Stephen Yoakam and Mo Perry in the Jungle Theater's upcoming production of The Nether. Photo by William Clark. Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the theatre, another play about child abuse is opening in Uptown Minneapolis. In case the above sentence didn't tip you off, have some
Author: Basil Considine
Basil Considine is the Twin Cities Arts Reader's Performing Arts Editor and the Senior Classical Music and Drama Critic. Before joining the Arts Reader, he was the Twin Cities Daily Planet's Resident Classical Music and Drama Critic and a contributing writer for The Boston Music Intelligencer. 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.
PREVIEW: Lady with a Lap Dog (Fortune’s Fool)
Laurel Anderson (Mrs. Prozorov, Dasha, others), Joel Liestman (Dmitri), and Andrea Leap (Anna). Photo by Daniel Pinkerton. "Translation," Umberto Eco wrote, "is the art of failure." The subtleties of translation may make seemingly small differences large and cause one thing to be mistaken for another. Next week, Fortune's Fool Theater opens a
FEATURE: The Venezuelan Crisis and Music – A Tale of El Sistema, Bolivarists, and Sphinx
NEWS: Sally Ordway Award Proves Fatal to Recipient
The late J. Otis Powell. Poet, playwright, and overall multi-talented artist J. Otis Powell died on Monday, August 28. Powell was 61 years' old, and had been awarded a Sally Ordway Irvine Award for Commitment just five days prior. He had struggled with ill health, and received a kidney transplant several
Fringe File, #30: Final Box Office Results for 2017
A bar chart showing historical box office totals for the Minnesota Fringe Festival. The Minnesota Fringe Festival announced the final statistics today for the 2017 Minnesota Fringe Festival. The 11-day festival brought in 46,076 butts-in-seats, spread across 860 performances of 167 shows at 17 venues in Minneapolis. Why Count Butts-in-Seats? Since 2016, the
Fringe File, #28: Graphs and Charts, Part 1
A mosaic of different graphs of Fringe Festival sold-out attendance data. It's been one week since the 2017 Minnesota Fringe Festival closed its doors and the Fringe staff are still tallying and double-checking festival data. While a fuller report on the festival box office is still forthcoming, here are six figures
PREVIEW: A Glimpse at Aladdin (Hennepin Theatre Trust)
Women dancing in Arabian Nights. Photo by Dan Van Meer. The Orpheum Theatre is getting a magic lamp. Starting September 15, the Orpheum will host the Broadway touring production of Aladdin for three and a half weeks (closing October 8). This touring production stars Adam Jacobs, who originated the title role of Aladdin
INTERVIEW: Claire Wellin and Youth in a Roman Field
Actress-musician-songwriter Claire Wellin. Photo by Tiffany Topol. This Friday, Claire Wellin is bringing her band Youth in a Roman Field to Icehouse in Minneapolis. Youth in a Roman Field's "ghost folk" sound emphasizes haunting strings, acoustic instruments, and multipart vocal writing. The MSU-Mankato graduate spoke with the Arts Reader's Basil Considine about
Fringe File, #24: Phil Darg on Facility
Jeff (Tim Williams, left) inspects a chart while Fran (Nicole Korbisch, right) converses with Lionel (Paul Brissett) in Imagined Theatre's Facility. Photo courtesy of Imagined Theatre. One of the most striking dramas in the 2017 Minnesota Fringe Festival is Imagined Theatre's Facility, a play about elder care and dementia – two highly charged
Fringe File, #23: Lyssa Sparrow on First Year Queer, Kink, and Consent
The cast of First Year Queer in an previous show: Lyssa Sparrow (center) with Anthony Art (left) and Corinna Troth (right). There is a Fringe category called Something Different. Lyssa Sparrow's First Year Queer, now playing at the Minnesota Fringe Festival, has that label – and it certainly isn't inaccurate. The subject matter