This week in theater: 'Jackie and Me,' 'Light in the Piazza' continue
The baseball fantasy drama “Jackie and Me” continues its run Tuesday at the Children's Theater Company in Minneapolis.
Playing through April 14, “Jackie and Me” tells the story of a Little League player who uses his baseball card collection to travel back in time to meet Jackie Robinson when given an assignment to write a school report on the groundbreaking African-American Major League player.
In a review of the Chicago Children’s Theater production of the play, the Chicago Tribune called “Jackie and Me” a “moving, empowering and otherwise lovely new family show,” which “represents an ideal winter father-and-son (or mother-and-daughter) outing for suffering baseball fans.”
The Chicago Tribune also calls the play “one of those shows that turns out to be far, far better, and far more emotional, than you’d ever expect.”
Theater Latte Da's presentation of "The Light in the Piazza" also continues this week at the Ordway McKnight Theatre in St. Paul.
While saying the production is not perfect, Chris Hewitt of the Pioneer Press overall praises the complex romantic drama, saying it "fits perfectly in the Ordway's intimate McKnight Theatre." He also notes that scale of the production of the chamber-sized musical with a small cast and orchestra, "feels exactly right.
"The Light in the Piazza" plays through April 7.
Also this week, the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis continues to stage William Shakespeare classic “The Taming of the Shrew,” in repertory with “Twelfth Night,” which are both being presented by England’s all-male Propeller Company.
The Pioneer Press says “The Taming of the Shrew” is “brilliantly executed” and “bursting with imagination,” while Star Tribune says the play comes off as an “antiquated curio pulled from the closet.” The Star Tribune adds that “Twelfth Night” is slow in the first act becomes entertaining in the second.
“The Taming of the Shrew” plays Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday, and “Twelfth Night” plays Thursday through Sunday.
