Minneapolis/St. Paul Spotlight: January 2009
The New Year brings the first ever co-production between The Guthrie and The Acting Company, Shakespeare’s Henry V (The Guthrie, January 10-February 1), the tale of an ambitious English King in his quest for the French crown. The title role is played by Matthew Amendt who leads a cast of twelve. This three-week engagement kicks off a 34-city national tour on which the Acting Company will present Henry V in repertory with the world premiere of Jeffrey Hatcher’s adaptation of James Fenimore Cooper’s The Spy. The Guthrie continues to churn out exciting new productions of the bard as it presents a 1950s-style retelling of Two Gentlemen of Verona (January 24-March 29). Also at the Guthrie is a new production of Edward Albee’s A Delicate Balance (January 10-March 1), a play about an aging and well-liquored WASP couple trying to navigate the delicate balance that holds their family together.
Those looking for lighter fare will find it at the Orpheum when the national tour of Grease drops in (December 30-January 4). American Idol alum Taylor Hicks appears as “Teen Angel,” but only for the final five performances (January 2-4). Down the street at Pantages Theater, the 3 Redneck Tenors perform one night only on January 11. Local author and actor Lorna Landvik takes her improv comedy show Party in the Rec Room to the Bryant Lake Bowl (January 2-31). Also at the Bryant Lake Bowl, Omega Wolf Productions delves dangerously into the world of revisionist history in Beethoven and Friends (January 17-31), sketch comedy that imagines that Ben Franklin actually married a man and Gandhi rode a motorcycle.
The Hennepin Theater District continues to present recent Broadway hits, offering two more in addition to Grease this January: Spring Awakening, a musical based on the play by the same name about pubescent fin-de-siècle Germans, makes a brief appearance at the Orpheum Theatre, January 27-February 1, and Frost/Nixon plays the State Theatre, January 6-11. The latter of the two, which is constructed around a series of interviews David Frost held with former president Richard Nixon, has recently been made into a film by director Ron Howard.
Perfect for the certain-to-be-chilly Minnesota January, Kevin Kling’s The Ice Fishing Play runs at Theatre in the Round, January 9-February 1. Meanwhile, Over in Hudson, five-time Emmy Award nominee Linda Kelsey stars as Emily Dickinson in the one-woman show The Belle of Amherst (The Phipps Center for the Arts, January 9-18). In Anoka, The Lyric Arts Main Street Stage presents Larry Shue’s hilarious comedy, The Foreigner (January 16-February 1).
Irreverent dance theater troupe Mad King Thomas appears at the Bryant Lake Bowl in their newest concoction, Love Me, Love My Questionable Art (January 7-14). Also in the word of dance, Twin Cities Dance Company James Sewell Ballet performs at the Southern Theater (January 29-February 1). An orgiastic ballet is one of the hallmarks of Faust (Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, January 24-February 1), Charles Gounod’s opera about a man who sells his soul to the devil. The Minnesota Opera presents this new Doug Varone-directed production.
The Children’s Theatre Company presents The Gruffalo, a musical adaptation of the popular British children’s book by the same name. Finally, beloved children’s television character Bob the Builder stops by the State Theatre for two performances of Bob the Builder Live! Spud’s Big Mess.
