Easily the best aspect of the Guthrie‘s incisive production of Tarell Alvin McCraney‘s Choir Boy (in the Dowling Studio, through July 5) is John-Michael Lyles‘ performance as the lead, Pharus. Lyles is overtly fey, gesticulating wildly, with a rich tenor…
Month: June 2015
Damn Yankees at the Ordway
Truth be told, Damn Yankees (the Ordway, through June 28) is not a great show. It has its charms and a handful of memorable tunes, but its plot is, well, dumb. A reframing of Faust set in the world of 1950s…
You Can’t Take It With You at the Jungle Theater
Were I a finger-wagging, dyspeptic, world-weary and jaundiced Critic, I might take George S. Kaufmann and Moss Hart, authors of You Can’t Take It With You (at the Jungle, through August 9) to task for blatantly predictable manipulation. Why can’t…
H2O by Gremlin Theatre, performing at the Minneapolis Theatre Garage
Plan on going out for drinks following Gremlin Theater’s regional premier of Jane Martin’s new play H2O, because you will need them. Not only is the show a provocative conversation starter diving headlong into weighty topics of meaning and purpose, but…
“Dido and Aeneas†and “Orpheus and Eurydice†by Garden of Song Opera at the Como Lakeside Pavilion
I was in Nashville recently and found myself bragging to musicians there about all the great legit singers, particularly women, in the Twin Cities. A new opera company, I learned last night, is out to give them more performance opportunities.…
Interview: Peter Christian Hansen and Ashley Montondo
We stopped in at the Garage Theater to talk with Peter Christian Hansen, founder and artistic director of St. Paul’s Gremlin Theater, about his approach to his craft as well as his current project, a regional premier of Jane Martin’s…
Juno And The Paycock at the Guthrie Theater
You have to respect Joe Dowling for closing his long and celebrated tenure as the Guthrie Theater’s artistic director with Sean O’Casey‘s classic Juno and the Paycock, a show that pays homage to his most personal cultural and artistic influences…