Blame our current tension levels, but indications are that folks might be desperately seeking what advertising copy used to call “the feel-good musical of the year!”

They haven’t found it this summer in the Guthrie Theater’s unquestionably excellent “Cabaret,” which invites you to examine the historical parallels between Nazi Germany and modern America. So it would appear that many have turned to Bloomington’s Artistry Theater to find some respite from all the unsettling disorder.

The company’s new production of “Singin’ in the Rain” has attracted such an audience that Sunday afternoon’s performance was sold out and the show’s run extended for a week before it even opened. Clearly, there’s a local theatrical thirst for something light and bubbly, unapologetically retro and with plenty to laugh about.

The cast of Artistry Theater’s production of “Singin’ in the Rain,” running through Aug. 31, 2025 at the Bloomington Center for the Arts. (Courtesy of Alyssa Kristine Photography)

And Artistry has succeeded in providing that. Sure, it’s tough trying to fill the ample dancing shoes of Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor and the cast of the 1952 film that’s been voted the greatest of movie musicals by multiple panels of experts. But live theater has advantages cinema can’t touch – especially cinema in your living room.

Don Lockwood (Danny McHugh) performs the title song in Artistry Theater’s production of “Singin’ in the Rain.” (Courtesy of Alyssa Kristine Photography)

For example, re-shoots and editing can wedge some distance between viewers and the humanity of dance, but this show will remind you how much work and athleticism goes into it. Director Kelli Foster Warder and her co-choreographer, Danny McHugh, ask a lot of this cast of 16, and they come through with some thrilling footwork.

And, like Gene Kelly before him, McHugh pulls impressive double duty by portraying the central character, too. (O.K., Kelly did him one better by also co-directing the film.) It’s a winning performance, McHugh’s lovely tenor voice and smooth delivery of the dances complemented by the looser but infectiously enthusiastic approach of Armando Harlow Ronconi and the grace of Brittany Mendoza-Pena.

They’re the trio at the center of a story about Hollywood’s transition from the silent era to the hotbed of slick and sparkly dance-filled musicals that offered enjoyable escape to Depression-era audiences. McHugh is Don Lockwood, who seems a good candidate for surviving the change, thanks to his Vaudeville song-and-dance experience, as would his musician buddy, Cosmo Brown (Ronconi). And it’s a medium ideal for the voice and dancing chops of Lockwood’s love interest, Kathy Selden (Mendoza-Pena).

Each performer impresses in their own way as we observe a humorous take on an industry’s transition. While the comic timing could be crisper and the pace swifter in the dialogue-driven scenes, the dance numbers eclipse any such quibbles.

Don Lockwood (Danny McHugh) and Cosmo Brown (Armando Harlow Ronconi) recount their days as a vaudeville team in Artistry Theater’s production of “Singin’ in the Rain,” running through Aug. 31, 2025 at the Bloomington Center for the Arts. (Courtesy of Alyssa Kristine Photography)

Warder and McHugh incorporate elements of the original choreography from the film, but put their own stamp upon much of it. And you may get a fresh appreciation for what this kind of dancing requires when the knockout tap trio of “Good Morning” gives way to McHugh ably stepping into Kelly’s signature scene, the urban splash fest that is the title tune.

Members of the cast of Artistry Theater’s production of “Singin’ in the Rain,” running through Aug. 31, 2025 at the Bloomington Center for the Arts. (Courtesy of Alyssa Kristine Photography)

For those who take comfort in the familiar, rest assured that Serena Brook basically offers a spot-on imitation of Jean Hagen as the shrill-voiced star of silent cinema, Lina Lamont, the diva who might drag the studio down with her. But it’s a solid performance in a show full of them, one that ably fulfills its mission of making audiences feel good.

Rob Hubbard can be reached at wordhub@yahoo.com.

Artistry Theater’s ‘Singin’ in the Rain’

When: Through Aug. 31

Where: Bloomington Center for the Arts, 1800 W. Old Shakopee Road, Bloomington

Tickets: $65-$40, available at artistrymn.org

Capsule: It might be the light summer entertainment you crave.

