PREVIEW: Getting to Know Rodgers & Hammerstein’s The King & I (Hennepin Theatre Trust) Arts Dance Music Theatre Visual Arts by Twin Cities Arts Reader - February 27, 2017 One of the many expansive dance numbers in Rodgers & Hammerstein's The King & I. Photo by Matthew Murphy. New musical writers have it tough: Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II have an immense head start. By the time the most famous dynamic duo of musical theatre first teamed up, Rodgers
REVIEW: Steamy Words in Anna in the Tropics (Jungle Theater) Arts Theatre by Bev Wolfe - February 23, 2017February 23, 2017 Cristina Florencia Castro as Marela in Anna in the Tropics. Photo by William Clark. The world of Tolstoy collides with the world of Cuban-American cigar workers in Jungle Theater’s current production of Anna in the Tropics. Playwright Nilo Cruz’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama transports its audience to nearly a century ago in Tampa,
REVIEW: Ruby! The Story of Ruby Bridges (SteppingStone Theatre) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - February 20, 2017February 20, 2017 A protest scene from SteppingStone Theatre's production of Ruby! The Story of Ruby Bridges by Christina Ham. It's February in the United States, a time that some see as set aside for the contemplation of the history of Blacks in the United States and the world at large. For others, it's a time
NEWS: Iowa Singer Advances to Met Opera National Council Auditions’ NYC Semi-Finals Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - February 20, 2017March 10, 2017 Soprano Jessica Faselt singing at Bethel University on Sunday, Feb. 20. Photo courtesy of the Metropolitan Opera National Council – Upper Midwest Region. The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions for the Upper Midwest Region took place yesterday at Bethel University in St. Paul. The first place winner, soprano Jessica Faselt, will
REVIEW: King Lear: Come With Coffee, Stay for Heartbreak (Guthrie Theater) Arts Theatre by Basil Considine - February 18, 2017February 19, 2017 King Lear (Stephen Yoakam), now half-mad, is accosted by a pair of soldiers (Tyler Miller, left, and Kevin Gotch, right). Photo by T Charles Erickson. Armin Shimerman (The Fool) and Stephen Yoakam (King Lear) in the Guthrie Theater’s production of King Lear, by William Shakespeare and directed by Joseph Haj. Scenic
REVIEW: Size and Other Problems: Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Ordway) Arts Music Theatre by Basil Considine - February 17, 2017February 17, 2017 Euan Morton (front center), Hannah Corneau and Tits of Clay in the national tour of Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Photo by Joan Marcus. Hedwig and the Angry Inch, now playing at the Ordway, has a bit of a size problem. Yes, that sounds a bit insensitive when discussing a protagonist
REVIEW: Sweeping Peter and the Starcatcher (Latté Da) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - February 14, 2017February 14, 2017 Tyler Michaels as Peter in Theater Latté Da's Peter and the Starcatcher. Photo by Dan Norman. There's a lot of great stuff going on in Theater Latté Da's production of Peter and the Starcatcher. Where to begin? This show has visual humor galore, old-fashioned stage effects that impress you with their subtlety, a script
REVIEW: Dr. Seuss & Sneetches + Musical = !!! (Children’s Theatre Company) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Bev Wolfe - February 14, 2017February 14, 2017 Photo by Dan Norman. Marvelous, simply marvelous. These are not just my words, they are also the words uttered by my five-year-old granddaughter when she saw Dr. Seuss’ The Sneetches: The Musical, which had its world premiere performance this weekend at the Children’s Theatre Company. The musical is based on the Dr. Seuss’ book The
REVIEW: Skylark Opera Theatre Charges Back with Tragedy of Carmen Arts Music Theatre by Basil Considine - February 13, 2017February 13, 2017 Tess Altiveros as Carmen. Skylark Opera Theatre's artistic director Bob Neu made headlines last year with his Angels & Demons Entertainment production of The Marriage of Figaro at the Hill House. When Skylark announced its first season after last spring's sudden cancellation, therefore, expectations were high for something other than business as usual. The
REVIEW: Mamma Mia! – The Last Tour (Orpheum Theatre) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Bev Wolfe - February 12, 2017February 12, 2017 Photo by Kevin Thomas Garcia. The vivacious spirit of ABBA has returned to the Orpheum Theatre in the form of the Broadway hit Mamma Mia! This is the megamusical's eighth run in Minneapolis and is reportedly the last tour for a while. (Proving that nature abhors a vacuum, an ABBA tribute band