INTERVIEW: Randy Reyes on Flower Drum Song, Mu, and More Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - December 23, 2016December 23, 2016 A scene from Mu Performing Arts' 2008 production of Flower Drum Song. Photo by Michal Daniel. It's been three years plus change since Randy Reyes took over the artistic directorship of Mu Performing Arts from founder Rick Shiomi. In the interim, Reyes has been busy, leading the nationally acclaimed Asian American theatre company
REVIEW: Sweet, Moving Coming Out in Fun Home (Hennepin Theatre Trust) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - December 14, 2016December 14, 2016 The National Tour Company of Fun Home. Photo by Joan Marcus. Last year, Waitress: The Musical made a splash on Broadway with its excellent score and script and the unusual-for-Broadway combination of an all-female creative and production team. Another show that picked up buzz for an all-female writing team was the excellent Fun Home, which
FEATURE: On Hamilton Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - December 13, 2016December 13, 2016 Daveed Diggs as Thomas Jefferson and the ensemble of Hamilton. Last Friday, the Hennepin Theatre Trust delighted Twin Cities theatregoers with a succinct message to its email subscribers: The national tour of the Broadway musical HAMILTON will play the Orpheum Theatre as part of the 2018-2019 Broadway on Hennepin Season. The best way
INTERVIEW: Dieter Bierbrauer on White Christmas Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - December 10, 2016December 10, 2016 Brian Sostek as Phil Davis and Dieter Bierbrauer as Bob Wallace in the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts' production of White Christmas. "Will it be a white Christmas?" It's still a little early to answer this perennial question in the Twin Cities, but if you head on over to St. Paul's
INTERVIEW: Christopher Ash on Set Design, Lions Arts Theatre Visual Arts by Basil Considine - December 9, 2016December 9, 2016 A humble throne (upstage center) is dwarfed by the massive staircase in the Guthrie Theater's production of The Lion in Winter. Photo by Heidi Bohnenkamp. Sit down to watch a production of The Lion in Winter at the Guthrie and one of the first things you'll notice is the monumental set design. This evocative
REVIEW: Engrossing Curious Incident of the Dog (Hennepin Theatre Trust) Arts Theatre by Basil Considine - November 30, 2016November 30, 2016 Christopher Boone (Adam Langdon) navigates an overstimulating world. Photo by Joan Marcus. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time opened Tuesday at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis. It's a rare spoken play in a Broadway touring season that's normally entirely filled with musicals. It's also an amazing, engrossing rollercoaster
REVIEW: Triple Espresso Still Has It (Hennepin Theatre Trust) Arts Music Theatre by Basil Considine - November 27, 2016November 28, 2016 Photo by Anna Eveslage. It's been 20 years since Triple Espresso first opened at the Music Box Theatre, becoming a runaway hit that ran for 12 years. A few revivals and many satellite productions later, it's back for the holiday season at the New Century Theatre in Minneapolis. At this point, there's
REVIEW: Rockin’ Old-School Hip Hop Nutcracker (Ordway) Arts Dance by Basil Considine - November 23, 2016December 5, 2016 Photo by United Palace of Cultural Arts. At this point the official Hip Hop Nutcracker tour is rather like the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Mannheim Steamroller, or the Bolshoi Ballet Nutcracker – you know exactly what you're going to get each year, and that's not such a bad thing. If you're not familiar with Hip Hop
REVIEW: Pleasant, Familiar Sounds in Christmas Carol (Guthrie Theater) Arts Music Theatre by Basil Considine - November 22, 2016November 22, 2016 Ryan Colbert (Fred) and J.C. Cutler (Ebenezer Scrooge) at work. Photo by Dan Norman. The Guthrie's 2016 production of A Christmas Carol will not surprise you if you've seen it in recent years. J.C. Cutler is still excellent as Scrooge, Mathew LeFebvre's costumes are still pretty dandy, and the music is just
REVIEW: Leaky Passage (7th House Theater/Guthrie) Arts Music Theatre by Basil Considine - November 20, 2016November 20, 2016 Mary Bair and Alejandro Vega in The Passage. Photo by Amy Anderson. The Passage or What Comes of Searching in the Dark has a lot of good things going for it. The visuals are engaging, the child actors are fantastic, and Grant Sorenson is a standout member of the ensemble. Musically, however, it is as eminently