INTERVIEW: Dan Norman on Photographing Theatre Magic Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre Visual Arts by Basil Considine - June 16, 2017June 16, 2017 A collage of theatrical photos by Dan Norman. Larger and uncropped versions are available below. Page through theatre reviews and websites in the Twin Cities and you'll see Dan Norman's name coming up again and again. In the past 12 years, Norman has become one of the most distinguished theatre photographers
INTERVIEW: Bob Neu on Skylark Opera Theatre’s Immersive Donny G. Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - June 12, 2017June 12, 2017 Photo by Vera Mariner. This week, Skylark Opera Theatre opens a site-specific production of Don Giovanni at the Women's Club in Minneapolis. This performance, which will snake through different rooms in the venue, is the company's second outing since its financial and artistic reorganization last year. The Arts Reader's Basil Considine
NEWS: The 2017 Tony Award Winners Arts Dance Music Theatre Visual Arts by Twin Cities Arts Reader - June 11, 2017June 12, 2017 The cast of Come From Away performing “Welcome to the Rock” at the 2017 Tony Awards. Here are the 2017 Tony Award Winners. In a surprise upset, Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 received only two wins in design categories (best sound and best lighting design). Best Play: Oslo (Book: J.T. Rogers) Best Musical: Dear Evan
REVIEW: RENT Keeps on Rocking Hard (Hennepin Theatre Trust) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - June 7, 2017June 7, 2017 The company for the RENT 20th Anniversary Tour. Photo by Carol Rosegg. As the last notes of RENT sounded, the audience burst from their seats en masse in a standing ovation. After that response, much of the writing of this review seems superfluous. For a show on its 20th anniversary tour, RENT has weathered the years very well. Jonathan
DC REVIEW: Delectable Appetizers in Les Indes Galantes (Opera Lafayette) Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - June 2, 2017July 5, 2017 The Opera Lafayette Orchestra. Ryan Brown leads with his violin (standing, center). Sketch by Basil Considine. The Twin Cities opera scene is blessed with several opera companies whose specialties range from the popular canon to new repertoire to site-specific and unusual spectacle. If your tastes run to Baroque operas, however, your odds of
REVIEW: Dislocation and Danger in Refugia (The Moving Company/Guthrie Theater) Arts Theatre by Dan Reiva - May 30, 2017June 1, 2017 Steven Epp and Jamal Abdunnasir in The Moving Company's production of Refugia. Photo by Dan Norman. Hang around the Twin Cities theatre scene long enough and the name Theatre de la Jeune Lune is sure to come up. Since that ensemble dissolved in 2008, its performing space became Aria at the Jeune
REVIEW: Arguing Aesthetics in Amy’s View (Park Square Theatre) Arts Theatre by Bev Wolfe - May 26, 2017May 27, 2017 Photo by Petronella J. Ytsma. Yes, we speak of things that matter With words that must be said: “Can analysis be worthwhile?” “Is the theater really dead?” These words from Paul Simon’s song “The Dangling Conversation” kept running through my mind as I attended Amy’s View at Park Square Theatre. Yes, the play is talky.
INTERVIEW: Theatre Pro Rata on Up: The Man in the Air Arts Theatre by Kit Bix - May 26, 2017May 27, 2017 John Middleton, Shanan Custer, Carin Bratlie Wethern, and Mark Benzel at Park Square Theatre. Photo by Kit Bix. Theatre Pro-Rata’s latest offering, Up: The Man in the Air, opens Friday, May 26 at Park Square Theatre's Andy Boss Thrust Stage. This "fantastical biography" was inspired by the true story of Larry Walters, an amateur inventor
INTERVIEW: Sharpening La Rondine: Boston Opera Collaborative and the Swallow’s Diet Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - May 18, 2017May 18, 2017 Reworking or remixing opera classics is one of the hot current trends in American opera circles. Skylark Opera Theatre's production of The Tragedy of Carmen certainly caught local opera fans' attention with a heavily streamlined, 90-minute version of the classic opera by Bizet, with packed houses and fans clamoring to see this up-close-and-personal treatment. Transforming
REVIEW: Jiving Sisters of Swing (History Theatre) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Bev Wolfe - May 17, 2017May 17, 2017 Cat Brindisi, Katie Hahn, and Jen Burleigh-Bentz in the History Theatre’s production of Sisters of Swing. The Andrew Sisters were the sweethearts of the World War II generation. When my mother was in nursing school during the war, the students in the girls’ dorm would congregate around the dorm piano and