Home About Articles Resume Video & Podcast Contact
The Minnesota Star Tribune •

Review: Take-charge Beauty, bashful Beast charm at Orpheum

The enchantment doesn’t stop with the objectified people trapped in the Beast’s palace and longing to become human again.With just one musical number, the 30th-anniversary revival of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” has put itself in the rarest of companies.Refreshed and expanded by director and choreographer Matt West, “Be Our Guest” is now a tap-tastic, 10-minute dance sequence with smooth moves, colorful costume changes and captivating vigor. This showstopper drew a well-earned standing ovatio...
The Minnesota Star Tribune •

Review: Sizzling and jaw-dropping ‘Cabaret’ is one of the Guthrie’s best productions in years

Alluring. Sizzling. Shocking.“Cabaret” draws in a viewer with artistry, then pummels that bedazzled gaper with devastating hooks.The Kander and Ebb musical opened Thursday at the Guthrie Theater, unleashing power-packed poetry behind a splashily seductive “Willkommen.” If director Joseph Haj’s production leaves a viewer feeling breathless and a little glum, old chums, it’s because the show is like a lightning rod that expertly concentrates the electric charges roiling today’s atmosphere. For tho...
The Minnesota Star Tribune •

Review: Theater Latte Da’s ‘Passion’ has great music, but OK staging

Is love enough to heal the sick? “Passion” offers an answer with palpable emotion. The Stephen Sondheim-James Lapine work, which opened Saturday, is only the second show that Justin Lucero has staged since becoming artistic director of Theater Latte Da. But like the spunky “Cinderella” that he mounted last fall, the one-act gives us glimpses of what may be essential elements of his directorial ambition and style.“Passion” is really a chamber opera that, like all Sondheim shows, lives in the worl...
The Minnesota Star Tribune •

Review: They’re putting the fun in funeral at Theater Latté Da

You can tell that Theater Latté Da’s “Fun Home” is rooted in celebration by the fifth song in, which also happens to be the production’s first showstopper.That’s when the trio of Bechdel children — John, Christian and Small Alison — start to rehearse a commercial for their family’s funeral parlor. Hamming it up with effusive charm, Brock Heuring, Truman Bednar and Eve Scharback deliver a giddily energetic “Come to the Fun Home,” calling out the special qualities of the family business: “You know...
The Minnesota Star Tribune •

Review: Guthrie’s epic Shakespeare History Plays open in mountainous marathon

“Let us sit upon the ground and tell sad stories of the death of kings,” King Richard says to his surrounding minions as his monarchy slips away.
On its face, that sounds unappealing. But as put into practice by the Guthrie Theater, Shakespeare’s History Plays — “Richard II,” “Henry IV,” and “Henry V” — are absorbing and exhilarating. The production opened Saturday in a 13-hour marathon in Minneapolis, with the plays running back to back (with breaks). Even if you might think about bringing an oxy...
The Minnesota Star Tribune •

Review: Yikes! 'Disney's Aladdin' underwhelms at Minneapolis' Orpheum Theatre

If only the Genie could grant the touring production of "Disney's Aladdin" two more wishes.
One would be for petty-thief-turned-would-be-prince Aladdin, the other for Princess Jasmine. Snap a finger and make the performers playing these romantic leads stronger, not just good looking. Give them magnetism, spot-on pitch and vocal power so that the return of this Alan Menken musical to Minneapolis is something that makes us gasp with joy instead of recoil in shock.
OK, that's more than two wishes, bu...

Feature Articles

Explore a selection of my features on people pursuing passions in the arts, architecture and gardening.

The Minnesota Star Tribune •

Acting newbie, who has channeled Prince, to play lead in ‘Purple Rain’

“Purple Rain” has found its Prince.Singer-songwriter Kris Kollins, a Washington, D.C., native who now lives in Miami, has been tapped to play the Kid, the Prince stand-in for the stage adaptation of the semi-autobiographical 1984 film.Singer/songwriter Kris Kollins is stepping into the biggest role of his life, and one that also marks his theatrical debut. (Photos by Jon Hanks; the Minnesota Star Tribune)The musical, which will be amplified by songs from Prince’s expansive repertoire that were n...
The Minnesota Star Tribune •

In a coup, artworks owned by Alicia Keys and husband Swizz Beatz are coming to Minnesota in March

