REVIEW: Inconsistent Norseplay (Maximum Verbosity/Phoenix Theater) Arts Music Theatre by Basil Considine - June 3, 2023June 4, 2023 Rob Ward (left) and Mickaylee Shaugnessy (center) play the titular Thor and Loki, respectively, in Norseplay: The Musical Adventures of Loki and Thor, now playing at the Phoenix Theater in Minneapolis. Norseplay: The Musical Adventures of Loki and Thor opened at the Phoenix Theater last evening. The occasion? The 20th anniversary
REVIEW: The 2023 AOI Operas at the Kennedy Center (Washington National Opera) Arts Music Opera by Basil Considine - January 23, 2023January 24, 2023 The gods of Oshun: Olodumare (Christian Simmons, left), Shango (Daniel Smith, upstage center), Oshun (Katerina Burton, downstage center), and Esu (Athony P. Ballard), which premiered on Saturday at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Photo by Scott Suchman. On Saturday, a trio of new operas premiered at the Kennedy Center in
PREVIEW: Well-Behaved Women Coming To… (Theatre Elision) Arts Music by Basil Considine - January 10, 2023January 16, 2023 A poster riffing on Laurel Thatcher Ulrich's infamous quotation, showing "transgressive" women from different periods. In 1976, the historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich wrote in an article, "Well-behaved women seldom make history." Ulrich's commentary was double: on the one hand, the women condemned by the early Puritans of New England were excoriated in
INTERVIEW: Matt Crowle on Embodying Thénardier in Les Misérables Arts Music Theatre by Basil Considine - December 2, 2022December 2, 2022 Matt Crowle (center-left) as Thénardier and Christina Rose Hall (center) as Madame Thénardier in the national tour of Les Misérables, which opens Tuesday at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis. Photo by Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade. Victor Hugo's novel Les Misérables is often ranked as one of the greatest
INTERVIEW: Sarah Nargang and Leading a Wayward Theatre Company Arts Theatre by Basil Considine - October 15, 2022October 15, 2022 A production photo from Wayward Theatre Company's 2017 performance of Moliere's Tartuffe at the James J Hill House in St. Paul, MN. Photo by Lauren B Photography. If you moved to the Twin Cities and asked some theatregoers for companies to follow, one of the names that would come up again and
PREVIEW: Anne Sofie van Otter at the Schubert Club Arts Music by Basil Considine - October 10, 2022October 11, 2022 Mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie van Otter. Photo by Ewa-Marie Rundquist. Say "Swedish Nightingale" to an American on the street a century ago, and one name would come instantly to music listeners' lips: Jenny Lind. Say the name to an opera fan today, however, and a different singer comes up: the Swedish mezzo-soprano
REVIEW: The Veil of the Immortal Beethoven (Minnesota Orchestra) Arts Music Theatre by Basil Considine - July 31, 2022July 31, 2022 A portrait of composer Ludwig van Beethoven superimposed over a photograph of Orchestra Hall by Greg Helgeson. The Minnesota Orchestra's one-night-only Immortal Beethoven event on Saturday was one of the most distinctive evenings in its hall in recent memory. It was certainly not at all a traditional concert. Imagine a crazy bedtime story
REVIEW: Visceral Sweat Keeps Hitting (Guthrie Theater) Arts Theatre by Basil Considine - July 31, 2022July 31, 2022 The calm before the storm in Sweat by Lynn Nottage, now playing at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. L-R: Lynnette R. Freeman (Cynthia), Terry Hempleman (Stan), Amy Staats (Jessie), Noah Plomgren (Jason), and Terry Bell (Chris). Photo by Dan Norman. Lynn Nottage's play Sweat, now playing at the Guthrie Theater, is far
REVIEW: Splendid Wickedness in Wicked (Orpheum/Hennepin Theatre Trust) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - July 30, 2022August 18, 2022 Part prequel, part revisionist history: the musical Wicked tells how many of the beloved and iconic characters and events in The Wizard of Oz became that way. Pictured: Jennafer Newberry as Glinda in the National Tour of Wicked. Photo by Joan Marcus. There is not a lot new to be said
INTERVIEW: On Collide’s Class of ’85 Return (x2) Arts Dance Theatre by Basil Considine - July 17, 2022July 18, 2022 Lifts, leans, and arm-raises in COLLIDE Theatrical's Class of '85, which returns for a 4-show revival at the Gremlin Theater in St. Paul from July 21-24. Photo by Alexis Lund. COLLIDE Theatrical is nine years' old. For a child to be going to high school at this tender age would be