REVIEW: The Tap’s the Thing in Irving Berlin’s Music Box Revue 1921 (Theatre of the Ridiculous and Absurd) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - October 13, 2017October 13, 2017 A 1921 advertisement for the original Music Box Revue. There's a saying in show business that every show must have a pressing reason to exist. Irving Berlin’s Music Box Revue 1921's reason is clearly to be a love note to one of America's most beloved songwriters. The origins of Irving Berlin's Music Box Revue
REVIEW: Brilliant Music, Inconsistent Tone in Don Pasquale (Minnesota Opera) Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre Visual Arts by Basil Considine - October 12, 2017June 24, 2018 Craig Colclough as the titular Pasquale in Minnesota Opera’s Don Pasquale. Photo by Dan Norman. Minnesota Opera's production of Don Pasquale, currently playing at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, is suffused with all the lovely music that you've come to know and expect, well-performed and a joy to hear. The updated
REVIEW: Finely Tuned, Stomach-Churning The Nether (Jungle Theater) Arts Theatre by Basil Considine - October 11, 2017October 12, 2017 Sims/Papa (Stephen Yoakam) and Morris (Mo Perry) in a promotional photograph for the Jungle Theater's production of The Nether. The Nether, currently playing at the Jungle Theater, is the best-made play that I despise. I despise this play even more than I dislike writing a review from the first person perspective. However, it
REVIEW: The Prices of War in The Crossing (Brooklyn Academy of Music) Arts Music Opera Theatre by Twin Cities Arts Reader - October 8, 2017October 18, 2017 The cast of The Crossing. Photo by Richard Termine. For all its promise, Matthew Aucoin's opera The Crossing is not more than the sum of its parts. This opera is largely derived from and based on the Civil War poetry and letters of Walt Whitman; it premiered at the American Repertory Theatre in
REVIEW: Henry and Alice: The Wokeless (Park Square Theatre) Arts Theatre by Kit Bix - October 6, 2017October 7, 2017 A promotional image for Henry & Alice: Into the Wild at Park Square Theatre. A funny thing happened to me after attending the American premiere of Henry & Alice: Into the Wild, which runs through October 22 at Park Square Theatre’s Andy Boss Thrust Stage. I enjoyed the show and came out afterward
REVIEW: Sweet Second String (Yellow Tree Theatre) Arts Theatre by Bev Wolfe - October 5, 2017October 5, 2017 Jessica Lind Peterson and Jason Peterson in Yellow Tree Theatre's String. Photo by Justin Cox. Yellow Tree Theatre is a professional theatre that is in my backyard. Well, not quite my backyard, but it is relatively so, being the only theatre that I can drive to without taking the freeway.
INTERVIEW: Brian Stuart on Taking the Boston Early Music Festival On Tour Arts Music Theatre by Basil Considine - October 3, 2017October 3, 2017 The Boston Early Music Festival Chamber Ensemble in concert. The summer portion of the Boston Early Music Festival has long-since wrapped up along with the warm and dry weather, but for some BEMF musicians things are still running strong. The BEMF Chamber Ensemble has been criss-crossing North America on a 10-day,
FEATURE: On Neil Simon’s First Play, Come Blow Your Horn Arts Theatre by Basil Considine - October 3, 2017October 3, 2017 John Haynes, Sue Gerver, Nicole Korbisch, Dylan Rugh, and Grant Hooyer in St. Croix Off Broadway Dinner Theatre's current production of Come Blow Your Horn, now playing in Hudson, WI. There are so many Neil Simon plays in the repertory that you might not realize that the playwright is still among
PREVIEW: Life Could Be a Dream is a Doo Wop Fantasia (Old Log Theatre) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - October 2, 2017June 24, 2018 The cast of the Old Log Theatre's upcoming production of Life Could Be a Dream. From left to right: Austin Stole, Lucas Wells, Grace Lowe, Eric Sargent, Brian Winter. There's something about the music of the 1950s that forms a quintessential part of American nostalgia and culture. This comes in part
FEATURE: 8 Illustrations Showing Intermedia Arts’ Plight Arts Dance Music Theatre Visual Arts by Basil Considine - October 1, 2017October 1, 2017 A bar chart illustrating the deficit cycle faced by Intermedia Arts, its board, and its staff since 2000. The organization's financial reserves were severely eroded even before the Great Recession hit; post-Recession, soaring expenses quickly eroded Intermedia's financial gains. Thursday evening, Intermedia Arts sent out a short, succinct to its media