FRINGE FILE #2: John’s Guide to Day 2 Arts Comedy Dance Music Theatre by John Anderson - August 2, 2024August 3, 2024 A mashup of promotional images for shows playing on the second day of the Minnesota Fringe Festival. How to "do" the Minnesota Fringe Festival is a question of preference. I come from the "see everything you can" mindset. My colleague Amy prefers to mix it in with other entertainments and off
FEATURE: From Northfield to Cultural Ambassador: Victoria Erickson, Soprano and DAAD Scholar Arts Music Opera Theatre by John Anderson - July 9, 2024July 9, 2024 Minnesota singer and Opera Athena Creative Director Victoria Erickson in the 2024 premiere of the opera The Miller's Daughter, for which she wrote the libretto. The city of Northfield, Minnesota has long had an outsize influence on the larger world. In its early role as an agricultural hub, it exported flours
PREVIEW: The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra’s 2024-2025 Season Arts Music by John Anderson - April 20, 2024April 20, 2024 The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra in concert. Photo by Chelsea Tischler. Piazzolla’s The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires. A composer residency with Valerie Coleman. An oboe d'amore concerto. These are a few of the highlights of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra's new season. For its 66th season, the SPCO – one of
NEWS: The Minnesota Musical Coalition’s Final Bow Arts Music by John Anderson - April 5, 2024April 15, 2024 Cassandra Cole, Jillian Rae, and Mayda will perform at the Minnesota Music Coalition’s final event on Thursday, April 11 at the Hook and Ladder in Minneapolis, MN. The organization will disband after the concert. The Minnesota Music Coalition (MMC), a 13-year-old service organization that has linked independent musicians across the state with
NEWS: Nominees Announced for 2024 Grammy Awards Arts Music by John Anderson - November 10, 2023November 10, 2023 The nominations for the 66th Annual GRAMMY Awards have been announced. These awards, selected by the Recording Academy's membership body of music makers, span a wide variety of genres. Voting for the GRAMMY Awards is performed by a diverse mix of industry participants including recording artists, songwriters, composers, producers, mixers,
NEWS: Minnesota State Arts Board Announces Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre Visual Arts by John Anderson - October 15, 2023October 17, 2023 Common Loons Taking Off (2023), an acrylic on canvas painting by Duluth-based artist Karl Bardon. Bardon is 1 of 99 artists to receive grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board in a recently announced set of awards. Blacksmithing, opera, ballet, novels, screenplays, podcasts, and more. These are just a few of
INTERVIEW: Jay Russell and The Girl from the North Country Arts Dance Music Theatre by John Anderson - October 9, 2023October 10, 2023 Singer-actor-director Jay Russell performs in the new Bob Dylan musical Girl from the North Country, which runs October 10-14 at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis, MN. Girl from the North Country, a musical with a book by Conor McPherson using the songs of Bob Dylan, opens tomorrow at the Orpheum Theatre in
PREVIEW: Jagged Little Pill Cuts Deep (Hennepin Theatre Trust/Orpheum Theatre) Arts Music Theatre by John Anderson - July 26, 2023July 26, 2023 Lauren Chanel and the company of the North American Tour of Jagged Little Pill. Photo by Evan Zimmerman and Matthew Murphy for MurphyMade. In July 1995, my 13-year-old daughter came home with a CD that I didn't know. The artist's name was Alanis Morissette, and the album was called Jagged Little
INTERVIEW: Opera on the Lake’s Anne Wieben and Redesigning Scandalous Stage Marriages Arts Music Opera Theatre by John Anderson - July 20, 2023July 20, 2023 A 2022 file photo of Opera on the Lake's summer operetta festival. If you're a fan of opera – or have been wanting to give it a try – you've probably heard of Opera on the Lake, the summer festival that brings Viennese operetta to St. Paul's Como Park. This year,
REVIEW: Down the Improv Tunnel in It’s Not the Heat, It’s the Stupidity (Brave New Workshop) Arts Theatre by John Anderson - June 23, 2023June 23, 2023 A promotional image for Brave New Workshop's current show, It's Not the Heat, It's the Stupidity, now playing at the Dudley Riggs Theatre in downtown Minneapolis. With HUGE Theater on the move, it's not terribly surprising that the improv is sneaking into more places. At Brave New Workshop, where pre-written sketches