INTERVIEW: Skylark Opera Theatre’s Bob Neu on The Tragedy of Carmen Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - February 7, 2017February 7, 2017 Tess Altiveros as Carmen in Skylark Opera Theatre's The Tragedy of Carmen. Photo by Elisabeth. Skylark Opera Theatre had some rough times in 2016, but the organization has regrouped, rebranded, and relaunched itself. On Friday, its 2017 season formally kicks off with the opening of The Tragedy of Carmen at the Midpointe Event Center
Fringe File 2017, #1: The Basics Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - February 2, 2017July 19, 2017 Our popular Fringe File series on the Minnesota Fringe Festival returns for its first 2017 installment. Pictured: Grant Sorenson in New Epic Theater's Now or Later, an Ivey Award-winning production at the 2016 MN Fringe. Are you a dancer? Comedian? Actor? Writer? A one-woman band with a crazy magic show and a bunch of talking puppets?
REVIEW: Lush Diana’s Garden (Minnesota Opera) Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre by Lydia Lunning - January 24, 2017March 11, 2017 After a season with the opulence and drama of Romeo and Juliet and the epic scale of Das Rheingold, Minnesota Opera rang in 2017 with more delicate garden fare. L'arbore di Diana, or Diana’s Garden as it is billed in English, is a late 18th century comedic opera with music by Vicente Martín y
TOP 10: Basil Considine’s 10 Best Shows of 2016 Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - January 8, 2017January 8, 2017 Lumière (Mark King) entertains Belle (Ruthanne Heyward) in Chanhassen Dinner Theatres' 2016 production of Beauty and the Beast. Photo by Heidi Bohnenkamp. Those of us living in the greater Twin Cities metro area are blessed with an embarrassment of artistic richness. There are far too many performing arts organizations for any one person to
REVIEW: Das Rheingold Glitters, Commands (Minnesota Opera) Arts Music Opera Theatre by Lydia Lunning - November 15, 2016March 11, 2017 Steampunk elements in Minnesota Opera's Das Rheingold. Photo by Cory Weaver. Minnesota Opera’s eye-popping (er…sorry, Wotan) production of Das Rheingold, the first installment of Richard Wagner’s epic cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen, takes the stage at the Ordway Music Theater in St Paul through November 20. Such a cultural touchstone as this
FEATURE: Provocative Ideas at ASTR Conference Arts Lifestyle Music Opera Theatre Visual Arts by Basil Considine - November 4, 2016November 4, 2016 Kellen Hoxworth of Stanford University presents his paper "Transoceanic Blackface; or, The Silver Belt Jig" at ASTR 2016. The early morning session at an academic conference is usually considered the kiss of death for attendance, but more than 150 people showed up for the opening plenary on Day 2 of the
REVIEW: Pleasing Die Fledermaus (St. Olaf College) Arts Music Opera Theatre by Twin Cities Arts Reader - October 21, 2016December 1, 2016 Note: This is a review of Cast B from St. Olaf's production of Die Fledermaus. St. Olaf College's barebones staging of Johann Strauss II's Die Fledermaus is light on set pieces, high on boudoir comedy, and filled with pleasant musical performances. Dale Kruse conducts a chamber sextet that adds a little oomph compared
REVIEW: The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (Washington, DC: UrbanArias) Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - October 19, 2016July 11, 2017 On Saturday in Washington, DC, UrbanArias opened The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. It was a splendid production of an opera that is unfortunately unlikely to play in the Twin Cities any time soon. Note: This review has been updated to correct the name of the conductor. One of
REVIEW: Intimacy with Calibration Issues in Renée Fleming Recital (Schubert Club) Arts Music Opera by Basil Considine - October 5, 2016October 6, 2016 Renée Fleming's recital at the Schubert Club this evening was a success well before it opened. All-told, the recital sold out four different ways – when ticket sales first opened, after standing tickets were added, after onstage tickets were added, and when all returned tickets (a practice in which ticket holders
BREAKING NEWS: Executive Director of the Minnesota Fringe Festival Steps Down Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre by Twin Cities Arts Reader - October 5, 2016 Last Friday, the New York International Fringe Festival announced that it was closing for a year to re-evaluate its institutional priorities and directions. The Minnesota Fringe Festival's riposte today was less seismic, but still a significant change for one of the anchors of the Twin Cities performing arts scene. Executive