Improv at the Jungle: "Off-Book"

With the recent closure of HUGE Theater, your Uptown home for improv for 15 years, local improv troupes and shows are needing to find new venues at which to perform. Jungle Theater, just blocks away from HUGE, has stepped up to be one of those venues. They have a new series called "Improv at the Jungle," with a group called The Neighborhood performing regularly, as well as a show called Off-Book, hosted and co-directed by Sean Dillon and Isabella Dunsieth. I saw the latter this week and I just may have a new favorite improv show! Keep reading for why, and make plans to see their next performance on March 3. Visit the Jungle website for info and tickets to all of their improv shows. You can also see improv at Strike Theater in Northeast Minneapolis, The Hive Collaborative in St. Paul, Brave New Workshop (which hosted the long-running show Family Dinner in December), and other locations around town. Visit this website for a list of improv events in the Twin Cities.

"Scrooge in Rouge" at Open Eye Theatre

This holiday* season, Open Eye Theatre is remounting** Scrooge in Rouge, which premiered last year, a show I called, "a little off-kilter, in the best possible way." The three-person musical reimagines the classic A Christmas Carol in the style of English Music Hall entertainment, meaning "witty lyrics, bad puns, and naughty double-entendres." The fabulous three-person cast portrays all of the characters in this story that hews fairly closely to Dickens' original, even including many of the famous lines you'll hear across town at the Guthrie. But there are a few ridiculous diversions too, resulting in a very entertaining and fun little show. You can see this alternative (or addition) to A Christmas Carol at Open Eye in South Minneapolis through December 29.

"Scotland, PA" by Theatre Latte Da at the Ritz Theater

Theater Latte Da is opening their 27th season (the first programmed by new Artistic Director Justin Lucero) with a wild one. It's technically a movie adaptation, but it's based on the obscure 2001 movie Scotland, PA, not a blockbuster sure-fire hit, so somebody must have been inspired by this darkly comedic 1970s-fast-food-set take on Macbeth, one of Shakespeare's bloodiest tragedies (although all of his tragedies are pretty bloody). The musical premiered Off-Broadway in 2019 and was further developed as part of Theater Latte Da's NEXT program in 2022. It starts off as this really fun rock musical about working folks trying to get ahead, and ends, well, bloody. It's brought to life by a creative team with many Broadway credits, and a brilliant cast full of home-grown talent. So grab a burger, head to the Ritz, and buckle up for a wild ride of a musical, continuing through October 20.

"The Spitfire Grill" by Ten Thousand Things at Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church

Ten Thousand Things musicals are my favorite. When their trademark "All the Lights On" barebones style is applied to a musical, we get a few acoustic instruments accompanying unmiked singers performing a few feet in front of us, and the result is magical. The lovely Americana score and intimate story of the Off-Broadway musical The Spitfire Grill is a perfect choice for this treatment. The only problem with "all the lights on" is that everyone can see when you start to cry at the emotions brought on by the story and the music! But that's OK, they're probably crying too, and it's all part of being human, which is what this show exemplifies so beautifully. A simply stunning cast and simply charming design allow the true heart of this piece to shine, which is what Ten Thousand Things does so well. You can see The Spitfire Grill at Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church this weekend (an easy-to-get-to location with a large free parking lot) or the following two weekends at The Jungle Theater, with free community performances continuing through June 9.

"Stones in His Pockets" by Theater Latte Da at the Ritz Theater

Every once in a while, Theater Latte Da throws a play on their season schedule and I think - what is this going to be? At one time their tagline was "we don't do musical theater, we do theater musically," and their new production of Stones in His Pockets is a prime example of this. They haven't turned it into a musical (like they did with the classic play Twelve Angry Men, which sounds weird but turned out to be brilliant), but they have turned it into theater musically. Jason Hansen (Twin Cities Theater Bloggers' favorite Music Director for three years running - watch for our interview with him on an episode of Twin Cities Theater Chat coming soon!) has written original music to fill in the spaces and add color and emotion to the story, like a film score played live. I'd never seen this play before, and now that I've seen this production, I can't imagine it without music. Music is so much a part of Irish culture and everyday life, that it seems fitting that there is music in this funny, wistful, tragic, heart-warming, and very Irish little story. See this wholly original Stones in His Pockets (featuring a brilliant comedy duo) at the Ritz Theater in Northeast Minneapolis through February 25. (Recommended dinner-and-a-show pairing: enjoy the food, atmosphere, and Guinness at The Anchor Fish & Chips just down the street.)

