2025 Twin Cities Theater Blogger Award Winners!

ICYMI: we announced the winners of the 11th Annual TCTB Awards on The Stages of MN's YouTube show last week, with contributions by Cherry and Spoon, Lettered in Theatre, Play off the Page, Friends and Neighbors, Life in Revue, Ernest Goes to the Theatre, and Beyond the Curtains. You can watch it here, see the full list of nominees here, and the winners below:

2025 Twin Cities Theater Blogger Award Nominations

Announcing the 11th Annual TCTB Award nominations! Each blogger submitted a list of nominees, and those with the most submissions were included in the final list of 5(ish) per category. We will be voting for our favorites this week, and plan to announce the results on The Stages of MN's YouTube show sometime next week, so stay tuned! In the meantime, what were YOUR favorites of 2025?

2024 Twin Cities Theater Blogger Award Winners!

The bloggers have voted, and we've decided on our favorite artists, shows, and theaters of 2024. It was such a great year, and these winners are just a small sampling of the amazing performances we saw. Congratulations to our favorites, and everyone who created art in 2024!

See full list of nominees here.

2024 Twin Cities Theater Blogger Award Nominations

Happy New Year friends! With the conclusion of 2024 comes the 10th annual Twin Cities Theater Blogger Awards. It's hard to believe that we've been doing this for ten years, but it never gets easier to choose a few favorites among the cornucopia of fantastic theater in this town. Here are our nominees, which will be voted on by the bloggers, with winners announced next week. Congratulations to everyone on the fantastic work this year!

Update: winners announced here.

2023 Twin Cities Theater Blogger Award Winners!

We announced the winners of our 9th annual TCTB AWARDS on our podcast Twin Cities Theater Chat on January 9. If you missed it, you can listen here. And read the full list of winners below. Thanks to all of the #TCTheater artists, companies, admin, and staff who have welcomed us into your theaters throughout the year! And 2024 is already looking like a fantastic year. See you at the theater!

2023 Twin Cities Theater Blogger Award Nominations

The Twin Cities Theater Bloggers are thrilled to announce the nominees for our 9th annual TCTB AWARDS! This is our first full set of nominations since before the pandemic (in the intervening years we've just announced a few limited awards). The bloggers have voted for their favorites, the votes are being tallied, and we'll announce the winners in a very special episode of our podcast TWIN CITIES THEATER CHAT next week. In the meantime, add your picks in the comments below. Or let us know if we missed any great performance that you loved last year, and maybe we'll mention some on the pod.

UPDATE: listen to the winners here!

Without further ado, here are the nominees:

We asked YOU what shows you were looking forward to in #TCTheater and here's whay you said...

We asked YOU what shows you were looking forward to in #TCTheater and here's whay you said...

Cherry and Spoon: "Theatre Elision is FINALLY doing FIRST LADY SUITE, one of the many shows that was supposed to open in March of 2020. Elision fills a unique niche of rarely done one-act musicals with most or all female cast and creative team. The first ladies singing?! I'm in! https://www.elisionproductions.com/first-lady-suite"

The Stages of MN
Sapphire Bullets at Strike Theatre https://facebook.com/events/s/staged-reading-of-sapphire-bul/576951984376400/

 

Ryan D. Maddux

Incident at Our Lady of Perpetual Help by Sidekick Theatre

https://sidekicktheatre.com/incident

Keith Lunak

"Ragtime at Morris Park!"

https://morrisparkplayers.org/project/ragtime/

 

Alex Lauer

"We Shall Someday at Theater Latté Da and The Wanderers at Six Points Theater!"

 

Front Porch Theatre  ·

“Wit at Theatre in the Round, opening May 18th"

https://ci.ovationtix.com/36417/production/1148225

Nikki Monahan

https://morrisparkplayers.org/project/ragtime/

JRose Maruska

Again, Theater Mu

 

Brooke Nelson

Othello: The Remix from Minneapolis Musical Theatre! https://www.aboutmmt.org/othello-the-remix/

Jill Bernard

"Shrieking Harpies presents Regrets on Saturdays at 8pm thru the end of April! Amazing musical improv comedy."

https://www.hugetheater.com/.../shrieking-harpies...

Prior Lake Players Community Theatre 

Mary Poppins at Prior Lake Players Community Theatre

Maria Bartholdi

"Endometriosis: The Musical is having a reading of a new, extended version of their hit Fringe show at Theatre in the Round on April 30th at 7pm!" https://ci.ovationtix.com/36417/production/1143162

Kendra Plant

"Artistry MN is back and opens "The Pajama Game" on April 20!" https://artistrymn.org/pajamagame

"Real and flawed humans, complex relationships, desperate love, and inevitable tragedy" Theatre Pro Rata's 'By the Bog of Cats'

 

"Nary a cat appears in 'By the Bog of Cats.' But what does make an appearance are real and flawed humans, complex relationships, desperate love, and inevitable tragedy. It's not a happy story, but it's a powerful one, and beautifully told." ~Cherry and Spoon full review: https://bit.ly/cs_bog

 

Theatre Pro Rata's "By the Bog of Cats" written by Irish playwright Marina Carr is at The Crane Theater and plays through April 2. 

