REVIEW: Building The Prom for Everyone (Chanhassen Dinner Theatres) Arts Music Theatre by Brian Bix - February 18, 2023February 21, 2023 The cast of Chanhassen Dinner Theatres' new production of The Prom, now playing in Chanhassen, MN. Photo by Dan Norman Photography. Hell hasn't exactly frozen over, but the thermometer eased over freezing this weekend in the Twin Cities. Thus, one can say empirically that the musical The Prom, which opened Friday at Chanhassen Dinner
REVIEW: Joy Cometh in the Morning? To Kill a Mockingbird (Orpheum/Hennepin Theatre Trust) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Brian Bix - February 15, 2023February 15, 2023 Atticus Finch (Richard Thomas) examines a witness in To Kill a Mockingbird, playing through Sunday, 2/19 at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis, MN. Photo by Julieta Cervantes. Almost everyone in the packed Orpheum Theatre last night knew the story of To Kill a Mockingbird, having read the 1960 Harper Lee novel
REVIEW: The 2023 AOI Operas at the Kennedy Center (Washington National Opera) Arts Music Opera by Basil Considine - January 23, 2023January 24, 2023 The gods of Oshun: Olodumare (Christian Simmons, left), Shango (Daniel Smith, upstage center), Oshun (Katerina Burton, downstage center), and Esu (Athony P. Ballard), which premiered on Saturday at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Photo by Scott Suchman. On Saturday, a trio of new operas premiered at the Kennedy Center in
REVIEW: Thrilling, Retro Hairspray Earns Its Shots (Hennepin Theatre Trust) Arts Music Theatre by Boo Segersin - January 12, 2023January 16, 2023 Aloft, L-R Sage as Gilbert, Kyle Kavully as Thad, Charlie Bryant III as Seaweed J. Stubbs, and the Company of Hairspray, now playing at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis. Photo by Jeremy Daniel. The Tony award-winning musical Hairspray has returned to Minneapolis, and it is just as fun and relevant as
PREVIEW: Well-Behaved Women Coming To… (Theatre Elision) Arts Music by Basil Considine - January 10, 2023January 16, 2023 A poster riffing on Laurel Thatcher Ulrich's infamous quotation, showing "transgressive" women from different periods. In 1976, the historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich wrote in an article, "Well-behaved women seldom make history." Ulrich's commentary was double: on the one hand, the women condemned by the early Puritans of New England were excoriated in
INTERVIEW: Matt Crowle on Embodying Thénardier in Les Misérables Arts Music Theatre by Basil Considine - December 2, 2022December 2, 2022 Matt Crowle (center-left) as Thénardier and Christina Rose Hall (center) as Madame Thénardier in the national tour of Les Misérables, which opens Tuesday at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis. Photo by Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade. Victor Hugo's novel Les Misérables is often ranked as one of the greatest
PREVIEW: The Montserrat Boy Choir’s Minnesotan Adventure Arts Music by Amy Donahue - October 31, 2022October 31, 2022 The Montserrat Boy Choir. One of the most-anticipated performances coming to the Twin Cities is coming all the way from Catalonia. The Montserrat Boy Choir, an elite choir from one of Spain's oldest music schools, will perform at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis on November 11. “We are thrilled to be
PREVIEW: Anne Sofie van Otter at the Schubert Club Arts Music by Basil Considine - October 10, 2022October 11, 2022 Mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie van Otter. Photo by Ewa-Marie Rundquist. Say "Swedish Nightingale" to an American on the street a century ago, and one name would come instantly to music listeners' lips: Jenny Lind. Say the name to an opera fan today, however, and a different singer comes up: the Swedish mezzo-soprano
PREVIEW: Altan at the Dakota – Bringing Donegal Music to the World Arts Music by Brian Bix - October 5, 2022October 5, 2022 A promotional photo of the Irish traditional music ensemble Altan. The Irish folk band Altan will play a two-show engagement at The Dakota in Minneapolis on Saturday, October 29. Altan, which specializes in traditional music from County Donegal in Ireland, will perform with special guest Clare Friel in 6 PM and
PREVIEW: The Manhattan Transfer at the State Theatre (Hennepin Theatre Trust) Arts Music by Brian Bix - October 3, 2022October 4, 2022 The award-winning vocal ensemble The Manhattan Transfer. Photo by F. Scott Schafer-Gros. After 50 years of singing – and one last album, appropriately entitled Fifty, The Manhattan Transfer is on its farewell tour. This Grammy Award-winning, four-part vocal harmony group lands at the State Theatre in Minneapolis on October 12. The Manhattan Transfer –