"The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" at Artistry

Artistry produced the 2005 two-time Tony winning musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee back in 2014, when they were still known as Bloomington Civic Theatre. But this hilarious, irreverent, and surprisingly sweet musical is worth revisiting. Directed by #TCTheater favorite Tyler Michaels King and featuring a fantastic cast, it's so playful and fun, and also gives you the warm fuzzies about this group of loveably oddball kids just trying their best to spell and be happy. There's only one weekend left to attend the Bee - don't miss it!

"LOCH MESS! The World's Largest Freshwater Musical" by Open Eye Theatre at the Bakken Museum

As Open Eye Theatre's Artistic Director Joel Sass said, the best thing to come out of the pandemic is their tradition of annual original musicals performed outdoors at the Bakken Museum's lovely green rooftop overlooking Bde Maka Ska. Well, one of the best things anyway (personally, it was my newfound love of Minnesota State Parks). In the summer of 2021, when we weren't quite ready to go back into the theater yet, there was a plethora of outdoor #TCTheater. One of the best was Open Eye's sweet, silly, and very Minnesotan musical LOG JAM! A Paul Bunyan Musical Spectacular. It was so successful and popular, they followed it up with HAIR BALL! A Bigfoot Musical Adventure in 2022. This year brings us LOCH MESS! The World's Largest Freshwater Musical (are you sensing a theme?). With book, music, and lyrics by Josef Evans and direction by Mr. Sass, this delightful and hopefully never-ending series of musicals is fun, silly, clever, and heart-warming. The 85-minute show happens at 7pm Thursdays through Sundays until July 16, and should definitely be added to your summer traditions.

"Georgiana and Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley" at the Jungle Theater

It's the most wonderful time of the year* - time to return to Christmas at Pemberley at the Jungle Theater. Playwrights Lauren Gunderson (one of the most produced playwrights in the country, often writing plays about women in history, particularly in STEM) and Margot Melcon have created the most delightful Jane Austen fan fiction in this series of plays based on the characters in Pride and Prejudice. The Jungle produced the first one, Miss Bennet**, in 2017 and it was such a hit that they co-commissioned a sequel, The Wickhams, which premiered the following year. After remounting Miss Bennet in 2019 and taking a break for two years for... you know, they've done it again, with another co-commission and rolling world premiere of the third (but hopefully not last) installment - Georgiana and Kitty. Each of these plays focuses on a different Bennet sister or two, but they're all similar in their sparkling dialogue that feels both period appropriate and refreshingly modern, their centering of women in the story (continuing the legacy of Jane Austen), their fleshing out of characters who didn't get much space in the original novel, and their charming romances complete with obstacles to be overcome, just like all good Austen heroines. With Georgiana and Kitty we get not one but two new Austen heroines to love and root for in their pursuit of love, art, purpose, and happiness. Every Christmas at Pemberley is sheer delight from start to finish, and I hope the Jungle makes this a 40+ year tradition (my dream is that they'll produce all three plays in rep someday and I can see them all in one wondrous epic day). You can visit Pemberley any day except Monday from now through December 23 (click here for info and tickets).

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2022: "Erotica for Houseplants"

Day: 1

Show: 2

Title: Erotica for Houseplants

Category: COMEDY / MUSICAL THEATER / ORIGINAL MUSIC /  SOLO SHOW / SPOKEN WORD / STORYTELLING

By: Tom Reed

Created by: Tom Reed

Location: Mixed Blood Theatre

Summary: A series of stories, poems, and songs about, well, erotic houseplants.

Highlights: Tom Reed, master of the Fringe solo show, said this was the silliest concept he could think of that just made him laugh. And it makes the audience laugh too. Standing at a microphone and reading from a music stand, surrounded by real plants (including those brought in by the audience, because houseplants get to have fun and go places too), he speaks congenially to the audience, introducing the pieces. They include a continuing story about a plant orgy, a love story between an annual and a perennial, a man enjoying eating corn on the cob a little too much, the double entendres found in gardening magazines, a bee on the hunt for nectar and pollen, and a few songs, including the story of a pine and a cactus in love set to the tune of "All of Me." Tom also shows off his improv skills when he interviews some of the plants that came to the show. The whole thing is silly, and funny, and fully on-concept, with surprisingly enough material to fill up a whole show. This is something you could really only experience at Fringe.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.

