NEWS: RIP Bearded Men Improv, Long Live The Bearded Company Arts Theatre by Amy Donahue - February 8, 2018February 10, 2018 An image not reflecting the status of a Minneapolis-based improv troupe. Yesterday, the award-winning Bearded Men Improv troupe announced that it would no longer perform under its founding name. The company, which has Minneapolis and Los Angeles chapters, will henceforth be known as The Bearded Company. With typical élan, the 11-year-old company announced
BREAKING NEWS: Patrick’s Cabaret to Close Permanently Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - January 30, 2018January 30, 2018 A scene from the 2014 Culture Wars Cabaret hosted by Patrick's Cabaret. Photo by Ryan Stopera. Patrick's Cabaret announced today that it will close permanently this summer. The surprise announcement stunned many in the Twin Cities; the organization has been a fixture in the Twin Cities performing arts scene for 31
REVIEW: Stunning Sights and Dancing in The Wiz (Children’s Theatre Company) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Bev Wolfe - January 30, 2018January 30, 2018 Aimee Bryant as Addaperle in the Children's Theatre Company production of The Wiz. Photo by Dan Norman The Children’s Theatre Company and Penumbra Theatre co-production of The Wiz is an engaging endeavor that makes you wish these two theatre companies had teamed up earlier. Director Lou Bellamy and choreographer Patdro Harris have created
REVIEW: Ishmael Chases a White Whale (Jungle Theater) Arts Music Theatre by Bev Wolfe - January 26, 2018January 26, 2018 A promotional image for the Jungle Theater's Ishmael. The Jungle Theater's new season – its last before it moves to a traditional fall-summer format – casts off with a hunt for a great white whale. Ishmael, now playing at the Jungle, is an adaptation of the classic Herman Melville novel Moby Dick. Director-playwright Leo
INTERVIEW: Incoming Producing Artistic Director Rod Kaats and Ordway President/CEO Jamie Grant on the Future of the Ordway Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - January 22, 2018January 22, 2018 Rod Kaats, the incoming producing artistic director at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts. There were big tap shoes to fill at the Ordway when James Rocco announced last year that he would step down as Vice President of Programming and Producing Artistic Director. On Thursday, the Ordway Center for
PREVIEW: Australian Dinosaurs Invade Ordway 2/13 Arts Theatre Visual Arts by Twin Cities Arts Reader - January 19, 2018January 19, 2018 Aimee Louisanne and a friend (aka, "lunch") get rather close to a T-Rex from Dinosaur Zoo Live. Photo by C. Waits. Dinosaurs from Australia are invading the United States via Canada. Yes, you read that right. The Land Down Under has sent its toothiest specimens to delight America's children, just as
PREVIEW: Twin Cities Jewish Humor Festival Arts Movies Theatre by Twin Cities Arts Reader - January 17, 2018January 17, 2018 A sampling of acts at the Twin Cities Jewish Humor Festival. If the weather has you down, you can escape for a week by diving into the Twin Cities Jewish Humor Festival. The festival's 2018 incarnation features stand-up comedians, a film delving the darkest sources of humor, a hit show about
TOP 10: Basil Considine’s Favorite Twin Cities Stage Performances of 2017 Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - January 12, 2018January 12, 2018 Brittany Bellizeare as Pecola (foreground) in the Guthrie Theater's production of The Bluest Eye. Photo by Dan Norman. During the 2017 calendar year, I saw more than 150 theatre performances. That tally excludes shows that I directed and dance-only performances, but includes spoken theatre, musicals, opera, improv, and pretty much anything
PREVIEW: The Humans Captures a Vanishing Middle Class (Orpheum/Hennepin Theatre Trust) Arts Theatre by Basil Considine - January 10, 2018January 10, 2018 Sarah Steele and Cassie Beck in the Broadway tour of The Humans by Stephen Karam. Photo by Brigitte Lacombe. In the last several years, I have read and heard a growing chorus of calls for the American theatre to reflect and represent more of the turmoil roiling American society. As U.S. society
INTERVIEW: Sarah Rasmussen on the Jungle Theater’s New Season Arts Music Theatre by Basil Considine - January 8, 2018January 8, 2018 A promotional image for the Jungle Theater's upcoming production of Ishmael. It's been several winters – and, some would say right now, not enough summers – since the Jungle Theater announced the appointment of Sarah Rasmussen as its new artistic director in March 2015. At the time, the native of Sisseton,