At first it’s off-putting, the lack of any stage lighting at a Ten Thousand Things play. Blinking fluorescents, the glare of the late morning sun, the institutional playing space (conference rooms, cafeterias). But soon you find yourself leaning forward, eager to catch the tiniest change in the actors demeanor, the subtlest vocal shift. Flashing...
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Let yourself be ushered into the shadowy and dusty confines of the ancient BLB theater. A creaky wooden floor – is that the waitress? I hope so. A blood red curtain. An eerie 19th century organ. Is that the distant crash of bowling pins, or is it… could it possibly be…? Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I do...
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Theater Latte Da’s production of Evita at the Ordway’s McKnight Theater is a fitting meld of visual elements set in the perfect space. A versatile cast, limited in numbers but brimming with talent, created a seamless flow of scenes from the life of Argentina’s most famous first lady, cannily envisioned and executed by director...
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Director Greg Banks is the maestro of the small cast classic. His m.o.: keep the story-line as simple as possible, the characters one-dimensional, and the set filled with playable levels. Bring the audience as close to the action as possible (sometimes in the action, as he did with his astonishing Romeo And Juliet a...
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Yellow Tree Theatre has launched an original comedy by theater co-founder, Jessica Lind that quite obviously is a comfortable fit for the area. Tucked away in a strip mall in Osseo, the relatively new theater has turned out a reasonably wholesome show, cleverly staged and skillfully performed before a full and appreciative audience. String,...
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The music of Minor Kingdom sneaks up on you like a season change. Kristian Melom’s haunting guitar seems to be tuned to his voice. As soft and solemn as Melom can be, his songs vibrate with a controlled energy. The evocative spirit that is characteristic to Minor Kingdom was captured entirely by the group’s...
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Aaron Sorkin‘s A Few Good Men (Urban Samurai Productions, performing at the Sabes Jewish Community Center, 4330 Cedar Lake Rd., Minneapolis, through Oct 10), despite its age (it’s very nearly 20) still packs a punch. It deals with a genuine and lasting quandary: the U.S. wants a battle-ready Marine Corps. Are we then, as...
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Photos of Arcade Fire at Roy Wilkins by Pamela Diedrich.
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In 1959, a young writer, Lorraine Hansberry, premiered, on Broadway, A Raisin In The Sun. The play tapped a vein of intense yearning and became an instant classic. It features one of the great American heroes: an old-fashioned yet powerful African-American woman, Mama Younger, who struggles to hold her family together in the face...
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The Guthrie Theatre presented the world premier of The Master Butchers Singing Club Sunday evening, a dramatization of Minnesota writer, Louise Erdrich’s, novel. Marsha Norman’s adaptation, developed and directed by Francesca Zambello, took a rich and wonderful book, dense with characters and subplots, and fashioned a hybrid of direct address narrative and dramatic work....
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