REVIEW: Moving, Funny, Striking English (Guthrie Theater) Arts Theatre by Basil Considine - July 22, 2024July 22, 2024 Sahar Bibiyan as Roya in the Guthrie Theater's production of English, now playing through August 18. Photo by Liz Lauren. There are few theatrical shows for which sound design and dialect coaching are more essential than the Guthrie Theater/Goodman Theatre production of English. This humorous, moving, and always engaging play perfectly
REVIEW: The Time for Newsies is Now (Artistry) Arts Music Theatre by Basil Considine - July 21, 2024July 21, 2024 Singer-actor Tyson Insixiengmai as Crutchie in Artistry's production of Disney's Newsies: The Musical, currently playing at the Bloomington Center for the Arts. Photo by Dan Norman. During its original Broadway run, the musical Newsies was only a modest success. What a difference a decade makes – in Artistry's just-opened production, the
PREVIEW: Behind the Story – Before Out of the Box Opera’s Suor Angelica Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - June 24, 2024June 24, 2024 The interior of the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis, MN, which will host Out of the Box Opera's production of Puccini's opera Suor Angelica. In the spring of 1904, the composer Giacomo Puccini was at an impasse. To the public eye, his life and career were flying high: he had
DC REVIEW: Anything but Business as Normal in the American Opera Initiative (Washington National Opera) Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - January 22, 2024January 22, 2024 Jonathan Pierce Rhodes (Ari) and Justin Burgess (Gale) in the world premiere of the short opera Hairpiece at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC on Friday, January 19. Photo by Bronwen Sharp. One of the great criticisms of the American opera industry is its obsession with things now more than a
NYC REVIEW: Spectacular Fulfillment in The Promise (PROTOTYPE FESTIVAL) Arts Music by Basil Considine - January 14, 2024January 14, 2024 The Dutch singer and multi-instrumentalist Wende (center) stars in The Promise, which plays through Sunday, January 14 at HERE Mainstage in New York City. Photo by Raymond van Olphen. Rarely have I seen a show to recommend so strongly as The Promise. What starts as an intimate concert experience unfolds into
NYC REVIEW: Adoration, Myths, and Reality (PROTOTYPE FESTIVAL) Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - January 13, 2024January 14, 2024 Tenor Omar Najmi stars in the opera Adoration at the PROTOTYPE Festival in New York City. Photo by Maria Baranova. Prejudice, love, collective judgment, and the uncertainty of truth. These are some of the major threads woven into Adoration, a new opera by Mary Kouyoumdjian and Royce Vavrek that premiered at
THE CURMUDGEON: Vol. 6 – For Musicians (and Other Artists) Trying to Get Covered in the Press Arts Music The Curmudgeon by Basil Considine - January 9, 2024 A close-up of Albrecht Dürer's Melancolia (1514). Perhaps you know me as a composer and opera director; in this case, I am writing because I'm also a classical music critic. Are you an early-career artist trying to get me (or someone like me) to see your recital? My first recommendation is
NEWS: HUGE Improv Theater’s Forever Home and Winter Season Arts Comedy Theatre by Basil Considine - January 1, 2024January 3, 2024 HUGE Improv Theater's new space at 2728 Lyndale Ave S in Minneapolis, MN features 25% more audience seating, as well as larger lobby, stage, and classrooms, dedicated storage and office space, and (to the relief of all) an additional restroom. HUGE Improv Theater is settling into its new home at
PROFILE: James A. Rocco, Arts Leader and So Much More Arts Music Theatre by Basil Considine - September 8, 2023September 8, 2023 Arts leader (and more) James A. Rocco. If you want a story of doing it all in the performing arts, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better example than James A. Rocco. Over the decades, the St. Paul-based artist has been a Broadway actor, director, choreographer, writer, and producer – to
INTERVIEW: Leslie Vincent on Psychedelic Songs and About Last Night Arts Music by Basil Considine - July 8, 2023July 7, 2023 Leslie Vincent (right) with her band between takes at Future Condo Studio in Minneapolis, MN. Photo by Laura Buhman. Your new album About Last Night drops on July 22. How long has this album been in the works? I’ve been dreaming about the album since the summer of 2021 when we started