State of the Arts Category Archive: Criticism

The reviews are in for Guthrie's 'End of the Rainbow'

Posted at 12:03 PM on February 8, 2012 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

Set in December 1968, "End of the Rainbow" depicts diva Judy Garland falling deeper into drink and drugs as she simultaneously tries to revamp her career. The Guthrie Theater production features UK actress Tracie Bennett, who performed the role in London to rave reviews. Twin Cities critics, however, have not been as impressed overall. Many seem to want not just a shell of a character at the end of her career, but a window in to the vulnerable Minnesota girl that charmed the world. But at least one critic says to look for that is "a fool's errand."

You can find out more about the show, and Tracie Bennett, by checking out Euan Kerr's story here.

Scroll down to read excerpts of reviews, or click on the links to read them in their entirety.

Tracie Bennett in the role of Judy Garland in the Guthrie Theater's production of "End of the Rainbow," by Peter Quilter
Photo by Carol Rosegg

From Graydon Royce at the Star Tribune:

Shouting, crying, kicking and screaming with a quavering voice that would make Katharine Hepburn sue for royalties, Bennett devours the London hotel room in which Peter Quilter's play is set.

It is both an exhausting and a bravura feat of physical stamina by an actor who understands that this play reveals not much more than a slim portrait of addiction -- the disease's manifestations evident in Garland's manipulative bullying and helpless vulnerability.

From Ellen Burkhardt at Minnesota Monthly:

It's easy to wish Garland's life were as clean-cut and beautiful as she appeared to be in her movies. But as End of the Rainbow shows, nothing is that simple--particularly when fame is involved. Bennett expertly portrays what it meant for Garland to be a star in this dynamic, intense, and emotional production, giving what could easily be the best performance ever to have graced the Guthrie's McGuire Proscenium stage. By the time she takes her final bow, you wonder what life could have been like for Garland had she been able to finally find her way over the rainbow.

Michael Cumpsty as Anthony and Tracie Bennett as Judy Garland in the Guthrie Theater's production of End of the Rainbow, by Peter Quilter
Photo by Carol Rosegg

From Rob Hubbard at the Pioneer Press:

...if you're looking for insight into what made Garland an important figure or exceptional talent, little comes from "End of the Rainbow." While a few of the musical numbers give you a sense of her onstage charisma, it's more an increasingly dark tale of one woman's disintegration.

While Bennett does an admirable job of employing little details from the late-model Garland's conversational style and mannerisms, her hardened portrayal never finds the vulnerable girl from Grand Rapids, Minn., who still surfaced in her final TV appearances.

From Ed Huyck at City Pages:

Bennett has honed the character through the play's West End incarnation, and she arrives at the Guthrie as an absolute force of nature. Quilter's script does give her rare moments of vulnerability, but they tend to distract as much as enlighten. I get the sense that by this time in her life the shell is all that is left of Garland, and searching for what's left inside is just a fool's errand. Bennett tries gamely, but her performance is at its best when it brings out Garland's outsized personality and presence.

Tracie Bennett as Judy Garland in "End of the Rainbow" at the Guthrie Theater
Photo by Robert Day

From John Olive at HowWasTheShow.com:

Many of the songs are fragmented, Ritalin fueled, incomplete. This makes the performance section of End Of The Rainbow rather short. This is disappointing, for I found many of the hotel suite scenes repetitive and short on narrative momentum. Garland and Dean scream at each other endlessly. Deans goes from drug/booze teetotaler to enabler ("Take a few of these. They'll fix you up.") with no believable explanation.

Did you see "End of the Rainbow?" If so, what did you think? Share your review in the comments section.

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The reviews are in for Park Square's 'Ragtime'

Posted at 9:44 AM on February 7, 2012 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

The musical "Ragtime" is set during a time of massive change. Adapted from the novel by E.L. Doctorow, it simultaneously takes on the legacy of slavery, the immigrant experience, and the grinding change to the status quo of the comfortably wealthy.

Created originally as a large Broadway fanfare, Park Square Theatre has toned down its production. Critics say this allows more room for the characters to breathe, and connect with the audience.

Scroll down to read excerpts of reviews - click on the links to read them in their entirety.

Brittany Bradford in the role of Sarah in Park Square's production of "Ragtime"

From Graydon Royce at the Star Tribune:

Gary Gisselman's grand production... unequivocally aims for our hearts with these stories. Yet it would diminish the value of both the musical and Gisselman's treatment here to label the work merely sentimental. "Ragtime" takes a brisk and unflinching assessment of a society caught in the jaws of change, and creates central characters defined by bravery, pain, decency and a bedrock dedication to life. The portrayals are necessarily thin because "Ragtime" is more or less a narrated pageant; but writer Terrence McNally and lyricist Lynn Ahrens mine enough of Doctorow's plot to provide texture.

This production feels absolutely essential by showing us American history through the lens of family.

Brittany Bradford as Sarah and Harry Waters, Jr. as Coalhouse Walker, Jr. in Park Square Theatre's production of "Ragtime"

From John Olive at HowWasTheShow.com:

...Any misgivings about the material are mooted by the loveliness of the production. Great praise is due director Gary Gisselman who, working with a limited budget, has assembled a boffo cast, first rate musicians, excellent designers and a terrific choreographer. He stages the show with aplomb.

From Ed Huyck at City Pages:

With the spectacle toned down, the characters have a chance to take center stage, and the show takes on a life that the massive Broadway production could never manage. The flaws are still there, especially in a second act that loses the central thread of the story for long stretches, but it's easier to get swept along with this production.

Dieter Bierbrauer as Tateh in Park Square Theatre's production of "Ragtime"

From Chris Hewitt at the Pioneer Press:

It's a production that is beautifully sung by its leading players and its extraordinary chorus, whose members not only blow us away with their gorgeous voices but also their ability to perform quick costume changes and enact, believably, a variety of nonspeaking roles. The music in the enormous musical, the largest production ever mounted at Park Square, is consistently excellent, but it's in the acting that "Ragtime" occasionally falls short.

"Ragtime" runs through February 19 at Park Square Theatre. Have you seen the show? If so, what did you think? Share your review in the comments section.

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The reviews are in for 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' at the Guthrie

Posted at 11:08 AM on January 25, 2012 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

The Guthrie Theater is staging Tennessee Williams' classic drama "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" through February 26. While reviews are generally very positive, details vary widely. Is the play steamy, or does it fizzle? Is the first act slow, or is it a totally absorbing show from the get-go? It all depends on which review you read...

Peter Christian Hansen as Brick amd Emily Swallow as Maggie
Photo by Michael Brosilow

From Rohan Preston at the Star Tribune:

Tensions detonate like fireworks for Big Daddy's birthday in Lisa Peterson's well-paced and -designed "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof."

Her atmospheric, expertly acted production of the Tennessee Williams classic, which opened over the weekend in Minneapolis at the Guthrie Theater, is a combustible collision of avarice, desperation and mendacity in a world where women get fulfillment through their husbands and resources are concentrated in the hands of one very profane man.

From Ed Huyck at City Pages:

It's a production that takes its own sweet time getting started, but it opens the throttle at the start of a long, thrilling second act and rides high until the end. This combustible back half--complete with offstage fireworks and a thunderstorm--makes all the setup in the first act worth the wait.

David Anthony Brinkley as Big Daddy
Photo by Michael Brosilow

From Dominic P Papatola at the Pioneer Press:

... in Lisa Peterson's staging, all of this drama flickers more than it flares. The first half of the play is so given over to Maggie that, particularly in this staging, it frequently feels like a single long monologue punctuated by the occasional divertimenti of other characters. It's a gigantic responsibility, and one simply too large for the shoulders of Emily Swallow. She wraps herself around Williams' rococo dialogue well enough, but she doesn't bring the passion the role needs.

Emily Swallow as Maggie
Photo by Michael Brosilow

From Janet Preus at HowWasTheShow.com:

Peterson's direction seemed to be more a collection of concepts, rather than a clear vision of the overall effect. Her use of Brick's crutch, for example, was overdone, as was Maggie literally chasing him around the bedroom.

Over fifty years have passed since this play premiered and a lot has changed; sexual identity questions are at least discussed openly, and doctors today would not dream of lying to a patient about his diagnosis. Assuming one can view the crises in this light, the universal truths about love, friendship, family bonds, sexuality, even life and death itself - the larger questions that made this play great - have not lost their relevance. If you have even the slightest interest in Williams, this period and this style of theater, you really should make an effort to see this production.

From Jay Gabler at TC Daily Planet:

The character Brick spends much of Tennesee Williams's Cat on a Hot Tin Roof seeking "that click" in his head: that moment when he's finally drunk enough to be able to ignore his yowling inner demons. There's a click of sorts in theater as well: when a production is working so well that as an audience member you become totally absorbed in its universe. That click comes as soon as the lights go up on the Guthrie Theater's new production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, which doesn't release its grip until the play's final bittersweet embrace.

From Ellen Burkhardt at Minnesota Monthly:

It's this premise of denial and desperation that fuels the play. And when a production of Cat is done well--when the poetic monologues and intense dialogues are properly executed; when the set and staging are given as much thought as the accents and timing; when the audience sits in suspenseful attention, willfully clinging to every last word and expression--it's clear to see why it continues to dazzle audiences 57 years after its premiere and Pulitzer Prize win. This is one such production.

Have you seen Cat on a Hot Tin Roof? If so, what did you think? Let me know.

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Cube Critics sort through the Oscar nominees

Posted at 5:33 PM on January 24, 2012 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Film

MPR's Cube Critics, Euan Kerr and Stephanie Curtis, always have an opinion when it comes to movies, and this year's Oscar nominations drew plenty of reaction from the duo.

Euan seems to think the nominations were all "safe" - meanwhile Stephanie can't believe John Williams was nominated for the War Horse soundtrack (he was also nominated for "The Adventures of Tintin").

Take a listen, and share your thoughts on the Oscar nominees.

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The reviews are in for 1968 at the History Theatre

Posted at 10:15 AM on January 24, 2012 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

Enough happened in the United States in 1968 to fill both a museum and a theater in St. Paul.

John Mitchell (E.J. Subkoviak) and Richard Nixon (Paul de Cordova) strategize about how to make Nixon the Republican nominee for president.
Photo: Scott Pakudaitis

To coincide with the Minnesota History Center's exhibition "1968", the History Theatre commissioned seven playwrights to create "1968: The Year that Rocked the World."

Local critics find the show compelling, entertaining,and ultimately hopeful, albeit a bit long. Read on for excerpts of critics' reviews; click on the links to read them in full.

From Renee Valois at the Pioneer Press:

How do you pack the violent, transformative, manifold and chaotic events of a watershed year into just a couple of hours of theater? History Theatre's Ron Peluso decided to tap not one but seven writers in "1968: The Year That Rocked the World."

Each creates an emotionally resonant miniplay that illuminates one key facet of the power-packed year, with the disparate pieces stitched together by snippets of music, quotes from popular TV shows and news stories of the day. It's a compelling crazy-quilt of facts, memories and ideas that presents plenty of food for thought.

Rosemary Clooney (Karen Weber) speaks with a nurse (Lynnea Monique Doublette) in a mental hospital where she has checked herself in to deal with her grief at losing Bobby Kennedy to an assassination.
Photo: Scott Pakudaitis

From Janet Preus at HowWasTheShow.com:

The scenes were ingeniously connected by a timeline created by History Theatre artistic director, Ron Peluso, who also directed. Music snippets from familiar TV shows, primarily, arranged and directed by Gary Rue and delivered by a talented band of McNally-Smith students, cemented the segues.

...Peluso's work as the cohesive element was critical to the success and entertainment value of this show. He not only deftly incorporated a style of theater completely in keeping with the period, (with the ensemble in multiple arrangements on metal scaffolding) but he bridged the gaps and provided necessary light-hearted relief from the heavy drama of some of the scenes. His timeline really polished off the rough edges and pulled the idea into one whole.

From Graydon Royce at the Star Tribune:

The best historic drama lets us walk away with a strong idea that transcends mere images and information from our past. History Theatre's "1968: The Year that Rocked the World," largely an essay in glib nostalgia and ardent broccoli theater, redeems itself with just such a concept -- proposing that humanity's ability to persevere is eternal regardless of the agonizing dislocation within any single year.

Peluso lets this show go on far too long. But in the final breaths, as was the case in 1968, a message of hope carries a measure of redemption.

Have you seen "1968: The Year that Rocked the World?" If so, what did you think?

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The reviews are in for Torch Theater's 'Dangerous Liaisons'

Posted at 2:35 PM on January 18, 2012 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

Sometimes a little danger is not enough.

Dangerous Liaisons, the play based on the French novel, runs through Feb 4 at Minneapolis Theatre Garage. Produced by Torch Theater, and directed by Craig Johnson, the show recounts the sexual exploits and manipulations of cunning and powerful courtiers. But eventually it all goes too far.

The three reviews I've excerpted below all applaud strong acting and a luscious set, but two of the critics wish for more cruelty and deceit.

Isn't that just like a critic?

Click on the links to read the complete reviews.

Stacia Rice and John Middleton in Dangerous Liaisons

From Ed Huyck at City Pages:

Rice and Middleton have terrific chemistry, and the cracks in his vain and confident character, and her seeming indifference to it, draw the audience deeper and deeper into their lair. The rest of the cast is top notch as well, centered on marvelous performances by Linda Kelsey, Katherine Moeller, and especially Mo Perry as the women caught up in the machinations. Director Craig Johnson does excellent work with the cast, while set designer Michael Hoover transforms the Minneapolis Theater Garage into a fitting 18th-century location.

From Graydon Royce at the Star Tribune:

This presentation, lovely as it is, nonetheless reminds us that the play itself is a bauble. Hard as we try to despise these spiteful villains, or even enjoy the delicious wickedness of their ways, the cold schemes don't land.

...Craig Johnson has directed with an efficiency that demands our constant attention. Ann Michels and Matt Riehle contribute period music, making transitions an essential part of the play. However, for all the sexy naughtiness implied in the play's title, Johnson's production does not breathe with enough cunning deceit.

From Erin Hart at the Pioneer Press:

The main trouble with Torch Theater's production is that, under Craig Johnson's direction, the cast seems at cross purposes over their approach to the material. Major dramatic turning points seem to pass by without truly resonating.

To be fair, the mannered masquerade of elegance in 18th-century France is more than a bit foreign to American actors, and director Johnson lets his performers get away with far more fluttering about than is absolutely necessary.

Did you see Dangerous Liaisons? If so, what did you think?

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The reviews are in for 'The Lion King' at the Orpheum

Posted at 4:37 PM on January 17, 2012 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Music, Theater

The Lion King, the Broadway show based on the animated Disney film, is back in town at the Orpheum through Feb 12. And according to even the crankiest local critics, the musical is still worth checking out.

J. Anthony Crane as Scar and Dionne Randolph as Mufasa in The Lion King. Photo by Joan Marcus

From John Olive at HowWasTheShow.com:

As you may know, The Lion King started its life here in Minneapolis, 15 years ago, in a pre-Broadway tryout. It has become, like all great shows, an institution. Now it's back, fully mature and imminently[sic] seeable.

From Rohan Preston at the Star Tribune:

By now one might expect "Lion King," now in its fourth Twin Cities engagement, to show signs of road-weariness. Yet from biggest to its tiniest moments -- from its opening parade of human-and-puppet fauna in a "Circle of Life" through the reprise of the spiritual and reverential "He Lives in You" at the end -- the must-see show remains fresh and inviting.

The Lion King runs through Feb 12 at the Orpheum in Minneapolis.
Photo by Joan Marcus

From Sophie Kerman at AisleSayTwinCities.com

There is nothing to worry about. The talented cast of the touring company delivers everything you'd hope for from the show - earnest energy, strong vocal talent, and acrobatics that would've been impressive even without the elaborate costuming. Elton John and Tim Rice's music feels comfortably familiar without being tired or worn-out, and the songs written for the musical - which audiences familiar with the movie may not have heard before - add moments of emotional gravitas to what is otherwise a plot-driven show.

From Dominic P. Papatola at the Pioneer Press:

Concede that an 89-minute cartoon has been blown up into a stage musical that stretches to a periodically draggy 2-1/2 hours that is not necessarily appropriate for very young children (like the wee one opening night who lost it when the house lights dimmed). Acknowledge that "The Lion King" on stage is an ambitious and rigorous piece of theater that requires more audience investment than the film.

Do all of that and you're likely to find that "The Lion King" - which premiered at Minneapolis' Orpheum Theatre in 1997 before becoming a Broadway smash - still does pretty well in the face of passing time and trends.

Have you seen The Lion King? If so, what did you think? Share your review in the comments section.

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Why free shows get critical reviews

Posted at 11:13 AM on January 6, 2012 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Music

Yesterday over the lunch hour I walked over to the Landmark Center in downtown St. Paul to enjoy a performance by the Artaria String Quartet as part of the Schubert Club's Courtroom Concert Series. The room was packed to the gills, with people standing in the adjoining hallway just to enjoy this free performance of two of Shotakovich's string quartets.

As with any of these lunchtime concerts, it felt like an absolute gift to be treated to such a performance without having to pay a penny. So I was a bit surprised when I spotted Pioneer Press music critic Rob Hubbard in the audience, pen and paper in hand. I asked him if he was going to review the show, which he said he was. You can read the review here.

"To review a show that's being given for free," I thought, "seems a bit like looking a gift horse in the mouth. We should just be thankful we're getting the performance at all!"

So, with that in mind, I posted the question "What do you think of a critic reviewing a show that's free?" to my Facebook page, sure that I would enjoy a wide variety of responses.

Well, it appears I was entirely in the wrong. Here's just a sampling of the answers which served to put me in my place, and rightly so.

Christi Rodriguez Cottrell writes:
"Assuming the criticism has at least some constructive points, then the company/artist can take something from the critique to improve the quality of future work presented. All in all, I don't think it matters much whether it's free or achingly expensive, being exposed to different perspectives, either positive or negative, of your work only makes you a stronger artist."

Sheila Regan (a critic) writes:
"If the said show is getting grant money, especially from a public source, then it's not really free. If they pass the hat at the end, it's also not exactly free."

Carolyn Payne, executive director at, SooVAC, points out that "visual art critics do it all the time" when they review exhibitions.

Steve Nelson adds "Discretionary time is also a key (and often scarce) asset that arts audiences have to decide how to spend. In that line of thought, a show is never 'free.'"

Colleen Sheehy, Director of Plains Art Museum, asks "does free mean you can't evaluate and respond? i don't think the cost is relevant at all."

And finally Ben Kreilkamp sums it up nicely: "Why should that matter at all? Reviews are just reports of experiences."

Thanks for all your wisdom. Let it be known, I shall never question the presence of a critic at a free performance ever again.

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Artists respond to the close of the Loring Theater

Posted at 3:38 PM on January 6, 2012 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Funding, Theater

Last week the folks who run the Loring Theater announced they would be shutting their doors on December 31.

Such announcements often spark debates in the arts community. What went wrong? Could it have been avoided? And what does this mean for the rest of us?

I asked folks in the business to share their thoughts on the Loring's situation - here are some of the responses I got:

Dean J Seal, writer, performer and previous Fringe Festival director, blames the location of the Loring Theater, formerly known as "The Music Box:"

The Music Box is a venue with location and parking problems. It is a great space, but off the beaten track, and has no lot immediately adjacent to the space. Minnesotans hate walking. I am guessing they loaded up with staffing overhead and couldn't make the nut every single week. It was used successfully by the MN Fringe for 2 years, but that was as part of a festival, with a crowd that liked walking, in the summer, with a couple hit shows. Longer term programming would need a hook of some kind that could overcome the natural geographic difficulties of the space. It was built before a freeway cut the neighborhood in half, so the problems weren't inherent to the space initially. But it's a dead zone now.

Actor Steve Hendrickson thinks the space itself is the issue:

I believe part of the Loring Theatre problem is the renovation the facility underwent in the mid-90s after the Cricket Theatre was kicked to the curb. It's no longer a useful venue for conventional theatre production. The auditorium is now deep and narrow, making it a hard venue for intimate productions. At the same time, the stage has little wing and fly-space making it unsuitable for larger (musical) productions. It can be a great space for concerts and specialty events like "Triple Espresso" but there may not be enough of these to keep the facility in the black.

Paul Wilson, a former full-time artist who now sits until recently sat on the board of the group Cantus and works in the financial sector, wonders if the theater was a bad fit for the organization:

As harsh as it may sound, I think this may be a great opportunity for another up-and-coming arts organization to come in and make something amazing out of that space. If The Directors, LLP couldn't get butts in seats, there was clearly a disconnect between their artistic model and their business model. Maybe a 200-seat venue would have been more appropriate for them - one with lower fixed costs.

Gallery owner Stephen Sugarman thinks there aren't enough people locally to fill the audiences of the numerous venues all over the Twin Cities:

Really we just dont have the population say like Atlanta , NY , LA Miami to fully support such a large and diverse arts community -anbd I belive that is the state of the arts in MN -the big question how do we change the M.O. of this community for the better in near and in the distant future. If MN realy belives that the arts are important to our culture -and in my case, I'm talking visual arts - then we are going to need to bring the buyer/the market to MN.

For some, news of the Loring also brought up memories about the collapse of the Southern and the closing of Theatre de la Jeune Lune.

Dancer John Munger worries that such closings speak to the loss of "the middle class" of the arts.

It is a grave concern because the "99% vs 1% dynamic" moves so many things closer and closer to a polarization where big theaters --arts palaces -- win, the alternative such as scruffy small venues like Bryant Lake Bowl (Which I love and where I choose mostly to produce and perform) or Patrick's Cabaret survive anyway because they're tough, inexpensive and the nobles in the castle don't really care what the villagers do. But I argue that, just as in the economic picture, there needs to be a middle class in the performance world. It is a grave concern if a mid-level venue like The Loring is another victim of the endlessly ferocious war between various opposing political and economic persuasions.

Christine Chernis Brandt worries about the health of non-profit boards:

I have been in nonprofit arts management all my life, mainly in other communities, and I find repeatedly that boards do NOT understand their fiscal responsibility. Few raise funds appropropriately and support their artists correctly.

Robin Gillette, Director of the Minnesota Fringe Festival, argues that business skills need to be an inherent part of the arts:

I'd argue that the skills necessary to operate a building are different (and more business-oriented) than the skills necessary to create art - when people with skills in one area assume that that gives them skills in the other area, there's often trouble. Without complete government subsidy of the arts (which I'm NOT lobbying for), I think there does need to be an element of "business" in art to keep the lights on.

John Munger was not alone when he questioned the amount of media time and money invested in sports compared to the arts:

Consider, for example, the Vikings. They might put 45,000 in the Metrodome. But they only do it eight times. Every weekend of the year at least one and as many as dozens of theaters are presenting work. That's not just eight times nor even 52 times. A Thursday-Fri-Sat run pumps one single 52 week theater to about 156 presentations. And how many theaters are there? And so forth. I keep going with the simple arithmetic, but the point becomes compelling once one stops to think.

Finally playwright Dan Pinkerton wonders if it's simply natural for an organization to close its doors:

Can't we ever accept failure? Can't we ever mourn a loss without launching a screed against everyone else? It's a shame the Loring Theatre closed, but we still have a LOT of theatres in the Twin Cities, and a very exciting, diverse group they are.

What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments section.

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When love borders on obsession

Posted at 11:57 AM on December 27, 2011 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Music

MPR's Chris Roberts has been delving into songs with the musicians who create them. For his latest installment of "Into the Song," Roberts talked with Nick Robin about his song "In My Pocket" which sounds strangely like vintage Velvet Underground.

"I was sort of obsessed with this girl," Robin said. "And I had really been into the Velvet Underground at the time."

"Sort of obsessed" doesn't begin to describe "In My Pocket." You can feel the distance between the singer and the woman, her disinterest in him, his burning obsession with her, and his growing need to possess her completely. It's unsettling, unnerving, and completely intentional on Robin's part. Besides the Velvets, Robin says "In My Pocket" is kind of an homage to "Every Breath You Take," by the Police, or the Rolling Stones' "Under My Thumb."

"Where they're almost like misogynistic in a sense, and creepy, but in the song format it works, and people accept it as normal," he said. Only in this song, Robin pushes the obsession further, to a completely uncomfortable level

Nick Robin
Image courtesy Nick Robin

You can hear the song, and more of Nick Robin's conversation with MPR's Chris Roberts, by licking on the audio link:

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The reviews are in for 'The Soul of Gershwin' at Park Square

Posted at 2:54 PM on December 21, 2011 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Culture, Music, Theater

This morning I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing performer T. Mychael Rambo about his remarkable life and career on Midmorning. If you missed the conversation, I strongly recommend you take some time to listen:

Prudence Johnson, T. Mychael Rambo, and Maggie Burton in "The Soul of Gershwin"
Photo courtesy of Park Square Theatre

Currently Rambo is performing in "The Soul of Gershwin" at Park Square Theatre, which has received some fine reviews from the local press. Check out these excerpts, or click on the links to read the full reviews:

From Ed Huyck at City Pages:

How long does it take for The Soul of Gershwin: The Musical Journey of an American Klezmer to capture the audience? A handful of seconds--just enough time for the famed opening clarinet notes from Rhapsody in Blue to be played by Dale Mendenhall. From there, Joseph Vass's creation is a joyful ride into the roots and eventual results of one of America's great composers.

From Janet Preus at HowWasTheShow.com:

We have long thought of Gershwin as the guy who put his own stamp on a particular kind of popular, jazz-influenced music - and he did. But this show is out to clarify the relationships and make the point that Gershwin was, above all else, influenced by his own Jewish music and culture and, at its heart, even Summertime from Porgy and Bess owes more to cantorial singing than jazz or gospel. He may be holding hands with jazz or gospel (or ragtime or blues), but at its heart, he wrote his own style of Jewish music.

Three singers - Maggie Burton as The Chazzen or Cantor, Prudence Johnson as The Chanteuse, and T. Michael Rambo as The Griot or Storyteller - make Vass's premise not just easily digestible, but deliciously so, demonstrating how Gershwin admittedly stole from anywhere and anyone, making famous someone else's musical phrases in enduring songs such as S'Wonderful and It Ain't Necessarily So.

Maggie Burton and Michael Paul Levin in "The Soul of Gerswhin"
Photo courtesy of Park Square Theatre

From Graydon Royce at the Star Tribune:

Rambo, Johnson and Burton give the human and personal depth to "Gershwin." Rambo has such confidence and effortless power, never straining beyond what the score requires. His voice lands tenderly on each note of "Embraceable You." Johnson has carried Gershwin's music with her for years, and that knowledge never feels deeper than when she sings "Someone to Watch Over Me." Burton does the heavy lifting with traditional music but she gets a nice spotlight on "Summertime."

The spirit of holiday, if not the substance, makes this show feel right this time of year.

From Renee Valois at the Pioneer Press:

Despite the fact that the story doesn't have the depth one would expect from the title and lacks the emotional power of Gershwin's songs, it's still deeply entertaining - because of its stellar music and performances.

A couple of things would improve the show. It feels short at just under two hours (including intermission) and seems stingy with Gershwin's tunes. It would have been nice to hear more of Gershwin's many standards - and also to learn a bit more about the composer - in other words, more of a good thing would have been great.

Have you seen "The Soul of Gerswhin?" If so, what did you think? Share your thoughts in the comments section.

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The reviews are in for Cinderella at the Ordway

Posted at 10:31 AM on December 20, 2011 by Marianne Combs (2 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Music, Theater

"Cinderella" runs through January 1 at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts. While the fairy tale is not your typical holiday fare, it does have lots of magic and a certain element of "good girl wins big" which seems to mesh well with the hopes of children for big gifts under the tree. And critics agree, if you have a wannabe princess in your life, this is the show for her.

The cast of Cinderella at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts

From Rohan Preston at the Star Tribune:

Two things stood out right off the bat in Nick DeGruccio's splashy production of "Cinderella," which opened over the weekend at St Paul's Ordway Center. First, Cinderella, played by Jessica Fredrickson, doesn't seem all that oppressed by her stepmom and two stepsisters. True, she gets bossed around a bit, being told to fetch this and clean that.

...Second, the fairy godmother (Tonia Hughes) who arrives in a flurry of magic to narrate the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical version of the fairy tale, doesn't fit the usual profile. She is sassy and African-American.

Yet when Fredrickson and Hughes sing, you see the wisdom of director DeGruccio's casting choices.

Jessica Fredrickson as Cinderella and Tonia Hughes as the Fairy Godmother
Photo by Ryan Jones

From Janet Preus at HowWasTheShow.com:

Even the youngest in the audience understood that all Cinderella had to do was listen to her Fairy Godmother, played with humor and style by Tonia Hughes, and believe in herself to find her way out of her predicament. Fredrickson is delightfully natural in the role, with a powerhouse voice that seems to just float out of her. We are equally charmed by her prince (Jeremiah James), whose Sweetest Sounds is sweet indeed, with just the right mix of naiveté and determination.

The King and Queen (Gary Briggle and Wendy Lehr) delight as the loving parents in Boys and Girls Like You and Me. They are the parents every child would love to have.

From Dominic P. Papatola at the Pioneer Press:

At the end of the day, there are really only two questions that audiences are likely to ask of a production of "Cinderella": Those over 40 will wonder if the show will rekindle their fond memories of the TV version that aired each holiday in their childhoods. And parents will want to know if their young daughters can dress up in their sequined dresses and tiaras and have a good time. The answers are yes and yes. Though the execution isn't always perfect, the material is winning and the delivery is affectionate.

Have you seen Cinderella? If so, what did you think? Share your review in the comments section.

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The reviews are in for 'Les Miserables' at The Orpheum

Posted at 2:20 PM on December 14, 2011 by Marianne Combs (2 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

The Orpheum celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Broadway hit "Les Miserables" with a revamping of the production. In local press the show has garnered one rave review and two solidly mixed reviews. But the observation I found the most interesting had nothing to do with the artistic merits of the production. William Randall Beard ended his review with this comment:

I adore Les Misérables, but it encompasses an uncomfortable contradiction. It's a story that advocates radical social change, but plays to audiences able to afford tickets over $100. I wonder if in all the music and theatrics, the true revolutionary message isn't obscured or lost.

Interesting question - what do you think?

Ethics aside, here's what the critics thought of the reworked show:

"Les Miserables"
Photo by Deen van Meer

From William Randall Beard at MSP Magazine:

The spectacle is intact, and even enhanced by the cunning use of projections inspired by Hugo's paintings, but the production takes the story very seriously. Amidst all the pageantry, it captures the heart of Hugo's novel, which is a story of Christian redemption. This is a serious take on God and the nature of salvation, and the production embraces it in deeply personal and emotional ways.

If only the performances had been directed with the same finesse as the production. There is a lack of subtlety across the board. Try as he might, J. Mark McVey could not fully realize the character of Valjean. His voice did not encompass the full range of the role, but even worse, his performance was so stagey and mannered that it was off-putting. He also lacked the kind of charisma the character needs to command the stage.

From Dominic P. Papatola at the Pioneer Press:

...what remains is what has been the glory of the show to its legions of fans - its sweeping, unapologetic and...yes...baldly manipulative plea to the heartstrings and the sense of justice and right. As my 15-year-old theater-going companion opined after one of the show's many stirring, orchestra-swelling and vocal-chord-melting anthems - "a little melodramatic, isn't it?"

This new staging of "Les Miserables" is neither a revolution nor a revelation. But, solidly built and well-executed, it is at least a breath of fresh air.

Andrew Varela as Javert
Photo by Deen van Meer

From Rohan Preston at the Star Tribune:

If you are not already a devotee of the musical composed by Claude-Michel Schönberg, Alain Boublil and Herbert Kretzmer, this robust new version by director James Powell and Laurence Connor should make you one. The re-orchestrated music is delivered with clarity and verve thanks to conductor Robert Billig. (It sometimes is a bit loud as well.) The story, which orbits themes of justice and redemption, idealism and death, and, of course, love, is much more cleanly told.... The best part of this production is the cast.

"Les Miserables" runs through December 18 at The Orpheum in Minneapolis.

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The reviews are in for Guthrie Theater's "Charley's Aunt"

Posted at 9:00 AM on December 7, 2011 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

In Guthrie Theater's "Charley's Aunt" - which runs through January 15 - it appears the set has upstaged the actors.

While the reviews are decidedly critical of this farce, most reviewers took a moment to acknowledge the set - by John Coyne - which on at least one night inspired applause from the audience.

Check out these excerpts of reviews, or click on the links to read them in their entirety:

(Clockwise from Top Left) Matthew Amendt (Jack Chesney), Ben Mandelbaum (Charles Wykeham), Valeri Mudek (Kitty Verdun), John Skelley (Lord Fancourt Babberley) and Ashley Rose Montondo (Amy Spettigue) in the Guthrie Theater's production of Charley's Aunt
Photo by T. Charles Erickson

From Graydon Royce at the Star Tribune:

There is nothing droll or subtle or witty about the Guthrie Theater's staging of "Charley's Aunt," which opened Friday.

With a goose from director John Miller-Stephany, this farce rollicks with the broadest of music hall vaudeville. Rest easy, Benny Hill, your spirit is still alive here, taking cream pies in the face.

...If you are willing to trust the script, "Charley's Aunt" can be a delightful misadventure. This production? Well, if you like your humor overbaked with a pratfall on the side, it's gold.

John Skelley (Lord Fancourt Babberley) and Colin McPhillamy (Stephen Spettigue) in the Guthrie Theater's production of Charley's Aunt
Photo by T. Charles Erickson

From Renee Valois at the Pioneer Press:

Playwright Brandon Thomas has thrown in plenty of impossible coincidences to goose the absurdity and humor of this classic romantic farce, and director John Miller-Stephany has given the actors plenty of fun sight gags and comic business to keep the laughs flowing, despite the predictability of the plot. Of course, you know from the beginning that this tangled mess of romances gone wrong will somehow get straightened out and everyone will have an implausibly happy ending.

Ashley Rose Montondo (Amy Spettigue), John Skelley (Lord Fancourt Babberley) and Valeri Mudek (Kitty Verdun) in the Guthrie Theater's production of Charley's Aunt
Photo by T. Charles Erickson

From Anna Rosenweig at AisleSayTwinCities:

Despite the absolute delight that is [John] Skelley's performance, the rest of the show doesn't quite land. Of course, Babbs' performance is the center of the farce, and it makes sense that the high-points revolve around him/her. It's understandable that the other characters play straight men and women to his comic performance. Still, it's too bad that these other characters don't feel fully realized, and that the show never quite gets on track enough to run off the rails. Much of the staging that doesn't involve Babbs/Donna Lucia comes across as tired and stilted, as if the show is going through the motions of being a farce without actually being one. But for those seeking a good laugh "Charley's Aunt" is worth seeing, if only for Skelley's charming embodiment of an Oxford boy playing a bewildering old woman.

John Skelley (Lord Fancourt Babberley), Matthew Amendt (Jack Chesney) and Ben Mandelbaum (Charles Wykeham) in the Guthrie Theater's production of Charley's Aunt
Photo by T. Charles Erickson

From John Olive at HowWasTheShow.com:

Like most old farces, Charley's Aunt depends greatly on past-tense material - the winding up of the plot rubber-band. But when the band is released, the piece suffers from repetitive one-joke circularity. "I'm from Brazil, where the nuts come from," comes up a half dozen times. All this makes the play long. In 1890, Lord Babberley's cross-dressing must have been naughty and thrilling, but nowadays it feels silly.

Did you see "Charley's Aunt?" If so, what did you think? Share your review in the comments section.

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The reviews are in for Guthrie's "A Christmas Carol"

Posted at 2:56 PM on November 29, 2011 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

The annual holiday classic is back. "A Christmas Carol" opened this past weekend at the Guthrie Theater, this time featuring Twin Cities actor J.C. Cutler in the starring role of Scrooge.

According to local critics, this show features more comedy than in past years. And while most recommend the play, some feel this year's rendition is a bit over-stuffed.

J.C. Cutler is Ebenezer Scrooge in "A Christmas Carol"
Photo by Michael Brosilow

From Rohan Preston at the Star Tribune:

Is "A Christmas Carol" becoming a Christmas comedy?

It sometimes looked that way at Wednesday's opening at the Guthrie Theater, the second year that Joe Dowling has applied his light touch to the classic. In his laughter-maximizing, pyrotechnic pastiche of styles, Dowling has amplified the humor in Crispin Whittell's witty adaptation from the novella by Charles Dickens.

...the music-infused production, which nods to Victor Hugo and Gilbert and Sullivan, is funnier, broader and more emotionally varied than in years past.

From John Olive at HowWasTheShow.com:

[J.C.] Cutler delivers a lovely and understated performance, with none of over-the-top bluster that one so often sees with this character. This pays off big-time when Scrooge visits his past. This Scrooge is vividly confused and lonely, in his famous nightcap, in sharp contrast to the insensitive and greedy persona we get in the beginning. Cutler gives A Christmas Carol emotional depth - and makes the glitzy (and, all right, yes, occasionally over-the-top) production work.

J.C. Cutler (Ebenezer Scrooge) and Bob Davis (Jacob Marley) in the Guthrie Theater's production of "A Christmas Carol"
Photo by Michael Brosilow

From Dominic P. Papatola at the Pioneer Press:

At two hours and 20 minutes, this "Christmas Carol" - like most Guthrie tellings of the tale - could profit from a couple more go-throughs with an editor's sharp pencil. On balance, though, this new effort is a robust, worthwhile telling, one familiar enough to please traditionalists and different enough for those looking for a new shine on a familiar tale.

