INTERVIEW: Jeff Whiting of Bullets Over Broadway Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - April 13, 2016April 14, 2016 Jeff Whiting, director of the touring company of Bullets Over Broadway. The mobsters of Bullets Over Broadway have brought their national tour to the Ordway. Director Jeff Whiting sat down with the Arts Reader's Basil Considine to talk about directing, touring, and acting careers. Read Lydia Lunning's review of the Bullets Over Broadway tour. Where are you based? I've
PREVIEW: Constellations (Jungle Theater) Arts Theatre by Basil Considine - April 13, 2016April 16, 2016 Marianne (Anna Sundberg) and Roland (Ron Menzel) in the Jungle Theater's production of Constellations. Photo by Dan Norman. When Nick Payne's play Constellations opened on Broadway, the show's advertising copy trumpeted the New York Times' verdict as "the most sophisticated date play Broadway has seen." That's pretty close to the truth – what Ben Brantley
REVIEW: Catch Catch Me If You Can (Chameleon Theatre Circle) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - April 11, 2016April 15, 2016 Austin Stole, Maria Isabel Gonzalez, and John Goodrich in The Chameleon Theatre Circle’s production of Catch Me If You Can. Photo by Daniel K. McDermott for Sinséar Productions. Let's say just one thing about the plot of Catch Me If You Can, the biographical musical about the life and escapades of Frank William
PREVIEW: Sole Instinct 2 Dance Battle / INTERVIEW: B-Boy Jurza Arts Dance by Basil Considine - April 8, 2016April 8, 2016 Theatre professionals in Los Angeles like to complain that New Yorkers think that their theatre scene doesn't exist, despite more than 500 theatre organizations to the contrary and, you know, Hollywood. You could say the same thing about just about any arts form in the Twin Cities – much of the
INTERVIEW: Composer Richard Einhorn Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - April 7, 2016April 9, 2016 Composer Richard Einhorn at the piano. There are many stereotypes about classical music after World War 2. Beautiful is usually not one of them: in the postwar era, many Western art music composers decided to explore other aesthetic directions, to which audiences often responded with words like grating, difficult to listen to, cerebral, and
INTERVIEW: Composer Aaron David Miller Arts Music by Basil Considine - March 19, 2016March 19, 2016 Minnesota is famous for its rich choral music scene; the Twin Cities in particular are home to numerous nationally prominent church choirs. Now, as the Lenten season comes to an end with Holy Week, many of these choirs are preparing elaborate musical presentations to match one of the holiest times
BREAKING NEWS: Skylark Opera Cancels 36th Season Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - March 18, 2016October 5, 2016 Fans of Skylark Opera were expecting something new in the pipeline when the company announced its search for a new Executive Director, but few were expecting a surprise cancellation of the 36-year-old company's 2016 season. With little aplomb, Skylark Opera rolled out a letter from president Carrie Wasley announcing the news today. "Over
REVIEW: Sumptuous Tosca Muddles Imagery, Makes Out Musically Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - March 16, 2016March 17, 2016 Cavaradossi (Leonardo Capalbo) walks to his fate. Photo by Dan Norman. If anyone was worried when Minnesota Opera announced that Kelly Kaduce was stepping into the title role of Tosca with just a week's notice, they needn't have bothered. Kaduce was in full form on opening night, a dazzling presence on stage as
REVIEW: Just See The How and the Why (Theatre Unbound) Arts Theatre by Basil Considine - March 15, 2016March 16, 2016 Writing a theatre review is a mix of art and craft. A play review that reads like a play-by-play live blogging of a sports game sits more on the side of craft; selecting details to comment on that resonate with the whole experience of the play is more on the
The Ordway’s 2016-2017 Season Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - March 15, 2016March 16, 2016 Oyate Okodakiciyapi. Photo by pauloTphotography. The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts announced its 2016-2017 seasons this evening with its annual festive celebration. The upcoming season includes a diverse mix of self-produced musicals, touring Broadway shows, world music concerts, dance performances, the Ordway's own Broadway Songbook concerts, and a variety of special