Which of the old grand dame musicals is your favorite?   Photo by Matthew Murphy I’m thinking the tours that never seem to die – Lion King, Les Miserables, Beauty and the Beast, basically anything Andrew Lloyd Webber has ever made – and return time and again to our historic

Are you familiar with Rick Shiomi?   Photo courtesy of GSVLOC If not, what rock have you been hiding under! One of the legendary luminaries of the #tctheater scene, Rick founded Mu Performing Arts (one of my favorite local companies), Full Circle Theater (another favorite local company!), and has been

When the weather matches the mood of your show, you know you’ve got something powerful going on.   Photo by Dan Norman I have always been a great lover of opera, so it saddens me that I haven’t had a chance to see many performances in the last few years!

Sometimes, all you want is a good B-list sequel.   Photo by Joan Marcus I was raised on the original Phantom of the Opera Broadway soundtrack. At 12 years old, when I got my first boombox #datedmyselfalready, I owned three CDs: Celine Dion’s greatest hits; Barbra Streisand duets (including a

The Gilbert & Sullivan Very Light Opera Company brings precision and sass to this timely piece. Photo by Stephen Hage How much do you know about Gilbert & Sullivan? If you’re a fan of musicals you’ve likely seen the Pirates of Penzance at some point in your life, but did

Sacred cows of the theater be warned: your days of being untouchable are careening towards a swift end.   Photo by Petronella Ytsma And what great news that is! Seriously, I’ve been advocating for years, ad nauseam (#sorrynotsorry), that we need to really feel comfortable revising things for the modern

Who says old dogs can’t learn new tricks?   Photo by Matthew Murphy Or perhaps it would be more appropriately phrased: who says old musicals can’t learn new tricks? Photo by Matthew Murphy Long time Compendium readers (thank you, wherever you are!) will remember my review four years ago (how?!?)

“You’re not supposed to know what you’re doing with your life Girl – you’re just supposed to live it!” Photo by Allen Weeks.  I’m just going to come out and say it: there are some really, really great things happening in our local theater community right now. I mean the

The 2nd Annual Twin Cities Theater Blogger Awards are coming! Photo courtesy of Park Square Theater. And I cannot wait to see how they turn out. We have had such an incredible year of theater here in the Twin Cities and let me tell you: trying to narrow down the

Fantasy fans are going to have a field day By Mathew LeFebvre. Do you like Lord of the Rings? The Hobbit? Mythical stories of ancient Nordic and Germanic religions? Beowulf? Fantasy in general? If you do: then friend, do I have the show for you. Das Rheingold is kicking off