“Purple Rain” has found its Prince.Singer-songwriter Kris Kollins, a Washington, D.C., native who now lives in Miami, has been tapped to play the Kid, the Prince stand-in for the stage adaptation of the semi-autobiographical 1984 film.Singer/songwriter Kris Kollins is stepping into the biggest role of his life, and one that also marks his theatrical debut. (Photos by Jon Hanks; the Minnesota Star Tribune)The musical, which will be amplified by songs from Prince’s expansive repertoire that were n...

The enchantment doesn’t stop with the objectified people trapped in the Beast’s palace and longing to become human again.With just one musical number, the 30th-anniversary revival of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” has put itself in the rarest of companies.Refreshed and expanded by director and choreographer Matt West, “Be Our Guest” is now a tap-tastic, 10-minute dance sequence with smooth moves, colorful costume changes and captivating vigor. This showstopper drew a well-earned standing ovatio...

Alluring. Sizzling. Shocking.“Cabaret” draws in a viewer with artistry, then pummels that bedazzled gaper with devastating hooks.The Kander and Ebb musical opened Thursday at the Guthrie Theater, unleashing power-packed poetry behind a splashily seductive “Willkommen.” If director Joseph Haj’s production leaves a viewer feeling breathless and a little glum, old chums, it’s because the show is like a lightning rod that expertly concentrates the electric charges roiling today’s atmosphere. For tho...

You can tell that Theater Latté Da’s “Fun Home” is rooted in celebration by the fifth song in, which also happens to be the production’s first showstopper.That’s when the trio of Bechdel children — John, Christian and Small Alison — start to rehearse a commercial for their family’s funeral parlor. Hamming it up with effusive charm, Brock Heuring, Truman Bednar and Eve Scharback deliver a giddily energetic “Come to the Fun Home,” calling out the special qualities of the family business: “You know...

“Let us sit upon the ground and tell sad stories of the death of kings,” King Richard says to his surrounding minions as his monarchy slips away.
On its face, that sounds unappealing. But as put into practice by the Guthrie Theater, Shakespeare’s History Plays — “Richard II,” “Henry IV,” and “Henry V” — are absorbing and exhilarating. The production opened Saturday in a 13-hour marathon in Minneapolis, with the plays running back to back (with breaks). Even if you might think about bringing an oxy...

If only the Genie could grant the touring production of "Disney's Aladdin" two more wishes.
One would be for petty-thief-turned-would-be-prince Aladdin, the other for Princess Jasmine. Snap a finger and make the performers playing these romantic leads stronger, not just good looking. Give them magnetism, spot-on pitch and vocal power so that the return of this Alan Menken musical to Minneapolis is something that makes us gasp with joy instead of recoil in shock.
OK, that's more than two wishes, bu...