PREVIEW: PlayLabs at the Playwrights’ Center Arts Music by Twin Cities Arts Reader - October 16, 2017October 17, 2017 Playwright Martyna Majok workshopping her play queens [sic] at the Playwrights’ Center as part of the 2016-17 Ruth Easton New Play Series. Photo by Paula Keller. If you like new plays, it's hard to beat the free PlayLabs performances at the Playwrights' Center next week. These will be new in every sense – the
PREVIEW: Dracula Strikes Back (COLLIDE) Arts Dance Theatre by Twin Cities Arts Reader - October 16, 2017October 23, 2017 Renee Guittar (left) is frozen as Dracula (Michael Hanna) falls in COLLIDE Theatrical Dance Company's production of Dracula. This article was updated on Oct. 23 to reflect that Dracula has been extended from its original Nov. 5 close to a Nov. 12 close. It's mid-October and the Halloween decorations are creeping out all
REVIEW: Pounding St. John Passion (Lyric Opera of the North) Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - October 15, 2017October 16, 2017 Jesus (Jarrett Ott) sprawls on the ground after a savage beating in LOON Opera's staged production of the St. John Passion. Illustration by Basil Considine. LOON Opera kicked off its 2017-2018 season on Saturday with Johann Sebastian Bach's St. John Passion. Yes, you read that correctly – winter isn't anywhere close to officially
REVIEW: The Tap’s the Thing in Irving Berlin’s Music Box Revue 1921 (Theatre of the Ridiculous and Absurd) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - October 13, 2017October 13, 2017 A 1921 advertisement for the original Music Box Revue. There's a saying in show business that every show must have a pressing reason to exist. Irving Berlin’s Music Box Revue 1921's reason is clearly to be a love note to one of America's most beloved songwriters. The origins of Irving Berlin's Music Box Revue
REVIEW: Brilliant Music, Inconsistent Tone in Don Pasquale (Minnesota Opera) Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre Visual Arts by Basil Considine - October 12, 2017June 24, 2018 Craig Colclough as the titular Pasquale in Minnesota Opera’s Don Pasquale. Photo by Dan Norman. Minnesota Opera's production of Don Pasquale, currently playing at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, is suffused with all the lovely music that you've come to know and expect, well-performed and a joy to hear. The updated
REVIEW: Finely Tuned, Stomach-Churning The Nether (Jungle Theater) Arts Theatre by Basil Considine - October 11, 2017October 12, 2017 Sims/Papa (Stephen Yoakam) and Morris (Mo Perry) in a promotional photograph for the Jungle Theater's production of The Nether. The Nether, currently playing at the Jungle Theater, is the best-made play that I despise. I despise this play even more than I dislike writing a review from the first person perspective. However, it
REVIEW: Simon and Garfunkel Tribute, You’re Breaking My Heart Daily (Ordway) Arts Music by Bev Wolfe - October 11, 2017December 6, 2017 The tribute show The Simon & Garfunkel Story, which played at the Ordway Center last night, is a mixed bag of entertainment. The first half of the show is often flawed, but following intermission the performers showed a more grounded interpretation of the famous duo’s material that did it justice
REVIEW: The Prices of War in The Crossing (Brooklyn Academy of Music) Arts Music Opera Theatre by Twin Cities Arts Reader - October 8, 2017October 18, 2017 The cast of The Crossing. Photo by Richard Termine. For all its promise, Matthew Aucoin's opera The Crossing is not more than the sum of its parts. This opera is largely derived from and based on the Civil War poetry and letters of Walt Whitman; it premiered at the American Repertory Theatre in
REVIEW: Peter Yarrow and Noel Paul Stookey Still Rocking (Pantages Theatre) Arts Music by Bev Wolfe - October 8, 2017November 8, 2017 Peter Yarrow and Noel Paul Stookey in concert. Peter Yarrow and Noel Paul Stookey, best known as “Peter and Paul” of the famous folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary (PP&M), lit up the stage at Pantages Theatre on October 7. As a lifelong fan of the trio, this is the first
REVIEW: Henry and Alice: The Wokeless (Park Square Theatre) Arts Theatre by Kit Bix - October 6, 2017October 7, 2017 A promotional image for Henry & Alice: Into the Wild at Park Square Theatre. A funny thing happened to me after attending the American premiere of Henry & Alice: Into the Wild, which runs through October 22 at Park Square Theatre’s Andy Boss Thrust Stage. I enjoyed the show and came out afterward