REVIEW: Jamecia Bennett and the New Tent in Town (Crooners) Arts Music by Basil Considine - April 25, 2021April 26, 2021 Jamecia Bennett headlined the opening of Crooners Supper Club's new outdoor space on Friday evening. If you had a brand-new outdoor venue to commission, who would you hire? Do you need a Grammy Award-winning local artist who can sing the blues, sing the soul, and scat through jazz? If so, call
NEWS: MN Jewish Theatre Returns to Live Performance with Sally Wingert, A Pickle Arts Theatre by Amy Donahue - April 23, 2021April 25, 2021 If you were going to return to live performances with a big splash, what would you pick? The Hennepin Theatre Trust's answer this past winter was simple: Hamilton, the genre-bending Broadway mega musical hit by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Sadly, this was not to be – as the Third Wave of COVID-19 infections
NEWS: Christina Baldwin to Take Reins at Jungle Theater Arts Theatre by Amy Donahue - April 20, 2021April 21, 2021 Christina Baldwin, the Jungle Theater's newest Artistic Director. Christina Baldwin has been appointed as permanent Artistic Director of the Jungle Theater, a storied theater located on Lyndale near Lake Street in Uptown Minneapolis. Baldwin is the company's third permanent Artistic Director, succeeding Sarah Rasmussen and founder Bain Boehlke. Baldwin is no stranger
NEWS: Yellow Tree Theatre Appoints New Artistic Director Arts Theatre by Amy Donahue - February 15, 2021February 15, 2021 Osseo, MN-based Yellow Tree Theatre has appointed Austene Van as its next Producing Artistic Director. Van will succeed founders Jason Peterson and Jessica Lind Peterson, who formed the regional theatre powerhouse in 2008. Austene Van is a multi-talented theatre professional with more than three decades' experience in the performing arts as
REVIEW: Stirring The Planet – A Lament (PROTOTYPE Festival) Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre by Amy Donahue - January 15, 2021January 15, 2021 A video still from Garin Nugroho’s The Planet – A Lament, now playing in the 2021 virtual incarnation of the PROTOTYPE festival. It was with profound jealousy that I first learned of the PROTOTYPE festival of new music-theatre works. My editor had traveled to New York City to see the festival
NEWS: Hennepin Theatre Trust’s New 2021-2022 Season Arts Dance Music Theatre by Twin Cities Arts Reader - January 14, 2021January 14, 2021 The cast of Hamilton, one of 12 musicals in the redesigned 2021-2022 season announced today by the Hennepin Theatre Trust. Photo by Joan Marcus. The Hennepin Theatre Trust announced its 2021-2022 season today. After numerous cancellations due to COVID-19, 11 of the 12 planned Broadways shows – plus an addition –
NEWS: Crooners to Reopen Jan. 28 Arts Music by Twin Cities Arts Reader - January 14, 2021January 14, 2021 Cocktails sit on the bar in a summer promotional photo from Crooners Supper Club in Fridley, MN. The Fridley, MN-based Crooners Supper Club will reopen January 28. Like other dining entities across the state, Crooners has been closed since November 20; by the time it reopens two weeks from today, it
INTERVIEW: MCA Executive Director Sheila Smith & the Road Ahead Arts by Basil Considine - January 11, 2021January 11, 2021 A lot can happen in a quarter century – just ask Minnesota Citizens for the Arts Executive Director Sheila Smith, who has lead the organization since January 1996. After 25 years, however, Smith is stepping down from her role at MCA at the end of February 2021. On her retirement
NEWS: Chanhassen Dinner Theatres to Resume Concerts & Comedy Jan. 15 Arts Comedy Music Theatre by Twin Cities Arts Reader - January 8, 2021 Michael Gruber (as traveling conman Harold Hill) and Ann Michels (as Marian Paroo) in Chanhassen Dinner Theatres' The Music Man, whose performances were suspended in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo by Dan Norman. Chanhassen Dinner Theatres announced today that it will resume its live concerts and comedy shows beginning
NEWS: Forecast Public Art’s 2021 Grant Recipients Arts Visual Arts by Twin Cities Arts Reader - January 8, 2021January 13, 2021 St. Paul-based Forecast Public Art announced today the recipients of its 2021 early- and mid-career artist grants. A total of $86,000 has been distributed to support 15 artists working on 13 separate projects, leadership and professional development activities, risk-taking, multidisciplinary approaches, and collaborative problem solving in the field of public