REVIEW: Jamecia Bennett and the New Tent in Town (Crooners) Arts Music by Basil Considine - April 25, 2021April 26, 2021 Jamecia Bennett headlined the opening of Crooners Supper Club's new outdoor space on Friday evening. If you had a brand-new outdoor venue to commission, who would you hire? Do you need a Grammy Award-winning local artist who can sing the blues, sing the soul, and scat through jazz? If so, call
INTERVIEW: MCA Executive Director Sheila Smith & the Road Ahead Arts by Basil Considine - January 11, 2021January 11, 2021 A lot can happen in a quarter century – just ask Minnesota Citizens for the Arts Executive Director Sheila Smith, who has lead the organization since January 1996. After 25 years, however, Smith is stepping down from her role at MCA at the end of February 2021. On her retirement
INTERVIEW: Taking the Multi-Site PROTOTYPE Festival Online in a Pandemic Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - January 8, 2021January 15, 2021 A visual collage of six works featured in the 2021 PROTOTYPE festival. Clockwise from upper left: TIMES3, Wide Slumber Lepidopteris, Ocean Body, The Planet – A Lament, Modulation, and The Murder of Halit Yozgat. For lovers of new music-theatre, there are few events more exciting than the annual PROTOTYPE festival held
FEATURE: Unsafe on Any Stage: Alcoholism and Silence at Theatre in the Round Arts Music Theatre by Basil Considine - September 30, 2020September 30, 2020 A word cloud generated from the text of a social media posting by actor Piper Quinn, calling on Theatre in the Round to take action against repeated misbehaviors by a fellow actor. The morning of Monday, September 14, MPR reporter Marianne Combs announced her resignation, effective immediately. The reason given? Editors
PREVIEW: Minnesota Opera Returns…to the Baseball Stadium? Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - September 24, 2020September 24, 2020 CHS Field at sunset. Photo courtesy of Minnesota Opera. When you hear "Take Me Out to the Ballgame", opera is probably not the first thing that comes to mind. Yes, there are opera singers who've sung the national anthem. Over in football land, you might even call the hullabaloo around the
FEATURE: Erasing the Tracks: How Individuals and Arts Organizations Respond to Sexual Misconduct Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - August 29, 2020August 30, 2020 A series of electronic communications related to ex-Opera Theatre of Saint Louis employee Damon Bristo. Scandal hit Opera Theatre of Saint Louis on Tuesday, August 11. One of the company's senior officials, Damon Bristo, had been arrested and charged with child sex trafficking. This was news to the public, but not
FEATURE: A Monument Falls in St. Paul Arts Visual Arts by Basil Considine - June 11, 2020June 28, 2020 A statue of Christopher Columbus lies face-down on the ground after protestors pulled it from its pedestal near the Minnesota State House on June 10, 2020. Photo by Tony Webster (CC BY 2.0). A giant statue's head on the ground. Another larger-than-life statue, bound with rope, being pulled to the ground
INTERVIEW: Amber Bjork on the Winding Sheet Outfit and Cooking through a Pandemic Arts Theatre by Basil Considine - May 7, 2020May 7, 2020 Veni, vidi, workspace. A 3D arrangement of notes used by Amber Bjork when working on the 2019 theatrical show You Are Cordially Invited to the Life and Death of Edward Lear. Mention the name Amber in a Twin Cities theatre and the theatre people will know exactly who you mean. Outside
INTERVIEW: Crystal Manich on Opera, Interrupted Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - May 5, 2020May 5, 2020 Tenor Daniel Montenegro in Opera Santa Barbara's March 2020 production of Il Postino (The Postman), which featured projections, lighting, and set design by Tláloc López-Watermann and was directed Crystal Manich. Photo by Zach Medez. There's not normally time for moss to grow in Crystal Manich's schedule. Since taking the reins at
INTERVIEW: Leslie Vincent on Debut Albums, Making It Through Quarantine, and Puzzle Rooms Arts Music by Basil Considine - April 25, 2020April 25, 2020 Art for Minneapolis vocalist Leslie Vincent's debut album. Design by Brittany Ottum. International quarantines and self-isolation directives have brought many things to a halt across the globe. For Minnesotans, however, being forced to stay at home is a seasonal event. Even in these extraordinary times, the urge to create art and