Current Season - At Hennepin Stages

(Area Premiere – October 5-28, 2007)

 

Music by Richard Thomas

Book and Lyrics by Stewart Lee and Richard Thomas

 

The only work in British history to win Best Musical in all of their major awards, "Jerry Springer - The Opera" asks an ironic universal question: Is television a mirror or a moral agent for our society?  In turns hilarious and heartbreaking, "Jerry Springer - The Opera" presents a series of unusual characters each desperate for their “Jerry Springer moment.”  Act I reveals Jerry in very familiar territory, with guests confessing to an assortment of infidelities and guilty secrets.  In Act II, Jerry finds himself in a hell of his own making and is called upon to effect reconciliation between the two ultimate adversaries - Jesus and Satan.  Jerry and his guests take the level of debate between good and evil to operatic heights!

“A brilliant, hilarious crowd-pleasing musical...enormously entertaining.” – New York Times

(Area Premiere - March 7-30, 2008)

Music by David Kirshenbaum
Book by Hunter Foster
Based upon the novel and screenplay by Herman Raucher

Hermie’s teenage summer of fun becomes a bittersweet lesson in love when he falls for a young war bride in a seaside town.  This new musical, based on the 1971 Oscar-nominated film, is funny, wistful and romantic.  “Summer of ’42” will usher you back to that innocent age of 1940s swing, when friends met at the local soda fountain, the Andrews Sisters played on every radio, and the discovery of first love felt strange and wonderful.  Relive the summer you’ll always remember.

“The new musical adaptation...emerges as a work of engaging substance as well as considerable charm.” —Variety.

(June 6-29, 2008)

Music by Robert Waldman
Book and Lyrics by Alfred Uhry
Adapted from the novella by Eudora Welty

Set in eighteenth century Mississippi, this bawdy fairy tale is the story of Rosamund, the only daughter of the country’s richest planter, courted by Jamie Lockhart, the dashing robber of the woods.  The proceedings go awry, thanks to an unconventional case of double-mistaken identity.  Throw in an evil stepmother intent on Rosamund’s demise, her pea-brained henchman and a hostile talking head-in-a-trunk, and you have the recipe for a rollicking country romp with an infectious bluegrass score! 

“An original, unusual and surprising musical that is so refreshing...an example of how different musicals can be.” – The Post