Avishai Cohen in concert. Photo by Brian Bix. The Chicago Reader describes Avishai Cohen as “arguably the most exciting Israeli jazz musician in the world.” This might initially sound like praise so faint that it risks turning into criticism – like a building being described as “the tallest one in Cokato,
Arts
REVIEW: A Thoroughly English Mikado (GSVLOC)
"Three little maids from school are we" – Sarah Mehle as Patricia Singleton/Patti Sing, Margaret Matejcek as Taylor Tarrington/Tum Tum, and Blanka Melbostad as Barbara O. Peoples/Bow Peep in the Gilbert and Sullivan Very Light Opera Company's new production of The Mikado. The Gilbert and Sullivan Very Light Opera Company opened
REVIEW: Freewheeling Adaptation of The Hobbit at CTC (Children’s Theatre Company)
Becca Hart and Reed Sigmund in the Children's Theatre Company's new adaptation of The Hobbit. Photo by Dan Norman. There's a freewheeling musical adaptation of The Hobbit playing at the Children's Theatre Company in Minneapolis. This new take on J.R.R. Tolkien's classic children's novel is very loosely based on the source
INTERVIEW: Soprano Liv Redpath on Singing in the Best of All Possible Worlds
Opera is seemingly everywhere in the Twin Cities in March, with productions and concerts by the University of Minnesota, Minnesota Opera, Skylark Opera Theatre, and more. Into this tangled period leaps the choral music ensemble VocalEssence, which has chosen "The Best of All Possible Worlds" – that is, to perform Leonard
REVIEW: Timely The Fix (MN Opera)
The ensemble of Minnesota Opera's world premiere production of The Fix, which opened Saturday at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in St. Paul, Minnesota. Photo by Cory Weaver. It's rather poetic that Minnesota Opera's The Fix premiered just days after breaking news of a major college admissions fraud and bribery
INTERVIEW: Tyler Michaels on Becoming Hedwig and Trademarking Theater
Tyler Michaels rehearsing for Theater Latté Da's upcoming production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Photo by Emilee Elofson. 21 years ago, on Valentine's Day, an unlikely success called Hedwig and the Angry Inch opened Off Broadway. An in-your face, mostly solo punk rock musical, Hedwig dives straight into the physical
REVIEW: The Joys of Mamma Mia (Chanhassen Dinner Theatres)
INTERVIEW: Theatre Unbound’s New Executive Director Jenny Moeller on Taking the Wheel
A wordcloud generated from an interview with Theatre Unbound's incoming Executive Director, Jenny Moeller. This fall, Theatre Unbound will celebrate its 20th season of making live theatre created and conceived by women. A 20th birthday is counted as a crown year; for its 20th, Theatre Unbound is crowning a new Executive
INTERVIEW: Daisuke Kawachi and Sara Ochs on Directing The Last Firefly (Theater Mu/SteppingStone)
A fight rehearsal for the Theater Mu/SteppingStone Theatre for Youth co-production of The Last Firefly. Photo by Jessica Kray Martin Photo. Fireflies float on the boundary between the mundane and a world of magical realism. They are also important biomarkers, whose disappearance foreshadows local ecosystem collapse. This dual role has made
REVIEW: Powerful Iphigenia and Other Daughters (Theatre Unbound)
Iphigenia and Other Daughters, currently being presented by Theatre Unbound at Gremlin Theatre in Saint Paul, MN. Photo by Theresa Burgess. It says something that, 25 years after its premiere in Los Angeles, Ellen McLaughlin's play Iphigenia and Other Daughters still has something powerful to say. It also says something that