"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.

"The Hatmaker's Wife" by Ten Thousand Things at Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church

The Hatmaker's Wife by Lauren Yee (whose most recent work produced in #TCTheater was the epic Cambodian Rock Band by Theater Mu and Jungle Theater) feels like it was written for Ten Thousand Things (it wasn't - it premiered over ten years ago). It's in the vein of their magical fairy tale stories, that I think is my favorite kind of TTT show (even more than their clear-eyed Shakespeare or stripped down musicals). I can't imagine a "normal" theater company doing this play, meaning on a proscenium stage separated from the audience, with fancy lights, sets, and costumes. It's so well suited to the TTT All the Lights On style, weaving a magical and moving tale simply through the talents of the performers and the power of collective imagination (that makes even the aggressively religious paintings in the room at Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church fade into the background). It's a story of love, and disconnection, and grief, and hope, a wistful and whimsical story of talking walls, golems, and connections across time. These hats continue to sing at Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church this weekend (with a huge free parking lot) and then will move on to Open Book for two final weekends.

"The Buddha Prince" by TigerLion Arts at Wasburn Fair Oaks Park

If you've been reading Cherry and Spoon for a while, you might know that Nature, the outdoor walking play about the life, work, and friendship of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, is one of my favorite theater experiences of all time. But what you may not know, and what I didn't know either, is that Nature was not TigerLion Arts' first foray into ambulatory theater. Back in the early aughts, Nature co-creators Markell Kiefer and Tyson Forbes (along with Samuel Elmore) developed The Buddha Prince with Tibetan-American artist Tenzin Ngawang. After performing multiple times around the country, the piece was shelved while Nature was developed and toured for the next decade. Now they're bringing it back for the first time in 14 years. I said on the Twin Cities Theater Bloggers' podcast Twin Cities Theater Chat that if The Buddha Prince was half as good as Nature, it would be a wonderful experience. I'm happy to report that it is as lovely and unique an experience as Nature, with many of the same themes and even structure, just with a different focus. A co-production with the Tibetan American Foundation of Minnesota, The Buddha Prince is a celebration of the life and work of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, as well as Tibetan culture, music, history, and dance.

"Twelfth Night" at the Guthrie Theater

For their annual Shakespeare production, the Guthrie is bringing us a truly delightful, innovative, and playful rendition of the comedy Twelfth Night. And in a surprising and wonderful choice, the cast is 100% local. I'm someone who often calculates that percentage at the Guthrie, and while I appreciate the chance to see national talent on the local stage, I'm also the biggest fan of our #TCTheater community, so I always want that percentage to be higher. It's wonderful to see that rich, deep, broad, diverse, incredibly talented community 100% represented on stage in this production. The show is as Shakespeare's comedies are meant to be - fun, playful, accessible, almost interactive, heartfelt, and hilarious.

"Nature" by TigerLion Arts at Lebanon Hills Regional Park

I went for a walk today. But not just any walk, although any walk through Nature is special. It was a walk with my favorite theater experience - TigerLion Arts' outdoor walking play Nature. Seeing it for the fifth time was as moving as seeing it for the first. There are many reasons why Nature is my favorite: it's outdoors in a beautiful natural setting; you get to walk around instead of sitting in an uncomfortable theater seat; it's about as site-specific as theater can get; it combines history, philosophy, spirituality, and ecology; it has elements of physical theater and music; and it's totally immersive in the best way. One of the most wonderful and the most challenging things about theater is that you really have to stay present in the moment. Who hasn't felt their mind wander in the theater? Our lives are so busy and jam-packed that it's difficult to put all of that aside for any length of time. But when you feel the sun warm on your back, or frozen raindrops pelt your face, it very effectively brings you right back to the present and to the experience that we're all having together, right here, right now. Such is Nature, which more than just theater, is an invitation to contemplate one's own relationship with Nature by taking a journey (literally) with Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau as they contemplate their relationships to Nature and each other.

