REVIEW: Falling in Love with Rigoletto (Capri Theater/Really Spicy Opera) Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre by Lydia Lunning - June 6, 2016June 7, 2016 Small-scale opera productions, when well executed, are some of the underrated joys for audiences lucky enough to catch them—while their appeal of lavish design and big-budget spectacle seem synonymous with the art form, opera in a pared-down, more intimate setting is a great way to foreground fresh talent and focus
REVIEW: Fascinating, Striking Rigoletto (Capri Theater/Really Spicy Opera) Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre by Hanne Appelbaum - June 4, 2016June 4, 2016 Making fun of period operas in modern settings is like shooting fish in a barrel. There are so many clunkers out there that it's tempting to dismiss the proposition entirely and say, "That's a thing" – but sometimes a staging comes along where the new setting truly enhances the material. Really Spicy Opera's new production
PREVIEW: Rigoletto at the Capri Theater Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre by Hanne Appelbaum - June 3, 2016June 4, 2016 Rigoletto (Jeehoon Kim), Gilda (Jennifer Zabelsky), Maddalena (Megan O'Leary), and the Duke (Joshua Diaz) in Really Spicy Opera's production of Rigoletto. Tonight, Really Spicy Opera opens Rigoletto at the Capri Theater in North Minneapolis. It's been twelve years since Minnesota Opera staged this tale of love, lust, and revenge gone awry; before that, the last
PHOTOS: Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros Arts Music by Jeff Rutherford - May 22, 2016May 25, 2016 Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros played a sold out show at the inaugural concert at Surly Brewing's Festival Field.
NEWS: Cantus and Chanticleer, VocalEssence and Bocelli, Sitting in a Tree, S-I-N-G-I-N-G Arts Music Opera by Basil Considine - May 19, 2016May 20, 2016 Cantus and Chanticleer. Note: This story has been updated to include additional commentary. It's a practiced, Hollywood-style reveal: the lights go down, leaving the star singer in an intimate pool of light – then BAM! lights up, and it's a full choir singing! The crowd goes wild as the heavenly voices
REVIEW: The Book of Mormon‘s Newer Testament (Orpheum Theatre) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Lydia Lunning - May 12, 2016May 13, 2016 Photo by Joan Marcus. Before Hamilton shot onto the scene early last year, The Book of Mormon was the hottest ticket on Broadway. This smash musical hit won a hefty nine Tony Awards, including Best Musical...but does it live up to it's hype? Yes, yes it does. And you might actually have a decent chance
INTERVIEW: Kelly Kaduce of The Shining Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - May 12, 2016March 11, 2017 Wendy (Kelly Kaduce) and Danny (Alejandro Vega) Torrance meditate on the strange turns that their life has taken in The Shining. Photo by Ken Howard. Soprano Kelly Kaduce is Minnesota-born and raised, but since graduating from St. Olaf's she has traveled and sung all across the United States. The month of May finds
The Look of The Shining Arts Music Opera Theatre Visual Arts by Twin Cities Arts Reader - May 11, 2016May 11, 2016 Minnesota Opera's The Shining returns on Thursday to the stage of the Music Theater at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts. Here's a detailed look at the opera's visual spark. What goes into this? Some of the key players in crafting the opera's look were stage director Eric Simonson, choreographer Heidi
REVIEW: The Shining = Brilliant Psychodrama (Minnesota Opera) Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - May 10, 2016March 11, 2017 A disturbed Jack Torrance (Brian Mulligan) menaces his wife Wendy (Kelly Kaduce) and son Danny (Alejandro Vega) in The Shining. Photo by Ken Howard. Minnesota Opera's 2015-2016 season comes to a crashing bang with The Shining, an adaptation of the bestselling horror novel by Stephen King. The main thing wrong with this production appears
REVIEW: A Night on Olympus (Illusion Theater) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Bev Wolfe - May 9, 2016May 10, 2016 Harry (Tyler Michaels), Chad (Adam Qualls), and Maggie (McKinnley Aitchison) in A Night on Olympus. Photo by Lauren B Photography. Prom night, teenage love, zombies, and errant Greek gods combine in A Night in Olympus. This Illusion Theater production is a collaboration between composer and lyricist Chan Poling, and playwrights Jeffrey Hatcher and