REVIEW: Jos N. Banks Shines in Kinky Boots Tour (Ordway) Arts Dance Music Theatre Visual Arts by Kit Bix - April 5, 2018April 5, 2018 The cast of the Kinky Boots national tour. Photo by Matthew Murphy. If you were considering seeing Kinky Boots and thinking "yes, but" or"it's cold, and April is the cruelest month, so I'm just going to skip this one," change your mind. Really, even if you've seen the show before, change
NEWS: Jocelyn Hagen Wins The American Prize in Composition for Test Pilot Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre by Hanne Appelbaum - April 2, 2018April 2, 2018 A rehearsal photo from the 2016 revival of Jocelyn Hagen and Penelope Freeh's dance opera Test Pilot. Composer Jocelyn Hagen's opera Test Pilot has been awarded The American Prize in Composition's First Place award in the opera/theater/film/dance category, professional division. This honor comes some three and a half years after the work
FEATURE: The Ordway’s Jesus Christ: The Walking Dead and Other Shows that Could Have Been (April Fools) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - April 1, 2018April 1, 2018 The Walking Dead close in on Dieter Bierbrauer as he mourns the death of Jesus (Jesse Nager) to Walker bite in Jesus Christ: The Walking Dead. Photo by Rich Ryan. Planning on a musical theatre zombie apocalypse? Don't hire a focus group. That's one of several lessons gleaned from a review
NEWS: Leslie Vincent and the Van Goghs at the Heart of Scandal (April Fools) Arts Music Theatre by Twin Cities Arts Reader - April 1, 2018March 30, 2018 An artist's rendering of Leslie Vincent and the Van Goghs at a recent gig. Painting by Amy Danielson. Scandal has struck the band Leslie Vincent and the Van Goghs. The acclaimed Minneapolis-based ensemble, whose music ranges from soulful covers of standards to in-your-face feminist anthems, has been riven by an earful of
NEWS: Metropolitan Opera Auditions – Upper Midwest Region Results Arts Music Opera by Twin Cities Arts Reader - March 25, 2018 Three ladies from a Minnesota stage are heading to New York. The women in question are the first-place winners of the Metropolitan Opera National Council's Upper Midwest Region auditions – the second stage in a four-tier competition whose third and fourth rounds will play out on the stage of the Metropolitan
NEWS: Met Opera Auditions – Minnesota District Results Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - March 24, 2018March 25, 2018 The five winners of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions' Minnesota District round (L-R): Lauren Decker, Andrea Lott, Katherine Rose DeYoung, Jessica Faselt, and Kayleigh Decker. Photo courtesy of the MONC Upper Midwest Region. The Minnesota District phase of the Metropolitan Opera's National Council Auditions concluded today. Five singers will advance
REVIEW: The First Family of Twin Cities Music: The Steeles (Crooners Lounge and Supper Club) Arts Music by Brian Bix - March 24, 2018March 25, 2018 A promotional photo of The Steeles, one of the Twin Cities' most legendary music families. The Steeles – J.D., Fred, Jearlyn, Jevetta, and Billy Steele – are a musical family ensemble of five (of six) siblings who grew up in Gary, Indiana. Each made their eventual way to Minnesota; having grown
PREVIEW: The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - March 23, 2018March 23, 2018 Soprano Jessica Faselt singing at Bethel University in the 2017 round of the Metropolitan Opera National Council – Upper Midwest Region Auditions. Faselt won the Regional audition and competed in New York City in the Semi-Final Round of the auditions. Photo courtesy of the Metropolitan Opera National Council – Upper Midwest
REVIEW: Reliable Horses in Old Log’s Guys and Dolls Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - March 18, 2018June 24, 2018 The famous "Fugue for Tinhorns" in the Old Log Theatre's production of Guys and Dolls. Pictured: Jordan Oxborough, Aaron Booth, and Austin Stole. Photo courtesy of the Old Log Theatre. You won't find any surprises in the Old Log Theatre's new production of Guys and Dolls, but that's not why you
REVIEW: Princess Ida‘s Steampunk Bursts (GSVLOC) Arts Music Opera Theatre Visual Arts by Basil Considine - March 17, 2018March 17, 2018 The women of Castle Adamant preparing for war in the Gilbert and Sullivan Very Light Opera Company's new production of Princess Ida. Photo by Stephen Hage. Some of the jokes in Gilbert and Sullivan's comic operas have stood the test of time better than others. This is one of the reasons