DC REVIEW: Anything but Business as Normal in the American Opera Initiative (Washington National Opera) Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - January 22, 2024January 22, 2024 Jonathan Pierce Rhodes (Ari) and Justin Burgess (Gale) in the world premiere of the short opera Hairpiece at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC on Friday, January 19. Photo by Bronwen Sharp. One of the great criticisms of the American opera industry is its obsession with things now more than a
NYC REVIEW: Spectacular Fulfillment in The Promise (PROTOTYPE FESTIVAL) Arts Music by Basil Considine - January 14, 2024January 14, 2024 The Dutch singer and multi-instrumentalist Wende (center) stars in The Promise, which plays through Sunday, January 14 at HERE Mainstage in New York City. Photo by Raymond van Olphen. Rarely have I seen a show to recommend so strongly as The Promise. What starts as an intimate concert experience unfolds into
NYC REVIEW: Adoration, Myths, and Reality (PROTOTYPE FESTIVAL) Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - January 13, 2024January 14, 2024 Tenor Omar Najmi stars in the opera Adoration at the PROTOTYPE Festival in New York City. Photo by Maria Baranova. Prejudice, love, collective judgment, and the uncertainty of truth. These are some of the major threads woven into Adoration, a new opera by Mary Kouyoumdjian and Royce Vavrek that premiered at
THE CURMUDGEON: Vol. 6 – For Musicians (and Other Artists) Trying to Get Covered in the Press Arts Music The Curmudgeon by Basil Considine - January 9, 2024 A close-up of Albrecht Dürer's Melancolia (1514). Perhaps you know me as a composer and opera director; in this case, I am writing because I'm also a classical music critic. Are you an early-career artist trying to get me (or someone like me) to see your recital? My first recommendation is
NEWS: HUGE Improv Theater’s Forever Home and Winter Season Arts Comedy Theatre by Basil Considine - January 1, 2024January 3, 2024 HUGE Improv Theater's new space at 2728 Lyndale Ave S in Minneapolis, MN features 25% more audience seating, as well as larger lobby, stage, and classrooms, dedicated storage and office space, and (to the relief of all) an additional restroom. HUGE Improv Theater is settling into its new home at
PROFILE: James A. Rocco, Arts Leader and So Much More Arts Music Theatre by Basil Considine - September 8, 2023September 8, 2023 Arts leader (and more) James A. Rocco. If you want a story of doing it all in the performing arts, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better example than James A. Rocco. Over the decades, the St. Paul-based artist has been a Broadway actor, director, choreographer, writer, and producer – to
INTERVIEW: Leslie Vincent on Psychedelic Songs and About Last Night Arts Music by Basil Considine - July 8, 2023July 7, 2023 Leslie Vincent (right) with her band between takes at Future Condo Studio in Minneapolis, MN. Photo by Laura Buhman. Your new album About Last Night drops on July 22. How long has this album been in the works? I’ve been dreaming about the album since the summer of 2021 when we started
REVIEW: Into the Woods and Over the Rainbow (Guthrie Theater) Arts Music Theatre by Basil Considine - July 4, 2023July 7, 2023 Cinderella (Emily Tyra) is haunted by the memory and voice of her dead mother (Anna Hashizume) in the Guthrie Theater's new production of Into the Woods. Photo by Dan Norman. Do you like Sondheim, tongue-in-cheek plays on the old and familiar, or stellar music? Do you like wonderfully engaging acting, and
REVIEW: Moving Jersey Boys Opens (Chanhassen Dinner Theatres) Arts Music Theatre by Basil Considine - July 1, 2023July 3, 2023 The cast of Chanhassen Dinner Theatres' new production of Jersey Boys, now playing in Chanhassen, MN. Photo by Dan Norman. There is not a lot new to pen about Jersey Boys, the jukebox musical telling the story of The Four Seasons, a rock and roll and doo-wop band that rolled out of New
REVIEW: Fantastic, Moving Next to Normal (Latté Da) Arts Music Theatre by Basil Considine - June 18, 2023June 22, 2023 Kyle Weiler (Gabe), Audrey Mojica (Natalie) and Sayer Keeley (Henry) in Theater Latté Da's production of Next to Normal, now playing at the Ritz Theater in NE Minneapolis. There is a moment, most of the way through Act I of Next to Normal, when the music slows down and the auditorium