From Christopher Kehoe at TC Daily Planet:

If you see A Christmas Carol, you'll have a memorable, if not delightful, time (especially true for anyone under the age of 12). But you may tramp back out into the snow not feeling as full as you were hoping; it's storytelling that plays out more like connect-the-dots than bonafide journey. It's as if the opportunity to tell something of a better story was missed and, like figgy pudding, you may not be exactly sure what that something was.

Have you seen this year's version of A Christmas Carol at the Guthrie Theater? If so, what did you think? Share your review in the comments section.

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The reviews are in for CTC's 'The Wizard of Oz'

Posted at 10:17 AM on November 15, 2011 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

The Wizard of Oz is one of those indelible stories that most of us can recount by heart. And in the case of the Children's Theatre Company's latest production, they've decided not to mess with perfection.

This show stays true to the original source material, and critics think that's just fine.

Scroll down to read excerpts of reviews; click on the links to read them in full.

Maeve Moynihan, Max Wojtanowicz and Dean Holt in The Wizard Of Oz
Photo by Dan Norman

From John Olive at HowWasTheShow.com:

...this Oz works, and works well. Everyone gasped when Miss Gulch kidnaped brave Toto; adored the dancing quartet (Dorothy with the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion); hissed at the Wicked Witch (that long green nose!); jumped when the booming voice of Oz filled the theater. At the end of the show I heard moist weeping and felt rapt attention. The latter is specially meaningful, as this play is on the long side for children's theater. The audience was entranced.

From Rohan Preston at the Star Tribune:

Iconic images spill forth as is from a dream: a tornado sends a cow flying over the plains, Dorothy and her companions dance down the yellow brick road, and Glinda (Janet Hanson) and the Wicked Witch (Jennifer Blagen) arrive eye-poppingly.

But "Oz" is much more than a live version of the film. The cast transports us to a world of mystery and color. Moynihan shows that she fits Dorothy's ruby slippers, investing the Kansas girl caught up in a tornado with sweet innocence. When she sings the standard, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," she shows her dreamy heart.

The Wizard of Oz at Children's Theatre Company
Photo by Dan Norman

From Dominic P. Papatola at the Pioneer Press:

This production's somewhat lower wattage allows for clearer storytelling, even if that clarity comes at the expense of some draggy moments, particularly after intermission.

Maeve Coleen Moynihan - who made her CTC debut as a munchkin in the theater's 2002 "Oz" - caps her youth-performer career at the theater by playing Dorothy, and she finds some interesting edges to the role. With her round face and big eyes, she looks every bit the innocent, but she's not afraid to let Dorothy's bratty, petulant side bleed through a little.

From Lauren Peck at Metro Magazine:

Full of humor and heart, this long-running show tells the familiar tale of a girl who suddenly finds herself in the colorful world of Oz. And although it is ostensibly for children, its strong effects and cast - wonderful down to the last munchkin - make it capable of entertaining all ages.

...Overall, The Wizard of Oz is a great, family-friendly production that anyone - the young and the young-at-heart - can enjoy this holiday season. Just like Dorothy, you'll be sure to take a little magic home with you.

The Wizard of Oz runs through January 8 at the Children's Theatre Company.

Have you seen The Wizard of Oz at CTC? If so, what did you think? Share your review in the comments section.

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The reviews are in for Frank Theatre's 'Ajax in Iraq'

Posted at 8:31 AM on November 9, 2011 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

Ajax in Iraq, by Ellen McLaughlin, weaves together Sophocles' classic play AJAX and stories from today's newspaper. Parallel narratives follow Ajax, a Greek warrior, and A.J., a contemporary female soldier on duty in Iraq, both of whom are undone by the betrayal of a commanding officer.

The show, produced by Frank Theatre, runs through November 27 at the Playwrights' Center in Minneapolis.

Reviewers seem to agree that - just like war - this show is messy and brutal.

From Rob Hubbard at the Pioneer Press:

There are no minor characters in this play, everyone stepping forward at some point to deliver a speech that may stop you in your tracks, but always advances the story.

Some may feel a bit bludgeoned by the many variations on "What are we doing here?" asked by the soldiers, but rarely does a play give you so much to chew on in such a short amount of time. It says something about the deft touch of director Wendy Knox and her talented cast that this rewarding production never pushes you into overload.

From John Olive at HowWasTheShow.com:

Ajax In Iraq sprawls. Frank Theatre describes the piece as a "mash-up" and it is that for sure. ...The soldiers often serve as chorus, in both the modern and Greek stories. Characters often speak directly to the audience. The play has a savage, almost insane momentum (kudos here to Knox).

Does all this work? Well, yes, very often. I was blown away, for example, by the angry, choreographed, wordless choric dance of the soldiers. The play's climax, in which the contemporary and Greek stories twirl together, is heartbreaking.

From Rohan Preston at the Star Tribune:

That director Knox's staging of MacLaughlin's poetic mashup of mythical Greece and contemporary Iraq is a mixed bag is almost beside the point. That the acting company has a few strong performers? Eh. That there is a nice symmetry of the chorus of soldiers switching between ancient times and today is nice.

That indelible scene [in which a sergeant rapes a soldier] , in which the word "dismissed" flies like a dagger, makes this gritty, unsparingly directed show, well worth seeing...this "Ajax in Iraq" is bluntly affecting.

From Sophie Kerman and Anna Rosenweig at AisleSayTwinCities.com:

There are times... that both McLoughlin and Knox let the play get away from them. The connection between Ajax and A.J. feels underutilized; for the number of difficult questions that could have been asked - for instance, who is the Athena of the Iraq war? - very few of them actually were. There is also a strangely exhibitionistic baring of souls that at times feels too self-critical to be plausible for the character and the situation. Similarly, some events - including a staged rape scene - seem to be aimed more at fanning the flames of the audience's outrage than with communicating new ideas.

From Ed Huyck at City Pages:

Ajax in Iraq is like a stomach punch--a messy, disturbing merging of the ancient tale of Ajax going mad on the beaches of Troy and similar events playing out amid the sand of modern-day Iraq. It's not a pretty or always cohesive piece, but the overall effect is gut-wrenching.

...At times the script seems to have trouble finding its focus, taking side trips such as introducing Gertrude Bell, the British writer and political administrator who drew up the borders of modern-day Iraq. In the end, these issues don't matter, as the performances--especially Katie Guentzel as A.J.--strip away the distractions and leave us with a heartbreaking tale.

Have you seen Ajax in Iraq? If so, what did you think? Share your review in the comments section.

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The reviews are in for Ten Thousand Things' 'Il Campiello'

Posted at 10:23 AM on November 3, 2011 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

Ten Thousand Things theater company is known for producing classic theater to underserved audiences. It regularly performs Shakespeare to prisoners, Greek tragedies to the homeless, and musicals for rehab patients.

Now the company has taken on Italian comedy, with it's production of Il Campiello. Adapted by local talent Stephen Epp, the show is infused with physical comedy. For three of our four reviewers, the show shines - for one reviewer, the show shines a bit too much.

Scroll down to read excerpts of reviews, and click on the links to read them in full.

Elise Langer, Kimberly Richardson, Sarah Agnew and Karen Wiese-Thompson in "Il Campiello"
Photo: Paula Keller

From Ed Huyck at City Pages:

Ten Thousand Things Theater continues its remarkable run with Il Campiello, Steven Epp's adaptation of Carlo Goldoni's 18th-century comedy about the earthy denizens of a lower-class corner of Venice. A spot-on cast teams with director Michelle Hensley to produce a show that is at turns ribald, warm, and sad--just like real life.

From Graydon Royce at the Star Tribune:

"Campiello" is 90 wild minutes of theater in which nine actors take a full run at trying to top each other. Amid the controlled chaos are comic solo turns, juvenile putdowns and just enough love to create a celebration of humanity.

Hensley produces the best Shakespeare in town, she breaks down musicals to their spiritual core, and now we can add commedia to the list of reasons that make Ten Thousand Things an essential -- not an optional -- theater habit.

From Dominic P. Papatola at the Pioneer Press:

These characterizations come from the archetypes of commedia, but the respective strength of these performances and others gives the production an uneven sense of velocity. It's not that these performers are trying to steal the spotlight; it's more like there just isn't enough spotlight to go around.

So while the show entertains, the herky-jerky energy of "Il Campiello" prevents the audience from giving itself completely to this gossamer tale.

From Janet Preus at HowWasTheShow.com:

Epp's script, written in his distinctive voice, has the sound of children at spontaneous play. While it's engaging in the moment, it's also a bit like following the "plot" acted out by kids playing in the backyard: quick interactions strung together on a simple premise, such as "let's play house," or "let's play wedding."

...Of course there is a wedding--two, in fact--and a good bit of drinking to celebrate. That just makes for more rowdy, noisy fun. So, in the language of the play, "Don't be a poop-turd." Join in!

Have you seen "Il Campiello?" If so, what did you think? Share your review in the comments section.

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The reviews are in for Guthrie's 'The Edge of Our Bodies'

Posted at 11:38 AM on November 1, 2011 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

The Edge of our Bodies runs through November 20 at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. The theater describes the show this way:

"It's a bitter winter night when 16-year-old Bernadette, an aspiring short story writer, boards a train to New York City carrying her notebook and important news for her boyfriend. What follows is a searing and poetic coming-of-age story as Bernadette intimately shares her encounters along the way and the devastating result of her visit, a journey punctuated by both a need to be heard and an aching desire to disappear."

Ali Rose Dachis stars in "The Edge of Our Bodies" at the Guthrie Theater
Photo: Heidi Bohnenkamp

While many critics applaud the performance of Ali Rose Dachis, others find fault with the play as a whole. Read the review excerpts below; click on the links to read the full reviews.

From Jay Gabler at TC Daily Planet:

What distinguishes playwright Adam Rapp's accessible, dryly humorous script from the average coming-of-age tale is its meta-theatrical formal structure: for almost the entire play, Bernie (Ali Rose Dachis) is the only character on stage. She's telling a story, seemingly about herself, but we learn that she's an aspiring fiction writer, so the story may not be entirely true...

...Though the script does a lot of huffing and puffing to blow down all the usual houses, the Guthrie production is well-served by Dachis's focused, often riveting performance and by Benjamin McGovern's dextrous direction.

From Dominic P. Papatola at the Pioneer Press:

According to the program, Rapp based this talking jag on stage on conversations with a female friend who used to tell him about how alone she used to feel riding the train to her own prep school. Evidently, Rapp never pressed this friend with some fundamental questions, including the one I was burning to ask Bernadette - the play's central character - throughout the evening: "Listen, you snotty, spoiled, self-involved, think-you've-got-problems little brat: Could you possibly take five seconds of your precious, privileged little life to get over yourself?"

...Sometimes, "The Edge of Our Bodies" is maddening in its myopia. Other times, it's dreary in its smallness of vision. Occasionally, it makes you laugh. But mostly, it leaves you fatigued and - if young Bernadette is a sign of things to come - a little depressed for the future.

Photo: Heidi Bohnenkamp

From Ed Huyck at City Pages:

Rapp has crafted a complex, breathing creation that is, in turn, fully inhabited by Dachis. Alone onstage except for one, short scene, Dachis takes all of the audience's focus and uses it as additional fuel for her performance. Though Bernadette is often low-key -- perhaps unsure of the conflicting emotions bubbling beneath the surface -- Dachis brings out the pain and confusion so central to the little lost girl.

In the end, it's this performance that makes The Edge of Our Bodies worth our time. On the page, Bernadette may have come off as absolutely self-absorbed, not seeing the reality that all of the other characters face, but the performance gives it nuance beyond just the written word. Which, in the end, is one of the reasons why we go to the theater.

From John Olive at HowWasTheShow.com:

Rapp's writing is lovely. Bernadette's jottings would never fly as prose fiction, but they masterfully create an intelligent, poised, frightened young woman. The Catcher In The Rye influence is obvious, but Bernadette lacks Holden Caulfield's bitterness and fake-maturity; she really is mature and much more compelling as a result.

But. I have a reviewer's obligation to point out that The Edge Of Our Bodies is, essentially, a one-hander. The action is mostly past tense - we hear about Bernadette's journey, her encounters. There is some present tense action, as Bernadette struggles to maintain her composure, but this doesn't, in my opinion, sustain the whole play. Why, I kept wondering, aren't we seeing the wonderful scenes with Wayne, with Marc, et al? I felt frustrated.

From Rohan Preston at the Star Tribune:

"Edge" has a straightforward, simile-laden elegance that will delight lovers of language, even as its character's mature mastery of language, literature and craft sometimes strains credulity. What 16-year-old, no matter how precocious, writes and speaks like this?

Bernadette (Dachis) wants to be a writer and an actor. She is on her way to New York, where she plans a surprise visit with her 19-year-old boyfriend. She has sobering news.

We know this, and most everything else, because Bernadette tells us so, often reading from her diary. Playwright Rapp has given us a coming-of-age story ripped from the pages of the New Yorker. "Edge" feels inspired, stylistically and in subject matter, by the likes of John Cheever and John Updike.

Have you seen The Edge of Our Bodies?" If so, what did you think? Share your review in the comments section.

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The reviews are in for 'Four Destinies'

Posted at 10:38 AM on October 21, 2011 by Marianne Combs (2 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

How does the experience of adoption change based on the culture of the adoptee? Which has more power - Nature, or Nurture? These questions are at the heart of Mu Performing Arts' latest production, Four Destinies, which runs through October 30 at Mixed Blood Theatre.

Playwright Katie Hae Leo inserts herself as narrator of the play as she wrestles with her hypothetical characters: four "Destinys," adoptees from four different cultures, raised by the same parents.

Read on for excerpts of reviews by the local media; click on the links to read them in their entirety:

Sara Ochs, LaDawn James, Katie Bradley, Nora Montanez, Neil Schneider in Four Destinies produced by Mu Performing Arts at the Mixed Blood Theatre
Photo by Michal Daniel

From John Olive at HowWasTheShow.com:

In Act 1, Leo creates the Destinys, four grown-up adoptees, celebrating Gotcha Day with their well-meaning but dorky parents. The first Destiny is Korean, the next is African-American, then Guatemalan; these are all female. The final Destiny is a white American man. Midway through the act, narrator Leo announces that these "characters have gotten away from me." Frankly, I didn't believe her. The firm hand of the playwright was all too apparent as the same scene, with variations, is played and replayed, 4 times. Moreover (and as an adoptive parent myself, this bothered me a lot), I found the parents shallow, vehicles for cheap comic effect. During the intermission, I was, I will admit, a restive play-goer.

Ah, but then Act 2 happened, and it's wonderful. Leo puts her characters through their paces - and narrator Katie Leo as well. They do unpredictable and surprising things. They make significant human connections. They become multi-dimensional. They grow, make meaningful discoveries. In the second act the characters really do get away from their author and result is sublime. When narrator Leo tells us "Truth is a painted toy," we know precisely what she's talking about. When the play ended, I was seduced.

Don Eitel, Maria Kelly, Sara Ochs, Katie Bradley, Shanan Custer in Four Destinies produced by Mu Performing Arts at the Mixed Blood Theatre
Photo by Michal Daniel

From Rohan Preston at the Star Tribune:

The major flaw of the play, which has an unnecessary coda by the playwright character, is structural: The parents are unchanging in the first act, no matter the situation or the adoptee. Same party, same neighbors, same story. That may be true, but it grows a little tiresome.

"Four Destinies" takes off in the second act, when each Destiny, after long years of wondering about his or her personal history, finds out some important information. These scenes show that such knowledge can be tricky, leading to unexpected reflection in the heart and soul.

Shanan Custer, Neil Schneider in Four Destinies produced by Mu Performing Arts at the Mixed Blood Theatre
Photo by Michal Daniel

From Sophie Kerman at AisleSayTwinCities.com:

As a viewing experience, the script's rough patches hardly detract from this funny, colorful and tender production. Director Suzy Messerole has found all the awkward humor in adoption, cross-cultural miscommunication, and growing up. With the help of Mina Kinukawa's pleasingly retro set and some well-placed video projections by Joshua Iley, the four Destinies inhabit a vivid world that is only idealistic on its glossy exterior. In a community with so many adopted children of so many different backgrounds, Leo's play provides an important look into the particular issues surrounding adoption - both for parents hoping to help, and for children making sense of their mysterious DNA.

Katie Bradley, Sara Ochs, Don Eitel in Four Destinies produced by Mu Performing Arts at the Mixed Blood Theatre
Photo by Michal Daniel

Have you seen Four Destinies? If so, what did you think? Share your review in the comments section.

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The reviews are in for 'The K of D' at Illusion Theater

Posted at 4:16 PM on October 14, 2011 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

At the heart of theater is storytelling. And in the case of "The K of D" at Illusion Theater in Minneapolis, theater wears its heart on its sleeve.

"The K of D" stands for "the kiss of death," a power the neighborhood kids believe has been bestowed upon young Charlotte after the death of her brother.

The 90 minute play features one woman, a skateboard, and a simple set, but critics say "The K of D" manages to transport audiences to a small Ohio town with crisp clarity.

Read the excerpts from local reviews below; click on the links to read them in their entirety:

Renata Friedman in The K of D at Illusion Theater in Minneapolis
Photo by Chris Bennion

From Ed Huyck at City Pages:

The one-woman show takes the audience on a dizzying, Stephen-King-like tour of a small Ohio town and the strange events that surround a man-made lake one summer.

Writer Laura Schellhardt has a real ear for the everyday details of run-down, small-town life, and that comes out in every corner of the production.

...The Stephen King vibe goes beyond the subject matter. Many of King's best works turn on the actions of youth as they live below the view of the adults. In K of D, these kids spread stories, "investigate" the goings on, and even hatch a rather lame-brained plan to get back at their neighborhood's main antagonist.

Renata Friedman in The K of D at Illusion Theater in Minneapolis
Photo by Chris Bennion

From Sheila Regan at TC Jewfolk:

The main character, Charlotte, never speaks, after the death of her brother. It's an interesting choice on the part of Chicago Playwright Laura Schellhardt to not allow the central character to have a chance to share her story- even if it were just her thoughts. All we know of Charlotte is what the narrator tells us, and in Friedman's physical realization of her character, which is very good. Still, it would have been nice to get inside a little bit more in her head, somehow. Indeed, because there is such a fast switching from character to character, there's not much of a chance to identify with any of the characters.

Renata Friedman in The K of D at Illusion Theater in Minneapolis
Photo by Chris Bennion

From Sophie Kerman at Aisle Say Twin Cities:

With Charlotte serving as the mute center, "The K of D" tells us just as much about the act of storytelling as about the legend itself. Both Abraham and Friedman have been inspired to revisit this play again and again, perhaps because - despite the play's apparent simplicity - there seem to be an endless number of layers to peel away. Where is the line between imagination and wishful thinking? voyeurism and curiosity? chilling violence and fitting revenge? This gripping story emerges at just that mysterious moment when the appetite to know turns into the need to create. It may be easy to be a skeptic - but "The K of D" fills our deepest, darkest desire to believe.

Renata Friedman in The K of D at Illusion Theater in Minneapolis
Photo by Chris Bennion

From Christina Ham at HowWasTheShow.com:

Ms. Schellhardt's tale of modern folklore seems to run short on sufficient suspense and pacing, and instead the script seems to emphasize poetic language and ambience. In a genre that relies heavily on elements of anticipation, dread, and uncertainty, The K of D falls short of its payoff.

What does not fall short is the beautifully realized production by director Braden Abraham and his terrific design team that make this play run like an efficient machine. Matt Starritt creates a lush soundscape that characterizes St. Marys: the wind stirring through the tall grass, the song of the crickets, and the beating of heron wings are just a few takeaways from his aural landscape. The single set design by Mr. Abraham and L.B. Morse, and the stellar lighting by Robert Aguilar conjure the summer evenings of this sleepy town. Bolstered by Mr. Abraham's production and Ms. Friedman's performance they make The K of D's peek at spooked small-town culture worth the visit during this Halloween season.

Renata Friedman in The K of D at Illusion Theater in Minneapolis
Photo by Chris Bennion

From Lisa Brock at the Star Tribune:

In a tour-de-force performance, actor Renata Friedman takes on more than a dozen different roles to tell the story of the consequences of this fateful kiss. She displays a chameleon-like command of voice and body language as she conjures the gang of kids who are Charlotte's friends. There's the blustering, posturing Quisp Drucker, self-styled leader of the group; mature-beyond-her-years Becky Ray Von, who smokes a bubble-gum cigarette with the panache of a Hollywood vamp; the earnest and ultimately noble Trent Hoffman; the dizzily empty-headed Steffi Post, and the silent, withdrawn Charlotte who's at the center of this story.

"The K of D" is stunning in its simplicity. With only one prop -- a skateboard -- Friedman re-creates a time and place and the small world of individuals that inhabit it out of little more than her own versatile performance.

"The K of D" runs through October 22 at Illusion Theater. Have you seen the show? If so, what did you think? Share your review in the comments section.

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The reviews are in for Theater Latte Da's Spelling Bee

Posted at 9:15 AM on October 12, 2011 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

We have a lot of great shows out there this week Penumbra's Two Trains Running, Guthrie's The Burial at Thebes, and now Theater Latte Da's Spelling Bee all earning rave reviews.

Theater Latte Da's production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee runs through October 30 at the McKnight Theatre at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in St. Paul. These reviewers agree that while this might not be a deep, character-driven musical, it is a whole lot of fun.

The contestants of Theater Latte Da's "Spelling Bee"
Photo by Michal Daniel

From Dominic P. Papatola at the Pioneer Press:

You don't have to grade on a curve to give Theater Latte Da's production of "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" an "A."

The production - rechristened "The 25th Annual Seven-County Metro Area Spelling Bee" for its month-long run at the Ordway Center's McKnight Theatre - bounces along with snappy fun, a score that is tuneful and original-sounding and a well-woven set of performances that capture both the humor and the heartbreak of being a square-peg person in a round-hole world.

Mary Fox as Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre
Photo by Michal Daniel

From Graydon Royce at the Star Tribune:

Theater Latté Da has reclaimed the wit of this musical, written by William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin, in the intimate McKnight Theatre at the Ordway Center. The production, directed and choreographed by Peter Rothstein and Michael Matthew Ferrell, reveals the endearing vulnerabilities of teenagers whose mettle is tested under the hot glare of competition. We dare not laugh at Schwarty's lisp, or Olive's mousy self-image, because they want to win so badly and how can you laugh at kids doing their level best?

This does not mean the six competitors and the three adults who proctor the bee are not funny. But this humor resists the hollow amusement of vaudevillian pretense and touches the heart.

Cat Brindisi and Joseph R. Pyfferoen In Theater Latté Da's production of "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee"
Photo by Michal Daniel

From John Olive at HowWasTheShow.com:

...[Composer William] Finn and [writer Rachel] Sheinkin fail to explore these characters in a truly satisfying way. Too often they fall back on camp and shallow comic effect. As a result we don't care enough about the triumphs of the characters and we don't really invest in the contest. The play certainly amuses - indeed, it'll have you laughing constantly - but in the end it doesn't compel.

The actors delight. The danger with a show like this is that the performances can become campy and ungrounded, ends in themselves, and it is greatly to the credit of directors Peter Rothstein and Michael Matthew Ferrell (the show, oddly, credits two) that they are able to reign the cast in and keep the show focused and crisply paced.

Have you seen "Spelling Bee?" If so, what did you think? Share your review in the comments section.

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The reviews are in for Guthrie Theater's The Burial at Thebes

Posted at 3:59 PM on October 11, 2011 by Marianne Combs (3 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

Did these critics see the same play?

Guthrie Theater's production of The Burial at Thebes has drawn two distinct reactions - either rave reviews, or a "it just doesn't sit right."

The play is a reworking of Sophocles' Antigone, and was written by Nobel prize winning poet Seamus Heaney.

Check out the excerpts of reviews below, or click on the links to read them in their entirety.

The chorus in The Burial at Thebes
Photo by Michael Brosilow

From Tad Simons at Mpls-St.Paul magazine:

One of the many triumphs in The Burial at Thebes, which opened over the weekend, is the play's uncanny ability to bridge the ancient and modern worlds. Using a version written by Irish poet Seamus Heaney, director Marcela Lorca has created a production that feels timeless. More impressive than its timelessness, however, is its timeliness. It's the right story to be telling now, because it's classically tragic and eerily relevant.

From Rob Hubbard at the Pioneer Press:

The Guthrie Theater is presenting a fairly strong production of Heaney's take on the tale of an autocratic king's clash with his headstrong niece. But it misses opportunities to resonate as deeply it could.

That might be because Heaney chooses to focus on the hubris of King Creon, who clings stubbornly to his decisions when all around him warn of grim consequences. As a result, the play sometimes seems a reprise of the boss-gone-crazy scenario that the Guthrie explored last season with Shakespeare's "The Winter's Tale."

Stephen Yoakam as King Creon and Sun Mee Chomet as Antigone
Photo by Michael Brosilow

From John Olive at HowWasTheShow.com:

The great Nobel Prize winning Irish poet Seamus Heaney has adapted this rich material. Heaney's writing is lean and focused, muscular and tight. He displays a seasoned playwright's instinct for poetry of the theater (as opposed to poetry - pretty language - in the theater). Indeed, there isn't a wasted (or dull) moment. Clocking in at ninety intermissionless minutes, Heaney's Burial grabs you by the throat and never lets go.

From Becki Iverson at Metro Magazine:

Does the plot remain true to Sophocles' original script? Yes. Does it retain some emotional and philosophical power despite the cast's widely ranging deliveries? Yes. Does it have a serviceable set, lovely costumes and inventive twists on the stereotypical 'coliseum' imagery so often seen when ancient plays are performed? Yes.

Despite all the signs that this should have been a solid production, it just doesn't sit right. Perhaps it was the Boyz II Men-meets-Sophocles vibe that arose at most of the chorus' stanzas. Something about the Tevye shimmy and soulful beats performed with the ancient dialogues felt highly out of place.

Greta Oglesby as Tiresias
Photo by Michael Brosilow

From Jay Gabler at TC Daily Planet:

From the first moment to the last, director Marcela Lorca keeps Burial at Thebes taut and compelling. Everyone involved is at the top of their games, including set designer Monica Frawley, whose mammoth catacomb may cause you to gasp before the show even starts. Much of the show rests on the shoulders of the five-man chorus, who carry it well; among the men are the venerable Richard Ooms, the commanding T. Mychael Rambo, and Robert Robinson, a local Gospel legend whose great physical bulk and angelic voice lend gravity to every moment he's onstage--which, fortunately, is almost all of the play.

This is a production that gets everything right.

From Graydon Royce at the Star Tribune:

"Antigone," or in this case "Thebes," calls to us from the ages with such nagging and persistent questions. Sophocles' words are not much changed, just as the liturgies of a religious service remain the same each time we visit them. The strength of Lorca's Guthrie production is how these words unlock thoughts and reactions in our own minds. However unsettling that might be.

Have you seen Burial at Thebes? If so, what did you think? Share your thoughts in the comments section.

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The reviews are in for Penumbra Theatre's 'Two Trains Running'

Posted at 1:18 PM on October 6, 2011 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

Focusing on what you do best is smart business.

In the case of Penumbra Theatre that means staging the work of August Wilson.

Wilson spent twelve years living and writing in St. Paul, and Artistic Director Lou Bellamy premiered some of his plays. After Wilson's death in 2005, Penumbra Theatre committed to staging all ten of Wilson's play cycle documenting African-American life in the 20th century.

Right now they're showing "Two Trains Running," set in 1969. Bellamy has directed the show multiple times, including on the Penumbra stage in 1994 and 2003. That experience has paid off, because the show is garnering rave reviews left and right. Check out the excerpts below; click on the links to read the reviews in their entirety.

Crystal Fox as Risa in "Two Trains Running" at Penumbra Theatre Company
Photo by Ann Marsden

From Ellen Burkhardt at Minnesota Monthly:

Like all of Wilson's plays, Two Trains Running defines a decade through carefully crafted and powerfully individualistic characters. Set in Pittsburg, the story revolves around Memphis, played by a dynamic and calculated James Cravin, a restaurant owner fighting to get a fair price for his building from the city. But the diner isn't just a building, and Memphis isn't just fighting for money. This is a battle to protect the one place a group of weary characters can come day after day to shield themselves from the harsh realities and bitter truths of the outside world. This is a battle for equality and Civil Rights.

...Lou Bellamy's artful, insightful direction; the gorgeous, true-to-date set design by Vicki Smith; and the intensely passionate acting immortalize the message of Two Trains Running, plucking it from 1969 and transplanting it into today: It's never too late to fight for what is right, and it's never too late to make a change.

Ahanti Young as the mentally disturbed Hambone in August Wilson's "Two Trains Running"
Photo by Ann Marsden

From Ed Huyck at City Pages:

This is why I go to the theater...terrific material, excellent directing and vision, and some of the best acting you'll find on a Twin Cities stage. What else can you ask for?

From Rohan Preston at the Star Tribune:

Lou Bellamy's staging of this August Wilson drama, with a superb acting ensemble, is transporting...Wilson wrote his dramas like jazz pieces, with characters supporting each other and taking turns to solo. The people in "Two Trains," and the actors who portray them, all have their moments in the spotlight.

James Craven as Memphis and Abdul Salaam El Razzac as Holloway in Penumbra Theatre's production of "Two Trains Running"
Photo by Ann Marsden

From Christina Ham at HowWasTheShow.com:

Deftly staged by Penumbra Theatre founder and Artistic Director Lou Bellamy with a tightly cohesive, notably affective cast, and a pitch-perfect physical production to match, Two Trains Running represents part of Penumbra Theatre's commitment to stage all ten of Mr. Wilson's plays from his 20th Century Cycle. This play soars on the savory talk that has become Mr. Wilson's signature. The magnificent storytelling not only paints a colorful portrait, but provides an in-depth study of a world veiled to those outside of it.

"Two Trains Running" at Penumbra Theatre
Photo by Ann Marsden

From Dominic P. Papatola at the Pioneer Press:

It would be easy to praise individual performances. Craven. who has appeared in all three Penumbra productions of "Trains." plays the frustrated Memphis closer to the breaking point of violence or madness than some of his predecessors. Razzac's Holloway unwinds seemingly tangential stories with captivating ease and ties them tightly into the narrative. Fox, her low heels forever clacking gratingly across Vicki Smith's set, is so numb and insulated as Risa that she might be the walking dead; making her eventual warming near the end of the play that much more aching. Heartbreaking, too, is the word for Alfred's smooth-talking Sterling - who, for all his talk, is Hamlet-like in his inaction until the final line of the play.

But the beauty of Penumbra's production lies not in the bricks of these characters, but in the mortar that joins them. Working from a foundation of familiarity, the director and cast build not just a structure, but a monument to these characters, their hopes and their travails.

Have you seen Penumbra Theatre's "Two Trains Running?" If so, what did you think? Share your review in the comments section.

Two Trains Running runs through October 30.

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Alma Adentro, Miguel Zenon's new vision for Puerto Rican standards

Posted at 2:00 PM on September 29, 2011 by David Cazares (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Music

For the cover photo of his latest CD, the alto saxophonist Miguel Zenon picked a stirring three-decades-old image shot by New York Times writer David Gonzalez.

In the middle of a South Bronx street, a sharply dressed couple dances to a band, sharing a tender moment in Mott Haven, then a predominantly Puerto Rican neighborhood that many had written off.

It's not the image Zenon had in mind for Alma Adentro: The Puerto Rican Songbook, an ambitious recording of popular songs. But he set his original preference for an island scene aside after seeing the black and white photo -- which has everything to do with the music he celebrates and honors.

The South Bronx photo is a frozen moment in the Puerto Rican story: graceful and fluid, the dancers' steps speak to an intensity of spirit amid frustration and struggle. Though the concrete and asphalt surroundings reflect humble circumstances, their expressions are of perseverance and pride. Survivors of hard times, they are alive, celebrating a vibrant culture that connects city streets and island soul.

That same pulse courses through Zenon's interpretations of songs by some of Puerto Rico's most important composers from the 1920s to the 1970s: Rafael Hernandez, Pedro Flores, Sylvia Rexach, Bobby Capo and Tite Curet Alonso. The album on Marsalis Music marks the saxophonist's third exploration of the island's songs, after Jibaro, an album of music from the Puerto Rican countryside released in 2004, and Esta Plena, a 2009 exploration of the percussive storytelling genre.

For his latest work, Zenon is again backed by stellar musicians from his quartet -- pianist Luis Perdomo, bassist Hans Glawischnig and drummer Henry Cole. Added to their exquisite playing are the rich tones of a 10-piece woodwind ensemble put together by composer Guillermo Klein, who expands the music with layers of classical turns. The stunning recording has brought continued acclaim to the highly regarded Zenon, who performed the work at the Newport Jazz Festival.

From the first notes of the Bobby Capo composition Juguete, in which the opening measures are followed by a flurry of notes, it's clear that Zenon aims to evoke the Caribbean spirit of the original melodies while also using well-structured arrangements to launch soaring -- and pensive -- explorations into jazz.

Capo's Incomprendido, played as a salsa tune by the incomparable Ismael Rivera, becomes a soothing ballad. Soft updrafts of English and French horns buffet Zenon's elegant phrasing on alto saxophone.

On the Rafael Hernandez composition Silencio, the saxophonist starts off with a repeated phrase before turning to an initial melody, itself only an introduction to a roaming and improvisational discussion by Zenon and Perdomo that eventually returns to the repeated hook.

A brilliant performer and MacArthur Foundation award winner who is clearly inspired by the island, Zenon goes beyond a mere tribute to the five composers. Avoiding nostalgia, he transforms the tunes, using just enough of them to retain their essence while taking them in new directions, varying tempo, rhythm and mood.

Employing musical stories that develop themes, create conflict and offer resolution, Zenon creates an infusing mix of Puerto Rican melody and straight-ahead jazz, sharp notes and beautiful phrasing. He mixes long and short phrases, much as a writer would.

That is particularly true on the Syvia Rexach tune Olas y Arenas (Waves and Sand), a mini-suite that showcases the saxophonist's creative and performing dexterity.

The recording's blend of formality and spontaneity, of classicism and earthiness also is apparent on the Hernandez tune Perfume de Gardenias, which employs a cadenza to set the stage for Zenon's crisp and clear improvisational run.

In remaking Puerto Rican standards, Zenon has made an enchanting album of melody and rhythm, a contemporary vision of Puerto Rico in New York.

Like the dancers on the South Bronx street, his luxurious tunes are dressed to the nines, graceful and enduring.

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The reviews are in for Pillsbury House Theatre's "The Pride"

Posted at 11:42 AM on September 27, 2011 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

How has life changed for gay men in the past 50 years?

That's the question at the heart of Alexi Kaye Campbell's "The Pride" which splits itself between two love triangles in 1958 and 2008 respectively.

Critics are equally split over the effectiveness of the production. Check out this mix of reviews from the local media:

"The Pride" at Pillsbury House Theatre
Photo by Michal Daniel

From Renee Valois at the Pioneer Press:

"The Pride" shows just how difficult it has been for gay men to claim theirs. Director Noel Raymond dives deep into dangerous emotional currents in Pillsbury House Theatre's production, aided by compelling acting and the intimacy of the small theater.

...There's some irony in the title of the show, which is more about shame than pride - yet ends at a Gay Pride celebration. The play shows just how far acceptance of gays and lesbians has come in 50 years - but also suggests that much more work must be done before all gay people can personally claim their pride inside and not just proclaim it as the name of a public event.

From Claude Peck at the Star Tribune:

"The Pride," directed by Noël Raymond, gets a committed, thought-provoking and at times quite moving production. It's easy to recommend an evening so full of tears and laughter, pathos and insight.

The play also contains frustrations and clumsy tonal shifts. Paul de Cordova is hilarious in several smaller roles, especially that of the profane but sensitive editor of a "lad's" magazine, but his scenes are not always lashed securely to the rest of the show. When Sylvia and Oliver talk on a park bench after intermission, it goes on too long and seems more like speechifying than conversation.

"The Pride" at Pillsbury House Theatre
Photo by Michal Daniel

From John Oliver at HowWasTheShow.com

I can confidently say that Campbell's back-and-forth structural motif really works. We are invited to make vivid connections: the repressed fifties vs. the go-go oughts; an era when homosexuality was a source of shame and anguish vs. the present when gay sexuality is (putatively) celebrated. How have things changed? Have they changed? Campbell asks these questions without providing impossibly easy answers. Lovely.

"The Pride" at Pillsbury House Theatre
Photo by Michal Daniel

From Ed Huyck at City Pages:

There's nothing wrong at all with the ideas behind or the execution of The Pride at the Pillsbury House Theatre, I just wish that I felt a stronger connection to the characters, be it in the confinement of their 1950s reality, or in a different way, the confines of modern day.

...At times, Campbell's script seems a little too on the nose, underlining issues -- repression, bigotry, the overall gay rights movement -- that are best explored through the characters he has built instead of in off-the-cuff speeches they give. The play's best moments -- a verbal fight that turns increasingly violent in act one; a decision to undertake a dubious "therapy" (paging Marcus Bachmann) later on -- work because the characters, and in turn the audience, are completely invested in the action.

Have you seen "The Pride" at Pillsbury House Theatre? If so, what did you think? Share your reviews in the comments section.

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The reviews are in for CTC's "Mercy Watson to the Rescue"

Posted at 1:22 PM on September 14, 2011 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

The Children's Theatre Company appears to have a hankering for bacon.

After much success with its production of Babe the company is now presenting another play starring a pig. Mercy Watson to the Rescue is based on the children's book by popular Minnesota author Kate DiCamillo.

Photo by Dan Norman

Should you go? Two out of three critics say "yes!" Check out these excerpts of reviews to make up your own mind.

