REVIEW: Remembering, Forgetting and Battling Impunity in Atacama (Full Circle Theater) Arts Theatre by Kit Bix - April 23, 2022April 23, 2022 Pedro R. Bayon and Lara Trujillo star in Full Circle Theater's production of Atacama, now playing at Park Square Theatre in Saint Paul, MN. The mission of the Full Circle Theater, the program reminds us, is “to produce heartfelt, groundbreaking theater that artfully addresses issues of diversity and social justice for
REVIEW: Straighten Up and Fly Right!: John Pizzarelli at The Dakota Arts Music by Brian Bix - April 13, 2022April 13, 2022 Three looks at singer John Pizzarelli (color) with his bandmates pianist Isaiah J. Thompson (center-bottom) and bassist Mike Karn (center-top). The Dakota was packed last night with hard-core John Pizzarelli fans. Many knew of Pizzarelli through his radio show with his wife Radio Deluxe), followed his regular streaming show It’s
REVIEW: Deedles is Back!: The Diane Schuur Quartet at Crooners Arts Music by Brian Bix - April 6, 2022April 6, 2022 L-R: Diane Schuur, saxophonist Michael Cox, UR: bassist Roger Hines, LR: drummer Kendall Kay. The great jazz vocalist Diane Schuur (two-time Grammy winner, five-time nominee) was born blind, but it has never slowed her down. She wears spangle-rimmed, almost Elton John-worthy sunglasses and includes references to her situation in her banter. One
REVIEW: That’s How You Jazz: Jelly’s Last Jam (Theater Latté Da) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Brian Bix - April 3, 2022April 3, 2022 Julius Collins (center) as Buddy and the cast of Theater Latté Da's production of Jelly’s Last Jam, which opened last night at the Ritz Theater in Northeast Minneapolis. Photo by Dan Norman. When George C. Wolfe brought Jelly’s Last Jam to Broadway in 1992, jazz fans were happy to see the important
PHOTOS: A Look at Jelly’s Last Jam (Theater Latté Da) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Twin Cities Arts Reader - April 2, 2022April 2, 2022 Andre Shoals as the Chimney Man in the Theater Latté Da production of Jelly’s Last Jam. Photo by Dan Norman. "Jelly Roll" may seem an odd nickname for a musician. At the start of the 20th century, the term certainly referred to the familiar dessert – but in African-American slang of
PREVIEW: The Rape of Lucretia (An Opera Theatre) Arts Music Opera Theatre by Amy Donahue - April 1, 2022April 2, 2022 Lucretia (mezzo-soprano Kara Morgan) holds a laurel wreath – symbolizing honor in ancient Roman society – in An Opera Theatre's production of The Rape of Lucretia, which opens this evening at the Southern Theater in Minneapolis, MN. Photo courtesy of An Opera Theatre. Twin Cities opera fans have a lot of choices in
NEWS: Ordway Announces New Season With Return of SIX, Beauty and the Beast, Patti LuPone Arts Music Theatre by Twin Cities Arts Reader - March 29, 2022April 7, 2022 Broadway legend Patti LuPone, of numerous Sondheim and other musicals' fame, will headline a concert in the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts' upcoming season. Photo by Axel Dupeux. The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in St. Paul, Minnesota announced its latest season this evening. The 2022-2023 theatrical season will
NEWS: The Puppet Lab Returns (Open Eye Theatre) Arts Theatre by Twin Cities Arts Reader - March 29, 2022 The latest leadership and residency artist cohort for Open Eye Theatre's Puppet Lab. Clockwise from left: Rebekah Crisanta de Ybarra, Dominique Herskind, Mary Plaster, Amoke Awele Kubat, Liping Vong, and Oanh Vu. Rain and snow may be making their return on Wednesday, but Open Eye Theatre has something better: the return
NEWS: Emerging Curators Institute Announces New Cohort Arts Visual Arts by Twin Cities Arts Reader - March 27, 2022 A collage showing the 2022-2023 Emerging Curators Institute Fellows. The Emerging Curators Institute (ECI) has announced the recipients of its latest cohort of early-career fellowships. Recipients receive in-depth research support, professional development, and presentation training to prepare them for careers as museum and other curators. Unusually, the five recipients include two artist-curators
REVIEW: A Brilliant Savoy Soap Opera is Ruddigore (GSVLOC) Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - March 20, 2022April 1, 2022 Part of the cover plate for the original vocal score of Ruddigore, prior to the opera's renaming. Had the comic opera writing duo W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan lived a half-century later, they would have assuredly written for the emergent genre of the day: television soap operas. If they had lived