A scene from Lions and Peacocks and Snakes – OH MY! by CAAM Chinese Dance Theater, one of several shows at the inaugural Family Fringe festival. Photo by Dan Norman. The numbers are in for the 2018 Minnesota Fringe festivals: this year's Fringe fests were a heck of a lot smaller
Author: Basil Considine
Basil Considine is the Performing Arts Editor and Senior Classical Music and Drama Critic at the Twin Cities Arts Reader. He was previously the Resident Classical Music and Drama Critic at the Twin Cities Daily Planet and remains an occasional contributing writer for The Boston Musical Intelligencer and The Chattanoogan. He holds a PhD in Music and Drama from Boston University, an MTS in Sacred Music from the BU School of Theology, and a BA in Music and Theatre from the University of San Diego.
Basil was named one of Musical America's 30 Professionals of the Year in 2017.
NEWS: Fallout from Classical Music’s Sexual Misconduct Disclosures
Fringe File 2018 #16 – A View from the Set with Joshua Barnd
An example of River Bottom Productions' industrial work. Joshua Barnd is the owner and operator of River Bottom Productions, a Jordan, MN-based production company that has provided multifaceted production services to the greater Twin Cities area since 2008. On any given day, Joshua might be working on scenic design, lighting, sound,
INTERVIEW: Laura Osnes and the Broadway Princess Party
A promotional photo for the Broadway Princess Party, which comes to the Pantages Theatre on August 18. Eagan, MN native Laura Osnes has been to Broadway and back with the Tony nominations to prove it. Besides Broadway, she's starred in shows at Lincoln Center and the Kennedy Center, and sung concerts
Fringe File 2018 #13 – Brid Henry on Diving Into Theatre
Actor Brid Henry (bottom) on a skydiving trip. Brid Henry plays Roxanne in the Red Dice Collective's upcoming Fringe production of Cyrano on the Moon. Brid spoke with the Arts Reader about diving into the local theatre scene. You worked on last year's The Future Is Female Festival in its Minneapolis branch. What was that experience
Fringe File 2008 #12 – Erin Roberts on Mental Disintegration and Integration
Actor Erin Roberts in rehearsal for Nightfox Stage Productions' My 4 Bodies. Erin Roberts is the star of My 4 Bodies, a solo show at the 2018 Minnesota Fringe Festival that delves into stress, illness, pressure, and loneliness. Naturally, these issues exist entirely in the world of environment and have no real-world
FEATURE: Opera, Sexual Misconduct, and Daylight
This story includes a graphic discussion of sexual assault. One night in July, wigmaster Jolie O’Dell turned out the lights and went to bed. She awoke, she says, to find herself being groped by her house guest, a bass-baritone opera singer named Matthew Stump. Stump masturbated as he fondled her; amidst
Fringe File 2018 #11 – Denzel Belin on The Breakfast Club: The Musical!
The cast of The Breakfast Club: The Musical! in a promotional photo replicating the classic movie's poster. The Breakfast Club begins with an old dramatic standby. You isolate a group of people in a room, you have them talk, and eventually they exchange truths about themselves and come to new understandings.
Fringe File 2018 #10 – Thomas Buan and a new Don Quixote
A rehearsal photo from Threepenny Productions' production of Fools, Errant. Photo by Scott Gilbert. This latest installment of the Fringe File series shines a spotlight on Thomas Buan, an actor in Threepenny Productions' production of Fools, Errant. This spin on the classic novel Don Quixote was written by Amy Seham and engages
Fringe File 2018 #9 – Aidan Jhane Gallivan on Rejection
The cast of Theatre Corrobora's Rejection. Aidan Jhane Gallivan is the executive director of Theatre Corrobora. The company's premiere of It Always Rained in Paris earned the Arts Reader's highest award, the Editor's Pick, at the 2016 Minnesota Fringe Festival. Earlier this year, it staged The Critic and the Drama Queen, a new play