Photo by Anna Eveslage.

It’s been 20 years since Triple Espresso first opened at the Music Box Theatre, becoming a runaway hit that ran for 12 years. A few revivals and many satellite productions later, it’s back for the holiday season at the New Century Theatre in Minneapolis.

At this point, there’s not a whole lot to say about Triple Espresso that hasn’t been said before. The three-man show is fun, flirty, and a bit hokey. At its best, it recalls Laurel and Hardy and the bright days of vaudeville. At its slowest and crassest, well, those moments pass soon enough. You get to see magic tricks fairly close up (Christopher Hart), hear some songs and piano music (mostly by Michael Pearce Donley), a lot of hamming and mugging (Bob Stromberg), and quite a bit of audience participation. The show still moves like a well-oiled machine (not surprising, given the time that the creators have been doing this) and, as the ticketperson said, it practically sells itself at this point.

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Triple Espresso plays at the New Century Theatre in downtown Minneapolis through Jan. 8.

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Basil Considine

Basil Considine was the Editor of the Twin Cities Arts Reader from 2018-2022. He served as Performing Arts Editor and Senior Classical Music and Drama Critic for the Arts Reader's first five years, before succeeding Hanne Appelbaum. He was previously the Resident Classical Music and Drama Critic at the Twin Cities Daily Planet and remains an occasional contributing writer for The Boston Musical Intelligencer and The Chattanoogan. He holds a PhD in Music and Drama from Boston University, an MTS in Sacred Music from the BU School of Theology, and a BA in Music and Theatre from the University of San Diego.

Basil was named one of Musical America's 30 Professionals of the Year in 2017. He was previously the Regional Governor for the National Opera Association's North Central Region and the 2021-2022 U.S. Fulbright Faculty Scholar to Madagascar.

Latest posts by Basil Considine (see all)

• PREVIEW: Ribald, Funny & Juliet Coming Soon (Orpheum/Hennepin Arts) - April 30, 2025
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