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By BRUCE SCHREINER, Associated Press

CALVERT CITY, Ky. (AP) — Republican Nate Morris had deftly warmed up a crowd of party faithful, gushing about President Donald Trump and recounting his own life’s journey — from hardscrabble childhood to wealthy entrepreneur — when he turned his attention to the man he wants to replace, Sen. Mitch McConnell.

That’s when things got feisty. While bashing Kentucky’s longest-serving senator at a GOP dinner on the eve of Saturday’s Fancy Farm picnic, a tradition-laden stop on the state’s political circuit, Morris was cut off in midsentence by a party activist in the crowd, who noted that McConnell isn’t seeking reelection and pointedly asked Morris: “What are you running on?”

Morris touted his hard line stance on immigration and defended Trump’s tariffs as a boon for American manufacturing. But he didn’t retreat from his harsh critique of McConnell.

“We’ve seen 40 years of doing it the same way,” Morris said. “And, yes, he’s not on the ballot, but his legacy is on the ballot. Do you want 40 more years of that? I don’t think you do.”

McConnell’s blunt-force approach used against him

The pushback from a county GOP chairman revealed the political risks of attacking the 83-year-old McConnell in the twilight of his career. Towering over Kentucky politics for decades, McConnell is regarded as the master strategist behind the GOP’s rise to power in a state long dominated by Democrats. The state Republican headquarters bears McConnell’s name. As the longest-serving Senate party leader in U.S. history, McConnell guided Republican policymaking and helped forge a conservative Supreme Court. Back home, his appropriating skills showered Kentucky with federal funding.

Now, his blunt-force style of campaigning — which undercut so many foes — is being used against him.

Morris is running against two other prominent Republicans — U.S. Rep. Andy Barr and former state Attorney General Daniel Cameron — for McConnell’s seat. The outcome will be decided in the spring primary next year. Kentucky hasn’t elected a Democrat to the Senate since Wendell Ford in 1992.

All three Republican hopefuls lavish praise on Trump — in hopes of landing his endorsement — but also have ties to McConnell, who mentored generations of aspirational Republicans. Cameron and Barr have chided McConnell at times, but it’s been mild compared to Morris’ attacks. Morris interned for McConnell but glosses over that connection.

McConnell pushes back

At events surrounding the Fancy Farm picnic, an event long known for caustic zingers that he has always relished, McConnell showed no sign of backing down.

“Surely this isn’t true, but I’ve heard that one of the candidates running for my office wants to be different,” McConnell told a Republican crowd that included Morris at a pre-picnic breakfast in Mayfield. “Now, I’m wondering how you’d want to be different from the longest-serving Senate leader in American history. I’m wondering how you’d want to be different in supporting President Trump.”

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McConnell received multiple standing ovations. Morris stayed seated.

McConnell has consistently voted for Trump’s policies more often than Kentucky’s other Republican senator, Rand Paul, according to a Congressional Quarterly voting analysis. McConnell recently supported Trump’s signature tax and spending measure. Paul opposed it, saying it would drive up debt.

Yet Morris has taken on McConnell, who has famously had an up-and-down relationship with Trump.

McConnell teamed with Trump to put conservatives on the federal bench and pass tax cuts during the president’s first term. McConnell also guided the Senate — and Trump — through two impeachment trials that ended in acquittals. But the relationship was severed after McConnell blamed Trump for “disgraceful” acts in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack by Trump’s supporters.

McConnell endorsed Trump in 2024, but in a biography by Michael Tackett of The Associated Press, released shortly before the election, McConnell described him as “a despicable human being.”

Running against career politicians

Morris, who started a waste management technology company, says the senator has been insufficiently loyal to Trump and allowed festering issues like immigration and the national debt to grow worse during his years in Senate leadership.

