REVIEW: Hills of St. Paul = Alive with Music. Huzzah! Arts Music Theatre by Basil Considine - December 18, 2015December 20, 2015 The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts is not what it once was – and that's a good thing. Since 1980, when Sally Ordway Irvine donated the seed money for a new concert hall, the building and host organization have grown by leaps and bounds. Tours and headliner performers still
INTERVIEW: Blue Man Group’s Steven Wendt Arts Theatre by Basil Considine - December 18, 2015December 18, 2015 Steven Wendt (Blue Man) hails from Kansas City, MO. A graduate of the Walnut Hill School for the Arts in Natick, MA, and from CalArts in Valencia, CA, he arrived in town this week to perform in the Blue Man Group tour at the Orpheum Theatre. His past performance credits include Blue Man Group–Orlando, Ground
INTERVIEW: Nina Archabal on 1 Year at the Helm of Minnesota Opera Arts Music Opera by Basil Considine - December 14, 2015March 11, 2017 A production photo from Minnesota Opera's 2008 production of Rusalka. Photo by Michal Daniel. In November 2014, Nina Archabal was appointed as Interim General Director at Minnesota Opera. At the time, the organization was not in the best of health: despite overall strong ticket sales, the company had accrued operating deficits in two consecutive
REVIEW: Miss Richfield 1981 Presents ‘Christmas Cone Of Silence’ (Illusion Theater) Arts Theatre by Basil Considine - December 11, 2015December 12, 2015 One of Miss Richfield 1981's jokes in her current show is that there's a new title and a new set, but all the jokes remain the same. There's a kernel of truth there, but the drag comedian's holiday show is still funny, fresh, and out of this world hilarious. This may be the 16th installment
INTERVIEW: Eagan Actress Moves to Wicked New York, Turned Off by Cold, Returns to Warm Minnesota Arts Music Theatre by Basil Considine - December 11, 2015December 11, 2015 Photo by Heidi Bohnenkamp. This is Part 2 of the Twin Cities Arts Reader's interview with Caroline Innerbichler. Read Part 1 here. Looking back, how do you see your time in New York? I feel that with so much of everything I jumped into everything a little too quickly, may because of what people
INTERVIEW: After the Mermaid – A Conversation with Caroline Innerbichler Arts Music Theatre by Basil Considine - December 10, 2015December 11, 2015 Caroline Innerbichler (Ariel) examines Tyler Michaels (Prince Eric) in Chanhassen Dinner Theatres' 2014 production of Disney's The Little Mermaid. Photo by Heidi Bohnenkamp. The Ordway's self-produced production of the classic musical The Sound of Music opens on Saturday. One of the leads in this production is Caroline Innerbichler, a dazzling local actress who
The Real Captain Von Trapp Arts Music Theatre by Basil Considine - December 5, 2015December 6, 2015 Captain Georg Johannes, Ritter von Trapp on the conning tower of the Austrian submarine U-5. Today, the Twin Cities Arts Reader looks at the story behind The Sound of Music, which opens at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts one week from today. This dramatization of the real-life von Trapp family's adventures and
DanceBrazil out, Ballet Hispanico in at Ordway Arts Dance by Basil Considine - November 30, 2015November 30, 2015 Not every relationship's prepared to survive the Minnesota winter. As wet snow hit the pavement in the Twin Cities, the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts announced today that DanceBrazil will no longer be hitting its halls on January 14. The NYC-based dance company has quietly cancelled its U.S. tour,
REVIEW: Old Log’s Wedding Singer = Fun Retro Trip Arts Music Theatre by Basil Considine - November 23, 2015June 24, 2018 The Adam Sandler/Drew Barrymore film The Wedding Singer was a surprise hit in 1998. Its stage adaptation landed on Broadway in 2006 and was less so, running for just 284 performances – quite respectable 40 years ago, but much less than stellar with current Broadway economics. The show was hailed as generally appealing,
Before the Mermaid, a Papagena Arts Music Opera by Basil Considine - November 20, 2015November 21, 2015 One of the attractions of live theatre is the near-infinite list of what can go wrong during a performance and the special delight taken in seeing what the cast does in response. Last year, a backdrop tumbled to the floor in the middle of "On This Night of A Thousand Stars" when Evita opened