INTERVIEW: Skylark Opera Theatre’s Bob Neu on The Tragedy of Carmen Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - February 7, 2017February 7, 2017 Tess Altiveros as Carmen in Skylark Opera Theatre's The Tragedy of Carmen. Photo by Elisabeth. Skylark Opera Theatre had some rough times in 2016, but the organization has regrouped, rebranded, and relaunched itself. On Friday, its 2017 season formally kicks off with the opening of The Tragedy of Carmen at the Midpointe Event Center
REVIEW: Reborn Flower Drum Song (Mu/Park Square) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Bev Wolfe - February 4, 2017February 4, 2017 Photo by Rich Ryan. It was particularly poignant that Mu Performing Arts and Park Square Theatre chose this past weekend to open their co-production of the musical Flower Drum Song with its story of immigrants and their assimilation into American life. This updated version of the 1950s musical by Richard Rodgers
REVIEW: Throne Full of Laughs in Royal Family (Guthrie Theater) Arts Theatre by Basil Considine - February 4, 2017February 4, 2017 Theatre manager Oscar Wolfe (Shawn Hamilton) looks on as the acting clan of Kitty LeMoyne Dean (Angela Timberman), Herbert Dean (Bill McCallum), Fanny Cavendish (Elizabeth Franz), and Julie Cavendish (Michelle O'Neill) discuss business in the Guthrie Theater production of Royal Family. Photo by Heidi Bohnenkamp. Royal Family, now playing at the Guthrie Theater, is
PREVIEW: High Stakes in The Highwaymen (History Theatre) Arts Theatre by Basil Considine - February 4, 2017February 4, 2017 The Booker T. Café (named after Booker T. Washington) in Rondo in 1960, one of many African-American businesses and community gathering spaces rolled over by I-94 construction. Photo courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society. Tonight, Josh Wilder's new play The Highwaymen premieres at the History Theatre in St. Paul. This historical drama examines
REVIEW: Reality Bites in Promise Land (Transatlantic Love Affair) Arts Dance Theatre by Dan Reiva - February 4, 2017February 4, 2017 Emily Michaels King and Avi Aharoni in Transatlantic Love Affair's production of Promise Land. Promise Land, a play by Transatlantic Love Affair, is about the immigrant experience in early twentieth century America. It is undoubtedly a timely and highly relevant topic. This play reveals the trials and fears two young and
REVIEW: Riveting Miranda Right (Illusion Theater) Arts Theatre by Dan Reiva - February 4, 2017February 4, 2017 Reed (Steve Hendrickson) and Miranda (Carolyn Pool) discuss CIA business in the Illusion Theater's Miranda. Miranda, an original play by James Still, had its world premiere last weekend at the Illusion Theater. The premiere of an original play is an exciting event, providing insight into an issue the playwright has chosen
INTERVIEW: Damon Runnals, Minnesota Playlist’s New Head Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - February 3, 2017February 10, 2017 Damon Runnals. On February 1, Damon Runnals became the head and owner of Minnesota Playlist, an online magazine that hosts artist profiles and functions as the state's central online clearinghouse for theatre audition notices. Runnals, who stepped down at the Southern Theater in October after spearheading the once-troubled theatre's financial and operational rebirth, is
Fringe File 2017, #1: The Basics Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - February 2, 2017July 19, 2017 Our popular Fringe File series on the Minnesota Fringe Festival returns for its first 2017 installment. Pictured: Grant Sorenson in New Epic Theater's Now or Later, an Ivey Award-winning production at the 2016 MN Fringe. Are you a dancer? Comedian? Actor? Writer? A one-woman band with a crazy magic show and a bunch of talking puppets?
PREVIEW: Nina Simone: Four Women Returns to Park Square Arts Music Theatre by Bev Wolfe - February 2, 2017February 11, 2017 Photo by Petronella J. Ytsma. Nina Simone: Four Women, which made more than one critic's Top 10 list for 2016, is returning for a limited engagement at Park Square Theater from February 7 through February 26. Christina Ham’s play "transcends a simple biopic setup into a well-crafted dialogue between women of the Civil
REVIEW: Lush Diana’s Garden (Minnesota Opera) Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre by Lydia Lunning - January 24, 2017March 11, 2017 After a season with the opulence and drama of Romeo and Juliet and the epic scale of Das Rheingold, Minnesota Opera rang in 2017 with more delicate garden fare. L'arbore di Diana, or Diana’s Garden as it is billed in English, is a late 18th century comedic opera with music by Vicente Martín y