PREVIEW: Steamy Accordion Tango in María de Buenos Aires (Mill City Summer Opera) Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre Visual Arts by Basil Considine - July 13, 2017July 13, 2017 Catalina Cuervo as María in a 2014 Syracuse Opera production of María de Buenos Aires. Photo by Douglas Lee Wonders. Mill City Summer Opera's upcoming María de Buenos Aires was written by Astor Piazzola, one of the most renown tango composers of the 20th Century. If that seems an odd pedigree for
INTERVIEW: Venessa Fuentes and Dameun Strange on Mother King Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - July 10, 2017July 10, 2017 The cast of Mother King in rehearsal. On the 1st of July 1974, an organist at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, was shot and killed by a deranged man who burst into the sanctuary. The victim, Alberta Christine Williams King, was an active church leader and NAACP member, the founder of
THE CURMUDGEON: Vol. 4 – Lack of BCC Arts Dance Music Opera The Curmudgeon Theatre Visual Arts by Hanne Appelbaum - July 8, 2017July 8, 2017 Dear Sir/Madam, I have emailed you this message with all the other recipients' email addresses in the To and/or CC fields. You will now receive lots of responses intended for me from everyone else on this list whose email client defaults to Reply All. You're welcome for the spamming! ~Your Solicitor There's a scene in
THE CURMUDGEON: Vol. 3 – Photos and the Visual Arts Arts Dance Music Opera The Curmudgeon Theatre Visual Arts by Basil Considine - July 7, 2017July 8, 2017 The above blank image is like a student copying Kandinsky's white canvas for a class assignment: it says nothing. This is usually not what is desired. Dear Visual Artist PR Person, Thank you for your recent email. While you certainly used a great number of words to describe art created in an
THE CURMUDGEON: Vol. 2 – Who is in this show? Arts Dance Music Opera The Curmudgeon Theatre Visual Arts by Basil Considine - July 6, 2017July 6, 2017 Dear Press Release Writer, Nice minimalist press release! You had full contact info and all the details there about when and where the performance will take place – good start! However, it says nothing about who's in it or who wrote it. In fact, the only name at all included in the
THE CURMUDGEON: Vol. 1 – How Should We Contact You? Arts Dance Music Opera The Curmudgeon Theatre Visual Arts by Basil Considine - July 5, 2017July 19, 2017 Dear _____ Company, Lovely press release with a note to request tickets through the contact form on your website (Strike 1). I can't help notice that you sent this from a do-not-reply address (Strike 2) and that your website does not have a clearly labeled contact form (Strike 3) or any
ANNOUNCEMENT: The Curmudgeon Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre Visual Arts by Hanne Appelbaum - July 4, 2017July 6, 2017 The Arts Reader is pleased to announce the launch of a new column titled The Curmudgeon, in which our writers will share constructively snarky advice on public relations in the arts. There are many reasons for launching The Curmudgeon. The first is that we have received many requests via email and social media for
NEWS: Minnesota Opera Announces Additional Shows Arts Music Opera Theatre by Twin Cities Arts Reader - June 22, 2017June 24, 2018 A photo of the Arizona Opera production of Don Pasquale, from which the design of Minnesota Opera's upcoming production is taken. Photo by Ed Flores. Minnesota Opera announced today that it was adding a sixth opera and three concerts to its previously announced 2017-2018 season. The season, which normally ends in May, will
REVIEW: Fine Dining, Rough Talk at Don Giovanni (Skylark Opera Theatre) Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - June 16, 2017June 17, 2017 Gabriel Preisser as Don Giovanni. Photo by Vera Mariner. At its best, Skylark Opera Theatre's Don Giovanni is an extraordinary way to experience a beloved Mozart opera. The site-specific performance at the Women's Club of Minneapolis provides ample opportunities for shaking up the traditional opera-going experience, which are ably exploited with a talented
INTERVIEW: Dan Norman on Photographing Theatre Magic Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre Visual Arts by Basil Considine - June 16, 2017June 16, 2017 A collage of theatrical photos by Dan Norman. Larger and uncropped versions are available below. Page through theatre reviews and websites in the Twin Cities and you'll see Dan Norman's name coming up again and again. In the past 12 years, Norman has become one of the most distinguished theatre photographers