REVIEW: Another Look at Dracula‘s Bite (COLLIDE) Arts Dance by Bev Wolfe - November 12, 2017November 13, 2017 The cast of COLLIDE Theatrical Dance Company's Dracula. COLLIDE Theatrical Dance Company reprises its 2016 production of Dracula for the Halloween season at the Ritz Theatre. I decided to see it because I have been interested in Dracula-themed productions ever since I learned that my paternal grandfather was originally from Romania's Transylvania
REVIEW: The Privateer (Transatlantic Love Affair/Illusion) Arts Theatre by Basil Considine - November 11, 2017November 13, 2017 John Stephens, Antonio Duke, Heather Bunch, Nora Montañez, China Brickley, Allison Witham, and Eric Marinus in Transatlantic Love Affair's The Privateer. Photo by Lauren B Photography. If you're a scholar of high seas piracy, you might not like everything that you see in Transatlantic Love Affair's The Privateer. The piece is engaging, dynamic, and very humorous
REVIEW: Sensitive Movings, Nuanced Beauty in The Band’s Visit (NYC/Broadway) Arts Dance Music Theatre Visual Arts by Basil Considine - November 10, 2017November 11, 2017 Dina (Katrina Lenk) and Tewfiq (Tony Shahoub) metaphorically cross international lines. Photo by Matt Murphy. The Band's Visit is a verismo tale about intercultural dialogue, hospitality, and the search for happiness. The musical (which opened last night at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre in New York City) is intimate in focus, charming in
REVIEW: Finding Neverland (National Tour/Hennepin Theatre Trust) Arts Dance Music Theatre Visual Arts by Dan Reiva - November 5, 2017November 20, 2017 The cast of Finding Neverland. Photo by Jeremy Daniel. If you have loved the story of Peter Pan since childhood, it’s only natural to love the musical Finding Neverland as well. The national tour of Finding Neverland, which closes at the Orpheum Theatre today, is sparkling, whimsical, and fantasy-filled. To say that the
PREVIEW: One-Third of a Nation: The Doom of the Federal Theatre Project Arts Theatre by Basil Considine - November 5, 2017November 5, 2017 A tenement apartment burns in the opening scene of One-Third of a Nation in the play's original 1938 production. Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress. It's easy to see why the 76th Congress was upset with the play One-Third of a Nation. On the eve of World War II, fascist movements across
REVIEW: Orpheus in the Underworld Goes Suburban (GSVLOC) Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - November 2, 2017November 3, 2017 Orpheus (Jim Ahrens) with his alternating Euridices (Jennifer LeDoux and Nelle June Anderson) in the Gilbert and Sullivan Very Light Opera Company's current production of Orpheus in the Underworld. The Gilbert and Sullivan Very Light Opera Company is back this fall with Orpheus in the Underworld, an English-language translation of the Jacques Offenbach
INTERVIEW: Johanni van Oostrum on Figaro, Travel, and the Quest for the Perfect Burger Arts Music Theatre by Basil Considine - October 31, 2017November 2, 2017 Soprano Johanni van Oostrum. Photo by S. N. de Vries. Soprano Johanni van Oostrum stars in Minnesota Opera's upcoming production of The Marriage of Figaro. The international opera star's career has taken her from her native South Africa to Europe, North America, and Asia. The Arts Reader's Basil Considine caught up with van
REVIEW: Breathtaking Moments, Inconsistent Vision in Chainsawed Hamlet (Park Square Theatre) Arts Theatre by Kit Bix - October 31, 2017October 31, 2017 Hamlet (Kory LaQuess Pullam) angrily confronts his mother Gertrude (Sandra Struthers) in Park Square Theatre's production of Hamlet. Photo by Amy Anderson. Revenge does not sit well on Kory LaQuess Pullam’s Hamlet. Pullam performs in Park Square Theatre's current production, staged by director Joel Sass in a modern setting. The action moves
REVIEW: Thrilling Dracula (COLLIDE) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - October 31, 2017November 11, 2017 A scene from COLLIDE's Dracula. COLLIDE Theatrical Dance Company is getting creepy this season with its dance extravaganza Dracula. This action-packed piece, a revival of last year's hit, opened on Saturday. This contemporary twist on the classic vampire tale by Bram Stoker is set to a pounding modern soundtrack of pop songs. This
INTERVIEW: 2017 Ivey Awards Emerging Artist Meghan Kreidler Arts Music Theatre by Basil Considine - October 30, 2017October 30, 2017 Meghan Kreidler (center) in the Mu Performing Arts/Park Square Theatre co-production of Flower Drum Song. Photo by Rich Ryan. Actor Meghan Kreidler received the Ivey Awards' Emerging Artist Award for 2017. In recent years, she's appeared on the stages of the Guthrie Theater, Mixed Blood, Park Square Theatre, Ten Thousand Things, the