Twin Cities Community Theater Beat

Why do so many community theater groups do Shrek ?  Because it’s a perfect community theater show--it has a huge number of featured roles, it has name recognition, it’s got a good family-friendly message, theaters can re-use a lot of costumes they already have… Honestly, there are a lot of reasons.  Why do community theaters end up doing it at the same time? Well, that’s just how things go in a city with a lot of community theaters. But each production is a unique creation, and even familiar shows can surprise you, like River Valley Theatre Company’s Shrek did for me. Shrek is the story of an ogre who knows the fairy tales--pretty people get to live happily ever after, and the weirdos and freaks don’t.  But with the help of an exuberant talking donkey (and some other weirdos and freaks) he and a princess learn that they can forge their own fairy tale.  Jared Mogen played the titular ogre in RVTC’s production, and from the beginning his Shrek struck me as more...

Freaky Friday is the story of a mother and a teen daughter who can't seem to get along--until they literally walk in each other's shoes.  When they magically switch bodies, they each learn firsthand about how hard the other's life can be. It's a story that's been popular enough to generate two successful films (in 1976 and 2003) and finally a stage musical.  While the musical wasn't a runaway hit, it is a show that pleasantly surprised me. It would be a good show for families to see together, because it delivers its message about cutting your family some slack in a way that is more mature than other stories--perfect for tweens and up. In the stage version, performed this July at Woodbury Community Theatre, mother Katherine and daughter Ellie trade places after fighting and breaking a magical oversized hourglass that Katherine's late husband had given to his daughter (he had given an identical one to his wife).  I implore you not to think too hard about...

The film Newsies came out in 1992, but it is a movie I associate with high school, because that was the time when all my friends were obsessed with it.  It's the story of a group of young newspaper sellers in 1899 New York who go on strike when the price of their papers is suddenly raised.  The newsies don't have power or money, but as they stand firm, their movement grows in number.  In the film, Christian Bale played the main newsie, Jack, which certainly contributed to its success, but stirring music by Alan Menken and lots of teen boys doing impressive dance moves were also factors in the film's appeal. For the stage version, the writers expanded many of the side roles and turned Jack's love interest into an enterprising female journalist.  New songs were added, but the play really relies on the familiar songs of the film--and many, many reprises.  They're great songs, but sometimes it was a bit much. Rosetown Playhouse performs in the Lake Como pavilion...

Big Fish is the story of two men.  Edward is a storyteller who’d rather embellish than keep things simple; his son Will is a journalist who long ago grew tired of his father’s wild tales.  When Will finds out that he’ll have a son of his own, he is eager to learn the truth about his father’s life and mend their relationship--but will Edward’s time run out first? I discussed some of my issues with this play in a previous review .  Now, having recently re-watched the film and seeing the stage version for a second time, I can see more clearly what the writers of the musical were going for.  The show has some great things going for it: catchy songs, lots of colorful characters, emotional moments, and so forth, but I do wish the writers had worked a little harder on solidifying the themes of the show.  If Will’s profession as a journalist were mentioned more than once, for example, it could strengthen the conflict between storytelling and fact-finding.  If th...

If you don’t like Shrek: the Musical , I have to wonder if you’ve even seen it.  Or maybe you have to see a community theater production to really get into it. I did see a professional version once and it wasn’t as good, but every community production I’ve been to or been in has been really enjoyable.  Maybe it’s that the show’s message is about embracing differences, but Shrek is better when it’s done by “real” people. This is not to insult professional actors or non-professional actors, but there is a difference between the performances that the audience can feel, and this time the advantage is definitely not with the professionals. Shrek , based on the animated film of the same name, is about a grumpy ogre who lives in a swamp.  When the short, title-hungry Lord Farquaad evicts all magical creatures from their homes and dumps them on Shrek’s swamp, the ogre ends up going on a quest with a talking donkey to rescue a princess in exchange for the deed to his swamp....

A lesser member of the Rogers & Hammerstein collection, State Fair was a pleasant surprise when I first got to know it. It's the story of the Frakes, an Iowa farming family who have big dreams for their trip to the state fair. The parents, Abel and Melissa, hope to win blue ribbons, son Wayne hopes to prove himself at a carnival game, and daughter Margy is trying to figure out whether she should marry her long-time boyfriend. Both Wayne and Margy find romance on the fairway, but what happens when the fair ends? The script, though a little dated, is charming. R&H put together the music for this version in a hodge-podge of original works and songs taken from other projects (like Pipe Dream, whose Wikipedia page is a weird and interesting read)--but some of these songs quickly became favorites of mine. Recently I attended the Eden Prairie Players production of State Fair. For the unfamiliar (as I was), they perform in an outdoor auditorium in Staring Lake Park, relyi...

First, I want to caution that there are flashing light effects in the second act that may pose a problem to people with photosensitivity. This was not mentioned in the pre-show announcement but I hope the company will add it for future performances. Big Fish is based on the 1998 book and 2003 film of the same name. The story revolves around the relationship between Edward Bloom and his son Will. Their relationship is strained because Edward, a traveling salesman, was often away during Will’s childhood. When he was home, he told Will wild and sometimes inconsistent tales about his life that have left adult Will not sure he knows his father at all. Approaching fatherhood himself, Will resolves to try to find out what was real in his father’s life, just as their time starts to run out. The tricky thing about bringing this story to the stage is that musical theater is an arena that already encourages suspension of disbelief. As an audience, we are meant to be a little suspicious of s...