INTERVIEW: Singer-Songwriter-Actor Emily Dussault – Gone Missing, Champagne Drops, and Songwriting

by Basil Considine - January 12, 2019January 12, 2019

The cast of Theatre Elision's production of Gone Missing in rehearsal. On Thursday, 1/17, Theatre Elision opens its production of the musical Gone Missing. This is the Minnesota premiere of a 2003 musical by the late composer Michael Friedman (The Abominables, Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson) and book writer Steve Cosson. An

INTERVIEW: NYC’s PROTOTYPE Festival Leaders Talk New Opera and Music-Theatre

by Basil Considine - January 3, 2019January 3, 2019

A promotional image for The Infinite Hotel at the NYC PROTOTYPE Festival of new operas. Artwork based on photos by Matthew Soltesz and Rachel Shane. Minnesota has long had a tradition of artistic leadership, influence, and practice beyond its borders. Whether in choral or popular music (or the odd Grammy-nominated orchestra

REVIEW: Miracle at Christmas Lake‘s Joyous Return (Yellow Tree Theatre)

by Bev Wolfe - December 31, 2018January 3, 2019

Mary Fox, Miriam Monasch, Ryan Nelson, Jessie Rae Rayle, and Jason Peterson in Yellow Tree Theatre's production of Miracle at Christmas Lake. Photo by Justin Cox. The first year that Yellow Tree opened, it lost its rights to its planned holiday show and theatre co-founder Jessica Lind wrote an original show,

AWARDS: The Inaugural Spice Awards in the Performing Arts

by Hanne Appelbaum - December 25, 2018December 28, 2018

It's been a whiplash year for awards and the Twin Cities performing arts scene. In fact, it's just been a whiplash year, period. In 2018, allegations of sexual assault and other misbehavior emerged at several local arts organizations. Cornerstone organizations such as Intermedia Arts and the Soap Factory remain shuttered

REVIEW: The Memorable Return of Les Miserables (Orpheum/Hennepin Theatre Trust)

by Brian Bix - December 19, 2018December 19, 2018

The cast of the national touring company of Les Miserables takes to the barricades. Photo by Matthew Murphy. In 1832 in Paris, at a time of growing inequality, the funeral procession for a popular public figure led to an eruption of violence. Hundreds died fighting at makeshift barricades with stolen weapons.

INTERVIEW: Catherine Dalton and Rough Cuts at Nautilus Music-Theater

by Basil Considine - December 14, 2018December 14, 2018

A blue background. Today, the term "rough cut" generally refers to an early draft of an edit for audio or video recordings. The term, however, comes to us from sewing and cooking, which used the term freely in the 19th century before A/V recording was even a glimmer in an inventor's

PREVIEW: Les Misérables Prepares to Throw Up Its Barricade on Hennepin (HTT)

by Basil Considine - December 9, 2018December 9, 2018

The cast of the national tour of Les Misérables marches towards revolution in "One Day More". Photo by Matthew Murphy. "If anyone doubts that the contemporary musical theater can flex its atrophied muscles and yank an audience right out of its seats, he need look no further than the Act I

REVIEW: The Grinch Still Rules the Roost (Children’s Theatre Company)

by Bev Wolfe - December 8, 2018December 8, 2018

The Grinch (Reed Sigmund) sets off to commit dastardly deeds of humbug in the Children's Theatre Company production of Dr. Seuss’s How The Grinch Stole Christmas. Photo by Dan Norman. The Grinch is back and he is a green, mean, anti-holiday machine. It has been a long time since I have seen

PREVIEW: Teen Idol Mania in The Bobby Vee Story (History Theatre)

by Basil Considine - November 16, 2018November 16, 2018

Matthew Rubbelke (left) as Ward the Dance Instructor and Tyler Michaels (center) as Bobby Vee. Photo by Rick Spaulding. Each verse of Don McLean's famous song "American Pie" invokes "the day the music died". This day, February 3, 1959, has gone down in pop culture history as the tragic end of

PREVIEW: Hip-Hop Nutcracker Hurtles Towards St. Paul (Ordway)

by Twin Cities Arts Reader - November 14, 2018November 14, 2018

There are certain juggernauts of the holiday performing arts world: the Mannheim Steamrollers, the Trans-Siberian Orchestras, the Very Die Hard Christmases, and the...Hip Hop Nutcrackers? Yes, sugarplum fairies and hip-hop have married and sired a long-running holiday extravanganza. The New York Times' A.C. Lee called the result "A generous dose of