Fiddler on the Roof
Fiddler on the Roof playing now through August 4th at the Orpheum Theatre delivered a time-honored tale scattered with fresh innovations.
Circus Juventas: STEAM
by MICHAEL J. OPPERMAN When I heard oohs and ahs from my nine year old daughter sitting next to me, I knew that Circus Juventas had mounted yet another wonderful production. The entire experience is compelling, and it starts before one even enters the Big Top. The grounds are beautifully manicured and foster a feeling…
tot: THE UNTOLD, YET SPECTACULAR STORY OF (a filipino) HULK HOGAN
tot is Mu Performing Arts‘ 50th World Premiere of a new play; in this case, playwright Victor Maog‘s quirky piece about a ten-year-old boy who immigrates from the Philippines to the San Francisco Bay Area to be reunited with his parents. Tot’s parents had departed from then military-ruled Philippines to seek a better life, leaving their only son…
Saturday, April 23: TAIKOPROJECT (One Night Only)
by MICHAEL J. OPPERMAN For 25 years, the Ordway has been bringing contemporary performing artists from around the world to Minnesota through the Target® World Music & Dance Series. Since the initiative began in 1991, more than 900,000 P-12 students have attended performances. Thousands more have attended public performances, participated in workshops, and experienced pre-show…
Tosca
by MICHAEL J. OPPERMAN The Minnesota Opera’s production of Tosca included drama that is usually reserved for the opera itself. Only a few days before opening night, Hungarian soprano Csilla Boross backed out of the role of Tosca for “personal reasons.” Kelly Kaduce stepped in, having sung the part only once professionally (for the Houston…
Target® World Music and Dance Series: SEOP Dance Company
by MICHAEL J. OPPERMAN For 25 years, the Ordway has been bringing contemporary performing artists from around the world to Minnesota through the Target® World Music & Dance Series. Since the initiative began in 1991, more than 900,000 P-12 students have attended performances. Thousands more have attended public performances, participated in workshops, and experienced pre-show…
Ariadne auf Naxos
by MICHAEL J. OPPERMAN Richard Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos is an oddball opera, and requires a deft hand to stage. Understanding its conception helps provide some context for the compositional and constitutional strangeness. The opera was originally conceived as a thirty-minute divertissement intended to be performed at the end of a Molière adaptation. The opera ended…
