Arts & Culture
The Real Magic Mike: An Interview with Actor/Illusionist Michael Carbonaro
Michael Carbonaro has made magic cool again. His wildly popular hidden camera show “The Carbonaro Effect,” which took illusion and tricks to a new level, established him on a global scale. Of course, it helps that he has movie star good looks that leave David Copperfield (remember him?) in the dust. Those looks also came…
“Get To The Point” – On Network TV, Minneapolis Firefighter Akeela Al-Hameed Proves She’s As Tough As Nails
>Chu-chunk!< That distinctive sound marks the distinctive end of distinctive work performed by a distinctive worker: the roughneck whose calloused hands are sheltered by rawhide stained with dinosaur bones; the poor schlub whose squinting eyes are aided by plastic goggles scarred with a dozen near-misses; or the builder whose sweat-drenched skull is abetted by a four-pound…
Introducing Todd Duesing: The New Face of Hennepin Theatre Trust
This summer, on July 10, a new President and CEO began at Hennepin Theatre Trust (HTT), the non-profit organization that runs our historic and beloved downtown theaters including the Orpheum, State, Pantages, and Dudley Riggs Theaters. Coming to us from the Cincinnati area with an impressive track record of performing arts leadership, Todd Duesing has…
Morris Mickelwhite Comes To Life at The Children’s Theatre
There is an immense transformative power that stems from imagination, capable of soaring you away to mystical worlds where anything is possible. Everyone has the capacity for imagination, but there are some who would trade away possibility of imagination out of fear of being called childish, or worse, abnormal. Morris Micklewhite is not one such…
Welcome One Voice Mixed Chorus’ New Artistic Director
One Voice Mixed Chorus is thrilled to announce a new Artistic Director — Kimberly Waigwa (addressed as Waigwa | they/them)! One Voice shares, “Waigwa has the choral chops, creative mind, and fresh vision that will guide One Voice successfully in the years to come.” About One Voice One Voice is Minnesota’s only lesbian, gay, bisexual,…
Michael and Tony: How the Theater That Brought Them Together Continues to Help Them Grow
When Michael Gruber and Tony Vierling met up with me for a late morning coffee at Groundswell in Saint Paul, I expected our conversation would center mostly around their relationship and Chanhassen Dinner Theatre’s current production of Jersey Boys. We talked at length about their partnership (two alpha males who only fight when they’re trying too hard…
From The Editor: The Continued Evolution of The Arts
Changes, transitions, evolutions…they’re all a part of life. In the arts and entertainment world here in Minnesota, you can see a lot of change and transition happening around us. All of which will help drive growth to their respective organizations by attracting returning and newer audience members with fresh performance experiences. Last year, we celebrated…
Screening Our Community At The Cinema in Hartford
Where do we gather to find community? How about a movie theatre? This is not unusual for a regular LGBTQ+ movie night to be held somewhere in any given location across the country. In Hartford, every second Thursday is where you got see the latest and greatest in LGBTQ+ cinema. At the Cinestudio on the…
The Real Ways of Art Are Found in Hartford
How do you define art? How do you digest it? On my travels to Connecticut recently, I was invited to experience a place in Hartford that is interdisciplinary and immersive. This place is an intersection of artists of all genres and disciplines – from music to film to interactive exhibits… Welcome to Real Art Ways…
A Word In Edgewise: Shane! You’ve Come Back!
George Stevens’s Shane opened a week before my twelfth birthday, about the same age playwright Karen Zacarías read Jack Schaefer’s novel in a sixth-grade class. I read it, too–smitten by the hero, I picked up a 35-cent Ballantine paperback at Kottenhoff’s Pharmacy and sped through it. Print and images both thrilled, and though many of the subtler…
