REVIEW: Timely Wicked-ness (Oprheum/Hennepin Theatre Trust) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Ali O'Reilly - April 17, 2017April 17, 2017 Jessica Vosk as Elphaba in the touring production of Wicked. Photo by Joan Marcus. The first (and only other) time I saw Wicked was in 2008, from the nosebleeds of Chicago’s Oriental Theatre, where it would play to 3.2 million audience members in a period of 3.5 years. The cast then featured
REVIEW: Fun Crisis in Women on the Verge (NHCCT) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Bev Wolfe - April 10, 2017April 10, 2017 The cast of North Hennepin Community College Theatre's production of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. Photo by Mike Ricci. Pedro Almodovar wrote and directed the Spanish Film Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (WVNB) in 1988. The film received critical acclaim, won the New York Film Critics
INTERVIEW: Crafting a New Take on Ibsen’s Master Builder Arts Theatre by Basil Considine - April 9, 2017April 9, 2017 There are four plays by Danish playwright Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906) that are commonly produced in the United States today. Which one you know (or know of) is likely a function of your interest. Feminists favor A Doll's House. Pianists and orchestral musicians favor Peer Gynt, for which Edvard Grieg wrote incidental music preserved in two
INTERVIEW: The Ladies of PRIME Productions on Little Wars and More Arts Theatre by Basil Considine - April 8, 2017April 9, 2017 Gertrude Stein and Alice Toklas in their apartment in the early 1920s; the pair hosted many dinner parties with literary luminaries. Photo by Man Ray. It's relatively uncommon for a new company operating under an Actor's Equity Association contract to suddenly appear in town, so when PRIME Productions announced its launch in March, the announcement
REVIEW: Youthful West Side Story Runs Scared (Ordway) Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - April 6, 2017April 7, 2017 Desiree Davar as Anita (center) with the Shark Girls in the Ordway Center for the performing Arts production of West Side Story. Photo by Rich Ryan. Where should one begin with an iconic musical like West Side Story? Composer Leonard Bernstein began by saying, "I'd always thought of West Side Story in terms of teenagers." This focus is
INTERVIEW: Ilima Considine as the Sexbots on SXSW, Summertime, and More Arts Lifestyle Music Visual Arts by Twin Cities Arts Reader - April 5, 2017April 5, 2017 Ilima Considine with PDX Dance Collective. Photo by Micah Goldstein. Two weeks after the 2017 installment of South by Southwest closed its doors, it's still the post-recovery (and/or hangover) period for festival attendees. Since its founding in 1987, this Austin, Texas-based festival has grown from a small new music festival to one
REVIEW: Dark Fun in Matilda: The Musical (Hennepin Theatre Trust) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Bev Wolfe - April 1, 2017April 1, 2017 Jaime MacLean as Matilda in Matilda: The Musical. Photo by Cybil von Tiedemann. Child abuse runs rampant in the Orpheum Theatre’s presentation of the Broadway touring musical Matilda. The musical is based upon Roald Dahl’s children's novel Matilda. Dahl is famous for such books as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. For
NEWS: Walker Art Center Transforms into Giant Robot, Stops Monster Menace (April Fools) Arts Dance Dining Lifestyle Movies Music Opera Theatre Visual Arts by Basil Considine - April 1, 2017April 1, 2017 The W.A.L.K.E.R. giant robot prepares to deal a finishing blow to the monster that menaced Minneapolis this morning. The Minneapolis Monster Menace has come to an end. In a stunning development, the Walker Art Center transformed into a giant robot and defeated the monster menacing Uptown in a climactic battle on
BREAKING NEWS: Giant Monster Menaces Uptown (April Fools) Dining Lifestyle Visual Arts by Hanne Appelbaum - April 1, 2017April 1, 2017 Citizen reporter Johnny Pommegraine's iPhone picture of the monster after it emerged from the Walker Art Center's Sculpture Garden. A giant monster has hatched from an egg discovered during I-94 construction and is menacing Uptown Minneapolis. The egg was discovered by an MnDOT construction crew working on the Lowry Hill Tunnel. The crew broke
BREAKING NEWS: I-94 Construction Uncovers Monstrous Egg (April Fools) Lifestyle Visual Arts by Twin Cities Arts Reader - April 1, 2017April 1, 2017 A construction worker's photo of the egg discovered during work on the Lowry Hill Tunnel. A monstrous, crystalline egg was discovered this evening by MnDOT construction crews working on repairs to I-94 in Minneapolis. The giant orb was uncovered during scheduled work on the Lowry Hill Tunnel near the Walker Art