30 Top Tickets
The fall Events you need to see — by any means necessary
By Tim Gihring and Courtney Lewis
Photo by David J. Turner
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Eat with Your Eyes
September 28 – November 4Northern Clay Center
WHAT TO EXPECT: The idea of functional art is taken to the literal level in this exhibition of six dining tables and four side tables, along with serving and decorative pieces from more than 30 artists. Workshops with chefs and food stylists explaining the dynamic between aesthetics and food—i.e., why serving roasted hen and veggies on a white plate feels different than on Fiestaware—complement the show.
WHY GO: Man could live on bread and art alone. Especially when you can learn to make your own beer mug.
WHERE: Northern Clay Center, 2424 Franklin Ave. E., Mpls., 612-339-8007
Georgia O’Keeffe: Circling Around Abstraction
October 7 – January 6The Minneapolis Institute of Arts
WHAT TO EXPECT: O’Keeffe, a Wisconsin native, specialized in abstraction with humanity, distinguishing herself from her peers, who tended to think in straight lines. Her work allowed for more shapely representations of floral and fauna—a distinctly organic vision for modern art.
WHY GO: With more than 50 works, from paintings to drawings to sculpture, O’Keeffe’s seven-decade career is thoroughly catalogued here.
WHERE: The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2400 Third Ave. S., Mpls., 612-870-3131
Frida Kahlo
October 27 – January 20Walker Art Center
WHAT TO EXPECT: Not Salma Hayek—sorry. But the popular Mexican artist’s self-examination on canvas comes alive in this retrospective of works drawn from collections around the world. Kahlo’s most provocative paintings, from those depicting her miscarriage to her introspective self-portraits, chronicle her tumultuous life with almost frightening honesty—while photographs of the artist and her family add another dimension to the exhibit.
WHY GO: This Walker-generated show is the largest Kahlo exhibition in a decade, which will tour the country after it closes here. Call early to score tickets to the opening-night party (the summer Picasso kickoff was the place to be).
WHERE: Walker Art Center, 1750 Hennepin Ave., Mpls., 612-375-7600
** Music **
James Cotton
September 14Cedar Cultural Center
WHAT TO EXPECT: Cotton grew up picking, you guessed it, cotton in Mississippi, but he was blowing the harmonica with blues legends Sonny Boy Williamson and Howlin’ Wolf when he was still a teenager. He was Muddy Waters’s harp player for a dozen years, then hit the road on his own, and, save for an absence due to throat surgery in 1994, he’s been in showbiz now for 63 years.
WHY GO: Cotton doesn’t attempt his signature back flips anymore, but he’s still a showman, sometimes blowing his harmonica so hard the instrument falls apart in his hands.
WHERE: Cedar Cultural Center, 416 Cedar Ave. S., Mpls., 612-338-2674
Ruthie Foster
September 17 and 18Dakota Jazz Club & Restaurant
WHAT TO EXPECT: Belting original blends of blues and gospel, with some jazzy Hammond B-3 organ in the background, Foster is overflowing with hallelujah, and mesmerizing in her intensity. Though she’s been compared to both Aretha Franklin and Ella Fitzgerald—and the title of her latest album, The Phenomenal Ruthie Foster, makes it sound like she’s already compiling her greatest hits—Foster definitely has her own style, and is just starting to realize her full potential.
WHY GO: Foster played in the U.S. Navy’s funk band. How cool is that?
WHERE: Dakota Jazz Club & Restaurant, 1010 Nicollet Mall, Mpls., 612-332-1010.
Beethoven’s Ode to Joy
September 27 – 29Minnesota Orchestra
WHAT TO EXPECT: Roll over Beethoven: Osmo Vänskä may be discovering more depth in your work than even you did. Three years into the Minnesota Orchestra’s effort to record all nine of Beethoven’s symphonies—with the albums receiving unanimously glowing reviews—Vänskä and company may well be playing his music better than any other group today.
WHY GO: The stellar cast of singers who performed on the group’s recording of this work is reuniting for these performances.
WHERE: Orchestra Hall, 1111 Nicollet Mall, Mpls., 612-371-5656
The Most Happy Fella
October 13 and 14Ted Mann Concert Hall
WHAT TO EXPECT: The Vocal-Essence chorus gives its perfectly voiced regards to Broadway this year in several shows, the first being a Frank Loesser (Guys and Dolls) musical staged by showbiz veteran Vern Sutton. The guest soloists—Peter Halverson, Bradley Greenwald, and Jennifer Baldwin Peden—should wring some beautiful moments out of this story of a romance filled with deception, the kind of tragic love that Greenwald and Baldwin Peden have had plenty of experience emoting together over at Theatre de Jeune Lune.
WHY GO: This is Broadway the right way—beautiful voices, no jazz hands.
WHERE: Ted Mann Concert Hall, 2128 S. Fourth St., Mpls., 612-624-2345
Pat Metheny Trio
October 14Orchestra Hall
WHAT TO EXPECT: After 16 Grammy Awards and three gold records, jazz guitarist Pat Metheny could easily swap his signature six-string for a ukulele and perform Tiny Tim tunes for the rest of his life without denting his legacy. But instead, he’s still finding ways to improvise in his loose, surprising style without ever losing sight of a melody or a great rhythm.
WHY GO: Jazz is always best live—and you’ll have cocktail party fodder for months.
WHERE: Orchestra Hall, 1111 Nicollet Ave., Mpls., 612-624-2345
Yo-Yo Ma
November 9Schubert Club performance
WHAT TO EXPECT: For the elegant folks already holding tickets to this show, the word Yo-Yo has never meant anything but deep, rich cello arrangements. The master’s mellifluous music has carried films and made commercials memorable (and often more regal), without becoming commercial itself.
WHY GO: It’s Yo-Yo. Nuff said.
WHERE: Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, 345 Washington St., St. Paul, 651-224-4222
