INTERVIEW: Blue Man Group’s Steven Wendt Arts Theatre by Basil Considine - December 18, 2015December 18, 2015 Steven Wendt (Blue Man) hails from Kansas City, MO. A graduate of the Walnut Hill School for the Arts in Natick, MA, and from CalArts in Valencia, CA, he arrived in town this week to perform in the Blue Man Group tour at the Orpheum Theatre. His past performance credits include Blue Man Group–Orlando, Ground
INTERVIEW: The Ordway’s Maria von Trapp: A Conversation with Billie Wildrick Arts Music Theatre by Twin Cities Arts Reader - December 17, 2015December 18, 2015 Last year, actress Billie Wildrick delighted audiences as Mother in the Ordway's production of A Christmas Story. When the snows vanished, however, Wildrick was off to Seattle, where musicals about escaping from factory work, drinking, and more drinking awaited. Now, with snow returning, Wildrick herself has returned to play the role of
PREVIEW: Rare Musical Films at Chanhassen Dinner Theatres Arts Movies Music by Twin Cities Arts Reader - December 15, 2015December 15, 2015 Chanhassen Dinner Theatres will show four compilations of rare music films at the Fireside Theatre on select Sunday afternoons in 2016 at 3 pm. Each showing is followed by dinner, and is introduced by film historian Bob DeFlores. The showtimes are: Sunday, February 7: The Soundies - Jukebox musical films of the 1940s Sunday, May 8: Great Comedy
INTERVIEW: Nina Archabal on 1 Year at the Helm of Minnesota Opera Arts Music Opera by Basil Considine - December 14, 2015March 11, 2017 A production photo from Minnesota Opera's 2008 production of Rusalka. Photo by Michal Daniel. In November 2014, Nina Archabal was appointed as Interim General Director at Minnesota Opera. At the time, the organization was not in the best of health: despite overall strong ticket sales, the company had accrued operating deficits in two consecutive
REVIEW: Miss Richfield 1981 Presents ‘Christmas Cone Of Silence’ (Illusion Theater) Arts Theatre by Basil Considine - December 11, 2015December 12, 2015 One of Miss Richfield 1981's jokes in her current show is that there's a new title and a new set, but all the jokes remain the same. There's a kernel of truth there, but the drag comedian's holiday show is still funny, fresh, and out of this world hilarious. This may be the 16th installment
INTERVIEW: Eagan Actress Moves to Wicked New York, Turned Off by Cold, Returns to Warm Minnesota Arts Music Theatre by Basil Considine - December 11, 2015December 11, 2015 Photo by Heidi Bohnenkamp. This is Part 2 of the Twin Cities Arts Reader's interview with Caroline Innerbichler. Read Part 1 here. Looking back, how do you see your time in New York? I feel that with so much of everything I jumped into everything a little too quickly, may because of what people
PREVIEW: A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder Arts Music Theatre by Twin Cities Arts Reader - December 11, 2015 Monty Navarro (Kevin Massey, center) finds himself trapped between his affections for Sibella Hallward (Kristen Beth Williams) and Phoebe D'Ysquith (Adrienne Eller). It takes a long time to plan a Tony award-winning murder comedy and get away with it. Robert Freedman and Steven Lutback, the writers of A Gentleman's Guide to Love
INTERVIEW: After the Mermaid – A Conversation with Caroline Innerbichler Arts Music Theatre by Basil Considine - December 10, 2015December 11, 2015 Caroline Innerbichler (Ariel) examines Tyler Michaels (Prince Eric) in Chanhassen Dinner Theatres' 2014 production of Disney's The Little Mermaid. Photo by Heidi Bohnenkamp. The Ordway's self-produced production of the classic musical The Sound of Music opens on Saturday. One of the leads in this production is Caroline Innerbichler, a dazzling local actress who
Arts Practitioners, Educators Hail ESSA Passage Arts by Twin Cities Arts Reader - December 9, 2015 Today, the United States Senate voted to approve the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), sending this law to the White House. President Obama is expected to sign the act into law tomorrow, initiating one of the most broad changes in U.S. public education since the passage of the No Child Left
Magic Flute Revamp Rules Box Office Arts Music Opera Theatre by Twin Cities Arts Reader - December 9, 2015 The Queen of the Night may not have succeeded in Mozart's The Magic Flute, but Minnesota Opera certainly did. The company's recent revival of its 2014 staging of the opera completely sold out, with 9,808 tickets purchased for the six public performances. Throw in about 150 people for the first dress rehearsal and 1,600 eager high