INTERVIEW: Tyler Michaels on West Side Story and His New Theatre Company Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - March 24, 2017March 24, 2017 Caroline Innerbichler (Ariel) examines Tyler Michaels (Prince Eric) in Chanhassen Dinner Theatres' 2014 production of Disney's The Little Mermaid. Somali gangs in Minneapolis might get all the press, but the City of St. Paul is about to get its very own gang problem. Well, kind of – the Jets and Sharks of West
FEATURE: Trump’s Proposed NEA Cuts and the Legacy of Piss Christ Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre Visual Arts by Basil Considine - March 19, 2017July 11, 2017 Nikolay Petrovich Lomtev's Girolamo Savonarola preaching in Florence. Father Savonarola's incendiary critique of luxury led to the infamous Bonfires of the Vanities, the largest of which on Feb. 7, 1492 including the burning of several paintings by Renaissance masters. Among other achievements, Savonarola successfully advocated for laws banning sodomy and declared that
PHOTOS: The Swanky Look of Grease (Chanhassen Dinner Theatres) Arts Dance Music Theatre Visual Arts by Twin Cities Arts Reader - March 16, 2017March 18, 2017 Chanhassen Dinner Theatres' new production of Grease features eye-popping costumes by the award-winning costume designer Rich Hamson. Hamson, who has 60 productions at Chanhassen Dinner Theatres under his belt, is a three-time Ivey Award recipient and was named Lavender Magazine's 2014 Theatre Artist of the Year and Best Large Theater Costume Designer. Here's a
REVIEW: Sweeping Grease Rides Again (Chanhassen Dinner Theatres) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - March 11, 2017March 11, 2017 The ensemble of Chanhassen Dinner Theatres' new production of Grease. Photo by Dan Norman. Grease is still the word in Chanhassen. The classic rock-and-roll musical roared back to Chanhassen Dinner Theatres last night with eruptions of applause, hoots of approval, and some spontaneous hand jiving in the audience. The last time Grease played at
WEEKEND PICKS: Grease, Gondoliers, Dinner at Eight, FOOR Folkz Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre Visual Arts by Twin Cities Arts Reader - March 10, 2017March 11, 2017 Aleks Knezevich as Danny Zuko in Chanhassen Dinner Theatres' production of Grease. Photo by Bernadette Pollard. Winter windchill has returned to the Twin Cities again and darn it if there isn't a forecast of snow on Sunday. Here are some indoor entertainments to keep you distracted and warm this weekend. Retro Fun: Grease at
REVIEW: Sumptuous R&H Magic in The King and I (Orpheum/HTT) Arts Dance Music Theatre Visual Arts by Basil Considine - March 1, 2017March 2, 2017 Laura Michelle Kelly, Baylen Thomas, and Graham Montgomery in Rodgers & Hammerstein's The King and I. Photo by Matthew Murphy. It was a full house at the opening of the Rodgers & Hammerstein's The King and I tour on Tuesday night. The Orpheum Theatre's seats were packed with an unusually broad balance of ages, waiting to
Fringe File 2017, #2: Minnesota Fringe Festival Announces New Executive Director Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - February 28, 2017July 21, 2017 A 2015 photo of the Art Shanty Project on White Bear Lake. Photo courtesy of the Art Shanty Facebook page. Last night was the Minnesota Fringe Festival lottery, where balls plucked out of a hopper determine the lineup of the country's largest unjuried arts festival. Attendees got an extra surprise: the
PREVIEW: Getting to Know Rodgers & Hammerstein’s The King & I (Hennepin Theatre Trust) Arts Dance Music Theatre Visual Arts by Twin Cities Arts Reader - February 27, 2017 One of the many expansive dance numbers in Rodgers & Hammerstein's The King & I. Photo by Matthew Murphy. New musical writers have it tough: Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II have an immense head start. By the time the most famous dynamic duo of musical theatre first teamed up, Rodgers
REVIEW: Ruby! The Story of Ruby Bridges (SteppingStone Theatre) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - February 20, 2017February 20, 2017 A protest scene from SteppingStone Theatre's production of Ruby! The Story of Ruby Bridges by Christina Ham. It's February in the United States, a time that some see as set aside for the contemplation of the history of Blacks in the United States and the world at large. For others, it's a time
REVIEW: Sweeping Peter and the Starcatcher (Latté Da) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - February 14, 2017February 14, 2017 Tyler Michaels as Peter in Theater Latté Da's Peter and the Starcatcher. Photo by Dan Norman. There's a lot of great stuff going on in Theater Latté Da's production of Peter and the Starcatcher. Where to begin? This show has visual humor galore, old-fashioned stage effects that impress you with their subtlety, a script