The bespectacled and shy Nona Marie Invie may seem like an unlikely bandleader, but in truth the lead singer of local six-piece Dark Dark Dark is a gifted and engaging performer. Thursday’s release party at the Cedar for the band’s…
Category: Reviews
Becoming, a Mu Performing Arts Production at Dreamland Arts
Even the name is perfect: Dreamland Arts, a small one story building nestled in a modest St Paul neighborhood (not far from Hamline University), containing an intimate (maybe 40 seats) theater. I adore spaces like this, where actors can play with…
Avenue Q at Orpheum Theatre
It’s one of the enduring mysteries of the theater, and it goes back thousands of years, the way masks and puppets can take on such astonishingly lucid life. Every movement, gesture, every tilt of the head is amplified and what we…
Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis, a Frank Theatre Production at Open Eye Figure Theatre
“Delightful†and “fun†aren’t the first two words that come to mind when one seeks to describe the literary legacy left by Franz Kafka.  But Frank Theatre’s narratively-faithful rendering of  the Bohemian writer’s 1915 novella The Metamorphosis — which opened…
The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity at Mixed Blood Theatre
Mixed Blood may just have the most eclectic tastes of any theater I’ve reviewed in the Twin Cities, finding little gems that beautifully reflect their larger mission, while providing us with fine entertainment. With The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity…
Podcast: Voltage Fashion Amplified 2010 Preview at Kings Wine Bar
David de Young talks to Voltage Fashion Amplified Producer Anna Lee and band coordinator Charles Gehr about what’s in store for Voltage 2010. This discussion includes an overview of both the fashion and music segments of this year’s Voltage event, which…
Safe as Houses, a Joking Envelope Production at Minneapolis Theater Garage
The house appears innocuous. It’s pleasant and airy, with a few books, an anemic plant, cheapo Venetian blinds, a couch, a table containing realtor’s photos and info sheets. But the offstage areas, the bone strewn basement, the viciously haunted breakfast nook (“It…
Eliza Blue CD Release with Aby Wolf at Cedar Cultural Center
In all likelihood, Eliza Blue is a far more complex, perhaps even troubled, individual than most of us will ever know. Perhaps she wrestles with some inner anxieties or unhappiness, perhaps she simply feels in a very deep manner. What is clear…
Spring of Freedom, Summer of Fear at Lowry Lab Theatre
Table Salt Productions premiered the third new work in its first season, offering a personal look at a moment in the revolution which transformed Iran’s political picture in the early 1980’s. This was writer Ali Ravi’s first foray into dramatizing…
Photo set: Vampire Weekend at First Avenue
Vampire Weekend descended on First Avenue for a sold -out show on Monday, March 22nd, 2010.  Meredith Westin was there and shot this lovely set of photos for HowWasTheShow. Here’s the setlist, via the Star Tribune: SETLIST White Sky Holiday Cape Cod…