In 1935, Sinclair Lewis wrote a novel proposing that a charismatic windbag wins the presidency. The target of "It Can't Happen Here" was Huey Long, the mesmerizing Louisiana politician. Since last year's election, Lewis' fiction has been revived (including a theatrical adaptation written by Lewis and John C. Moffitt in 1936 for the Federal Theater Project). Here, writer Kit Bix has punched that script around. It's broad stuff, about a newspaper editor who finds his courage and opposes a venal president who threatens democracy. Charles Numrich, as the editor, and Meagan Kedrowski, as the president, lead a really big cast that doubles up so often it's difficult to know who is with whom. (8:30 p.m. Sun. & Tue., 5:30 p.m. Fri. Aug. 11, 7 p.m. Sun. Aug. 13, Ritz Theater Studio, 345 13th Av. NE., Mpls.)
GRAYDON Royce