Morris wants to tether his opponents to McConnell while running on anti-establishment themes that his campaign thinks will appeal to legions of Trump supporters in the Bluegrass State.

“Let’s face it, folks, career politicians have run this country off a cliff,” Morris said.

Morris’ rivals sum up the anti-McConnell attacks as an angry, backward-looking message. Cameron called it a diversionary tactic to obscure what he said is Morris’ lack of both a message and credibility as a supporter of Trump’s MAGA movement.

“He can’t talk about his actual record. So he has to choose to pick on an 83-year-old,” Cameron said.

At Fancy Farm, where candidates hurl insults at one another against a backdrop of bingo games and barbecue feasts, Morris took a swipe at McConnell’s health.

“I have a serious question: who here can honestly tell me that it’s a good thing to have a senior citizen who freezes on national television during his press conferences as our U.S. senator?” Morris said. “It seems, to me, maybe just maybe, Mitch’s time to leave the Senate was a long time ago.”

McConnell had his customary front-row seat for much of the event but wasn’t there for Morris’ remarks. He typically leaves before all the speeches are delivered and exited before his would-be successors spoke.

Living by the sword

McConnell complimented Trump in his speech, singling out Trump’s bombing of Iranian nuclear sites.

“He turned Iran’s nuclear program into a pile of rocks,” McConnell, a steadfast advocate for a muscular U.S. foreign policy, said to cheers.

At the GOP dinner the night before in Calvert City, where candidates typically are more politely received, party activist Frank Amaro confronted Morris for his anti-McConnell barrage.

“He keeps bashing Mitch McConnell like he’s running against Mitch McConnell,” Amaro, a county Republican chairman, said afterward. “Overall, he’s helped Kentucky and the United States, especially our Supreme Court, more than any other U.S. senator in this country.”

But Morris’ blistering assessment of McConnell hit the mark with Trump supporter Patrick Marion, who applied the dreaded Republican-in-Name-Only label to McConnell.

“Personally, I think Mitch has been a RINO for way too long,” Marion said later. “I don’t think he was a true MAGA supporter of President Trump.”

Afterward, Morris was in no mood to back off.

“He’s the nastiest politician maybe in the history of this state if not in the history of this country,” Morris said of McConnell. “Look, you live by the sword, you die by the sword.”

By DAVID A. LIEB, Associated Press

When Democratic lawmakers fled Texas to try to prevent the Republican-led Legislature from redrawing the state’s congressional districts, it marked the latest episode in a long national history of gerrymandering.

The word “gerrymander” was coined in America more than 200 years ago as an unflattering means of describing political manipulation in legislative map-making.

The word has stood the test of time, in part, because American politics has remained fiercely competitive.

Who is responsible for gerrymandering?

In many states, like Texas, the state legislature is responsible for drawing congressional districts, subject to the approval or veto of the governor. District maps must be redrawn every 10 years, after each census, to balance the population in districts.

But in some states, nothing prevents legislatures from conducting redistricting more often.

In an effort to limit gerrymandering, some states have entrusted redistricting to special commissions composed of citizens or bipartisan panels of politicians. Democratic officials in some states with commissions are now talking of trying to sidestep them to counter Republican redistricting in Texas.

A U.S. map showing who controls redistricting in each state. (AP Digital Embed)

How does a gerrymander work?

If a political party controls both the legislature and governor’s office — or has such a large legislative majority that it can override vetoes — it can effectively draw districts to its advantage.

One common method of gerrymandering is for a majority party to draw maps that pack voters who support the opposing party into a few districts, thus allowing the majority party to win a greater number of surrounding districts.

Another common method is for the majority party to dilute the power of an opposing party’s voters by spreading them among multiple districts.

Why is it called gerrymandering?

The term dates to 1812, when Massachusetts Gov. Elbridge Gerry signed a bill redrawing state Senate districts to benefit the Democratic-Republican Party. Some thought an oddly shaped district looked like a salamander. A newspaper illustration dubbed it “The Gerry-mander” — a term that later came to describe any district drawn for political advantage. Gerry lost re-election as governor in 1812 but won election that same year as vice president with President James Madison.

