Fringe File #1: Editor-in-Chief’s Short List Arts Dance Lifestyle Music Opera Theatre by Hanne Appelbaum - July 2, 2016July 10, 2016 Good Friday with Dillinger, presented by LookBack Productions. Yesterday afternoon, the Minnesota Fringe Festival officially launched its 2016 Fringe Festival website. Almost immediately, social media began filling with theatergoers' protests about not being able to see all the shows that they wanted. The Minnesota Fringe Festival has long been the Twin Cities' great buffet
FEATURE: The End of an Era: Minnesota Centennial Showboat’s Farewell Season Arts Dance Music Theatre by Bev Wolfe - June 30, 2016September 25, 2017 The original Minnesota Centennial Showboat. April 19, 2016 was a sad day on the Mississippi. That day, the University of Minnesota’s Department of Theater and Dance announced that the Minnesota Centennial Showboat – a staple on the river since 1958 and the first paid theatre position to many past and present theatre professionals
REVIEW: Creaky Bridges of Madison County (Orpheum Theatre/Hennepin Theatre Trust) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Lydia Lunning - June 22, 2016June 22, 2016 Elizabeth Stanley (Francesca) and Andrew Samonsky (Robert) in the national tour of The Bridges of Madison County. The national tour of The Bridges of Madison County plays at the Orpheum Theater in Minneapolis through June 26. This 2014 Broadway musical adaptation of Robert James Waller’s 1992 best-selling novel offers few surprises to its audiences.
REVIEW: Snagged by a Ballad of the Pale Fisherman‘s Line (Transatlantic Love Affair) Arts Dance Theatre by Bev Wolfe - June 7, 2016June 7, 2016 Transalantic Love Affair (“TLA”) staged a revival this past weekend of its famed Ballad of the Pale Fisherman as part of the Southern Theatre’s Artshare program for 2016. Director Isabel Nelson conceived the play based upon a Celtic legend about seals called Selkies who transform into women by removing their
REVIEW: Falling in Love with Rigoletto (Capri Theater/Really Spicy Opera) Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre by Lydia Lunning - June 6, 2016June 7, 2016 Small-scale opera productions, when well executed, are some of the underrated joys for audiences lucky enough to catch them—while their appeal of lavish design and big-budget spectacle seem synonymous with the art form, opera in a pared-down, more intimate setting is a great way to foreground fresh talent and focus
REVIEW: Fascinating, Striking Rigoletto (Capri Theater/Really Spicy Opera) Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre by Hanne Appelbaum - June 4, 2016June 4, 2016 Making fun of period operas in modern settings is like shooting fish in a barrel. There are so many clunkers out there that it's tempting to dismiss the proposition entirely and say, "That's a thing" – but sometimes a staging comes along where the new setting truly enhances the material. Really Spicy Opera's new production
PREVIEW: Rigoletto at the Capri Theater Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre by Hanne Appelbaum - June 3, 2016June 4, 2016 Rigoletto (Jeehoon Kim), Gilda (Jennifer Zabelsky), Maddalena (Megan O'Leary), and the Duke (Joshua Diaz) in Really Spicy Opera's production of Rigoletto. Tonight, Really Spicy Opera opens Rigoletto at the Capri Theater in North Minneapolis. It's been twelve years since Minnesota Opera staged this tale of love, lust, and revenge gone awry; before that, the last
REVIEW: Sinuous Pilobolus Dance Theatre Show (Ordway) Arts Dance by Dan Reiva - May 25, 2016May 25, 2016 Pilobolus Dance Theatre presented five recent pieces and one older work from its repertoire in a performance last weekend at the Ordway. With the possible exception of choreographers from the Judson Church Dance Theatre or the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Pilobolus presents the best avant-garde movement in modern dance. It
REVIEW: The Book of Mormon‘s Newer Testament (Orpheum Theatre) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Lydia Lunning - May 12, 2016May 13, 2016 Photo by Joan Marcus. Before Hamilton shot onto the scene early last year, The Book of Mormon was the hottest ticket on Broadway. This smash musical hit won a hefty nine Tony Awards, including Best Musical...but does it live up to it's hype? Yes, yes it does. And you might actually have a decent chance
REVIEW: A Night on Olympus (Illusion Theater) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Bev Wolfe - May 9, 2016May 10, 2016 Harry (Tyler Michaels), Chad (Adam Qualls), and Maggie (McKinnley Aitchison) in A Night on Olympus. Photo by Lauren B Photography. Prom night, teenage love, zombies, and errant Greek gods combine in A Night in Olympus. This Illusion Theater production is a collaboration between composer and lyricist Chan Poling, and playwrights Jeffrey Hatcher and