After a season with the opulence and drama of Romeo and Juliet and the epic scale of Das Rheingold, Minnesota Opera rang in 2017 with more delicate garden fare. L'arbore di Diana, or Diana’s Garden as it is billed in English, is a late 18th century comedic opera with music by Vicente Martín y
Author: Lydia Lunning
Lydia Lunning is a Staff Reviewer at the Twin Cities Arts Reader. A singer, dancer, and staff member at Walden University, she previously worked as a freelance editor and was on the editorial staff of the Cricket Magazine Group. She holds an MA in English literature from the University of Minnesota and a bachelor’s from Oberlin College.
REVIEW: Reproduction Little Shop of Horrors (Artistry)
Ty Hudson (left) in Artistry's production of Little Shop of Horrors, with the Greek chorus of Alicia Britton, Falicia Cunningham, and Jill Iverson to the right and Audrey II in the center. Based on the 1960 comedy horror movie of the same name, Alan Menken and Howard Ashman’s musical Little Shop of Horrors
REVIEW: The Bodyguard Wins Hearts (Broadway Tour/HTT)
Deborah Cox as Rachel Marron in The Bodyguard. Photo by Joan Marcus. The U.S. national tour of The Bodyguard, a musical by Alexander Dinelaris based on the 1992 film and featuring the music of Whitney Houston, kicked off last Tuesday at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis. This tour stars the dazzling Deborah Cox,
REVIEW: Das Rheingold Glitters, Commands (Minnesota Opera)
Steampunk elements in Minnesota Opera's Das Rheingold. Photo by Cory Weaver. Minnesota Opera’s eye-popping (er…sorry, Wotan) production of Das Rheingold, the first installment of Richard Wagner’s epic cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen, takes the stage at the Ordway Music Theater in St Paul through November 20. Such a cultural touchstone as this
REVIEW: Pleasing Palettes Painting Joni (Ordway)
Photo by Bonni Allen. Sometimes there is nothing better on a Sunday evening than sitting back with a few friends, listening to great music, and swapping stories about your favorite artists. This easy Sunday vibe is exactly the intimate environment Lori Dokken and company achieved with Painting Joni: Celebrating the Music
REVIEW: Energetic Shaping Sound Makes a Mark (Ordway)
The Mosh Pit in Shaping Sound. You could feel the exuberance in the audience even before the house lights went down for Travis Wall’s Shaping Sound: Dance Reimagined at the Ordway Music Theater. This was understandable: artistic Director Travis Wall began as the runner-up in the second season of Fox’s So
REVIEW: Dear We Hold These Truths (Guthrie Theater)
REVIEW: Hill House Overrun by Disturbia in Bluebeard’s Dollhouse (Combustible Company)
Photo by Kym Longhi. Although many things were doubtless envisioned when the James J. Hill House was constructed, a future as a go-to place for site-specific theatre was probably not one of them. Nevertheless, this Gilded Age mansion has taken on a new face at night as theatre companies increasingly explore
REVIEW: Suffused with Roses – Roméo et Juliet (Minnesota Opera)
Tempers flare and swords are drawn in Minnesota Opera's production of Roméo et Juliette. Photo by Dan Norman. Minnesota Opera kicks off the 2016-2017 season with a sparkling and stylish reimagining of Roméo et Juliette, Charles-Franҫois Gounod’s 1867 adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic tale of famous star-crossed lovers caught between two feuding houses. A
