- Becki-Iverson
- September 24, 2012
As the presidential election bombardment begins, it’s always good to take a step (or five) back and try to view the season with humor. Because let’s face it — few things are more miserable than month upon month of dirty attack ads, unproductive debates, and differences of opinion so strong
- Becki-Iverson
- September 24, 2012
Although brief, the performance ofCarmina Burana, at Minnesota Dance Theater’s 50th Anniversary Gala last weekend showed how vital having a dedicated dance space like the Cowles Center is to generating an enormous variety of creative and interdisciplinary art. Carmina mixed the Minnesota Dance Theatre with the Carmina Burana Chorus, along with a few local actors
- Becki-Iverson
- September 24, 2012
You know how sometimes a movie can be a little bit better than a book/film/play, and you feel guilty but can’t help yourself? Mamma Mia! is a little bit like that. The current stage version, at the Orpheum Theatre through April 29, is on the whole a just-fine production and a worthy tour.
- Becki-Iverson
- September 24, 2012
How do you define a nun? In High, Kathleen Turner musters all of her considerable spunk into her role as Sister Jamison Connely, a completely un-stereotypical, recovering alcoholic-turned-nun who now works as a counselor at a Catholic youth detoxification center. Connely is one of the center’s best counselors, partially due to
- Becki-Iverson
- September 24, 2012
Yunah Lee as Cio-Cio-San in the Minnesota Opera production of Madame Butterfly. Image credit: Michal Daniel/Minnesota Opera New Minnesota Opera Music Director Michael Christie had his pre-debut last weekend at the opening of Madame Butterfly. And while it doesn’t reach the heights of his delicious interpretation of La Traviatta, it is a solid show
- Becki-Iverson
- September 24, 2012
Michael Christie is the definition of Wunderkind. At 37, his biography reads like a who’s-who of the classical music world. From the New York Philharmonic to the Zurich Opera, he has directed some of the world’s most prestigious orchestras. So the announcement that he would be joining the Minnesota Opera
- Becki-Iverson
- September 24, 2012
Like the wacky un-birthday songs in Alice and Wonderland, The Birthday Partyturns the traditional notion of birthday festivities darkly upside down. The show, at the Jungle Theater through May 13, details two days inside of a boarding house, where an unkempt and unmotivated piano player, Stanley, lives with the house’s owners,
- Becki-Iverson
- September 24, 2012
Much has been said about the correlation between frank conversations and the presence of food. The New Century Theater’s current show,Mary a la Carte, is a worthy exemplar of this familiar kitchen table conversation. In a choose-your-own-adventure-story style, it allows visitors to “order” from Mary’s menu of stories about her
- Becki-Iverson
- September 24, 2012
The principle of karma dictates that good deeds beget more good deeds (we’re paraphrasing centuries of philosophy here, but you get the idea). As wallets get thinner and demands on our time multiply, it’s easy to forget that doing good is more than just another thing to put on our
- Becki-Iverson
- September 24, 2012
Martin Kaye, Lee Ferris, Derek Keeling, and Cody Slaughter assume the roles of Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins in ‘Million Dollar Quartet.’ Image credit: Joan Marcus/Hennepin Theatre Trust What if four of music’s biggest legends spent an evening together early in their careers jamming together