REVIEW: Sensitive Movings, Nuanced Beauty in The Band’s Visit (NYC/Broadway) Arts Dance Music Theatre Visual Arts by Basil Considine - November 10, 2017November 11, 2017 Dina (Katrina Lenk) and Tewfiq (Tony Shahoub) metaphorically cross international lines. Photo by Matt Murphy. The Band's Visit is a verismo tale about intercultural dialogue, hospitality, and the search for happiness. The musical (which opened last night at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre in New York City) is intimate in focus, charming in
REVIEW: Finding Neverland (National Tour/Hennepin Theatre Trust) Arts Dance Music Theatre Visual Arts by Dan Reiva - November 5, 2017November 20, 2017 The cast of Finding Neverland. Photo by Jeremy Daniel. If you have loved the story of Peter Pan since childhood, it’s only natural to love the musical Finding Neverland as well. The national tour of Finding Neverland, which closes at the Orpheum Theatre today, is sparkling, whimsical, and fantasy-filled. To say that the
REVIEW: Orpheus in the Underworld Goes Suburban (GSVLOC) Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - November 2, 2017November 3, 2017 Orpheus (Jim Ahrens) with his alternating Euridices (Jennifer LeDoux and Nelle June Anderson) in the Gilbert and Sullivan Very Light Opera Company's current production of Orpheus in the Underworld. The Gilbert and Sullivan Very Light Opera Company is back this fall with Orpheus in the Underworld, an English-language translation of the Jacques Offenbach
REVIEW: Thrilling Dracula (COLLIDE) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - October 31, 2017November 11, 2017 A scene from COLLIDE's Dracula. COLLIDE Theatrical Dance Company is getting creepy this season with its dance extravaganza Dracula. This action-packed piece, a revival of last year's hit, opened on Saturday. This contemporary twist on the classic vampire tale by Bram Stoker is set to a pounding modern soundtrack of pop songs. This
PHOTOS: BareBones Halloween 2017 (Hidden Falls Park) Arts Dance Music Visual Arts by Twin Cities Arts Reader - October 30, 2017 One of the Twin Cities' great Halloween traditions is BareBones Productions' annual outdoor show. For 24 years, The Annual Halloween Outdoor Puppet Extravaganza has brought giant puppetry, music, and storytelling to delight audiences young and old. This year's show takes place in Hidden Falls Regional Park in St. Paul, MN.
PHOTOS: Hook, Pan, Stars and More In Finding Neverland (Hennepin Theatre Trust) Arts Dance Music Theatre Visual Arts by Twin Cities Arts Reader - October 24, 2017October 25, 2017 The cast of Finding Neverland take flight. Photo by Carol Rosegg. Peter Pan author J.M. Barrie had a flair for the dramatic. After his Peter Pan made London's Kensington Gardens famous, Barrie decided to make the fictional resident an actual resident of this urban park. He secretly had a bronze statue of
REVIEW: Striking Music Man (Artistry) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - October 23, 2017October 24, 2017 The townsfolk prepare to put Harold Hill (Michael Gruber, center) on musical trial. Photo by Devon Cox. Artistry is on a musical roll. The company's striking new production of The Music Man follows last spring's thrilling, melodramatic production of The Secret Garden. After years of flashy productions weighed down by muddy sound mixes
REVIEW: Doo Wop You Will in Life Could Be a Dream (Old Log Theatre) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - October 20, 2017June 24, 2018 The cast of the Old Log Theatre's production of Life Could Be a Dream. From left to right: Austin Stole, Lucas Wells, Grace Lowe, Eric Sargent, Brian Winter. Those oldies but goodies remind me of you. The songs of the past bring back memories of you. I always remember the first night we
PREVIEW: Dracula Strikes Back (COLLIDE) Arts Dance Theatre by Twin Cities Arts Reader - October 16, 2017October 23, 2017 Renee Guittar (left) is frozen as Dracula (Michael Hanna) falls in COLLIDE Theatrical Dance Company's production of Dracula. This article was updated on Oct. 23 to reflect that Dracula has been extended from its original Nov. 5 close to a Nov. 12 close. It's mid-October and the Halloween decorations are creeping out all
REVIEW: The Tap’s the Thing in Irving Berlin’s Music Box Revue 1921 (Theatre of the Ridiculous and Absurd) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - October 13, 2017October 13, 2017 A 1921 advertisement for the original Music Box Revue. There's a saying in show business that every show must have a pressing reason to exist. Irving Berlin’s Music Box Revue 1921's reason is clearly to be a love note to one of America's most beloved songwriters. The origins of Irving Berlin's Music Box Revue