Tuesday news and reviews
Maybe it's because there's more light in the sky, but arts reporters are cranking out the stories right now - take a look:
Art
Masterpieces by Titian get TLC at MIA
Paintings on loan from Scotland are worth more than $300 million.
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- Mary Abbe, Star Tribune
"The great thing about art is that there are no limits. People can do whatever they want. It's an expression of our humanity. We need, for our culture, to expand in art," Christopher Harrison said.
- Susan Budig, Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
Vanessa Voskuil: 100 Creatives
It takes a special talent to create a compelling dance piece mostly using volunteers with little or no training, but performance artist, choreographer, and director Vanessa Voskuil did exactly this with "en masse."
- Jessica Armbruster, City Pages
A 'bigloo' and Balkan fertility: 'The Spectacular of Vernacular' at the Walker
I want to write about the show, called "The Spectacular of Vernacular," which I enjoyed very much. But I also want to write about the party that surrounded it, which I also enjoyed. Where to start, where to start? With the party.
- Max Sparber, MinnPost.com
Altered Esthetics opens technology-influenced show 'Online (Dis)connect'
While the online world most certainly brings people together, in some ways it has isolated us as well.
- Coco Mault, City Pages
Books
Mystery writer David Housewright cracks 'em up at Book Club BlastHousewright's message was that good writing, and good storytelling, should transcend genre, and that writers of mysteries, sci fi, and romance should not be pigeonholed.
- Laurie Hertzel
Vince Flynn, author of the popular Mitch Rapp series, announced today via his emailed fan newsletter that he has Stage III metastatic prostate cancer.
- Kristin Tillotson
Movies
A Bogart double bill: 'Dead End' and 'Angels With Dirty Faces'
If there is anyplace to watch Bogart, it is the Heights Theater. It is, after all, a sumptuous old Beaux Arts cinema, a single-box theater that was the sort you would originally have seen a Humphrey Bogart movie in, but don't much exist anymore.
- Max Sparber, MinnPost.com
Sundance Film Festival report: From the Band of Merry Pranksters to A Tribe Called Quest
Anticipation for the Sundance Film Festival has been in my bones for over a month now, and when I pick up the all-important press pass, the hunt begins. I grab my gear and set out on the snow-covered roads among a crowd of "townies," film aficionados, corporate executives, and other film journalists.
- Jim Brunzell III, TC Daily Planet
Music
Zoo Animal, Gospel Gossip, and Red Pens prep for Loring Theater gig
Thursday night's show at the Loring Theater (formerly the Music Box) will be a rare chance to catch all three stellar live acts on one bill.
- Andrea Swensson, City Pages
The Jayhawks at First Avenue, 1/29/11 and 1/30/11
After easing into their set on Saturday night, the Jayhawks were off and running for a two-night stand that found them finishing with a double-encore on Sunday evening and looking hesitant to leave the stage that they've gotten so apt at dominating these past two years.
- Andrea Swensson, City Pages
Heroes: A Benefit for Local Recording Artists at the Varsity, 1/28/11
Little more than a month after that atrocious break-in at Alarmists frontman Eric Lovold's home-based Instrument Control Studios--you know, the one that took place on Christmas Eve, resulting in the loss of over $25k worth of equipment--it would seem that the Twin Cities' music community is fully swinging in support of one of its own.
- Natalie Gallagher, City Pages
Bill Travers, perfect music for a Sunday afternoon (after the football season)
The guy plays fluid as water and is a fine singer.
- Dwight Hobbes, TC Daily Planet
Stage
Chilling story of half-sisters, both sopranos
Minnesota Opera's "Mary Stuart" is a grandly sung tale of blood and royalty.
- LARRY FUCHSBERG, Star Tribune
A small Twin Cities company opens an ambitious contemporary take on Helen of Troy.
Rohan Preston, Star Tribune
Theatre Mu and CHAT present Katie Ka Vang's "WTF"
The play has received less-than-stellar reviews from the Pioneer Press and the Star Tribune, which I think is too bad--because I believe Katie Ka Vang has a unique voice that should be nurtured.
- Sheila Regan, TC Daily Planet
Children's Theatre Company's "Babe" is a pip
You have an entire month left to see this play, and that is good, because seeing it once a week is a sure way to cure what ails ya' during the gloomy month of February.
Betsy Gabler, TC Daily Planet
At Plymouth Playhouse, wonderfully "Marvelous Wonderettes"The Marvelous Wonderettes takes the audience back to the 1958 Senior Prom at Springfield High School.
Jean Gabler, TC Daily Planet