"Metamorphoses" at the Guthrie Theater

"Myths are public dreams; dreams are private myths." The Guthrie's production of Metamorphoses, from which this quote comes, feels like a dream and a myth, gorgeously come to life on stage. I knew nothing about this play going into it, and was absolutely enthralled by it. Some of the myths relayed in the play were familiar to me, some entirely new. The play is only 90 minutes long, so only 10-15 minutes is spent on each myth. But the telling is so exquisite that each one feels like a full, rich, complete story. Playwright Mary Zimmerman directs the play she wrote 20+ years ago. When the same person writes and directs, it creates such a singular vision, a clear and cohesive storytelling, and that's definitely the case here. You don't need to know anything about mythology to see this play, and don't let that word scare you. This is not a dry history lesson from long ago, it's a fluid, captivating, beautiful retelling of these archetypal stories that still resonate.

"Into the Woods" by Ten Thousand Things at North Garden Theater

Into the Woods is one of Stephen Sondheim's most popular and frequently performed musicals. In the eight years I've been blogging about #TCTheater, I've now seen (and written about) seven different local productions. So I'm not going to write about the brilliance of this fairy tale mash-up (with book by James Lapine) that turns the idea of "happily ever after" on its head; you can read my thoughts about that here. Instead, I'll share with you what makes this production special, namely, because Ten Thousand Things does theater like no one else. It's my first time seeing them do Sondheim, which is exciting because TTT has a knack for breaking down the most complex shows (and Sondheim is nothing if not complex) and laying bare the truest heart of the piece. And since they're a weaver of fairy tales, traditional and otherwise, Into the Woods is a perfect match for TTT. This production (which continues through March 24 at various locations, including free performances at prisons, homeless shelters, community centers, and other places where people don't normally experience theater and therefore need it the most) is sheer perfection and perhaps my favorite thing they've done. But I say that about pretty much every TTT show I see.

"Little Women" at the Jungle Theater

Louisa May Alcott's 150-year old novel Little Women is experiencing a bit of a resurgence at the moment. A beautiful mini-series came out recently on Masterpiece, a modern adaptation is set to be released to movie theaters this fall, and director/writer Greta Gerwig's star-studded movie is currently in pre-production. #TCTheater is also getting in on the action; Jungle Theater has commissioned a new theatrical adaptation from Kate Hamill (who recently adapted Sense and Sensibility, seen on the Guthrie stage two years ago). There's a reason Alcott's semi-autobiographical novel has remained so popular. This story of four very different sisters who support each other despite their differences, and each struggle to find their own path in life, is timeless and always inspirational. This lively adaptation (that stops short of the end of the book), featuring a wonderful and diverse cast, is sweet and heart-warming, staying true to the source but casting the story in a more modern and relevant light.

"The Good Person of Szechwan" by Ten Thousand Things at St. Paul's ELCA

Michelle Hensley, retiring Artistic Director and Founder of Ten Thousand Things, is a gift. A gift to theater, a gift to Minnesota, a gift to the world. She taught us a new way to do theater, a new way to experience theater, one that considers who the audience can and should be, which is everyone. Read her book All the Lights On if you want to know more about it, or go see her beautiful swan song The Good Person of Szechwan (continuing through June 3), which is also the first play that TTT ever did nearly 30 years ago when Michelle started it in California. We've been lucky enough to have TTT as a vital part of the #TCTheater community for 25 years, a tradition that will continue after Michelle's retirement under the leadership of new Artistic Director Marcela Lorca. One can only hope that all of the artists and audience members she's worked with and influenced in those years will continue on this tradition of inclusive, accessible, imaginative theater that is unlike anything else.

