REVIEW: Sweeping Grease Rides Again (Chanhassen Dinner Theatres) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - March 11, 2017March 11, 2017 The ensemble of Chanhassen Dinner Theatres' new production of Grease. Photo by Dan Norman. Grease is still the word in Chanhassen. The classic rock-and-roll musical roared back to Chanhassen Dinner Theatres last night with eruptions of applause, hoots of approval, and some spontaneous hand jiving in the audience. The last time Grease played at
WEEKEND PICKS: Grease, Gondoliers, Dinner at Eight, FOOR Folkz Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre Visual Arts by Twin Cities Arts Reader - March 10, 2017March 11, 2017 Aleks Knezevich as Danny Zuko in Chanhassen Dinner Theatres' production of Grease. Photo by Bernadette Pollard. Winter windchill has returned to the Twin Cities again and darn it if there isn't a forecast of snow on Sunday. Here are some indoor entertainments to keep you distracted and warm this weekend. Retro Fun: Grease at
PREVIEW: Dinner at Eight (Minnesota Opera) Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - March 10, 2017March 11, 2017 It took two and a half years for Edna Ferber to convince George S. Kaufman to cowrite the play Dinner at Eight (1932) with her. Ferber was already one of the best-selling writers in the United States, with a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel (1924's So Big) to her credit. Nor was she unfamiliar to theatre
REVIEW: Sumptuous R&H Magic in The King and I (Orpheum/HTT) Arts Dance Music Theatre Visual Arts by Basil Considine - March 1, 2017March 2, 2017 Laura Michelle Kelly, Baylen Thomas, and Graham Montgomery in Rodgers & Hammerstein's The King and I. Photo by Matthew Murphy. It was a full house at the opening of the Rodgers & Hammerstein's The King and I tour on Tuesday night. The Orpheum Theatre's seats were packed with an unusually broad balance of ages, waiting to
Fringe File 2017, #2: Minnesota Fringe Festival Announces New Executive Director Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - February 28, 2017July 21, 2017 A 2015 photo of the Art Shanty Project on White Bear Lake. Photo courtesy of the Art Shanty Facebook page. Last night was the Minnesota Fringe Festival lottery, where balls plucked out of a hopper determine the lineup of the country's largest unjuried arts festival. Attendees got an extra surprise: the
PREVIEW: Getting to Know Rodgers & Hammerstein’s The King & I (Hennepin Theatre Trust) Arts Dance Music Theatre Visual Arts by Twin Cities Arts Reader - February 27, 2017 One of the many expansive dance numbers in Rodgers & Hammerstein's The King & I. Photo by Matthew Murphy. New musical writers have it tough: Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II have an immense head start. By the time the most famous dynamic duo of musical theatre first teamed up, Rodgers
INTERVIEW: Composer Jodi Goble on the Art of Writing Art Songs Arts Music by Basil Considine - February 20, 2017March 15, 2017 Composer Jodi Goble at the piano. If you hang around classical singers, you're likely to hear the name "NATS" come up. No, not the things that fly around – the National Association of Teachers of Singing, one of the cornerstone institutions of the classical voice world. Know someone who took voice lessons in
REVIEW: Ruby! The Story of Ruby Bridges (SteppingStone Theatre) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - February 20, 2017February 20, 2017 A protest scene from SteppingStone Theatre's production of Ruby! The Story of Ruby Bridges by Christina Ham. It's February in the United States, a time that some see as set aside for the contemplation of the history of Blacks in the United States and the world at large. For others, it's a time
NEWS: Iowa Singer Advances to Met Opera National Council Auditions’ NYC Semi-Finals Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - February 20, 2017March 10, 2017 Soprano Jessica Faselt singing at Bethel University on Sunday, Feb. 20. Photo courtesy of the Metropolitan Opera National Council – Upper Midwest Region. The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions for the Upper Midwest Region took place yesterday at Bethel University in St. Paul. The first place winner, soprano Jessica Faselt, will
NEWS: Metropolitan Opera National Council – Minnesota Audition Winners Arts Music Opera by Twin Cities Arts Reader - February 19, 2017 Soprano Whitney Morrison singing at the District auditions on Saturday. One of the best chances to hear opera's up-and-coming stars was yesterday, when the Metropolitan Opera National Council held its Minnesota District auditions at Bethel University. Some 32 singers between the ages of 20 and 30 competed in the auditions, traveling