NEWS: The 25th Annual Sally Ordway Irvine Award Recipients Arts Theatre by Twin Cities Arts Reader - August 23, 2017 The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts announced today the recipients of the 25th annual Sally Ordway Irvine Awards. These awards were given in five categories to recipients from across the State of Minnesota. This year's recipients are all based in the Twin Cities metro area: Hunter Gullickson (Arts Access)
PREVIEW: Love Letters (Cannery Works/Plymouth Arts Council) Arts Music Theatre by Twin Cities Arts Reader - August 22, 2017 Actors Gary Briggle (left) and Wendy Lehr (right). Photo by Keith Bridges. The playwright A.R. Gurney passed away two months ago. Many of the various eulogies and obituaries cited his 1988 play Love Letters, a tale of charmed correspondence that was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Love Letters encapsulated many of the themes
Fringe File, #28: Graphs and Charts, Part 1 Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - August 21, 2017August 21, 2017 A mosaic of different graphs of Fringe Festival sold-out attendance data. It's been one week since the 2017 Minnesota Fringe Festival closed its doors and the Fringe staff are still tallying and double-checking festival data. While a fuller report on the festival box office is still forthcoming, here are six figures
PREVIEW: A Glimpse at Aladdin (Hennepin Theatre Trust) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - August 18, 2017August 18, 2017 Women dancing in Arabian Nights. Photo by Dan Van Meer. The Orpheum Theatre is getting a magic lamp. Starting September 15, the Orpheum will host the Broadway touring production of Aladdin for three and a half weeks (closing October 8). This touring production stars Adam Jacobs, who originated the title role of Aladdin
Fringe File, #27: The Arts Reader Awards Arts Dance Music Theatre by Hanne Appelbaum - August 14, 2017August 8, 2018 A photo collage of the recipients of the Arts Reader's awards for the 2017 Minnesota Fringe Festival. Read about our awards process. Read about why we give awards related to Minnesota Fringe Festival. The annual Minnesota Fringe Festival floods Minneapolis with an 11-day deluge of theatre, music, dance, spoken word, and (as they say)
EDITORIAL: On Lists and Awards Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre Visual Arts by Hanne Appelbaum - August 13, 2017August 14, 2017 A double photo collage of every show image from the 2017 Minnesota Fringe Festival. Some trivia: the decision to found the Twin Cities Arts Reader was made during the 2015 Minnesota Fringe Festival. It's only natural, then, that the festival was very much on the core leadership team's minds as we brainstormed about
Fringe File, #26: The Encores Arts Dance Music Theatre by Twin Cities Arts Reader - August 12, 2017August 14, 2017 The 2017 Minnesota Fringe encore shows. The Minnesota Fringe Festival concludes Sunday with a full schedule of shows and a final round of encore performances. The encore performances, which are comprise the best-selling production from each venue, were announced this evening on the patio of the downtown Grumpy's in Minneapolis. The
Fringe File, #25: The Last Two Days of Fringe / Prelude to the Encores Arts Dance Music Theatre by Hanne Appelbaum - August 12, 2017August 12, 2017 A photo collage of Minnesota Fringe Festival show images. The Minnesota Fringe Festival is nearing its close, with just two days' – and 214 performances – remaining. Audiences have spoken about their favorites, both in online reviews on the Fringe website and by putting butts into seats. Each day comes with new word
Fringe File, #24: Phil Darg on Facility Arts Theatre by Basil Considine - August 10, 2017August 10, 2017 Jeff (Tim Williams, left) inspects a chart while Fran (Nicole Korbisch, right) converses with Lionel (Paul Brissett) in Imagined Theatre's Facility. Photo courtesy of Imagined Theatre. One of the most striking dramas in the 2017 Minnesota Fringe Festival is Imagined Theatre's Facility, a play about elder care and dementia – two highly charged
Fringe File, #23: Lyssa Sparrow on First Year Queer, Kink, and Consent Arts Theatre by Basil Considine - August 10, 2017August 12, 2017 The cast of First Year Queer in an previous show: Lyssa Sparrow (center) with Anthony Art (left) and Corinna Troth (right). There is a Fringe category called Something Different. Lyssa Sparrow's First Year Queer, now playing at the Minnesota Fringe Festival, has that label – and it certainly isn't inaccurate. The subject matter