Is political gerrymandering illegal?

Not under the U.S. Constitution. The Supreme Court, in a 2019 case originating from North Carolina, ruled that federal courts have no authority to decide whether partisan gerrymandering goes too far. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote: “The Constitution supplies no objective measure for assessing whether a districting map treats a political party fairly.”

The Supreme Court noted that partisan gerrymandering claims could continue to be decided in state courts under their own constitutions and laws. But some state courts, including North Carolina’s highest court, have ruled that they also have no authority to decide partisan gerrymandering claims.

FILE – Evan Milligan, center, plaintiff in Merrill v. Milligan, an Alabama redistricting case, speaks with reporters following oral arguments at the Supreme Court in Washington, Oct. 4, 2022. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

Are there any limits on redistricting?

Yes. Though it’s difficult to challenge legislative districts on political grounds, the Supreme Court has upheld challenges on racial grounds. In a 2023 case from Alabama, the high court said the congressional districts drawn by the state’s Republican-led Legislature likely violated the Voting Rights Act by diluting the voting strength of Black residents. The court let a similar claim proceed in Louisiana. Both states subsequently redrew their districts.

What does data show about gerrymandering?

Statisticians and political scientists have developed a variety of ways to try to quantify the partisan advantage that may be attributable to gerrymandering.

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Republicans, who control redistricting in more states than Democrats, used the 2010 census data to create a strong gerrymander. An Associated Press analysis of that decade’s redistricting found that Republicans enjoyed a greater political advantage in more states than either party had in the past 50 years.

But Democrats responded to match Republican gerrymandering after the 2020 census. The adoption of redistricting commissions also limited gerrymandering in some states. An AP analysis of the 2022 elections — the first under new maps — found that Republicans won just one more U.S. House seat than would have been expected based on the average share of the vote they received nationwide. That was one of the most politically balanced outcomes in years.

By KIMBERLEE KRUESI

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A federal judge says Rhode Island’s gun permit system, which requires residents to show “a need” to openly carry a firearm throughout the state, does not violate the Second Amendment.

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In a ruling handed down Friday, U.S. District Judge William Smith granted Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha’s motion for summary judgment that dismisses a lawsuit filed by a coalition of gun owners in 2023.

The lawsuit stems from a Rhode Island law dictating how the state issues firearms permits.

According to the statute, local officials are required to issue concealed-carry permits to anyone who meets the specific criteria outlined in the statute. However, it also allows the attorney general’s office to issue open-carry permits “upon a proper showing of need.” Unlike municipalities, the attorney general is not required to issue such permits.

The plaintiffs, largely led by Michael O’Neil, a lobbyist for the Rhode Island 2nd Amendment Coalition and a firearm instructor, said in their initial complaint that the attorney general’s office denied all seven of their applications in 2021 for an “unrestricted” firearm permit, allowing both open and concealed carry. Court documents show that the attorney general’s office denied their permits because all of them had been granted “restricted” permits, which only allowed concealed carry.

Smith said in his ruling that unrestricted permits “are a privilege and there is no constitutionally protected liberty interest in obtaining one.”

The plaintiffs had hoped for a similar ruling handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022, where the justices struck down a New York state law that had restricted who could obtain a permit to carry a gun in public.

Similar to Rhode Island, New York’s law had required residents to show an actual need to carry a concealed handgun in public for self-defense.

Yet, notably, Smith said in his ruling that the high court’s 2022 ruling did not declare that the Second Amendment “requires open carry,” but even if it did, Rhode Island’s law “is within the Nation’s historical tradition of regulation.”

Frank Saccoccio, the attorney representing the gun owners, said in an email Monday that they did not believe Smith’s decision was in line with the 2022 SCOTUS decision and would be appealing.

An email seeking comment from the attorney general was sent on Monday.