REVIEW: Rare Dafne Brought to Light (Twin Cities Early Music Festival) Arts Music Opera Theatre Visual Arts by Basil Considine - August 3, 2019August 3, 2019 A 16th-century painting of the Greek legend of Apollo and Daphne by Paolo Veronese, showing Daphne morphing into a tree in front of Apollo's anguished eyes. The featured portions of the Twin Cities Early Music Festival launched yesterday with a performance of Marco da Gagliano's 1608 opera La Dafne. The rarely performed
REVIEW: Energetic Fiddler on the Roof Arrives (Orpheum Theatre/Hennepin Theatre Trust) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - July 31, 2019July 31, 2019 The cast of the Fiddler on the Roof national tour, now playing at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis. Photo by Joan Marcus. There's not much new that can be written about Fiddler on the Roof, one of the most-beloved and most-performed shows in the American musical theatre canon. Its songs are as
REVIEW: Tony Bennett Rocks the Orpheum (Hennepin Theatre Trust) Arts Music by Basil Considine - July 29, 2019July 31, 2019 The legendary singer Tony Bennett. Photo by Larry Busacca. Nonagenarian or not, Tony Bennett has a lot of living and singing to do. During last night's concert at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis, the 92-year-old singer delighted fans young and old. The music was an engaging set of classic jazz and
REVIEW: Unexpected Depth in Footloose (Artistry) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - July 27, 2019July 28, 2019 Ethan Davenport (Ren McCormack), Angela Steele (Ariel Moore), and Erin Nicole Farsté (Rusty) with the cast of Artistry's Footloose. Photo by Devon Cox. The musical Footloose is usually done as a caricature: "Look how narrow-minded and simple those small-town, Bible-thumping folks are, scared of dancing! They're so backwards, all they really need
INTERVIEW: Antonia Bennett on a New Album, Opening for Tony Bennett Arts Music by Basil Considine - July 26, 2019July 26, 2019 Singer Antonia Bennett performs at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis on Sunday, July 28. This Sunday, legendary singer Tony Bennett brings his I Left My Heart tour and classic vocal style to the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis. Also on the lineup? His songstress daughter Antonia Bennett, who will open the program
REVIEW: Stripping Away Dignity in Stinkers (Jungle Theater) Arts Theatre by Basil Considine - July 22, 2019July 23, 2019 Sally Wingert and Josh Catron in the Jungle Theater production of Stinkers. Photo by Jessica Eckstrand. Josh Tobiessen's play Stinkers, now playing at the Jungle Theater in Minneapolis, is in many ways a paean to the rollercoaster journey that is modern parenting. Characters deal with short-term and long-term resentments, recasting their
Fringe File #4: INTERVIEW: Hannah Bakke and Escape THIS (TheatreX) Arts Theatre by Basil Considine - July 17, 2019July 20, 2019 The cast of TheatreX's upcoming Fringe show Escape THIS in rehearsal. Pictured: Ryan Vanasse, Christy Johnson, Kyle Doherty, and Hannah Bakke. Photo by Joe Hendren. When Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Egypt in 1798, he had no idea that his most enduring legacy would be Egyptomania. The French military expedition included historians and
REVIEW: La Serva Padrona Ascends at Icehouse (Mill City Summer Opera) Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - July 16, 2019July 17, 2019 Rodolfo Nieto (center) and Madison Holtze (right) in Mill City Summer Opera's production of the opera La serva padrona. Photo by Jasmin Kemp. Mill City Summer Opera leaped onto its first-ever second stage last night. The company's compact production of La serva padrona is a light-hearted, entertaining gem staged at the
Fringe File #3: INTERVIEW: Kevin T. Houle on Star Trek, Being Stuck in an Elevator, and Fandom Plays Arts Theatre by Basil Considine - July 10, 2019July 10, 2019 George M. Calger, Travis Bedard, Ali Daniels, and Tanya E. Walker rehearse The Theatre Cosmic's production of Stuck in an Elevator with Patrick Stewart II: The Wrath of Fandom, opening August 1 at the Minnesota Fringe Festival. The religiosity of Star Trek fans is not just a joking matter – it's
NEWS: Patrick Scully’s Leaves of Grass – Illuminated Sells Out (Guthrie Theater) Arts Dance Theatre by Basil Considine - July 10, 2019July 26, 2019 If you want to see Patrick Scully's Leaves of Grass and haven't bought tickets, you might want to put the Guthrie's box office on your speed dial. The show's July 12-14 limited run at the Guthrie Theater sold out before the 4th of July fireworks even had a chance to