NEWS: Nina Simone: Four Women Opens, Gets Extended (Park Square Theatre) Arts Music Theatre by Twin Cities Arts Reader - February 11, 2017February 11, 2017 Regina Marie Williams in Nina Simone: Four Women. Photo by Tom Wallace. Park Square Theatre's revival of last season's Nina Simone: Four Women just opened last night, but the company has already extended the show's run by one week. Last year, the world premiere of this musical by Christina Ham sold out houses, leading to
TRAVEL: Lines, Precheck, and Global Entry Lifestyle by Twin Cities Arts Reader - February 11, 2017February 11, 2017 An advertising banner on the TSA website. Even before recent political events, US air travel had some problems with lines. TSA lines. They're not likely to get better while the federal government is in the middle of a hiring freeze. Almost a year after chronic understaffing and 2+ hour screening lines at
INTERVIEW: A Dialogue with Dead Man Winter Arts Music by Ali O'Reilly - February 10, 2017February 10, 2017 I’m waiting in the Minnesota Public Radio lobby holding a baby that isn't mine when Dave Simonett takes the seat across from me and asks if it’s sleeping. At first, I don’t recognize the singer-songwriter, frontman of the long-celebrated folk-fixture Trampled By Turtles as Dead Man Winter. He’s with JT Bates, Erik Koskinen,
PREVIEW: Those Darn Sneetches – A Look at CTC’s Dr. Seuss Adaptation Arts Dance Music Theatre Visual Arts by Twin Cities Arts Reader - February 8, 2017 Standleen (Natalie Tran) meets a crustacean in CTC's production of Dr. Seuss's The Sneetches: A Musical. Photo by Dan Norman. Way back in 1953, Dr. Seuss wrote a collection called The Sneetches and Other Stories. Fifty-four years later, a poll by the National Education Association ranked it as #1 on their Teachers' Top 100
INTERVIEW: Skylark Opera Theatre’s Bob Neu on The Tragedy of Carmen Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - February 7, 2017February 7, 2017 Tess Altiveros as Carmen in Skylark Opera Theatre's The Tragedy of Carmen. Photo by Elisabeth. Skylark Opera Theatre had some rough times in 2016, but the organization has regrouped, rebranded, and relaunched itself. On Friday, its 2017 season formally kicks off with the opening of The Tragedy of Carmen at the Midpointe Event Center
FEATURE: How to Score Lady Gaga Tickets Arts Music by Twin Cities Arts Reader - February 7, 2017February 7, 2017 Hot off her Superbowl LI half-time solo show, Lady Gaga announced the dates for her Joanne World Tour concert series on Monday. The Mother Monster herself is coming to St. Paul's Xcel Energy Center on August 21...but how can you score tickets? Not being able to buy tickets can be a
REVIEW: Reborn Flower Drum Song (Mu/Park Square) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Bev Wolfe - February 4, 2017February 4, 2017 Photo by Rich Ryan. It was particularly poignant that Mu Performing Arts and Park Square Theatre chose this past weekend to open their co-production of the musical Flower Drum Song with its story of immigrants and their assimilation into American life. This updated version of the 1950s musical by Richard Rodgers
REVIEW: Throne Full of Laughs in Royal Family (Guthrie Theater) Arts Theatre by Basil Considine - February 4, 2017February 4, 2017 Theatre manager Oscar Wolfe (Shawn Hamilton) looks on as the acting clan of Kitty LeMoyne Dean (Angela Timberman), Herbert Dean (Bill McCallum), Fanny Cavendish (Elizabeth Franz), and Julie Cavendish (Michelle O'Neill) discuss business in the Guthrie Theater production of Royal Family. Photo by Heidi Bohnenkamp. Royal Family, now playing at the Guthrie Theater, is
PREVIEW: High Stakes in The Highwaymen (History Theatre) Arts Theatre by Basil Considine - February 4, 2017February 4, 2017 The Booker T. Café (named after Booker T. Washington) in Rondo in 1960, one of many African-American businesses and community gathering spaces rolled over by I-94 construction. Photo courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society. Tonight, Josh Wilder's new play The Highwaymen premieres at the History Theatre in St. Paul. This historical drama examines
REVIEW: Reality Bites in Promise Land (Transatlantic Love Affair) Arts Dance Theatre by Dan Reiva - February 4, 2017February 4, 2017 Emily Michaels King and Avi Aharoni in Transatlantic Love Affair's production of Promise Land. Promise Land, a play by Transatlantic Love Affair, is about the immigrant experience in early twentieth century America. It is undoubtedly a timely and highly relevant topic. This play reveals the trials and fears two young and