"Nature" by TigerLion Arts at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum

"This one thing I know for sure, we must all return to Nature." So says Henry David Thoreau in TigerLion Arts' outdoor walking play Nature, and I couldn't agree more. That's one of many reasons why I love this unique theater piece so very much and saw it last weekend for the fourth year in a row. It's truly one of my favorite theater things. Nature checks off all of my theater boxes: it's funny, whimsical, poignant, musical, physical (for performers and audience), immersive (but not interactive), historical, spiritual, inspiring, silly, 90 minutes no intermission, and performed in the best location ever - the great outdoors. It fills my heart with joy and my mind with challenging thoughts about the interaction between civilization and nature. The 2017 tour (which included a trip to Concord MA for the celebration of the 200th anniversary of Thoreau's birth) has concluded, but follow TigerLion Arts on Facebook and/or Twitter for information on future performances and an upcoming documentary. As long as TigerLion Arts keeps performing Nature and there exists Nature in which to perform it, I will follow them on this beautiful journey.

"Fiddler on the Roof" by Ten Thousand Things at Augsburg College

It never fails. Whenever I go to see a Ten Thousand Things show, the storytelling is so clear it's as if I'm truly seeing it for the first time, even if it's a piece I've seen one or many times before. In their signature bare bones theater style, they've cut out all the fluff from the beloved musical Fiddler on the Roof (and let's face it, there's a lot of fluff in this show that often feels too long) to get right to the heart of the story. Even though I've seen the show twice in recent years (at the Chanhassen and Artistry), I've never been so caught up in and felt so deeply the story of one man's struggle with holding to his traditions, while still loving his family as they begin to change and grow out of those traditions. The brilliant Steve Epp makes Tevye so real and human, and along with the other eight members of this terrific ensemble playing multiple characters, makes the world of Anatevka palpably real and somehow modern, despite still being anchored in time and space. Because 50 years after it was written, this story about a family of refugees fleeing persecution and violence in their beloved homeland to find safety in America is as timely as ever. Fiddler on the Roof continues through March 19 at various locations and it is a must see.

"Nature" by TigerLion Arts at Elm Creek Park Reserve

A few weeks ago, I spent four days and three nights in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, just outside of Ely, MN. Even though I've been to New Zealand and Northern Alaska, this was the most in Nature I've ever been. After paddling into the nationally designated wilderness area, the only signs of civilization I and my six companions saw were the campsite fire pits and latrines (if you can call a copper stool with a hole in it standing in the middle of the woods "civilization"). Nothing soothes my fears and relieves my stress like being in Nature. Those four days were like a balm to my soul; the challenge is to carry that feeling with me back into civilization. TigerLion Arts' outdoor walking play about the friendship between Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, simply titled Nature, challenges the audience to escape from civilization for an hour or two and feel Nature's balm. After touring around the Midwest, it was at the beautiful Elm Creek Park Reserve, just north of Maple Grove, last weekend. This was my third time seeing it and the third location (after the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum and my alma mater St. John's University), and I will continue to go see it every year they continue to do it. It truly is one of my favorite theater experiences.

"Harvey" at the Guthrie Theater

"I've wrestled with reality for over 40 years, and I'm happy to report that I finally won out over it." So says Elwood Dowd, he who sees the imaginary six-foot tall white rabbit, in the 1944 play Harvey by Mary Cole. That's an attitude I can fully get behind, because sometimes reality sucks. And I think that's part of the reason for my love of going to the theater - because I can forget the sometimes depressing reality of the world for a few hours and immerse myself in the world of the play. Harvey is just such a play. So maybe it's 70 years old, and is nothing ground-breaking or particularly illuminating about the society we live in today, but the Guthrie's new production of this classic is wonderful escapist entertainment that also provides some still relevant commentary on people, society, and relationships. The world might be a happier place if we all had our own Harvey to focus on rather than dwell on the harshness of the world around us.

