PREVIEW: Twin Cities Winter Jazz Festival Arts Music by Twin Cities Arts Reader - December 19, 2015 Mother Nature may have delivered mixed signals this past month about whether or not winter is coming, but the planners for the Twin Cities Winter Jazz Festival have nevertheless locked in all of their performers. The lineups for the four festival stages at the Saint Paul Hotel are: Ballroom Dance 2:00 PM:
WEEKEND PICKS: Sound of Music, Blue Man Group, Snow Queen Arts Music Theatre by Twin Cities Arts Reader - December 18, 2015December 20, 2015 Pictured: Blue Man Group. November-December are some of the busiest months in the Twin Cities theatre season, with umpteen holiday shows and more Christmas Carol and Nutcracker variations than you can shake a stick at. Here's a non-holiday sampler of shows to take the kids to this weekend: Blue Man Group. This hard-to-describe
INTERVIEW: The Ordway’s Maria von Trapp: A Conversation with Billie Wildrick Arts Music Theatre by Twin Cities Arts Reader - December 17, 2015December 18, 2015 Last year, actress Billie Wildrick delighted audiences as Mother in the Ordway's production of A Christmas Story. When the snows vanished, however, Wildrick was off to Seattle, where musicals about escaping from factory work, drinking, and more drinking awaited. Now, with snow returning, Wildrick herself has returned to play the role of
PREVIEW: Rare Musical Films at Chanhassen Dinner Theatres Arts Movies Music by Twin Cities Arts Reader - December 15, 2015December 15, 2015 Chanhassen Dinner Theatres will show four compilations of rare music films at the Fireside Theatre on select Sunday afternoons in 2016 at 3 pm. Each showing is followed by dinner, and is introduced by film historian Bob DeFlores. The showtimes are: Sunday, February 7: The Soundies - Jukebox musical films of the 1940s Sunday, May 8: Great Comedy
PREVIEW: A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder Arts Music Theatre by Twin Cities Arts Reader - December 11, 2015 Monty Navarro (Kevin Massey, center) finds himself trapped between his affections for Sibella Hallward (Kristen Beth Williams) and Phoebe D'Ysquith (Adrienne Eller). It takes a long time to plan a Tony award-winning murder comedy and get away with it. Robert Freedman and Steven Lutback, the writers of A Gentleman's Guide to Love
Arts Practitioners, Educators Hail ESSA Passage Arts by Twin Cities Arts Reader - December 9, 2015 Today, the United States Senate voted to approve the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), sending this law to the White House. President Obama is expected to sign the act into law tomorrow, initiating one of the most broad changes in U.S. public education since the passage of the No Child Left
Magic Flute Revamp Rules Box Office Arts Music Opera Theatre by Twin Cities Arts Reader - December 9, 2015 The Queen of the Night may not have succeeded in Mozart's The Magic Flute, but Minnesota Opera certainly did. The company's recent revival of its 2014 staging of the opera completely sold out, with 9,808 tickets purchased for the six public performances. Throw in about 150 people for the first dress rehearsal and 1,600 eager high
REDUX: Joshua Bell and A Little Nightmare Music Arts Music by Twin Cities Arts Reader - December 6, 2015December 11, 2015 With Hanukkah starting tonight and memories of Joshua Bell selling out the Ordway fresh in mind, let's look back at the violin virtuoso's holiday team-up two years ago with Igudesman & Joo of A Little Nightmare Music fame:
The Dean of American Musical Theatre Arts Music Theatre by Twin Cities Arts Reader - November 25, 2015 When Aaron Copland died in 1990, a flood of obituaries hailed the composer as the "Dean of American Music." In the 25 years since his passing, no composer has picked up the reins; no successor has arisen whose music for the concert hall is popular, universally respected, and profoundly influential
Park Redesigns in the Air at Lake Calhoun, Lake Harriet Lifestyle by Twin Cities Arts Reader - November 19, 2015November 18, 2015 Major changes are being discussed for the Lake Calhoun and Lake Harriet Parks. The Star Tribune's Steve Brandt has the story. Redesigning the Lake Calhoun Park and its surround streets has been a source of repeated discussion for many years, especially with growing residential density and commercial use on Lake Street and