From John Olive at HowWasTheShow.com:

The cast has at this material with CTC's patented over-the-top and howlingly funny bombastic blustering (Peter Brosius directs with his usual flair). As Mercy, Sara Richardson gives a winning performance, with her mincing walk and her Charlie Chaplin chapeau. Myself, I found her a touch automaton-ish, but then I'm not 6 years old. Every time Richardson made an entrance childish delight rippled through the auditorium. The kids adored her. She carries the show.

I would recommend Mercy Watson To The Rescue but with a big caveat: it's for young children. Grown-ups are likely to become frustrated by the lack of meaningful character development and the extreme predictability of the story. So get hold of some kids and go. They'll have a great time and you'll have a great time watching them.

And be prepared to walk out of the theater with a powerful hankering for buttered toast.

Photo by Dan Norman

From Lisa Brock at the Star Tribune:

There's not much depth here (Mercy wants toast, Mercy gets toast, by hook or by crook), but plenty of twists, turns and pratfalls as an able ensemble brings these well-known characters to life. Gerald Drake and Mo Perry are entertainingly oblivious as Mr. and Mrs. Watson, a couple so contented with their lives and their "porcine wonder" that they simply ooze infectious cheer. Wendy Lehr brings the demeanor of a diminutive martinet to the role of killjoy neighbor Eugenia Lincoln, positively bristling with self-righteous annoyance as she terrorizes her sister, Baby (Elizabeth Griffith), and browbeaten cat (Jason Ballweber).

The real standouts in this piece, however, are Sara Richardson as Mercy the pig and Reed Sigmund as her arch-nemesis, animal-control officer Francine Poulet. Displaying an impressive range of facial expression and a body seemingly made of rubber, Richardson imbues Mercy with a wide-eyed insouciance and a convincing range of oinks, grunts and squeals in a masterfully comic performance. She's well-matched by Sigmund's over-the-top Francine, who alternately simpers and blusters her way through capturing her prey.

Photo by Dan Norman

From Dominic P. Papatola at the Pioneer Press:

In the books, Mercy is clever and just naughty enough to be winsome and lovable. But something is lost in director Peter Brosius' translation to the stage. Richardson, who plays the eponymous swine, comes off more as a spoiled brat with overtones of ADHD than a guileless critter governed by her tummy.

The problem is one of breadth. CTC seldom costumes animal characters with acres of foam and fur, preferring to let the skill of the actors and the imagination of audiences create the character. And while Richardson is an able enough performer, there's something - well - too human about her characterization of Mercy. Her performance - and some of the others that surround it - isn't sufficiently larger-than-life to transport us into the fanciful world of the play.

This robs the show of momentum and makes the second act of the play - which is essentially one long chase scene - drag rather than glide along.

Mercy Watson to the Rescue runs through October 23 at the Children's Theatre Company. You can also read a nice feature story on the show by Ed Huyck here.

Have you seen the show? If so, what did you think? Leave your review in the comments section.

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Who determines whether art is good or bad?

Posted at 9:28 AM on September 12, 2011 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism

A recent series of comments in response to a story on musician Gretchen Seichrist had me wondering, when do you know something is a bad work of art, as opposed to simply not to your personal taste? And who ultimately gets to decide what art is truly good?

As I usually do when pondering an arts related question, I posted it on Facebook to see what sort of answers I might get (I count approximately 1500 Minnesota artsy types among my FB friends).

The responses I got were, as ever, thoughtful, probing and witty. So I thought I'd share some of them with you.

Since the question is a two-parter, I'll break down the answers respectively:

How do you determine good art from bad? Or from art that's simply not to your taste?

Actress Linda Sue Anderson mused: "Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart said about pornography "I know it when I see it." Perhaps the same is true for "bad" art?"

Poet Kathryn Kysar answered: "Skill and craft can make it good art, even if I don't like the style."

Artist Deborah Foutch wrote:

Art that connects is successful. Sometimes the connection is beauty sometimes it's repellent & there is a lot of stuff in between these extremes but Art that fills the eye, or ears but leaves you with "eh" feeling is unsuccessful.

In a similar vein, writer Jacquie Fuller offered:

When I think of bad art, I think of Milan Kundera's definition of kitsch in "The Unbearable Lightness of Being." In bad art, "all answers are given in advance and preclude any questions."

On the more humorous side, photographer Paul Shambroom wrote:

Simple. If it's in the Museum of Bad Art (http://www.museumofbadart.org/) it's bad. If it's in any other museum, it's good (or someone important thinks it is.) And if it's not in any museum at all it might be genius.

And finally arts educator Bonnie Schock suggests "this depends entirely upon how we define the function of art in society."

Who decides what is good art?

Poet William Reichard's response: "You get to determine what is good and bad art. It's completely subjective. You can trust 'authorities' to make these judgements for you, but it's much more fun to make them yourself."

Sculptor Jim Larson suggested "those who get to determine great art have skillfully maneuvered themselves into those positions."

Poet Leslie Adrienne Miller believes "a society's artists collectively decide good art from bad over time, though individuals with authority at any given moment sometimes think they are the deciders."

and finally Nimbus Theater director Josh Cragun offered this explanation:

The answer is simple: every single person who partakes in creating or consuming [art]. What is profound, beautiful, or mind-opening depends on each individual, their language, upbringing, experiences, and more. The idea that something must be universally acclaimed to be good is a fallacy at best, and perhaps more accurately, a destructive distraction.

That doesn't mean that the conversation about what is important has no value, however. Our evaluations of art are reflections of who we are and how we perceive the world, and exchanging these perceptions is one of the most crucial tools we have in coming to understand both each other and the world in which we live in.

So, what do you think? Have anything you'd like to add to the thoughts above? Share them in the comments section.

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Gretchen Seichrist elaborates on why "people don't like artists"

Posted at 4:46 PM on September 8, 2011 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Culture, People

So a couple of days ago I singled out a statement that Gretchen Seichrist made in a profile by MPR reporter Chris Roberts:

"People don't like artists," she said. "They're suspicious of artists. They resent them, if you've figured out that the people saying that they want to be an artist because they're going to their job every day, and they're resentful about it. I understand that. 'Well how come she gets to do that?'"

The comment inspired a series of reactions, which became the subject of yet another blog post.

That inspired a response from Seichrist, in which she both questioned some of the reactions, and offered this elaboration:

I don't need everybody to like me...

One reason, I made the statement was because I have seen that reaction to other artists that I have known. Also, because it's a mean culture. It's a bully culture. And a gutless one. And I have been bullied many times for being who I am. And I have seen others bullied in the same way. The direct line of the bullying messages was about being an artist. Being myself.

...I would dare to say it again: people don't like artists and um.....women. They don't like women. And uh, the person that shows them what they could do. Oh and they don't like me. Oh and they don't like when their motives are exposed for the opportunistic ones they are! And they don't like themselves sometimes so they say they don't like someone else.

The idea that I am supposed to shut up about it or take it quietly up the shoot is not my philosophy.

There you have it.

Gretchen Seichrist

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Artists: unpopular because they're renegade, or just plain bad?

Posted at 4:20 PM on September 7, 2011 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism

I love it when a post on State of the Arts sparks debate.

I particularly love it when it sparks an intelligent, thoughtful debate.

Such is the case with the comments that have been coming in responding to "Gretchen Seichrist: People Don't Like Artists."

In the post, Seichrist posited the following:

"People don't like artists," she said. "They're suspicious of artists. They resent them, if you've figured out that the people saying that they want to be an artist because they're going to their job every day, and they're resentful about it. I understand that. 'Well how come she gets to do that?'"

This immediately drew a skeptical response from reader Tammy:

Oh, yeah. Nobody likes artists. They were ever so resentful of Picasso, Elvis, Michael Jackson, Tennessee Williams, Marilyn Monroe, Rembrandt, James Dean, and, come to think of it, Lucille Ball. This woman just can't handle it that there are people in the world that don't care for her schtick.

Immediately other readers, including Carolyn Pensey of Eden Prairie, came to Seichrist's defense:

Tammy, I would like to point out that you just posted a long list of artists who were definitely resented for being different and innovative in their respective fields. Picasso? The art world persecuted a whole movement of artists who pioneered cubism. Elvis? He was banned all over the country. Michael Jackson...? Come on. Marilyn Monroe? They badgered her until she killed herself. And here you are very willingly leaping to an angry stance about a simple statement from an artist. Knowing Gretchen, what I think she was trying to say was more along the lines of questioning why artists need to justify themselves to the world at large. The insurance salesman doesn't have to justify why he goes out and sells insurance, but people who blaze their own trails are continually required to explain why it is they are doing what they're doing. Why are you different? Why are you gay? Why don't your shoes match? Why don't you speak my language? Why are you coloring outside the lines? Why don't you use mustard in your meatloaf? People generally develop a disdain for the things they don't understand. You are missing the point if all you see here is a "schtick." Those lyrics hold their own against anything out there--past, present, or future. Great music, great songs, great art, and her show the other night was funny and heartfelt.

But Tammy remained firm in her stance, offering the following:

You guys are totally missing the point. Of course every artist is going to have haters and critics; Gretchen needs to understand that some people don't like her music, and that's all. Not everybody is going to get it, not everybody is going to think it's great, and it's not because they don't trust her or are jealous of her because she gets to do what she wants. That was a crappy statement to make is all I was trying to say. My guess is that she can't handle it when people don't like her, so she is trying to justify it any way she can to make herself feel better. I've heard her music and I think it's simply awful. That's my opinion. You can have one, too, and you obviously enjoy her work. That's your opinion. But Gretchen is an artist and she needs to get used to hearing people say she sucks; there's always going to be somebody, and they might actually just think you suck!

Laura Dyer then had this to add:

Everyone has artistic potential of some kind and those who feel motivated to become full-time artists should be supported as much as possible. A healthy arts community means economic and social prosperity. The decision to define oneself as an artist must begin internally, and it takes great bravery to come forward and allow the external part of the process to begin. Taste is always subjective, but Patches and Gretchen has been criticized on a very emotional basis. I think this is because Gretchen is strong, ambitious and, like Madonna, has a highly visual talent for cultural synthesis with a particular genius that runs deeper than formal technique. Her work is warm and emotionally connected, though her style is the very opposite - like Dylan's is. This is confusing to some audiences, not to mention even more challenging from a female artist.

The conversation led me to wonder, who exactly gets to determine what is good art, and what is bad art? How do you know that something is bad, versus simply not to your taste?

Your thoughts are welcome, as always.

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The reviews are in for Jungle Theater's Hamlet

Posted at 10:05 AM on September 7, 2011 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

Shakespeare's Hamlet is a timeless play, made evident by how often the classic is staged even now, four centuries after it was written.

The Jungle Theater's production of Hamlet brings the tale solidly into the modern era, infusing the story with such technology as smartphones and ipads.

This mix of new and old worked well for some critics, but distracted others. Read on for excerpts of their reviews.

Hamlet at the Jungle Theater
Photo by Michal Daniel

From Ed Huyck at City Pages:

Boehlke's idea of layering a modern veneer on the story certainly isn't unique (the National Theatre went down a similar path with its latest production). However, it works quite well, especially as he has added enough ancient weight (think back to those massive columns) to keep the original tale front and center, and isn't afraid to just head back to the story when needed. The opening, which used security cameras to show us the ghost of Hamlet's father, was stunning and gave the production the energy to keep moving, even when the plot (Shakespeare had a lot of story on his plate here, along with all the self-doubt, murder, and near incest) threatened to drag the proceedings down.

From Graydon Royce at the Star Tribune:

Boehlke's conceit never works better than when Ophelia, lamenting her father's death, hijacks a singer's microphone and addresses a gala crowd. TV screens grab closeups of her face, magnifying the chaos of her madness.

In other manifestations, though, modernity threatens to upstage critical moments -- such as the ancillary drama in an airport bar where Polonius counsels Ophelia about Hamlet. Is there genius in creating a distraction that forces one to concentrate on primary action? Perhaps, but the gambit risks being nothing more than a diversion.

Writ large, that very question hangs over the entirety of Boehlke's virtuosic staging. Does the play itself find room within this remarkable vessel?

Hamlet at the Jungle Theater
Photo by Michal Daniel

From Rob Hubbard at the Pioneer Press:

Shakespeare's longest play asks a lot of a cast and crew, and this group seems keenly attuned to director/designer Bain Boehlke's vision. It often has the feel of a Hollywood political thriller, complete with conniving power brokers, action framed through video screens and gratuitous NRA-friendly product placement.

Amid this frazzling flurry of activity is the performance of Hugh Kennedy in the title role. His is something of a slacker prince, only occasionally exhibiting the sullen gravitas associated with the role, instead opting for a sing-song delivery that purists might find unnervingly flippant. But, at 25, Kennedy is convincingly youthful for this college-aged royal, coming off as a biting jokester with a casual air and an unpredictable temper. It's a very interesting performance.

From John Olive at HowWasTheShow.com:

This makes for some striking effects. For example, the ghost of Hamlet's father is first seen on a security camera, as he stalks the drab concrete corridors of a modern government building. Hamlet rushes to meet him on the 12th floor, and the ghost takes him down to the sub-sub-basement for their gruesome and galvanizing scene. I have never seen this sequence done this way and it was revelatory.

But this came at a price, for it requires a lengthy set change, mid-scene: the set-shifters came out in half light to strike the elevator, move the massive columns around, creating the basement. Then the scene began again - with much of the energy gone. Indeed, my greatest criticism of this otherwise worthy production is that there are too many endless scenery shifts. It gives the show a herky-jerky rhythm and a start-over energy that, imo, interferes with the flow of the rich story.

Hamlet at the Jungle Theater
Photo by Michal Daniel

From Matthew Everett at TC Daily Planet

Jungle Theater artistic director Bain Boehlke once more, as he so often does (and often successfully), served as both director and set designer on this production. Here, however, it feels like the tail is wagging the dog. The production feels as if it has been conceived and designed, but not directed. This is a hyper-modern, high tech, multimedia Hamlet. Thanks to this production, I know that Queen Gertrude has an iPad, Polonius uses Skype, Ophelia likes gin and tonics, Claudius is obsessed with his cell phone, Laertes will attempt to hold conversations and work on his laptop computer at the same time, Hamlet has a blog or a Twitter account, and, honestly, I don't care.

Why would you choose a play this good and assemble a cast this gifted (Kennedy, Bradley Greenwald as Claudius, Michelle Barber as Gertrude, the almost relentlessly entertaining Gary Briggle as Polonius, Paul Rutledge as Horatio, just for starters) and then constantly get in their way? The sets are lovely, but the scene shifts and the never-ending stage business are devouring the story. (Claudius will be right with you, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, but first he needs to load up at the breakfast buffet.) Numerous scenes are crammed with extras who mumble or audibly carry on conversations that are warring with the actual dialogue of the lead characters. You know, the ones with the lines Shakespeare wrote, the story we came to the theater to hear. The technology is clever and shiny but completely unnecessary. We're listening to Hamlet, the words do the heavy lifting, we get what he's driving at in the soliloquy. He doesn't need a PowerPoint presentation behind him on a large screen.

From Ellen Burkhardt at Minnesota Monthly:

Boehlke makes the most of the Jungle's relatively tiny stage by cleverly rearranging pillars, adding and subtracting furniture, and drawing on the impressive technical skills of lighting designer Barry Browning to depict mood, time of day, and emotional cues. Additionally, the location and time of each scene are clearly described on a projection screen, and whenever possible, digital images are broadcast on stage to emphasize the topic at hand. These added visuals help lend transparency to the play, thereby deepening the bond between the audience and Hamlet.

Whether or not Kennedy's Hamlet and Boehlke's interpretation of the woeful tale are what Shakespeare imagined some 400 years ago is up for debate. What is certain is that the Jungle has taken a classic production, added a twist, and concocted a show that's altogether powerful, memorable, and dynamic--and that's something even Shakespeare would approve of.

Hamlet runs through October 9 at the Jungle Theater in Minneapolis. Have you seen the show? Let us know what you thought in the comments section.

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The reviews are in for the MN Fringe Festival

Posted at 11:46 AM on August 10, 2011 by Marianne Combs (2 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Events, Theater

The Minnesota Fringe Festival has hit the half-way mark. This is the time when attendance at certain shows drops off markedly, while others now have lines out the door. Word is out on which shows to see, which to avoid, and which are generally a toss-up.

A line forms before a performance of "Taiko Blast!" at Mixed Blood Theater in Minneapolis
MPR Photo/Jeffrey Thompson

Want to make sure you've done your homework before you take on the second half of the Fringe? I've compiled links to reviews from the local media - more than enough information to help you separate the wheat from the chaff. See a review you think is totally off-mark? Let us know!

HowWasTheShow.com

Pioneer Press

Twin Cities Daily Planet

Fringe Famous

Minnesota Playlist

Metro Magazine

mnartists.org

Max Sparber on MinnPost

Star Tribune: August 4

Star Tribune: August 5

Star Tribune: August 6

Star Tribune: August 7

Star Tribune: August 8

Star Tribune: August 9

City Pages: Day One

City Pages: Day Two

City Pages: Day Three

City Pages: Day Four

City Pages: Day Five

City Pages: Day Six

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Cantus vocal ensemble makes national news, part 2

Posted at 4:04 PM on August 1, 2011 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Music

So earlier today I posted on the New York Times' review of Cantus' latest CD "That Eternal Day."

The review, by James Oestreich, was less than stellar, and had at least one MPR Classical host, Brian Newhouse, fuming. He writes:

I think Mr. Oestreich needs to do a little more exercising, if he finds Cantus' version of Simple Gifts "exhausting." I first put Cantus' That Eternal Day into the car CD player on an overcast autumn afternoon last year. That very track, Stephen Caracciolo's arrangement of Simple Gifts, was the most beautiful thing on disc I'd heard all year. A first: I pulled over and listened to it three times in a row. When I put the car in gear again, the world was less gray, a little more illumined by beauty. How Mr. Oestreich hears this music as curdled and soupy is absolutely stupefying to me. What's that they say beauty being in the eye of the beholder?

However, Cantus Executive Director Mary Lee points out that sometimes a little negative attention is better than no attention at all:

We were thrilled that our latest disc, "That Eternal Day," was noticed and reviewed by the NYTimes. Cantus does not have the PR power of a label and doesn't use a national publicist, so the fact that the NYTimes has brought this recording to the attention of its national and international audience is very good news for us. And whether we agree or not with his specific comments, critical or constructive feedback is always much more welcome than none at all.

Have you listened to "That Eternal Day?" If so, what do you think of the album?

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The reviews are in for Theatre Pro Rata's Waiting for Godot

Posted at 3:31 PM on July 14, 2011 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

James Rodriguez as Estragon and Dave Gangler as Vladimir in Theatre Pro Rata's staging of 'Waiting for Godot'

Theatre Pro Rata presents Samuel Beckett's "Waiting for Godot" at the Hollywood Theater in northeast Minneapolis through July 23.

Critics seem to agree that, despite the stifling heat in the old building, this show is "worth the wait."

From Graydon Royce at the Star Tribune:

At intermission, I offered the man sitting behind me $10 for his bottle of Mountain Dew. He wanted $20, so we had no deal, but such was the value of a cold drink among us languishing in the heat of an abandoned building. Actually, that guy did me a solid because a tall Dew likely would have necessitated a subsequent visit to the Porta-Potty outside the Hollywood Theater in northeast Minneapolis. No air conditioning, no running water; just this dusty, disheveled auditorium teeming with ghosts -- the perfect location to consider Theatre Pro Rata's production of Samuel Beckett's "Waiting for Godot."

From Matthew Everett at TC Daily Planet:

Director Ryan Ripley and his cast of able buffoons are emphasizing the comedy and letting the philosophy take care of itself, which seems like exactly the right choice. They don't overdo it, they just follow Beckett's lead. After all, absurdity is more often laughable than it is tragic. The outlines of the play are fairly simple. Vladimir (Didi) and Estragon (Gogo) are waiting. In each act, they have different coping strategies for passing the time. In each act, they are visited by the slightly menacing giant form of Pozzo (David Tufford) and his hapless servant-on-a-leash Lucky (Jesse Corder). In each act, they receive a visit from Godot's messenger boy (Hazel Cutting), telling them that Godot has been delayed and will probably not arrive until tomorrow. Within that framework, all sorts of comic shenanigans come to pass.

From Ed Huyck at City Pages:

Gangler and Rodriguez make for an effective duo, playing the Vaudevillian moments and the crises with equal aplomb. Their two-man-act moments can be a lot of fun, but the characters really come alive when they begin to plumb the depths of their collective despair only to be saved by the friendship that has kept them coming back to this field, day after day, for years on end.

From John Olive at HowWasTheShow.Com:

Director Ryan Ripley's production is brisk and energetic. He seems to understand that the Hollywood is not the place for the deliberate, stylized, balletic interpretation so in vogue these days. His Godot emphasizes physicality and pratfalls. It doesn't pause to savor Beckett's opulent language, or his philosophical/quasi-theological musings. This Godot moves.

Have you seen Theatre Pro Rata's production of Waiting for Godot? If so, what did you think? Share your thoughts in the comments section.

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The reviews are in for the Guthrie's "H.M.S. Pinafore"

Posted at 11:31 AM on June 29, 2011 by Marianne Combs (38 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

Robert O. Berdahl (Captain Corcoran) and the sailors from the cast of the Guthrie Theater's production of Gilbert and Sullivan's H.M.S. Pinafore, with additional material by Jeffrey Hatcher. Photo by Michal Daniel

The Guthrie Theater presents the comic musical H.M.S. Pinafore through August 28. The production was the first blockbuster hit by the dynamic duo of Gilbert and Sullivan.

For some critics the show is the perfect tonic for a dull summer - for others it's simply "gone overboard." Read these excerpts to get a better sense of the show.

From Rohan Preston at the Star Tribune:

Joe Dowling's staging of Gilbert and Sullivan's "H.M.S. Pinafore" is a deluxe delight. From David Bolger's arresting choreography for a handsome crew of sailors and Andrew Cooke's disco arrangements for a live orchestra, to Fabio Toblini's sumptuous costumes and set designer Frank Hallinan Flood's tiptop ship deck, the creative team pulled out all the stops.

...Show updates include conductor Cooke's marriage of Gilbert & Sullivan with Abba-esque beats. Yet the karaoke-sounding parts of the score did not detract from the levity. Choreographer Bolger's gorgeous moves include a sexy tango by Berdahl and Baldwin (and Alfie Parker Jr. as her subconscious desire). There also is a terrific tap number plus an early dance by Baldwin and nine sailors in one line, each behind the other. Her cleavage-enhancing get-up, not to mention her agile coloratura, suggests that Buttercup is a feminine powerhouse.

...The show's elements, including falling confetti and a disco ball, help to make this "Pinafore" the comic tonic for our bummer of a summer.

Christina Baldwin (Buttercup) and Tinia Moulder in the Guthrie Theater's production of Gilbert and Sullivan's H.M.S. Pinafore.
Photo by Michal Daniel

From Ed Huyck at City Pages:

When it's clicking (which is a good chunk of the time), the Guthrie's H.M.S. Pinafore is a lot of fun--a wild romp through a delightfully silly situation with broadly drawn comic characters and a set of wonderful Gilbert and Sullivan songs. It doesn't always reach those heights, however, as the production is tied down by a, shall we say, poor choice to "update" the musical accompaniment and make some additions to the story (from local playwright Jeffrey Hatcher) that don't do much but lengthen the evening without adding anything to it.

...At times, the Joe Dowling-directed production threatens to descend from satire and goofy titillation into baser, Benny Hill territory, and the two sides don't sit together very well. I get that some of the characters are pompous asses; I don't need their rumps shoved in my face to sell the point.

Jason Simon (Dick Deadeye) and Christina Baldwin (Buttercup) in the Guthrie Theater's production of Gilbert and Sullivan's H.M.S. Pinafore.
Photo by Michal Daniel
From Renee Valois at the Pioneer Press:

Director Joe Dowling seems more intent on creating a huge spectacle than telling the silly story - and he's thrown everything he can at it.

The huge cast provides an endless kaleidoscope of noise and movement that begins with the chorus of sailors doing acrobatic flips and cartwheels and dancing across what appears to be the front deck of a coal-burning steamship.

...There's no way to miss the overblown climax, with lots of huge waving flags, a parade of oversized nautical props and oversized nautical props and confetti shooting wildly into the air. It feels a bit like a Fourth of July celebration - or that moment in Times Square when the ball drops. In fact, the production sometimes so overwhelms the show that it's a wonder it doesn't sink the ship.

The cast of the Guthrie Theater's production of Gilbert and Sullivan's H.M.S. PINAFORE, with additional material by Jeffrey Hatcher. Directed by Joe Dowling, choreography and musical staging by David Bolger, set design by Frank Hallinan Flood, costume design by Fabio Toblini, lighting design by Malcolm Rippeth.
Photo by Michal Daniel

From John Olive at HowWasTheShow.com

The acting is terrific, of course (this is the Guthrie). Ditto the singing; the wonderful G&S music comes through with resounding intensity. As the lovers Heather Lindell and Aleks Knezevich sing gorgeously and their scenes together are very funny. Robert O. Berdahl amazes as the Captain - although his physical, out-there approach caused me to occasionally fear for his mental health. Peter Thomson excels as Admiral Porter, with his potbelly and his goofy skipping dance. I adored Christina Baldwin as not-so-aptly-named Buttercup; perhaps it's because her performance is relatively straightforward. It all works well. Indeed, high-energy/low-camp is emerging as a dominant Guthrie style: witness the recent 39 Steps and (to a lesser extent) Arms And The Man. These artists do it as well as it's ever been done.

Does this approach please your Intrepid Reviewer? It does not. He has an allergy to performers who want us to believe they're better than the play. He also suffers from great respect for traditional Gilbert and Sullivan.

But is the Guthrie's production of H.M.S. Pinafore well done? It is. In fact, it's beautifully done, as evidenced by the wildly enthusiastic reaction of the opening night audience. They applauded after every song and leapt to their feet for a standing ovation.

Have you seen the Guthrie Theater's production of H.M.S. Pinafore? If so, what did you think? Share your review in the comments section.

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The reviews are in for Park Square Theatre's "Panic"

Posted at 9:31 AM on June 21, 2011 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

Stephen D'Ambrose - and a dead body - in "Panic"

Park Square Theatre presents "Panic," a classic Hitchcock style thriller written by Worthington native Joseph Goodrich.

Thinking about seeing it? Find out what the local critics are saying...

From Rohan Preston at the Star Tribune:

Even though "Panic" won the 2008 Edgar Allan Poe Award for best play from the Mystery Writers of America, it can still be edited. There's a scene in the first act that drags a little as reporter Alain Duplay (Garry Geiken) tapes an interview with Lockwood.

Otherwise, from Kirby Moore's handsome set design to Michael Kittel's lighting, "Panic" is a winner. The smart, loyal American secretary is the hero, and Maren plays her with reserves of physical and intellectual strength. It helps that the actor is tall and solid, and that she signals her intelligence with her eyes and a tone that shows a sharp mind at work.

The casting is largely faultless. Kingsley invests Emma with moral strength, even as she toddles around with a cane. Geiken's Alain is smarmy and ingratiating, but not too unctuous. Fellner's Liliane is an international woman of mystery whose secrets we want to know.

The foreign accents, which sometimes wax and wane with actors in other shows, are fairly steady in this production, which means we can focus on the characters.

Its subject might be murder, but "Panic" is a show that's about thrills. Bratlie's staging, with this swell cast, hits the right buttons.

Barbara Kingsley in "Panic"

From John Olive at HowWasTheShow.com:

Much praise is due Goodrich for attempting a stage mystery. The form has been thoroughly co-opted by Hollywood. Film-makers can use energy-conferring jump cuts. They can create realistic violence. Juxtapose multiple story lines. Playwrights have more limited resources. They must rely on old-fashioned character development, freely employ red herrings, and describe a lot of off-stage action. In Panic, Goodrich has hit on a nifty device: the spinning of film scenarios. This gives what might be static descriptions of action real present tense energy. Indeed, the writing here is smart and effective...

Here's the bottom line: Panic is well-written and beautifully acted. But it's old-fashioned, which means the pacing is stately and play veers to the long side (an hour and ten minutes for Act 1, an hour twenty for Act 2). But if you like mysteries (e.g., the great Agatha Christie), well, this is a production for you.

From Rob Hubbard at the Pioneer Press:

Alfred Hitchcock was called the "master of suspense" because the English filmmaker knew how to employ his ample cinematic skill set to create anticipation and tension, sending his audiences' adrenaline racing.

Playwright Joseph Goodrich seems to hold similar aspirations, judging from the production of "Panic" currently receiving its Twin Cities premiere from Park Square Theatre. But even on the rare occasions when Hitchcock was off his game, his films never moved as slowly as "Panic," which drags along, pulled by the thin thread of one conflict and twists that take way too long to develop. Hence, despite the best efforts of a pair of first-rate veteran actors and a skilled design team, the production is far from a thriller.

Have you seen "Panic" at Park Square Theatre? If so, what did you think? Share your reviews in the comments section.

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Basilica Block Party caught in same-sex marriage debate

Posted at 2:29 PM on June 14, 2011 by Marianne Combs (8 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Music

The Basilica of St. Mary, in Minneapolis, host to the annual summer music event "Basilica Block Party."
MPR Photo/Tom Weber

When Minneapolis photographer Jason Wermager sent out a Facebook "invite" to 200 or so of his friends to "Say NO to the Basilica Block Party" his goal was simply to raise awareness. On the event description he writes:

This was created to take a stand and let organizations, businesses and other groups know that it is NOT OK to support those that do not support equality and want to change the MN State Constitution to ban gay marriage. To make a real change, we need to start taking action now. Do not wait until you vote in 2012.

The Minnesota Catholic Church has made it their number 1 priority to define marriage in the State Constitution between one man and one woman, in tern, banning gay marriage.

The Catholic Church has already spent millions of dollars in the production of Anti-Gay DVDs and lobbying the State Legislature to add this hateful amendment to the Minnesota Constitution.

Please do not attend the Basilica Block Party this year. Please do not contribute money to a Catholic Church fundraiser while they are spending millions of dollars to write discrimination into the MN constitution.

I also encourage you to contact the bands and stage sponsors. This is the time to get peoples attention, sponsors and businesses attention.

Cities 97 is the main co-sponsor of the event, contact them as well.

Since Wermager posted the invite to his virtual event, more than 3,500 people have signed up to "attend" - although in this case, "attending" is really about being anywhere other than the annual summer block party.

Wermager says he's been amazed by his Facebook page's popularity.

Because of the overwhelming support from the Facebook event and people of Minnesota this has become way more than I could have ever imaged. I am hoping this inspires others to share their voice and start dialogue with friends, family, neighbors and co-workers. A lot of people have been sending communication to the bands, promoters and sponsors. Many folks have shared the contact information and I continue to encourage people to contact these bands and sponsors directly as well.

In recent days the facebook page ("Say NO to the Basilica Block Party") has also become host to some very heated debate on the issue. But when asked if it worries him that his "awareness-raising" event has spun out of control, Wermager responds:

My only worry is that November 2012 election day comes and Minnesota did not share their voice. November 2012 will be the day Minnesotans cast their votes in regards to a Ban on Gay Marriage, there is a lot of work to do and awareness to get out there before that day.

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The reviews are in for Guthrie Theater's "God of Carnage"

Posted at 1:30 PM on June 8, 2011 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

Tracey Maloney (Annette Raleigh), Jennifer Blagen (Veronica Novak), Chris Carlson (Bill Novak) and Bill McCallum (Alan Raleigh) in the Guthrie Theater production of "God of Carnage" by Yasmina Reza.
Photo by Paul Kolnik

God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza runs through August 7 at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. Thinking of seeing the show? Check out what the local critics think. Have you already seen the show? Then share your review in the comments section.

From Chris Hewitt at the Pioneer Press:

Ostensibly, the play is about two couples meeting to hash out an apology. The son of Veronica and Michael (Jennifer Blagen and Chris Carlson) has lost two teeth in a playground battle with the son of Annette and Alan (Tracey Maloney and Bill McCallum). The four gather at Veronica and Michael's tastefully uncomfortable home to discuss the unruly kids but, more important, to demonstrate that when it comes to unruliness their children are rank amateurs. By the end of the afternoon, insults, cellphones, purses and plenty of even more unpleasant things have been hurled.

Yasmina Reza's play often gets compared to Edward Albee's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf," which also is about a long, drunken encounter between two couples where the balance of power keeps shifting. That comparison is not fair because "Woolf" is a masterpiece and "Carnage" is a much more modest affair - the sort of evening of semi-outrageous entertainment that will immediately be forgotten afterward when you're deciding what to eat to finish off the evening. It's a glib little play (translated, like all of Reza's comedies by Christopher Hampton, whose own work - including the play, "Dangerous Liaisons," and the film, "Atonement" - is more ambitious than Reza's). But it feels like it's aware that it's not terribly insightful, so it gets in, gets some laughs and gets out inside of 90 minutes.

... But if their dialogue gets less compelling, these fine actors still manage to raise the stakes in their argument until, by the end, it's clear both that they're not bickering about a playground feud and that the collateral damage of a couple teeth is nothing. Heck, with these people for role models, it's a miracle their little monsters didn't rip each other's lungs out.

Jennifer Blagen (Veronica Novak) and Chris Carlson (Bill Novak) in the Guthrie Theater production of "God fo Carnage" by Yasmina Reza.
Photo by Paul Kolnik

From Graydon Royce at the Star Tribune:

We are having such a good time watching the bile fly, the repressed recriminations rise and the unvarnished brickbats sting that we can be lulled into enjoying Yasmina Reza's "God of Carnage" as a high-toned sitcom. Indeed, in venues less polite than the Guthrie's proscenium theater, we might hear the catcalls ("You go, girl!") or the swelling assent as a juicy insult lands ("Woooooooooh!").

Ah, but we are in the THEE-ah-tah, and perhaps our society's assumed gentility is the mark for Reza's stiletto.

"Morality decrees we should control our impulses," says Alan, a suave legal shark and one of the combatants. "But sometimes it's good not to control them."

Really? Where would we be without centuries of carefully crafted religion, law, ethics and manners to hide behind?

"I'm a Neanderthal," shouts Michael, Alan's opposite, and we wonder whether he might be the most honest character in this parlor farce.

...Certainly, the joy of "God of Carnage" lies in watching "folks like us" savage each other for 90 minutes. Reza's strong suit is an ear for dialogue, yet don't discount her ideas. Like a dagger, their impact may not occur until we notice much later the blood flowing from our ribs.

Bill McCallum (Alan Raleigh) Chris Carlson (Bill Novak) and Tracey Maloney (Annette Raleigh) in the Guthrie Theater production of "God of Carnage" by Yasmina Reza. Photo by Paul Kolnik

From John Olive at HowWasTheShow.com:

... when Michael breaks out the high end rum, the play takes on a truly frightening spin. That these people are so well groomed, so contained, so perfectly upper class makes their shrieking deterioration lusciously comic. Ms. Reza's feel for these sweetly nasty characters (it helps that she is French) is flawless.

At the end of this ninety minute free-for-all, the characters, the playwright, and the audience are spent. "What do we know...?" someone asks, panting. Indeed. God Of Carnage is a long day's journey into... well, perhaps not that much. But it is, thanks to the smart writing, a hoot and then some, and the Guthrie cast makes the trip well worth taking.

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The reviews are in for Cirque du Soleil's "Ovo"

Posted at 2:30 PM on May 31, 2011 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Dance, Theater

Image courtesy Cirque du Soleil

The circus has come to town again, and this time it comes bearing not elephants and tigers, but ladybugs, spiders and ants.

Ovo, Cirque du Soleil's latest creation, explores the world of insects, including their social habits, love lives, and of course, amazing acrobatic skills.

All three reviews I found for Ovo were generally positive, but some had their quibbles. And when tickets can run anywhere from $31.50 to $350, well, quibbles can sometimes be deal-breakers.

Read on for excerpts of reviews - click on the links to read them in their entirety.
From Rohan Preston at the Star Tribune:

Of the many shows that Cirque du Soleil has brought to the Twin Cities over the past decade, including the dark "Dralion" and cute "Kooza," their latest offering is by far the most creative.

"Ovo," which opened Thursday in a giant striped tent across from the Mall of America, has acts that showcase feats of strength and daring -- acrobats on trampoline, trapeze and high wire who appear impervious to danger -- similar to ones we've seen before.

But the creative team behind this show has invested it with much more imagination and invention this time around. The trampoline act near the end has gymnastic acrobats bouncing high off walls. A performer might drop say, 30 feet, on his back, then bounce way up in the same position, each time taking steps on the rock-climbing wall. (The creators of Broadway's problem-plagued, budget-busting "Spider-man" could take a note from this segment, which is no doubt copyrighted, but which seems simple and communicates very effectively.)

Image courtesy Cirque du Soleil

From Dominic P. Papatola:

...Compared to some of the previous Cirque shows that have come to the Twin Cities, "Ovo" is lighter in tone (no melancholy clowns or tender moments here) and - at two hours and 40 minutes - can feel a little draggy, especially after intermission.

Though the finale - a company of crickets bouncing on trampolines and climbing walls - is propulsive, it feels its length and doesn't really end the show with the kind of exclamation point one expects from Cirque shows. In these small ways, "Ovo" doesn't measure up to the best of Cirque du Soleil. Despite not clearing that very high bar, "Ovo" is still a very entertaining evening.

Image courtesy Cirque du Soleil

From Ed Huyck at City Pages:

Cirque music comes from a world all its own, or perhaps from a deep, previously unheard pit of Hell. Loud and aimless, it is mainly there to provide a backdrop for all of the action onstage, but the anonymous New-Age-like sounds really grate on the soul after a while. The volume doesn't help. I'm a 30-year veteran of rock, metal, and punk concerts, and my ears were starting to hurt by the end of the show. Of course, it did help to drown out the noise of the flights arriving and taking off from the nearby airport.

