REVIEW: Building The Prom for Everyone (Chanhassen Dinner Theatres) Arts Music Theatre by Brian Bix - February 18, 2023February 21, 2023 The cast of Chanhassen Dinner Theatres' new production of The Prom, now playing in Chanhassen, MN. Photo by Dan Norman Photography. Hell hasn't exactly frozen over, but the thermometer eased over freezing this weekend in the Twin Cities. Thus, one can say empirically that the musical The Prom, which opened Friday at Chanhassen Dinner
REVIEW: Joy Cometh in the Morning? To Kill a Mockingbird (Orpheum/Hennepin Theatre Trust) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Brian Bix - February 15, 2023February 15, 2023 Atticus Finch (Richard Thomas) examines a witness in To Kill a Mockingbird, playing through Sunday, 2/19 at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis, MN. Photo by Julieta Cervantes. Almost everyone in the packed Orpheum Theatre last night knew the story of To Kill a Mockingbird, having read the 1960 Harper Lee novel
PREVIEW: Altan at the Dakota – Bringing Donegal Music to the World Arts Music by Brian Bix - October 5, 2022October 5, 2022 A promotional photo of the Irish traditional music ensemble Altan. The Irish folk band Altan will play a two-show engagement at The Dakota in Minneapolis on Saturday, October 29. Altan, which specializes in traditional music from County Donegal in Ireland, will perform with special guest Clare Friel in 6 PM and
PREVIEW: The Manhattan Transfer at the State Theatre (Hennepin Theatre Trust) Arts Music by Brian Bix - October 3, 2022October 4, 2022 The award-winning vocal ensemble The Manhattan Transfer. Photo by F. Scott Schafer-Gros. After 50 years of singing – and one last album, appropriately entitled Fifty, The Manhattan Transfer is on its farewell tour. This Grammy Award-winning, four-part vocal harmony group lands at the State Theatre in Minneapolis on October 12. The Manhattan Transfer –
REVIEW: “Takin’ It to the Streets”: The Doobie Brothers at Treasure Island Arts Music by Brian Bix - September 17, 2022September 17, 2022 The Doobie Brothers played Friday at the Treasure Island Ampitheater at Treasure Island Resort & Casino in Welch, MN. The Doobie Brothers brought their “50th Anniversary Tour” to the Treasure Island Amphitheater Friday evening. The group – founded in 1970 and 2020 inductees into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame –
REVIEW: John Scofield – Still Playing with Space (The Dakota) Arts Music by Brian Bix - September 14, 2022September 18, 2022 Jazz guitarist John Scofield performed at The Dakota in Minneapolis on September 9. Like most of us, jazz guitar great John Scofield spent the COVID-19 pandemic at home. For someone who had lived on the road for half the year since 1975, this was quite a change. He used the enforced
PREVIEW: K-Pop Stars KARD at The Fillmore Minneapolis Arts Music by Brian Bix - August 5, 2022August 5, 2022 The Korean Pop ensemble KARD. Photo courtesy of Trend. The world-famous K-Pop group KARD is on a world tour, with The Fillmore in Minneapolis as one of 11 stops on its North American leg. The concert will be the evening of August 18 (doors open at 6:00 pm), and it is
REVIEW: “Damn Right, I’ve Got the Blues” Buddy Guy and John Hiatt & the Goners (Mystic Lake) Arts Music by Brian Bix - July 25, 2022July 25, 2022 Clockwise from upper-left: musicians Sonny Landreth, Buddy Guy, John Hiatt, and Marty Sammon were part of the lineups for a double-bill concert at Mystic Lake on Sunday evening. It was an amazing night at Mystic Lake to appreciate the under-appreciated, as John Hiatt shared the bill with Buddy Guy. Hiatt is a
REVIEW: Soultastic Booker T. Jones (The Dakota) Arts Music by Brian Bix - July 8, 2022July 8, 2022 Soul legend Booker T. Jones performed last night at The Dakota in Minneapolis, MN. The label "living legend" is often just a cliché or a vast overstatement, but this was not the case last night at The Dakota. After all, the featured performer, Booker T. Jones, was inducted into the Rock
REVIEW: Ain’t Too Proud: What Becomes of the Brokenhearted? Arts Dance Music Theatre by Brian Bix - June 29, 2022June 30, 2022 Harrell Holmes Jr., Elijah Ahmad Lewis, Jalen Harris, Marcus Paul James, and James T. Lane star as The Temptations in the musical Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations, which opened Tuesday night at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis, MN. When measuring records sold and overall artistic influence, The