Main Street School of Performing Arts Presents MYTH AND LORE
History's greatest legends come alive in this multi-disciplinary evening of theatre and dance, featuring original work by John Mark and Aeysha Kinnunen. Audience members can expect an evening of highly physical work, breathing new life into ancient stories.
BWW Review: In History Theatre's WATERMELON HILL, the Stories of Unwed Pregnant Women in 1960s St. Paul are Told with Humor, Intelligence, and Compassion.
The History Theatre in St. Paul is committed to bringing new plays and musicals to the stage, usually inspired by true events in Minnesota history. Their yearly Raw Stages festival, a series of workshops and readings of new works, often results in full productions in the following season or two. But I often wonder, what happens next? After a new play or musical is developed, produced, and well-received, where does it go? In the case of 2001's WATERMELON HILL, it comes back again 15 years later. As much as I love seeing new works of theater on History Theatre's stage, I'm thrilled that they brought this wonderful old new work back to the stage, giving it a fresh new production. Inspired by historical events, WATERMELON HILL tells the stories of three young women in the mid '60s, pregnant and unmarried, sent in shame to St. Paul's Catholic Infant Home to wait out their pregnancies, deliver their babies, give them up for adoption, and then leave and never look back. Surprisingly light and funny for such a somber topic, the play brings light to the all too familiar tale of the challenges and lack of education and choices facing women in the past, and perhaps to a lesser extant, even today. Along with THE HOW AND THE WHY and NINA SIMONE: FOUR WOMEN, it's another fantastic choice of theater to present during Women's History Month.
BWW Review: New Epic Theater's DOUBT Brings the Themes of the Modern Classic into Almost Painfully Sharp Focus
Friends, I know that there are a lot of theater companies in the Twin Cities, so many that it's hard to keep track of them all and impossible to see them all. But you would be wise to take note of New Epic Theater. With just their second production outside of the Fringe Festival and their first full season of programming, they've already established themselves as one to watch with smart, intense, risk-taking, aesthetically beautiful productions. Their new production of John Patrick Stanley's 2005 Tony-winner DOUBT re-imagines the new classic with inventive staging that brings the themes of doubt vs. certainty, racial and gender inequality, and the power hierarchy of the Catholic Church into almost painfully sharp focus.
Nearly 300 Minnesota Artists to Mount 18 Productions at Park Square in 2014-15
With Sexy Laundry opening tonight, the entire cast roster for the theatre's biggest season is almost complete. Nearly 300 Minnesota artists - including actors, directors, designers and technical operators - will mount 18 productions on two stages. The season lineup confirms Park Square's commitment to the work of women writers like Amy Herzog, Michele Riml and Alice Walker. The casting emphasizes Park Square as a home for local artists of color, from returning favorites like James A. Williams, T. Mychael Rambo and Regina Williams to dozens of debuts like Dominique Wooten, Kurt Kwan and Sarah Ochs.
Illusion Theater to Stage LOVE & MARRIAGE: WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES, 9/19-10/20
Last fall, the Illusion Theater developed a new musical revue to explore marriage-and what it signifies. After same-sex marriage was legalized in November and with the landmark Supreme Court decision in the spring, Illusion was besieged with people asking, 'Will you bring the show back to celebrate this historic moment for love and marriage in Minnesota?' The answer is a resounding, 'YES!' LOVE & MARRIAGE: WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES opens September 19 and will honor all newlyweds with a special post-show reception. The show continues through October 20 at the downtown Minneapolis theater, located on the eighth floor of The Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts, 528 Hennepin Ave.
Photo Flash: Guthrie Theater's PRIDE AND PREJUDICE Celebrates Opening Night!
Friday night, July 12, saw the opening of the Guthrie Theater's romantic summer comedy Pride and Prejudice helmed by Guthrie director Joe Dowling. The production is the Simon Reade adaptation of the classic Jane Austen novel and features Ashley Rose Montondo (Guthrie: Charley's Aunt, University of Minnesota/Guthrie BFA Actor Training Program) as Miss Elizabeth Bennet along with Vincent Kartheiser (Guthrie:A Christmas Carol, Henry V, Henry IV; Regional theater: Death of the Novel; Film: Untamed Heart, In Time; Television: 'Mad Men') as Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy. Scroll down for photos from the curtain call and opening night party!
Photo Flash: First Look at Vincent Kartheiser, Ashley Rose Montondo and More in Guthrie Theater's PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
Friday night, July 12, saw the opening of the Guthrie Theater's romantic summer comedy Pride and Prejudice helmed by Guthrie director Joe Dowling. The production is the Simon Reade adaptation of the classic Jane Austen novel and features Ashley Rose Montondo (Guthrie: Charley's Aunt, University of Minnesota/Guthrie BFA Actor Training Program) as Miss Elizabeth Bennet along with Vincent Kartheiser (Guthrie:A Christmas Carol, Henry V, Henry IV; Regional theater: Death of the Novel; Film: Untamed Heart, In Time; Television: "Mad Men") as Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy. Scroll down for a first look at the cast in action!