​I don't want to harp on the music, but of all the Cirque shows I've sat through over the years, the only one that made any kind of aural impression was Love, which had the advantage of using the catalog of one of the great rock and pop acts of the 20th century. I'm not asking for music of the Beatles' level, but at least some tune I could take home with me, beyond aimless singing and pounding drums? Please?

Been to see Ovo already? Share your own review in the comments section.

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Afrocubism, a Mali-Cuba connection

Posted at 1:25 PM on May 27, 2011 by David Cazares (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism

Any list of the best world music albums ever would have to include the 1996 Buena Vista Social Club recording that introduced international audiences to some of Cuba's living musical treasures -- and the Cuban son, the earthy genre that reflects the joy and pain of everyday life.

Released by World Circuit Records, the album featured then-89 year old Francisco Repilado, better known as Compay Segundo. Joining him were master pianist Ruben Gonzalez, singer Ibrahim Ferrer, guitarist and singer Eliades Ochoa and others. Producer and guitarist Ry Cooder played with them.

It was a brilliant collaboration of mostly elderly performers whose romantic musical conversations sold more than eight million records.

What most people didn't know then was that the project was the producers' plan B.

When a scheduled collaboration between Cuban and Malian musicians in Havana fell apart - perhaps because the Africans couldn't obtain visas - Cuban bandleader Juan de Marcos Gonzalez (who now leads the Afro Cuban All Stars) rescued his elderly compatriots from relative obscurity for the project. In the twilight of their lives, they became big stars.

Fifteen years later, World Circuit producer Nick Gold is trying to recreate the magic of the Buena Vista sessions with his original idea. Afrocubism, released late last year on Nonesuch Records in the United States, brings together two of the original Malian invitees -- lute master Bassekou Kouyate and Rail Band guitarist Djelimady Tounkara.

Joining them are Ochoa and his ensemble Grupo Patria, kora player Toumani Diabate, Malian griot singer Kasse Mady Diabate and balafon player Lassana Diabate. (The Diabates are not related.)

Recorded in Madrid, the album's 14 tracks add Cuban influences to African tunes and vice versa in an elegant fusion of guitar and vocals, at times lively and at others pensive.

On an instrumental version of Mali Cuba, the musicians celebrate the close ties that developed between the two countries, with an intriguing interplay between Ochoa on guitar and Toumani Diabate on kora, a long-necked harp lute. Bouncing with multiple rhythms, it is an inviting introduction to the musicians' collaboration.

Jarabi (Passion) is a song about following one's heart instead of entering into an arranged marriage. It starts with a Cuban riff from Segundo's signature tune Chan Chan and features an exchange between Ochoa on acoustic guitar and Djelimadi Tounkara on electric guitar, each improvising off different rhythms.

The musicians also deliver a gentle and multi-textured instrumental improvisation of Guantanamera, a soft and swaying bicultural take of the classic Cuban song.

The music on Afrocubism is understated, and with spare percussion, the recording lacks the power inherent in much of Cuban and African music. But the recording is an inviting and intriguing exploration of the longstanding connections between African and Cuban musicians.

Though much of the African quality in Cuban music is centuries old, musicians from the two countries have collaborated since the 1950s, with Malians studying in Cuba and playing the island's music.

It's uncertain whether the new recording will achieve the same success as its predecessor. But Gold has again created something magical.

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The reviews are in for "Come Hell and High Water"

Posted at 1:34 PM on May 24, 2011 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

There's been great anticipation around the debut production of The Moving Company, in part because it is not so much a debut as a reunion for these veteran Twin Cities performers. Dominique Serrand, Steve Epp, Nathan Keepers and Christina Baldwin were all members of the critically acclaimed Theatre de la Jeune Lune before it closed in 2008.

The Moving Company's first full production, "Come Hell and High Water," runs through May 29 at the Southern Theater. Thinking of going? Check out these reviews:

Steve Epp, Nathan Keepers, and Christina Baldwin in "Come Hell and High Water"
All photos by Aaron Fenster

From Dominic P. Papatola at the Pioneer Press:

The punch in this telling comes more from its images than from its story, and director Serrand's staging has crammed this production full of sense-tickling stimuli. Water is an ever-present motif in this story - almost a character in itself - and Serrand finds all kinds of ways to reference its omnipresent force. Water is sprayed, spat and spilled. It's used as a percussion instrument. It paints the floors. And in a breathtaking finale, the sound, sight and feel of it threaten to spill across the stage and into the audience.

...In other hands, this melange of song, story and image - jammed into a production that lasts just over 90 minutes - might feel overwhelming or overstuffed. But Serrand and his collaborators are working at a high level of artistry and sophistication, and if "Come Hell and High Water" brims with anything, it does so with grace and beauty.

Steve Epp and Nathan Keepers play the older and younger versions of the same character in "Come Hell and High Water," a device they also employed in the Theatre de la Jeune Lune production "Gulliver."

From Ed Huyck at City Pages:

Come Hell and High Water works best in the moments between the story, where the chorus of singers and performers bring the rising tide of the river or the drudgery of the cotton field to life. Then there is the music, ranging from modern folk to rock to Mozart (always a favorite for Serrand and Epp), brought to life through Christina Baldwin's magnificent voice.

Some of it is breathtaking, including a split-second transformation that completely changes the stream of the narrative about midway through, and the rain-soaked finale. The merging of music, movement, and drama is definitely something that Serrand and Epp are well known for from their Jeune Lune days, and here it serves the story remarkably well.

Christina Baldwin, Nathan Keepers, Steve Epp and Katelyn Skelley in "Come Hell and High Water"

From Janet Preus at HowWasTheShow.com:

Water is splashed, sprayed and drops as rain from above; gunshots ring out (two athletic shoes slapped together); lumber waves above our heads and lands in perfect rows on the other side of the stage to construct another locale. Their staging is not only endlessly inventive, it all works together.

What's problematic about this play is that it's hard to care very much about this journey. The characters didn't seem to connect emotionally with each other, so I had little invested emotionally in them. If they don't care particularly about this journey, why should I?

Nevertheless, it raises questions of race and prejudice, injustice, politics, education - any number of social issues relevant in 1927 and still relevant today. And I applaud this company for not playing safe, for pairing the unlikely, for seeing theater itself as a journey, rather than as a means to an end at the box office. This play might not have accomplished everything that was intended, but it is provocative enough to make me want to see what they'll do next time.

Have you seen "Come Hell and High Water?" If so, what did you think? Share your thoughts in the comments section.

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The reviews are in for Park Square Theatre's "Opus"

Posted at 9:35 AM on May 18, 2011 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

Paul de Cordoba, David Mann, Emily Gunyou Halaas and Stephen D'Ambrose in "Opus"
Photo by Petronella Ytsma

Park Square Theatre presents "Opus" through May 29 in St. Paul. Reviews range from "lovely" and "honest" to "discordant and messy." Thinking of going? Read these excerpts of four different reviews; click on the links to read the full reviews. Seen the show? Share your review in the comments section.

From John Olive at HowWasTheShow.com:

...The characters in ...Opus display no ...self-doubt. They are musicians at the top of their profession, playing in an internationally renowned string quartet (the Lazare), lionized, elitist, forging firmly forward. They waste no time reflecting on their one-in-a-million luck. Occasionally they do wax poetic about the amazing music they play, as when Grace rhapsodizes, beautifully, about the "dark, chocolate sound" of a special viola, or when Dorian theorizes that, still playing at the age of 90, he'll come to a musical rest, and "just stop." Lovely.

But such lyrical moments occur, imo, a tad too infrequently. Playwright Michael Hollinger stays focused on the bitter and often nasty politics surrounding the quartet's exquisite music.

...the actors are, to a person (and under the firm direction of Mary M. Finnerty), wonderful. Peter Christian Hansen is marvelous, completely convincing as the passionately troubled Dorian. He wisely avoids off-putting scenery-chewing. Every time he and Elliot (the excellent Paul de Cordoba) are together, erotic sparks fly. Stephen D'Ambrose does wonders with the quietly grounded Carl; his work is understated and very affecting. David Mann plays Alan with sturdy comic fair. Finally, Emily Gunyou Halaas, in a difficult role, lets Grace gush and blush but still manages to give her dignity and resonance. We never doubt Grace's talent.

Indeed, Opus presents us with five performers who are, like the players they portray, at the very top of their game. They make this play well worth seeing.

Peter Christian Hansen, Paul de Cordoba and David Mann
Photo by Petronella Ytsma

From Graydon Royce at the Star Tribune:

There is lots of chewy stuff in Hollinger's play. Hansen shows the fragile personality of a genius who knows he should have been first violin but whose mental health relegated him to viola. Alan, fully aware of Dorian's brilliance, explains to Grace that, "You don't want Joan of Arc leading you. You might want her alongside you, but not leading." Dorian's relationship with the brittle Elliot illustrates how personal passion poisons the professional relationship.

Beyond this, the simple candid details of preparation provide steady entertainment. Elliot turns up his nose at the idea of playing Pachelbel's Canon for the president. "It sounds like a tampon commercial," he sniffs. They argue over strident lyric lines and E-flats that aren't sharp. The actors mime with their instruments to music recorded in C. Andrew Mayer's sound design.

In his quest to make something more of this glimpse, Hollinger reaches for a dramatic conclusion that feels elliptical in the way a TV show might introduce a smoking gun that comes out of nowhere in the last five minutes of the episode. Tense histrionics argue in favor of the moment, even if it's a twisty trick. You should decide for yourself, because the play is worth the trip.

Stephen D'Ambrose
Photo by Petronella Ytsma

From Ed Huyck at City Pages:

Hollinger gets the vibe of musicians collaborating down perfectly (being a violinist certainly helps) and structures the single-act show like a musical piece, sporting slow and quick sections, paralleling earlier moments, or even creating variations on them. It all rises to a tremendous conclusion. Some of the script does feel a bit too Behind the Music, from Dorian's spiral into madness (punctuated by a scene set to music by the Beach Boys, perhaps just to underline the moment a few more times) to Carl's health struggles, but the script stays honest to its intentions and doesn't offer easy answers along the way.

It's also buoyed by a dynamite cast, who take up the bow and run with the characters...

The performers also have to act at being a string quartet, which they do with some success. They certainly have the silent interplay that distinguishes a chamber group in that they look like they are truly listening to each other play. They "perform" to taped music, and while their bowing is good, the lack of movement on the finger board is a bit distracting. They appear to be playing the same note on every piece all night long, which may work for a Phillip Glass piece, but probably not the epic Beethoven that sits at the heart of the play.

Emily Gunyou Halaas and David Mann in "Opus" at Park Square Theatre
Photo by Petronella Ytsma

From Dominic Papatola at the Pioneer Press:

If Michael Hollinger's play, "Opus," were a piece of music, it would be discordant and messy, filled with themes without variation and chords left unresolved.

Taking seriously the adage to "write what you know," Hollinger - a violist-turned-playwright - has written a play about a top-tier string quartet struggling through the firing of one of its founding members and the attempt to replace him with a young, talented, but naive violist.

Lodged somewhere between comedy and drama, "Opus" tries to do many things - educate the audience about the mysteries and magic of classical music, interpret the particular dynamic of a small group of people, articulate the pressure inherent in trying to do anything at an extremely high level. But in his zeal to multi-task, Hollinger winds up doing a halfway job all the way around: Characters and situations are only partially developed; crises arise manufactured and are left unplumbed; personal entanglements are presented and then abandoned.

The result is a 90-minute play that moves in fits and starts; one that neither makes us laugh heartily nor think deeply as it lurches toward a melodramatic and unsatisfying climax with a lazy attempt at resolution.

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The reviews are in for Pillsbury House's "In the Red and Brown Water"

Posted at 9:53 AM on May 17, 2011 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

Christiana as Oya and Sonja Parks as Mama Moja and Greta Oglesby as Aunt Elegua in the production "In the Red and Brown Water."
Photo credit: 2011 © Michal Daniel

"In the Red and Brown Water" runs through June 5 at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. It's a production of Pillsbury House Theatre, in conjunction with The Mount Curve Company. It's author, playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney, has been hailed as "the next August Wilson."

Thinking about seeing the show? Check out these excerpts of reviews by local critics; click on the links to read the full reviews.

From Rohan Preston at the Star Tribune:

The first play in a trilogy, "Red and Brown Water" mixes myth with realism. It centers on Oya (Christiana Clark), a track star living in a Louisiana housing project, who is offered an athletic scholarship to college. Oya declines the offer to care for her sick mother, Mama Moja (the inestimable Sonja Parks). Her life goes on, dimmed but not over, as she seeks fulfillment in the arms of competing lovers -- army man Shango (Ansa Akyea) and businessman Ogun (James A. Williams).

McCraney's writing is witty, poetic and profound, marrying the supple poetics of Shakespeare, the mythic sweet spots of Federico Garcia Lorca and August Wilson and the choreographed soulfulness of Ntozake Shange with an urban lyricism. There's not much to the plot, but McCraney brings out the majesty of his poor characters, named after Yoruba deities.

...This production, suffused with music, light and levity, announces the arrival of a brilliant new voice.

Ansa Akyea as Shango, Greta Oglesby as Aunt Elegua, and Christiana Clark as Oya
Photo credit: 2011 © Michal Daniel

From Rob Hubbard at the Pioneer Press:

"In the Red and Brown Water" flows briskly during its first half but grows static in its second. And the central character isn't nearly as magnetic as many of those who orbit around her. But what the author doesn't give her in words, Christiana Clark makes up for in a physically expressive performance.

She plays Oya, a product of the projects in a Louisiana city. As the play begins, she's a high school track star being offered a college scholarship, which she declines because of her mother's illness. It's the first step on a path toward hopelessness for Oya, who becomes the center of a rivalry between two men and looks to motherhood as a last chance for fulfillment.

But the plot isn't the point of this play. It's more an exploration of emotions and interchanges, poetry and pain. Its characters' inner lives surface as they speak stage directions ("Elegba exits like a three-quarter moon in the daytime"; "Ogun exits, leaving his heart behind him.").

And there's a transporting sense of magical realism in the elaborate details of a dream and a character being swept away by a river of gospel singers.

Greta Oglesby as Aunt Elegua and Christiana Clark as Oya, with the ensemble in the background
Photo credit: 2011 © Michal Daniel

From John Olive at HowWasTheShow.com:

The lyrical comedy, the moon-driven theatricality is terrific, as is the play's ambitiousness. But Oya's desire for pregnancy feels a touch tacked on, a way of providing a conclusion. A small complaint, this, given the complex beauty of In The Red And Brown Water.

Is there better acting to be found in the cities - or anywhere? I doubt it. Director Marion McClinton provides us a simple painted floor and scrim (niftily designed by David Gallo and beautifully lit by Michael Wangen), puts some lawn chairs on the sides and then wisely gets out of the gifted cast's way.

As Oya, Christiana Clark thrills. Lithe and muscular, leggy and gorgeous, Clark leaps about the stage, running circles around the other characters, energizing, driving the play with a compelling combination of desperate fear and exuberant defiance. This is a performance that will grow and build - and stay with you.

Have you seen "In the Red and Brown Water?" If so, what did you think? Share your thoughts in the comments section.

To learn more about the production, check out Euan Kerr's story here.

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What Shanan Custer does for love and money

Posted at 2:41 PM on May 16, 2011 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, People, Theater

Shanan Custer

Shanan Custer is an extraordinary comedienne, actor and writer. She's also a veteran of Brave New Workshop. Today on MinnesotaPlaylist.com, Custer writes about the jobs one chooses, sometimes for the love of the work, and sometimes to pay the bills.

It's a hilarious rant, but one comment she made stuck out at me:

The business we work in is strange for many reasons, but particularly for this: we apologize or see it as a possible liability if we do any work that is popular to a wider audience. Put another way, if a lot of people like something then, ipso facto, it must not be very good (this is the first time I've used the phrase "ipso facto" in a sentence and I think it went pretty well). The issue revolves around the term "wider" audience, I think. If a show is meant to connect with a certain segment of the population that we find socially undesirable (people with jobs and houses in mostly white neighborhoods with gun racks in their basement) then we say, "Well, it is what it is! I'm getting out as soon as I can to do some real stuff! Pays the bills!" If the show connects with a more desirable audience (people with jobs and houses in properly diverse neighborhoods and no gun racks), then we say, "I'm so proud to be a part of this! I feel so lucky!"

We know that sometimes great works of art aren't popular straight off the bat. That's why we have non-profit organizations in the first place - because they could rarely get by on ticket sales. But does being popular imply a lack of artistic quality?

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The reviews are in for "after the quake"

Posted at 10:00 AM on May 11, 2011 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

The cast of "after the quake"
Photo by Dan Norman

Walking Shadow Theatre Company presents "after the quake" based on the novel by Haruki Murakami. The play runs through May 21 at the People's Center Theater in Minneapolis.

Thinking about seeing the show? Check out these excerpts of local reviews; click on the critic's name to read the full review.

As Japan grapples with the results of the recent earthquake, tsunami and meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant, the play seems fresh. But this show was adapted by Frank Galati from Murakami's stories in response to an earlier tremblor -- the Kobe earthquake of 1995.

Directed simply and effectively by Amy Rummenie for Walking Shadow Company, "Quake" interweaves two stories -- the fanciful "Superfrog saves Tokyo" and regret-filled "Honey Pie." In the first, a frog appears to a midlevel banker named Katigiri (Kurt Kwan), teaming up with him to do battle with underground forces and prevent an earthquake.

The other narrative revolves around three college friends. Jock Takasuki (Kwan) hooks up with Sayoko (Katie Bradley) and has a child with her even though it is the shy writer Junpei (Eric Sharp) who truly loves her.

- Rohan Preston, Star Tribune

Brant Miller and Kurt Kwan in "after the quake."
Photo by Dan Norman

The three actors at the center carry most of the story's weight, and they do it very well. Eric Sharp as Junpei walks a tightrope, making the character very likeable (he's kind, considerate, and quick to tell a story) but with heavy-duty flaws. Junpei keeps his desires hidden through the first half of the play, letting the story unfold to identify what's eating at his soul.

Kurt Kwan gets handed two rather different roles to play, the well-meaning but something-of-a-jerk Takatsuki and the lonely but tough Katagiri, who collects on bad loans given to gangsters and other folks of ill repute. It's not just that Kwan manages to create two distinct characters, he is also able to find connections between the two in his performance, and connections to Sharp and Junpei.

The final side of the triangle is Katie Bradley as Sayoko. Her performance is as reserved as the rest, but Bradley makes the character a warm charmer, so it's clear why both men would fall in love with her.

- Ed Huyck, City Pages

Katie Bradley, Eric Sharp, Cory Grossman
Photo by Dan Norman

This is rich, subtle material, its romantic sweetness nicely balanced by its deadly serious intention. The play (which runs for an intermissionless ninety minutes) uses long sections of the Murakami text in Book-It style narration: characters frequently turn and address the audience directly. The formality of this is perfect; it's not just a love story ("Honey Pie") or a dream-like melodrama ("Superfrog"). There is something else going on, something mysterious, and it keeps us riveted. The payoff, which I will refrain from describing, thrills.

...That this play goes up so soon after Japan's recent quake/tsunami has given the production an unwelcome resonance. Walking Shadow handles this well: some visual material has been eliminated and the producers are properly aware of and respectful to Japan's current suffering. Don't let this keep you away.

- John Olive, HowWasTheShow.com

Did you see "after the quake?" If so, what did you think?

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The reviews are in for "The Year of Magical Thinking"

Posted at 12:00 PM on May 4, 2011 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

Barbara Berlovitz stars in The Year of Magical Thinking at Nimbus Theatre in Minneapolis
Photo by Liz Neerland

Nimbus Theatre presents "The Year of Magical Thinking," starring Barbara Berlovitz, through May 21. The play is based in large part on Joan Didion's memoir of the same name, which deals with the death of her husband, while her daughter was in a coma. The play also includes the death of her daughter, which occurred while Didion was on the road promoting her memoir.

Are you considering seeing the show? Reviews of the play deem it everything from " a heartbreaking piece of theater that should not be missed" to "90 minutes of dispassion" and "a competent but flat production."

Check out these excerpts of reviews by local critics, or click on the links to read the complete reviews.

From Graydon Royce at the Star Tribune:

...Berlovitz finds the sense of balance in Didion's logic. Her phrasing has the precision of poetry; emotion -- when there is any -- comes in silent pauses. Berlovitz creates a Didion who seems initially thrown off her game by this shock, but recovers through detached reportage. Her husband "does not look like he needs to be dead," she says in the kind of sharp insight that anyone who has seen a dead body understands. She considers the time zones when calling friends on the West Coast. It's three hours earlier there, does that mean her husband hasn't died yet? She's almost a bit smug in her confidence, in her sense of control. She will not let this intrusion destroy her homeostasis.

...Berlovitz loses some of her rigor in the latter half of Nimbus' production, directed by Liz Neerland. Her eloquence is not quite as sure, but this could be an opening-night observation.

"The Year of Magical Thinking" will not satisfy those looking for raw, emotional grief. Didion is not a robot. Her feeling is as deep as any person's but her reaction is a spare, intriguing look at the intellect's endeavor to right itself after catastrophe.

From Ed Huyck at City Pages

...The work offers tremendous challenges for the performer, as the emotions in the hour-long piece are kept so close, but veteran Barbra Berlovitz masterfully takes the audience on Didion's journey. Don't expect any massive epiphany or rafter-rattling histrionics. Berlovitz's performance remains true to Didion's cool but devastating prose, whether it's describing the author's inability to give away her husband's shoes (what would he wear if he came back?) to riding cross-country on a medical transport to take her daughter from Los Angeles to New York, all the while hoping the worst had passed but being honest enough to know it hadn't. Berlovitz, along with director Liz Neerland, crafts a heartbreaking piece of theater that should not be missed.

Photo by Liz Neerland

From Renee Valois at Pioneer Press

The idea of losing your entire family, including the sudden death of your spouse of many years and your children, would evoke deep pain and grief for most. But somehow, in "The Year of Magical Thinking" at Nimbus Theatre, that emotion is lacking.

...It begins to feel long, even with Barbra Berlovitz's tuned performance, including a very thoughtful, matter-of-fact delivery that never attempts to hook us into the deeper grief that may be lurking far beneath the surface.

The problem is that the story lists things that happen without conveying their emotional resonance. For instance, Didion finally gives in to the compulsion to drive down a street that she fears will resurrect memories of happier times and ends up spending hours there - but that's all we know of the event. We get no sense of her inner struggle or even what she thought about, although she obviously felt it was meaningful enough to mention. It feels as if we are on the outside looking in, barely scratching the surface of a deeper experience.

...Didion's story is at times interesting, but it is not as moving as one would expect from a litany of such loss. Her telling of the events is too reserved and her emotions too controlled to be satisfying onstage.

From Jay Gabler at TC Daily Planet:

...Another challenging aspect of this script is that it's elliptical and non-linear, with the character going on tangents and making parenthetical observations, approaching its themes in a circumspect manner that belies the supreme craft that went into its writing. What's wanted here is a complete embodiment of this character, a performance that makes the audience believe they're listening in on Didion's spontaneous inner thoughts. Berlovitz, however, makes her stops, starts, and turns with a deliberation that never lets you forget this is a scripted monologue.

She's not helped by Josh Cragun's set, which is functional but unattractive and does little to evoke a sense of Didion's world. The gauzy greys might be intended to evoke a higher plane among the clouds, but put a couple of couches in there and it would work better as a set for No Exit. Jake Davis's sound design also pings in with intrusive, distracting, and unnecessary effects. More effective is Mitchell Frazier's warm lighting design, which subtly modulates the space's mood over the course of the 90-minute show.

Those many readers who were moved by Didion's book will be interested to see how this theatrical adaptation incorporates the author's second loss. Those who haven't read the book, though--me included--might do better to spend an evening with it than to meet this material under the aegis of this competent but flat production.

Have you seen Nimbus Theatre's production of "The Year of Magical Thinking?" If so, what did you think? Share your reviews in the comments section.

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Omar Sosa delights at the Dakota

Posted at 2:50 PM on April 28, 2011 by David Cazares (2 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism

Omar Sosa performs tonight at the Dakota Jazz Club

From his opening notes, it's clear that Afro-Cuban pianist, composer and arranger Omar Sosa has a distinct vision, one that reconnects African music from around the globe with the African continent.

It's a worldview Sosa delivered remarkably in a performance at the Dakota Jazz Club on Wednesday night.

Sosa started with Intro to Elegua, an acknowledgment of the Santeria deity that opens doors. A practitioner of the Yoruba-based religion and a Catholic, the pianist left no doubt that he would use melody and percussion to explore new musical terrain.

With a light touch, Sosa coaxed listeners into a ceremony that was both thoughtful and celebratory, quickly making room for his three accompanists to join him on percussion and horns.The pianist switched back and forth from acoustic to electric piano, but also used a variety of special effects boxes near the piano, along with recorded voices and assorted sounds.

As the airy feeling faded, the ensemble with the big-band sound took off on a roaring flight on Metisse, with thundering playing by Marque Gilmore on drums and Childo Tomas on electric bass, and extended solos by Peter Apfelbaum on saxophone.

Inventive, intricately arranged and pan-African, their tunes juxtaposed expressions of tranquility and forcefulness.

Throughout the 90-minute second set, Sosa showed agility and inventiveness, fusing Afro-Cuban romps, with straight-ahead jazz runs and jazz fusion. Going where the spirits led him, he played with emotion and zeal, sometimes spinning around as if in an emotional trance and delighting in his discoveries.

At times, Sosa evoked a young Herbie Hancock, blending funk into his repertoire. At others, he reminded concert-goers of his experiments with hip-hop, playing percussive licks on his face with his hands, as Tomas played the role of human beat box.

Sosa's performance, the second I've seen in the last several years, showed remarkable growth for the pianist from Camaguey, Cuba, whose experiments with a variety of genres places him among world's most innovative jazz musicians.

Delivering his compositions as mini suites, he told complex musical stories, varying tempo and rhythm, and mixing the Cuban genres of danzon, cha, cha, cha and son with straight-ahead jazz. Linking them all were powerful syncopated rhythms and the call of Africa.

Toward the end of his show, as one concert-goer complained about another's enthusiastic but appropriate responses to the music's call, Sosa told them what his music is all about: peace and love.

He then took them to church with a tune from his 2008 recording Afreecanos: Light in the Sky. Both ancestral and futuristic, it was a nice summation of Sosa's approach.

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The reviews are in for "I Wish You Love"

Posted at 1:28 PM on April 27, 2011 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

Nat King Cole

Penumbra Theatre is presenting the world premiere of a play about Nat King Cole and his groundbreaking television show. It's called "I Wish You Love" and stars Dennis Spears as the velvet-throated legend, who's trying to renew his TV show amidst growing racial tensions.

Check out the following excerpts of reviews to get a sense of the show, and click on the link below to hear Tom Crann interview Spears along with playwright Dominic Taylor and director Lou Bellamy.

From Quinton Skinner at the Pioneer Press:

In the early going, it's an open question whether director Lou Bellamy's cast will be able to steer the ship above the middling range of the jukebox musical. This is no knock on Spears, who tackles the task of approximating one of the greatest vocalists of the previous century with soul and delicacy. In the first act, he delivers a wry "I Was a Little Too Lonely" and a precise "I Know That You Know" with a precision that duplicates Cole's making-it-look-easy virtuosity, if not quite his boundless mastery of tone.

...Spears wins us over in the early going; the question is whether the show will demonstrate the heft toward which it aspires...

It does, with a ratcheting sense of intensity. At the end of the first act the trio plays Alabama, where their reception dovetails with Civil Rights backlash and the ever-poised Cole is heckled from the stage (and his guitarist is assaulted by the police). The second act, which plays out in the TV studio, entails Cole receiving edicts from advertisers to segregate his band. Spears' performance begins to smolder, and we learn to question some of the more ambiguous looks Cole fired at those cameras more than a half century ago.

Along the way, mind you, Spears gathers even more steam and uncorks a series of brilliant performances: a transcendent, aching "Morning Star" and a wrenchingly beautiful "Mona Lisa." But it's the end that raises the stakes for the evening. While Spears delivers the title tune, a series of images play out on the screens above him -- while maintaining unflinching historical consciousness, the show leaves us with a reminder that truth, and memory, can contain profound notes of optimism and progress. It's nothing short of beautiful, and a fitting tribute to a complex man who left a difficult-to-summarize, yet undeniably powerful, legacy.

Dennis W. Spears (Nat Cole) in the Penumbra Theatre production of I Wish You love by Dominic Taylor, at Penumbra Theatre April 21 - May 22, 2011.
Photo by Michal Daniel

From John Olive at HowWasTheShow.com:

...I'm pleased to report that Spears, under Lou Bellamy's sharp direction, does Cole beautifully, and if you require a reason to see this show, Spears herewith provides it. He sings the Cole classics with restrained power and ease, smiling for the camera, finding the perfect vocal approach; this man can sing. Granted, yes, there is some tension in the air. We feel Spears yearning to break free of the role's severe restrictions. But this only adds spice.

...A story develops: Cole, the first African-American with his own TV show, struggles to keep it going in the face of building hostility from advertisers. ("Madison Avenue is afraid of the dark," as Cole famously said.) He takes on an ill-advised tour, playing Birmingham Alabama at a time when the Jim Crow system, beginning (we now know) its violent death throes, was virulent and vicious. The Alabama performance ends badly, with several assaults, one serious.

Powerful stuff. But it doesn't, for me, as the play currently stands, quite land. I was never fully convinced that Spears's Cole really wanted the TV show to go on. There is a reserve, a lack of passion, a vagueness, exacerbated by a somewhat fitful dramatic structure. Taylor and Spears might consider eliminating a song or two and spending more time with this story. It's work well worth doing, as Spears is giving a masterful performance and the play could easily evolve into [a] revealing and affecting look at a major American artist, one who left us far too young (Cole died in 1965, of cancer, age 45). I Wish You Love comes tantalizingly close to fulfilling its considerable promise.

Kevin D. West (Oliver Moore) and Dennis W. Spears (Nat Cole) in the Penumbra Theatre production of I Wish You Love.
Photo by Michal Daniel

From Ed Huyck at City Pages:

Throughout Dominic Taylor's new play I Wish You Love, in its premiere at Penumbra Theatre, we sense the conflicts within Cole, who, above everything else, wants to make music, and money. That means paying out of his own pocket to reach his TV audience when sponsors were hesitant to sign on to his show, and it means making a trip into the deep South--and near Cole's hometown--to appease the network.

Before we get to the drama, there's a lot of table-setting to be done, which threatens to drag down Taylor's play before it gets started. At the beginning, we are treated to what seems like a full episode of Cole's show, loaded with his standards. Then the music slips away for long stretches as Taylor works to deepen the characters and the situations. At first the show feels like a standard, if extremely well-produced and -performed, jukebox musical. Then it appears to start all over again, bringing in the layers of conflict that Cole and the members of his core band faced.

However, as the overlong first act nears its end and Cole and his band find themselves before a hostile crowd in Alabama, the piece finally comes into focus and doesn't lose it through a terrific, dramatic, and powerful second half.

....The production is as smooth as Cole's voice, with 20 expertly performed musical numbers and a drama that ends with an indelible image of three battle-worn performers playing their music before the curtain falls on a pioneering TV show.

Dennis W. Spears as Nat King Cole
Photo by Michal Daniel

From Rohan Preston at the Star Tribune:

...The Penumbra production, which takes place on Lance Brockman's sophisticated turntable set, is a smooth, multimedia affair, with Spears being filmed and projected live on five screens in black-and-white while we see him in color. Manifesting duality, both in content and in style, is one of the strengths of "Love."

Spears handles the quicksilver shifts masterfully. What is happening offstage may be hurtful, and you can see the weariness in his eyes, if not feel it in his soul. But once the camera comes on, he is not so much a performer as a seducer, radiating romance and a chaste desire.

The normal challenge with stage biographies of musical figures, especially a pioneering one such as Cole, is that they get bogged down in the behind-the-scenes mess; there is always plenty of that to mine. Taylor's play veers too much in the other direction, showing Cole only in relation to the civil-rights fight. It would be nice to have more layering of his life in the first act, which could be condensed. Some of the songs, as beautiful as they are, could be cut and saved for the curtain call, where Spears gets his deserved and sustained standing ovation.

"I Wish You Love" runs through May 22 at Penumbra Theatre. Have you seen it? If so, what did you think? Share your review in the comments section.

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The reviews are in for "Arsenic and Old Lace"

Posted at 12:43 PM on April 26, 2011 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

Sally Wingert (Martha Brewster) and Kristine Nielsen (Abby Brewster) in the Guthrie Theater production of Arsenic and Old Lace
All photos by Michal Daniel

Arsenic and Old Lace, a farcical black comedy, runs through June 5 at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. According to these critics the show provides a belly full of laughs, but lacks any deeper drama. Think you might go? Check out these excerpts, or click on the links to read the full reviews.

From Brad Richason at Examiner.com:

From the first glimpse of the tastefully refined parlor where cultured eccentrics engage in witty banter, Arsenic and Old Lace seems to possess all the attendant visages of a drawing room comedy - with the notable distinction of a cellar crowded with shallow graves. Victims of two elderly sisters who approach murder as a kind of charitable enterprise, the accumulating corpses are just one example of the play's waggishly skewed perversion of propriety. By equating social etiquette with mannerly homicides, the Guthrie Theater's new production of Arsenic and Old Lace succeeds in transforming unabashedly morbid humor into crowd pleasing entertainment.

Now considered one of American theater's defining dark comedies, playwright Joseph Kesselring had originally envisioned Arsenic and Old Lace as a grim crime drama until a friend astutely pointed out the ghastly humor to be derived from the story of Abby and Martha Brewster, spinster sisters whose unique definition of goodwill includes the poisoning of lonely old men...

Populated with such delightfully bizarre characters, Kesselring's script excels at undermining social graces with diabolical charm. Occasionally the script's carefully calibrated mechanics do show some wear, particularly in an exposition heavy first act that allows more chuckles than outright laughter, but director Joe Dowling confidently sustains the mood with a tongue-in-cheek sensibility perfectly suited to the irreverent material.

...Though Arsenic and Old Lace may falter by dramatic standards, the Guthrie's emphasis on homicidal humor offers a farcical reminder that even murder can be a laughing matter.

Michael Booth (Officer Klein) and Bob Davis (Teddy Brewster) in the Guthrie Theater production of ARSENIC AND OLD LACE

From Ed Huyck at City Pages:

When talking about Arsenic and Old Lace, co-star Sally Wingert notes that it's a "handsome American play." That's an apt description of Joseph Kesselring's 1941 macabre farce about murderous aunts, a Boris-Karloff look-alike madman, and a baker's dozen of bodies in the cellar.

The show gets an appropriately handsome production at the Guthrie, led by Joe Dowling's steady hand and featuring terrific turns from Wingert and Kristine Nielsen as Martha and Abby Brewster, a pair of spinster sisters who are always ready to offer a hand to charity--and to off lonely, older gentlemen. The two actors are a perfect double act, bringing out all the jolly madness of their characters, talking of murder while gently clucking over their nephew's marriage plans.

The nephew, uneasy theater critic Mortimer, spends most of the play trying to unravel the mess caused by his relatives, including long-lost brother Jonathan, who looks like the Frankenstein's monster actor. There's also another brother who thinks he's Teddy Roosevelt. He may be the sanest of them all. Jonas Goslow is probably too good looking to play a critic, but his rubbery face and expressions help to sell the increased chaos of the longest night of his life.

Kristine Nielsen (Abby Brewster), Tyson Forbes (Jonathan Brewster) and Sally Wingert (Martha Brewster) in the Guthrie Theater production of ARSENIC AND OLD LACE

From Rohan Preston at Star Tribune:

Wingert and Nielsen have a supple chemistry, drawing from many influences to construct their farcical yet grounded roles. Both move with a lightness of feet that suggests oscillating characters from the Peking Opera, for example, part of a battery of expressive and funny physical attributes. And when these nice-seeming sisters are alarmed, they sound like creatures fluttering in a henhouse, quacking sotto voce.

Dowling tapped Tyson Forbes to play the sister's bear-like prodigal nephew, Jonathan. He is also in the family business, though not nearly as jolly. Jonathan arrives home with an Igor-like plastic surgeon Dr. Einstein (Kris Nelson), who gives him new faces. Jonathan also has brought home a body.

The Guthrie cast does good work. They have expert comic timing, playing the script without too much scenery chewing and stage mugging. And the improbable jokes land, eliciting laughter and fun, even if you wish such good actors were doing their good work in something beside "Arsenic and Old Lace."

Kristine Nielsen (Abby Brewster) in the Guthrie Theater production of ARSENIC AND OLD LACE

From Jay Gabler at TC Daily Planet

...Conducted lithely by Dowling, this talented cast knock out the laugh lines like they're shooting ducks in a gallery--and give their characters such life that they get extra throwaway laughs from their gestures and expressions. There's not a weak link, but particularly notable are the three leads and Kris L. Nelson, who plays the caricatured role of Dr. Einstein (no, not that Dr. Einstein, ba-domp-ching) to the hilt. The set by John Lee Beatty is static but attractive, elaborate, and functional--everything is, to quote Radiohead, in its right place.

This production is sure to please its intended audience, and will even wring a few chuckles from members of its unintended audience who find themselves corralled into attending. But don't take my word for it. For this play about aunts, I brought no less an authority on the subject than my own aunt Betsy. What did she think? At intermission, she turned to me and said, "Those ladies are pretty epic."

So, have you seen "Arsenic and Old Lace" at the Guthrie? If so, what did you think? Share your review in the comments section.

