The Minnesota Opera is inviting readers to purchase $20 tickets to Doubt for tonight, Jan 26, or Tuesday, Jan 29! Here is a link to our review, and check out the offer details below. You can also see preview videos on the MN Opera’s YouTube channel! $20 tickets* to Doubt Saturday, January 26 or Tuesday, January 29 Use…
by SOPHIE KERMAN The Minnesota Opera has done a brave thing by commissioning John Patrick Shanley and Douglas J. Cuomo to write an opera based on Shanley’s Pulitzer- & Tony-winning play (and Oscar-nominated movie) Doubt. With the amount of acclaim the play and the movie have gotten over the years, a third adaptation could be seen as either redundant or…
by MICHAEL J. OPPERMAN Keri Alkema as Anna Bolena in the Minnesota Opera production of “Anna Bolena” Anyone with a glancing knowledge of British history knows all does not end well for Anne Boleyn. Anne was Henry VIII’s second wife (“divorced, beheaded, died; divorced, beheaded, survived”), and, after specious charges of adultery and treason, spent…
by MICHAEL J. OPPERMAN The Children’s Theatre productions are so masterful, so pleasurable, so dynamic and so consistently great that it can be easy to take the constant excellence for granted. Adapted for the stage by Katie Mitchell for Britain’s Royal National Theatre, The Cat in the Hat premieres in the United States here. There…
by MICHAEL J. OPPERMAN & EVA VON DASSOW Minnesota Opera’s 50th Anniversary Season opens with the company’s first presentation of Verdi’s Nabucco, the opera that Verdi considered to be the beginning of his artistic career. The composer fully exploited the orchestra’s expressive capacity, and the musicians give a persuasive account of Verdi’s potent score. We’re fortunate…
by SOPHIE KERMAN No matter how busy your summer may be, you certainly have 90 minutes on a weekend to sit outside in a beautiful garden, eat tasty snacks, and watch a highly entertaining, impressively executed operetta. “But,” you whine, “I just don’t get opera!” With its adaptation of The Return of King Idomeneo, which integrates…
by REBECCA HALAT, Guest Reviewer The Minnesota Opera’s production of Madame Butterfly left me saddened—which is exactly the goal of this story. Soprano Kelly Kaduce was impressive as Cio-Cio-San, the tragic young heroine whose life is altered by her marriage with an American lieutenant, Pinkerton (played by Arturo Chacón-Cruz). One side character of note was…
by SOPHIE KERMAN The Minnesota Opera can’t be accused of playing it safe in its recent production of Lucia di Lammermoor. The opera, written in 1835 by Gaetano Donizetti, has long been considered as a star vehicle for its leading lady – a singers’ opera, with long bel canto lines that showcase a performer’s virtuoso talents. Traditionally, opera…
The Minnesota Opera never fails to impress, so if you’re looking for a special night out on a smaller budget, check this out. Yeah, it’s $50 – but $50 off a $200 ticket will make you feel both glamorous and economical! Here’s the official invitation: Minnesota Opera invites you to Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor with a special…
The Minnesota Opera is offering an amazing ticket opportunity to our readers: $20 tickets to Werther on Tuesday, January 31. (Read our review of Werther here.) Just go online to http://www.mnopera.org, get tickets for Tuesday’s performance, and enter blog20 as your coupon code. The fine print: Limit up to 4 seats regularly priced $50-110 for the Tuesday, 1/31 performance…
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