WEEKEND PICKS: Chess, Berbers, Amahl, A Very Die Hard Christmas Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre by Twin Cities Arts Reader - December 11, 2017December 11, 2017 A promotional image for A Very Die Hard Christmas at Bryant-Lake Bowl Theater. Weather this week vacillates between the 20s and 30s, but will rise above freezing as the weekend arrives. Here are the weekend's picks for getting out and about: Thursday, 12/14 Head down to the Minneapolis Institute of Art to see Amazigh
INTERVIEW: Bradley Greenwald on the Nutcracker (Not So) Suite Arts Dance Music Theatre by Hanne Appelbaum - December 10, 2017December 11, 2017 Bradley Greenwald (left) and Steven Epp in the Jungle Theater's 2010 production of The Mystery of Irma Vep. Photo by Michal Daniel. Bradley Greenwald has long been a fixture of the Twin Cities theatre scene. The Fairmont, MN native first came to the Twin Cities to study German at the University of
REVIEW: Orphan-Strong Annie (Ordway) Arts Dance Music Theatre Visual Arts by Basil Considine - December 9, 2017December 9, 2017 The cast of the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts' production of Annie. Photo by Rich Ryan. There was a strong current of energy in the air at the Ordway last night for the press opening of Annie. As streams of parents and younger children stepped in from the cold outdoors,
REVIEW: Houston, Bohème in Space Has a Problem (Opéra de Paris) Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre Visual Arts by Amy Donahue - December 4, 2017December 6, 2017 A scene from the new production of La Bohème at the Paris Opera. Photo by Geert Goiris. Words cannot describe my feelings at getting assigned to review La Bohème at the Paris Opera. My gateway to opera was Musetta's waltz in Rent, played on a thrilling electric guitar. Then came Youtube, friends'
REVIEW: Rarely Performed Chess Check-Mates (Chameleon Theatre Circle) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - December 4, 2017December 11, 2017 The cast of the Chameleon Theatre Circle production of Chess. Photo by JHinz Design and Photo. Chameleon Theatre Circle is now an itinerant company, freed of the black box constraints of its longtime home at the Ames Center. As the company dances around the metro region from production to production, it's
EDITORIAL: On Abuse and the Performing Arts Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - December 4, 2017December 11, 2017 Artemisia Gentileschi's Judith Decapitating Holofernes (1620). Events in the pioneering female painter's own personal life four centuries' past illustrate some of the complicated ways that sexual abuse has been and continues to be handled legally and socially in the arts. Weinstein. Spacey. CK. Lauer. Keillor. The list goes on of powerful
NEWS: 2018 MN Fringe to Shake Up Venues, Add Family-Friendly Offshoot Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - December 1, 2017July 8, 2018 A photo of Blackout Improv's award-winning performance at the 2017 Minnesota Fringe Festival. Photo by Keith N'Dong, courtesy of the Minnesota Fringe Festival. Applications are now open for the 2018 Minnesota Fringe Festival lottery. The annual theatre festival will return with some hefty changes in the coming year, including new venues,
ANNOUNCEMENT: Editorial Changes at the Arts Reader Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre Visual Arts by Twin Cities Arts Reader - November 30, 2017November 26, 2017 Effective December 1, Editor-in-Chief Hanne Appelbaum will be on maternity leave through June 1, 2018. During the interim, Performing Arts Editor Basil Considine will assume the title of Editor-Ad-Interim.
REVIEW: Waitress: The Musical Serves Something Different (Orpheum Theatre) Arts Dance Music Theatre Visual Arts by Basil Considine - November 22, 2017November 22, 2017 Charity Angel Dawson, Desi Oakley, and Lenne Klingaman in the National Tour of Waitress: The Musical. Photo by Joan Marcus. The Broadway tour of Waitress: The Musical opened for business at the Orpheum Theatre Tuesday night, complete with the intoxicating aroma of hot pie filling the lobby during intermission. The evening was
FEATURE: Jane Austen’s Living Legacy in Art Arts Dance Music Theatre Visual Arts by Basil Considine - November 15, 2017November 15, 2017 A promotional image of the Élan Ensemble, a group performing music from Jane Austen's family's music collection. July 18, 2017 formally marked the bicentennial of Jane Austen's death. The milestone occasioned many literary, scholarly, and artistic endeavors across the world, exploring varied aspects of her legacy. While her works may now