Theater Reviews of theater productions, both traveling and originating in Minnesota.
Reviews of theater productions, both traveling and originating in Minnesota.
Sep 18 2026
“Mamma Mia!” Is Gaudy Fun at the Orpheum Theatre
Now through September 20, the Orpheum Theatre is hosting Mamma Mia!, the light, bright romp set to the hits of Swedish pop group ABBA.
This was not my first time seeing the stage show—I grew up watching the 2008 film adaptation at home, and my mom took me to see the movie at the Castro Theater in San Francisco…
Aug 13 2026
“Therapist Zero” Is a Father-Daughter Story About “Dysfunction and Trying to Fit In”
As part of the Minnesota Fringe Festival, the Southern Theater in Minneapolis is currently hosting Brian Leonard’s Therapist Zero, a one-man dark comedy show described as centering on “broken parents, failed therapists, and the art of getting it right.”
In Therapist Zero, Leonard…
Aug 10 2026
Comedian and Advocate Kaytlin Bailey Wants to Make the History of Sex Work “Willfully, Deliberately Accessible”
Kaytlin Bailey’s one-woman show, The Oldest Profession, is billed as “a mad dash through 10,000 years of history from a sex worker’s perspective.” Bailey’s experience as a sex worker and sex work advocate, and more recently as a podcaster and stand-up comic, has given her a well-rounded perspective…
Jul 29 2026
In “Jewelry Power Elite,” a Minnesota Comedy Performer Reflects on the Magic and Joy of Decoration
At the small Dudley Riggs Theatre in downtown Minneapolis, home of Brave New Workshop, Lauren Anderson has put together her first one-person show to exhibit her extensive jewelry collection.
I wasn’t sure what to expect going into Jewelry Power Elite, since the show’s synopsis didn’t give too much…
Jul 16 2026
“Wicked” Brings the Magic of Oz to the Orpheum Theatre
Going to see Wicked at the Orpheum in Minneapolis was exciting because I could cross it off my list as the third Wizard of Oz adaptation I’ve seen in the last eight months. The very first play I reviewed for Twin Cities Geek was The Wiz, also at the Orpheum, and one of my favorite plays I’ve written about was…
Jul 11 2026
“Guillotine City” Asks Relevant Questions About Action, Inaction, and Change
“I don’t write cartoons. I make machines.”
This was a line that stood out to me from Marge J. Buckley’s Guillotine City, which ran at Open Eye Theatre over the weekend of June 12, 2026. Denny (played by Sasha Blinnikova), a machinist, has just found out that her friend’s neighbor, a cartoonist, had been…
Jun 27 2026
Classical Actors Ensemble’s “The Tempest” Contends with Moral Ambivalence
Since 2014, Classical Actors Ensemble has put on annual productions of Shakespeare plays in parks around the Twin Cities and surrounding region. This summer, CAE is staging The Tempest, once again exhibiting the group’s signature blend of comedy, audience engagement, and music.
The Tempest…
May 29 2026
“The Hobbit” at Theatre in the Round Understands the Heart of LARPing
Greg Banks’s adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit is not quite a straight book-to-stage translation. The story is told through a framing device: that of a group of survivors 30 years in the future, following an apocalyptic event (the exact nature of which remains vague). When the actors scheduled…
May 19 2026
TigerLion Arts’ “Big World” Showcases Circus Arts and More at Theodore Wirth Park
At Minneapolis’s historic Theodore Wirth Pavilion on May 8, 9, and 10 only, Big World, a circus-based “walking play” by TigerLion Arts, set out to teach about love and togetherness. The show begins with five “experts,” all scientists from around Europe studying the power of love,…
May 13 2026
Theater Mu and Urban Growler Brewing Present a Night of Asian American Storytelling
On Thursday, May 14, Theater Mu and Urban Growler Brewing Company are teaming up to provide a one-night-only “unhinged and unfiltered” megaphone for the Asian American community during Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Month. Oops, We Have Opinions!…