"The Night Alive" at the Jungle Theater

The Night Alive is an odd little play. Which is really no surprise - it's Irish. No offense meant, I love all things Irish, including odd little Irish plays. I'm not quite sure what to make of Irish playwright Conor McPherson's newest work The Night Alive, now playing at the Jungle Theater, other that it's funny, tragic, and wholly engaging. This tale of a bunch of misfits in a run-down house in Dublin is brought to gritty life by an endlessly watchable five-person cast speaking with lovely Irish brogues (some more authentic than others) and the Jungle's usual perfection in design. I may have left the theater a little perplexed, but definitely with something to chew on.

"Nature" by TigerLion Arts at the St. John's University Arboretum

Nature is truly one of the most special and unique theater experiences I've ever had, and I've had a lot of theater experiences in the last five years of writing this blog, and in the years before. This "outdoor walking play" about the lives, writings, and friendship of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau was created in 2010 by TigerLion Arts' Tyson Forbes (a descendant of Emerson) and Markell Kiefer, et al., and has continued to be developed into its current form as the touring production known as Nature for the Nation. With the state of our global and local environment, it's quite obvious this that Nation needs Nature, and this piece is a beautiful way to connect to, explore, and comment on Nature. And beyond that, it's an incredibly inventive and unique piece of theater that is a perfect illustration of the concept "content dictates form." When your content is the very personal and yet infinite idea of Nature herself, there is no better form that getting the audience out in Nature while watching, and participating in, this experience. Nature is everything I love about theater, combining comedy, drama, music, physicality of performance, physicality of the audience in walking through the space, creativity, an inspiring true story, and a stunningly gorgeous natural location.

Nature leads the way through the SJU Arboretum

I first saw Nature last year at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chanhassen, where it played for several weekends in the late fall. It's definitely one of those shows you can see multiple times; it's such a rich and full experience with so much to take in, and it's different every time due to the main character, ever-changing Nature. This year's tour presents multiple opportunities to see it again. I was invited to the opening in Minneapolis, but I decided I'd rather see it at St. John's University, my alma mater (technically I went to St. Ben's, but they're really the same school). Every fall I visit the SJU campus with my family (most of whom live in the St. Cloud area, many of whom attended or are attending CSB or SJU) to walk through the woods and have a picnic by the lake. This is one of the places where I have felt a connection to Nature over the years, so I wanted to experience Nature there. And to make it even more special, my super-talented 16-going-on-17-year-old cousin and goddaughter Greta was part of the community chorus, and it was a perfectly gorgeous fall day, making it well worth the 150-mile roundtrip.

the cast of Nature at the Arboretum last year

As at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum last year, the play took place in four locations at the SJU Arboretum, a place I'd never visited in my 20-year history with the campus. The community chorus (gathered from local volunteers at each location who rehearse on their own and briefly with the cast, which in this case happened to also include Mark McGowan, co-founder and former member of my favorite a capella group Tonic Sol-Fa) led us to the first location - a church. It was there that the play began with the introduction of Emerson and Thoreau and their early lives. We followed them to a prairie hill with grasses blowing in the breeze as we watched the friends take a walk, something they loved so dearly. Next we paid a visit to Thoreau's Walden Pond cabin, where we learned more about the complicated friendship between these very different men who shared a love of and respect for Nature, but went about it in different ways. Finally we watched Thoreau working in the fields, while "progress" started to overtake Nature, much to his dismay and disgust. This is where the conflict set in, as we followed the story back through the various locations and ended where we began - at the church. We have traveled with this story through time and space and Nature, and come full circle having experienced something truly beautiful.

Emerson (Tyson Forbes) and Thoreau (John Catron)

Most of the cast from last year returns to the tour this year, forming an absolutely delightful, playful, and endlessly watchable ensemble that includes Kate Guentzel as Emerson's wife Lydian, Kimberly Richardson as his aunt Moody (and choreographer), and too many wonderful people to mention (check the tags at the end of this post for a few). Tyson Forbes and John Catron are Emerson and Thoreau once again, and are the perfect embodiment of these two men and their friendship. For at its heart, this really is a love story - in the friendship of these two men and their love for a third party that drew them together. No, not Lydian, although there was a bit of a soap opera love triangle there. Their most important love was for Nature herself. And I cannot imagine anyone else as Nature than Norah Long. She is Nature personified, with her golden halo of curls blowing in the breeze, a look of absolute serenity and oneness on her face, and a voice like the goddess herself (and my cousin tells me she was also wonderful working with the chorus in their rehearsals and the performances). The music provided by Norah (she also plays by the violin), Andrew Forbes (playing bagpipes, flute, guitar, etc.), the cast, and the chorus is so lovely and transporting and perfectly appropriate to the time period and the setting.

