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Articles by Austene Van
For Thomasina Petrus, stepping back into Billie Holiday's pumps is 'a little scary'
Thomasina Petrus first connected with Billie Holiday in 1986, when she was 15. "That's the year my grandmother died. She kind of raised all of us," said Petrus, who plays Holiday in "Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill," opening Friday at Osseo's Yellow Tree Theatre. "I was trying to find a connection to the time when my grandmother was a young girl. Billie Holiday's laugh is like hers — it has the same energy.
Review: 'Passing Strange' is a funny, tuneful 'ride to the real'
I don't think I really believed it was spring until I saw "Passing Strange." Yellow Tree Theatre's rock/blues/pop/funk musical doesn't have anything to do with the season but it's so fresh, energetic and full of promise that it's in keeping with the grape hyacinths pushing out of the ground at my house. Also in the spring-y vein, it's a show that feels like it's finding its way toward something new.
For Guthrie actor, 'A Raisin in the Sun' part is truly the role of a lifetime
Last July, Nubia Monks stood outside the Guthrie Theater, grieving the death of the woman who raised her, and vowed she'd act there in a role both women loved — Beneatha, in "A Raisin in the Sun." Starting with Wednesday's preview performance, she is doing just that. Monks first came to the Guthrie four years ago to be part of the Guthrie Experience training program. That closely followed the death of the woman she refers to as her mother, grandmother Reeree (short for Annie Marie Hawk).
St. Paul musical unleashes great singers on some of our greatest songs
If you’re watching Ken Burns’ “Country Music” series on PBS, you heard Minnie Pearl sharing advice for performers when they face audiences: “Just love them, honey, and they’ll love you right back.” Well, honey, there’s a lot of love coming from New Dawn Theatre Company’s exuberant “Crowns.” Regina Taylor’s play, which has had a few local productions (some featuring members of this cast), is a loose collection of stories mixed with spirituals and gospel songs.
'Raisin in the Sun' still bears fruit in new production at Anoka's Lyric Arts
“They frighten me, my children,” says Lena Younger, early in “A Raisin in the Sun,” establishing that Lorraine Hansberry’s trailblazing-and-still-vital 1959 drama has its eye on the future. Throughout the poetic play, there is talk of events to come: A baby being born. The medical career that Lena’s daughter, Beneatha (Camrin King), is preparing for. The liquor store that Lena’s son, Walter, plans to open.
Boxing drama 'The Royale' is a rhythmic knockout
The boxing drama “The Royale” offers a different kind of battle, one that is more artful dance than brutal science. In a shadowy ring, two spotlighted boxers — Jay “The Sport” Jackson (David Murray) and Purley “Fresh Fish” Hawkins (Santino Craven) — stand parallel, facing the audience as they parry and punch, moving fluidly to a soundtrack of stomps and claps. In short, they’re putting on a show.
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