NEWS: Southern Theater Executive Director Steps Down Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - October 19, 2016October 20, 2016 The Southern Theater in 2010. Photo by Tony Webster; used in accordance with the CC BY-SA 3.0 license. The Southern Theater's Executive Director Damon Runnals is stepping down on October 29. This latest step in a round of reshuffling and transitions in the Twin Cities theatre scene marks the end of an 8-year tenure at the
NEWS: 24th Annual Sally Ordway Irvine Award Recipients Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - October 17, 2016October 19, 2016 The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts announced the recipients of the 24th annual Sally Ordway Irvine Awards this evening. These prestigious, state-wide awards recognize individuals and institutions whose work has strengthened and enriched the state through their commitment to the arts and arts education. The awards were awarded in five categories to
FEATURE: The Smithsonian’s New African American History Museum Arts Lifestyle Visual Arts by Basil Considine - October 17, 2016July 11, 2017 The hottest property in Washington, DC took more than a century to go from dream to reality. After much protestation, arguments over its relevance, and arguments over its funding (something of a Washington, DC pastime), the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African American History and Culture is a blockbuster hit
REVIEW: Realistic Joneses Too True (Park Square) Arts Theatre by Basil Considine - October 12, 2016October 12, 2016 JC Cutler, Angela Timberman, Eric "Pogi" Sumangil, and Jane Froiland in Park Square Theatre's production of The Realistic Joneses. Photo by Petronella J. Ytsma. There are sometimes strange synchronies in the world of theatrical programming. The Realistic Joneses has much in common with last season's Constellations at the Jungle Theater; both deal with difficult and highly
REVIEW: Zesty, Dirty Avenue Q (Chameleon Theatre Circle) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - October 11, 2016October 11, 2016 It's always fun to watch a completely unprepared theatre audience realize just what they bought tickets to. Such a scene unfolded on Saturday night at the Ames Center in Burnsville, when about half of the audience learned that Avenue Q is a) a Sesame Street parody, and b) definitely not a comedy for little
REVIEW: Fanciful Camelot Rides Again (Chanhassen Dinner Theatres) Arts Dance Music Theatre Visual Arts by Basil Considine - October 8, 2016October 8, 2016 Photo by Heidi Bohnenkamp. First the original, then the dark and edgy, now the whimsical. The Camelot that opened last night at Chanhassen Dinner Theatres is several steps removed from the original version that opened on Broadway in 1960, winning 4 Tony Awards and running for a then-stellar 873 performances. It is not at
REVIEW: Intimacy with Calibration Issues in Renée Fleming Recital (Schubert Club) Arts Music Opera by Basil Considine - October 5, 2016October 6, 2016 Renée Fleming's recital at the Schubert Club this evening was a success well before it opened. All-told, the recital sold out four different ways – when ticket sales first opened, after standing tickets were added, after onstage tickets were added, and when all returned tickets (a practice in which ticket holders
NEWS: Skylark Opera’s Revival Plan Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - October 5, 2016October 6, 2016 Cecilia Violetta Lopez and Won Whi Choi in Skylark Opera's 2015 production of Puccini's La Rondine. Photo by Matt Bellin. Last spring, Skylark Opera astonished Twin Cities opera fans with a sudden announcement that its 36th season was not to be. In a March 18 letter to subscribers, President Carrie Wesley wrote, "Skylark is
REVIEW: Toruk: The First Flight (Cirque du Soleil / Target Center) Arts Dance Music Theatre Visual Arts by Basil Considine - September 29, 2016September 29, 2016 Photo by Lawrence Erisson. TORUK - The First Flight opened last night at Target Center in Minneapolis. The latest show from Cirque du Soleil is a tour de force of visual design paired with elaborate acrobatics, dancing, and magical transformation after magical transformation. It's also a brilliant showcase of the world from James
NEWS: Nimbus Rides on into The Kalevala Arts Dance Theatre by Basil Considine - September 27, 2016September 27, 2016 A promotional photo for The Kalevala. Pictured: Jim Ahrens. Photo by Mathieu Lindquist. Last November, Nimbus Theatre announced that it was shutting its doors at 1517 Central Ave NE in Minneapolis. The reason? A rent increase that pushed past the company's means, forcing it pack up and leave its home since 2011. The