FEATURE: The Chandelier in The Phantom of the Opera Arts Dance Music Theatre Visual Arts by Basil Considine - December 21, 2017December 21, 2017 The chandelier used in the current Broadway production of The Phantom of the Opera. The current touring show chandelier is proportionally taller and emphasizes other details of the model chandeliers at the Paris Opera. Read Basil Considine's review of The Phantom of the Opera. At the height of the first megamusical craze,
PREVIEW: True Stories Brought to Life in Our House: The Capitol Play Project Arts Theatre by Basil Considine - December 21, 2017December 21, 2017 Photo by Tracy Swenson. The term "site-specific" gets tossed around a lot in theatre nowadays. The once highly specific term is often used to describe any performance outside a traditional performance space. This genericization obscures what made the idea of site-specific theatre revolutionary – and what continues to give the idea power.
REVIEW: Darkly Beautiful Phantom of the Opera‘s Triumphant Return (Orpheum/Hennepin Theatre Trust) Arts Dance Music Theatre Visual Arts by Basil Considine - December 19, 2017December 21, 2017 Christine (Eva Tavares) and Raoul (Jordan Craig) snatch a kiss in the Broadway tour of The Phantom of the Opera. Photo by Matthew Murphy. They say you never forget your first love. This is at the crux of The Phantom of the Opera's plot, and even more so in its sequel Love Never Dies.
INTERVIEW: Leah Nanako Winkler on Parodying Stage Whiteness, the Kilroys, and More Arts Theatre by Basil Considine - December 11, 2017December 11, 2017 Playwright Leah Nanako Winkler in the rehearsal studio. Photo by Leni Kei Photography. Next Valentine's Day, Mu Performing Arts and Mixed Blood Theatre will be sitting down together over glasses of white wine. The occasion? Their co-production of Leah Nanako Winkler's play Two Mile Hollow, a parody of a certain well-worn
REVIEW: Orphan-Strong Annie (Ordway) Arts Dance Music Theatre Visual Arts by Basil Considine - December 9, 2017December 9, 2017 The cast of the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts' production of Annie. Photo by Rich Ryan. There was a strong current of energy in the air at the Ordway last night for the press opening of Annie. As streams of parents and younger children stepped in from the cold outdoors,
REVIEW: Rarely Performed Chess Check-Mates (Chameleon Theatre Circle) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - December 4, 2017December 11, 2017 The cast of the Chameleon Theatre Circle production of Chess. Photo by JHinz Design and Photo. Chameleon Theatre Circle is now an itinerant company, freed of the black box constraints of its longtime home at the Ames Center. As the company dances around the metro region from production to production, it's
EDITORIAL: On Abuse and the Performing Arts Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - December 4, 2017December 11, 2017 Artemisia Gentileschi's Judith Decapitating Holofernes (1620). Events in the pioneering female painter's own personal life four centuries' past illustrate some of the complicated ways that sexual abuse has been and continues to be handled legally and socially in the arts. Weinstein. Spacey. CK. Lauer. Keillor. The list goes on of powerful
REVIEW: Miss Richfield 1981’s Latest Installment Leaps (Illusion Theater) Arts Music Theatre by Basil Considine - December 2, 2017December 4, 2017 Miss Richfield 1981's annual holiday show at the Illusion Theater turns 18 this year. This comedy variety show, an annual pilgrimage for many theatergoers and drag queen fans, returns with new energy and an invigorating injection of updated material. If you're not familiar with Miss Richfield 1981, the character was created
NEWS: 2018 MN Fringe to Shake Up Venues, Add Family-Friendly Offshoot Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - December 1, 2017July 8, 2018 A photo of Blackout Improv's award-winning performance at the 2017 Minnesota Fringe Festival. Photo by Keith N'Dong, courtesy of the Minnesota Fringe Festival. Applications are now open for the 2018 Minnesota Fringe Festival lottery. The annual theatre festival will return with some hefty changes in the coming year, including new venues,
REVIEW: Sumptuous Vocals, Distracting Tracks in Linda Eder Concert (Ordway) Arts Music Theatre by Basil Considine - November 29, 2017November 29, 2017 A promotional photo of singer Linda Eder. The Chicago Tribune's Howard Reich once summarized a common frustration of Linda Eder fans: she tours very selectively, and is thus hard to catch in a live performance. One of those rare performances took place Tuesday night at the Ordway Center for the Performing