There are so many wonderful things about Nature that I can't even begin to tell you about all of them (the whimsical sound effects, the exaggerated apple-eating, the charming letter delivery). It truly is something you need to experience yourself. Return to Nature, take a walk, watch the sky through the trees, be embraced by the earth, and let this talented group of artists take you on a journey that you'll never forget. There are two more stops on the 2015 Nature for the Nation tour, south of the Twin Cities at Gustavus and Carleton Colleges (more info here). But Nature never ends, and hopefully neither will Nature. They're hoping to take it on a National tour, eventually arriving in Concord in 2017 for the 200th anniversary of Thoreau's birth.This beautiful and important story, so well and appropriately told, needs to be heard and is an absolute joy to experience.

"The Unsinkable Molly Brown" by Ten Thousand Things at Open Book

No one does musicals like Ten Thousand Things does musicals. And even though it defies everything we know about musical theater, after seeing a TTT musical I think that maybe that's the way musicals should always be done. The music, like everything else about the show, is stripped down to the very basics, extraneous layers removed to reveal the very heart of the matter. A one-man orchestra provides the minimal accompaniment, and the small cast imperceptibly transitions from speaking to singing, so that you can't even tell where songs end and begin, it's just all one seamless story. And above all else, Artistic Director Michelle Hensley and all of the artists at Ten Thousand Things are storytellers. Whether it's Shakespeare or a classic American musical, they share the story in a pure and unadorned way so that all of their audiences, whether prisoners or seasoned theater-goers, can hear it and see themselves in it. One such masterpiece is their latest musical venture, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, a reprise of their very first musical venture 15 years ago. It's lovely, spirited, sweet, funny, moving, heart-warming, and real.

I had never seen the 1960 musical The Unsinkable Molly Brown (with music and lyrics by Meredith Wilson, who also wrote The Music Man, which happens to be TTT's last musical), nor heard any of the music. The only thing I knew about Molly Brown is that she was on the Titanic (remember Kathy Bates in the movie?). But now she's my new hero. Or at least, this fictionalized version of her as played by the indomitable Maggie Chestovich. I'm not sure how much of it is Molly and how much of it is Maggie, but this character has so much spirit, determination, and hope wrapped up in a tiny package. She wants a better life for her and her pa, and she goes out and gets it. From humble beginnings in Missouri, she decides to move to the big city of Denver, stopping at the mining town of Leadville to earn some money as a waitress and singer. There she meets Johnny Brown (Tyson Forbes, tall and lanky with plenty of aw-shucks charm), who eventually woos her with the promise of riches as well as happiness. He delivers on both, but eventually it becomes obvious that they want different things in life. Johnny wants a simple life in Leadville with his friends, while Molly longs for riches and high society. It drives them apart, but Molly is a woman who doesn't stay down for long and always gets what she wants. And after she survives the great disaster, she decides she wants Johnny.

