REVIEW: Love Sublime: A Valentine’s Day Shuffle (LOFTRecital) Arts Music by Basil Considine - February 17, 2017February 17, 2017 Pianist James Barnett and soprano Bergen Baker at Saturday's LOFTRecital performance. Four years ago, a small organization called LoftOpera launched in Brooklyn, NY. It's motto, "Something between a loft party and a startup opera company", speaks to both sides of its audience experience: intimate performances stripped down to an industrially tinged, repurposed
REVIEW: Size and Other Problems: Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Ordway) Arts Music Theatre by Basil Considine - February 17, 2017February 17, 2017 Euan Morton (front center), Hannah Corneau and Tits of Clay in the national tour of Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Photo by Joan Marcus. Hedwig and the Angry Inch, now playing at the Ordway, has a bit of a size problem. Yes, that sounds a bit insensitive when discussing a protagonist
REVIEW: Dead Man Winter @ First Avenue Arts Music by Ali O'Reilly - February 14, 2017February 15, 2017 Photo by David McClister. First Ave is packed, but it's noticeably not annoying. I am chesting through what is undeniably the salt of the earth: Minnesotans buzzing with anticipation, familial-like recognition, whiskey. It’s cozy like a homecoming dipped in flannel, and I have the sense that if the world were to
REVIEW: Sweeping Peter and the Starcatcher (Latté Da) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - February 14, 2017February 14, 2017 Tyler Michaels as Peter in Theater Latté Da's Peter and the Starcatcher. Photo by Dan Norman. There's a lot of great stuff going on in Theater Latté Da's production of Peter and the Starcatcher. Where to begin? This show has visual humor galore, old-fashioned stage effects that impress you with their subtlety, a script
REVIEW: Dr. Seuss & Sneetches + Musical = !!! (Children’s Theatre Company) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Bev Wolfe - February 14, 2017February 14, 2017 Photo by Dan Norman. Marvelous, simply marvelous. These are not just my words, they are also the words uttered by my five-year-old granddaughter when she saw Dr. Seuss’ The Sneetches: The Musical, which had its world premiere performance this weekend at the Children’s Theatre Company. The musical is based on the Dr. Seuss’ book The
REVIEW: Skylark Opera Theatre Charges Back with Tragedy of Carmen Arts Music Theatre by Basil Considine - February 13, 2017February 13, 2017 Tess Altiveros as Carmen. Skylark Opera Theatre's artistic director Bob Neu made headlines last year with his Angels & Demons Entertainment production of The Marriage of Figaro at the Hill House. When Skylark announced its first season after last spring's sudden cancellation, therefore, expectations were high for something other than business as usual. The
REVIEW: Ladysmith Black Mambazo Still Smithing Strong (State Theatre) Arts Music by Dan Reiva - February 12, 2017February 12, 2017 Photo by Luis Lea. Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s recent performance at the State Theatre was as much about educating the audience on the group’s African musical heritage as it was about entertainment. Most of the songs they performed were from their most recent album Walking in the Footsteps of Our Fathers, which
REVIEW: Mamma Mia! – The Last Tour (Orpheum Theatre) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Bev Wolfe - February 12, 2017February 12, 2017 Photo by Kevin Thomas Garcia. The vivacious spirit of ABBA has returned to the Orpheum Theatre in the form of the Broadway hit Mamma Mia! This is the megamusical's eighth run in Minneapolis and is reportedly the last tour for a while. (Proving that nature abhors a vacuum, an ABBA tribute band
PREVIEW: Minnesota Opera’s 2017-2018 Season Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - February 12, 2017March 11, 2017 One of the production designs for Minnesota Opera's November 2017 production of The Marriage of Figaro. Photo by Dana Sohm. Minnesota Opera formally announced its 2017-2018 season today. The slate of some of opera's greatest hits is sure to please even fans who were pulling hard for the company to continue its journey
REVIEW: Numb with Grace (Yellow Tree Theatre) Arts Theatre by Bev Wolfe - February 11, 2017February 11, 2017 Powerful is an apt description for Yellow Tree Theatre’s new production of Grace. Playwright Craig Wright’s thought-provoking play centers on belief systems and what happens when they prove to be insufficient. Under the direction of Terry Hempleman, this production generates compelling acting by each of the four players (Hempleman also plays