NEWS: Cantus Announces 2022-2023 Season Arts Music by Twin Cities Arts Reader - August 18, 2022 A file photo of the vocal ensemble Cantus, from the male vocal ensemble's 2021-2022 season. Photo courtesy of Cantus. The Twin Cities-based vocal ensemble Cantus has announced its 2022-2023 season. The male octet will present five concert programs at a dozen Minnesotan destinations, and in twenty additional cities around the country. “We
INTERVIEW: Lissa deGuzman and Jennafer Newberry on Embodying Wicked Arts Music Theatre by Kit Bix - August 15, 2022August 15, 2022 Jennafer Newberry as Glinda and Lissa deGuzman as Elphaba in the national tour of Wicked. Photo by Joan Marcus. The Broadway megamusical Wicked is playing at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis through August 28. This revisionist take on the events of The Wizard of Oz foregrounds the evolving relationship between Galinda (later to
PREVIEW: K-Pop Stars KARD at The Fillmore Minneapolis Arts Music by Brian Bix - August 5, 2022August 5, 2022 The Korean Pop ensemble KARD. Photo courtesy of Trend. The world-famous K-Pop group KARD is on a world tour, with The Fillmore in Minneapolis as one of 11 stops on its North American leg. The concert will be the evening of August 18 (doors open at 6:00 pm), and it is
REVIEW: The Veil of the Immortal Beethoven (Minnesota Orchestra) Arts Music Theatre by Basil Considine - July 31, 2022July 31, 2022 A portrait of composer Ludwig van Beethoven superimposed over a photograph of Orchestra Hall by Greg Helgeson. The Minnesota Orchestra's one-night-only Immortal Beethoven event on Saturday was one of the most distinctive evenings in its hall in recent memory. It was certainly not at all a traditional concert. Imagine a crazy bedtime story
REVIEW: Splendid Wickedness in Wicked (Orpheum/Hennepin Theatre Trust) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - July 30, 2022August 18, 2022 Part prequel, part revisionist history: the musical Wicked tells how many of the beloved and iconic characters and events in The Wizard of Oz became that way. Pictured: Jennafer Newberry as Glinda in the National Tour of Wicked. Photo by Joan Marcus. There is not a lot new to be said
NEWS: Jungle Theater Cancels Rest of Cambodian Rock Band Run Arts Music Theatre by Amy Donahue - July 29, 2022July 30, 2022 The cast of the Jungle Theater's production of Cambodian Rock Band, which closed a week early due to illness in the cast. Photo by Rich Ryan. There is a saying, often used ironically: "This is why we can't have nice things." Un-ironically, it accurately describes COVID-19. Even when it is not directly
REVIEW: “Damn Right, I’ve Got the Blues” Buddy Guy and John Hiatt & the Goners (Mystic Lake) Arts Music by Brian Bix - July 25, 2022July 25, 2022 Clockwise from upper-left: musicians Sonny Landreth, Buddy Guy, John Hiatt, and Marty Sammon were part of the lineups for a double-bill concert at Mystic Lake on Sunday evening. It was an amazing night at Mystic Lake to appreciate the under-appreciated, as John Hiatt shared the bill with Buddy Guy. Hiatt is a
PREVIEW: Opera on the Lake Returns with The Merry Widow Arts Music Opera Theatre by Amy Donahue - July 24, 2022July 25, 2022 Opera singer, director, and arts visionary Anne Wieben (standing) performing with the Opera on the Lake company at an outdoor concert at the Lake Harriet Bandshell in July 2021. COVID-19 has barely slowed Anne Wieben down. As theatres around the world shuttered, the Minnesota native and opera singer went about finding
REVIEW: Soultastic Booker T. Jones (The Dakota) Arts Music by Brian Bix - July 8, 2022July 8, 2022 Soul legend Booker T. Jones performed last night at The Dakota in Minneapolis, MN. The label "living legend" is often just a cliché or a vast overstatement, but this was not the case last night at The Dakota. After all, the featured performer, Booker T. Jones, was inducted into the Rock
INTERVIEW: Composer-Pianist Michael Cain and the Sounds of Summer Arts Music by Basil Considine - July 8, 2022July 8, 2022 Pianist-composer Michael Cain with bassist Anthony Cox and drummer Kevin Washington. As the Michael Cain Trio, the ensemble performs at the Water Works in Minneapolis this Saturday, July 9 at 3 PM. It's summer time in the Twin Cities, which means freely flowing local brews, endless barbecue, and outdoor music concerts.