Welcome to One Show to See This Week. Every week I send out a newsletter with the one play or musical I think you should buy a ticket for in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area in the next seven days, along with tips for discounts and things to do in the area, because I think theater should be part of your weekly routine. My inbox is always open, as are my DMs. Glad you’re here!
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One Show to See This Week
Who’s Holiday
The Hive Collaborative, 677 Hamline Ave. N., St. Paul, MN 55104
December 19th – 29th
Merry Christmas, everyone! Do you have your theater tickets?
If you do, it’s probably for something wholesome, like A Christmas Carol at the Guthrie, Black Nativity at Penumbra (still tickets for both!) or White Christmas at Chanhassen Dinner Theatres (no chance you can still get tickets!). If you don’t, it’s probably because your week is jam-packed with last-minute shopping, cookie baking, ice skating, family gatherings, and simply enjoying time sitting around the Christmas tree / fireplace / YouTube yule log. Both options I heartily co-sign. (If you’re staying in, throw on the best theater-adjacent Christmas album of the last decade.)
However, if you’re someone who doesn’t overload their holiday, or you’re flying solo this season, or you don’t celebrate Christmas, then I’ve got just the thing for you: Who’s Holiday at the Hive Collaborative in the Hamline-Midway neighborhood.
It’s a bawdy, campy, thoroughly R-rated one-woman show about a grown-up Cindy Lou Who, who’s now living in a trailer on Mount Crumpit. Expect bong rips, F-bombs, and graphic Grinch innuendos. You’ll quickly see why the Seuss estate tried to stop this Christmas show from coming.
Look, I don’t usually go for raunchy holiday fare. (I don’t trust anyone who says their favorite Christmas movie is Bad Santa.) That said, Kim Kivens, who plays Cindy Lou Who, and director Max Wojtanowicz seem to have appeared on every Twin Cities stage between the two of them, so you can trust these two dedicated theatermakers to show you a good time. Plus, while a lavish holiday show is all well and good, there’s something about the prospect of coming in from the cold and packing in among strangers at a scrappy community space like the Hive to see a completely bonkers Grinch sendup (in verse!) that sounds particularly merry. Very.
What to Do Before or After
If you’re just looking to grab a beer, BlackStack Brewing is in the neighborhood. Half Time Rec has great bar food. The Hive has a bunch more recommendations on their site too.
How Much Are Tickets? Any Discounts?
Tickets are on a sliding scale, so you can choose to pay $15, $20, $25, or $50, plus fees.
My Favorite Theater Stories of 2025…
For those who don’t know, my day job is as a journalist and editor. My full-time gig is as the features editor of InsideHook, a men’s lifestyle site based in New York, where I get to write about theater on very limited occasions. And when I find free time here and there (which is basically never), I like to write freelance stories about theater here in Minnesota.
This year, I wrote three theater stories I’m immensely proud of, two for InsideHook and one for Racket. So I thought I’d share them here…
- Amy Adams: ‘I Would Not Be Where I Am’ Without Chanhassen Dinner Theatres’ Michael Brindisi – Racket
When the great Michael Brindisi passed away unexpectedly earlier this year, I kept waiting for some media outlet in the Twin Cities to reach out to the stars he mentored along the way to get their remembrances of him. It never happened. So I did it myself and reached out to Amy Adams.
I profiled Dez Duron, who originated the role of (and currently still stars as) Gil Brentley in Maybe Happy Ending on Broadway. (And did it before they won all the Tony Awards!) Highly recommend the show if you’re ever in New York, and highly recommend Dez’s solo music too.
I also profiled Aisha Jackson, who is starring as Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby on Broadway. Her career so far has been an absolute roller coaster. At least read the opening anecdote about her first time going on as Anna in Frozen.
Question of the Week
Speaking of theater-adjacent Christmas albums, anyone got a rec I may not have heard of? Whether it’s a seasonal cast album or holiday recording from a Broadway vet or something else, drop it in the comments. I can only hit repeat on Leslie Odom Jr. so many times.
See you here next week!
Alex
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