"HAIR BALL! A Bigfoot Musical Adventure" by Open Eye Theatre at the Bakken Museum

"Friends, this is the sweetest, cutest, funniest, silliest, naturiest, heart-warmiest 80 minutes of music-theater you could see! Don't miss it!!" Such was my Instagram post last night after coming home from seeing Open Eye Theatre's new original music-theater-puppetry creation HAIR BALL! A Bigfoot Musical Adventure. This new tradition of outdoor summer musicals at the Bakken Museum's lovely green rooftop lawn was birthed out of the pandemic last year, and I hope it never ends. There's just nothing better than witnessing the creative talent of artists in the great outdoors next to one of Minnesota's beautiful lakes. HAIR BALL! is a fairy tale for kids with plenty for adults to enjoy too - great music, much humor, and fantastic performances by the cast. Click here for more information and to purchase tickets (continuing through June 19).

"Christmas of Swing" at History Theatre

#TCTheater loves its holiday* shows, and my very first this year (not counting Annie, which is holiday-adjacent) is History Theatre's remount of their original musical Christmas of Swing, which I first saw in 2013. They've updated it this year to reflect the greater diversity of soldiers who served in WWII, making it more poignant and powerful than ever. But it's still highly entertaining, featuring Minnesota's own original girl group The Andrews Sisters, singing WWII era songs both Christmassy and not. The large and talented cast does a wonderful job of bringing this music and these heart-warming and heart-breaking stories of WWII soldiers to life.

"LOG JAM! A Paul Bunyan Musical Spectacular" by Open Eye Theatre on the Bakken Museum's green rooftop

My second outdoor* theatrical production this year (and hence only the second show I've seen live in 2021) is Open Eye Theatre's delightful new original musical LOG JAM! A Paul Bunyan Musical Spectacular, performed on the beautiful green rooftop of the Bakken Museum** overlooking Bde Maka Ska. The scheduled opening night turned out to be a cold and rainy spring day, but the actual opening night one day later was a gorgeous, sunny, cool evening. In just over an hour this group of talented performers, including many familiar faces I've greatly missed seeing in the last 15 months without theater, told a sweet and silly story about Minnesota legend Paul Bunyan, and I smiled through the entire show. Fun, safe, and accessible, great for kids and grown-ups alike, LOG JAM is another exciting step in the return of our vital performing arts community (continuing through June 20).

"Getting Plowed: A Holiday Survival Guide" at Brave New Workshop

Friends, it's been way too long since I visited the Brave New Workshop, for no other reason than the theater world keeps me so busy I rarely have time to venture over to the adjacent comedy world. But last night I attended opening night of BNW's annual holiday show, Getting Plowed: A Holiday Survival Guide (continuing through January 4), and was reminded of how much fun it is. It's definitely different than the usual theater I attend - more fun and loose and playful - but still with talented and familiar performers who are experts at what they do. Which is write and perform silly, smart, timely, relatable, ridiculous comedy sketches. And this show is all about the holidays, in an irreverent sort of way that celebrates all that we love and hate about this time of year.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2019: "Game of Toms: One-Man Game of Thrones"

Day: 4

Show: 13

Title: Game of Toms: One-Man Game of Thrones

Category: COMEDY / MUSICAL THEATER / ORIGINAL MUSIC / SOLO SHOW / POLITICAL CONTENT / RELIGIOUS CONTENT

By: Tom Reed

Created by: Tom Reed

Location: Rarig Center Thrust

Summary: A one-man musical comedy parody of the biggest TV sensation of recent years - HBO's Game of Thrones.

Highlights: I love Tom's pop culture parodies, even when I don't know the subject (see Hunger Games) but even more so when I do (see Stranger Things). Truthfully if you haven't seen Game of Thrones, or have at least a working knowledge of it, you might not get much out of this show. But for those of us who know and love the series (and perhaps have read the books several times), it's great fun. Tom takes us through the story, season by season, obviously leaving a lot out but hitting the high (and low) points - Ned's beheading, the Red Wedding, John Snow's true parentage. He narrates (with commentary on the good, the bad, and the naked) and plays multiple characters, each with a specific voice and body carriage, the story peppered with familiar songs with new lyrics (the Cheers theme song about how we don't know everyone's name, "Let It Go" sung by Daenerys as "Let It Burn," a fantastic Hamilton-esque rap). A red handkerchief represents every death discussed, so by the end of the show the stage is littered with handkerchiefs. Speaking of the end, Tom does a bit of improv based on audience suggestions for an ending that would be preferable to the actual ending of the show a few months ago, still fresh on fans' minds. Tom and accompanist Paul Kovacovic present a super fun and Fringey whirlwind journey through Westeros.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.

