Last Saturday, Ross and I went to see “How To Talk Minnesotan: The Musical” at Southwest Minnesota State University. It was a hilarious look at well, how we talk in this state. You have to admit we do these things that are performed in the show. I remember back in the mid-1980s when the book “How To Talk Minnesotan” came out. I was a pre-teen and remember finding the book amusing. Hard to believe that all these years later that I’ll be living in the same area as the author. But anyways. The show takes place at Lost Walleye Lodge with Ed and Lucy Humde, their daughter, Darlene, and their friends Miller, Russ and Donny. It’s very relatable and I can see my family (even though we’re from Wisconsin) and others in this show. There’s a couple of performances today at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. in the SMSU Fine Arts Theatre.

Around this time of the year there’s plenty of theater to check out. Besides “How to Talk Minnesotan,” there’s a murder mystery dinner theater as a Redwood River Habitat for Humanity fundraiser, and the Marshall Area Stage Company is presenting the radio drama “Dracula” at 2 p.m. today and 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Marshall-Lyon County Library, and 2 p.m. Sunday at the Lake Benton Opera House. Ross was part of the show when it was done in 2007, playing Van Helsing. It takes a lot of work and creativity to put together a live radio drama. I’m always amazed at what Paula Nemes finds to make the sound effects. On Monday night at the radio show’s rehearsal, I noticed there was a stuffed robin on the table full of stuff used to create the sound effects. I asked Paula the director what it was for, and she squeezed it. Well, there are times for a happy bird call, even if the story is scary. The actors look like they’re having fun telling the story, creating their characters and seeing how a radio show comes together. This is MASC’s last show of the year, so go check it out.

Still need a theater fix? SMSU still has a couple of shows coming up in the next two months. “Hamlet” will be hitting the stage Nov. 14-19 in the SMSU Fine Arts Theatre, and “Guys and Dolls” will be presented in December in the SMSU Black Box. Marshall High School is doing the musical “School House Rock” in mid-November (7:30 p.m. Nov 17, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Nov. 18 and 2 p.m. Nov 19). I’m sure we’ll have more information on these shows in the coming weeks (maybe I should write a story or two?). Looking forward to some good shows.