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,
REVIEW: Dynamic Poetry Rules in Of Art and Artists (Theatre Elision) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - April 6, 2019April 6, 2019 Christine Wade (2nd from right) plays the ukelele as Krin McMillen, Thomas Friebe, Maggie Burr, Zach Garcia, and Anna Hashizume look on in Theatre Elision's production Of Art and Artists. Photo by Jessica Holleque. Theatre Elision's Of Art and Artists program, which opened last night in Eden Prairie, is the sort of
REVIEW: In-Your Face Hedwig Grabs and Doesn’t Let Go (Theater Latté Da) Arts Music Theatre by Basil Considine - April 5, 2019April 5, 2019 Tyler Michaels stars in Theater Latté Da's production of the musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch, now playing at the Ritz Theater in Northeast Minneapolis. Photo by Dan Norman. Reception theory emphasizes the importance of individual and collective reactions in determining something's meaning. An author may write with one intention, only
REVIEW: Powerful, Beautiful Cyrano de Bergerac (Guthrie Theater) Arts Theatre by Basil Considine - March 28, 2019July 10, 2019 Jay O. Sanders as Cyrano de Bergerac, surrounded by the cast of the Guthrie Theater's production of the same name. Photo by T Charles Erickson. There are moments in the Guthrie Theater's new production of Cyrano de Bergerac where the audience hangs on every word spoken by Jay O. Sanders. Moments where
INTERVIEW: Ann Michels on Victor/Victoria and Practically Perfect Role Models (Artistry) Arts Dance Music by Basil Considine - March 27, 2019March 27, 2019 Ann Michels in rehearsal for Artistry's upcoming production of Victor/Victoria. Photo by Devon Cox. 1982 was an important year in music. It was the year that the first commercial CD player went on sale, the year that Michael Jackson's Thriller dropped, and a song called "Eye of the Tiger" rode the
INTERVIEW: Maggie Burr and Jim Ahrens on Theatre Elision’s Of Art and Artists Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre Visual Arts by Basil Considine - March 26, 2019March 26, 2019 A word cloud built from the names of composers in Theatre Elision's upcoming Of Art and Artists program. Next Thursday, Theatre Elision opens a short-run performance entitled Of Art and Artists. The ambitious, label-defying program will mix readings of poetry, showings of visual art, choral singing, and dance in three performances
REVIEW: Così fan tutte Hits New York (Skylark Opera Theatre) Arts Music Theatre by Basil Considine - March 23, 2019March 26, 2019 KrisAnne Weiss, Laurent Kuehnl, Luke Williams, Tess Altiveros, and Justin Spenner in Skylark Opera Theatre's production of Mozart's Così fan tutte. Photo by Matt Bellin. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Lorenzo Da Ponte's opera Così fan tutte has been getting a lot of programming love in Minnesota of late. Last week, Fargo