This retrospective review looks back on the Midtown Men (above)'s performance last month at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts. I attended The Midtown Men at the Ordway Concert Hall the same week I saw Jersey Boys for the first time. When I arrived at the concert it, seemed to
REVIEW: Thought-Provoking Taking Shakespeare (Gremlin Theatre)
John A.W. Stephens in Gremlin Theatre's production of Taking Shakespeare. Photo by Alyssa Kristine Photography. John Murrell’s play Taking Shakespeare is a story about a burnt-out professor and a young man at a transformative time in his life. Gremlin Theatre’s Artistic Director Peter Christian Hansen directs this show with a small but
REVIEW: Rapid Laughs in Lord Gordon Gordon (History Theatre)
NEWS: Playwrights’ Center Announces 2018-19 Jerome and Many Voices Fellows
The recipients of the Playwrights' Center's 2018-2019 fellowship and mentorship awards. Clockwise from upper left: Haygen-Brice Walker, Philana Imade Omorotionmwan, Marvin Gonzalez, Casey Llewellyn, Sofya Levitsky-Weitz, and Antonio Duke. The Playwrights' Center in Minneapolis announced yesterday the recipients of its 2018-2019 fellowships. The PWC will host three new Jerome Fellows – Sofya Levitsky-Weitz, Casey
PREVIEW: Cirque Goes to the Movies (MN Orchestra)
A photo collage of Cirque de la Symphonie in action. Love a live orchestra, wish there was more to look at? Then the Minnesota Orchestra's upcoming weekend concerts are just what the doctor ordered. The program Cirque Goes to the Movies mixes two great things: the orchestra's popular film music series and
REVIEW: Arturo Sandoval, Trumpet Grandmaster (Dakota)
A promotional photo of jazz trumpeter Arturo Sandoval. Last night, the trumpeter Arturo Sandoval played at the Dakota Jazz Club in Minneapolis. Over the course of the evening, he showcased his versatility in a performance filled with the charisma that attracts top-quality stars to his recording albums. Sandoval's new album Ultimate Duets!
REVIEW: The Magical Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Spoiler-Free; NYC/Broadway)
Light and composition are exquisitely used throughout the visually lush Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, now playing on Broadway. Photo by Manuel Harlan. What's the hardest show to get tickets to on Broadway right now? Not The Book of Mormon and not Hamilton. That honor belongs to Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,
PREVIEW: It Can’t Happen Here Reading (Arlington Hills Community Center)
FEATURE: On the Sweet, Seductive Decadence in Minnesota Opera’s Thaïs
A scene from Jules Massenet and Anatole France's classic opera Thaïs, opening tomorrow at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in St. Paul, MN. Photo by Cory Weaver. Thaïs opens tomorrow at Minnesota Opera. The opera features some of the most beautiful music ever written, notably the famous Meditation (see below)
REVIEW: Enemy of the People, Lite Edition (Guthrie Theater)
The Stockmann brothers Peter (Ricardo Chavira) and Tom (Billy Carter) in the Guthrie Theater's production of An Enemy of the People. Photo by Dan Norman. It says something about Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906)'s place in the theatrical canon that his works are now being freely reinterpreted, reconceived, and given sequels.