Category: Criticism
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Not unlike Moses himself, the Andria Theatre’s production of The Prince of Egypt takes a while to find its footing and has to deal with flaws and missteps along the way, but it still ultimately becomes a moving and inspirational piece of theatre. The first few scenes showcase both the production’s highlights and its flaws.…
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Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett is one of the quintessential pieces of absurdist theatre, a genre I’m not typically all that fond of. In the wrong hands, absurdist and surrealist humor can come across as opaque and self-indulgent without having much to say. Thankfully, due to the strong directorial hand of Joseph Haj and…
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Lend Me a Tenor is such a perfectly executed farce that it could practically serve as an object lesson. The script by Ken Ludwig has all of the classic ingredients – broad, archetypal characters, misunderstandings, schemes, the possibility that the whole thing could collapse at any given moment – and the direction from Patrick Spradlin…
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The Little Falls theatre community theatre’s production of Into the Woods shows that there’s still plenty of creativity to be found in this material. It’s probably my favorite musical of all time, and I’ve seen more than a half-dozen productions of it in different capacities. This production, directed by Emma Ahlin, shows a great deal…
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Theatre is about telling stories, music is about capturing emotion, and art is about representing life. Artistry MN has accomplished all of that with their new production of In the Heights. Director Maija García’s production of Lin Manuel Miranda’s musical about a few days in the life of a Washington Heights community embodies the joy…
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It seems weird that it took until now for me to finally see Wicked live. I was generally aware of the musical’s premise and performed a couple of the songs in high school band, but it wasn’t until the film duology was released that I actually saw any of the show itself. Of course, the…
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“The butler did it” is one of those turns of phrase that has existed as a cliché for so long that it’s impossible to think of a context in which it could be used seriously. Jeffrey Hatcher’s new play The Butler Did It, having its world premiere at Park Square Theatre in St. Paul, is…
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It may be a musical comedy by genre, but there were times as I watched the Brainerd Community Theatre’s production of Mean Girls that had me so stressed out I felt like I was wriggling out of my skin. Co-directors Amy Borash and Travis Chaput are able to capture the anxieties of being in high…
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Into the Woods is material that is just about as close to perfection as you can find in the American theatre canon. Between Stephen Sonheim’s unforgettable music and James Lapine’s tightly-constructed and witty book, I’ve often said almost any group with a baseline level of talent and resources can put on a satisfying show. This…
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Big Shark is Tommy Wiseau’s latest exploration of the joys of male friendship and how women are the biggest threat to it. Also there’s a big shark terrorizing New Orleans. One of the biggest concerns that comes with a filmmaker like Wiseau following up a movie as notorious as The Room is that he would…
