OPENING
'Next to Normal'
Audiences will get to see actor, director and playwright Aditi Brenna Kapil do something different: She will sing as Diana, the female lead in the Pulitzer-winning, mental illness-themed musical "Next to Normal." Mixed Blood Theatre founder Jack Reuler directs. Also featured are Tom Reed, Brittany Bradford, Tom Jones II, Ricardo Vazquez and Regina Marie Williams. The show launches the theater's 37th season and is part of its Center of the Margins festival. (Previews 7:30 p.m. Thu. Opens 7:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 3 p.m. Sun., 7:30 p.m. Wed. Free rush; $20 reserved. Ends Nov. 11. Mixed Blood Theatre, 1501 S. 4th St., Mpls. www.mixedblood.com.) ROHAN PRESTON 'Results Not Typical'
Pick up the latest issue of Us Magazine, People or any tabloid and chances are some dietician-to-the-stars will be touting the latest diet craze or workout fad, or a slimmed-down celebrity will be the latest face of a weight loss program. With her latest play, "Results Not Typical," comedian and writer Colleen Kruse lampoons the big business of weight loss chains and trendy diets. Set in the suburban strip-mall office of the fictional "Manny Greg," the comedy features an all-female cast that includes Kruse, comic Margret Blaylock, Guthrie regular Phyllis Wright and burlesque performer Tawnya "Sweetpea" Konobek. (7 p.m. Fri.-Sat. through Oct. 13. $15-$20. Bryant-Lake Bowl, 810 W. Lake St., Mpls. www.bryantlakebowl.com.)JAHNA PELOQUIN
'The Turn of the Screw'
Craig Johnson puts on his creepy personality in Jeffrey Hatcher's adaptation of a Henry James story. Accomplished actor Lindsay Marcy plays a governess who is haunted by the ghost of a sadistic valet, played by Johnson. David Mann directs the production for Torch Theater. (8 p.m. Fri.-Sat., Thu., 2 p.m. Sun. Ends Oct. 27; Minneapolis Theatre Garage, 711 W. Franklin Av., Mpls. $15-$30. www.torchtheater.com) GRAYDON ROYCE
'Happy Birthday, Wanda June'
This Kurt Vonnegut play from 1971 rarely gets a professional production. Nimbus Theatre is giving it a go, with director Josh Cragun hoping to make sense of the deliciously absurd Vonnegut scattershot style. The story focuses on a big-game hunter returning from the jungle after seven years and finding his home a mess. (8 p.m. Sat., 3 p.m. Sun., 7:30 p.m. next Thu. Ends Oct. 28. Nimbus Theatre, 1517 Central Av. NE., Mpls. $10-$18. www.nimbustheatre.com.) G.R.
'Billy Elliot'
In 2009, this musical by composer Elton John and book writer and lyricist Lee Hall wowed Broadway, winning 10 Tonys. The show, about a working-class British boy who dreams of dancing instead of fighting, has been running in New York ever since. Now it comes to St. Paul, with Woodbury 13-year-old Zach Manske alternating with Kyland Hetherington in the lead role. (7:30 p.m. Tue.-next Fri., 2 & 7:30 p.m. next Sat.-Sun. $36-$106. Ordway Center, 5th and Washington Sts., St. Paul. 651-224-4222 or www.ordway.org.) R.P.
