PREVIEW: Welcome to Fight Night Arts Theatre by Basil Considine - December 20, 2018December 20, 2018 An array of characters from Theatre Coup d'Etat's Fight Night performance series. Photos by Craig James Hostetler. If you saw a poster that said "Celebrity Deathmatch meets Highlander" and promised characters from Miley Cyrus to Darth Vader fighting it out with words, axes, knives, bricks, bats, hand-to-hand, and rubber chickens, you'd probably have a lot
INTERVIEW: Becca Hart on Jungles, Spoonfulls of Sugar, and Returning to the Wolfpack Arts Theatre by Basil Considine - December 17, 2018December 18, 2018 The cast of the Jungle Theater's 2018 and 2019 productions of The Wolves. Photo by Dan Norman. The Jungle Theater's hit 2018 production of Sarah DeLappe's The Wolves is coming howling back in 2019. In a bit of sleight of hand, however, the January 31-February 17 revival jumps from the company's longtime home in Uptown
INTERVIEW: Catherine Dalton and Rough Cuts at Nautilus Music-Theater Arts Dance Music by Basil Considine - December 14, 2018December 14, 2018 A blue background. Today, the term "rough cut" generally refers to an early draft of an edit for audio or video recordings. The term, however, comes to us from sewing and cooking, which used the term freely in the 19th century before A/V recording was even a glimmer in an inventor's
PREVIEW: Les Misérables Prepares to Throw Up Its Barricade on Hennepin (HTT) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - December 9, 2018December 9, 2018 The cast of the national tour of Les Misérables marches towards revolution in "One Day More". Photo by Matthew Murphy. "If anyone doubts that the contemporary musical theater can flex its atrophied muscles and yank an audience right out of its seats, he need look no further than the Act I
INTERVIEW: Laila Robins on The Children and Returning to the Twin Cities Arts Theatre by Basil Considine - December 7, 2018December 7, 2018 Laila Robins (center) in the hit television series Homeland. Photo by Ilze Kitshoff/Showtime. On January 12, the Jungle Theater kicks off the year with a nuclear disaster. No, not a nuclear family disaster around the holidays – that’s between you and your family – but the aftermath of a disaster at
PREVIEW: Teen Idol Mania in The Bobby Vee Story (History Theatre) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - November 16, 2018November 16, 2018 Matthew Rubbelke (left) as Ward the Dance Instructor and Tyler Michaels (center) as Bobby Vee. Photo by Rick Spaulding. Each verse of Don McLean's famous song "American Pie" invokes "the day the music died". This day, February 3, 1959, has gone down in pop culture history as the tragic end of
FEATURE: On the Launch of The Book of Mormon Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - November 13, 2018November 13, 2018 The cast of the National Tour of The Book of Mormon. Photo by Julieta Cervantes. In New York City, there is rarely a better theatre recommendation to be had than at the TKTS Booth. In a city of 8.6 million, hundreds of theatre organizations, and innumerable shows opening and closing all
INTERVIEW: Mill City Summer Opera’s New Artistic Director Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - October 17, 2018November 4, 2018 Crystal Manich, the recently named Artistic Director of Mill City Summer Opera. Photo by Laura Marie Duncan. Next summer, Mill City Summer Opera will open its festival season under new leadership: Crystal Manich, the company's recently named artistic director. Manich has directed operas across the United States and in far-off cities
REVIEW: Nostalgic, Light-Hearted Holiday Inn Hits the Spot (Chanhassen Dinner Theatres) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - October 15, 2018October 22, 2018 A scene from Chanhassen Dinner Theatres' production of Holiday Inn. Photo by Tom Wallace. Is your idea of a good night at the theatre a light-hearted tale, pleasant music, interesting dance, and no weighty thoughts at the end of the day? If so, Chanhassen Dinner Theatres' new production of Holiday Inn is
REVIEW: Long La Rondine Worth the Wait (Minnesota Opera) Arts Music Opera Theatre Visual Arts by Basil Considine - October 14, 2018November 17, 2018 Celine Bryne as Magda, Leonardo Capalbo as Ruggero, and the Minnesota Opera Chorus in Minnesota Opera’s new production of La Rondine. Photo by Cory Weaver. There is a temptation that directors and designers face to re-encapsulate or reframe an old stage work for today's audience. Sometimes it is about trying to highlight