The Guthrie opened David Henry Hwang’s most acclaimed play, M. Butterfly, to a packed house that gave every indication of having left their own worlds behind to contemplate this inscrutable and fantastic story. The story is launched from both a…
Category: Reviews
Voltage Fashion Amplified 2010 at First Avenue
From my brief but evocative conversation with the owner of the recently opened BlackBlue boutique on Selby and Dale in St. Paul, I quickly surmised two facts: Steve Kang knows menswear. Steve Kang knows music. The entrepreneur fashion auteur dutifully pleased his…
Photos: Voltage Fashion Amplified 2010
Erik Hess was the HowWasTheShow designated photographer for Voltage 2010. Here we present links to his amazing photos of the event. Overarching “Voltage: Fashion Amplified 2010” photoset: http://www.flickr.com/photos/560/sets/72157623939439762/ Blue Sky Blackout set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/560/sets/72157623814952963/ Red Pens set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/560/sets/72157623814964883/ Caroline Smith set:…
Dark Dark Dark and Spirits of the Red City at the Cedar Cultural Center
The bespectacled and shy Nona Marie Invie may seem like an unlikely bandleader, but in truth the lead singer of local six-piece Dark Dark Dark is a gifted and engaging performer. Thursday’s release party at the Cedar for the band’s…
Becoming, a Mu Performing Arts Production at Dreamland Arts
Even the name is perfect: Dreamland Arts, a small one story building nestled in a modest St Paul neighborhood (not far from Hamline University), containing an intimate (maybe 40 seats) theater. I adore spaces like this, where actors can play with…
Avenue Q at Orpheum Theatre
It’s one of the enduring mysteries of the theater, and it goes back thousands of years, the way masks and puppets can take on such astonishingly lucid life. Every movement, gesture, every tilt of the head is amplified and what we…
Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis, a Frank Theatre Production at Open Eye Figure Theatre
“Delightful†and “fun†aren’t the first two words that come to mind when one seeks to describe the literary legacy left by Franz Kafka.  But Frank Theatre’s narratively-faithful rendering of  the Bohemian writer’s 1915 novella The Metamorphosis — which opened…
The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity at Mixed Blood Theatre
Mixed Blood may just have the most eclectic tastes of any theater I’ve reviewed in the Twin Cities, finding little gems that beautifully reflect their larger mission, while providing us with fine entertainment. With The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity…
Podcast: Voltage Fashion Amplified 2010 Preview at Kings Wine Bar
David de Young talks to Voltage Fashion Amplified Producer Anna Lee and band coordinator Charles Gehr about what’s in store for Voltage 2010. This discussion includes an overview of both the fashion and music segments of this year’s Voltage event, which…
Safe as Houses, a Joking Envelope Production at Minneapolis Theater Garage
The house appears innocuous. It’s pleasant and airy, with a few books, an anemic plant, cheapo Venetian blinds, a couch, a table containing realtor’s photos and info sheets. But the offstage areas, the bone strewn basement, the viciously haunted breakfast nook (“It…