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The reviews are in for "Next Fall"

Posted at 3:23 PM on April 13, 2011 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

Garry Geiken as Adam and Neal Skoy as Luke in "Next Fall" at the Jungle Theater
All photos by Michal Daniel

Next Fall tells the story of a gay couple divided by faith. Adam is an atheist and out, Luke is Christian and closeted. When Luke is injured critically in an accident, Adam and his family gather at the hospital. According to The Jungle Theater "NEXT FALL takes a funny and provocative look at what it means to "believe", and what it may cost us not to."

Thinking about seeing the show? Check out these varying reviews from Twin Cities theater critics... then make up your own mind.

From Janet Preus at HowWasTheShow.com:

Just letting the underlying tension inherent in this set-up play out would be enough dramatic action for one play, but instead the playwright seemed compelled to cover everything of significance since Adam and Luke first met--in the style of a TV sitcom: set up the joke, deliver the laugh line, repeat a few times and go to a commercial (in this case, a scene change). Unfortunately, this style kept the characters from truly engaging with each other until well into the play--the second act, in fact---as if the story wanted to go there but couldn't because they had to play the laughs...

Which is why, I think, the play has appeal. We really do care about what happens to this young man, and because he loves the other characters, we come to care about them, too.

Sasha Andreev as Brandon, Garry Geiken as Adam and Andrea Leap as Holly in The Jungle Theater production of "Next Fall"

From Rob Hubbard at Pioneer Press:

...This comedy of ideas doesn't dwell in heady high-concept philosophical arguments. Its characters are flawed individuals who fall into believable discussions about the place of faith and love in their lives. The framing device is a hospital waiting room vigil, where Luke is comatose after being hit by a car. His parents, partner and friends will soon confront the "next of kin" conflicts that arise in places where gay relationships aren't recognized. But the story plays out primarily in flashback, as we watch Adam and Luke meet, fall in love, move in together and periodically wrestle with their religious differences.

The play has some shortcomings that director Joel Sass and the cast can't quite transcend -- there are avoidance issues not only in the characters, but also seemingly the playwright -- and the performances of Andrea Leap and Sasha Andreev don't gibe well with the naturalism of the other four, she too over the top, he too icy. But it's an engaging, discussion-provoking play that gives you plenty for your head and might break your heart.

Garry Geiken as Adam and Maggie Bearmon Pistner as Arlene in The Jungle Theater production of Next Fall

From Ed Huyck at City Pages:

...Sometimes the script does let them down--using a closet packed with the relationship's debris while Luke tries to "de-gay" the apartment in advance of his father's visit is just a bit too on point--but the performers work through these hitches and give us a real relationship.

The script moves with great energy and efficiency--it's much like a situation comedy, without the happy ending--and director Joel Sass never lets that wane, be it in the comedic set pieces, the fight, or the long night waiting for the final news.

Garry Geiken as Adam and Neal Skoy as Luke in "Next Fall" at the Jungle Theater

From Graydon Royce, at Star Tribune:

...Nauffts' play and Sass' production share a glib facility. Neil Skoy's bright and cheery Luke explains to Adam that he's a fundamentalist Christian, waiting for the Rapture. He prays for forgiveness after they have sex, explaining that he's just like any other Christian asking for absolution after a lusty day of sinning. What's more, Luke begs Adam to accept Jesus so they will live together in eternity.

Sass' production has the lacquer of small-screen cinema, again perhaps appropriately, but this seems to play right into Nauffts' trap. There has to be a better way.

"Next Fall" runs through May 22 at the Jungle Theater. Have you seen the show? If so, what did you think? Share your review in the comments section.

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The reviews are in for "To Kill a Mockingbird"

Posted at 11:12 AM on April 6, 2011 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

To Kill A Mockingbird runs through April 17 at Park Square Theatre in St. Paul

"To Kill A Mockingbird" is both a great American novel by Harper Lee, and a stellar movie starring Gregory Peck. It also exists as a play, and is currently on stage at the Park Square Theatre in St. Paul. Thinking of going? Check out these excerpts of recent reviews to get a sense of the show... click on the links to read them in their entirety.

From Dominic P. Papatola at the Pioneer Press:

A half-century after its publication as a novel, "To Kill a Mockingbird" retains its full potency as a simple tale full of complex truths, and the stage version now at Park Square Theatre nicely gives the story its due...

If their words aren't consistently clear, the larger story of "To Kill a Mockingbird" remains definitively so.

Fred Wagner as Atticus
Photo by Petronella Ytsma

From Lisa Brock at Star Tribune:

Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird" is a tale that doesn't grow old with the telling, as Park Square Theatre's current production ably demonstrates. While it encapsulates a time and place in America's past, the story's themes, characters and basic sense of humanity simultaneously transcend specificity.

While this production loses a little steam after Atticus' fiery closing speech at Robinson's trial, it's a solid piece of work that argues for its place in the canon of American literature.

Scout (Elizabeth McCormick), Dill (Jason Herman) & Jem (Emma Wondra)
Photo by Petronella Ytsma

From Ed Huyck at City Pages:

...The main problem is that there's a bit too much connective tissue needed to make these moments clear. There is a lot of talk about what has happened, and an adult version of Scout is on hand to basically provide stage directions. At times it feels like just a greatest-hits run through the book--hey, now Atticus is going to shoot the mad dog!

Director David Mann smoothes over any rough spots (though maybe a bit more work on the accents--at least making sure they remained consistent through the show--would have helped) and Joel Sass crafts an elegant set that bridges all the locations used in the play and helps bring steamy Depression-era Alabama to life.

Have you seen Park Square Theatre's production of "To Kill A Mockingbird?" If so, what did you think? Share your review in the comments section.

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The reviews are in for "Uncle Vanya"

Posted at 11:01 AM on April 5, 2011 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

Mo Perry as Sonya and Craig Johnson as Uncle Vanya in the Anton Chekhov classic.

Gremlin Theatre presents Anton Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya" through April 23. What follows are excerpts from reviews about town - click on the links to read them in their entirety.

From Brad Richason at Examiner.com

...Centered on a modest family estate in rural Russia during the waning summer days of 1899, Uncle Vanya brings together an assortment of characters straining under repressed resentments, impossible desires, and bitter class conflicts. Until that summer the management of the estate had fallen to Uncle Vanya and his unmarried niece, Sonya. Through years of monotonous toil, Vanya and Sonya maintained the estate while sacrificing the meager profits to support Sonya's father, Alexander Serebryakov, a retired university professor living in the city with his much younger second wife, Elena. Even with few creature comforts, Vanya and Sonya seldom questioned their duties until their routine is interrupted by the arrival of Alexander and Elena, come to the country in hopes of curing Alexander's failing health. The tensions aroused by the couple's presence, further exasperated by the attentions of the local doctor, threaten to render the carefully calibrated lives into complete disarray.

Insightfully perceptive and emotionally involving, Gremlin Theatre's production of Uncle Vanya should be required viewing for anyone inclined to shrug off Chekhov as a dramatic chore. Though the work eschews romantic notions, the sincerity of unvarnished emotion only proves the more poignant.

From Graydon Royce at Star Tribune:

If warm weekend breezes tempted you to loll idly in the sun, Anton Chekhov has the antidote.

In "Uncle Vanya," we watch Chekhov at his best -- walking the tight wire between comedy and tragedy. Johnson rages like a harlequin; his Vanya packs a pistol during a tantrum against his pompous former brother-in-law, professor Alexander Serebryakov. Yet, in his verbal typhoons we realize that Vanya's hatred is aimed not only at this insufferable visitor to the country estate, but at himself -- for allowing his own bad choices and inertia to bully him into a wasted life.

From Renee Valois at the Pioneer Press:

...Throwing all of these opposing desires and frustrations together is a bit like tossing water on a grease fire -- it makes for great drama. Director Janice Stone boosts the flames, tossing any residual 19th-century-era restraint out the window as characters shout at each other, steal passionate kisses, writhe in agony and plot murder.

However, the most moving lines in the play are not spoken by Johnson. It is Perry, as sweet, kind Sonya who evokes truly heartbreaking resignation to a dismal life with no hope of betterment. Her insistent, repeated declaration, "I have faith," sounds like she's struggling to convince herself as much as Vanya that they may find a final happiness somewhere beyond this world.

Have you seen "Uncle Vanya?" If so, what did you think? Share your review in the comments section.

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The reviews are in for "Heaven"

Posted at 1:19 PM on March 31, 2011 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Dance, Theater

photo by Joe Chvala

Flying Foot Forum presents "Heaven" - a dance/theater piece that looks at life and death in war-torn Bosnia in the early 1990s. Performances run through April 10 at the Guthrie Theater. Thinking about seeing the show? Check out what the local critics think. I've included excerpts from their reviews below - click on the links for the full text.

From Caroline Palmer at Star Tribune

It's an understatement to say extreme adversity changes people, but words often fail to fully describe the impact of earth-shattering events. "Heaven," a dance/theater piece directed by Joe Chvala of Flying Foot Forum, uses movement, music and story to convey the horrors of the 1990s Bosnian war.

There are painfully beautiful moments within the songs, particularly as citizens-turned-refugees wonder, "What would you pack if this happened to you?" It's a question that gives pause, especially for those fortunate enough to know war only from afar.

Doug Scholz-Carlson as American war photographer Peter Adamson
Photo by V. Paul Virtucio

From Ed Huyck at City Pages:

...To be honest, Adamson's story--there's a love interest in there too--is probably the least interesting material here. It's the experiences of the residents from all sides of the conflict that bring the show to full life. These are realized through spoken monologues, songs, and the expressive, masterful dance work that Chvala is famous for. Some of these moments are absolutely stunning, as the propulsive, traditional-folk-inspired score lets the dancers act out horrifying moments, from attempts to escape, to the soldiers hunting them, to a woman's fantasy about striking back at her tormentors as they rape her.

The piece has some maddening lapses--Adamson's relationship with a local woman on the run never gets off the ground and features a duet that seems to belong in another show entirely--but the strength of the ensemble and the creative fire behind the project bull their way through any of these hitches. Onstage, Webster provides not just the spark but the fuel for much of the action in a stunning turn as a man desperate to find a shred of former life still intact.

Photo by V. Paul Virtucio

From David De Young at HowWasTheShow.com:

In the 1990s during the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina, over 100,000 people were killed and more than 2 million people displaced in one of the most horrific set of human-inflicted tragedies since WWII. Heaven, a new work by Flying Foot Forum, directed by Joe Chvala with music by Chan Poling (The Suburbs, The New Standards) is an ambitious and heart-wrenching piece of dance theater about the impact of that conflict. This emotionally-charged, human story left me feeling as if I'd been punched in the gut. Never heavy-handed, it educates without descending into didacticism. And with the news of the struggles in Egypt and Libya on the news each evening, I wonder: is there a more timely and important work being performed on a Twin Cities stage right now?

A woman near me sobbed through part of the second act. This show is that powerful. I can't help but direct you to the Dowling Studio to see it.

Photo by V. Paul Virtucio

From Jay Gabler at TC Daily Planet:

War is hell. Anyone want to argue about it? Of course not. That's why Flying Foot Forum gets away as well as it does with the overstuffed farrago Heaven. The show is the theatrical equivalent of a commemorative 9/11 plate: you can't fault the intention, even if the execution is kind of tacky.

For all its flaws, Heaven is a sincere testament. On Saturday night, a number of audience members were moved to tears. My friend who attended the performance with me said that her father's girlfriend--a native Serbian--just gave her father a book about the 14th century battles in which the Serbs were defeated by the Turks, resulting from which this woman still holds a grudge against Muslims generally. George Santayana wrote, "Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it"; Chvala and Poling agree, but additionally urge that our memory not be selective.

So, have you seen "Heaven?" If so, what did you think? Let us know in the comments section.

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The reviews are in for "Arms and the Man"

Posted at 3:10 PM on March 29, 2011 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

Mariko Nakasone (Raina Petkoff) and Jim Lichtscheidl (Captain Bluntschli) in the Guthrie Theater production of "Arms and the Man" by George Bernard Shaw.
All photos by Michal Daniel

George Bernard Shaw's Arms and the Man runs through May 8 at the Guthrie Theater. Here's a description of the show from the Guthrie's website:

A romantic comedy armed with chocolate. As a young lady awaits the return of her heroic fiancé from war, a disheveled soldier sneaks into her bedroom fleeing the fight. Finding his simplicity more alluring than her fiancé's arrogant posturing, she's faced with singling out the real man for her. Will it be the "accidental hero" who is more toy than soldier? Or the pragmatic "coward" who comes armed with chocolates instead of bullets? Crackling with wit, irony and charm, Shaw's romantic comedy pokes fun at the dangers of bravado in battle and idealistic notions of love.

What follows are excerpts from four reviews of the production from various local media. I find it interesting that the critics agree it's a fine, witty production, with a lovely set and lush costumes. But several seem to be left wanting more... something "for the ages" and "challenging," not "merely entertaining."

Read on, and let us know what you think in the comments section:

From Jay Gabler at TC Daily Planet

The Guthrie Theater's current production of George Bernard Shaw's Arms and the Man is like a pop-up to center field: it connects, it flies by, and it lands, but in the end, you haven't necessarily touched any bases.

... Indeed, this production provides plenty of comfortable laughs. If you're looking to be challenged, though, look elsewhere.

Kate Eifrig (Catherine Petkoff), Peter Michael Goetz (Major Paul Petkoff), Mariko Nakasone (Raina Petkoff) and Michael Schantz (Major Sergius Saranoff) in the Guthrie Theater production of "Arms and the Man" by George Bernard Shaw.

From Graydon Royce at the Star Tribune:

Ethan McSweeny's production stretches the natural farce in Shaw's spoof of war and social class -- sometimes too far but mostly to good effect. Everything looks great, but whatever feelings the piece evokes soon fade. It's a nice, tidy evening of theater.

Murrell Horton's costumes are lovely -- even when expressed in Bluntschli's raggedy uniform. Time passes pleasantly enough, but on the walk home we feel we were merely entertained by an old-fashioned comedy. Others can judge for themselves whether that is sufficient.

Mariko Nakasone (Raina Petkoff) and Michael Schantz (Major Sergius Saranoff) in the Guthrie Theater production of "Arms and the Man" by George Bernard Shaw.

From Dominic P. Papatola at the Pioneer Press:

The scenic design for the Guthrie Theater's production of "Arms and the Man" is more about suggestion than representation: There's enough furniture and background clutter to suggest the bedroom, the garden or the library of an upscale European house in the 1880s, but little in the way of walls to provide certain and specific definition to the space.

Taken together, "Arms and the Man" McSweeny and his cast produce a staging of a Shaw classic that's consistently competent but seldom anything more. It's nothing for the ages, and it's unlikely to win new converts for the prolific playwright.

Mariko Nakasone (Raina Petkoff) and Jim Lichtscheidl (Captain Bluntschli) in the Guthrie Theater production of "Arms and the Man" by George Bernard Shaw.

From John Olive at HowWasTheShow.com:

In Arms And The Man (on the Guthrie's McGuire Stage, through May 8 ) George Bernard Shaw hides deep cynicism in plain sight, behind a veneer of flashy dialogue, sweet romance, giddy farce, lovable preening upperclass characters. We laugh, get pulled in by high energy antics, we have a wonderful time. But Shaw, the sly cynic/puppeteer, hovers: Heroism in war? Ha. Romantic love? Ha. Shaw will have none of it and those of us who, despite the buffeting of the years, retain a small belief in these things are likely to have a problem with this piece. There is definite tension in the air.

The design is marvelous. Walt Spangler's set bursts with color, fractured walls, enormous paper flowers, angry bulls heads. The floor and the false proscenium are treated with a peeling unfinished whitewash. Odd though this seems, it works perfectly. In particular I adored the second act garden, with the precarious wall, and the mountain goat perched on the snowy (despite the summery season) hillside. Even more color is provided by Murell Horton's excellent costumes, Robert Wierzel's lighting and Richard Woodbury's sound. As is so often the case at the G, the designers provide a feast for the eyes.

Have you seen "Arms and the Man?" If so, what did you think? Was it enough for the play to be "merely entertaining" or did you crave something more? Let us know in the comments section.

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The reviews are in for "Little Shop of Horrors"

Posted at 1:15 PM on March 22, 2011 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

Sara Ochs as Audrey and Randy Reyes as Seymour in the Mu Performing Arts production of "Little Shop of Horrors."
Photos by Michal Daniel

Mu Performing Arts presents the cult classic "Little Shop of Horrors" at the Ritz Theater in Minneapolis through April 3. Thinking about seeing the show? Check out these excerpts of reviews below, or click on the links to read the full reviews.

From Graydon Royce at the Star Tribune:

Some day we will look back on these days as the golden era of Mu Performing Arts. That shouldn't assume some future collapse, but in years hence the mind will fondly recall that group of Asian-American actors who cemented Mu's place in the Twin Cities theater ecology.

To pin it all on Reyes, though, would ignore (speaking of charm) Sara Ochs as Audrey. Ochs shines as the fragile street girl who can't catch a break with men. Her previous work with Mu ("Flower Drum Song," "Walleye Kid") revealed a tender, sweet quality coupled with a lovely singing voice. Here, she loosens up her vocal chords -- particularly with "Suddenly Seymour" -- and we see another dimension. Ochs is the real deal.

From Brad Richason at Examiner.com:

...Lest there be any doubt, the work is unabashedly ludicrous, a knowingly absurd musical that derives endless mirth from unhinged eccentricity. Honoring that spirit of brazen bizarreness, Mu Performing Arts has launched an adaptation of Little Shop of Horrors at the Ritz Theater that thrives on quirkily macabre humor.

...Mu Performing Arts' new adaptation of Little Shop of Horrors doesn't attempt to radically alter the work. Instead, the production serves as a reminder that an exceptionally talented cast and crew - regardless of specific ethnicity - hold the power to transcend a work's cultural assumptions. Seems like a lot to ask of a musical about a man-eating plant, but Mu Performing Arts achieves the task with a thoroughly entertaining mixture of lofty romance and ghoulish laughs.

Randy Reyes stars as the down-and-out florist Seymour Krelbourn and Sheena Janson portrays the famous man-eating plant, Audrey II in Mu Performing Arts production of "Little Shop of Horrors."

From Dominic P. Papatola at the Pioneer Press:

If you're in the mood to call out differences, you could note that Mu Performing Arts' production of "Little Shop of Horrors" features an Asian-American cast and that the role of homicidal houseplant Audrey II -- usually voiced by a deep-voiced male -- is played by a sultry femme fatale.

... On balance... Mu's "Little Shop" is a terrific staging that acknowledges and honors the show's familiar history, even as it gamely, creatively and successfully subverts it.

From John Olive at HowWasTheShow.com:

In 1982, composer Alan Menken and lyrics and book writer Howard Ashman watched Roger Corman's deservedly obscure 1960 film (shot in two days) about a plant that noshes exclusively on fresh-killed human meat and decided that it could be the basis for an extremely funny musical. Whatever they had for dinner that day, I want some, because Little Shop Of Horrors, with simplistic but sturdy and tuneful classics like, "Suddenly, Seymour," "Dentist!" and "Feed Me" has over the years received thousands of productions. Menken and Ashman (who died in 1992) went on to become auteurs of Disney animation (The Littlest Mermaid, Aladdin, et al). But this musical has become a cult classic.

Recommended.

So, have you seen the show? If so, what did you think? Share your reiew in the comments section.

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The reviews are in for "Broke-ology"

Posted at 9:40 AM on March 16, 2011 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

Darius Dotch as Malcolm King, James Craven as William King and Mikell Sapp as Ennis King in the Pillsbury House Theatre production of Broke-ology
Photo by Michal Daniel

Broke-ology runs through April 10 at Pillsbury House Theatre in Minneapolis. Here's how the company describes the show:

Broke-ology tells the story of a loving family struggling to make ends meet. Malcolm is the first in his family to attend college, but his brother Ennis has stayed behind, caring for their father. Returning home after graduation and with his brother urging him to stay, Malcolm struggles with the question any son dreads to ask: How do we achieve our dreams without hurting those that we love the most?

Considering seeing the show? Check out these reviews. Already seen the show? Share your review in the comments section.

From the Star Tribune:

It's apt that actor James Craven finished the run of August Wilson's "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" last Sunday at the Guthrie Theater and opened the new drama, "Broke-ology," Friday at Pillsbury House Theatre in Minneapolis. The two tragedies are related, and not just because they orbit African-Americans whose dreams clash with vexing realities.

The linguistic palliative suggests that Jackson may be a successor to Wilson. While Jackson's play is full of contemporary lyricism and cleverness (there are puns on the word "booty," and the play uses the neologism "incognegro") and while he grounds the action in a cultural idiom, his writing is not as poetic or as deep as Wilson's. The "Broke-ology" script could use some tweaking. Still, he charts new territory for black characters.

From Rob Hubbard at Pioneer Press:

Who's minding the parents?

Completing the quartet is Sonja Parks, who ably conveys the mother's strength and confidence. Another exceptional actor helped sculpt these impressive performances: James A. Williams, who, like Craven, is a veteran of several seasons at St. Paul's Penumbra Theatre. This production makes clear that Williams has a bright future as a director, should he choose to spend more time on that side of the footlights.

From John Olive at HowWasTheShow.com:

...Broke-ology is a playground for actors and director James A. Willams has assembled for us a terrific cast, led first and foremost by the understated but sly and artful James Craven. Craven's William is bent, slow-moving, almost blind (the result of the many medications he takes). He's sweet, almost goofy, and thus it takes us a while to understand that William is in intense pain and engaged in a desperate final struggle to see his sons, Malcolm especially, established in life. The scene when he summons the ghost of his wife (played by the lovely and charismatic Sonja Parks) astonishes. Craven pulls us into this play and never lets us go. His final moments thrill.

Recommended.

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The reviews are in for "Cabaret"

Posted at 11:26 AM on March 9, 2011 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

The cast of Frank Theatre's "Cabaret," on stage at the Centennial Showboat on Harriet Island.

Frank Theatre is known for taking its shows to locations that help underscore the mood of the play. For its production of Cabaret, it's moved to the Centennial Showboat on Harriet Island, and converted the main stage hall to the "Kit Kat Club." Thinking of climbing on board? Check out these reviews - click on the links to read the full review.

From Bev Wolfe at TC Daily Planet:

...I have seen Cabaret performed on stage twice before but, despite a slow start, this production is the most compelling of the three. Under Wendy Knox's direction, the performance concentrates on two couples whose romance is intruded upon by the growing Nazi menace. The social pathology of Weimar Germany initially takes on a playful eroticism that turns ominous; portraying the enticing nature of evil.

Once the show warms up, the club ensemble keeps the show moving effortlessly from scene to scene...The Centennial Showboat provides an appropriate vaudeville atmosphere for the show's decadent cabaret style. The sparse set design by Joseph Stanley works well as scenes shift between the boarding house and the Kit Kat Club. Whether you have never seen Cabaret or have seen it umpteen times, Frank Theatre's production merits your attention.

From Graydon Royce at Star Tribune:

The Emcee has commandeered the "Cabaret," and thank goodness for that. He had always haunted the edges of this awkward musical about Weimar Germany, but a 1987 Broadway revival pushed this enigmatic waif out of the shadows. He stands -- still something of a blank mirror -- at the center of a culture teetering on disaster.

...Knox gets all this stuff to stand up on its hind legs, driving through the dreary scenes and getting us back to club life. And at the center of it is the Emcee, who in his final image will raise the hair on your neck.

Bradley Greenwald is the Emcee in Frank Theatre's production of Cabaret

From Dominic P. Papatola at Pioneer Press:

Sally Bowles musically wonders "What good is sitting alone in your room?" in the title song of the musical "Cabaret." Rather than a glib query, the question takes on more ominous overtones in the Frank Theatre production.

...The uneven performances make Frank's "Cabaret" something of a bumpy ride, diminishing but not obliterating the dark charms of a classic.

From Janet Preus at Howwastheshow.com:

This show has staying power to a large extent because of the disturbing message at its core: we know that "the party" continued and much of the world refused to acknowledge the terrible truth about the Nazi's campaign against the Jews. "Life is a cabaret," indeed! Director Wendy Knox uses this dark fact to make the debauchery of cabaret culture just that much sadder and the play's personal stories that much more poignant.

Knox has chosen a diverse cast to otherwise populate this bizarre environment. They're not only incredibly good, they make us forget how demanding this show must be - and wow, are they an interesting bunch! This fact, and the wonder of hearing a show of such power acoustically, makes for a special and memorable night out. There's nothing Hollywood about this show. It's live theater all the way and I absolutely loved it.

So, have you seen Frank Theatre's production of "Cabaret?" If so, what did you think? Share your thoughts in the comments section.

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The reviews are in for "La Traviata"

Posted at 11:44 AM on March 8, 2011 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Opera

Bruno Ribeiro as Alfredo Germont and Elizabeth Futral as Violetta Valery, a courtesan in the Minnesota Opera production of La traviata
Photo by Michal Daniel

Verdi's opera "La Traviata" runs through March 13. Planning on going? Check out the following reviews. Already been? Share your thoughts in the comments section.

From Larry Fuchsberg at Star Tribune:

There are many ways to treat Verdi's 1853 "La Traviata," deservedly among the most popular of operas. Some are more fashionable than others. The Minnesota Opera's judicious, traditionalist revival, which opened Saturday in St. Paul, will never attract the kind of attention showered on the studied audacity of high-concept updatings in Salzburg or New York. Yet the company's new tweaking of its sturdy 2003 staging, smashingly sung, captures more of the work's emotional depth and power than most trendier productions could hope to do.

...The complex, wrenching scene between Violetta and Germont ...is the heart of "Traviata" and one of the finest things in opera. Elizabeth Futral and Stephen Powell play it magnificently, alive to every flicker of feeling: indignation, fear, shame, sympathy, grief, resignation. Futral, who moves as expressively as she sings, is attuned to both the vulnerability and the steeliness of her character; her crystalline soprano encompasses both the brilliant coloratura of Act 1 and the more lyrical writing of the later, darker scenes.

From Rob Hubbard at Pioneer Press:

...The Minnesota Opera's current production is all about making the emotions as genuine as possible. From heart-on-their-sleeves characterizations to voices wringing every ounce of joy and sadness from Verdi's music to a dignified design scheme that always augments the action, it's an excellent example of grand opera brought down to human scale. Yet it never minimizes its messages about love, propriety and the pursuit of happiness.

Those attending Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday will have the good fortune to experience the tour de force performance of Elizabeth Futral as Violetta. It's a role for which Verdi asks a soprano to adopt three very different singing styles: Flighty coloratura in the first act, tortured lyric lines in the second, and dark mezzo material as death approaches. Futral executes each exquisitely while offering a convincing portrayal of a conflicted, consummate party gal who gives it up for love and encounters little but loss.

Bruno Ribeiro as Alfredo Germont and Elizabeth Futral as Violetta Valery, a courtesan in the Minnesota Opera production of La traviata
Photo by Michal Daniel

From Brad Richason at Examiner.com:

Great opera is predicated upon a handful of common elements which, while easy to define, are notoriously difficult to master. First and foremost is an emotionally evocative narrative capable of sustaining intoxicatingly heighted passions. Inducing such a sublime condition requires a captivating score matched against a riveting cast capable of fusing libretto with music, amplifying both to an exalted degree. While few productions fully achieve such an eminent goal, the Minnesota Opera's stunning new production of La traviata, now running at the Ordway Center, proves a thrilling exception. Transcending the graceful beauty of Giuseppe Verdi's score with mesmerizing performances and a richly imaginative design, La traviata exemplifies great opera.

...Productions of revered works all too often exchange daring innovation for the safety of imitation, following prescribed patterns of presentation rather than taking artistic risks. The Minnesota Opera's La traviata is the absolute antithesis of such uninspired productions. Gifted with extraordinary performances and a visionary creative team, La traviata achieves heartbreaking pathos, reasserting the enthralling greatness of Verdi's masterpiece.

From Jay Gabler at TC Daily Planet:

Like many operas, La Traviata takes a fairly simple plot and stretches it out over three hours, so you're not going to be hanging on the edge of your seat waiting to see what happens: success is all about the details and the texture, and this production scores on almost all fronts. From score to floor, this is the best Minnesota Opera production I've seen to date.

"No orchestra can really have fun playing Verdi's La Traviata," avers one anonymous blogger, but the band playing this production under the baton of Michael Christie sure sound like they're proving that assertion wrong. From the woodwind solos to the brass blasts, this is a scintillating performance that reminds you what Verdi learned from Mozart about drama, pacing, and orchestral color.

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The reviews are in for "Hair"

Posted at 12:46 PM on March 3, 2011 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

Hair tours at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis through March 6
Photos by Joan Marcus

Does a musical about the fervor of the '60s and flower children have a place on today's stage? Can a polished production capture something that was inherently messy and spontaneous? According to our critics, yes... and no. Read the following excerpts of reviews for "Hair" at the Orpheum Theatre, or click on the links to read the full reviews.

From Rohan Preston at Star Tribune:

For me, as for many theatergoers, everything pivots on the song "Let the Sun Shine In." The emotional power of this number captures the most moving elements of this musical by composer Galt MacDermot and book and lyrics writers Gerome Ragni and James Rado.

Tinged with both grief and optimism, "Let the Sun Shine In" is delivered as Claude (Paris Remillard), who did not drop out or burn his draft card like so many of his peers, lies in a cone of light, his stiff body set against an American flag. The stage image is powerful and relates very clearly to today, when the bodies of our young men and women serving overseas still arrive at Dover Air Force Base.

From John Olive at Howwastheshow.com:

...this show's music really holds up. Composed by Galt MacDermot with book and lyrics by Gerome Ragni and James Rado, Hair's songs soar. None are deep - there isn't enough of a developed story for this - but they do work, tune after tuneful tune. Many have become classics: "Let The Sun Shine In," "Good Morning Starshine," the eponymous "Hair," the fervent "Aquarius." Maybe the counterculture Hair delineates is fakey, glitzed up and ersatz. I don't care: my toes rarely stopped tapping and a silly smile almost never left my face.

The players in this revival, none of whom were alive during the period in question, have at this material with gusto and energy. NYC is filled with performers who can act, sing their hearts out, and have a lithe athletic stage presence that fills large hoary theaters like the Orpheum. We reap the benefits of this in Hair. Director Diane Paulus moves her ragged Tribe of free spirits with effortless and streamlined focus. She directs the comic bits with flair and, most of all, she lets the music shine.

From Ed Huyck at City Pages:

Whatever transgressive power that the hippy look and lifestyle ever carried has been wasted away by endless parodies, documentaries, parody documentaries, and straightforward documentaries that play like parodies.

Near the end of the first act, the action snapped into place. The story began to focus more and more on Claude, a Flushing teenager who dreams of Manchester, England, and who is facing his draft notice. It's his struggle that fuels the best moments of the play, including a terrific, tribal draft card burning at the end of act one (also where you'll see the show's famous nudity--look quick!), through to the musical's uneven second act, and finally to the stunning final chorus of "Let the Sun Shine In." In fact, part of me wishes the show would have ended with that moment, skipping the lengthy curtain call entirely.

From Dominic Papatola at Pioneer Press:

The show looks and sounds like a million bucks, but its soul is as thin as a dime.

That performance is a microcosm of the whole show, which is carried out with a slick sense of professionalism and a certain politeness.

Did you see "Hair" at the Orpheum? If so, what did you think? Share your thoughts in the comments section.

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The reviews are in for "Song of Extinction"

Posted at 11:08 AM on March 2, 2011 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

Theater LatteDa presents Song of Extinction at the Guthrie Theater through March 20
All photos by Michal Daniel

The following are excerpts of reviews for "Song of Extinction" in various news outlets in the Twin Cities. Click on the links to read the full reviews.

From Rob Hubbard at the Pioneer Press:

The avoidance of pain is a core human instinct. But to what lengths will people go to dodge difficult truths? In "Song of Extinction" -- a very good new play by EM Lewis -- almost all of the characters are trying to bury their pain in something else, be it music, teaching or even entomology.

To the credit of author Lewis and director Peter Rothstein, no point is belabored, no audience member bludgeoned with a message. For a work with so many layers, it's nevertheless almost minimalist in structure, its dialogue convincingly realistic, its tone admirably restrained.

Dan Piering as Max Forrestal and David Mura as Khim Pham in The Guthrie Theater presentation of a Theater Latté Da production of "Song of Extinction" by EM Lewis, directed by Peter Rothstein.

From John Olive at Howwastheshow.com

Song Of Extinction is a fierce meditation on death, species extinction, grief, familial dysfunction, adolescent anger, and the redemptive power of music. It's often frustrating - but, really, what truly ambitious play isn't? This piece is intense, rich, affecting.

All in all, marvelous stuff. But this play is tricky: the heavy use of theatrical techniques makes us pull back, whereas the story makes us want to lean in, embrace the characters. This creates a tension which, for the most part, director Peter Rothstein (also Latté Da's Artistic Director) handles well.

Carla Noack as Lily Forrestal, David Mura as Khim Pham and John Middleton as Ellery Forrestal in The Guthrie Theater presentation of a Theater Latté Da production of Song of Extinction

From Graydon Royce at Star Tribune:

Simplicity is greatly underestimated in theatrical virtuosity. The trick is to not starve your work of its emotion and its power, yet craft lean scenes that don't waste our energy.

It's really that simple.

And from Ed Huyck at City Pages:

Young teenager Max Forrestal is a mess. He shows up to school day after day in the same dirty clothes. He is rake thin, as if he hasn't eaten in days. He appears content to hide in the back of the class, duct-taped cello case at his side, listening to his iPod rather than the teacher--when he bothers to show up.

Still, the core drama of a family facing their own Armageddon fuels the play, and Lewis writes with a deft touch....As you can guess, Song of Extinction isn't a joy ride, but director Peter Rothstein gives the piece his signature stamp, helping the audience find the real humanity behind the stark hospital room and lonely home that Max inhabits.

Have you seen "Song of Extinction?" If so, what did you think? Share your thoughts in the comments section.

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The reviews are in for "The Balcony"

Posted at 1:08 PM on February 23, 2011 by Marianne Combs (2 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

Members of the cast of "The Balcony," by Jean Genet, now playing at Nimbus Theatre

The following are excerpts from reviews of the show The Balcony, playing at Nimbus Theatre in Minneapolis through March 6. Click on the links to read the full reviews.

From David de Young, at HowWasTheShow.com:

A sign posted at the entry to the house warns: "Please be aware this show contains cigar smoke, gunshots, loud explosions, vulgar language, adult situations, and whips." The Balcony delivers faithfully on each, and in nimbus artistic director Josh Cragun's hands, it provides a delightful yet thought-provoking evening of entertainment.

...I should caution that run time is on the high end at just over three hours with one intermission, but the moments my attention wavered were spread out in such a way that I still felt thoroughly engaged from end to end.

From Ed Huyck at City Pages:

Considering what has happened in Egypt in the last two weeks, along with the general instability in the Middle East, and the political unrest in neighboring Wisconsin, it's certainly prescient of Nimbus to tackle Jean Genet's The Balcony as the inaugural piece in the company's new northeast Minneapolis space.

Then again, reducing this 20th-century epic about revolutions and the slippery nature of our societal icons to mere politics is really doing the work a disservice. The politics behind the ongoing revolutions in the play's nameless city are meaningless--both the establishment and the revolutionaries talk mainly in metaphors. Instead, the idea of acting out roles in society sits front and center.

Though the decades have stripped away much of the play's transgressive energy--the public actions of real heads of the establishment are far worse than anything presented here--Genet's work still plays with the mind in thrilling ways, and despite an uneven set of performances, the Nimbus Production plays off that with real gusto.

Genet's script plays with audience expectations throughout, presenting plays-within-plays, including lengthy metaphor-driven discussions on the nature of the iconic figures of the state and revolutionaries driven by a desire for "reality" who take on the same style of meta characters as the rest.

In other words, this isn't an easy play to produce or to watch. Director Josh Cragun and the company reward audience with a production that feels both playful and insightful. But sometimes the acting loses the first element, as moments full of absurdity fall flat. The actors also seem to be unsure of the acoustics of the brand-new space, which can make it hard to understand all of their dialogue sometimes.

That aside, the whole production, featuring a terrific set by Zach Morgan and some pretty amazing costumes from Lisa Conley, carries plenty of energy and insight.

From Claude Peck at Star Tribune:

The woman next to me sighed throughout the first half of Jean Genet's "The Balcony" on Saturday at Nimbus Theatre in Minneapolis. When she and a few others left at intermission, they reduced the audience to a number roughly equal to the 16-member cast.

...Cragun and crew throw themselves into this tough dramatic nut (even Genet called it "thick," "heavy" and "idiotic"). From the three-level set -- designed by Zach Morgan in the theater's new space -- to the sound design, costuming and lighting, the message is: Storm the bordello and full speed ahead.

So, have you seen "The Balcony?" If so, what did you think? Share your thoughts in the comments section.

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The reviews are in for "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom"

Posted at 4:55 PM on February 17, 2011 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

Jevetta Steele is Ma Rainey
Photo by Michal Daniel

Penumbra Theatre presents "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" at the Guthrie Theater through March 6. The August Wilson play, set in the late 1920s, depicts blues singer Gertrude "Ma" Rainey as she prepares to lay down a new record in a South Side Chicago studio, and how even the most legendary singer of her day had to fight for every scrap of respect she could get.

Thinking of seeing the show? Check out these review excerpts - follow the links to read them in their entirety.