"Autonomy" by Mixed Blood Theatre at the St. Paul RiverCentre

Mixed Blood Theatre's latest project is wildly ambitious, and they accomplish it quite brilliantly. Reminiscent of Safe at Home, a walking play staged in nine locations at CHS Field with precise timing, Autonomy is a driving play staged at nine locations within the exhibit hall at St. Paul RiverCentre. It's a play about climate change, immigration, and autonomous vehicles (aka self-driving cars). A great guideline for making theater is "content dictates form," so when the content is about cars, why not surround the audience with classic cars and have them drive around in golf carts? A little on-the-nose, but it's quite effective. It's really too bad they're only running it for one weekend. There are four more groups of performances but only extremely limited tickets remain. Autonomy is a forward-thinking experiment in theater like you've never seen before.

Prescient Harbingers: "Hype Man," "Hooded," and "Gloria" at Mixed Blood Theatre

As usual, Mixed Blood Theatre is doing something pretty remarkable right now. They're presenting three plays in rep, all written by young black men. Under the umbrella "Prescient Harbingers" (meaning: "having or showing knowledge of events before they take place;" "a person or thing that announces or signals the approach of another"), these three brilliant plays explore what it means to be a black man in America, directly or indirectly (one is even subtitled Being Black for Dummies), along with commenting on race relations in America and more generally on modern life in America. Young black men are dying at an alarming rate, and these are voices we need to listen to if we ever hope to understand the problem so that we can stop it from happening. If you are a young black man, I can only imagine how validating it must feel to see these voices and these stories on stage. If you're not, I encourage you to go see one, two, or preferably all three of these plays with an open mind and an open heart. Listen, hear, laugh, cry, be disturbed, get angry, join the movement for justice and equality. But don't go see these plays just because it's good for you, good for the larger community, but also because they're extremely well-written and beautifully produced by the team at Mixed Blood Theatre, and make for one entertaining and engaging day of theater. All three plays are presented on Saturdays and Sundays through December 2 with about an hour in between, during which you can get sustenance from the lovely sandwiches, salads, and snacks provided by Birchwood (also available for pre-order here), with single plays showing Wednesday through Friday evenings. You can see all three plays for just $35 (click here for information and to make reservations), or, as always, you can take advantage of Mixed Blood's "Radical Hospitality" program - free admission for available seats two hours prior to the performance. Please carve some time out of your schedule to see this important work.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2018: "Couple Fight: The Musical!"

Day: 10

Show: 32

Title: Couple Fight: The Musical!

Category: Comedy / Dance - Modern / Musical Theater

By: Weggel-Reed Productions

Created by: Anna Weggel-Reed and Tom Reed

Location: Rarig Center Thrust

Summary: The fourth installment in the ingenious series in which real life couples reenact their real life fight, only this time it's a musical!

Highlights: This concept is so brilliant it really should have life outside Fringe. I would love for them to bring it back for a 3-4 week run as a 90-minute show, or maybe a recurring cabaret series. This cast is so full of talent that listening to them fight is sheer joy, and adding music and dance only makes it better, especially when uber talented local composer Keith Hovis writes the songs. Whether the fight is about high expectations around a vacation (soon to be married couple Max Wojtanowicz and Allen Sommerfield), overflowing toilets (newly married couple Lizzie and Bobby Gardner), doing a risky dance lift (long married couple Divya Maiya and Madhu Bangalore - they do the lift!), which 1980s Jim Hensen movie is the best (long married couple Lacey and John Zeiler), a disagreement about a broken glass (roomies Michael Rogers and Alex Van Loh), what to watch on TV (best married couple ever Shanan Custer and Eric Webster), or whether or not someone is mad (girlfiends Allison Witham and Emily Dussault), these fights are so real and relatable but at the same time overly dramatic (as fights can sometimes get) and hilarious. As a bonus we also get three women friends (Colleen Sommerville Leeman, Mandi Verstegen, and Anna Weggel-Reed) vowing to support each other 'til death do them part. Each cast member brings their own unique talent, and the songs and sketches really bring out the best of each of them in a well constructed show that flies by. I love this series and this is my favorite installment yet, and just leaves me wanting more! More Couple Fight!!

