"Assassins" by Theater Latte Da at the Ritz Theater

Someone tell the story
Someone sing the song
Every now and then the country
Goes a little wrong
Every now and then a mad man's
Bound to come along
Doesn't stop the story
Story's pretty strong
Doesn't change the song.

Once again, Theater Latte Da brings us exactly the show we need, right when we need it most (see also Ragtime on the cusp of the election, and last fall's hopeful Man of La Mancha). This time it's Stephen Sondheim's darkly funny and deeply disturbing look at historical presidential assassinations and attempts, and the individuals who perpetrated these horrific crimes. Assassins is not an easy show to watch. It draws you in with the fun carnival atmosphere and the wildly comedic characters, as well as the incredible staging and performances in TLD's production, helmed by #TCTheater's best music-theater director Peter Rothstein. But it will leave you with an unpleasant feeling deep in your gut at the true horror of the crimes the assassins committed, and the world that created them, the world we all live in.

"Assassins" by Renegade Theater Company at Teatro Zuccone

On Sunday morning of Labor Day weekend, I sat with a view of gorgeous Lake Superior (the closest thing Minnesota has to an ocean) on a perfect late summer day and started working on this blog post. Like most of the good things in my life, I have theater to thank for this view. Duluth's Renegade Theatre Company just opened their production of Stephen Sondheim's Assassins, and since I love Sondheim (what musical theater nerd doesn't), have never seen Assassins, and no Twin Cities theater company has done it in my recent memory, I decided it was  the perfect excuse to go to Duluth for the holiday weekend. Accompanied by my fellow Twin Cities Theater Bloggers Gina from The Room Where It Happens and Julie and Carol from Minnesota Theater Love, we hopped in my VW bug convertible (top down) for a beautiful drive that not even construction traffic could spoil. Staying at the lovely B&B Solglimt (just on the other side of the lift bridge, so within sight and walking distance of Canal Park but away from the craziness), seeing an excellent production of a Sondheim musical, having Brunch with Blake Thomas (one of my favorite Minnesota musicians), chatting about theater with friends, and eating lots of good food turned out to be a nearly perfect Labor Day weekend (almost as good as the five Labor Day weekends I spent at the best little music fest in Minnesota). Moral of the story: sometimes it's good to get out of the city and see more of our fair state, but you can also see some pretty great theater while you're there.