From Brad Richason at Examiner.com:

Divas don't come any more high maintenance than the title character of playwright August Wilson's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. Unyielding in her demands and prone to volatile outbursts at the slightest resistance, Ma Rainey would be insufferable were it not for her enormously gifted (and equally profitable) vocal ability. And yet Ma Rainey's exacting stipulations, whether as sensible as approving her musical arrangements or as superfluous as having Coca-Cola on hand at every recording session, do not merely reflect an out of control ego. No, there's a pragmatic rationale to Ma's every demand, a justification sown under social oppression. Expressed through the cathartic essence of the blues, Penumbra Theatre Company's production of Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, now running at the Guthrie, provocatively uncovers the disfiguring scars of bigotry and racism.

...Though Ma Rainey and Levee clash over control of the music, neither has an exclusive claim to ownership. As Ma Rainey's Black Bottom so resoundingly demonstrates, the blues belong to anyone moved to feel deep emotion, a characteristic certain to include those fortunate enough to witness this remarkable production.

From Dominic P. Papatola at the Pioneer Press:

We're a half-decade beyond the death of August Wilson. That's long enough so that every production of one of his plays no longer feels like an elegy, but not long enough for him to feel like a historical figure. It's a peculiar, liminal time for devotees of his work, and that sense of reflection permeates Penumbra Theatre Company's lovely but sometimes disjointed production of "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" at the Guthrie Theater.

Penumbra artistic director and Wilson intimate Lou Bellamy thus cannot forge all of the connections, but he does give his cast -- many of whom have long associations with Wilson's work -- room to maneuver and invent in a production that pulses with the varying divertimenti of jazz without straying too far from the essential themes.

And from Rohan Preston at Star Tribune:

...Bellamy's staging of this jazz-and-blues-suffused drama unfolds with inspiring lucidity and lyricism.

Even the smaller roles in "Ma" are notable. Lerea Carter drips eroticism as Dussie Mae, Ma's gorgeously endowed girlfriend, while Ahanti Young's Sylvester, Ma's stuttering nephew, is delivered with touching tenderness in a production that is superlative.

So have you seen "Ma Rainey?" If so, what did you think? Share your review in the comments section.

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The reviews are in for "Drakul"

Posted at 12:11 PM on February 16, 2011 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

Walking Shadow Theatre Company presents Drakul, a riff on Bram Stoker's novel Dracula. Thinking about seeing the show? Check out these review excerpts to help inform your decision. Already seen the show? See if your review matches those of the local critics.

From Brad Richason at Examiner.com:

Bram Stoker's novel, Dracula, was first published in 1897. Since that initial printing, this Victorian era work has proven the single most influential source of our modern vampire archetype. Mostly attributable to a vast array of cinematic adaptations, the ubiquitous vampire has achieved a kind of cultural immortality. Resurrected for each successive generation, Dracula has been depicted as both a sympathetic victim and the sheer essence of evil, representative of virtually every imaginable social taboo. After so many variations, it seems reasonable to ask if anything new can be contributed to such well-trodden mythology. The answer given by playwright/director John Heimbuch in his original work Drakul, now being presented by Walking Shadow Theatre Company at the Red Eye, ends up being decidedly mixed.

...At a three hour run time, Drakul's continually shifting focus does make sustained tension a challenging proposition. Patient audiences, however, will be rewarded with fascinating new dimensions in Heimbuch's ambitious vision. For all Drakul's narrative issues, Walking Shadow's latest production finds a distinctly human drama at the center of an undead classic.

From Ed Huyck at City Pages:

​John Heimbuch likes to think big. The playwright and co-artistic director of Walking Shadow Theatre Company has merged zombies and Shakespeare, penguins and the military, and has also crafted an original vision of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. For his latest, Drakul, Heimbuch takes Bram Stoker's Victorian horror story and expands it to look at the wreckage the events of the book leave behind for the characters. While the adaptation has its troubles, these intriguing explorations and the strong performances from the cast make it worth your time.

And while much of the action is engrossing, the show drags during the second act in places where it should be racing to its conclusion, both in action (the hunt for the vampire) and emotion (the battle, past and present, for Mina's soul). It doesn't help that the play is made up of numerous short scenes. The resulting stage shifting is a continuous distraction that holds up the pace.

From Graydon Royce at Star Tribune:

Dracula's crypt is getting crowded. Myriad adaptations of Bram Stoker's novel have proposed sexy, creepy, funny, clumsy and ghastly incantations of the old haunt. So allow playwright John Heimbuch points for bravery in taking another crack. His "Drakul" premiered Friday in Walking Shadow's production at Red Eye and you can add another adjective to the Dracula canon -- though it's probably not one Heimbuch was aiming for: wearying.

...It's a worthy effort, but "Drakul" needs more pulse.

So have you seen Drakul? If so, what did you think? Share your review in the comments section.

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The Winter's Tale revisited

Posted at 4:00 PM on March 2, 2011 by Marianne Combs (3 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

Michael Hayden (Leontes), Michelle O'Neill (Hermione), Emily Gunyou Halaas, Christina Baldwin, Suzanne Warmanen and Ansa Akyea in the Guthrie Theater production of William Shakespeare's The WINTER'S TALE, directed by Jonathan Munby.
Photo by T. Charles Erickson

A while back I posted reviews for Shakespeare's "The Winter's Tale," which runs at the Guthrie Theater through March 27. The show has been commended for its execution of what is commonly known as one of the Bard's "problem plays."

While the critics gave the production high marks, I didn't see much - if any - critical treatment of "the problem." That is, in "The Winter's Tale" we are presented with neither an outright comedy nor a complete tragedy. Instead, we are left unsettled and unsure by what appears to be an overly simplistic ending to a highly complex situation.

The original premise of the play - the terrible acts committed by a jealous husband - are not unfamiliar to Shakespeare fans. In "Othello," the Moor suffocates his own wife Desdamona, convinced that she has betrayed him. But Othello's jealousy was fueled and fanned by the evil Iago, and cannot be blamed on Othello alone.

In "The Winter's Tale," Leontes is his own worst enemy, and when we meet him he has already convinced himself that his wife Hermione is having an affair with his childhood friend:

Is whispering nothing?
Is leaning cheek to cheek? is meeting noses?
Kissing with inside lip? stopping the career
Of laughing with a sigh?--a note infallible
Of breaking honesty--horsing foot on foot?
Skulking in corners? wishing clocks more swift?
Hours, minutes? noon, midnight? and all eyes
Blind with the pin and web but theirs, theirs only,
That would unseen be wicked? is this nothing?
Why, then the world and all that's in't is nothing;
The covering sky is nothing; Bohemia nothing;
My wife is nothing; nor nothing have these nothings,
If this be nothing.

- Leontes

Leontes, despite all the protestations of his counsels, condemns his pregnant wife to prison where she - we believe - dies, and has her newborn baby girl sent to a far-off land to be abandoned to fate. An entire ship's crew is killed at sea after carrying out Leontes orders, and his own young son dies for wont of his mother's care.

Devon Solwold (Mamillius), Michael Hayden (Leontes), Bill McCallum (Polixenes) and Michelle O'Neill (Hermione) in the Guthrie Theater production of William Shakespeare's The WINTER'S TALE, directed by Jonathan Munby.
Photo by T. Charles Erickson

Sounds like a tragedy, doesn't it? But fast-forward 16 years to the end. The baby girl Perdita survives and thrives, falling in love with the son of Leontes same childhood friend, Polixenes. They, by a twist of fate, end up returning to her home Sicilia, and she is reunited with her father. Leontes has been penitent all this time for his crimes of passion, and is delighted to have found his long-lost daughter.

Here's where it gets unsettling for me. Paulina, a counsel to Leontes (who lost her own husband due to Leontes' rage), reveals that she has commissioned a statue of his dead wife Hermione, and would the family care to see it now that it's complete?

If you can behold it,
I'll make the statue move indeed, descend
And take you by the hand; but then you'll think--
Which I protest against--I am assisted
By wicked powers.

Music, awake her; strike!

- Paulina

Like magic, Hermione steps down from her pedastal as beautiful as the day Leontes first accused her of disloyalty. She embraces her husband and greets her daughter thus:

...thou shalt hear that I,
Knowing by Paulina that the oracle
Gave hope thou wast in being, have preserved
Myself to see the issue.

Soon after the family exits the stage, with all having been put right. Or has it?

Let's take a look at what's happened. Leontes has suffered for his sins 16 years, and so he is rewarded for his time with a fresh start with his beloved wife. But does anyone ever really get a fresh start? Can Hermione truly forgive her husband for his actions which led to her son's death and the separation of her and her daughter? In fact, if she really chose to be "preserved," who's to say she didn't willfully abandon her own son to his death as well - is she not at least in part culpable? (see comments)

I found myself upset with the ending, but not just because of the characters' actions; I was also disturbed by my own reaction. Leontes did not - to my mind - deserve to be reunited with his wife; too many people's lives had been lost. But then, who am I to judge?

To my mind "The Winter's Tale" is a problem play because it leaves us to wrestle with some of our own problems, and to ask some soul-searching questions. Namely, when has a person paid enough for their crimes? When can we stop judging someone for their past mistakes, and instead consider them by their present actions? And what does it take to make us willing to forgive?

"The Winter's Tale" runs through March 27 at the Guthrie Theater.

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Pop fans sing the blues at 2011 Grammys

Posted at 1:40 PM on February 14, 2011 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Music

Jazz bassist Esperanza Spalding took home the "Best New Artist" award at last night's Grammy ceremonies, to many people's dismay. Photo by Johann Sauty

Editor's note: there's been a buzz in the air this morning as music fans deal with the honest-to-goodness surprise of last night's Grammy Awards. MPR's in-house jazz aficionado David Cazares thinks the outrage over Justin Bieber's loss in the "Best New Artist" category is unjustified, and he can tell you why. Here's his commentary:

You could almost hear the collective national gasp Sunday night when a singer most people have never heard of won the award for Best New Artist at the 2011 Grammy Awards.

Esperanza Spalding, a jazz singer and bassist who has performed at the White House, won the nod over 16-year old Canadian phenomenon Justin Bieber, the music industry's superstar hope.

I was thrilled. Spalding, a Portland, Ore. native and Berklee College of Music alum, is among a number of young artists winning critical acclaim for their contemporary interpretations of jazz, America's art form.

But millions of teenage girls - and a lot of adults -- were stunned. Almost immediately, Twitter lit up with posts of "Esperanza Who?" The masses wanted to know how a hero with the perfect voice could lose to someone who performs a "dying" genre. Some defaced her Wikipedia page.

Even some who should know better posed that question. The writer Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez, who has a degree in jazz performance from Berklee, told her Twitter followers that Bieber is more fun to listen to than the "mediocre" Spalding, and a better singer.

Valdes-Rodriguez faulted Grammy voters for rewarding a singer who sings like "people who were popular 70 years ago" and decried what she called musical elitism.

"Jazz is the most garrulous, narcissistic form of music on earth," Valdes-Rodriguez wrote. "For the artist, not the listener."

Well, I'm glad she at least clarified that.

Valdes -Rodriguez is wrong. Jazz is not dead. It's alive and kicking, thanks to young performers like Spalding and many others. Despite cuts to the arts nationwide, high school students are still learning and playing this great music.

Jazz also remains popular with international audiences hungry for its authentic, imaginative and improvisational sound. Wed to the majestic blues, it is not a pretentious art.

It is true that jazz is no longer the popular dance music it once was. In perhaps a period of intellectual and artistic hubris, jazz musicians turned inward half a century ago focusing their imagination on complex musical ideas that proved inaccessible to a mass audience. Though such efforts created high art, they were reason for some to worry.

The trumpeter Miles Davis once told pianist Herbie Hancock, that if there were no women in the audience, the music wasn't happening - a reminder to never lose touch with real people.

There were crucial periods when jazz did fall out of favor, when rhythm and blues and rock 'n roll lured young fans. That wasn't lost on the music industry, which is all about the latest thing.

So when I tuned in to the award show, I wasn't at all surprised to see the heavily produced numbers with legions of dancers trying to channel Michael and Janet Jackson, the mind-numbing auto tuning or the over sexualized spectacles. Or Justin Bieber trying to prove he belonged on the same stage as Usher.

That is what the music business has come to as it seeks to capture all those young fans hooked on simple beats, celebrity and hair.

But Grammy voters got it right. It's so cool that the awards can still honor an earthy, inventive and honest sound that remains relevant and timeless. In honoring the afro-wearing Spalding, they directed the nation's attention to a singer and musician with three lively and inventive albums. They honored music over formula.

Yes, plenty of people are upset that the Best New Artist award went to someone they never heard of. She deserved it. And I love her 'fro.

So, do you think Spalding's win was justified? Is jazz "the most garrulous, narcissistic form of music on earth?" Share your thoughts in the comments section.

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The reviews are in for "Little Eyes"

Posted at 3:14 PM on February 14, 2011 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

Braxton Baker, Luverne Seifert and Sarah Agnew in "Little Eyes."
Photo by Kevin McLaughlin

"Little Eyes" by local playwright Cory Hinkle runs at the Guthrie Theater through February 20. Set in post-9/11 suburbia, the show has drawn mixed reviews for its use of surrealism. Read the following excerpts to get a sense of the range of the reviews; click on the links to read each one in its entirety.

From Brad Richason at Examiner.com:

In the monologue that opens playwright Cory Hinkle's Little Eyes, the latest production from Workhaus Collective now playing at the Guthrie's Dowling Studio, an adolescent character named Martin expounds upon an ill-defined but pervasive sense of malaise that settled over suburbia in the wake of 9/11. Economic insecurities and family instabilities at home were now countered by menacing enemies abroad. Though not entirely new ground, the suburban anxiety depicted throughout Little Eyes possesses an urgency that dashes all false reassurances and propels the work toward a gripping conclusion.

....Some might view the increasingly surreal second half as straying too far from reality, but the encountered dangers never feel less than genuine. Whatever our fears of the outside world, Hinkle's work advises us to look inward. As perceived by Little Eyes, the worst of hazards may well reside within our very own homes.

From Max Sparber at MinnPost.com:

Set in the months following 9/11 in a small American town that's ahead of the curve, in that it's already failing, Hinkle's script has three sets of characters who form a continuum from realistic to absurd. There is a young mother whose husband just up and left, played by Sarah Agnew, who limns her character as believable stunned. Then there are the next-door neighbors, Steph and Mark, played by Maggie Chestovitch and Adam Whisner, who sleep under a painting of Jesus and have looping, nonsensical arguments with each other while Steph pretends to be pregnant by stuffing a pillow under her shirt. Finally, there is a large, loud-talking stranger in a cheap suit and an old camera, played by Luverne Seifert, who claims to represent the mayor and whose photography is bullying and occasionally sinister.

Each of these three groups could exist very comfortable in their own play, but Hinkle thrusts them into each other's, where they bewilder the other characters, and risk bewildering the audience. The play is filled with signs and portents that seem meaningful but go unexplained, and the entire production is spotted with moments of bleak satire. It's a play that refuses to explain itself, and the audience must not merely suss out the subtext, but some of the text. It's very hard to tell whether this is a careful piece that made some commendable, albeit risky, decisions to challenge its audience, or if it's an impulsive piece that relies on freighted hinting and glib suburban surrealism in the place of telling a story. Most of the local critics have so far assumed it is the latter. I'm not so sure.

From Graydon Royce at Star Tribune:

Hinkle's work, directed by Jeremy Wilhelm, would like to land in a sort of David Lynch surrealism; is it allegory, absurdist, realistic symbolism or just a dream? It's refreshing to find drama that doesn't always strike us on the nose, but Hinkle's play wobbles among these prevailing realities and lacks internal consistency. Who's playing for real? Who's faking it? What's happening?

...In fact, Hinkle's play never achieves cohesion with its metaphors of surveillance, protection, invasion of privacy and anxiety. Its cynicism has no moral purpose; its comedy rarely invites us to invest an emotion in these people. They are objects of ridicule, not sympathy. Hinkle might be close to something with "Little Eyes." Choosing a specific universe -- and he seems to favor the possibilities of a less-literal world -- might help shake out the chaff and find the nugget of his message.

And from Ed Huyck at City Pages:

In the program for Little Eyes, playwright Cory Hinkle mentions that one of the inspirations for his latest play was Gregory Crewdson's surrealist portrait of modern American life, Twilight. Perusing the photographs in that collection does show a kindred spirit. In image after image, we find everyday scenes twisted and merged, to the point where yard work is done in the living room or a flooded bottom floor is as much a swimming pool as a reason to call the plumber.

...We all can use a guide through the madness, which Hinkle steadfastly refuses to give any of the characters. By the end, even though much has happened and situations have changed, they are all as lost as in the beginning, just frozen in a fresh pose.

So, have you seen "Little Eyes?" If so, what did you think? Share your review in the comments section.

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The reviews are in for "Doubt: A Parable"

Posted at 12:30 PM on February 11, 2011 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

Kris Nelson and Sally Wingert star in Ten Thousand Things' production of "Doubt: A Parable" at Open Book through March 6

It takes a lot of nerve to stage a play that got rave reviews as a movie starring Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman. But Ten Thousand Things, under the direction of Peter Rothstein, did just that. The result? According to these reviews, there's no "doubt" about the quality of this production. Read on for excerpts, and click on the links to read the full reviews.

From Graydon Royce at the Star Tribune:

The competing forces of law and grace, modernity and tradition collide with intense personal clarity in "Doubt," John Patrick Shanley's 2005 Pulitzer winner. Two sharply drawn characters -- each working out a crisis of faith -- spar for the souls of those around them. In the wreckage, no one survives whole.

Rothstein's production breathes with confidence, clearly expressing the metaphoric stakes in each actor. Simply put, he knows this play. It is a tightly etched, 75-minute parable on how we live in relationship with each other and ourselves. It should absolutely be seen.

From Jay Gabler at TC Daily Planet

At the heart of the play, and director Peter Rothstein's sizzling production, is Sister Aloysius. Wingert's fierce performance is a must-see; she rails against the forces conspiring against her with the fury of Ahab, easy though it would be to accept the world's assurances that the killer whale she pursues is a figment of her imagination. Nelson and Froiland are also effective, though those who have seen the film will miss the nuance Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams brought to their roles. In contrast to Hoffman's persistently malevolent performance, Nelson portrays Father Flynn as a cheerful man full of bouyant bonhomie; when he cracks, he falls all the harder.

The play leaves room for argument as to whether or not Father Flynn is innocent, but it's always been my impression that Shanley tips the scales in favor of Aloysius, and as Wingert pointed out in a post-performance discussion, in wake of the revelation that child abuse was shockingly widespread in the Catholic Church at that time, history is on her side. Still, when asked for a show of hands, the majority of the inmates at Saturday's performance indicated a belief that Alosyius was mistaken in her accusations regarding the priest.

From Dominic P. Papatola at the Pioneer Press:

On the face of it, "Doubt" is a zeitgeist-y play that turns on the question of whether a priest sexually exploited a 12-year-old altar boy. But it's not necessary to dig too deeply into John Patrick Shanley's Pulitzer Prize-winning play to find the more central conflict of flesh and blood versus ideas and convictions brought to thought-provoking life in Ten Thousand Things Theater's production.

Wingert's deeply grounded portrayal of Sister Aloysius commands attention and respect; you may or may not like the character at the play's end, but Wingert's crystalline performance makes certain you understand her. Kris Nelson is as compelling as Father Flynn, the object of Aloysius' suspicion. There's nothing threatening about his Father Flynn, but there's something about his hale nature that rings a half-tone flat, and that razor's edge of innocuousness gives the character a captivating nuance.

So, have you seen "Doubt?" If so, what did you think? Share your review in the comments section.

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The reviews are in for "Shirley Valentine"

Posted at 4:00 PM on February 9, 2011 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

Cheryl Willis as Shirley Valentine

Shirley Valentine is a Liverpool housewife who leaves her drab life in search of something more, and finds sunshine and self-confidence in Greece. The one-woman play is on stage at the Jungle Theater through March 20. Thinking your life could use a little warmth and sunshine right now? Check out these reviews...

From Dominic P. Papatola at Pioneer Press:

It's a simple, appealing, sometimes bromidic tale, and a different and in some ways more difficult acting job than the Jungle's single-actor, multi-character extravaganzas: Rather than dazzling us with snippets of characters in short-attention-span succession, the actor in "Shirley Valentine" must create a single character with whom we don't mind spending a couple of hours.

...That ease is the key to Willis' lovely and engaging performance. Rather than being dazzled by the performer's technical proficiency, you're invited in as if a friend is telling you a story. It's not showy, but Willis' performance -- and the whole of the Jungle's "Shirley Valentine" -- is as warm and comfortable as a sun-kissed beach.

From Graydon Royce at Star Tribune:

Who doesn't want to get away? Perhaps it's the weather, perhaps it's more, but "Shirley Valentine" makes a persuasive case with us to break out of this dreary rut. Shirley, the Liverpool housewife of Willy Russell's one-woman play, runs off to holiday in Greece, but it's more than Mediterranean sun that she's after. She wants a new contract with life.

There. I feel much better now.

From Matthew A. Everett at TC Daily Planet:

The thing that saves Shirley Valentine from being completely self-indulgent is that Shirley is smart enough to understand her place in the world. Yes, she is the center of her own personal story, but that doesn't mean the rest of the world is required to kiss her butt and make sure all her wishes come true. Other people have lives, other people have wishes. Everyone is the center of their own story. No one else is required to play along with you, unless it suits them. At the same time Shirley finally understands that she's not born to always play second fiddle to the needs of her husband and children, that awareness includes an understanding that no one else is required to put her needs above their own. Shirley makes her own escape, and others are welcome to come along for the ride.

Is Shirley Valentine life-altering? No, but I don't think it means to be. Life-affirming? Certainly. It's good to be reminded every now and again not to let your life slip by you without savoring it. Some of us need a reminder more than others. For all those folks, it's a good thing Shirley Valentine is out there. After all, Shirley isn't just talking to the wall, she's talking to all of us, in the audience. The question behind the play is always: Why is she telling us this story, and why now? After we've heard Shirley's story, what are we going to do about it?

So have you seen the show? If so, what did you think? Share your review in the comments section.

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The reviews are in for "The Winter's Tale"

Posted at 11:41 AM on February 9, 2011 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

The Winter's Tale at the Guthrie Theatre
Photos by T. Charles Erickson

The Guthrie Theater presents "The Winter's Tale" on it's thrust stage through March 27. Known as one of William Shakespeare's "problem plays" the story is split in half between two countries over the course of 16 years. But according to these reviews, "The Winter's Tale" isn't a problem at all...

From Rohan Preston at Star Tribune:

There would be less heartache and injustice in the world if more people had the courage of Paulina in Shakespeare's "The Winter's Tale." As played with fearlessness and deep moral authority by Helen Carey at the Guthrie Theater, Paulina speaks truth to power powerfully.

With the help of Sicilian lord Camillo (Bob Davis), Paulina helps set things right in Jonathan Munby's lovely, lusty, and a tad overdrawn production that opened Friday in Minneapolis.

From Rob Hubbard at Pioneer Press:

William Shakespeare never wrote a play as bipolar as "The Winter's Tale." Its first half is a chilling drama of power, paranoia and an obsession that damages everything it touches. Then the play executes a whiplash-inducing U-turn into romantic comedy, its characters donning disguises and waxing whimsical about love and theft.

...It's unlikely that you'll come away feeling "The Winter's Tale" deserving of a place alongside Shakespeare's masterpieces. But the talented cast makes music with his poetic language, while the designers deliver one interesting idea after another.

From Jay Gabler at TC Daily Planet:

In contrast to the Acting Company's Comedy of Errors--recently seen on the Guthrie's McGuire Proscenium Stage--this Winter's Tale dons Shakespeare's unparalleled language like it's slipping into a perfectly-fitting glove. The line readings sound natural and there's no problem following the actors' meaning: the cast members glory in the clever and sometimes farcical plot.

With its lucid, compelling, gleefully entertaining presentation of a classic story, The Winter's Tale has it all. It's only February, but I'm going to call it: this will likely prove to be one of the best shows of the year.

From Max Sparber at MinnPost.com:

It's great. It moves along at a tremendous pace, and benefits from terrific performances. Helen Carey will be singled out in every review published, and with cause. She plays Paulina, whose function in this play is to defend the virtue of the accused queen, and Carey brings a regal sort of rage to her role, as though she were one of those very proper English headmistresses that you daren't cross. She's all moldering stares and withering comments, and she's somehow both heroic and terrifying. But I should point out that there really isn't a weak performance in the play. Especially good, among many, is Guthrie regular Bob Davis, playing Camillo, the jealous king's right hand man and, for the sake of justice, his betrayer. Davis has a weary, wry humor about him, and, in some ways, he's our guide through the play's shift in tone -- when the action shifts to the pastoral romance, he's there as well, grounding it.

Like a lot of Shakespeare, this production takes great liberties with the approximate date in which it's set, which usually annoys me -- it often is gimmicky at best, and sometimes gives me the impression that the director doesn't trust Shakespeare enough to just throw people into togas or farthingales and let the story do the work. And so this production, which opens on New Year's Eve with a group of tuxedo-clad men and evening-gown-beclad women dancing the twist to Christina Baldwin singing popular standards, seemed like it might be equally guilty. But director Jonathan Munby, in his first gig at the Guthrie, does trust Shakespeare -- he's exceptionally precise in his direction, communicating the story as much through intelligent staging as through the performances.

And there is the same intelligence in his locating the play in the era of Kennedy's Camelot. This is, after all, about a king, played by St. Paul native Michael Hayden, whose underlings cannot rebuff his decisions, even when they are very bad ones, which has echoes of Kennedy's Camelot, and the Bay of Pigs, and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Additionally, it sets the later, pastoral action in the 1970s, and while the story is set in Bohemia, Munby sets it in bohemia -- a sort of rural countercultural utopia where everybody is dressed in bell bottoms and polyester and, in the morning, clumps of semi-undressed women will stagger out of a single tent as jug-band music plays. Aside from being great fun to look at, this is an effective device for signaling the play's tone shift -- the period between Kennedy and the early '70s represented an instantly recognizable epochal cultural shift.

From Brad Richason at Examiner.com:

From a psychological viewpoint, the Guthrie Theater is to be commended simply for having the nerve to launch a February production with winter in the title. At this bitterly frigid time of year, risking that Minnesotans won't be repulsed by a reminder of the climate is no small gamble. Those that manage to look beyond the offending word, however, will be rewarded with a reinvigorating take on William Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale, one that uses irrepressible passions to restore enchantment to the season.

Marked by such continually shifting focus and tone, The Winter's Tale by all conventional logic shouldn't work...and yet the play not only works, it captivates. The genius of the gambit resides in Shakespeare's uncanny balancing of elements, the way the comedy plays off of the tragedy, each reinforcing the other with skilled verve. Demonstrating a deft understanding of the mixture, director Jonathan Munby creates a dynamic fusion of styles, alternating through passages both grim and fanciful.

So - have you seen "The Winter's Tale?" If so, what did you think? Share your review in the comments section.

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Wallace Shawn on our infinite potential

Posted at 3:14 PM on February 4, 2011 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Culture, Theater

Wallace Shawn is an award-winning playwright, serious actor and essayist who, paradoxically, is known best by the general public for his role as an evil villain in "The Princess Bride."

As such Shawn is all too aware of how one person can embody many different, even conflicting, possibilities and characters.

In Shawn's essay "Why I am a Socialist: Is the World Really a Stage?" (which you can read in The Huffington Post) he writes about the particular ability of an actor to draw upon their ability and imagination in order to embody so many different characters and what, in turn, this says about all our human potential. I found the following excerpts particularly compelling:

We are not what we seem. We are more than what we seem. The actor knows that. And because the actor knows that hidden inside himself there's a wizard and a king, he also knows that when he's playing himself in his daily life, he's playing a part, he's performing, just as he's performing when he plays a part on stage. He knows that when he's on stage performing, he's in a sense deceiving his friends in the audience less than he does in daily life, not more, because on stage he's disclosing the parts of himself that in daily life he struggles to hide. He knows, in fact, that the role of himself is actually a rather small part, and that when he plays that part he must make an enormous effort to conceal the whole universe of possibilities that exists inside him...

Actors understand the infinite vastness hiding inside each human being, the characters not played, the characteristics not revealed. Schoolteachers can see every day that, given the chance, the sullen pupil in the back row can sing, dance, juggle, do mathematics, paint, and think. If the play we're watching is an illusion, if the baby who now wears the costume of the hustler in fact had the capacity to become a biologist or a doctor, a circus performer or a poet or a scholar of ancient Greek, then the division of labor, as now practiced, is inherently immoral, and we must somehow learn a different way to share out all the work that needs to be done. The costumes are wrong. They have to be discarded. We have to start out naked again and go from there.

Wallace Shawn's nonfiction collection Essays is now out in an expanded paperback edition that includes "Why I Call Myself a Socialist: Is the World Really A Stage?"

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The reviews are in for "Shrek"

Posted at 12:28 PM on February 3, 2011 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism

Photo by Joan Marcus, Dreamworks Theatricals

"Shrek" - the musical based on the movie - runs at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis through February 6. Thinking of going? Check out these reviews:

From Renee Valois at the Pioneer Press:

If you liked "Shrek" the movie, odds are you'll love "Shrek the Musical." It follows the film's storyline very closely -- except for a few worthy additions -- and captures the animated characters surprisingly well in living, breathing form. There's plenty of color, action, dancing, sight gags and great voices belting out lively music. Even the dragon can sing (better than any reptile you've ever seen).

...An animated film couldn't do a sendup of a Broadway number with tap-dancing mice, a pied piper and a princess like this musical does. Cows get tossed over the moon, lyrics mention the tranny wolf (dressed in Grandma's nightgown) and bits parody popular shows from "Les Miserables" to "The Lion King" -- as well as all those fairy tales.

From Rohan Preston at Star Tribune:

If you're going to do a show that's derivative, flimsy and crass, you might as well have fun.

I have to admit that I laughed a lot. But it's too bad that so much talent has gone into working on such a thin, contrived piece.

From Max Sparber at MinnPost.com:

This could have been a lazy creation. It would have been quite possible to take the screenplay for "Shrek" and convert it to the stage. I have seen a lot of musicals that do this, and inevitably suffer for it. As much deserved grief as director Julie Taymor currently gets for her Spider Man musical, her stage adaptation of "The Lion King" carefully and quite dramatically re-conceived the musical for the stage. Smart playwrights have followed suit since, and Lindsay-Abaire and his collaborator Jeanine Tesori, who wrote the music, are smart. "Shrek: The Musical" is not "Shrek" the movie. Neither is it William Steig's book that inspired both. It's completely a thing of the stage, and it exhumes themes that the film and the book just touched on. And, more than any other, the theme it is most interested in is as follows: Whatever makes us different also makes us powerful.

You probably already know the story, but, if not, here's as brief an encapsulation as I can provide: A troll and a talking donkey accept a quest from an evil prince to rescue a princess, who herself suffers a curse. Many elements from the film are maintained, including the look of the characters, Shrek's Scottish accent, and the fact that it takes place in a world of fairy tale creatures who know their own fairy tales and riff on them relentlessly.

But I mentioned the imp of the perverse, didn't I? One of the ways this mischievous creature controls the play is in the production's love of stage effects. The play is filled with quick transformations, extraordinary monsters, and images of the fantastic that are generally produced by choosing the creakiest legerdemain possible, being quite obvious about the sleight-of-hand that is occurring, and then referencing it directly.

The villain, Lord Farquaad, is diminutive in stature, and this effect is created by taking a regular-sized actor, attaching spindly legs to his upper thighs, and then having him walk around on his knees. The princess dances with a deer at one moment, and it is clearly an inflatable dummy that she simply drags around the stage with her. She later dances with some rodents, and the effect is created by having a row of tap dancers wear shoes that look like rats. There is a great deal of puppetry in this, including a really enormous, and impressive, stage dragon. And the set moves about constantly, opening and closing to reveal new backdrops, a trick beloved by Victorian melodramas and updated by having what looks to be a giant LED screen at the back of the stage that can transform into whatever is needed.

From Jay Gabler at TC Daily Planet:

Shrek the Musical feels overstuffed with tepid numbers, especially in the second act. You wouldn't think of Shrek as a compelling character study, and it's surprising that it comes as close to being one as it does--the fruit of strangely extensive efforts in that direction. You would, however, think of Shrek as a gently irreverent good time, and in that respect, this musical delivers.

...Given the wild success of the Shrek movie franchise, it was inevitable that there would be a Shrek musical--and so here it is, and it doesn't suck. "It could have been cut by an hour," observed my mom, "and everyone would have walked out feeling really good about it."

So - have you seen "Shrek?" What did you think? Share your review in the comments section.

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The reviews are in for "Mary Stuart"

Posted at 1:08 PM on February 2, 2011 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Music, Opera, Theater

Judith Howarth (Mary) and Brenda Harris (Elizabeth), star as the dueling divas in "Mary Stuart."

Minnesota Opera presents "Mary Stuart" through February 6 at the Ordway Center for Performing Arts. It revolves around Queen Elizabeth I and Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, as they battle for the English throne. Thinking about going? Below are excerpts from three different reviews of the first performances; click on the links to read the full reviews.

From Larry Fuchsberg at the Star Tribune:

Start a conversation about Gaetano Donizetti's 1834 "Mary Stuart," which opened Saturday at the Ordway Center in a grandly sung production by the Minnesota Opera, and chances are you'll soon be talking about the blood-soaked patch of English history on which the work draws. Based on a play by Friedrich von Schiller, the opera seems overshadowed by its source materials, which librettist Giuseppe Bardari, a green 17-year-old, couldn't quite make his own. The result is a problematic hybrid -- "Masterpiece Theater" meets high-flying coloratura -- whose power stems more from the clash of its two queenly sopranos than from its theatrical (or musical) cogency.

In Brenda Harris (Elizabeth) and Judith Howarth (Mary), Minnesota Opera has the two differentiated divas Donizetti demands. No one will confuse them. Harris, deservedly a company favorite, is an aging spitfire, regal even in her indecision -- she holds all the cards, and knows it. Her voice has an icy edge; her coloratura is a weapon. Howarth, though capable of a spine-awakening shriek, characteristically sings with melting lyricism. Her coloratura is laced with tenderness; she makes Mary's dubious transformation from charmer to martyr seem plausible. She's particularly affecting in her prayer, as is the splendid chorus (which is effectively deployed throughout this production).

From Rob Hubbard at the Pioneer Press:

Call it a soprano smackdown.

While some productions portray Elizabeth as this story's venomous villain, Harris attracts the audience's sympathy for a jealous, indecisive monarch. Brenda Harris reprises the role of Elizabeth that she so vividly inhabited in last season's "Roberto Devereux," but this performance is even more impressive. But Judith Howarth matches her aria for aria as Mary, seizing the heroine's mantle with a transfixing stage presence and silky-soft delivery. Both Harris and Howarth make these larger-than-life characters compellingly human-sized, each a flawed and fascinating figure.

From Jay Gabler at TC Daily Planet:

Even if you don't know much about classical music, you can appreciate opera because it features situations everyone can relate to. For example, Gaetano Donizetti's Mary Stuart: you know you need to sign your cousin's death warrant because she was party to treasonous plots against you, and furthermore has been sending mash notes from her prison cell to your lover, who was once hers. But you keep putting it off and putting it off because you're busy being queen and, after all, she is your cousin (albeit once removed). I mean, who hasn't been there?

...It's a strong production, but you have to know what you're getting into. There's little in the way of comic antics or grand battles here: you've pretty much got two chagrined women trading powerful arias. Both divas are up to the task, though as with Devereux, Harris has the more thankless role and is outshone by her costar--then Tamara Klivadenko, now the precise and empathetic Howarth. In the crucial role of Leicester, Sledge sings well but does a terrible job as an actor: when he's shown the death warrant of the woman he loves, he gives Elizabeth a look like she's just asked him to wash the castle's windows.

Did you make it the Minnesota Opera's production of "Mary Stuart?" If so, what did you think? Share your review in the comments section.

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The reviews are in for "L'effet de Serge"

Posted at 2:07 PM on January 31, 2011 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

"Serge" presents micro-shows in front of a macro-audience at the Walker Art Center

The Walker Art Center concluded its month long "Out There" series with "L'effet de Serge" by Philippe Quesne and Vivarium Studio. According to the Walker website, "L'Effet de Serge is a surprisingly humorous and touching tribute to the pleasures and the necessity of art."

Well, not everyone agreed. While critic Jay Gabler found the show enchanting, Rohan Preston found the show lacking and Ed Huyck deemed it pretentious. Read on for excerpts of their reviews, or click on the links to read them in their entirety.

From Jay Gabler at TC Daily Planet:

A little glimpse into the life of Serge is all L'Effet promises, and it delivers beautifully on that promise.

L'Effet is the final work to be presented in the Walker's Out There series, which this year spotlights European artists. (Quesne is French.) Among the four, L'Effet employs the least theatrical trickery--except for a little fog, there are really no special effects to speak of. We simply watch Serge go about his business, and after the climactic performance, we watch for a long time as Serge's friends finish their wine, chat quietly, eat a little pizza (Serge apparently favors Pizza Lucé), and leave.

From Rohan Preston at Star Tribune:

Wittingly or not, artists sometimes deliver work that supports the argument that the arts are marginal. I had that thought as I laughed along to the minimalist, sly stage doodlings of performer Gaëtan Vourc'h at Walker Art Center Thursday night.

Serge's shows, an implicit critique of shortened attention spans and the inflated language and indirection that people resort to when talking about performance, remind me of opening-night awkwardness at less-than-successful productions. How did you like the show? Well, that was really something else (and nothing else).

From Ed Huyck at City Pages:

In the performance notes for L'effet de Serge, the finale of the Walker Art Center's Out There 2011, the production by Vivarium Studio is described as turning "theatrical conventions upside down as it blends reality and artifice, superimposing varying levels of presence and questioning the nature of representation while taking a dispassionate look at human beings, their needs for each other and their reliance on a poetic spirit to transcend mundane lives of sometimes stupefying insignificance."

