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‘Hedwig and the Angry Inch’ sees Willow Creek Theatre Company bask in genderfuckery

I write this review of Willow Creek Theatre Company’s production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch (John Cameron Mitchell, text; Stephen Trask, music and lyrics) with the music of Tomato Boy playing in the background on Bandcamp. There’s not much […]

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Crackling connections take center stage in Mirrorbox Theatre’s ‘Private’

Mirrorbox Theatre presents: Private Through May 22, Theatre Cedar Rapids — Grandon, $20 Do you ever stop to consider the connections between personal life, social media, employment and the world at-large? Mirrobox Theatre takes on these connections and more in […]

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In a state of self-policing and hypervigilance, ‘The Niceties’ shows who actually holds the power: disenfranchised students

Not five minutes into The Niceties by Eleanor Burgess, running in the lush new home of Riverside Theatre, I laugh-snort at something Crystal Marie Stewart says — something I’ll continue to do all night. It is then that I write […]

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Mirrorbox leads audiences to consider their own friendships more deeply in ‘Cycle Play’

The quote “Art disturbs the comfortable and comforts the disturbed” has been attributed to various people in a variety of situations, but it is nowhere more applicable than to Cycle Play, currently running in the downstairs Grandon Theatre space at […]

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Riverside Theatre’s haunting production adds new ghosts to their adopted historical theater home

Eden Prairie, 1971 is not only Riverside Theatre’s first show in their newly renovated space on the Ped Mall, but — as a part of the National New Play Network’s Rolling World Premiere — Riverside is the first theater to […]

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Murder takes center stage at the Des Moines Playhouse with a treat of a Christie tale

Accents, set design and murder, oh my! I spent a cozy evening at the Des Moines Playhouse with my partner and a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon enjoying the absolute delight of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express. On opening […]

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With stage magic, a newer text, TCR’s is not your mama’s ‘Cinderella’ (but she’ll still enjoy it!)

This past Friday, Theatre Cedar Rapids reopened its main stage for the first time since COVID-19 hit with Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella. Director Angie Toomsen brings the adapted stage play to life through the brilliant actors throughout every scene. The […]

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‘A Year With Frog and Toad’ is a warm and fuzzy start to fall

Saturday was a beautiful almost-autumn evening at the Peggy Boyle Whitworth Amphitheatre. Around me on the grassy hill at Brucemore was a full house (if there can be such a thing at an outdoor performance space) of families on picnic […]

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Is there anything this cast can’t do? Riverside’s ‘The Comedy of Errors’ full of unsuppressed energy

Angie Toomsen, director of Riverside Theatre’s production of The Comedy of Errors, brilliantly brought together two things that theater historians might compare to orange juice and toothpaste: 1970s country and Shakespeare. Southern drawls mixed with Shakespearean monologues made the show […]

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‘[title of show]’ an optimistic debut redux for Willow Creek Theatre Company

Willow Creek Theatre Company kicked off its opening season in January 2020, and after just one production, Matt & Ben, they were forced to close their doors [insert groan]. But [title of show] marks a new beginning for WCTC, and […]

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