Each week I endeavor to list new performance art productions opening around the Twin Cities. With such an abundance of companies and venues in the area, keeping track of openings can be a challenge, but I'll link whatever I can find. Provided descriptions are reprinted from production websites.
November 8th
Children’s Theatre Company: The Wizard of Oz
Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! Just in time for the holidays, we’re bringing back one of our most- beloved—and single-most-requested—productions. True to the 1939 MGM film, our newest production of The Wizard of Oz is a wonderland of cute munchkins and flying monkeys, wicked witches and ruby slippers, a trio of true friends and Toto too. But be a whiz of a wiz and get your tickets soon: this show sells out early and always, my pretty. Appropriate for grades K+. Runs through 01/08.
- from Children’s Theatre Company
November 9th
Gremlin Theatre: After Miss Julie
Written by Patrick Marber (author of Closer), After Miss Julie is set entirely in the servant’s kitchen, and Gremlin Theatre presents this sexy, taut and terrifying work in the intimate, period setting of the kitchen of the James J. Hill House in St. Paul. After Miss Julie transposes August Strindberg’s 1888 play about sex and class to an English country house on the eve of Labour’s 1945 historic victory over Churchill and the Conservatives. While celebrations break out among the lower classes in every street and pub, Miss Julie descends into the servants’ kitchen of her father’s country mansion in search of the chauffeur John. Over one long midsummer’s night, Miss Julie’s world is turned head over heels. Runs at the James J. Hill House through 11/20.
- from Gremlin Theatre
November 10th
Walking Boxes Productions: Chickens on the Freeway – Film at 11…The Musical
Mary Tyler Moore move over. Meet Andy Stevens; a woman attempting to become the first female news reporter in the Twin Cities. She'll have to battle through the old boys' club who control the newsroom if she's to succeed. It's a musical romp through the turbulent 1960s. This world premiere written by former newsman J.B. Eckert is based upon a true story. Runs at the Minneapolis Theatre Garage through 11/20.
-from Walking Boxes Productions
University of Minnesota Theatre: The War Within / All’s Fair
Dominique Serrand and Steve Epp, formerly of the Tony Award winning Theatre de la Jeune Lune, work with University of Minnesota students to create an original piece based on the theme of war. “Not the war we typically think of,” says co-writer and director Steve Epp, “but the war within ourselves, the everyday wars we all battle, all the little wars we create or find around and in between us.” Working closely with fifteen students, Serrand and Epp will develop the first edition of The War Within/All’s Fair, which they will produce again with The Moving Company in the Spring. As Epp describes the show “It’s funny, poetic, tragic, messy and beautiful. The show will be a comic exploration of the continual folly of humanity, at times disturbing, provocative and even brutal, but always funny.” Runs at Rarig Center through 11/13.
- from University of Minnesota Theatre
November 11th
Chameleon Theatre Circle: We Gather Together
WORLD PREMIERE! Thanksgiving is coming, and Cele and Alicia have no idea what chaos it will bring into their lives! These two sisters, who couldn't be more different, have lived together and depended on each other for more than fifty years. They know everything there is to know about each other - or do they? Their comfortable routine is upended when they meet Jennifer, a local college student, and David, who lives across the street. When these four characters cross each others' paths, nothing will ever be the same. This cranky, charming comedy, in which elaborate deceptions, surprising revelations, and key lime pie all play prominent roles, was one of the winners of Chameleon's New Play Contest in 2010! Runs through 11/20.
- from Chameleon Theatre Circle
Lessismore Productions: The Uninvited Guest
Frank Steele died of his diseases and decisions. Now he appears to his family in their memory and imagination. In this struggle, memory melts and swirls into imagination, sadness, and humor as the family looks for a way to say goodbye. Runs at the Lowry Lab Theater through 11/13.
- from Lessismore Productions
Mixed Blood Theatre: Center of the Margins Festival
Content and themes about disability, central characters with disabilities, and roles for actors with disabilities— Mixed Blood's Center of the Margins Festival offers it all in a line-up of three disparate but complementary plays that promise to excite, incite and delight. Works include Gruesome Playground Injuries by Rajiv Joseph, My Secret Language of Wishes by Cori Thomas, and On the Spectrum by Ken LaZebnik. See Mixed Blood Theatre for schedule. Runs through 11/27.
- from Mixed Blood Theatre
Threads Dance Project: iDENTiTY
Join Threads Dance Project as we explore how we identify ourselves, how other identify us, and how we identify with others. Threads Dance Project will use music ranging from classical to contemporary to take the audience on a journey of how we see ourselves and others through the language of dance. Runs at the Lab Theater through 11/12.
- from Threads Dance Project
November 12th
Minnesota Opera: Silent Night
A fascinating true story, Silent Night recounts a miraculous moment of peace during one of the bloodiest wars in human history. On World War I’s western front, weapons are laid down when the Scottish, French and German officers defy their superiors and negotiate a Christmas Eve truce. Enemies become brothers as they come together to share Christmas and bury their dead. Acclaimed tenor William Burden stars as the soldier whose voice inspired peace among adversaries – if only for a day. World Premiere. Runs at the Ordway Center through 11/20.
- from the Minnesota Opera
Northrop Dance: Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet – Wonderland
Northrop presents the U.S. premiere of Wonderland, Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s dynamic re-interpretation of Lewis Carroll’s classic tale (Alice in Wonderland) in a new, full-length story ballet choreographed by Canada’s acclaimed RWB alumnus, Shawn Hounsell. The Queen of Hearts, White Rabbit, Mad Hatter, and our other favorite characters and themes display generous doses of wit, camp, and humor. Surreal and dark elements that lurk at the original story’s fringes are bravely realized in explosive passages of breathtaking dance and a multisensory fantasy, with edgy and athletic movement, an electro-acoustic soundscape, and unexpected visual treats. Runs through 11/13.
- from Northrop Dance
For previous performance arts openings-
Oct. 30th – Nov. 5th: http://www.examiner.com/performance-art-in-minneapolis/weekly-performance-art-openings-10-30-11-11-05-11
Oct. 23rd – Oct. 29th: http://www.examiner.com/performance-art-in-minneapolis/weekly-performance-art-openings-10-23-11-10-29-11
Oct. 16th – Oct. 22nd:http://www.examiner.com/performance-art-in-minneapolis/weekly-performance-art-openings-10-16-11-10-22-11
Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet
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