September 26, 2006 - Last night marked the second annual Ivey Awards for Twin Cities theater. The awards recognize talent and creativity in 63 different participating theaters. This year's Lifetime Achievement Award went to Jack Reuler, who founded Mixed Blood Theater 30 years ago.
September 7, 2006 - "Minnesotans" and "tango" are not two words people often use in the same sentence. But this weekend marks the first-ever Tango Festival in Minnesota. Minnesota Public Radio's Marianne Combs reports that cold winters and hot moves may just be a match made in heaven.
August 9, 2006 - The University of Minnesota Libraries have acquired the archive of Penumbra Theatre Company in St. Paul.
August 4, 2006 - Each year the Minnesota Fringe Festival brings together thousands of Minnesotans to see new theater, dance and art. The eleven-day event is a complex logistical feat; it requires a leader who can balance creative artistry and good business sense, all while keeping calm amid sometimes-chaotic activity. Executive Director Leah Cooper will be stepping down after this year's festival.
June 15, 2006 - The recent opening of the Minneapolis Public Library drew a lot of attention to the new look of libraries, with state of the art technology, cafes and comfy chairs. But libraries aren't just changing physically. MPR's Marianne Combs reports on how libraries are becoming less about books, and more about people.
May 31, 2006 - The needs of the poor go beyond food and shelter. Their spirits require nourishment as much as their bodies. Acting on that belief, several Twin Cities theater companies are working in various ways to make drama accessible to everyone. In part two of a three-part series, reporter Marianne Combs follows a theater company that reaches its audiences by meeting them where they live, and by showing them respect.
May 30, 2006 - Finding the time and money to go to the theater can be hard. If you're living below the poverty line, the obstacles to attending theater are far greater. But several organizations argue that seeing great theater is sometimes as important as food and shelter. In this first installment of a three part series on providing theater for the poor, Minnesota Public Radio's Marianne Combs takes a look at how Project Success is helping to make Twin Cities theaters more accessible to everyone. To learn more about Project Success or to see other stories in our ongoing Poverty series, visit our Web site at minnesota public radio-dot-org. Tomorrow Marianne Combs continues our series with a look at Ten Thousand Things Theater company, which takes performances on the road to homeless shelters, church basements, public housing and prisons.
February 17, 2006 - MPR’s Marianne Combs interviews Michelle Kinney and Jacqueline Ferrier-Ultan, the duo that make up local cello act Jelloslave. The cellists discuss taking the traditions of being classically trained and incorporating it with more contemporary sounds.
February 15, 2006 - MPR’s Marriane Combs looks at St. Paul’s Teatro Del Pueblo, a Minnesota theater company providing a forum for political activism and an agent for change. Combs interviews Alberto Justiniano, artistic director, about the Teatro Del Pueblo’s focus on Latin America political theater with a local festival.
February 8, 2006 - Midday presents a program highlighting two masters: one of the concerto, the other the cookbook. Voices of Minnesota visits two women who have risen to the top of two rather different fields: Minnesota Orchestra Concertmaster Jorja Fleezanis, and prolific cookbook author Beatrice Ojakangas.