One Fan Show

Welcome! This is the first edition of One Show to See This Week, a weekly newsletter about theater in the Twin Cities area. I’m Alex Lauer, the writer behind the website One Fan Show, where for the last five years I’ve written reviews of local musicals and plays. 

Here’s what you can expect from this free newsletter: I’ll send you a short note every Monday morning about one theatrical event I recommend for the coming week, with insight on why it matters, what to do around the theater before or after, information on how to get cheaper tickets, as well as a few bonus links (to other happenings in town, theater stories I devoured recently, a cast album I’ve been digging, what have you). 

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I’m starting this newsletter because I believe theater should be part of your weekly routine, not a once-a-year event. Especially here in Minneapolis and St. Paul, one of the best theater hubs in the country. And especially in this day and age, when on-screen entertainment is rapidly devolving into an AI-powered trash heap of derivative storytelling run by art-averse billionaires. Gathering in a theater with other human beings and watching artists and technicians weave together a story that will never be exactly the same ever again remains as powerful, hopeful, and vital as ever. I hope this newsletter inspires you to buy a ticket, and to bring a friend with you.

Speaking of friends, if you like what you see, please forward to a friend! And if you have any feedback, please get in touch. Every issue will include a question of the week at the end, so I’ll meet you in the comments section of the website. You can also find me on Instagram at @OneFanShow.

Now, on to the inaugural edition…

One Show to See This Week

Journey On: A 100th Show Cabaret Celebration
Theater Latté Da
Ritz Theater, 345 13th Ave NE, Minneapolis 
Through October 19th

To celebrate its 100th production, Theater Latté Da put together something special: a cabaret featuring songs and stories from its three decades producing some of the most adventurous and thrilling musical theater in the state. (The theater company was officially incorporated in 1998, but as I noted in a profile of founding artistic director Peter Rothstein for Racket, Rothstein and co-founder Denise Prosek produced shows together for a couple years leading up to that.) 

I’m guessing that if you’re reading this, you’re familiar with Latté Da. So what was the first show of theirs you remember seeing? For me, it was Spring Awakening back in 2012, which was produced in partnership with the U of M and staged at Rarig Center.

That show was a perfect example of Latté Da’s unique ability to reanimate familiar works in its own image, and of its visionary theatrical sensibilities, assembling up-and-coming talents before others could see their spark. Case in point: the cast of Spring Awakening included Tyler Michaels King (five years later he founded Trademark Theater), Cat Brindisi (daughter of the late great Michael Brindisi, she is now the associate artistic director of Asolo Rep in Florida, where Rothstein is now artistic director), and David Darrow (who’s gone on to write musicals of his own, and is married to Cat).

If you’re already a fan of Latté Da, Journey On is a can’t-miss victory lap celebrating everything they’ve accomplished so far, with one important twist: while original co-founder Prosek is co-curator and music director for this show, the company’s new-ish artistic director, Justin Lucero, who took over for Rothstein in late 2023, is also curating as well as directing. The cast is predictably stacked, with the nine-person ensemble including Erin Capello, one of my favorite local performers, who blew me away in both Waitress and Passion this year. If you’ve yet to attend a show at the Ritz, Journey On is a fantastic introduction to what will undoubtedly become your new go-to theater. As the show’s preview video teases, you can thankfully expect to hear some Spring Awakening.

What to Do Before or After

If you’re going on a Friday or Saturday night, Northeast Social is the ideal spot for a post-show drink as it’s right down the block and there’s always space at the bar — ripe for dissecting what you just saw. I’ve had dinner there before too, which I also recommend. Can’t go wrong with Anchor Fish & Chips either, which is a couple blocks away.

How Much Are Tickets? Any Discounts?

$41.75 to $73.75 + fees. They’re not offering some of their normal discounts on this specific show because it’s a limited run of two weeks (most of their productions run far longer), but if you like Latté Da, you should sign up for their Rush Club which periodically offers heavily discounted tickets to select performances.

What I’m Reading This Week

Shy: The Alarmingly Outspoken Memoirs of Mary Rodgers, which is co-written with Jesse Green, the former chief theater critic for the New York Times. I was inspired to read it after the Times reassigned Green, who I’ve always appreciated as a critic even when I completely disagree with him (the hallmark of a great critic, in my opinion). I’ve never even seen Once Upon a Mattress, but the book is an absolute delight anyways. I’ve got one of the Hennepin County Library copies checked out, but there are 13 others available right now. Just saying.

Question of the Week

If you’ve been to a Theater Latté Da show, what’s been the most memorable for you? I’d love to hear what’s stood out to you over the years in the comments below. Could be your favorite production or one that rises to the top for another reason, like when I went to their last performance of La Bohéme before theaters were closed during the onset of the Covid pandemic.

Thanks for reading! See you here next week.

-Alex