 

 

 

#NEMpls #TCTheater #IrishTheatre #LiveMusic

"5" a co-production from Trademark Theater and The Jungle Theater through April 16th in Uptown

 "5" a co-production from Trademark Theater and The Jungle Theater through April 16th in Uptown and was a popular show with our bloggers, check out the reviews below and then grab a ticket -- they are going fast:

"I was blown away by this new work but particularly by it’s star and writer JuCoby Johnson."

The Stages of MN: https://bit.ly/trademarkjungle5

 

"Creative and inventive, grounded yet fantastical, a story of friendship that deals with relevant issues like gentrification."

Cherry and Spoon: https://bit.ly/cs_five

 

"Really incredible,"

Life in Revue: https://bit.ly/5Jungle

"'5' is a must see, and one that will provoke great discussion with your audience mates and keep you reflecting on it long past the curtain’s close."

 

Play off the Page: Page off the stage http://bit.ly/3ljqws5

"5 is a testament to the importance of supporting new works in American theater."

 

Artfully Engaging: https://bit.ly/5_Trademark_Jungle_Theater

 

"A best-in-class technical team."

 One Fan Show by Alex Lauer: bit.ly/42GSLl5

 

#TCTheater #ReviewRoundup #MinnesotaPlaywright

"Smelling Elon's Musk" Satirical Revue from Brave New Workshop in Downtown Minneapolis

 

The Brave New Workshop Comedy Theatre's newest comedy revue is a funny one!

Check out what our bloggers thought of "Smelling Elon's Musk:"

 

"I started to regret not apply water-proof mascara because I was crying with laughter." ~ PhenoMNal Twin Cities:

https://bit.ly/3Z5iOAn

 

"'Smelling Elon's Musk' is a show that comedy and satire fans won't want to miss." ~ Artfully Engaging:

https://bit.ly/EatTheRich_BNW

 

Hennepin Theatre Trust #DowntownMpls #mplscomedy

Photo credit: Kendra Plant

"Bakersfield Mist" plays at Gremlin Theatre in St. Paul through 4/2

 

"Bakersfield Mist" plays at Gremlin Theatre in St. Paul through 4/2, next to Lake Monster Brewing and there is free parking, if you are driving. Here's a little about the play from our bloggers Jill and Rob:

"Based on the true story of a woman who bought a painting for $5 at a thrift store, only to later find out that it might have been painted by Jackson Pollack...the perfect little 70-minute play that's both seriously funny & deadly serious"

 

Cherry and Spoon full review: https://bit.ly/cs_bkrsfld

"The production is directed by Angela Timberman who never makes a bad choice."

 

The Stages of MN full review: https://bit.ly/bakersfieldmist

 

 

Pictured: John Middleton & Jen Maren

Credit: Alyssa Kristine

"My Fair Lady" plays in downtown Saint Paul at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts

 

Musical fans, hot ticket alert:"My Fair Lady" plays in downtown Saint Paul at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts through 3/25! 

 

Since it closes this Saturday, move quickly if you want to go. Here's more on the play from our #TCTheater Bloggers:

 

"A well mounted and enjoyable evening"

The Stages of MN: https://bit.ly/myfairladyordway

"This classic score comes to life in a way no recording can"

Cherry and Spoon: https://bit.ly/cs_mfl23

"Born With Teeth" by Liz Duffy Adams at the Guthrie Theater

We've got another Twin Cities Theater Bloggers Review Roundup! A bunch of our bloggers experienced "Born With Teeth" by Liz Duffy Adams at the Guthrie Theater which runs through 4/2.

 

"A smart comedy, the kind that makes you laugh, then think, then wonder what was fact and what was fiction." ~Play off the Page: http://bit.ly/3lbAfAr

 

"Kit & Will are the sole actors for the 90 minute stage production, a performance that demands much of these men[...]" ~PhenoMNal Twin Cities: https://bit.ly/3Ta0KCS

 

"[Director Rob] Melrose doesn’t clutter the play up with elaborate design, he trusts Adams script & his actors to draw the audience in." ~The Stages of MN: https://bit.ly/bornwithteeth

 

"If you're fan of Shakespeare, or smartly written two-handers, or historical fiction, or really great acting, Born with Teeth is a must-see." ~Cherry and Spoon: https://bit.ly/cs_teeth

 

Photo Credit: Dylan Godwin (Will) and Matthew Amendt - Actor (Kit). Photo credit: Lynn Lane Photography

 

#AlleyBWT #TCTheater #ComedyTheater