REVIEW: Oh, To Hear Goblin Market (Theatre Elision) Arts Music Theatre Visual Arts by Basil Considine - September 30, 2017October 2, 2017 Krin McMillen (Lizzie) and Christine Wade (Laura) in Theatre Elision's Goblin Market. There are some theatre companies that you innately root for. Theatre Elision is an exciting new company in town with a strong focus, an interesting and important mission, and a lot of energy. After debuting in May with the musical
INTERVIEW: Actor-Playwright John Cariani on The Band’s Visit, the Final Frontier, and More Arts Music Theatre by Basil Considine - September 30, 2017October 18, 2017 An Egyptian band unexpectedly arrives on the doorstep in a small, rural Israeli town in The Band's Visit, which opens on Broadway on November 9. Photo by Ahron R. Foster. John Cariani is a busy man who always has a few irons in the theatrical fires. As a playwright, he develops
REVIEW: Protest, Subversion, Innuendo in Ex-Gays (Savage Umbrella) Arts Theatre by Basil Considine - September 27, 2017September 27, 2017 The cast of Savage Umbrella's Ex-Gays: Not a Str8 Remount. Photo courtesy of Savage Umbrella. I was immediately offended when I first walked into Savage Umbrella's Ex-Gays: Not a Str8 Remount. I'm glad that I stayed. The reasons for my offense were two-fold: an oft-over-used Sanskrit greeting at the door that should be
INTERVIEW: Crystal Manich on Directing Tosca in Boston (Boston Lyric Opera) Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - September 24, 2017September 25, 2017 Opera director Crystal Manich. Photo by Laura Marie Duncan Photography. Boston Lyric Opera's new production of Tosca, a co-production with Opera Omaha, opens October 13 at the historic Cutler Majestic Theatre in Boston. Its director is Crystal Manich, a vibrant force in the world of opera stage directors. Over the last decade,
REVIEW: Superb In the Heights Runs to the Finish (Ordway) Arts Dance Music Theatre Visual Arts by Basil Considine - September 22, 2017September 22, 2017 Debra Cardona stars as Abuela Claudia in the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts production of In the Heights. Photo by Rich Ryan. The biggest thing wrong with the Ordway's production of In the Heights is that it's only running for two weeks. This powerhouse production deserves a much longer run, with
REVIEW: Stellar, Magnificent Aladdin Tour (Orpheum/Hennepin Theatre Trust) Arts Dance Music Theatre Visual Arts by Basil Considine - September 20, 2017September 20, 2017 The Genie (Anthony Murphy) gives Aladdin the friendship sell in "Friend Like Me" in the national tour of Aladdin. Photo by Deen van Meer. There's a song in Aladdin with a well-known lyric: "You never had a friend like me." Well, you've never seen a show like this – the Broadway tour of Aladdin is
INTERVIEW: Sam Graber on Creating mONSTER Arts Theatre by Basil Considine - September 20, 2017September 19, 2017 On September 29, Swandive Theatre premieres Sam Graber's play mONSTER at the Southern Theater in Minneapolis. This play is set entirely in a college dorm room in August 1994, during what's billed as "the dark beginnings of the World Wide Web." Some of the play's themes include the mechanics of
REVIEW: SPCO’s Season Opener Arts Music by Basil Considine - September 19, 2017September 19, 2017 The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra in a 2015 performance. Photo by Ash & James Photography. Sunday's SPCO concert began with a series of rambling and entirely unnecessary political remarks. It has become something of a fashion to use the podium in this manner, to which one might simply say that this
INTERVIEW: Adam Jacobs on Playing Aladdin and Touring with Family Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - September 18, 2017September 18, 2017 A scene from the national tour of Aladdin, now playing at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis. Photo by Deen van Meer. The stage version of Disney's beloved musical Aladdin has come to roost in Minneapolis for the next 3.5 weeks. The national tour of Aladdin plays at the Orpheum Theatre through October 8; the Arts Reader's Basil
PREVIEW: Nuns Flocking Back to Chanhassen in Soaring Sister Act Arts Dance Music Theatre Visual Arts by Basil Considine - September 17, 2017September 17, 2017 Regina Marie Williams (center) as Deloris Van Cartier "blending in" at the convent in Chanhassen Dinner Theatres' 2015 production of Sister Act. Photo by Heidi Bohnenkamp. The Star Tribune's Graydon Royce said that Chanhassen Dinner Theatres' 2015 production of Sister Act "soared on the wings of Regina Marie Williams’ performance as nightclub