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
REVIEW: Reproduction Little Shop of Horrors (Artistry) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Lydia Lunning - January 24, 2017January 24, 2017 Ty Hudson (left) in Artistry's production of Little Shop of Horrors, with the Greek chorus of Alicia Britton, Falicia Cunningham, and Jill Iverson to the right and Audrey II in the center. Based on the 1960 comedy horror movie of the same name, Alan Menken and Howard Ashman’s musical Little Shop of Horrors
REVIEW: The Bodyguard Wins Hearts (Broadway Tour/HTT) Arts Music Theatre by Lydia Lunning - January 23, 2017January 24, 2017 Deborah Cox as Rachel Marron in The Bodyguard. Photo by Joan Marcus. The U.S. national tour of The Bodyguard, a musical by Alexander Dinelaris based on the 1992 film and featuring the music of Whitney Houston, kicked off last Tuesday at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis. This tour stars the dazzling Deborah Cox,
TOP 10: Basil Considine’s 10 Best Shows of 2016 Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - January 8, 2017January 8, 2017 Lumière (Mark King) entertains Belle (Ruthanne Heyward) in Chanhassen Dinner Theatres' 2016 production of Beauty and the Beast. Photo by Heidi Bohnenkamp. Those of us living in the greater Twin Cities metro area are blessed with an embarrassment of artistic richness. There are far too many performing arts organizations for any one person to