REVIEW: Joe Lovano and Dave Douglas Quintet (Crooners Supper Club) Arts Music by Brian Bix - June 24, 2022June 26, 2022 The many faces of American jazz saxophonist, alto clarinetist, flautist, and drummer Joe Lovano with trumpeter Dave Douglas, pianist Leonardo Genovese, bassist Matt Penman, and drummer Rudy Royston. Playing as the Sound Prints quintet, the five musicians officially kicked off this year's Twin Cities Jazz Festival on Friday. On June 23, Joe
NEWS: Ordway Announces Inaugural GreenRoom Fellowship Cohort Arts Dance Music Theatre by Twin Cities Arts Reader - June 22, 2022 The logo for the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts' new GreenRoom fellowship features a stylized double "G" against a backdrop of digital graffitti. The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts announced today its inaugural GreenRoom musical theater training fellowship recipients. These 10 artists, selected through a competitive application process,
REVIEW: Falling in Love at the Moulin Rouge (Orpheum/HTT) Arts Music Theatre by Boo Segersin - May 21, 2022May 21, 2022 The cast of the North American Tour of Moulin Rouge! The Musical. Photo by Matthew Murphy. Welcome to the Moulin Rouge. Moulin Rouge! The Musical, that is – now playing at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis. This award-winning production is jam-packed with amazing talent, beautiful music, and stunning choreography. From glittering costumes
INTERVIEW: Back to the B Minor Mass: The Bach Society of Minnesota’s Centerpiece Arts Music by Basil Considine - May 11, 2022May 11, 2022 The Bach Society of Minnesota's Artistic Director Matthias Maute conducts a performance of J.S. Bach's Christmas Oratorio at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis in 2021. Rock musicians have a notoriously short average lifespan (43.6 years). The average non-profit performing arts organization's lifespan is even shorter. Most are lucky to
INTERVIEW: Amy Quanbeck and Being a Minnesotan in the Moulin Rouge Arts Music Theatre by Basil Considine - May 11, 2022May 11, 2022 Conor Ryan (as Christian) and Courtney Reed (as Satine) star in the North American Tour of Moulin Rouge! The Musical, which opens at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis next week. Photo by Matthew Murphy. On May 18, 2001, a film called Moulin Rouge opened at the North American box office. Directed and
FEATURE: Strumming a Richer Tune at DalekoArts in Once Arts Music Theatre by Basil Considine - May 7, 2022May 14, 2022 Singer-actor-dancer-instrumentalists Leslie Vincent (left) and Chris Paulson (right) star in DalekoArts' production of Once, now playing in New Prague, MN. Photo courtesy of DalekoArts. "Write what you know." It's one of the most common pieces of advice given to poets, novelists, songwriters, and other wielders of writing. To that, one might
PREVIEW: Black Violin’s Coming Back Arts Music by Basil Considine - May 3, 2022May 3, 2022 Black Violin will return to the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in St. Paul, MN on Friday, June 17. In retrospect, "Impossible" was perhaps not the wisest name for Black Violin's 2022 tour. The celebrated musical duo of violist Wil B and violinist Kev Marcus regularly smashes through genre boundaries,
PREVIEW: Shostakovich, Britten, and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra Arts Music by Basil Considine - April 30, 2022April 30, 2022 The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra in 2015. Photo by Ash & James Photography. How long does it take to learn a cello concerto? If you were Mstislav Rostropovich, the Soviet cellist for whom Dmitri Shostakovich composed his Cello Concerto No. 1, the answer is "4 days, memorization included". Even at just
PREVIEW: The Return of the Spotlight Showcase (Hennepin Theatre Trust) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Amy Donahue - April 24, 2022April 24, 2022 A promotional image for the Hennepin Theatre Trust's Spotlight Education Spotlight Showcase event. The Spotlight Showcase, Minnesota high school theater’s biggest night, returns to the historic State Theatre in Minneapolis this June. This two-evening affair organized by the Hennepin Theatre Trust unites high school theater students from across the state for
REVIEW: Straighten Up and Fly Right!: John Pizzarelli at The Dakota Arts Music by Brian Bix - April 13, 2022April 13, 2022 Three looks at singer John Pizzarelli (color) with his bandmates pianist Isaiah J. Thompson (center-bottom) and bassist Mike Karn (center-top). The Dakota was packed last night with hard-core John Pizzarelli fans. Many knew of Pizzarelli through his radio show with his wife Radio Deluxe), followed his regular streaming show It’s