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
(page 3 of 4)
The Italian Girl in Algiers
November 10 – 18Minnesota Opera
WHAT TO EXPECT: How could a riotous comedy involving shipwrecks, pirates, and daring escapes from enslavement in North Africa get any more madcap? The Minnesota Opera sets Rossini’s classic inside a 1930s-style pop-up book. It’s not opera, after all, till you take things over the top.
WHY GO: Lead performer Vivica Genaux, who has starred in many of the Minnesota Opera’s best-received productions, returns to the company after a three-year absence.
WHERE: Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, 345 Washington St., St. Paul, 612-333-6669
Pierre-Laurent Aimard with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra
November 29 – December 1Ordway Center for the Performing Arts
WHAT TO EXPECT: The SPCO is now in its fourth season without a music director—intentionally, of course: A rotating committee of musicians and administrators now calls the shots. And the model appears to be working well. The orchestra plays to its own strengths rather than those of a particular conductor. It doesn’t hurt, either, that the artistic partners brought on to help lead many concerts are among the world’s finest classical musicians. In these performances, Aimard tackles both Beethoven’s Piano Concert No. 3 in C-minor and Schoenberg’s more contemporary “Three Pieces for Chamber Orchestra.”
WHY GO: Do you know how many piano players exist in the world? Aimard may be better than all of them, having recently been named “Instrumentalist of the Year” by the trade publication Musical America.
WHERE: Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, 345 Washington St., St. Paul, 651-291-1144
** Dance **
Pipaashaa
September 6 – 9Ananya Dance Theatre
WHAT TO EXPECT: The word pipaashaa means “thirst” in Bengali, the language of the eastern Indian subcontinent from which much of the choreography for this show was derived. Female dancers ages 8 to 64 relate the tales of women and children living in dry, resource-depleted environments—which is somehow more uplifting than depressing.
WHY GO: It’s social change made danceable, and minimally didactic, through the vision of Ananya Chatterjea, a professor recently named choreographer of the year by City Pages.
WHERE: Southern Theater, 1420 Washington Ave. S., Mpls., 612-340-1725
Wild Cursive
October 13Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan
WHAT TO EXPECT: These elegant dancers move fluidly over and between sheets of thin rice paper, painting Chinese characters and abstract patterns with black ink. The combination of the soothing melodies from the orchestra and the subtle flow of the choreography should translate into mellow enchantment.
WHY GO: Cloud Gate is the first contemporary dance company in Asia’s Chinese-speaking communities, formed in 1973. Wild Cursive is the final chapter of a trilogy piece that began in 2001.
WHERE: Northrop Memorial Auditorium, 84 Church St. SE, Mpls., 612-624-2345
Beauty and the Beast/The Gilded Bat
October 24 – November 7Ballet of the Dolls
WHAT TO EXPECT: This is Beauty with Tom Waits tunes, not talking teapots. In the Dolls’ deconstructionist hands (and feet), the classic story was arty yet accessible in its premiere at the 2003 Minnesota Fringe Festival, winning the Audience Favorite award. Meanwhile, the author of The Gilded Bat, Edward Gorey, could be the Doll’s patron saint, given his macabre yet merry perspective.
WHY GO: The Dolls crashed the classicists’ mundane party long ago, substituting Ken and Barbie for the lead characters of The Nutracker, but they’ve proved to be far more than jesters, often drilling down to a piece’s central emotion by eschewing traditional interpretations.
WHERE: Ritz Theater, 345 13th Ave. NE, Mpls., 612-436-1129
Faustin Linyekula and Les Studios Kabako
November 1 – 3Cedar Cultural Center
WHAT TO EXPECT: You’ll be on your feet doing the soukous—Congo’s version of the rumba—before the night, er, morning is over, as Linyekula, one of Africa’s premier choreographers and an artist-in-residence at the Walker Art Center, plans to dance until dawn. Called “Festival of Lies,” this show recreates a Congo tradition of drinking, dancing, and talking trash about leaders—as a way to laugh about political matters, rather than quarrel over them.
WHY GO: Ever been to an all-night soukous party before? Didn’t think so.
WHERE: Cedar Cultural Center, 416 Cedar Ave. S., Mpls., 612-375-7600
Jerome Bel and Pichet Klunchun
November 14 – 15Walker Art Center
WHAT TO EXPECT: Bel is a French conceptual choreographer (three words some people would prefer not to see together), while Klunchun is a master of classical Thai dance. Together, they aim to be more than the sum of their understated movements, literally moving toward a broader understanding of our common humanity.
WHY GO: In previous shows, Bel has played the Parisian provocateur—having a dancer drop trou (and under-trou), hiring non-dancers to stand on the stage and not move—so it should be interesting to see him join forces with a far more straightforward dancer.
WHERE: Walker Art Center, 1750 Hennepin Ave., Mpls., 612-375-7600
** Theater **
Redshirts
September 6 – 30Penumbra Theatre Company
WHAT TO EXPECT: Directed by Lou Bellamy, Redshirts examines the nature of college sports recruitment, contemplating its effects on education and integrity.
WHY GO: Redshirts’ cast features such top local actors as Cedric Mays and Regina Williams. This world premiere kicks off a landmark season for Penumbra, including a partnership with the Guthrie Theater and the beginning of August Wilson’s 20th Century Cycle on Penumbra’s stage.
WHERE: Penumbra Theatre, 270 N. Kent St., St. Paul, 651-224-3180
