March 15, 2010Big Pulitzer-Winner "August: Osage County" Lights Up Ordway
To those who have already seen "August: Osage County," winner of a Pulitzer and multiple Tony Awards in 2008: lucky you. To everyone else, lucky you, too. Because when the grand drama about a large Oklahoma clan falling apart (and the unspoken truths that held it together) finally arrives in Minnesota on March 16 at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, it will feature not only stars (Broadway's Estelle Parsons) but also some of the best local actors, including Guthrie Theater regular Barbara Kingsley and Park Square Theater regular Stephen D'Ambrose (who, in fact, are married to each other). The play itself comes with a lot to recommend to anyone who wouldn't otherwise jump to see the latest Broadway hit. Partly, it's the... Read more » Posted on Monday, March 15, 2010 in Front & Center What's New Blogs | Permalink | Comments (0) |
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March 5, 2010Cuban Film Festival Kicks Off A Great Month For Movie Mavens
A month full of foreign films kicks off tonight with the Cuban Movie Festival, followed next week by Mizna's Arab Film Festival and the Walker Art Center's Women of Vision festival. With the theme, "The US government says we can’t travel to Cuba, So let’s go to the Cuban movies!" The Cuban Movie Festival gives audiences an unprecedented opportunity to view a cross-section of Cuban films. Screenings will take place at the St. Anthony Main Theatre on the riverfront in Minneapolis. The films include classics such as Clandestinos by Fernando Perez; El Benny by Jorge Luis Sanchez; The Last Supper (La Ultima Cena) by Tomas... Read more » Posted on Friday, March 5, 2010 in Front & Center What's New Blogs | Permalink | Comments (0) |
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February 26, 2010Comedians on ice! It's the first-ever Minneapolis Jewish Humor Festival!At Sabes Jewish Community Center in St. Louis Park, running through March 7 Read more » Posted on Friday, February 26, 2010 in Front & Center What's New Blogs | Permalink | Comments (0) |
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February 24, 2010Prince in trouble. But check out these "new" vids from 1984!The Purple One has been sued by the Irish. Read more » Posted on Wednesday, February 24, 2010 in Front & Center What's New Blogs | Permalink | Comments (0) |
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February 20, 2010Review: Penumbra Hits the Right Notes in "Black Pearl Sings!"
Starting in the Great Depression (the other one) and continuing through the 1960s, the Library of Congress dispatched musicologists, folklorists, and other academics to the Deep South in search of "authentic" music, the older the better, lest it disappear in the increasingly homogeneous babble of progress. They found it all right, in the person of singing sharecroppers and guitar-toting prisoners, as in the case of Leadbelly, the inspiration for Black Pearl Sings!, a beautifully thought-provoking quasi-musical playing at Penumbra Theatre in St Paul through March 14. With two richly talented actresses and a dozen musical gems, Penumbra invokes centuries of... Read more » Posted on Saturday, February 20, 2010 in Front & Center What's New Blogs | Permalink | Comments (0) |
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February 12, 2010Last-Minute Valentine's Ideas For Going Out!
If you're lucky, you can see the eternal romantic Connie Evingson sing the music the Boomers fell in love to (or simply with) in the latest "Jazz at the Jungle" concert, this time featuring the music of the Beatles. Evingson, better known as a jazz thrush, is joined by the Levy brothers (Adam and Noah, of Honeydogs fame) among others. But the weekend shows are close to sold out, so check out Monday's as well. If you haven't seen what's become of the former Jitters cabaret club in northeast Minneapolis, it's now called Honey and, indeed, you're advised to bring yours on Sunday for a 7 p.m. show of music and storytelling with longtime jazz vocalist Arne Fogel and guest... Read more » Posted on Friday, February 12, 2010 in Front & Center | Permalink | Comments (0) |
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February 9, 2010The Best Theater and More for Valentine's Day
I don't know you. And I don't know your wife/girlfriend/boyfriend/husband/domestic partner/mistress/pet. But whomever you're spending Valentine's Day with, and presumably you know it's this weekend, I will venture some advice: Don't spend it at a crowded restaurant where the waiters are exhausted by the likes of you and you're forced to listen to the lovesick cooing of your dining neighbors. And if you bury a ring in the chocolate mousse, I will find out who you are and compel you to eat it. No, instead I recommend that if you're going to head out on the town that you take the edge off the forced romance by going to see a show that resonates with your shared sensibilities. Here are a few options. Murder. Yes, murder most foul in Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 in Front & Center What's New Blogs | Permalink | Comments (0) |
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February 2, 2010St. Louis Park Represents at the Oscars
So Ethan and Joel Coen will be back at the Oscars, fingers crossed that "A Serious Man," which filmed around the Twin Cities in 2008, wins Best Picture. But arguably, it doesn't count as much as it did when they won the award for "No Country for Old Men," since this year—for the first time since the 1940s—there are 10 nominations for Best Picture instead of the usual five. The merits—and we'll get to that later—of "A Serious Man" and the other nine nominees notwithstanding, it's hard to interpret this cinematic... Read more » Posted on Tuesday, February 2, 2010 in Front & Center What's New Blogs | Permalink | Comments (0) |
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January 29, 2010What To Do This Weekend: Plays, Art Openings, Etc.
The coolest theater event this weekend will undoubtedly be Off-Leash Area's "The Jury" at the Red Eye Theater. (Don't worry if it's hard to spot on Red Eye's site, the details are on Off-Leash Area's.) Dancers and actors blend in Off-Leash's award-winning mix, telling the story of a jury asked to weigh in on a woman's violent past in judging her trial for murder. The show opens this weekend. In visual art, the show "Instant Film Forever" opens tonight with a reception at Gallery 122, a look at the latest things that hip artists are doing with Polaroid technology, which keeps managing to hang on against all odds. Read more »Posted on Friday, January 29, 2010 in Front & Center | Permalink | Comments (0) |
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January 28, 2010A giant pierogi as public art?
If artist Jeff Lohaus has his way, northeast Minneapolis will receive its defining symbol, courtesy of Lohaus's artistry, towering over the corner of Central and Lowry avenues: a giant pierogi on a fork. The neighborhood's Eastern European heritage, of course, is increasingly historical; newer residents hailing from Asia and Latin America may be hard-pressed to recognize the dumpling's significance. What do you think? Put it up, or stick a fork in it? Read more » Posted on Thursday, January 28, 2010 in Front & Center What's New Blogs | Permalink | Comments (0) |
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