REVIEW: Everything Great About Minnesota Opera’s La Traviata Arts Music Opera Theatre Visual Arts by Basil Considine - May 7, 2019May 7, 2019 Jésus León and Nicole Cabell star as doomed lovers Alfredo and Violetta in Minnesota Opera's La Traviata, now playing at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in St. Paul, MN. Photo by Dan Norman. Editor's Note: This is the second of two reviews looking at Minnesota Opera's production of La
REVIEW: Everything Wrong with Minnesota Opera’s La Traviata Arts Music Opera Theatre Visual Arts by Basil Considine - May 6, 2019May 7, 2019 The famous Brindisi scene in Minnesota Opera's production of La Traviata, which opened Saturday at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in St. Paul, MN. Photo by Dan Norman. Editor's Note: This is the first of two reviews looking at Minnesota Opera's production of La Traviata, which opened on Saturday
INTERVIEW: Felicity Jones Latta on Metamorphoses, Misdirected Star Wars Mail, & Pre-Show Laughs Arts Theatre Visual Arts by Basil Considine - April 29, 2019April 29, 2019 The cast of the Guthrie Theater and Berkeley Repertory Theatre’s co-production of Metamorphoses by Mary Zimmerman. Photo by Dan Norman. Actor Felicity Jones Latta has had a few homecomings in the Twin Cities, but her current one is blue. Guthrie Theater blue, to be precise. In an uncommon piece of sibling
REVIEW: Too Much of a Good Thing in A Parable of the Sower (O’Shaughnessy) Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - April 27, 2019April 29, 2019 A scene from the opera A Parable of the Sower at its Abu Dhabi premiere. Photo by Waleed Shah. The first 45 minutes of the opera A Parable of the Sower, presented in concert form at the O'Shaughnessy last night, are absolutely sensational. If the evening had ended then and there, the
REVIEW: Riveting Metamorphoses Ripples (Guthrie Theater) Arts Dance Theatre Visual Arts by Basil Considine - April 19, 2019April 19, 2019 Orpheus (Alex Moggridge, left) tries to wrest his love from the ravages of death in the Guthrie Theater/Berkeley Repertory Theatre co-production of Mary Zimmerman's play Metamorphoses. The forces of Hades (Steven Epp, Louise Lamson, and Rodney Gardiner) look on with bemusement. Photo by Dan Norman. It is seldom to see a
REVIEW: Betty Buckley Seizes the Spotlight, Never Lets Go in Hello, Dolly! (Orpheum Theatre/Hennepin Theatre Trust) Arts Dance Music Theatre Visual Arts by Basil Considine - April 18, 2019April 18, 2019 The national touring company of Hello, Dolly!, playing through April 28 at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis. Photo by Julieta Cervantes. The poster for the national tour of Hello, Dolly! features just four words: the show title and "Betty Buckley". Look at the poster alone and you might think that's odd. Watch
REVIEW: Cool Be More Chill High School trip (Minneapolis Musical Theatre) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - April 17, 2019April 17, 2019 Meet the romantic musical comedy leads of Be More Chill, now playing at the Illusion Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota: Jeremy Heere (Maxwell Emmett Ward) and Christine Canigula (Caitlin Featherstone). Photo by Scott Pakudaitis. If you follow what's playing on Broadway, you were probably surprised to hear that Be More Chill opened in
INTERVIEW: Kristen Hahn on Hello, Dolly!, A Gentleman’s Guide to Murder, and More Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - April 16, 2019April 16, 2019 The national touring company of Hello, Dolly!, which opens this evening at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis, MN. Photo by Julieta Cervantes. Hello, Dolly! opens tonight at the Orpheum Theatre on Hennepin Ave. Written by Michael Stewart and Jerry Herman, the musical took Broadway by storm in 1964, walking away with a
REVIEW: Flip-Flopping in Gender-Bending Victor/Victoria (Artistry) Arts Dance Music Theatre Visual Arts by Basil Considine - April 9, 2019April 9, 2019 Ann Michels (as Victoria Grant) and the ensemble of Artistry's Victor/Victoria. Photo by Devon Cox. Victor/Victoria is not a great ensemble show. The current Artistry production at the Bloomington Center for the Arts is a great star vehicle for Ann Michels, but most of the other actors get the short end
REVIEW: Velvet Swing Rips the Curtains Down (Umbrella Collective) Arts Music Theatre by Basil Considine - April 7, 2019April 9, 2019 A promotional image for the Umbrella Collective's production of Velvet Swing, which opened Friday at Bryant-Lake Bowl in Minneapolis, MN. On Tuesday, The Guardian ran a piece entitled From Jack the Ripper to Ted Bundy, Why Are Dead Women’s Bodies Still Being Used as Entertainment? One of its arguments is that theatre,