REVIEW: It’s the Journey and the Candy in Fellow Travelers (Minnesota Opera) Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - June 19, 2018June 24, 2018 The cast of Minnesota Opera’s Fellow Travelers. Photo by Dan Norman. Fellow Travelers, a fantastic new opera that opened at the Cowles Center on Saturday, is one of Minnesota Opera's best newer works of recent years. The music is beautiful and interesting, the story fraught with passion and the lure of
REVIEW: Into the Woods Up Close (Shoot the Glass Theater) Arts Music Theatre by Basil Considine - June 16, 2018June 17, 2018 Rapunzel (Anna Maher) gets some bad news from her adoptive mother in Shoot the Glass Theater's production of Into the Woods. Photo by Twin Cities Headshots. The recent success of The Band's Visit at the Tony Awards reminds us that there is still great room for an intimately scaled, well-told musical tale. Intimacy
NEWS: Jerome Foundation Announces Inaugural Organization Grant Recipients Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre Visual Arts by Basil Considine - June 15, 2018June 15, 2018 A photo collage of artists and art funded by the Jerome Foundation. The Jerome Foundation today announced $4,159,500 in grants to 84 arts organizations in Minnesota and New York City. These grants to nonprofit arts organizations comprise inaugural offering of the foundation's new Organization Grants Program. The two-stage application process attracted 254
NEWS: Rose Ensemble to Fade Away Next Season Arts Music by Basil Considine - June 3, 2018June 3, 2018 The Roman Emperor Heliogabalus (reigned 218–222) suffocates guests beneath rose petals in The Roses of Heliogabalus (1888) by Lawrence Alma-Tadema. Warning: This article contains spoilers for Season 7 of Game of Thrones. The Rose Ensemble announced on Wednesday that its 2018-2019 season will be its last. One of the Twin Cities' premiere vocal ensembles
INTERVIEW: May Lee-Yang on The Korean Drama Addict’s Guide to Losing Your Virginity Arts Theatre by Basil Considine - May 29, 2018May 30, 2018 A scattering of papers from May Lee-Yang's forthcoming play The Korean Drama Addict's Guide to Losing Your Virginity. This October, Park Square Theatre's Andy Boss Thrust Stage turns four years old. Since opening in 2014, this second stage has exploded Park Square's season, fueling and facilitating collaborations that run parallel to
REVIEW: The Magical Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Spoiler-Free; NYC/Broadway) Arts Theatre by Basil Considine - May 13, 2018May 13, 2018 Light and composition are exquisitely used throughout the visually lush Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, now playing on Broadway. Photo by Manuel Harlan. What's the hardest show to get tickets to on Broadway right now? Not The Book of Mormon and not Hamilton. That honor belongs to Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,
FEATURE: On the Sweet, Seductive Decadence in Minnesota Opera’s Thaïs Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - May 11, 2018June 24, 2018 A scene from Jules Massenet and Anatole France's classic opera Thaïs, opening tomorrow at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in St. Paul, MN. Photo by Cory Weaver. Thaïs opens tomorrow at Minnesota Opera. The opera features some of the most beautiful music ever written, notably the famous Meditation (see below)
PREVIEW: Five Fifths of the Matrix Runs Down the Rabbit Hole (Minnesota Fringe) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - April 29, 2018April 29, 2018 A promotional image for Five Fifths of The Matrix. On Monday, May 7, the Minnesota Fringe Festival rings in its approaching silver anniversary with the latest installment of its annual Five Fifths fundraiser. Each year, the festival selects a new movie to parody and riff on; this year, executive director Dawn Bentley
BREAKING NEWS: Iowa Soprano 1 of 5 Winners at Met Opera Grand Finals Concert Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - April 29, 2018April 29, 2018 Soprano Jessica Faselt (right) during the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions at Bethel University in March. Photo courtesy of the Met National Council Upper Midwest Region. The votes are in for the final round of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. The five winners, chosen based on their performances in the
NEWS: Finalists Announced for Metropolitan Opera’s Annual Talent Search Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - April 23, 2018April 23, 2018 The finalists for the 2018 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. L-R: Carlos Santelli, Ashley Dixon, Jessica Faselt, Gretchen Krupp, Danielle Beckvermit, Emily Misch, Madison Leonard, Megan Grey, and Hongni Wu. New York is heating up, and it's not just the temperature outside. Over the weekend, the Metropolitan Opera wrapped up the