REVIEW: Art/Disempowerment/Juxtaposition: The Inequality Dance in Rap on Race (Ordway) Arts Dance by Dan Reiva - January 18, 2018January 18, 2018 A promotional image for Spectrum Dance Theater's A Rap on Race. Seattle's Spectrum Dance Theater dropped on St. Paul's Ordway Music Theater on Saturday. In its best moments, the event was a notable experiment that illustrates how art can further discussions of racial inequality in America. Some moments were marvelously expressive and expressionist.
TOP 10: Basil Considine’s Favorite Twin Cities Stage Performances of 2017 Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - January 12, 2018January 12, 2018 Brittany Bellizeare as Pecola (foreground) in the Guthrie Theater's production of The Bluest Eye. Photo by Dan Norman. During the 2017 calendar year, I saw more than 150 theatre performances. That tally excludes shows that I directed and dance-only performances, but includes spoken theatre, musicals, opera, improv, and pretty much anything
TOP 10: Bev Wolfe’s 10 Best Plays and Musicals of 2017 Arts Dance Music Theatre by Bev Wolfe - January 4, 2018January 4, 2018 A less happy moment between Eisinin (Sergei Andreev) and Duncan (Lisa Channer) in Theatre Novi Most's production of Dancing on the Edge. In reading through the top 10 lists of other reviewers, I realized there were a lot of great shows that I missed this year. The Twin Cities is blessed with
REVIEW: The Tech and Design Sides of Annie (Ordway) Arts Dance Music Theatre Visual Arts by Bev Wolfe - December 31, 2017January 4, 2018 The presidential cabinet: Kersten Rodau, Adam Qualls, Randy Schmeling, Bill Scharpen, Carl Schoenborn, and Charles Fraser in Annie. Photo by Rich Ryan. A locally produced holiday production of Annie is ending is its run at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts. Since its original opening on Broadway in 1977, Annie
FEATURE: The Chandelier in The Phantom of the Opera Arts Dance Music Theatre Visual Arts by Basil Considine - December 21, 2017December 21, 2017 The chandelier used in the current Broadway production of The Phantom of the Opera. The current touring show chandelier is proportionally taller and emphasizes other details of the model chandeliers at the Paris Opera. Read Basil Considine's review of The Phantom of the Opera. At the height of the first megamusical craze,
REVIEW: Darkly Beautiful Phantom of the Opera‘s Triumphant Return (Orpheum/Hennepin Theatre Trust) Arts Dance Music Theatre Visual Arts by Basil Considine - December 19, 2017December 21, 2017 Christine (Eva Tavares) and Raoul (Jordan Craig) snatch a kiss in the Broadway tour of The Phantom of the Opera. Photo by Matthew Murphy. They say you never forget your first love. This is at the crux of The Phantom of the Opera's plot, and even more so in its sequel Love Never Dies.
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'