Johnny and Molly Brown (Tyson Forbes and
Maggie Chestovich, photo by Paula Keller)

Maggie and Tyson make a most charming pair in one of the sweetest love stories I've seen in a while (the song "I'll Never Say No" is irresistible). But don't worry, it's not cloyingly sweet, these are two strong people who know what they want and don't always agree, but also love each other. The wonderful leads are backed by a fantastic ensemble who each play multiple characters and are all just a delight in each one. Highlights include H. Adam Harris as the genial bar owner, George Keller as Denver and European royalty, Eric Sharp as Molly's loving father, Austene Van as the friendly princess, Max Wojtanowicz as the nasal butler and charming prince, and the always entertaining Kimberly Richardson as a particularly snooty Denver socialite, who might just be hiding a bit more depth underneath it all. And as always in a TTT production, another character is the sound, even more so in a musical. The one and only Peter Vitale plays a banjo, a toy piano, and everything in between, and manages to create a full and complete soundscape for this world (with occasional support by Max on trombone). Like the music, the choreography (by Kimberly) is also simple and organic to the story, but ever so charming, including a delicious slow-mo fight scene, an intense wrestling scene, and a bit of party dancing.

Perhaps I should mention, for those of you unfamiliar with Ten Thousand Things (seriously, where have you been?), that in addition to paid performances at Open Book and other locations, they routinely tour their shows to prisons, homeless shelters, and community centers in the area. This requires them to travel light, literally and figuratively. Performances are in a small fully lit room with just a few rows of chairs creating a square on the floor where the magic happens. Actors look you in the eye from just a few feet away, or brush past your knees with swaying skirts, creating an intimacy and connection between audience and cast unlike any other. Set pieces are minimal and easily transportable, leading to some wonderfully creative choices. In this case, that means tiny furniture mounted on wavy poles, which the actors adorably lay a finger on to represent sitting. Costumes must also be minimal and easily transitioned between, and for this show range from drab rural clothing, to fashionably black, to European gold, and of course, Molly's red silk dress. (Sets by Stephen Mohring and costumes by Sonya Berlovitz.)

I'm quite certain that The Unsinkable Molly Brown is ruined for me as a musical now. If I ever see the typical full production of it, I might not even recognize it. But if I did, I'm sure it would pale in comparison to this sparsely lovely version that, like all TTT shows, strips away the unnecessary and serves us up a simple, unadorned, beautifully true story. See it for yourself - performances continue through March 8.


This article also appears on Broadway World Minneapolis.

"Nature" by TigerLion Arts at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum

I went for a walk today. The sky through the trees caught my eye. The sound of music floated in and out between the calling of the birds, and the smell of the late summer prairie was all around me. I followed Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau through their lives, studies, and friendship. I thought about nature not as something to be visited occasionally, but as something we live in the midst of daily, whether we're aware of it or not. Sometimes her voice is obscured by the busyness of modern life, but she's always there if we take the time and listen hard enough.

TigerLion Arts' outdoor walking play, Nature, is more than just theater, it's an experience. The story of the life of writers, philosophers, scholars, and friends Emerson and Thoreau would make for an interesting piece of theater if presented in a traditional indoor setting, but it would not be nearly as effective without the most important character in the play - nature. The beautiful grounds of the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chanhassen is the perfect setting for this site-specific work of theater, music, and storytelling.

The experience takes place at four sites on the vast grounds of the Arboretum, far away from the busy main buildings. We follow our characters from a church, to the cabin on Walden Pond, to a grassy hill, to the fields, and back again. We learn about Waldo and Henry's early lives, their meeting, and their deep but tumultuous friendship. This is one of those plays that will inspire you to do further reading, so I won't begin to try to describe these two great men's work, but suffice it to say that they found common ground in their reverence for nature. This work of theater beautiful expresses that reverence.

friends Waldo and Henry on a walk
(Tyson Forbes and John Catron)

The eleven-person cast and community chorus lead us through the experience, dressed in authentic looking period clothing (costumes by Christine A. Richardson). Waldo and Henry are perfectly personified by Tyson Forbes (who also created and co-wrote the piece) as the tall, elegant, well-dressed minister and lecturer, and John Catron as the bearded and unruly-haired nature-lover who eschews the trappings of modern society. They're like yin and yang, two different expressions of the same idea. Norah Long beautifully embodies Nature herself, golden flowers in her shining curls, a glowing expression on her face as she lovingly looks upon her boys, her pure clear voice singing the songs of nature ringing out across the prairie. The rest of the ensemble portrays all of the other characters as well as inanimate objects in a very physical style of theater. Perhaps the most charming moment is when the audience watches Waldo and Henry far across a grassy hill as they exaggeratedly pantomime their actions and words while the ensemble provides their voices and sound effects.

