INTERVIEW: Jeff Whiting of Bullets Over Broadway Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - April 13, 2016April 14, 2016 Jeff Whiting, director of the touring company of Bullets Over Broadway. The mobsters of Bullets Over Broadway have brought their national tour to the Ordway. Director Jeff Whiting sat down with the Arts Reader's Basil Considine to talk about directing, touring, and acting careers. Read Lydia Lunning's review of the Bullets Over Broadway tour. Where are you based? I've
REVIEW: Jammed Bullets Over Broadway (Ordway) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Lydia Lunning - April 13, 2016April 14, 2016 Jemma Jane (Olive Neal) and the cast of Bullets Over Broadway. Photo by Matthew Murphy. The 1st National Tour of the Tony-nominated musical comedy Bullets Over Broadway has landed at the Ordway. These performers are doing their best to dance, sing, and mug with everything they’ve got to get you your money’s
PREVIEW: Constellations (Jungle Theater) Arts Theatre by Basil Considine - April 13, 2016April 16, 2016 Marianne (Anna Sundberg) and Roland (Ron Menzel) in the Jungle Theater's production of Constellations. Photo by Dan Norman. When Nick Payne's play Constellations opened on Broadway, the show's advertising copy trumpeted the New York Times' verdict as "the most sophisticated date play Broadway has seen." That's pretty close to the truth – what Ben Brantley
NEWS: Minnesota Theater Alliance’s New Director Arts Theatre by Twin Cities Arts Reader - April 12, 2016April 15, 2016 It's transition time for some of Minnesota's leading arts organizations, and the Minnesota Theater Alliance is no exception. Today, MTA named Joanna Schnedler as its new Executive Director, succeeding the outgoing (and founding director) Leah Cooper. This leadership transition includes a 2.5-week overlap for Cooper to hand off the reins in good
REVIEW: Violet (Yellow Tree Theatre) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Bev Wolfe - April 11, 2016April 14, 2016 David Murray and Jessica Lind Peterson in Yellow Tree Theatre's production of Violet. Photo by Justin Cox Photography. For the final production of its eighth season, Yellow Tree Theatre presents a very satisfying production of Violet. This musical is based upon Doris Betts’ short story The Ugliest Pilgrim (her most-printed short story) and features music
REVIEW: Catch Catch Me If You Can (Chameleon Theatre Circle) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - April 11, 2016April 15, 2016 Austin Stole, Maria Isabel Gonzalez, and John Goodrich in The Chameleon Theatre Circle’s production of Catch Me If You Can. Photo by Daniel K. McDermott for Sinséar Productions. Let's say just one thing about the plot of Catch Me If You Can, the biographical musical about the life and escapades of Frank William
REVIEW: Hanggai for More (Ordway) Arts Music by Lydia Lunning - April 8, 2016April 8, 2016 Photo by Yang Feng. You say you need more traditional Mongolian punk rock cowboy music in your life? I may have some excellent news for you… well, more excellent if you hadn’t missed the performance, but you can still buy their music! The latest entry in the Ordway’s World Music and Dance series
PREVIEW: Sole Instinct 2 Dance Battle / INTERVIEW: B-Boy Jurza Arts Dance by Basil Considine - April 8, 2016April 8, 2016 Theatre professionals in Los Angeles like to complain that New Yorkers think that their theatre scene doesn't exist, despite more than 500 theatre organizations to the contrary and, you know, Hollywood. You could say the same thing about just about any arts form in the Twin Cities – much of the
PREVIEW: Taiko Drumming Hits the Twin Cities Arts Dance Music by Twin Cities Arts Reader - April 7, 2016April 8, 2016 One Voice performing with Mu Daiko last week as part of their annual school tour OUT in Our Schools. Photo by Brian Geving. April is Taiko Month in the Twin Cities. In the aftermath of World War 2, U.S. servicemen stationed in Japan encountered kumi-daiko, a modern performance art using traditional
INTERVIEW: Composer Richard Einhorn Arts Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - April 7, 2016April 9, 2016 Composer Richard Einhorn at the piano. There are many stereotypes about classical music after World War 2. Beautiful is usually not one of them: in the postwar era, many Western art music composers decided to explore other aesthetic directions, to which audiences often responded with words like grating, difficult to listen to, cerebral, and