Our 20th Season (2017-2018)

The Chameleon Theatre Circle's 20th Season

The Chameleon Theatre Circle is proud to announce its landmark 20th season! Chameleon will break new ground as it brings productions to three new venues, declaring Independence to launch the season, going on to celebrate its 20th anniversary by reviving three greatest hits from previous seasons, and closing with Duck Washington's Caucasian-Aggressive Pandas and Other Mulatto Tales!

Following nine years in residence at the Ames Center in Burnsville, Chameleon's new season will be a tour of the Twin Cities, showcasing the company's penchant for imaginative and intimate productions in the Black Box at the Bloomington Center for the Arts and the new Gremlin Theatre, and venturing into a larger venue with a major musical at the Sabes Jewish Community Center!

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Independence by Lee Blessing
October 27 through November 12, 2017 at the Bloomington Center for the Arts
Three sisters converge on Independence, Iowa, the home of their ailing mother, to confront long buried grievances and resolve the issues that tore their family apart. A challenging domestic drama, Lee Blessings classic play is a heartfelt exploration of the knots that form in the ties that bind us.

Chess by Benny Andersson, Bjorn Ulvaeus, and Tim Rice
December 1 through 17, 2017 at Gremlin Theatre
Cold War conspiracy, musical melodrama and 1980s power ballads fight for supremacy on the chessboard in the cult sensation by Tim Rice (Jesus Christ Superstar), Richard Nelson, Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus (ABBA). Originally produced in 2000 in Chameleon's 2nd Season, this is the first of three Greatest Hits from Chameleon's past to be revisited in Season 20! Check and mate!

Picasso at the Lapin Agile by Steve Martin
February 9 through 25, 2018 at Gremlin Theatre
From the mind of Steve Martin comes a hilarious, if improbable, meeting of the minds. In the city of Paris. At the dawn of a new century. Pablo Picasso and Albert Einstein engage in intellectual warfare in a rundown bar. Each is on the cusp of world-changing revelations and as the wine flows so flows the absurdity and profundity. A Greatest Hit from Chameleon's 4th Season in 2002!

Little Shop of Horrors by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken
April 13 through 29, 2018 at the Sabes Jewish Community Center
Before The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin, Howard Ashman and Alan Menken brought us the tale of a Skid Row nebbish, the girl he loved and the man-eating plant that threatened to tear their world apart. Packed with wall-to-wall show-stoppers, blood and guts and a healthy dose of doo-wop, join us as Chameleon remounts one of the most successful musicals of all time! First produced in 2001 as part of Chameleon's 4th Season, this is the culmination of the trio of Greatest Hits in Season 20!

Caucasian-Aggressive Pandas and Other Mulatto Tales by Duck Washington (produced in association with Fearless Comedy Productions)
June 8 through 24, 2018 at the Bloomington Center for the Arts
Racism will be mocked, racists shunned, and stereotypes exposed in this humorous exploration of what it's like to be mixed race, deal with stereotypes, and find your place in the world. Inspired by playwright Duck Washington's own experiences, this mix of story-telling and sketch comedy will move you to buoyant laughter and deep thoughts as it examines concepts that are always more than just black-and-white.

In addition to these five productions, Chameleon's 18th Annual New Play Festival will take place on November 4.

Tickets
See five shows for the price of four! The Season Pass includes one ticket to each of the productions in The Chameleon Theatre Circle's 20th Season: Independence, Chess, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Little Shop of Horrors and Caucasian-Aggressive Pandas and Other Mulatto Tales. A Season Pass costs only $100 per person. Season Passes will remain available until the final performance of Independence on November 12.

Tickets for individual performances will be available starting September 1, 2017. Tickets are $25 for adults; $22 for students, seniors, Fringe Button holders, and groups of 8-19; $19 for groups of 20 or more.

About the venues:
The Black Box at the Bloomington Center for the Arts
1800 West Old Shakopee Road, Bloomington, MN 55431
This intimate 115-seat performance space presents high quality theatrical productions, cabarets, concerts and other events. Chameleon is thrilled to present the intimate drama Independence here to launch the season, and to partner with Fearless Comedy Productions to bring Duck Washington's Caucasian-Aggressive Pandas and Other Mulatto Tales to a new audience!

Gremlin Theatre
550 Vandalia Street, Saint Paul, MN 55114
Chameleon is particularly excited to participate in the inaugural season of productions in the brand new Gremlin Theatre space in Vandalia Tower, next door to Lake Monster Brewery! This 120-seat theater with a thrust stage is flexible enough to be an excellent home for both the cult favorite musical Chess and the smart Steve Martin comedy Picasso at the Lapin Agile!

Sabes Jewish Community Center
4330 South Cedar Lake Road, Minneapolis, MN 55416
Chameleon relishes the opportunity to branch out into a larger space in this 290-seat proscenium-style theater, home to the annual Jewish Humor Festival and numerous other productions. It's just the right place to present the world's most popular musical about an alien plant with a taste for human flesh, Little Shop of Horrors!