It may be a bit of a hike to get to the west side of town, but it's well worth the trip. Pick one of these beautiful Minnesota fall days, bring your family, and spend the day at the Arboretum. Walk the grounds, take a deep breath, visit the exhibits and gift shop, have a bite to eat at the cafe, and let these wonderful actors lead you on an experience with nature. And then continue that experience on your own, either at the Arboretum, or in the mountains of New Zealand, or in your own backyard. For the song of nature is everywhere if we take the time and listen hard enough.

the cast of Nature in the open air cabin where several of the scenes take place

This article also appears on Broadway World Minneapolis.

"Detroit" at the Jungle Theater

The Jungle Theater's production of the outrageous dark comedy Detroit is in the middle of its six-week run, so lucky for you there's still time to see it if you haven't yet. This play by Lisa D'Amour is about two couples living next door to each other in any suburb in America. They meet and develop a friendship, despite the fact that none of them are who they seem to be. It's crazy and funny and poignant at times, as it explores relationships and neighborliness in modern America.

Ben (John Middleton) and Mary (Angela Timberman) invite their new neighbors in the run-down house to a barbecue in the spotless backyard of their charming home. Ben and Mary seem like the average suburban couple, he works at a bank and she works as a paralegal, except that Ben has been laid off and is working on starting his own financial planning business, so he spends a lot of time at home on the computer, much to Mary's annoyance. Sharon (Anna Sundberg) and Kenny (Tyson Forbes) are fresh out of rehab and starting their life over with nothing but a great attitude towards life. Over the course of the nearly two-hour (with no intermission) play, many conversations are had, relationships formed, and secrets revealed. It's a beautiful friendship that changes everyone for good, although maybe not for the better. This cast is perfection, and the four actors work and play together so well that one would almost think that they really do live next door to each other. They're all so funny and devastating and completely in the moment, no matter what crazy thing their character is doing. It's really great fun to watch.

As per usual at the Jungle, the director and set designer are one in the same, in this case Joel Sass. He has designed a set that's not just beautiful, with the contrasting facades of the two houses and the perfectly or imperfectly manicured lawns, but is technically impressive as well. I don't want to spoil anything, but do keep an eye on how the set changes scene to scene. The blackout periods between scenes can get a little long, but considering some of the changes that have to happen it's a wonder they're not even longer. Things get broken and repaired, water comes out of the hose, and the grills actually cook the meat. Things turn destructive in the final party scene, leading to what must be an arduous clean-up and resetting of the stage for the next show.

The Jungle never lets me down and this is a perfect example of why - a smart, funny, relevant play, fantastic cast, and perfect execution of difficult technical elements. This is a neighborhood you don't want to live in, but it sure is fun to visit for a few hours (just watch your head and your step). Playing now through May 25.

Fringe Festival: "The Cosmic Equation = 2 Wives + 2 Husbands / Adventure"

Day: 8

Show: 25

Title: The Cosmic Equation = 2 Wives + 2 Husbands / Adventure

By: Adventurer Press

Created by: Stephen B. Brooks

Location: Intermedia Arts

Summary: Narrated by a talking horse, two husbands work in an office rearranging numbers, while their wives go an adventure, meet a giant, are turned into dancing pennies, and eventually reunite with their husbands.

