PREVIEW: Randy Brecker with the JazzMN Orchestra on 10/2 (Chanhassen Dinner Theatres) Arts Music by Brian Bix - September 24, 2023September 25, 2023 A concert photo of the JazzMN Orchestra. The JazzMN Orchestra is a 17-piece jazz ensemble, formed over 20 years ago by Dr. Douglas Snapp. Its purpose is to “Promote, Preserve and Perpetuate America’s Indigenous Art Music, Jazz.” It plays both classical arrangements and new compositions. It has performed with many world-famous
REVIEW: Beetlejuice: A Fun, Dark Musical Comedy (Orpheum/HTT) Arts Music Theatre by Boo Segersin - September 21, 2023September 22, 2023 Justin Collette (Beetlejuice) and the national touring company of Beetlejuice, which plays through September 24 at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis, MN. Photo by Matthew Murphy. Hurry on over to the Orpheum to catch Beetlejuice before their short run ends. This dark comedy is a fabulous musical adaptation of the wildly
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
FRINGE FILE: The Golden Lanyard Awards Arts Theatre by Twin Cities Arts Reader - August 14, 2023 The 31st Minnesota Fringe Festival wrapped up last night with the Golden Lanyard Awards. Audience-driven Awards Spirit of the Fringe A Swimming Lesson in a Theatre Without a Lifeguard by an alleged Theatre Company Audience Picks Grindr Help Desk: The Musical by David Stillman New Origins: Beauty and the Beast by Two Minnie
REVIEW: Powerful Jagged Little Pill Trip (HTT/Orpheum Theater) Arts Music Theatre by Bev Wolfe - August 12, 2023August 12, 2023 Jade McLeod (center) stars in the North American Tour of jagged little pill, currently playing at the Orpheum Theater in Minneapolis. Photo by Matthew Murphy for MurphyMade, 2022. Alanis Morissette’s powerful musical jagged little pill musical opened on Tuesday at the Orpheum Theater in Minneapolis. Based on the eponymous Grammy-winning album, the
PREVIEW: Jagged Little Pill Cuts Deep (Hennepin Theatre Trust/Orpheum Theatre) Arts Music Theatre by John Anderson - July 26, 2023July 26, 2023 Lauren Chanel and the company of the North American Tour of Jagged Little Pill. Photo by Evan Zimmerman and Matthew Murphy for MurphyMade. In July 1995, my 13-year-old daughter came home with a CD that I didn't know. The artist's name was Alanis Morissette, and the album was called Jagged Little
INTERVIEW: Opera on the Lake’s Anne Wieben and Redesigning Scandalous Stage Marriages Arts Music Opera Theatre by John Anderson - July 20, 2023July 20, 2023 A 2022 file photo of Opera on the Lake's summer operetta festival. If you're a fan of opera – or have been wanting to give it a try – you've probably heard of Opera on the Lake, the summer festival that brings Viennese operetta to St. Paul's Como Park. This year,
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
REVIEW: Into the Woods and Over the Rainbow (Guthrie Theater) Arts Music Theatre by Basil Considine - July 4, 2023July 7, 2023 Cinderella (Emily Tyra) is haunted by the memory and voice of her dead mother (Anna Hashizume) in the Guthrie Theater's new production of Into the Woods. Photo by Dan Norman. Do you like Sondheim, tongue-in-cheek plays on the old and familiar, or stellar music? Do you like wonderfully engaging acting, and
REVIEW: Moving Jersey Boys Opens (Chanhassen Dinner Theatres) Arts Music Theatre by Basil Considine - July 1, 2023July 3, 2023 The cast of Chanhassen Dinner Theatres' new production of Jersey Boys, now playing in Chanhassen, MN. Photo by Dan Norman. There is not a lot new to pen about Jersey Boys, the jukebox musical telling the story of The Four Seasons, a rock and roll and doo-wop band that rolled out of New