REVIEW: Tepid Two Degrees (Guthrie Theater) Arts Theatre by Amy Donahue - October 17, 2018October 20, 2018 Norah Long and Joel Liestman star in Two Degrees a PRIME Productions/Guthrie Theater co-production now playing at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. Photo by Dan Norman. In its best moments, Two Degrees reminds you of some of the more lurid scandal episodes in The West Wing. In its less strong moments,
PREVIEW: DaVina and the Vagabonds Return to the Dakota Jazz Club, 10/6-10/7 Arts Music by Amy Donahue - October 3, 2018October 3, 2018 Davina Lozier of Davina and the Vagabonds at the piano. Photo by Garrett Born. One of the oft-trotted phrases in music criticism is "Jazz is dead." Like many popular aphorisms, it's a fun but false soundbyte. Don't believe me? Just try to buy same-day tickets to see local jazz blues band
REVIEW: Smoldering Coals in Playing With Fire (Guthrie) Arts Theatre by Amy Donahue - September 23, 2018September 24, 2018 Ryan Colbert (Victor), Jason Rojas (Adam), Elijah Alexander (The Creature), and Zachary Fine (Frankenstein) in the Guthrie Theater's production of Frankenstein–Playing With Fire. Photo by Dan Norman. It's been 30 years since Barbara Field’s Frankenstein – Playing with Fire first played at the Guthrie. 2018 also marks the 200th anniversary of the publication
REVIEW: Old Thrills Return in Dial M for Murder (Gremlin) Arts Theatre by Amy Donahue - September 19, 2018September 19, 2018 Events start to go to hell in a handbasket for Margot (Emily Dussault) and Tony (Peter Christian Hansen) in Gremlin Theatre's production of Dial M for Murder. Photo by Alyssa Kristine Photography. 1950s television has a certain romance for theatre fans. It was then and there that Neil Simon refined his craft,
REVIEW: Fun, Different Little Women (Jungle Theater) Arts Theatre by Amy Donahue - September 16, 2018September 17, 2018 The March sisters and their mother in the Jungle Theater's world premiere of Kate Hamill's Little Women. L-R: Beth March (Isabella Star LaBlanc), Marmee (Christina Baldwin), Meg March (Christine Weber), Amy March (Megan Burns) and Jo March (C. Michael Menge). Photo by Rich Ryan. Little Women is a literary gift that keeps on
REVIEW: A Tale of Light and Darkness in Wait Until Dark (Theatre in the Round) Arts Theatre by Amy Donahue - September 14, 2018September 15, 2018 If ever there was a play where sound and lighting take center stage, it's Jeffrey Hatcher's Wait Until Dark. This update of the 1966 Frederick Knott play, now running at Theatre in the Round in Minneapolis, has as its protagonist Susan (Heather Burrmeister), a newlywed who happens to be blind. Susan solves mysteries while
Fringe File 2018 #25 – The MN Fringe-Official Awards Arts Dance Music Theatre by Amy Donahue - August 12, 2018August 13, 2018 A collage of Minnesota Fringe Festival images. The Minnesota Fringe announced its inaugural Golden Lanyard Awards this evening. The awards for the 2018 Minnesota Fringe Festival were free-flowing, to say the least, with some 26 given out in sometimes confusingly labeled categories: Spirit of the Fringe Award: Hamlet, but Hamlet's a Chicken
REVIEW: Hilarious and Moving Korean Drama Addict’s Guide to Losing Your Virginity (Mu/Park Square) Arts Theatre by Amy Donahue - August 11, 2018August 11, 2018 A promotional image for Theater Mu/Park Square Theatre's co-production of The Korean Drama Addict’s Guide to Losing Your Virginity. If you've traveled to Los Angeles or Hawaii a lot, chances are that you'll have heard of or seen Korean television dramas (K-dramas). An international entertainment phenomenon, these television staples have a
Fringe File 2018 #20 – Look at this Fringe, Isn’t It Neat? Arts Dance Music Theatre by Amy Donahue - August 8, 2018August 8, 2018 A scene in Gunplay! by Tom Reed at the 2018 Minnesota Fringe Festival. Photo by Debbie Tallen. Wouldn't you say that your show list's complete? Wouldn't you think it's a Fringe That has everything? Look at this schedule: So many great shows! But how many guests can Red Stag's bar hold? Lookin' around here you'd think (Sure) Dawn's
Fringe File 2018 #18 – PREVIEW: The Revolt of the Beavers (Say It Loud Productions) Arts Music Theatre by Amy Donahue - July 29, 2018July 20, 2019 It should surprise no one that the American theatre tradition is frequently political. Of the 132 shows in the Minnesota Fringe Festivals this year, 22 (about 16%) are self-classified as having political content. Browse their show descriptions and you'll see that women's rights, LGBTQ rights, immigration, and refugees are common