Highlights: Unfortunately, my last show of the 2013 Minnesota Fringe Festival was also one of my least favorites. I really wanted to love this show - it's about numbers (which I love), the cast includes several actors that I love (Tyson Forbes, Suzy Kohane, and Sara Richardson), and the three-minute preview I saw at Fringe-for-All was funny in a crazy way. But when I saw the whole show, I just didn't get it. The actors are great as expected, fully committed to what they're doing, but it just didn't make any sense to me. What I learned about marriage is that husbands work in an office all day and never come home, while wives go on crazy adventures and get turned into dancing pennies. Huh? The highlights are the musical accompaniment and whenever Sara and Suzy add their lovely voices to it, especially during the singing scene changes, and the attention to detail in the props and costumes.

Read more of my fringe fest reflections…

… including my top 5 shows

"Nice Fish" at the Guthrie Theater

In 2008, Mark Rylance won a Tony for his Broadway debut in the play Boeing-Boeing and gave an inexplicable speech about wearing uniforms. He won again in 2011 for Jerusalem, and this time he talked about walking through walls. These weren't just weird ramblings as they appeared; he was reciting poems by Minnesota poet Louis Jenkins. The two men didn't know each other at the time of the first speech, but by the second one they had begun collaborating on writing a play that consists of several of Louis' poems strung together (including both of Mark's speeches). The result is an absurd, hilarious, strangely profound, and yes, somewhat inexplicable play called Nice Fish (sort of like Waiting for Godot on ice), now playing at the Guthrie's Proscenium Theater.

The stage of the Proscenium Theater has been quite effectively transformed into a frozen lake by set designer Todd Rosenthal. A bare glassy surface with wisps of snow strewn about and a backdrop of a distant shore are all that adorn the stage when the play begins. It perfectly captures the stark beauty of winter. Later, complex fishing equipment is brought out, including a tent, a fish house with sauna, a vintage snowmobile, and neon palm trees - just your typical Minnesota winter scene. The visual delights continue with twinkling stars, objects that fly or float across the ice, and a delightful battle with the wind.

a typical Minnesota scene: two friends ice fishing
(Mark Rylance and Jim Lichtscheidl)

The play begins with a series of short vignettes, some only seconds long, punctuated by lights out, that show us two friends setting up for a long day of ice fishing. Eventually they start speaking, to each other or thoughtfully to the air, little observations about life. Often the biggest laugh comes when the lights go out and the audience realizes that's the end of the scene. The scenes slowly build until we learn a bit more about these two fishermen - Erik (Jim Lichtsheidl) is an experienced fisherman, married with a couple of kids at home, while Ron (Mark Rylance, who also directs with his wife Clair van Kampen) is new to this fishing business and is on a bit of a quest to find himself. Jim and Mark are a great pair, an odd couple, and my favorite scenes of the play are those with just the two of them on the ice, talking about nothing and everything (I thought the same thing when I saw Waiting for Godot at the Jungle last year, which also featured Jim). Mark's Ron says everything in a sort of dazed way, as if he's as surprised by what's coming out of his mouth as anyone. He's easy-going and happy to experience all that life has to offer. Jim's Erik speaks with precision and certainty; he just wants to fish and is disturbed when things don't go according to plan. And they don't.

Erik and Ron have a few visitors out there on the ice. First, a DNR officer (a hilariously stern Bob Davis) wants to make sure they have their licenses in order, which of course they don't. Later, they run into a strange young woman named Flo (a charmingly spacey Emily Swallow), her brute of a boyfriend (a long-haired and imposing Chris Carlson), and his brother (Tyson Forbes, tall and silent). These three characters are odd, not of this cold and stoic state of Minnesota. They represent gods of Nordic mythology, and strange and wonderful things happen. There's music, dancing, and hockey. As the play ends, Ron and Erik transform into something else, and something else again. One of the characters says, "Old people leave this life like a movie - I didn't get it!" That's a little how I felt leaving the theater - I didn't quite get all of it, but it was a marvelous experience.

Nice Fish continues at the Guthrie through May 18 (which is probably about the time the ice will be gone from Minnesota's 10,000 or so lakes). Go see it, and bring your favorite fisherperson.