REVIEW: Little River Band’s Yacht Rock Revival (Treasure Island Resort & Casino) Arts Music by David Bix - April 18, 2019April 18, 2019 A collage of promotional images for Peter Beckett’s Player, Ambrosia, and Little River Band. There's a certain kind of 70s/80s soft rock called Yacht Rock. As a similarly named station on Sirius-XM says, this "smooth-sailing soft rock...doesn't rock the boat." Perhaps, but the number of people climbing aboard at Saturday's Treasure
REVIEW: Cool Be More Chill High School trip (Minneapolis Musical Theatre) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - April 17, 2019April 17, 2019 Meet the romantic musical comedy leads of Be More Chill, now playing at the Illusion Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota: Jeremy Heere (Maxwell Emmett Ward) and Christine Canigula (Caitlin Featherstone). Photo by Scott Pakudaitis. If you follow what's playing on Broadway, you were probably surprised to hear that Be More Chill opened in
INTERVIEW: Kristen Hahn on Hello, Dolly!, A Gentleman’s Guide to Murder, and More Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - April 16, 2019April 16, 2019 The national touring company of Hello, Dolly!, which opens this evening at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis, MN. Photo by Julieta Cervantes. Hello, Dolly! opens tonight at the Orpheum Theatre on Hennepin Ave. Written by Michael Stewart and Jerry Herman, the musical took Broadway by storm in 1964, walking away with a
REVIEW: Lil Mosey Seizes, Dominates the Stage (Skyway Theatre) Arts Music by David Bix - April 12, 2019April 12, 2019 A promotional image of Lil Mosey. A Sunday evening was unseasonably pleasant outdoors, but the Skyway Theatre filled quickly. The draw? The 17-year-old rapper Lathan Moses Echols, better known as Lil Mosey. Mosey dominated the stage like a seasoned veteran, turning what could have been an average Sunday night into a
REVIEW: Flip-Flopping in Gender-Bending Victor/Victoria (Artistry) Arts Dance Music Theatre Visual Arts by Basil Considine - April 9, 2019April 9, 2019 Ann Michels (as Victoria Grant) and the ensemble of Artistry's Victor/Victoria. Photo by Devon Cox. Victor/Victoria is not a great ensemble show. The current Artistry production at the Bloomington Center for the Arts is a great star vehicle for Ann Michels, but most of the other actors get the short end
REVIEW: Velvet Swing Rips the Curtains Down (Umbrella Collective) Arts Music Theatre by Basil Considine - April 7, 2019April 9, 2019 A promotional image for the Umbrella Collective's production of Velvet Swing, which opened Friday at Bryant-Lake Bowl in Minneapolis, MN. On Tuesday, The Guardian ran a piece entitled From Jack the Ripper to Ted Bundy, Why Are Dead Women’s Bodies Still Being Used as Entertainment? One of its arguments is that theatre,
REVIEW: Dynamic Poetry Rules in Of Art and Artists (Theatre Elision) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - April 6, 2019April 6, 2019 Christine Wade (2nd from right) plays the ukelele as Krin McMillen, Thomas Friebe, Maggie Burr, Zach Garcia, and Anna Hashizume look on in Theatre Elision's production Of Art and Artists. Photo by Jessica Holleque. Theatre Elision's Of Art and Artists program, which opened last night in Eden Prairie, is the sort of
PREVIEW: The Events Behind the Umbrella Collective’s Velvet Swing Arts Theatre by Amy Donahue - April 5, 2019April 6, 2019 A promotional image for the Umbrella Collective's production of Velvet Swing, which premieres tonight at Bryant-Lake Bowl in Minneapolis, MN. Google "Velvet Swing" and the first thing that comes up is a not-safe-for-work product mixing sex and cannabis. An odd pairing? Not if you know the history of the term, a now-and-again
REVIEW: In-Your Face Hedwig Grabs and Doesn’t Let Go (Theater Latté Da) Arts Music Theatre by Basil Considine - April 5, 2019April 5, 2019 Tyler Michaels stars in Theater Latté Da's production of the musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch, now playing at the Ritz Theater in Northeast Minneapolis. Photo by Dan Norman. Reception theory emphasizes the importance of individual and collective reactions in determining something's meaning. An author may write with one intention, only
REVIEW: Python Rides Again in Spamalot (Ordway) Arts Dance Music Theatre Visual Arts by Brian Bix - April 4, 2019April 4, 2019 Kasidy Devlin (center) as Sir Robin in the national tour of Spamalot. Photo by Lance Evans. Nerds and geeks of a certain age grew up with the British comedy group Monty Python’s Flying Circus. The Python television shows were broadcast late at night on PBS, and by the next morning, we