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2018: "Gunplay!"

Day: 6

Show: 23

Title: Gunplay!

Category: Comedy / Sci-Fi / Political Content

By: Tom Reed

Created by: Tom Reed

Location: Mixed Blood Theatre

Summary: The National Machine Gun Association (NMGA) sends its new youth liaison to a high school theater group to get them to perform a gun safety drill musical.

Highlights: Is it right to laugh about gun violence in schools? Nothing else has seemed to work to minimize the problem. Although this show doesn't laugh at gun violence, it laughs at the ridiculousness of the gun lobbies and politicians and the way that they speak about gun violence. It's a pretty hilarious and pointed show about one of the most sobering issues we face today. Naive Anders (Tom Reed) is sent to a small school that needs the theater funding the NMGA will provide in return for putting on their show. Teacher Laura (Adelin Phelps) reluctantly agrees so that she can put on the new musical Mortgage (based on RENT) in the spring. Her students (composer Austen Fisher, Karina Strom, Lauren Anderson, Matthew Englund, and Meredith Casey) at first go along with it, but once they realize the pro-gun content of these admittedly fun and peppy songs, they protest and decide to do their own thing (a hilarious mash-up of snippets of musical theater songs). Anders and Laura have chemistry and as Anders begins to learn about the larger world, and think about the organization he works for, he joins the students in their protest. The final moments are sobering as we hear some startling gun statistics, but the message is delivered in a clever, fun, and entertaining way. For a thoughtful exploration of the gun culture in America, go see Gunfighting: An American Story. To laugh at the ridiculousness of everything surrounding the gun culture, see Gunplay!.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.

"The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" at Mixed Blood Theatre

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time racked up awards in both London and NYC, including winning the Tony Award for best play in 2015. Just last year the Broadway tour stopped in Minneapolis, which I saw and was impressed by the clever and inventive storytelling. Now available for regional productions, Mixed Blood Theatre is bringing us their take on the play. The West End/Broadway production was very tech-heavy, and I was curious what this story with a smaller-scale production and in a smaller house would look like. It turns out I like it even better, but I generally always like smaller cast, smaller scale, smaller house versions of plays and musicals which make the story feel more intimate and real. In this case, the 15-person Broadway cast has been reduced to just 9, with very smart casting and direction by Mixed Blood's Artistic Director Jack Reuler. There are still some pretty impressive tech effects, but also some great low-tech effects that all serve this story of a 15-year-old boy with an unspecified autism-like condition who goes on an epic journey in search of the truth. And it still has a real live puppy and real live maths!

Fringe Festival 2017: "Couple Fight 3: Weddings!"

Day: 11

Show: 46

Title: Couple Fight 3: Weddings!

Category: Comedy

By: Weggel-Reed Productions

Created by: Anna Weggel-Reed and Tom Reed

Location: U of M Rarig Center Thrust

Summary: The third is a series of shows in which some of the Twin Cities' funniest people reenact a fight with a loved one, this time around the subject of weddings.

Highlights: I hope the Weggel-Reeds continue to do this show every year. Because nothing is funnier than watching funny people fight with someone they love about something ridiculous. In this hilarious installment, married couples reenact a fight before, during, or after their wedding. Andy Rocco Kraft and Rachael Davies fight about food sampling for the reception caterer. Laura Zabel and Levin Weinhagen fight about the wedding playlist. Nicholas Leeman and Colleen Somerville Leeman fight about getting the wedding invitations done on time. Rita Boersma and Justin Hartke (played by Richie McLarn) fight about her Pinterest project gone wrong. John and Lacey Zeiler fight about the decision to get married at all. And in the one non-couple fight, Heather Meyer explains to her friend Jim Robinson, who is constantly trying to set her up, that she's just fine on her own. I'm sure these fights were traumatic at the moment, but it's the kind of thing you look back on and laugh. And fortunately they do it in front of an audience so we can all laugh with them, and get a little peek into some of our #TCTheater faves' lives and relationships.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.