This is probably all about the emotional disconnection of modern life and the artifice of performing onstage. There's nothing at all wrong with exploring those subjects, but it seems pretty cynical to pad out your show with 10 minutes of people sharing small talk and eating Pizza Luce.

So, did you make it to "L'effet de Serge?" If so, what did you think? Share your review in the comments section.

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The artist as critic

Posted at 12:06 PM on January 20, 2011 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Media

It doesn't take much digging to find that an increasing number of stories about the arts these days are being written by artists themselves. For some, the "arts reporter" gig is a necessary second source of income with compatible hours... for others, the motivation comes from a desire to fill the increasing void created by cutbacks at papers.

Max Sparber, a regular columnist for MinnPost.com and the temporary fill-in editor of Minnesota Playlist, is also a playwright. Earlier this week he wrote about the pitfalls and benefits of being both artist and journalist:

This sort of critic/artist cross pollination can lead to overwhelming conflicts of interests. It does not serve the needs of an artist or an audience to have a critic who is primarily a cheerleader for the local arts community. One of the traditional roles of the critic is to act as an entirely impartial respondent to a piece of art. We may not agree with their opinion, but we know them to be thoroughly scrupulous in expressing that opinion. And, without an impartial response, there is a risk of criticism just becoming a wing of the promotions department of an arts organization. And even the appearance of a conflict-of-interests has historically led to charges of impartiality, which is why some critics will not see their subjects on a social basis.

I've wrestled with this. It's especially poignant now, as I tend to prefer only to write about subjects that interest me, and so it will be pretty rare that I produce a really scabrous review. As I figure it, audiences have no trouble steering clear of bad art, and there is so much interesting art out there that I prefer to point them in that direction. And my relationship with the local performance art community is so thoroughly muddied that I must includes extended full-disclosures in every piece I write. I have been fortunate to land a gig where this isn't a problem, as my column for MinnPost is built around a conversational, insider's look at the arts. But, as Mencken once said, in order to maintain credibility as a critic, sometimes you have to raise the black flag and start slitting throats. This can be very, very difficult to do when you're writing about people you care about.

However, Sparber goes on to argue that artists make for some of the best qualified arts writers:

...Arts writing is at its best when written by somebody who actually knows about the arts. There's a long and sullied history in the press of sports writers and beat reporters being pressed into arts writing because nobody else will do it. They've never participated in the making of a performance, and so don't know what goes into it. And they often don't have much of an education on what they're reviewing. Notoriously, an Omaha critic once left "Waiting for Godot" during intermission, not knowing there was a second act. He wrote a piece about how Beckett's play has nothing to say to modern audiences. And, who knows, maybe he was right. I like Beckett, but I also like "Auntie Mame," and that's a play that genuinely has nothing to offer modern audiences. But his case would have been more credible had he stuck it out for the second act...

That would be a pity. Because we are filling the ranks of arts critics with people who know about the arts, love them, and are skilled at communicating their nuances. This should lead to a golden age of arts writing, instead of a golden age of self-promotion.

You can read Sparber's full article here. As a reader of arts stories, do you care whether or not the person writing the story is a trained artist, or friends with the subject of the story? How much does the background or training of the reporter matter to you? Trust me, I'm all ears.

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The reviews are in for Gob Squad's "Kitchen"

Posted at 11:53 AM on January 19, 2011 by Marianne Combs (2 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Museums, Theater

Walker Art Center's "Out There" series continued this past weekend with Gob Squad's "Kitchen (You've Never Had It So Good)." Inspired by the Andy Warhol film, Gob Squad sought to recreate the movie as theater. Here's a look at what the critics thought of the performance:

From Graydon Royce at the Star Tribune:

Warhol's was a ragged little film with actors drifting in and out, flubbing whatever lines were written, smoking, talking, posing and prattling on. We wince at the banality of revolution, one actor assessing a cake thusly: "It's a layer cake. Just like my life. One meaningless layer after another." Dig it.

Yes. The deposit of an actor's work -- in this case the film that is "being made"-- is instantly past. The audience is alive. "Kitchen" is remade with all of us and we understand that it's true, we've never had it so good.

From Ed Huyck at City Pages:

The piece itself isn't as much a recreation of the obscure film but a meditation on the influence it--and the rest of the 1960s counterculture--have had in the decades since Warhol and his Factory friends decided to make art in their own image. So instead of trying become Warhol or Edie Sedgwick or any of the other denizens of the Factory, they are instead themselves playing themselves in the film.

In the end, Gob Squad's Kitchen reminded me of the late, very lamented Theatre de la Jeune Lune. Like that ensemble, the Gob Squad love to play with the very forms of theater itself and recraft it into something rare, thrilling, and beautiful.

From Jay Gabler at TC Daily Planet:

Andy Warhol is a tough artist to riff on, because his work is so conceptually complete: it's hard to start with a Warhol piece and turn it into something more than, or even simply other than, it is. His ideas--the embrace of mass production and commercialism, the genius of bald appropriation, the importance of chance--still seem revolutionary when applied to more conventional art, but if you try to apply them to Warhol, your piece just eats itself.

But Gob Squad aren't content to simply replicate Warhol--they have their own, more traditional tricks up their sleeves, and they're not about to let those go. The resulting production is left in uneasy limbo: it never coheres as either a scripted entertainment or as an avant-garde experience. In this Kitchen, Gob Squad lose their cake and don't eat it either.

Did you see Gob Squad's Kitchen? If so, what did you think? Share your thoughts in the comments section,

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The reviews are in for "Glengarry Glen Ross"

Posted at 10:57 AM on January 12, 2011 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

Terry Hempleman and Patrick Coyle in "Glengarry Glen Ross" at Torch Theater
Photo: Thomas Sandelands

"Glengarry Glen Ross" casts a cold eye on the real estate business. Written by David Mamet, the play was turned into a movie in 1992 starring Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon and Alec Baldwin. Torch Theater presents its own version with local star talent through January 29 at the Minneapolis Theatre Garage. Thinking about going? Check out these reviews:

From Ed Huyck at City Pages:

The play is a brutal, searing, and triumphant work, and the current production by Torch Theater lives up to the show's pedigree...

...Glengarry Glen Ross moves with speed and efficiency, due both to Mamet's economical script and the tight directing from David Mann. That not only gives the play lots of energy, but it highlights the stink of desperation that hovers around these characters. This is a world that moves quickly, and if you can't keep up, you will be left along the road to die.

From Graydon Royce at Star Tribune:

"Glengarry Glen Ross" allows us a safe distance from which to admire the stained slaughterhouse where ravenous slashers carve their pigeons with such finesse that the victim scarcely realizes he's been mortally wounded. Despite its venal intent, this is a marvelously audacious thing to watch.

Roma is one of two thrumming engines that should drive Mamet's cynical homage to salesmanship, and Coyle has this character oiled, locked in and charged with volatility. In the first act -- a triptych played out on set designer Michael Hoover's perfectly imagined Chinese restaurant -- Coyle's Roma casts a hook baited with adventure and danger into the limp jaw of one James Lingk, a nicely realized sap in John Middleton's hands. Roma is not offering property as much as he's offering risk and thrill -- the chance to be alive.

And from Dominic Papatola at the Pioneer Press:

"Glengarry Glen Ross" is a tricky play: A successful production of David Mamet's foul-mouthed, rough-edged glimpse at salesmanship and testosterone must balance -- thematically, linguistically and emotionally -- on a razor's edge.

This lack of crystal-clear differentiation fuzzes the play's focus. Among other things, this is a play about the hair's-breadth between success and failure, and when the performances don't knit together precisely, the whole doesn't transcend the sum of its parts.

Have you seen Torch Theater's production of Glengarry Glen Ross? If so, share your thoughts in the comments section.

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The reviews are in for "Jimmy Dean"

Posted at 4:52 PM on January 11, 2011 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

The 20th reunion of the Disciples of James Dean attracts a mysterious stranger (pictured left to right: Noe Tallen, Tina Frederickson, Tina Moroni, Candace Barrett Birk), and their memories intermingle with flashbacks to the time when movie star Dean was filming nearby.

"Come Back to the 5 and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean" runs through January 30 at Theatre in the Round in Minneapolis. Thinking of seeing the show? Check out these reviews before you go:

From William Randall Beard at the Star Tribune:

The production at Theatre in the Round is as effective as one is likely to find. It mines the play's brittle humor while avoiding the most portentous melodrama. Give credit to director David Coral.

The play has a happy ending that it doesn't earn. The reconciliations come too easily after too many years of pain and animosity. But the production makes it work. Tallen, Frederickson and Moroni make a genuine, heartfelt connection, while avoiding excessive sentimentality.

From Renee Valois at the Pioneer Press:

No one would accuse playwright Ed Graczyk of writing a believable story with true-to-life characters in "Come Back to the Five and Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean." The plot is more than a little unlikely and the quirky characters behave in odd ways -- but not with the absurdity needed to fuel humor. Fortunately, director David Coral makes the most of the iffy material in Theater in the Round's production, boosting interest with lively acting and a set that is almost a character in itself.

That's good, because the play starts slowly, with a couple of characters whining about the heat, swatting flies and wondering where everyone else is. It's 1975, and members of the Disciples of James Dean fan club are gradually gathering for a 20-year reunion commemorating the anniversary of their idol's death in 1955. They're at a Five and Dime store in Texas near the town where he shot his last film, "Giant."

From Dwight Hobbes at TC Daily Planet:

Best known as the Robert Altman film that helped make Cher a movie star, the story actually is quite a cut above Hollywood's usual fodder. It's a bittersweet saga of old friends and the shifting, tenuous foundations beneath their relationships with one another. Teenage friends Mona, Sissy, Joanne, Edna Louise, and Stella May, all grown up, haven't got together in ages and, lifelong fans of cinema legend James Dean, hold a reunion of the fan club. What was meant as a nice little renewing of acquaintances turns out to be more than anyone involved bargained for. Heads spin, hearts break, cruel reality sorely testing the bonds of friendship as well as the ability to accept oneself.

When you direct an ensemble show well, nobody can tell where the acting picks up and the directing leaves off. This is the case with very sharp director David Coral and his skilled cast of Candace Barret Birk, Noë Tallen, Valarie Falken, Tina Frederickson, Erin Denman, Tina M. Moroni, Ann Carroll, Kelli Gorr, and Daniel Eckman-Thomas. It's the kind of fluid, seamless blend of talents that's hard to come by. Gracyk's script is rich in character-driven dialogue, giving Carol and company a field day with which to execute wonderfully entertaining, powerfully moving theater.

Have you seen the show? If so, share your thoughts in the comments section.

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Minnesota Orchestra CD earns a perfect score

Posted at 2:00 PM on January 11, 2011 by Marianne Combs (2 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Music

Classical music reviewers have a reputation for exacting standards. And it's been my impression that it's somewhat rare for a classical recording to earn a "10" - or, in the case of Classics Today, what is known as a "10/10" - with separate ratings for artistic quality and sound quality.

When news got out that the Minnesota Orchestra had earned just such a perfect score this week for its recording of Beethoven's 4th and 5th piano concertos, I went to the website to find out more. And indeed, Osmo Vanska and his team are lauded, along with featured performer Yevgeny Subdin:

Here, both conductor and soloist are consistently operating on the same exciting wavelength. Osmo Vänskä's credentials as a Beethoven conductor remain impressive. He understands the importance of accents, of sforzandos that enliven but don't disrupt the melodic line. He never fails to balance Beethoven's all-important bass lines clearly (opening tutti of the Fourth concerto), or to give sufficient prominence to those rapid accompaniments in repeated notes that energize the music's texture (first movement of the "Emperor"). The orchestra plays with real intensity as well as expressiveness, offering the perfect collaboration for Yevgeny Sudbin's contributions.

The review goes on at length to celebrate both Sudbin's master at the keyboard and the "gorgeous sonics" - a fabulous review!

But imagine my surprise when I glanced down the review list and found that Classics Today has given 44 perfect scores in the last month alone! That's a whole lot of perfection. Perhaps the website should be a little more judicious with its rave reviews, so that we might take them more seriously.

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Why criticism matters

Posted at 2:35 PM on January 2, 2011 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism

This Sunday's New York Times Book Review is dedicated to six essays about the worth of criticism in contemporary society. In fact, the paper version only contains excerpts - to read the full essays, you need to go the website.

The fact that this compendium has been published on what is widely considered the slowest news week of the year underscores criticism's primary dilemma; critics still have lots to say, but nobody's quite sure if anyone wants to read it.

In fact, even I, someone embedded in the journalistic tradition, and with a degree in "comparative literature" for goodness sake, found myself skimming paragraphs, looking for greater meaning. What follows here is what I managed to glean.

In Stephen Burn's essay "Beyond the critic as cultural arbiter" he declares "the audience now talks to itself" and that traditional criticism "merely adds to the noise of culture."

Burn says, instead of trying to command a general audience, the modern critic should find his or her niche, and dig deeper than ever before. He writes:

The culture is what it is -- messy and multi-valent, open to a certain range of entertainments and cultural expressions -- and the critic's yearning to dominate a larger audience is an index of the extent to which he or she finds the critical task insufficient in itself. Stepping aside from the culture of opinion, delving deeper into open-minded analysis, critics might fulfill their most important function: locating major works that are not always visible in mainstream networks.

For her part, essayist Katie Roiphe argues that if there are that many more voices out there, it simply forces the critic to be even better at his or her craft:

If the critic has to compete with the seductions of Facebook, with shrewdly written television, with culturally relevant movies -- with, in short, every bright thing that flies to the surface of the iPhone -- that's all the more reason for him to write dramatically, vividly, beautifully, to have, as Alfred Kazin wrote in 1960, a "sense of the age in his bones." The critic could take all of this healthy competition, the challenge of dwindling review pages, the slash in pay, as a sign to be better, to be irreplaceable, to transcend...

By this I mean that critics must strive to write stylishly, to concentrate on the excellent sentence. There is so much noise and screen clutter, there are so many Amazon reviewers and bloggers clamoring for attention, so many opinions and bitter misspelled rages, so much fawning ungrammatical love spewed into the ether, that the role of the true critic is actually quite simple: to write on a different level, to pay attention to the elements of style.

Wait - so it doesn't matter so much what you say, but how you say it? Evidently that is what sets the professionals apart, according to Roiphe, because she says "the secret function of the critic today is to write beautifully, and in so doing protect beautiful writing."

Adam Kirsch at the New Republic counters the role of the critic is "essentially the same today as it was 50 years ago: a serious critic is one who says something true about life and the world."

Kirsch goes on to state that such a definition is of course the ideal; in actuality critics play a role that combines journalism with consumer advocacy and social commentary.

Sam Anderson blames technology - what he jokingly calls the "iPocalypse" - for the drastic changes in how people consume writing of all kinds, including criticism:

What we can say, for sure, is that sustained exposure to the Internet is changing the way many readers process the written word. Texts are shorter and more flagrantly interconnected, with all kinds of secret passageways running into and out of one another. This has already changed the way we produce, read, share and digest our writing. Inevitably, it will also redefine what it means to practice book criticism, at least for those of us who aspire to write for something like a general audience.

Anderson says this change may be for the best, because it forces critics to vie for their readership; in other words, no more self-indulgent, wordy pieces that fail to make a compelling point. A a result, Anderson says, critics are now forced to ask some scary, yet essential, questions:

Why do we read it at all? What happens if we don't? The contemporary critic has to be an evangelist -- implicitly or explicitly -- not just for a particular book or author, but for literary experience itself.

But then Anderson goes on to make a demand that sounds, to my ears, a bit like Rodney Dangerfield.

If we want criticism to matter today, we have to treat it with more respect. This means abandoning the notion that it's just hack work or service journalism or literary bookkeeping, or a sad little purgatory for people who haven't managed to succeed as novelists. Book criticism, done well, is an art of its own, with its own noble canon and creative challenges and satisfactions. In fact, it's one of the essential literary arts, a singular genre in which a lot of great writers have done their best work.

'Respect us, and then we'll matter?' How about 'matter first, and then you'll earn our respect?'

As I read through the rest of the essays, I felt a growing concern. Each of these self-labeled critics referenced lofty texts and previous critical debates... citing Marxism and such books as "Anna Karenina" and "A Room of One's Own." The debate itself was so rarified, that by its very nature it repelled a general audience - the very audience critics complain they're losing.

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The reviews are in for "Billy Elliot"

Posted at 2:48 PM on December 21, 2010 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

The cast of "Billy Elliot"
Photo by Michael Brosilow

From Rohan Preston at the Star Tribune:

That this musical lacks memorable, anthemic songs (candidates include the choral numbers "Once We Were Kings" and "Solidarity" as well as the spoof-inviting "Born to Boogie") almost doesn't matter.

Still, it is easy to see why "Billy," ballyhooed in Britain, where it originated, and New York, where it won 10 Tony Awards, has been such a juggernaut. It has a touching story that could be set in America's Rust Belt. And the action is centered on youngsters on whom we can project our own dreams.

From Jay Gabler at TC Daily Planet:

Time and again in this show, a scene or song or effect is good enough--and then the show gives us a little more.

The premise could be a recipe for a trainload of saccharin sentiment, but the film and the musical--both directed by Stephen Daldry--succeed with strong characterizations, gentle wit, and a tough, surprisingly substantive perspective on the labor conflict. We're allowed to see the real existential desperation of these men, who are fighting to save a way of life that's being swept away by forces far larger than them, larger even than Margaret Thatcher and her entire government. Little Billy is full of promise and pride, and a less intelligent take on this material would conflate his achievements with those of the community; here, though, Billy's individual success is poignantly tied to the failure of the common good. Should Billy's dad break the picket line and go to work as a scab so his son can have a shot at success? There are not a lot of big-budget Broadway musicals that engage such thorny ethical questions.

From Ross Raihala at the Pioneer Press:

There's plenty in "Billy Elliot the Musical" that may confound audiences, from the contentious politics of the Thatcher era to the thick northern England accents to the intricacies of mid-'80s British class struggle. And sensitive audience members should know the language gets rough and enough characters puff actual cigarettes on stage that some folks will leave with smoke in their eyes.

The show starts slow and feels somewhat clunky as it bounces between overly broad humor and confusing exposition. And while Billy's mom is dead, the character of his grandmother feels extraneous and only slows things down. Four songs in, though, things really pick up with the full-cast number "Solidarity," the first of several Elton John-penned numbers to pack a heady punch. From there, tightly choreographed group numbers and some spectacular dancing from the lead make it a breeze to forget the early weaknesses of the script and to simply get wrapped up in the spirited spectacle of it all.

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The reviews are in for "Two Pianos, Four Hands"

Posted at 2:56 PM on December 20, 2010 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

"2 Pianos 4 Hands" from Michael-jon Pease on Vimeo.

"Two Pianos, Four Hands" runs through January 2 at Park Square Theatre in downtown St. Paul. Thinking about getting tickets? Then you'll want to check out these reviews:

From Ed Huyck at City Pages:

One of the clichés of the modern world is "Failure is not an option." It's repeated in bad action movies, on endless sports broadcasts, and by politicos the world over. It seems that either you "win" or get destroyed in modern-day gladiatorial combat.

That theme runs beneath the surface of 2 Pianos 4 Hands, which sets out mainly to be a delightful romp through the young lives of the musically obsessed but turns into something deeper by play's end. At Park Square Theatre, a pair of terrific players take on the roles of dueling piano-playing friends who offer up great playing set pieces and dig deep into the show's considerable heart.

From Larry Fuchsberg at the Star Tribune:

The play is not easily cast. It requires two mercurial pianist-actors who can not only handle Mozart, Schubert, Chopin and Billy Joel but can also conjure some 20 different characters: wounded teachers (with a host of accents), conflicted parents and other authority figures (though, curiously, no therapist). Both Peter Vitale (Richard) and Michael Pearce Donley (Ted) are extraordinary, convincingly impersonating a petrified schoolboy one moment, a doddering pedagogue the next. Very different musicians, they play well together without sounding like slumming virtuosos.

The play's slapstick opening, suggestive of Victor Borge on a bad night, seems to me a miscalculation. But thereafter Frey and his actors find a plausible balance between farce and ache. "2 Pianos 4 Hands" doesn't always take the time to plumb the depths latent in its materials; its pace can seem a bit manic. But the concluding performance of Bach's D-minor keyboard concerto -- the music that has framed the action, played, finally, for the sheer hell of it -- feels unexpectedly redemptive. Music has triumphed over its worldly entanglements; stage fright has given way to joy.

From Renee Valois at Pioneer Press:

Peter Vitale (Richard) and Michael Pearce Donley (Ted) convey plenty of humor in Park Square Theatre's production as the boys make contorted, mocking faces and balk against their music teachers and parents. The two performers switch roles from music teacher to pupil and back again as adroitly as they trade pieces on the piano.

One jumps in where the other left off. They also simultaneously play dueling parts, facing each other from opposing pianos -- and take on Bach, Mozart and Billy Joel with as much determination as they take on each other.

The two grand pianos that are the primary props almost become living entities as the pianists pour their emotions into the keys, caressing them seductively or pounding them with fury.

Director Tom Frey displays a sure hand with both the comic elements and the poignancy of the material, keeping things from getting too maudlin or depressing. This is not an earthshaking drama but a small show with familiar charm.

Have you seen "Two Pianos, Four Hands?" If so, give us your review in the comments section.

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The reviews are in for Ordway's "Joseph"

Posted at 12:22 PM on December 14, 2010 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

American Idol Anthony Federov stars in the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts' "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat"

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat opened this past Friday at the Ordway Center for the Performing Art, only to have to cancel its second show, due to the blizzard. But several critics took the snowed-in weekend to write their thoughts on the over-the-top Biblical musical. Take a look:

From Graydon Royce at Star Tribune

One girl dropped a baton, another a faux candle. A young lad was late to his spot in the dance line and struggled to get in sync. While most patrons likely visited the Ordway in St. Paul Friday night to see Anthony Fedorov ("American Idol" finalist a few years ago) in "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," 41 young children provided a swarming and delightful charm.

That's not intended as a slight to Fedorov. He looks like a Nordic god and sings the role beautifully, even if he never overwhelms us with charisma. Nor does it diminish director and choreographer James Rocco. With few exceptions, Rocco's production glitters with color, dances with fierce energy and sings richly. But amid the lacquered glam, the presence of children keeps this show grounded as an essential fairy tale full of dreams and hope.

From Dominic Papatola at the Pioneer Press

Rocco crams his stage with no fewer than 41 local schoolchildren in addition to a cast of two dozen grown-ups. He leaves none of the musical jokes in the score unexplained or unexploited and adds in some original gags of his own creation. He and his company charge their way through a schlock-tacular staging that brims with energy and enthusiasm, but not always with joy.

Almost from the moment former "American Idol" contestant Anthony Fedorov rises up from a hole in the middle of the stage to play the title role, his challenges are painfully manifest. Perhaps because his breakout performances were geared for the small screen, he's uncomfortable with a scope and scale of performing for the stage. During his first initial performance of "Any Dream Will Do" at the top of the show, he labors to make a connection with the audience, methodically and mechanically glancing at first the front row, then the mezzanine, the loge and the balcony.

From Brad Richason at Examiner.com

Recognizing the essential morality tale at the story's core, director/choreographer James A. Rocco stages the production like a carnivalesque version of Sunday school. Serving at times as the choir, a group of children in contemporary costumes flank the stage. At center stage, recounting Joseph's tale to the children, is the story's narrator, played by the beatifically poised and angelically voiced Jennifer Paz. Though saddled with lyrics loaded with exposition, Paz relies upon her sterling vocals to gracefully lighten the delivery and even manages to add a sense of playfulness.

Though the central figure, Joseph has surprisingly little to do for much of the narrative, guided more by the whims of the divine than by self-determination. Nevertheless, Anthony Fedorov (known best for earning a top spot on the fourth season of American Idol) imbues the role with genuine pathos during such spotlight numbers as "Any Dream Will Do" and "Close Every Door." Fedorov's crisp timbre serves him well on the musical numbers and the limited depth of the character, ordinarily a narrative shortcoming, actually serves to sidestep too much dramatic lifting.

From Jean Gabler at TC Daily Planet

The challenge for James Rocco, the producing artistic director of the Ordway, was to give this production a fresh look, knowing that most of the show's likely audience have probably seen this show at least once. Rocco plays up the show's genesis in 1960s pop culture, using vibrant color in both the costumes and the set. The result is a setting that truly fits a show that takes a story directly from the Bible and tells it using wonderful music and dance numbers, witty lines, and 20th century references. The most obvious such reference is when Pharaoh (Stewart Gregory) takes on the persona of Elvis to relay his crazy dream to Joseph, the interpreter of dreams. While Gregory had the Elvis hair and his costuming was perfect, I felt his voice and characterization could have been stronger. I did find Fedorov's long blond hair distracting, but the program does remind audience members that though the dark-haired Donny Osmond was the most famous Joseph, in the first Broadway production Joseph was a blond.

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The reviews are in for Guthrie's "A Christmas Carol"

Posted at 11:17 AM on December 8, 2010 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

Daniel Gerroll as Scrooge and Noah Ross as Tiny Tim in the Guthrie Theater's "A Christmas Carol"
Photo: Michal Daniel

Are you considering taking in the Guthrie Theater's newly adapted "A Christmas Carol?" Read on to find out what the critics think. (click on their names to read the full reviews)

From Jay Gabler at TC Daily Planet

In the Guthrie Theater's new production of A Christmas Carol, Daniel Gerroll's Ebenezer Scrooge prowls through London making sarcastic observations about the world around him, enjoying his own acid wit and declining all opportunities to actually engage with the people who fill the city's bustling streets. This show didn't inspire me to reflect on the meaning of Christmas, but it did cause me to rethink the amount of time I spend on Twitter...

The fatal flaw of this production--a flaw that begins with the script but is exacerbated by Dowling's direction and Gerroll's performance--is a confusion of tone that constantly muddies the story's emotional waters. Every few minutes, Gerroll is given, and enthusiastically takes, the opportunity to make fun of something. This gets some laughs, yes, but those laughs come at the price of character development. Given that A Christmas Carol is one of literature's most iconic character-development pieces, that's a very high price to pay.

From Rohan Preston at the Star Tribune

That new production, which opened Friday in Minneapolis, is darker, funnier and more contemporary than its predecessor. Though it is still set in 1843 London, Dowling's robust, still-gelling production speaks clearly to 21st-century audiences...

"Carol," which mixes theatrical styles, is infused with music but is not a musical (not yet, anyway). And, by the end of the evening, Dowling and his team pull off a difficult balancing act by transmitting the essence of the holiday story about Scrooge's conversion from myopic misanthrope to giddy humanitarian while also illuminating its refreshed humor and heart.

From Tad Simons at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine

The result is a charmingly entertaining re-telling that only occasionally strays from Dickens's all-too-familiar story. When it does deviate from the original, it's usually to inject some comic relief and freshen up Scrooge's visions. I won't ruin the jokes for you, except to say that Scrooge (played by Daniel Gerroll) is a more sarcastic S.O.B. than usual, and much of the play's humor comes from his amusing irreverence. As he does when directing Shakespeare, Dowling takes small liberties in order to pepper the proceedings with laughter, even if it means sacrificing some dramatic tension here and there. Better a laugh than a lull is Dowling's motto, so--though the play has been stretched back out to 2 hours and 15 minutes--the action bubbles along quite pleasantly.

From Claudia Haas at Examiner.com

Joe Dowling's direction keeps the pace moving quickly. In this new world of sound bytes and media speed, the uptempo staging keeps your eyes glued to the stage. Blink your eyes and you may miss something. Daniel Gerroll's vigorous Scrooge is something new. Gone is the elderly, crotchety Ebeneezer and in his place is a man of vigor and strength determined to continue his life's work of amassing riches. Does it work? Yes, it does. Scrooge is the centerpiece if the play and his vigor keeps you locked into his journey...

The play walks a fine line between comedy and poignancy. The unabashed moments of Christmas fairy dust that floats in and out of the production still bring Christmas wonder. And one of the reasons audiences return to A Christmas Carol again and again is to try and grasp a few tinseled threads of that wonder. And on that point, the Guthrie's production delivers - beautifully.

From Renee Valois at the Pioneer Press

...Whittell has also added humor that sometimes weakens the power of key moments. When Scrooge is confronted with frightening ghosts -- including Marley and the wonderfully horrific Ghost of Christmas Future -- instead of quaking with fear, he spouts funny lines. We don't get to savor the transformative scariness of those scenes because we're laughing instead -- and a comic Scrooge doesn't seem very nasty. Later, Scrooge says he's not known for his sense of humor, which is true of Dickens' character, but not of this one.

Whittell has also included a sequence from Dickens' original which is usually cut in adaptations -- in which the boy Scrooge interacts with Ali Baba and Robinson Crusoe's parrot when he's left alone at school over the holidays. Although this conveys the idea that Scrooge escaped into reading and imagination to dispel his loneliness, it also makes it seem like he wasn't really that miserable after all.

Have you seen this year's production of "A Christmas Carol?" If so, what did you think? Share your reviews in the comments section.

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Twin Cities arts coverage: quality vs quantity

Posted at 4:57 PM on December 7, 2010 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Media

In the last month I've added a new feature to State of the Arts - the daily "news and reviews" post which attempts to bring together all the Twin Cities arts reporting in one easy-to-find location. I figured this would be a useful service to readers, and simultaneously would get me in the habit of reading everybody else's work out there (which ideally, I should always do, but hey, nobody's perfect).

After a few weeks of posting the daily news, I have to say I was impressed. There are actually far more stories out there than I realized about Minnesota artists, theaters, musicians - you name it. Even dance, known for being the orphan child of the arts journalism world, is getting pretty regular coverage.

So why is it that I constantly hear predictions of the death of arts journalism, and artists tell me that coverage of their work in the Twin Cities is lacking?

That's the question I posed on Facebook... and by doing so, sparked a conversation far more nuanced and wide-ranging than I had anticipated. Participants included both artists and journalists, and even people who play both roles.

Many agreed that while there may be a number of stories out there, the style of journalism isn't to their liking. Either they're glorified calendar listings, booster-ish features or shallow reviews geared towards "should I go or not" decision-making.

Amy Rice, Art Director with Spectrum Community Mental Health and artist/Walker Art Center project director Scott Stulen both cited instances in which someone reviewed a show either without seeing it fully installed, or not even stepping foot in the gallery. Stulen went on to write the following:

There is a need for more critical, smart and unbiased coverage. Far too many press releases turned into promo articles or the "description review"...Competition and more writing, both online and in print creates a healthy art community. There is a vibrant art community in Minnesota, but it can also be complacent and afraid of critical dialog. For artists to grow, we need to be pushed on occasion...even when it isn't what you want to hear.

Journalists spoke to the combined pressures of both fewer colleagues and a thriving arts community, which makes the notion of "covering" the Twin Cities arts scene seem almost insurmountable. Sheila Regan with TC Daily Planet urged people to pick up their pens and join the fight. Fellow MPR colleague Ali Lozoff (with The Current) asked why give a bad review, when instead you can draw an audiences attention to something worth seeing?

For the most part, there are fantastic emerging artists that need every piece of good press they can get; things that aren't good are best left ignored where they wither on the vine, since all publicity is ultimately good publicity.

Theater director Charles Campbell says he doesn't want just a review, but a broader public dialogue about the ideas in an artist or theater company's work.

Still others, like Cantus' Executive Director Mary Lee, and MinnesotaPlaylist.com co-founder Alan Berks say really good arts writing should be more like restaurant reviews, with a real passion for detail. Berks points out that when sports writers may say a game was "good" or "bad" but that never implies you shouldn't go see it.

Really good sports writers make a double play seem somehow geopolitically significant. Are there art writers with the same sense of joy and obsessive passion combined with the same intelligence, arrogance, and style? If so, would that writing even get published in the forms that currently exist?

Berks went on to state that he does believe those writers are out there, but in the current media climate, they're restricted by either format or time. He says he believes there's more arts coverage out there now than there was two years ago, thanks to new outlets online.

Susannah Schouweiler with mnartists.org say if she sees a lack in local arts coverage,
it's in the more enduring, critical essays and think-pieces on a relevant theme.

I think we in the local arts press do both artists and audiences a service by focusing on the big picture - tying together threads and themes, looking at work repeatedly and over time. Frankly, that's a harder story to pitch to a commercial media entity whose interests tend to be pretty immediate and geared toward getting people to the site/newsstands today -- driven by what's hot *this weekend* -- but it's a really valuable part of a thriving, informed art conversation, I think. And we need to be able/willing to pay writers for that kind of effort. But as a reader, I'd love to see more of it.

So why/how is it that a place like the Twin Cities can have such a thriving arts scene, but the writing about that scene fails to be as dynamic or inspiring? Poet Paul Dickinson posited the most controversial theory - that there are simply "too many artists." Many disagreed that there could be such a thing, but the comment resonated with something Duluth painter and arts writer Ann Klefstad mentioned - the role funding plays in fueling - or stifling - critical discourse.

Because arts here is funded to a greater degree by foundation and governmental grants than by passionate purchasers, there is less role for critics and discussion in general. The decisions on grants are made by committees, often from outside Minnesota; their choices will be little influenced by popular discourse. Purchasers, however. like reviews, in fact need reviews. Think of how many people would go to movies if there were no movie reviews, only polite previews that said, "this is nice." Of course consumption of arts of any kind is driven by quality, understood not necessarily as "high esthetic value" but "things people love and find intensely interesting", but the talk that accrues around such things spreads the word.

So where does this leave us? Artists want criticism, because it helps them to grow and develop their work. But they don't want simple thumbs-up, thumbs-down reviews. Nor do they want boring academic treatises. Instead they want a lively, interested dialogue that takes the same care and attention with their work as a food writer does with a fine meal or a sports writer with a double play.

Meanwhile arts reporters like myself, due to the dramatic changes going on within the news industry, face tighter deadlines and fewer colleagues with which to share the work load.

It feels as though local arts journalism is caught up in one great catch-22. That is, in order for journalists to have time to nourish a meaningful critical dialogue, they need a dramatic increase in funding and institutional support. But it's that same longstanding local tradition of cultural philanthropy that may have dulled the conversation in the first place.

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The Reviews are in for Frank Theatre's "The Santaland Diaries"

Posted at 12:26 PM on December 1, 2010 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

Joe Leary stars in "The Santaland Diaries" at Hennepin Stages

First, a clarification: what follows is a compilation of reviews for the show "The Santaland Diaries" produced by Frank Theatre, on stage at Hennepin Stages, starring Joe Leary. Do not confuse these for reviews of "The Santaland Diaries" produced by Theatre Limina, on stage at Bryant Lake Bowl. Both are based on the series of monologues writer David Sedaris recorded for National Public Radio, but one is produced as a one-man-show while the other is a series of skits performed by a cast and a live stage band.

From Lisa Brock at the Star Tribune:

This lively production, under the direction of Wendy Knox, has a wonderfully cartoon-like look, complete with Steve Rohde's recreation of Santaland and Kathy Kohl's gaudy elf costume, including curly-toed shoes. Christmas muzak blares in the background, punctuated by announcements over a loudspeaker.

A 75-minute monologue tailored to Sedaris' uniquely dry, deadpan delivery, "The Santaland Diaries" presents a challenging task for an actor. Joe Leary does a stellar job with the variety of characters that inhabit this play, embodying some particularly amusing Santas, over-wrought parents and freakish coworkers. At one point he recounts working with a wildly enthusiastic Santa who demands that he sing "Away in a Manger" for a child. Leary breaks into a deliciously campy Billie Holiday-style carol that ensures Santa won't ask for an encore.... If nothing else, this show is guaranteed to make you take a closer look at that elf who's directing your child to a department store Santa.

From Quinton Skinner at the Pioneer Press:

As time goes on, Crumpet is an increasingly less-than-happy camper, crumbling under the strain of projecting constant sunshine and with garden-variety human failings turned noxiously abrasive. But matters never turn really dark; Leary keeps his frustration focused on self-deprecation rather than lashing out, and at no time are we asked to deal with cynical ruminations on the holiday itself.

In this show, coming in at less than an hour and a half, we have a satire that bites without drawing blood. It's a fine piece of storytelling, delivered with assurance, and manages to send up everything in sight without bringing us down. Crumpet's time was clearly not wasted.

From Betsy Gabler at TC Daily Planet:

Leary does an amazing job up there all by his elfin-self (I'd say f'in-self in the spirit of the performance, but that might be a bit much). That can't be easy. His delivery is sharp, his coy interaction with the audience (a highlight being when a front row gal shrieked as he began to change from street clothes into elf clothes) was perfect with an eyebrow-raised glance, and his performance of Billie Holiday's imagined "Away in a Manger" solo rocks. The costume is a detailed extravaganza, somewhere between the Lollipop Kids vests and a King of Hearts tux, complete with to-die-for curled-toe velvet booty shoes. And the sound quality is excellent: you can understand every word, which is good, as you do want to hear every word that Sedaris wrote. Each one is as cynical, poignant, and/or sarcastic as the next. You do not, however, want to bring the children, as some adults who sat next to me did. I'm hoping those misguided guardians get the coal they deserve this year. Geesh.

Are you going to see "The Santaland Diaries?" If you've already seen it, what did you think?

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Monday News and Reviews - here's what's making arts headlines

Posted at 7:16 AM on November 22, 2010 by Euan Kerr (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism

Dance:"A sublime performance from TU Dance" - Caroline Palmer, Star Tribune.

Two world premieres from the six-year-old troupe made for a rich evening of matter and movement.