The Rockefellers. The Waltons. The Deans?Some of America’s blue-chip families are renowned for their priceless art holdings. Add music superstar Alicia Keys and husband Kasseem Dean, best known as the rapper, producer and music impresario Swizz Beatz, to that list.The entertainment power couple have used their purse, prestige and patronage to build a world-class art collection. And they are displaying a fraction of their pieces in a groundbreaking exhibit called “Giants: Art From the Dean Collec...
The Minnesota Star Tribune •

Minneapolis' Regina Marie Williams triumphed onstage amid loss

Although one would not wish hardship on anyone, Regina Marie Williams used the shadows in the valley of death as springboards to leap onto mountaintops in 2023.It all began Feb. 4, opening night of "Hello, Dolly!" at Theater Latté Da in Minneapolis. Before she glided onstage to hand out her cards as resilient matchmaker Dolly Levi, Williams found out that her brother, Veyondtra Williams, had died in Tulsa, Okla. He had been her biggest cheerleader.She channeled her grief into a magnificent perfo...
The Minnesota Star Tribune •

Beautiful Gardens winner on Wisconsin lake is 'an artwork in constant progress'

"Phantom, Quickfire and Little Quickfire," Kathy Dirks said, sounding like a proud elementary schoolteacher calling roll. "Baby Lace, Pinky Winky, arborescens. Limetta, Ruby, Invincibelle Wee White."Dirks and items she's planted in her garden have a language all their own. Her babies don't answer back, at least not that others can tell. But that doesn't mean these varieties of hydrangeas don't respond to her touch and coaxing. They are winners all.If Dirks suggests a latter-day Dr. Dolittle, she...
The Minnesota Star Tribune •

Wisconsin country retreat is 'rough and rustic' outside, warm and modern inside

As if channeling jazz hep cats of yore, young people today are all about vibes, trying to name a fleeting feeling or aura. Rural Retreat, a hilltop house in Wisconsin's Driftless Area, is giving sublime fulfillment vibes.If the 3,000-square-foot structure in Soldiers Grove evokes the feeling of a fresh-baked baguette — a rough exterior that gives way to soft insides — it's because it incorporates two of the attributes that owners Chris Palm and Johanna Stirling most prized as they sought to buil...
The Minnesota Star Tribune •

Maple Grove couple's lakeshore restoration project nurtures monarch butterflies

In Aztec lore, butterflies bear the souls of the dead back to life.Those nether spirits were a bit scarce last summer in Lee and Carolyn Halbur's milkweed gardens along Fish Lake in Maple Grove. It was an off year for the monarch butterflies that the family has raised in prodigious numbers in seasons past."We were on track to have our biggest year yet but we lost a lot of them," Carolyn said. "Some were slightly deformed. It could have been the smoke from forest fires out West or parasites or so...
The Minnesota Star Tribune •

5 upcycled shipping containers make one $280K house in Minneapolis

This summer, David Schiller, co-owner of Paragon Designs construction and landscaping, put a house on the market in Minneapolis that was as unique as it was eye-catching. The three-bedroom, two-bath structure had a sleek modern design, picture windows and two balconies that suggested cantilevers.And it attracted media attention — and offers — because of one feature. The 1,300-square-foot house was fashioned from five shipping containers — four 40-footers and one 20-footer. It hit some sweet spot...
The Minnesota Star Tribune •

South American couple's central Minnesota cabin is their 'heaven on Earth'

The final part of the trip to the cabin is a walk across a 50-foot span. The bridge, made of wood beams and composite decking, suggests that it may lead to a castle, as often is the case in Old World fairy tales. But the destination is distinctly Minnesotan: Casa Loon, a former fishing shack on Lake Ossawinnamakee in Crow Wing County that has been converted into an award-winning lakefront hideaway.It's modest, with 1,800 square feet, but what Casa Loon lacks in size, it makes up for in allure."I...
The Minnesota Star Tribune •

'Magical' $1.8M downtown Minneapolis condo offers beauty inside and out

Looking west from the 22nd floor downtown Minneapolis condo on July 4th, Matt Kiser and Chris Nichol have watched fireworks bloom like pulsing jellyfish, stacking at different depths of sky. Pyrotechnics also flare to the north whenever Twins batters clock home runs. And in the mornings, the sunrise looks for long minutes like a Monet painting, getting ever brighter until the colors melt into thin air."It's magical to live here," said Kiser, who, with partner Nichol, bought their home in 2009. T...
The Minnesota Star Tribune •

