The family attended a Sunday afternoon performance of Oklahoma! this weekend that was produced by the Eagan Summer Community Theatre. Colleen couldn’t wait to finally hear the real Surrey with the Fringe on Top after all of those When Harry Met Sally references.

The production quality of this show was quite high and we enjoyed the lead actors: Ashley Lemaire as Laurey and Jared Oxborough as Curley. Douglas Castle was also great as Ali Hakim and the kids liked Honey Ribar as Ado Annie the most.

The worst part of the show by far was the audience - why can’t people shut up for two hours? Aside from that, it was nice to finally see the play that every Okie is duty-bound to watch at some point in their life. Ok-la-hom-a, OK!

A few weeks ago, we went with our friends to see The Secret Fall of Constance Wilde at the Guthrie’s Proscenium Stage. That was the only stage at the new Guthrie that I hadn’t been in, and it was very nice: red everywhere, comfortable seats, good sight lines and strong acoustics.

We got there about an hour early to get rush tickets, which worked perfectly - four seats together for $20 a seat. The theater got some of that money back in concessions, but I was disappointed that none of the restaurants (both in the theater and those nearby) were open after the performance.

The show itself was entertaining. You really can’t go wrong with anything at the Guthrie, but I didn’t know much about this play beyond what I had read about Oscar Wilde on Wikipedia.

Very interesting character, which led to an interesting play that jumps around in time. The on-stage musicians and four puppeteers helped tie transitions together and the three primary actors were all enjoyable to watch.

The Thomas Kilroy play runs through July 11th (ticket information here).

This was a busy family activity weekend - wedding on Saturday in Plainview, Minnesota, and a community theater presentation of Cats on Sunday in Maplewood.

Congratulations to Justin and Mindy Tentis on their marriage. How often to you get to see a bride and groom drive away in something like that? It probably cost more than I paid for my house too…

The Heritage Theater Company production of Cats at the Maplewood Community Center included two Smiths - my uncle Jeff playing Bustopher Jones and my cousin Peter playing Mungojerrie. They both had solos and were awesome. The three hours worth of makeup was impressive too. The show runs through May 18 if you want to catch some good community theater (40+ people in the cast and orchestra).

Colleen and I went to see Warm Beer Cold Women at the Guthrie’s Dowling Theater this weekend. The theater was set up the exact reverse way from when we saw Phil Callen in Pen this fall, which threw me off at first.

I’ve liked Tom Waits for a long time, but realized I’m not much of a Waits expert. This show had lots of songs I’d never heard before, but we still had a good time. Katy Hays was our favorite performer, but Dennis Curley had his moments and Robert Berdahl (who also wrote, directed and produced) did an admirable job with his torn Achilles and crutches.

The musicians were very strong and we really liked Dan Chouinard on keyboards and Mark Stillman on accordion (his entrance at the beginning of Rain Dogs was a highlight of the evening).

Complete list of songs from the program after the jump. (more…)

This weekend my wife and I went to see our friend Phil Callen perform in the two act play Pen at the Guthrie’s Dowling Studio in Minneapolis. Phil was his usual great self, or as Star Tribune reviewer Rohan Preston called him, “a smooth and smarmy cad.”

The review in the paper didn’t really prepare us for what we actually experienced. I was expecting a grim and dark storyline, but found myself smiling through most of the show. One big twist I totally wasn’t expecting too (I won’t spoil it here).

The play runs though November 25–go and see Phil before he returns to New York. Ticket info here. Prices are very reasonable and seats are general admission, so get there early (doors opened 30 minutes before show time on Saturday).

I’m really becoming attached to the new building. The 180-seat Dowling Studio space is very special (not to mention hard to find). Here’s a nice local photo site I found that has some shots of the exterior (including the cool yellow overhanging block with the glass floor).

After the play, we stopped at the Spoonriver restaurant located across the street from the Guthrie. Started by the same people behind Cafe Brenda, the Spoonriver space is small and narrow and focuses on locally produced, organic ingredients. We ordered off of the after-theater bar menu and enjoyed the following:

• Caesar Salad - with sliced Free Range Chicken Breast
• Quesadilla - Local Free Range Smoked Chicken, Greek Keseri Cheese, Mango - Cranberry Coulis

Very fun to see the picture of Ian McKellen in the front foyer, too.

Last month I ended my boycott of the new Guthrie (mad about the old one being torn down) to see my friend Phil Callen portray Georgia senator Lyman Hall in 1776.

The new building is stunning. The interior of the Wurtele Theater is a virtual carbon copy of the old space–intimate, with every seat a good one. The “bridge to nowhere” is unique and has awesome views of the river and skyline (including the eerie site of the 35W bridge collapse). The best view, however, was in the hard-to-find ninth floor, with tall, yellow-tinted windows. The restaurants looked great–I especially want to visit Cue, even though Lenny Russo is no longer involved.

The play was very enjoyable. It’s always fun to watch shows with people you know and the “charismatic” Phil Callen didn’t let us down. Love to see live musicians too–just like a Cirque show…

Best of luck to Phil as he heads out to New York. He will return to the Guthrie later this year performing in the Dowling Studio’s production of Pen.

On Sunday evening we took the family to the 5pm performance of Pippi Longstocking at the Children’s Theater in Minneapolis. This was the last of our season ticket package for the 2005-06 season, which included 4-ISH and Sleeping Beauty. There a number of good shows coming up next season, but we haven’t decided to renew yet.

Pippi was a fun show and the kids enjoyed it. Reed Sigmund has appeared in many of the shows we’ve seen over the years and he just knows how to make children laugh–very, very talented. Jessie Shelton was energetic in the title role and her style suited the role well.

The only disappointing thing about the night was CTC’s policy of not letting parents take pictures of their kids in their seats before the show and during intermission. It’s a public theater with no copyright issues during non-performance periods–how about some relief from the threatening P.A. warnings? Better yet, make it more fun for the kids by allowing pictures with the cast afterwards…DK