July 19th, 2017
Summer Arts Intensive performs main stage musical
Under the summer sun, something’s begun, taking over those summer nights. The 1978 movie and musical hit Grease is taking stage as part of the Summer Arts Intensive in West Fargo.
In 2010, Adam Pankow started the program to bring arts to students during the summer months. The program is open to students in middle school, high school and college. Last month, the middle school program performed Willy Wonka Jr., with the high school…
June 21st, 2017
Author, professor, historian and now playwright: Dr. Charlie Barber has taken his love of history to the stage with his new musical, “No Backseat Driver.”
Barber’s play is the story of two North Dakota heroes: “Wild Bill” Langer and his wife, Lydia Cady Langer.
“I’ve been researching Bill Langer since 1983,” said Barber. “He was wild in personality, but he cared about the underdogs. I’m not interested in writing about characters who aren’t progressive. They must be…
June 14th, 2017
Just in time for their fifteenth season, local theatre company Theatre B is moving across the river, from their longtime home Fargo to Moorhead, Minnesota.
Theatre B has jumped around since it was founded in 2003: from the former Moose Lodge (now, the Toasted Frog) to the most recent Schumacher Goodyear Garage on the corner of Broadway and 4th Avenue North.
Their most permanent residence, a storefront on Main Avenue, was established with David and Pia Scheer in 2005. However, Theatre B…
May 10th, 2017
When we had a chance to catch up with Corey Ruffin, the mastermind behind the Grand Rapids-based traveling burlesque troupe Super Happy Funtime Burlesque, he was at the repair shop getting a tune-up on their tour bus. The retired school bus is a veteran of the road and has accommodated the motley crew of musicians and dancers on multiple nationwide tours.
Four of the 10 cast members make up the band, which is based out of Chicago. Five are from Michigan and one from Tennessee.
Though…
May 4th, 2017
FMCT, under the direction of Anna Carol, is bringing the Tony Award-winning Broadway hit, ‘Billy Elliot: The Musical’ to The Stage at Island Park May 5-7 and 11-14. The musical is adapted from the hit movie ‘Billy Elliot,’ and features music by Elton John and screenplay and lyrics by Lee Hall.
This “coming-of-age dance musical extravaganza” follows young Billy, who recently lost his mother, as he decides to move from boxing to ballet. He studies and practices in secret.
The…
April 5th, 2017
Ovid’s mythological tales undergo dramatic transformation by award-winning director/playwright Mary Zimmerman as Concordia, MSUM, and NDSU deliver theatrical productions of three of her modern takes on his work.
Concordia’s production of “Secrets in the Wings” kicked off the series from March 30 to April 2. Next up is MSUM’s performance of “Metamorphoses” April 5 to 8, and finally NDSU presents “The Odyssey” April 27 to May 5.
MSUM’s School of Performing Arts…
March 29th, 2017
Spring is around the corner! But we all know that the Fargo-Moorhead area is still cold from severe wind and rain which means we should stay inside for awhile. Fortunately, we do not have to stay home because of what Sheyenne High School Theatre has planned for the month of April.
There will be 3 performances including “Reeling” at Sheyenne High School on April 1, “Murder at Eight, Dead by Nine” at Santa Lucia Restaurant on April 7-10, and a revival of “The 25th Annual Putnam…
March 29th, 2017
photo by Ariel Wethern
Ever since its publication in 1900, L. Frank Baum’s “The Wizard of Oz” has delighted and inspired millions of people, both children and adults. The classic American tale of plucky Dorothy traveling the Yellow Brick Road to the Emerald City to see the Wizard of Oz with her companions Scarecrow, Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion, has inspired any number of adaptations and spinoffs, such as the famous 1939 film starring Judy Garland.
The Fargo-Moorhead Ballet aims…
March 15th, 2017
When I arrived at the practice space for Tin Roof Theatre in the Moorhead Center Mall for an interview last week the place was decked out with set pieces and stage flats, preparations for their upcoming show.
Tin Roof founder Karla Pederson and this show’s guest director James DeBrito were all too happy to share information with me about the upcoming production of famed playwright Neil Simon’s “Plaza Suite.”
Afterwards, I helped Pederson move some flats around. The whole scene…
March 1st, 2017
The Straw Hat Players at Minnesota State University Moorhead (MSUM) are preparing for their 54th season of bringing summer theatre to our area. Craig Ellingson, Director of Theatre Arts and Dance at MSUM, gave some details about the upcoming season. Ellingson is in his 19th year at MSUM.
The offerings for the 54th season are “Forbidden Broadway’s Greatest Hits” beginning May 30; “Church Basement Ladies: A Second Helping,” June 6; Tennessee Williams’ “The Glass Menagerie”…
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By Bryce HaugenNot everyone detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is an undocumented immigrant. After a Jan. 12 scuffle at a local Walmart, Tim Catlett, a resident of St. Cloud, Minn., was held at the Bishop…
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