INTERVIEW: NYC’s PROTOTYPE Festival Leaders Talk New Opera and Music-Theatre Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - January 3, 2019January 3, 2019 A promotional image for The Infinite Hotel at the NYC PROTOTYPE Festival of new operas. Artwork based on photos by Matthew Soltesz and Rachel Shane. Minnesota has long had a tradition of artistic leadership, influence, and practice beyond its borders. Whether in choral or popular music (or the odd Grammy-nominated orchestra
REVIEW: Miracle at Christmas Lake‘s Joyous Return (Yellow Tree Theatre) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Bev Wolfe - December 31, 2018January 3, 2019 Mary Fox, Miriam Monasch, Ryan Nelson, Jessie Rae Rayle, and Jason Peterson in Yellow Tree Theatre's production of Miracle at Christmas Lake. Photo by Justin Cox. The first year that Yellow Tree opened, it lost its rights to its planned holiday show and theatre co-founder Jessica Lind wrote an original show,
REVIEW: Baked Holidays at Angels We Have Heard Are High (Brave New Workshop) Arts Music Theatre by Amy Donahue - December 28, 2018December 28, 2018 A promotional photo for Brave New Workshop's holiday production, Angels We Have Heard Are High. Photo by Dani Werner. Holidays bring snacks, stress, and (often) self-medication. Brave New Workshop's current holiday show throws these together as Angels We Have Heard Are High (O Holy Crap!). As the title suggests, the "baked" part
REVIEW: The Last Cantus Concert (Of the Year) Arts Music by Basil Considine - December 26, 2018December 31, 2018 A promotional photo of Cantus. Cantus brought its 2018 performances to a close on Sunday with the final installment (for now) of its Christmas with Cantus concerts. The performance featured an array of classic music, some more contemporary numbers such as Joni Mitchell's "The River", and a new vocal work by Catherine Dalton. That
AWARDS: The Inaugural Spice Awards in the Performing Arts Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre Visual Arts by Hanne Appelbaum - December 25, 2018December 28, 2018 It's been a whiplash year for awards and the Twin Cities performing arts scene. In fact, it's just been a whiplash year, period. In 2018, allegations of sexual assault and other misbehavior emerged at several local arts organizations. Cornerstone organizations such as Intermedia Arts and the Soap Factory remain shuttered
REVIEW: The Memorable Return of Les Miserables (Orpheum/Hennepin Theatre Trust) Arts Dance Music Theatre Visual Arts by Brian Bix - December 19, 2018December 19, 2018 The cast of the national touring company of Les Miserables takes to the barricades. Photo by Matthew Murphy. In 1832 in Paris, at a time of growing inequality, the funeral procession for a popular public figure led to an eruption of violence. Hundreds died fighting at makeshift barricades with stolen weapons.
INTERVIEW: Catherine Dalton and Rough Cuts at Nautilus Music-Theater Arts Dance Music by Basil Considine - December 14, 2018December 14, 2018 A blue background. Today, the term "rough cut" generally refers to an early draft of an edit for audio or video recordings. The term, however, comes to us from sewing and cooking, which used the term freely in the 19th century before A/V recording was even a glimmer in an inventor's
PREVIEW: Les Misérables Prepares to Throw Up Its Barricade on Hennepin (HTT) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - December 9, 2018December 9, 2018 The cast of the national tour of Les Misérables marches towards revolution in "One Day More". Photo by Matthew Murphy. "If anyone doubts that the contemporary musical theater can flex its atrophied muscles and yank an audience right out of its seats, he need look no further than the Act I
REVIEW: The Grinch Still Rules the Roost (Children’s Theatre Company) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Bev Wolfe - December 8, 2018December 8, 2018 The Grinch (Reed Sigmund) sets off to commit dastardly deeds of humbug in the Children's Theatre Company production of Dr. Seuss’s How The Grinch Stole Christmas. Photo by Dan Norman. The Grinch is back and he is a green, mean, anti-holiday machine. It has been a long time since I have seen
NEWS: A Very Die Hard Christmas Sells Out Entire Run Before Opening Arts Music Theatre by Amy Donahue - December 7, 2018December 7, 2018 Josh Carson plays the foul-mouthed cop-in-a-tight-spot John McClane in the parody A Very Die Hard Christmas. On December 7, 2012, a show called A Very Die Hard Christmas opened at Bryant-Lake Bowl's theater space. The event page touted "a new holiday treat with all the trimmings: singing, dancing, and bloodshed. Don't