REVIEW: Flip-Flopping in Gender-Bending Victor/Victoria (Artistry) Arts Dance Music Theatre Visual Arts by Basil Considine - April 9, 2019April 9, 2019 Ann Michels (as Victoria Grant) and the ensemble of Artistry's Victor/Victoria. Photo by Devon Cox. Victor/Victoria is not a great ensemble show. The current Artistry production at the Bloomington Center for the Arts is a great star vehicle for Ann Michels, but most of the other actors get the short end
REVIEW: Dynamic Poetry Rules in Of Art and Artists (Theatre Elision) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - April 6, 2019April 6, 2019 Christine Wade (2nd from right) plays the ukelele as Krin McMillen, Thomas Friebe, Maggie Burr, Zach Garcia, and Anna Hashizume look on in Theatre Elision's production Of Art and Artists. Photo by Jessica Holleque. Theatre Elision's Of Art and Artists program, which opened last night in Eden Prairie, is the sort of
REVIEW: Python Rides Again in Spamalot (Ordway) Arts Dance Music Theatre Visual Arts by Brian Bix - April 4, 2019April 4, 2019 Kasidy Devlin (center) as Sir Robin in the national tour of Spamalot. Photo by Lance Evans. Nerds and geeks of a certain age grew up with the British comedy group Monty Python’s Flying Circus. The Python television shows were broadcast late at night on PBS, and by the next morning, we
FEATURE: Inside the Hennepin Theatre Trust’s 2019-2020 Theatre Season Arts Dance Music Theatre by Twin Cities Arts Reader - April 4, 2019April 4, 2019 The National Tour of Hello, Dolly! opens on April 16 at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis. Photo by Julieta Cervantes. Off in Denver, the national tour of Hello, Dolly! is playing in the Mile High City. In two weeks, that tour will wind itself to Minneapolis (via Des Moines) for an
WEEKEND PICKS: Space Eggs, Play Readings, Hobbits, and Sunken Pharoahs Arts Dance Dining Lifestyle Music Opera Theatre Visual Arts by Hanne Appelbaum - March 28, 2019March 28, 2019 A man steps into the giant space egg sauna at the American Swedish Institute. Photo by Basil Considine. Looking for things to do this weekend? Here are our top picks: Thursday Gun control's on the mind and theatre is the battleground. Code Red Playwrights presents a series of short (1-5 minute) play readings
INTERVIEW: Ann Michels on Victor/Victoria and Practically Perfect Role Models (Artistry) Arts Dance Music by Basil Considine - March 27, 2019March 27, 2019 Ann Michels in rehearsal for Artistry's upcoming production of Victor/Victoria. Photo by Devon Cox. 1982 was an important year in music. It was the year that the first commercial CD player went on sale, the year that Michael Jackson's Thriller dropped, and a song called "Eye of the Tiger" rode the
INTERVIEW: Maggie Burr and Jim Ahrens on Theatre Elision’s Of Art and Artists Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre Visual Arts by Basil Considine - March 26, 2019March 26, 2019 A word cloud built from the names of composers in Theatre Elision's upcoming Of Art and Artists program. Next Thursday, Theatre Elision opens a short-run performance entitled Of Art and Artists. The ambitious, label-defying program will mix readings of poetry, showings of visual art, choral singing, and dance in three performances
REVIEW: A Thoroughly English Mikado (GSVLOC) Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - March 19, 2019March 19, 2019 "Three little maids from school are we" – Sarah Mehle as Patricia Singleton/Patti Sing, Margaret Matejcek as Taylor Tarrington/Tum Tum, and Blanka Melbostad as Barbara O. Peoples/Bow Peep in the Gilbert and Sullivan Very Light Opera Company's new production of The Mikado. The Gilbert and Sullivan Very Light Opera Company opened
REVIEW: Freewheeling Adaptation of The Hobbit at CTC (Children’s Theatre Company) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Amy Donahue - March 19, 2019March 19, 2019 Becca Hart and Reed Sigmund in the Children's Theatre Company's new adaptation of The Hobbit. Photo by Dan Norman. There's a freewheeling musical adaptation of The Hobbit playing at the Children's Theatre Company in Minneapolis. This new take on J.R.R. Tolkien's classic children's novel is very loosely based on the source
REVIEW: Timely The Fix (MN Opera) Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - March 17, 2019March 17, 2019 The ensemble of Minnesota Opera's world premiere production of The Fix, which opened Saturday at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in St. Paul, Minnesota. Photo by Cory Weaver. It's rather poetic that Minnesota Opera's The Fix premiered just days after breaking news of a major college admissions fraud and bribery