Remodel brings nature and light to North Oaks 'treehouse'

House hunters April Mueller and Steve Yernberg had not even seen the inside of the North Oaks listing when they decided they had to have it. The thick tree coverage, the ravine and other topographical features of the property spoke deeply to Mueller."We were on the driveway and it felt like it was meant to be," Mueller said. "I grew up in the Driftless Area near Lanesboro [Minn.], entertaining myself in the woods. My parents' home was unique in that it was on a fairly large piece of land with ha...
The Minnesota Star Tribune •

Scandia teen gardener and environmentalist is the butterfly whisperer

"Aww," Olivia Nienaber said, as she knelt beside a butterfly lying motionless on the ground in a garden near her home in Scandia, Minn. "Poor little guy."Nienaber stretched out her hand to the distressed monarch, cooing and coaxing it like a pet. The butterfly climbed ever so gingerly onto her extended digits. Nienaber walked it over to a plant, and the monarch soon unfurled its proboscis into a flower, drawing nectar. Wondrously, the creature revived and began shimmering as it loaded up on fuel...
The Minnesota Star Tribune •

A Minnesota social worker uses gardening to help youth heal from trauma

The decades may have helped the wound to close over, but you can still feel the hurt under his words. Gardener and social worker Kenny Turck was in grade school when his big sister committed suicide at 21. An outspoken daughter of Litchfield, Minn., the Crow River community that her family had called home since 1875, Kathy Turck was gay and the victim of a horrific assault." She was raped by four men, and the judge blamed the assaults on her lifestyle," Turck said, his eyes falling away.That compo...

Articles with alternative story forms and embedded videos

Read and view a sampling of pieces that go along with the TikTok era.

The Minnesota Star Tribune •

Disney’s ‘Beauty’ has been reimagined to razzle-dazzle TikTokers and adults alike

Thirty years later, the magic has been refreshed. Disney launched its national tour of “Beauty and the Beast,” its first foray into the Broadway musical, at Minneapolis’ Orpheum Theatre in 1995. That show, which set the stage for “The Lion King” to premiere at the same venue two years later, grew into a global juggernaut seen by 35 million people in 22 countries. Now Disney has reassembled the original creative team to reimagine “Beauty” all over again. The musical, which opens Tuesday in Minnea...
The Minnesota Star Tribune •

Quirky, glitzy, fun, stark: 9 shows not to miss at Minnesota Fringe Festival

They’ve got 99 shows but can’t pitch just one.
The Minnesota Fringe Festival is back for its 32nd edition with a frenetic mix of productions from stand-up inspired comedy to pop-culture mashups, cheeky musicals to DIY plays and dance concerts. The shows, which start Thursday, are scattered across eight Fringe-managed venues plus four satellites.
“This festival is part of the bedrock of Minnesota’s theater community and it’s an important platform for artists,” said executive director Dawn Bentley....
The Minnesota Star Tribune •

How hard is it to sing the national anthem? Minnesota singers share tips.

“The Star-Spangled Banner” will open many a celebration on July 4th. But as numerous social media videos show, the national anthem can be a trap for singers.It requires a wide vocal range — 12 notes from low B flat to high F — and has a lot of melodic jumps. Still, there’s room for singers to put their mark on it — think of the color and emotion that Whitney Houston, Fergie, Chris Stapleton, Marvin Gaye and, recently, Kristin Chenoweth have brought to the anthem, which was adopted officially in...
The Minnesota Star Tribune •

Review: Five grabbiest things about Pillsbury House Theatre’s ‘A Walless Church’

AriDy Nox’s “A Walless Church: The Black Woman’s Guide to Creating God,” up in a world premiere at Minneapolis’ Pillsbury House Theatre, is not so much a play as an evocative ritual that finds the divine in the bodies and on the tongues of a trinity of normal yet extraordinary women.In this “Church,” godlings played by Aimee K. Bryant, Nubia Monks and Essence Renae slip between worlds and realms, snapping fingers, changing lights and evacuating one set of issues for another as they take us on a...