REVIEW: The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (Washington, DC: UrbanArias) Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - October 19, 2016July 11, 2017 On Saturday in Washington, DC, UrbanArias opened The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. It was a splendid production of an opera that is unfortunately unlikely to play in the Twin Cities any time soon. Note: This review has been updated to correct the name of the conductor. One of
REVIEW: Touching Parchman Hour Cometh (Guthrie) Arts Music Theatre by Bev Wolfe - October 19, 2016October 19, 2016 The cast of the Guthrie Theater's The Parchman Hour. Photo by Dan Norman. The Guthrie Theater's production of The Parchman Hour is a socially significant play detailing the outrageously brutal treatment of the Freedom Riders in 1961 as they rode in integrated Greyhound buses through the deep South. Patrick McGregor directs Mike
NEWS: Southern Theater Executive Director Steps Down Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - October 19, 2016October 20, 2016 The Southern Theater in 2010. Photo by Tony Webster; used in accordance with the CC BY-SA 3.0 license. The Southern Theater's Executive Director Damon Runnals is stepping down on October 29. This latest step in a round of reshuffling and transitions in the Twin Cities theatre scene marks the end of an 8-year tenure at the
REVIEW: Energetic Shaping Sound Makes a Mark (Ordway) Arts Dance Music by Lydia Lunning - October 18, 2016October 19, 2016 The Mosh Pit in Shaping Sound. You could feel the exuberance in the audience even before the house lights went down for Travis Wall’s Shaping Sound: Dance Reimagined at the Ordway Music Theater. This was understandable: artistic Director Travis Wall began as the runner-up in the second season of Fox’s So
NEWS: 24th Annual Sally Ordway Irvine Award Recipients Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - October 17, 2016October 19, 2016 The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts announced the recipients of the 24th annual Sally Ordway Irvine Awards this evening. These prestigious, state-wide awards recognize individuals and institutions whose work has strengthened and enriched the state through their commitment to the arts and arts education. The awards were awarded in five categories to
FEATURE: The Smithsonian’s New African American History Museum Arts Lifestyle Visual Arts by Basil Considine - October 17, 2016July 11, 2017 The hottest property in Washington, DC took more than a century to go from dream to reality. After much protestation, arguments over its relevance, and arguments over its funding (something of a Washington, DC pastime), the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African American History and Culture is a blockbuster hit
REVIEW: Dear We Hold These Truths (Guthrie Theater) Arts Theatre by Lydia Lunning - October 16, 2016October 19, 2016 Joel de la Fuente in Hold These Truths. Photo by Laura Pates. From the audience of Dowling Studio on the ninth floor of the Guthrie Theater, Joel de la Fuente begins his slow descent onto a sparsely set stage, where he will hold the audience in rapt attention for the next
REVIEW: Realistic Joneses Too True (Park Square) Arts Theatre by Basil Considine - October 12, 2016October 12, 2016 JC Cutler, Angela Timberman, Eric "Pogi" Sumangil, and Jane Froiland in Park Square Theatre's production of The Realistic Joneses. Photo by Petronella J. Ytsma. There are sometimes strange synchronies in the world of theatrical programming. The Realistic Joneses has much in common with last season's Constellations at the Jungle Theater; both deal with difficult and highly
REVIEW: Zesty, Dirty Avenue Q (Chameleon Theatre Circle) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - October 11, 2016October 11, 2016 It's always fun to watch a completely unprepared theatre audience realize just what they bought tickets to. Such a scene unfolded on Saturday night at the Ames Center in Burnsville, when about half of the audience learned that Avenue Q is a) a Sesame Street parody, and b) definitely not a comedy for little
PHOTOS: The Last Firefly (Children’s Theatre Company) Arts Theatre Visual Arts by Twin Cities Arts Reader - October 10, 2016October 10, 2016 Boom (Ricardo Vazquez) and Lightning (Stephanie Bertumen) fight in The Last Firefly. Photo by Dan Norman. Epic action might not be what you think of with children's theatre, but even a cursory look at The Last Firefly (currently playing at the Children's Theatre Company) will show you otherwise. Here's a look at this striking