imagine a whiskey and piano jazz bar fuzed with the salon of your favorite NYU music professor and you’ll understand the captivating vibe of Words By….Ira Gershwin and the Great American Songbook. The play combines singing with a bit of American musical history and offers a wonderful evening’s entertainment for music lovers of all…
by SOPHIE KERMAN David Lindsay-Abaire‘s Good People is a funny, scathing commentary on class privilege – but not for the reasons you might expect. Set in South Boston, Good People sets itself up as an answer to the classic question of whether social mobility is based on the all-American ideals of intelligence and hard work, or whether you…
by SOPHIE KERMAN Poor Sherlock Holmes! With the number of literary, theatrical, and cinematic re-imaginings he’s gone through since his inception in 1887, the man has a lot of baggage. His latest incarnation by Jeffrey Hatcher is “despondent”, as if the past century of crime-solving exploits has just about worn him out, but of course a new…
by SOPHIE KERMAN Aside from honoring the Twin Cities’ most hard-working and talented theater professionals, the Ivey Awards also provides reviewers and theater fans with a chance to see how they did. What must-see shows did we miss this year? And did we agree with the Ivey committee’s choices? Here is a list of this year’s…
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