REVIEW: Buddy Guy & Mavis Staples: Two Icons, Still Going Strong (Mystic Lake) Arts Music by Brian Bix - February 25, 2019February 25, 2019 Songstress legend Mavis Staples in concert. Last night at Mystic Lake, the audience was privileged to see two icons of American popular music, Mavis Staples and Buddy Guy. Staples may be best known as the lead singer for the family group the Staples Singers, whom she started singing with them at
REVIEW: Captain Fantastic’s Last Trip – Elton John (Target Center) Arts Music by Brian Bix - February 22, 2019February 23, 2019 Elton John performing at Target Center on Thursday night. Photo courtesy of Elton John. Elton John is saying good-bye to concerts, but not before he has one last, multiple-year, trans-world “Farewell Yellow Brick Road” tour. Last night the tour stopped in the Target Center, and he will be there for
REVIEW: Thrilling A Bronx Tale Opens (Orpheum/Hennepin Theatre Trust) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - February 20, 2019February 20, 2019 The cast of the national touring company of A Bronx Tale, which opened at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis, MN on Tuesday. Photo by Joan Marcus. The real crime in A Bronx Tale is that child actor Frankie Leoni isn't featured after the first several scenes. Sure, there's violence, gambling, and outright murder
NEWS: The Grammy Award Winners and Nominees (Complete List) Arts Music by Twin Cities Arts Reader - February 11, 2019February 12, 2019 The 61st Annual Grammy Awards celebration took place last night at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Hosted by Alicia Keys, the music industry awards featured a massive performing lineup, and winners ranging from Jimmy Carter (!) to Lady Gaga and Childish Gambino. Here is the complete list of nominees
REVIEW: Tongue-in-Cheek Rock of Ages Opens Loud (Orpheum/HTT) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - February 9, 2019February 9, 2019 Sam Harvey (center) and the cast of the Rock of Ages National Tour. Photo by Jeremy Daniel. It's been ten years since Rock of Ages opened on Broadway for what became a 2,328-performance run. This jukebox musical, now playing at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis, features numerous rock hits from the 1980s, a
REVIEW: Older Humor in The Italian Straw Hat (Minnesota Opera) Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre by Amy Donahue - January 31, 2019January 31, 2019 Wedding planning runs into some snags in Minnesota Opera's production of The Italian Straw Hat. Photo by Cory Weaver. Alignment is key. Whether it's about car wheels, shakras, or humor, it's essential that elements designed to work together be arranged so that they complement and build upon individual virtues and needs, rather
REVIEW: Joy and Tuxes in Mr. Popper’s Penguins (Pins and Needles/Children’s Theatre Company) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Bev Wolfe - January 24, 2019January 24, 2019 Susanna Jennings, Monica Nash, Richard Holt and Christopher Finn in the Pins and Needles-Children's Theatre Company co-production of Mr. Popper’s Penguins. Photo by Dan Norman. A sweet and sentimental tale of realizing one’s dreams as well as the joy of raising penguins is currently gracing the stage at Children’s Theatre. Mr. Popper's
INTERVIEW: David Cote and Adapting a Children’s Classic The Scarlet Ibis Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - January 14, 2019January 16, 2019 A page from the libretto of David Cote and Stefan Weisman's opera The Scarlet Ibis, which opens Thursday in Cambridge, MA in a production by Boston Opera Collaborative. January may be a frigid stormy time in much of the United States, but it's a florid time for new opera in the
INTERVIEW: Singer-Songwriter-Actor Emily Dussault – Gone Missing, Champagne Drops, and Songwriting Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - January 12, 2019August 13, 2019 The cast of Theatre Elision's production of Gone Missing in rehearsal. On Thursday, 1/17, Theatre Elision opens its production of the musical Gone Missing. This is the Minnesota premiere of a 2003 musical by the late composer Michael Friedman (The Abominables, Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson) and book writer Steve Cosson. An
REVIEW: Whence Cometh These Sweet Sounds? Marie and Rosetta (Park Square Theatre) Arts Music Theatre by Bev Wolfe - January 9, 2019January 15, 2019 Rajané Katurah Brown (as Marie) and Jamecia Bennett (as Rosetta) in Park Square Theatre's production of Marie and Rosetta. Photo by Petronella J. Ytsma. Rosetta Tharpe was a swinging gospel music star who also played rocking secular music. A well-known name during World War II, she was a major influence on a variety