Movies:"Box officius victoria! Potter hauls 'em in" (AP via Star Tribune)

Wizard whomps up new franchise record

Harry Potter' wizardry at the box office persists Pioneer Press

Harry Potter has cast his biggest box-office spell yet with a franchise record $125 million domestically over opening weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Music: Usher wells with pride at protege Bieber's perfect 4 awards at the AMAs, including top artist - AP via Star Tribune

Justin Bieber had a perfect debut at the American Music Awards, winning all four categories for which he was nominated.

Review: For Imani Winds, strength isn't necessarily in numbers - Rob Hubbard, Pioneer Press

America's most renowned woodwind quintet, the Imani Winds, distilled Igor Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" to its essence in an arrangement for five wind instruments.

"Red Pens perform for City of Music" -Andrea Swensson, City Pages

Laura Bennett and Howard Hamilton, a.k.a. Red Pens, rock out amidst paint brushes and portraits at local gallery Tarnish and Gold.

Os Mutantes w/Ariel Pink: an evening at The Cedar - Lindsay Lelivelt, Minneapolis Examiner

Brazilian natives Os Mutantes made their way through Minneapolis, stopping to play a show at The Cedar Cultural Center.

Theater:Christmas musical sails into the heart - Rob Hubbard, Pioneer Press

The tale of the Tannenbaum is entertainingly told, with warmth and an eye to the history of how an enduring tradition came to the Midwest.

"Theater in the Round's 'Born Yesterday' is a good alternative to holiday fare" - Kate Gallaher, TC Daily Planet

Harry Brock's "got a preposition for you." Just don't try to tell him he may not mean what he says or you'll swiftly be bullied into rewriting grammar rules to suit him....

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The reviews are in for "Unspeakable Things"

Posted at 4:00 PM on November 18, 2010 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

John Middleton is Donald Wandrei in "Unspeakable Things"
photo by Richard Fleischman

There's one weekend left in the run of "Unspeakable Things" at Red Eye Theater. The story looks into the "strange, twisted, and horrific minds of Donald and Howard Wandrei; St. Paul, Minnesota natives and pioneers in the world of Science Fiction and Fantasy literature." Here's what the critics are saying:

From John Townsend at the Star Tribune:

Events and thoughts between the 1930s and 1970s stream out of sequence from Donald's subconscious, hence onto the stage. Program notes call the play "more allegory than biography," which seems to excuse not relating sufficient family history and the deeper roots of Donald's phobias. General banter about fellow fantasy writer, H.P. Lovecraft, sibling rivalry with Howard (a vibrant Joey Ford), and lost love, waft about but don't ultimately cohere.

However, what is achieved is a hypnotic movement piece that uses this banter as an artistic springboard. The ensemble is as crisply impeccable as the script is vague. Ryan Hill has directed his actors to be demonic manifestations of Donald's tortured memory, converging on him at times with precisely choreographed menace.

From Jay Gabler at TC Daily Planet:

Unspeakable Things is first and foremost a triumph of mood. The Monday night audience intially wanted to laugh at Middleton's writerly idiosyncracies, but quickly fell hushed as details about Donald's life emerged and surreal encounters mounted. An eerie but varied soundtrack seamlessly woven together by sound designer Tim Donohue underlines the sense of horror Donald feels at the lost opportunities and insurmountable limitations of his existence. Strange thumpings sound from doors, cupboards, and walls, and sometimes ghosts emerge to haunt the ashen-faced writer. Middleton, not particularly dynamic but consistently watchable, anchors a focused cast.

From cas at Cakein15:

I don't envy any company that sets about to create work tied to the history and limitations of a single person and to imbue it with an accessible meaning, especially when the person in question is a writer. As any writer can tell you, there is nothing more painful and tedious than a writer not writing, which is partially why so many writers drink; it gives us something to do.

Within those thematic limitations, the paranoia and depression is physically well manifested by the ensemble who, when they are flitting about the stage or working together in close proximity, were quite spellbinding. Sandbox received a $10,000 grant from the Metropolitan Regional Art Council for Unspeakable Things and the set and sound design had obviously benefited, becoming complex and baroque, but in spite of all that, the best bits of the play came from pickle jars, crumpled paper and cardboard boxes.

From Ed Huyck at City Pages:

The elliptical structure, with memories repeating, sometimes with additional details or just in a completely different form, allows for insight into the fractured lives of the characters. It does not, however, completely hold one's attention, especially near the end. The play could have ceased anywhere in the last 25 minutes, as there was no ultimate conflict to resolve or secret to reveal.

Unspeakable Things is far from perfect -- it most definitely feels like a piece still in progress -- but there's so much that is interesting here (and in the related works that have been completed, including an EP of songs inspired by the brothers' lives and creations) that there is hopefully more to be seen in the future.

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The reviews are in for "Cowboy versus Samurai"

Posted at 2:19 PM on November 17, 2010 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

Kurt Kwan in Cowboy versus Samurai

Thinking about seeing "Cowboy versus Samurai" at the Guthrie? Here are excerpts from the reviews for the Theater Mu production. To read the full review, simply click on the name of the critic.

From Dominic Papatola at the Pioneer Press:

Enlightenment in the theater doesn't have to come at the end of an aesthetic billy club. It's possible to laugh and learn at the same time, a nifty and altogether enjoyable trick turned by Theater Mu's current production of "Cowboy Versus Samurai" on the Guthrie Theater's Dowling Stage.

Three-fourths of the Mu ensemble are veterans of the company's 2006 production of "Cowboy Versus Samurai," and under the direction of new helmsman Randy Reyes the script gets the best possible treatment. As an actor, Reyes is especially known for his comic talents, and he's successfully transfused some of his instincts into Sherwin Resurreccion, who plays Chester, the more militant of the two Asian guys.

From Rohan Preston with the Star Tribune:

It's a plot ripped right out of "Cyrano de Bergerac," and while playwright Golamco adds plenty of value, his script -- filled with sharply drawn characters and biting humor; generously dosed with racial insight -- is good but not great: The situations are overly convenient and Golamco doesn't exactly stretch when it comes to his predictable resolution..."Cowboy Versus Samurai," which offers a couple hours of entertainment that runs from sweet to sour and bitter to bright. It's well worth seeing.

From Brad Richason at Examiner.com:

In the lead role of Travis, Kurt Kwan evinces a humble everyman quality that strives to stay levelheaded even under emotional upheaval. For a striking portrayal of lovesick pain, look no further than Kwan's face as Veronica gushes over "Del's" letters. With Sun Mee Chomet in the role of Veronica, it's all too easy to empathize with Travis. Chomet imbues Veronica with a swaggering strength that refuses to follow socially approved standards. Only in quieter moments, as when Veronica commiserates with Travis over past loves gone wrong, does Chomet poignantly expose her character's wounded heart.

Less successful attempts to convey the implications of racial identity often play like a well-intended but laborious student essay. By placing such thought-provoking insights into a humorous and engaging narrative, however, Cowboy Versus Samurai eloquently argues that romance transcends race.

And this from Jay Gabler at TC Daily Planet

I've seen many productions in the Guthrie Theater's Dowling Studio, but never has the crowd there sounded so much like a studio audience. In the comic first half of Cowboy Versus Samurai, the regular laugh lines hit with perfectly-timed booms of chortling, a live laugh track entirely appropriate to the play's glossy sitcom-style humor. In the second half, though, the booms turn to bust as the comedy gives way to a hackneyed romance between the two central characters, culminating in a climax that takes the production's final seconds straight from a nice moment of visual invention to a cheesy conclusion that moves the show from sitcom territory into the terrain of the telenovela.

So, have you seen Cowboy versus Samurai? If so, what did you think?

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The reviews are in for "The 39 Steps"

Posted at 3:07 PM on November 15, 2010 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism

The 39 Steps, directed by Joel Sass, runs through December 19 at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis

The 39 Steps, a farce based on Alfred Hitchcock's spy thriller movie, is getting mixed reviews from critics. They all seem to agree that the performers are really what make the show sing, and that there are a couple of scenes that drag (particularly a bedroom scene in the second half of the show). What varies is how much the occasional flaws effect their enjoyment of the rest of the show. Read on for the details...

From David Hawley, at MinnPost.com

It's the kind of show that depends on establishing a level of absurdity that seems almost spontaneous, yet choreographed to the split second. There are no idle gestures, no throwaway moments, and the physical stuff -- there's plenty of it -- has to involve intense precision by all hands...It's probably no surprise that three of the four cast members -- Agnew, Lichtscheidl and Seifert -- have past associations with Theatre de la Jeune Lune, because the former company's signature movement specialties are all over the performances. These are comedy clowns of the first order and they are perfectly complemented by Berdahl, who is the grounded center of the performance and the only actor who has a single role.

From Graydon Royce at the Star Tribune

Joel Sass's staging of "The 39 Steps" at the Guthrie Theater gets the formula right, with crisp acting and whimsical stagecraft. Robert O. Berdahl, Jim Lichtscheidl, Luverne Seifert and Sarah Agnew act with the focused commitment necessary for burlesque. A perfect example is Agnew and Berdahl, their characters on the lam and handcuffed together, tangle on a fence rail for what seems hours. Ridiculous situation, played for keeps. Perfect.

Sass demands breakneck action that falters only when the plot turns ordinary (the second-act bedroom scene), but the script generally delights...It can tire you out, all this action. But it's a good tired, one that rekindles our faith in theater's capacity to squeeze new life from old forms.

From Chris Hewitt at Pioneer Press:

...It's probably director Joel Sass who is at fault for turning what was bright and effortless on Broadway into a comedy that feels strenuous and broad...He's an inventive director, even working in the Hitchcock appearance that was a signature of his classic films (actually, there are two Hitchcock "appearances" -- an impersonator does the cell phone speech before the play). But Hitchcock was known for his editing virtuosity, and Sass could use some editing.

Some stuff -- like a boisterous parade, somehow brought to life by just three people, and Lichtscheidl's riotous Scottish farmer, who's a wry spin on Groundskeeper Willie from "The Simpsons" -- works beautifully, but many gags are allowed to go on too long.

From Jay Gabler at TC Daily Planet:

...As in any sketch-comedy show, some bits work better than others. The high point comes early on, with Agnew's portrayal of the lusty, consonant-choking German spy Annabella Schmidt; that bit gets the kind of mileage out of schtoop that Beaverdance got out of beaver jokes. The show steadily loses momentum, though, as it becomes clear that it's just going to be one sketch after another. The production outright stumbles in the second act, as Berdahl and Agnew are allowed to develop a little genuine chemistry and there are suggestions that we should consider caring about the plot. By contrast, the Sass-helmed Mystery of Irma Vep barrelled through the evening with an exciting sense of mounting absurdity, and that conviction made it a more successful show than 39 Steps.

Have you seen The 39 Steps? If so, let us know what you thought!

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The reviews are in for "Fully Committed"

Posted at 11:00 AM on November 10, 2010 by Marianne Combs (2 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

Nathan Keepers in Fully Committed... again.

Critics really want to give a rave review. They must, because I can't figure out why else three different Twin Cities theater critics would go to review a one-man-show that's been done twice before with the same actor, the same director, and even the same set designer.

The show got rave reviews the first time around. And the second.

Surprise! This time around the reviews are, well, pretty much the same.

From Graydon Royce at the Star Tribune:

'Keepers is back at the Jungle Theater with this one-man frolic and if anything the work is richer. He plays Sam, who is stuck in the cluttered basement of a four-star restaurant on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Sam is a phone jockey handling reservations, shuttling calls over to the chef and stamping out fires (or cleaning lavatories) with frenzied skill. At the same time, he juggles family calls, checks his voice mail account at Village Voice personals and monitors whether he got a callback in that big audition at Lincoln Center. For Sam -- like 80 percent of the restaurant staff in New York -- is an aspiring actor.'

From Dominic Papatola at the Pioneer Press:

'It would almost be enough for an actor to successfully ping-pong among these characters, keeping each distinct. But Keepers does so much more. Sure, his cigarette-chomping shrieking as the angry patron Mrs. Sebag is priceless; so is his sibilant, terminally perky interpretation of a supermodel's personal assistant and his crotch-grabbing take on the establishment's top chef as a hung-over frat boy with a hair-trigger fuse.

But Keepers also is able to transcend the essential man-of-a-thousand-voices gimmick of the show. Throughout all of the chaos and machination, Keepers keeps his eye on the central story, delivering a highly ornamented but still clearly told story of a young Everyman who eventually figures out that it's better to work the system than to get chewed up and spit out by it.'

And from Matthew Everett at TC Daily Planet:

'This script isn't just someone taking dictation, it's been finely crafted. Over time, key callers emerge, vital information is slipped in but never as clunky exposition, and Sam slowly starts to wield the power that is being presented to him in order to get what he wants, in his career and in life. But it never feels manipulative or predatory. Since Sam is such a decent guy--evinced in how he interacts with all the people around him--we want him to win. It's a great payoff for an audience to watch that taking shape, one conversation at a time, right before our eyes. Because the world of the script, inside and outside those basement walls, is so keenly observed in rich and funny detail, one good actor guided by a skilled director is all you need. For the Jungle, setting Keepers and Stangl loose on a script like Fully Committed is the equivalent of printing money.'

So, if for some reason you didn't like Fully Committed - let us know! It would be a surprising change of pace.

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The power of the funny pages

Posted at 12:35 PM on October 27, 2010 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Drawing, Media

Using his own political cartoons as punchlines, Patrick Chappatte argues that while technology is changing how we get the news, political cartoons still have an important role to play. Chappatte has brought together cartoonists in places like Lebanon, West Africa and Gaza to show how, in the right hands, the pencil can illuminate serious issues and bring the most unlikely people together.

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The price of good satire

Posted at 12:24 PM on October 25, 2010 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism

Comedian Jon Stewart may be a demigod in the United States, but popular political satirists don't have it so easy in other countries.

Foreign Policy has put out a list of what it calls "The World's Jon Stewarts," featuring satirists from Brazil to Israel. The upshot? Challenging the government in power may get you Facebook fans, but it can also get you imprisoned, or shot.

Stewart is planning a "Rally to Restore Sanity" on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. this Saturday. But will he be able to match Italian satirist Beppe Grillo, who drew 300,000 to the streets back in 2007 to curse the government on what he dubbed "F--k Off Day?"

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Good-bye, Mr. Papatola, good-bye

Posted at 11:50 AM on January 12, 2010 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

Scenes from "Bring Me the Roast of Dominic Papatola" from Matthew Foster on Vimeo.

Last night the Jungle Theater played host to some of the finest comedy seen on a Twin Cities stage in recent months. And for many local theater professionals, it was payback time.

The event in question was a "roast" for departing St. Paul Pioneer Press theater critic Dominic Papatola, who, after a life in journalism, is switching career tracks (he's taking a job as a program manager with the Otto Bremer Foundation).

Papatola was forced given a seat at a table on the stage, while turn by turn, local actors, directors, writers, and even fellow critics took to the podium to launch insults, jokes, memories, and even once in a while, a compliment. It was a topsy turvy evening in which critics acted and actors criticized, with belly laughs and groans throughout.

At the start of the evening Jungle Artistic Director Bain Boehlke said he decorated the stage with large bouquets of flowers because "it could be festive, or it could signify a funeral - and the evening could go either way."

Multi-talented theater men Joseph Scrimshaw and Zach Curtis hosted the evening. As Scrimshaw said "our roast will be, we hope, like Papatola's reviews: heartfelt, thoughtful, passionate and sometimes pointlessly cruel."

Actor Steve Sweere declared to Papatola, "you're my own personal stalker - with a column" (I would love to quote other parts of Sweere's roast, but it was so obscene I'd likely be fired).

Comedienne Shanan Wexler declared it "the best night of my life!" and then proceeded to take on all of the newspaper reviewers:

"What's with the names of our critics? Graydon Royce, Rohan Preston, Quinton Skinner - it's like the B-List of Lord of the Rings characters! And Dominic Papatola - he's the man who had the ring of power just a little too long..."

Wexler ended her roast saying that while Papatola is moving to a career in philanthropy and pursuing a masters in theology, "none of that's going to make up for the pain you caused. James 4:11!" (That's a biblical reference: "Brothers do not criticize one another.")

Comedian Ari Hoptman, not finding anything positive to say about Papatola, instead chose to use his time to praise film critic Colin Covert.

Perhaps the most surprising bit of comedy came from Star Tribune critic Graydon Royce, who delivered a dead-pan performance. Royce searched his pockets for a giftcard he planned to give Papatola for a pair of prescription glasses, "because even after all those years of looking over my shoulder you never did get it right."

Sitting in the audience, I did a quick survey of the folks around me about what they would miss most - and least - about Dominic Papatola.

Nimbus theater director Josh Cragun: "What I'll miss most? His often hilarious critiques of other people's shows. Miss least? His often hilarious critiques of my shows."

Children's Theater Company Artistic Director Peter Brosius: "I'll miss the gorgeousness of his writing and his extraordinary love of the art form. What I won't miss is him acting like my mother, like he knows us better than we know ourselves!"

"He's a hack - always has been, always will be" said John Puchtel, Papatola's good friend since third grade.

Despite all the zings, the evening was filled with affection. Most everyone said they would miss Papatola's obvious love of and enthusiasm for theater, which comes through in his reviews even when they aren't charitable. Robin Gillette, Director of the Minnesota Fringe Festival and one of the organizers of the roast, explained:

Dominic always brought a sense of the bigger picture to his writing, both in terms of local and national perspective. He didn't just review the show that was in front of him, but he set it in context of that company's previous work or the evolution of a particular actor/director/playwright. He also did serious investigative journalism about this business called show. I'm not saying no one else here in town does that, because that's not the case, but the loss of that voice, sometimes strident, sometimes snarky but always backed with a true love for the art, will be sorely missed.

As for Papatola himself, he said while he won't miss working nights and weekends, he will miss being "delighted, challenged, thrilled and even sometimes enraged by this fabulous theater community."

In Papatola's new job he'll have to wear a suit to work, something he hasn't had to do - ever. "For me, casual Fridays mean jammies," he said.

Good luck, Papatola - you're going to need it.

Dominic Papatola contemplates his karma
Photo by Kathy Graves

(Many thanks to Matthew Foster at the Minnesota Fringe Festival for providing the video montage)

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Quodlibetica: what pleases, and why

Posted at 5:47 PM on December 1, 2009 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Writing

Quodlibet - definition:
Main Entry: quod·li·bet
Pronunciation: \ˈkwäd-lə-ˌbet\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Medieval Latin quodlibetum, from Latin quodlibet, neuter of quilibet any whatever, from qui who, what + libet it pleases, from libēre to please -- more at who, love
Date: 14th century
1 : a philosophical or theological point proposed for disputation; also : a disputation on such a point
2 : a whimsical combination of familiar melodies or texts

Christina Schmid says she looked long and hard for a name for her new website, before she stumbled across the word "quodlibet." Schmid says she found the word a perfect description of what she hopes to accomplish with her new online magazine dedicated to arts criticism.

As people who write about art, we're engaging with these elements that are already out there, and we're interested in argument as well as these elements of whimsy. Plus it looked really good in our typeface.

Quodlibetica officially launched in September, and every other month presents a series of essays (called a "constellation") around a basic theme. September's theme was "wilderness," while November's theme is "death" (coming on the heels of Halloween).

Schmid is one of two managing editors of the site . She says she fell into writing about art a short while ago and was faced with a few different paths, none of which really appealed to her. She contemplated journalistic writing about the arts, which would force her to be very up to date about current events and artists.

But there's a certain rush and breathlessness to that. And I wanted to go deeper, take more time with the art. I wanted to stay away from arts writing that is just cheerleading for the arts, and I didn't see a place for that on other local websites. Unless you go to the academic sites, and that's not necessarily what I wanted to write or read.

Thus the creation of Quodlibetica, a site which Schmid hopes will balance great writing and great artistic insight while creating room for plafulness, experimentation, and thoughtful argument. The work is heavily weighted on reviewing visual art, but also includes poetry, photo essays, and first person tales.

The new site marks the first foray since mnartists.org at creating a destination for thoughtful arts criticism in the Twin Cities. Schmid says anyone is welcome to submit an essay (they will be edited), but to date the most willing contributors have been academics looking for a place to write with a more personal voice.

The site is Twin Cities based, and as such focuses primariloy on Minnesota artists and exhibitions. Ultimately Schmid says, if the website truly succeeds, it will generate not only great writing, but will stimulate the creation of better art.

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One fewer theater critic for the Twin Cities - for now?

Posted at 12:53 PM on November 24, 2009 by Marianne Combs (7 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

Critic and reporter Dominic Papatola is leaving the St. Paul Pioneer Press for a position with the Otto Bremer Foundation, according to Minnpost's David Brauer.

Papatola is one of the few arts reporters lucky enough to be leaving a newspaper of his own free will, and not due to harsh cutbacks. But still those cutbacks could keep his position open for an extended period of time, or eliminate it entirely.

If you are a regular reader of Papatola's work, and/or are in the theater business, what do you make of the news? Concerned? Or no big deal?

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Obama's choice of art starts plagiarism debate

Posted at 9:54 AM on October 9, 2009 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism

Little did I know when I chose Alma Thomas' "Watusi (Hard Edge)" as the lead image in my post concerning the Obama family's taste for modern art, that this very image would become the subject of heated debate amongst Obama's critics.

Many people have noted the striking similarity between Thomas' "Watusi" (below, left) and a piece by Henri Matisse from 1953 called "L'Escargot" or "the snail."

Since the news that the Obama family was hanging the Thomas piece in the East wing of the White House, critics (such as Fox News contributor Michelle Malkin) have used the piece's similarity to Matisse to deride the Obama administration. And "Bob" posted on State of the Arts:

Of course, it is reproduction of a 1953 piece by Henri Matisse titled "L'Escargot" (rotated 90 degrees). But one does not really expect originality in the Obama White House.

Let's call this a "teachable moment." Alma Thomas was indeed inspired by Henri Matisse, and knowingly used his work "L'Escargot" as the basis for "Watusi" - inverting the colors and "twisting" the work to give a new view.

In fact what Thomas was doing was drawing attention to the fact that Matisse himself was greatly inspired by African art. Matisse himself wrote:

"I often used to pass ... a curio shop called "Le Père Sauvage"... There was a whole corner of little wooden statues of Negro origin. I was astonished to see how they were conceived from the point of view of sculptural language. ... Compared to European sculpture, which always took its point of departure from the description of the object, these Negro statues were made ... according to invented planes and proportions."

Those "invented planes and proportions" had a great effect on Matisse's figurative work:

Blue Nude 2, Henri Matisse

Stark referencing of other artists' work is nothing new in the art world. In fact, the Walker Art Center held an exhibition in 2007 of artists inspired by Picasso, and there were a number of instances where at first glance, it felt like "copying" (those people doing the copying included Willem de Kooning and Jackson Pollack). But as curator Michael FitzGerald explained to me, much of what happens in art is the sharing of ideas, the claiming of one person's art for your own and then morphing it into something new.

So was Thomas' piece a plagiary? No. Was it heavily inspired by Matisse? Yes. Does it take Matisse's image and use it to say something new and important? Yes.

If anything, the Obamas' choice of "Watusi (hard edge)" could be seen as extremely clever. It is a work of art that points to a longstanding exchange of ideas between cultures, building off one another as they explore new artistic terrain and ideas.

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Arts Journal is 10 years young

Posted at 10:29 AM on September 14, 2009 by Euan Kerr (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, People, Writing

Congratulations to Arts Journal which celebrated the 10th anniversary of its first post over the weekend.

AJ serves as both an arts news aggregator and as an originator of content in several different area. It taps into the arts scene through some 200 publications from all over the US and across the English-speaking world. There is always something, if not many things, of interest to read.

Readers can also sign up for a free daily or weekly digest, depending on their appetite for arts news.

Founder and editor Douglas McLennan tells a little bit of the Arts Journal story in his blog Diacritical.

In it he promises much more, including a new design: We're working on the next version of ArtsJournal, which we hope to launch in the next month or so. As the media world changes from newspapers to other sources, we want to make sure we're casting our nets in the right directions. And we want to make it easier to find the stories they're looking for. Here's to another ten.

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Reviews and ideas from the weekend

Posted at 6:00 AM on August 10, 2009 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Culture

Kevin Kling, Michael Sommers, Jacqueline Ultan, Michelle Kinney, and Simone Perrin present an evening of musical storytelling in "Flight"

What a weekend! Lots of great writing about local artists of all stripes, so read on to catch up on what you may have missed...

Graydon Royce gives a glowing review of Kevin Kling's new show "Flight" at Open Eye Figure Theatre in Minneapolis. Royce writes:

Kling's tales... provide the spine (and heart) of this show and we are reminded again of how to tell a story. It's not about rhythms and cadences. It's about details -- bald eagles swooping upon a stringer of walleye, a tiny boy noticing his parents cry, a transient's toothless grin. The real work of Kling's stories was done years ago when his soul deeply understood how important it is to wonder why certain moments, regardless how mundane, have such meaning in our lives.

Nice writing, Graydon!

Dominic Papatola at the Pioneer Press gives his wrap-up of the 2009 Minnesota Fringe Festival here. For the most part Papatola seems really pleased with this year's festival, giving kudos to Fringe artistic director Robin Gillett. His biggest complaint? Not being able to find food and drink during the 30 minute breaks between shows. He'd also like free shuttles between venues.

(Note: if you just can't get enough of fringe festivals, check out this profile of the Berkshire Fringe in the New York Times. It's tiny compared to the Minnesota Fringe, and very very earnest.)

Star Tribune film critic Colin Colvert was not that impressed with "Julie & Julia," saying that while Meryl Streep is fantastic, the scenes with modern-day Julie are far less interesting, and weigh the movie down.

Meanwhile A.O. Scott at the New York Times thinks audiences are being spoon-fed formulaic movie pablum in a desperate retreat to sure successes during a recession.

From Wolverine and Mr. Spock in May through the Decepticons and wizards of July it has been a triumph of the tried and true, occasionally revitalized or decked out with novelty, but mostly just what we expected. No surprises.

Scott says the biggest success, both artistic and economic, of the summer has been "Up." This season, he says, the film with the most mature treatment of the adult themes of loss and regret is a cartoon.

Poet Kathryn Kysar reviews Alia Yunis' book "The Night Counter," in which Scheherezade appears to an elderly Lebanese immigrant and demands to be told a story each night for the next thousand and one nights. Kysar writes:

Yunis masterfully adds not only classical literature references, most prominently "The Arabian Nights," but she also delivers a searing yet humorous commentary about the difficulties confronting Arab-Americans living in the post-9/11 United States. She presents the reader with a catalog of clichés -- such as faux-Middle Eastern belly dancers in Vegas and a hippie fortuneteller with a fake crystal ball -- and challenges her readers to rethink these stereotypes as the characters' personal crises mirror larger geo-political events.

Finally, Mary Abbe has a profile of stone sculptor Zoran Mojsilov (If you've ever been to the Greek restaurant Gardens of Salonica in Minneapolis, that's his work inside and outside the building). Mojsilov is the subject of a retrospective at the North Dakota Museum of Art in Grand Forks.

So what did you do this weekend? Got any reviews for us? I'm all ears.

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Why blog about art?

Posted at 1:44 PM on August 6, 2009 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Culture, Technology

(Please forgive this act of self-indulgence. Oh wait, this is a blog...)

Blogging about art has made me a member of a rarified group of people, perhaps even more rare than the group "arts reporters." But our numbers are growing, as both traditional media outlets and freelancers find value in talking about art on a more casual, daily basis.

So when I saw that PBS' blog Art Beat had posted a new blurb (that's a technical term) titled "The Art of Blogging About Art," I was immediately sucked into the great naval-gazing void. Would I find myself reflected in their descriptions? Would I agree with my art-blogging compatriots?

Yes.

And no.

Chris Amico talks with three arts bloggers: Lisa Fung (arts editor and contributor to LA Times' Culture Monster), Don Share (contributor to "Harriet," the Poetry Foundation's group blog) and Lee Rosenbaum (arts writer for the Wall Street Journal, aka CultureGrrl).

Here are some of the ideas they raised, with which I heartily agree:

Blogging about the arts allows me and my colleagues at MPR to share news and ideas with you in ways completely different from our traditional radio format. That gives us flexibility to tell a story more creatively, with slideshows and video, if we like. It also allows me to speak in a more personal voice, and engage in a conversation that I don't get to have as a reporter on our air.

Talking about art in a more personal voice in turn makes the conversation more accessible to the general public. No snooty noses in the air here - all opinions are welcome. And the more voices that pitch in, the better the conversation.

Finally, writing a blog - and having a place where people can post their comments - helps me to do my job better as an arts reporter. I hear more now from people who wouldn't have taken the time to hunt down my e-mail address and send me a personal note. Those comments sometimes lead to (valued) corrections, and sometimes lead to new posts and even in-depth stories.

So yea for art blogs. But there is one idea brought forth by the bloggers with which I must disagree, at least in terms of my own writing.

Lee Rosenbaum says in the Art Beat article that she blogs "because I felt I had a lot to say and no place to put it... I can only write so many articles for the Journal but I have ideas everyday that I feel like sharing."

Reporter/blogger Chris Amico goes on to quote Scott Rosenberg, the author of "Say Everything," as saying that most people blog out of "a desire to express themselves, to think out loud, to exult in the possibilities of writing in public..."

In my case, not so much. I may have lots of ideas or thoughts throughout the course of a day, but there are very few I feel are worth typing out. For me, writing is often a very deliberate process, and when I post something here I want to make sure that it's worth my time - and yours. I'm much more excited in hearing what you have to say in response to a post than I am in the idea of simply "writing in public."

So with that, I'll shamelessly plug some of the ways in which YOU can have a say in this blog. As with any blog, you can comment on what you find here. You can also share your favorite work of Minnesota art for our series "We Art Minnesota." And you are always welcome to sign up to be an Art Hound, to help keep me and your fellow Minnesotans in the know about cool cultural events.

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Music writer Michael Steinberg dies

Posted at 3:07 PM on July 26, 2009 by Euan Kerr (4 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Music, Writing

Michael Steinberg, widely recognized as one of the most important writers on classical music of our time passed away this morning at age 80. Steinberg, husband of recently retired Minnesota Orchestra Concertmaster Jorja Fleezanis was diagnosed with cancer three years ago.

During his career Steinberg worked as a critic for the Boston Globe, a lecturer at several colleges and universities including Smith College, Hunter College, Brandeis University,
and the New England Conservatory. He was in later years program annotator to the New York Philharmonic while also serving as an advisor to the Minnesota Orchestra.

Born in Breslau in Germany in 1928, he spent part of his childhood in England after his mother managed to get him included in the Kindertransport, the rescue effort which got 10,000 children out of Germany before the outbreak of World War II. He moved to the United States with his mother and brother before the end of the war.

It was in England that he first discovered his love of music. In his book "For the love of Music: Invitations to Listening" co-authored with Larry Rothe, Steinberg revealed it was not in a concert hall, but in an alley behind a movie theater.

"It was Fantasia, the original 1940 version that did me in. I saw it just once, at the Cosmopolitan, a dingy movie house in Cambridge England, and although this was more than sixty-five years ago, I remember it more vividly than most of the movies I have seen in the last sixty-five weeks. I saw it just once because as a schoolboy on threepence a week in pocket money - even in 1940 that bought hardly anything, and surely not more than half a movie ticket - I couldn't afford to go again. Besides the guardians of Good Taste would not have encouraged, let alone subsidized, a return visit. But I also realized I did not need to see it again because the most important part was available for free. Behind the sweet little fleabag where Fantasia was playing, there was this alley where I could stand every day after school, stand undisturbed, and listen to the soundtrack of Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra playing Bach, Beethoven, Schubert, and Stravinsky. On a recent visit to Cambridge I was happy to see there is still a movie theater on the same site, but it is now called the Arts Theatre and is a lot cleaner."

In a statement today Rothe said this of Steinberg:

"In the last years Michael defined what it means to battle an illness. He
continued to hang tough, determined not to let anything keep him from doing
what he had always done, which was to put listeners in touch with the music.
In his writing and in his talks, Michael knocked down walls with
intelligence, wit, and a broad sense of culture. He was a great storyteller.
He expected much from his readers and offered much. You get a taste of all
this in his books: The Symphony, The Concerto, and Choral Masterworks, three
compilations of his program notes. Another book, For the Love of Music,
gathers his reflections on an array of musical subjects.

Concerts to celebrate Michael Steinberg's life will be presented in San Francisco and Minneapolis at times to be announced.

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One show, two nights, two reviews

Posted at 1:24 PM on July 20, 2009 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

The Brave New Workshop's latest production "Save the Planet: Yes we can, but do we have to?" opened over the weekend. Two reviews of the production reveal how critics can have differing viewpoints, and how the production can change from one evening to the next.

Graydon Royce got to the show on Friday night, and his take-away was lukewarm, writing "laughter is uncomfortably absent on several occasions." Royce points out "the material seems more eager to offend than has been the case recently at the Workshop" but remarks it comes across as more bravado than bravery.

The following night freelance writer Quinton Skinner made his way to the Brave New Workshop, and his review was a clear rave. He writes that the Brave New Workshop delivers ample quantities of "sharp, smart and uninhibited comedy." He goes on to state:

What stands out... is the cohesion and energy of a cast that has worked together long enough to elevate its work to a level of deceptive smoothness and attention to detail.

From the two critiques it's not hard to glean that Royce probably has a lower tolerance than Skinner for swearing and vulgarity. Royce notes he's never heard so many references to the uterus since attending "The Vagina Monologues." But he acknowledges his bias when he writes "These are just the facts, ma'am. You can decide whether that's your cup of hemlock."

Two differing viewpoints, however, don't account for one critic experiencing awkward silences while the other walked away untroubled. Or do they?

I called up a couple of the core performers of Brave New Workshop, Joe Bozic and Lauren Anderson, to get their takes. Bozic noted that Graydon Royce came to the show on opening night, which Bozic says, tends to be a "rockstar performance" due to all the BNW "superfans" in the audience. Bozic says opening night often gets louder and longer laughs, and this opening night was no exception.

By contrast, Bozic says Quinton Skinner went to an early show on Saturday (7pm, as opposed to the 9pm 10pm late show), which tends to draw an older, more conservative crowd. Given the two reviews, you might have expected the two reviewers to have switched places. Bozic says he believes the Friday and Saturday night performances were both strong, and it's the reviewers mindsets that made the difference.

Lauren Anderson takes a different approach. "If we're doing our job right, every sketch someone will love, someone will hate, and someone will get offended by," she said.

She actually viewed Graydon Royce's review as pretty positive. But she says she has particular respect for theater critics:

My expectation from reviewers is that they see more theater than anybody else. It's like, my sense of humor started to change once I started to do comedy for a living. So now it takes quite a bit to make me laugh. I think that happens to reviewers as well. What your typical audience would laugh at a reviewer could go 'oh I've seen that before.'

So what do you think? And where do you get your information to help you figure out which shows to see?

Oh and heads up - tune in to All Things Considered tonight for a look at how blogs and other social media are changing the way artists promote their work, and how audiences get their reviews. It's the first in a two part in-depth report by MPR's Chris Roberts.

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What's the role of the critic?

Posted at 11:11 AM on July 2, 2009 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism

Anne Midgette in her blog for the Washington Post wrote eloquently about what she believes to be the responsibility of an art critic:

The role of a critic is to cover a field. This doesn't mean simply pandering to popular taste. It means doing one's best to convey a sense of what is going on in a given discipline by writing about every possible side of it. It means trying to convey a perspective that a reader who doesn't spend every night going to concerts/plays/films may not be able to gather himself; or offering a thoughtful take that might stimulate a reader who does go to everything to see something in a different light.

For part of our role is to foster dialogue and debate. That doesn't mean setting forth judgments of taste in order that readers might fall obediently into line behind us. Quite the contrary: it may mean putting out views that one knows may represent the minority. It means being interested in the thoughts of those who disagree. It means being delighted when someone is powerfully moved by something one didn't like oneself. It also means writing well enough that someone might want to read you -- a goal that's hard to reach if all you're doing is trying to push readers to buy tickets.

It's a noble ideal: fostering dialogue, representing the minority, and writing artful prose all at the same time. But add to that Jonathan Jones' take on being a critic for the Guardian. Jones states plainly that arts criticism is only for a special few

...if nothing is properly criticised, mediocrity triumphs. A critic is basically an arrogant bastard who says "this is good, this is bad" without necessarily being able to explain why. At least, not instantly. The truth is, we feel this stuff in our bones. And we're innately convinced we're right...

Of course, by being so blunt, I run the risk of vilification. I will be seen as a vapid snob, elitist, etc. But I am no more guilty of these traits than anyone else who sets themselves up as a professional critic; I'm just trying to be honest. What do you think all the other critics believe - that their opinion is worth nothing? Unless you think you're right, you shouldn't pass verdict on art that is someone's dream, someone's life.

Jones and Midgette seem to take separate roads - one high, one low - in this argument. Yet they both end up at basically the same destination: critics are important, they're special, and they're needed. Of course they'd say that - they're critics.

So what do other people want from critics? I've noticed that varies greatly depending on whether the reader in question is an arts-goer, or an artist.

Arts-goers on the whole are the more pragmatic bunch - they want to know if they should bother spending their money on a particuar show, and what they might hope to take away from it should they attend. If the review is fun to read, so much the better. If it provokes interesting questions, that's icing on the cake.

However when it comes to artists and their cohorts, I often hear them decry the criticism in the local papers and elsewhere. Either there's not enough of it, or what's done is too "thumbs-up-thumbs-down." They say the critic doesn't know what he (and yes, in this town, it's usually a he) is talking about, or the critic has no taste. Certainly it doesn't make the job look like any fun.

So what is the role of a critic? Is it possible for any critic to foster critical debate, write beautifully and help you plan your weekend? What do you want from your local art critic? Are they giving you what you need?

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