The Five Fingers of Funk, A Childrens Theatre Company Production at The Children's Theatre Company on 10/25/08

By: Janet Preus
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  Band leader Poppo (Jahi Kearse, pictured at center) has big plans for his newly formed band, The Five Fingers of Funk, in Will Power's major new musical, FIVE FINGERS OF FUNK, playing October 24-November 16 at The Children's Theatre Company. Photo by Rob Levine. Pictured l-r: DP (Namir Smallwood), Falcon (Matt Rein), Poppo (Jahi Kearse), Big Ced (Keith A. Hale), Ruby (Traci M. Allen) Directed by Der...

Harold Pinter's The Caretaker at The Guthrie Theater on 10/15/08

By: David de Young
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Stephen Epp as Davies - Photo by Michal Daniel The Caretaker by Harold Pinter opened Wednesday in the Dowling Studio at the Guthrie in a production directed by Benjamin McGovern. Pinter’s first commercial and critical success, The Caretaker debuted in London in 1960. His previous work The Birthday Party, just two years before, had been famously panned by Kenneth Tynan as “frivolous” and had not...

Bright Lights, Big City, A Minneapolis Musical Theatre Production at Illusion Theater on 10/12/08

By: Nicholas Leeman
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Patrick Morgan as Jamie - Photo by Roy Blakey The latest offering from Steven Meerdink and Minneapolis Musical Theatre, Bright Lights, Big City, is taken from a nearly-autobiographical novel of the same name by Jay McInerney, which was turned into a 1988 film starring Michael J. Fox in the lead role. MMT's production doesn't lift the story out of the decade it was written in, though it ...

Killer Joe, a Theatre Pro Rata production at Gremlin Theatre on 10/10/08

By: David de Young
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Pictured: Katie Willer and Zach Curtis. Photo: Charlie Gorrill Killer Joe is a 1991 “in your face” play by Steppenwolf Theatre Company playwright and actor Tracy Letts that had its initial debut in Chicago in 1993. Theatre Pro Rata’s production opened October 4 at the Gremlin Theater in Minneapolis.    As much a punch in the gut as a drama, I only find myself wishing I had seen ...

archy and mehitabel, life in lower case, an Open Eye Figure Theatre production at Open Eye Figure Theatre on 10/4/08

By: David de Young
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Sarah Agnew and Jim Lichtscheidl as mehitabel and archy - Photo by Lucas Saugen Open Eye Figure Theatre’s production of archy and mehitabel, life in lower case opened Friday in the theater company’s cozy space by the freeway in South Minneapolis. (The theater is located just off Portland Avenue South and 24th Street.)    Newspaperman Don Marquis created the character of archy [sic] the co...

Tenebrism, a Lamb Lays With Lion Production at The Sound Gallery on 9/20/08

By: David de Young
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Jeremy Catteron in Tenebrism - Photo by Stacy Schwartz Jeremy Catterton and Jayne Deis were key players in last year’s successful indie rock opera, Idigaragua. (Catterton directed, and Deis played roles as diverse as a call girl and a cactus.) This year for the newly-formed Lamb Lays with Lion theater company, Catterton and Deis developed Tenebrism, a loosely knit assemblage of skits about Ian Curtis, Joy ...

Vinegar Tom, A Frank Theatre Production at The Ritz Theater on 9/13/08

By: David de Young
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Publicity photo from Vinegar Tom - Photo by Tony Nelson Frank Theatre’s production of Caryl Churchill’s 1976 play Vinegar Tom opened Friday night September 12th at the Ritz Theater in Northeast Minneapolis. It was my first time in the Ritz since it re-opened after renovations in May, 2006. Situated just up the block from the 331 Club and the Modern Café, the theater...

The Juliet Letters, A Theatrical Music Company production at Southern Theater on 9/11/08

By: David de Young
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Adena Brumer in The Juliet Letters - publicity photo Who would have thought that Elvis Costello, a string quartet and a character from a Shakespearean tragedy would be a match made in heaven and a potential musical theater sensation?  It’s not always that I come away from a musical production with an expanded way of thinking about the world, or at the very least a newfound appreciation for a fictio...

Satellites featuring Taylor Negron and Logan Heftel at Bryant Lake Bowl on 9/6/08

By: David Rachac
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Taylor Negron and Logan Heftel Taylor Negron is one of those character actors who has been in a hundred different things and makes you say “Hey, I’ve seen that guy before!” From the pizza delivery guy in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, to guest appearances on shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm, Friends and Seinfeld, the neurotic intensity Negron brings to his...

The Irresistible Rise of Big Daddy Ubu at Minneapolis Theater Garage on 9/5/08

By: David de Young
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Publicity photo by Jon Behm The nimbus theatre production of The Irresistible Rise of Big Daddy Ubu opened Friday, September 5 at the Theater Garage in Minneapolis. The original production, written and directed by nimbus co-artistic director, Josh Cragun, has one of the strongest and most evenly matched casts I have seen in a nimbus production to date. The show is a reprise of a performance from 2002 and according...