NOVEMBER 6 AND 7PIPAASHAA: EXTREME THIRST
Ananya Dance Theatre partners with the advocacy group Women’s Environmental Institute to present Pipaashaa: Extreme Thirst. Created by the troupe’s celebrated director, Ananya Chatterjea, Pipaashaa—which means “thirst” in Bengali—explores the impact of environmental damage on women and children around the globe. O’Shaughnessy Auditorium, 2004 Randolph Ave., St. Paul, 651-690-6700, ananyadancetheatre.org
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OCTOBER 30 TO NOVEMBER 1
2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY
Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, the Minnesota Orchestra’s conductor laureate, celebrates his 85th birthday with a concert featuring some of the most beautiful pieces written for piano, including the conductor’s own Music at Night. The grand finale: Strauss’s “Also sprach Zarathustra,” made famous by Stanley Kubrick’s classic film 2001: A Space Odyssey. Minnesota Orchestra, 1111 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis, 612-371-5656, minnesotaorchestra.org
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OPENS NOVEMBER 1
SHADOWLANDS
Director Joe Dowling teams up with British actor Simon Jones and local favorite Charity Jones to present this account of the life of author C. S. Lewis, who used literature as a means to escape his personal tragedies. As a bonus, tickets purchased for Shadowlands and the Children’s Theatre Company’s The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe (opening November 11) are discounted for both shows. Guthrie Theater, 818 S. Second St., Minneapolis, 612-377-2224
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NOVEMBER 1 TO 9
THE ABDUCTION FROM THE SERAGLIO
It’s not hard to imagine how 26-year-old Mozart came up with the sexy and outlandish The Abduction from the Seraglio. An opera about love, lust, harems, kidnapping, and comedy, Seraglio is the stuff of young men’s dreams. The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra accompanies this vaudevillian ride, which hasn’t graced the Minnesota Opera stage in nearly 30 years. Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, 345 Washington St., St. Paul; tickets at 612-333-6669, mnopera.org
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NOVEMBER 9
SAVION GLOVER’S BARE SOUNDZ
The Tony Award–winning choreographer of Bring in ’da Noise, Bring in ’da Funk performs his new piece, Bare Soundz, at Orchestra Hall. Glover, who made his film debut as a teenager dancing alongside Sammy Davis Jr., brings together elements of jazz and Caribbean rhythms into percussive songs that are backed only by the soles of his shoes. Tap dance has never been so funky. Orchestra Hall, 1111 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis, 612-371-5656
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NOVEMBER 13
MICHAEL RAKOWITZ
Best known for creating works that replicate art looted from the Iraq National Museum during the early months of the war, artist Michael Rakowitz discusses his portfolio, which includes inflatable homeless shelters made of plastic bags and tape. Minneapolis College of Art and Design, 2501 Stevens Ave., Minneapolis, 612-874-3700
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NOVEMBER 14 TO 16
LANDSCAPES OF THE AMERICAS
Peruvian-native Miguel Harth-Bedoya conducts the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra through six pieces that explore the cultures of North and South America, culminating in Gershwin’s quintessentially American “Rhapsody in Blue.” Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, 345 Washington St., St. Paul (November 14 and 15), and Ted Mann Concert Hall, 2128 Fourth St. S., Minneapolis (November 16); tickets at 651-291-1144 or spco.org.
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OPENS NOVEMBER 14
SOUVENIR
The Jungle Theater offers one for the holidays: Souvenir tells the story of a successful-yet-tone-deaf soprano named Florence Foster Jenkins. Told through the eyes of her accompanist, Cosme McMoon, during the Christmas season, the play reminisces on their longtime dynamic friendship. Jungle Theater, 2951 Lyndale Ave. S., Minneapolis, 612-822-7063
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OPENS NOVEMBER 26
JACOB MARLEY’S CHRISTMAS CAROL
Jacob Marley didn’t get a lot of credit for inspiring Scrooge to turn his life around—for rattling his chains, if you will. But in this play, writer Tom Mula re-imagines the classic Charles Dickens’s tale from the ghostly perspective. Local comedic actor and Guthrie-regular Jim Lichtscheidl plays Marley in this Park Square premiere. Park Square Theatre, 20 W. Seventh Pl., St. Paul, 651-291-7005
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NOVEMBER 29
CHOREOGRAPHERS’ EVENING
How do you artfully combine dance styles as varied as Spanish flamenco, ballet, and clogging? Leave it up to veteran dancer, choreographer, and James Sewell Ballet cofounder Sally Rousse. For more than three decades, this annual event has delivered an entertaining evening of short works featuring up-and-coming dancers. Walker Art Center, 1750 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis, 612-375-7600, walkerart.org
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Ali Brady and Andrea Wagenknecht contributed to this report. Send event information to agenda@mnmo.com.
DATEBOOK
More can’t-miss events in the Twin Cities this month
Mavis Staples November 3 February 2, 2009
Guthrie Theater
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Wicked
opens November 5
Orpheum Theatre
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Art Attack
November 7 to 9
Northrup King Building
Blackbird
November 7 to 30
Guthrie Theater
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Joan Baez
November 13
State Theatre
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Steven Kazlowski
November 13
Bell Museum ofNatural History
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Coldplay
November 14
Xcel Energy Center
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Animal Farm
closes November 16
Southern Theater
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Loudon Wainwright III
November 17
Guthrie Theater
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A Christmas Carol
opens November 18
Guthrie Theater
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MCAD Art Sale
November 21 and 22
Minneapolis College of Art and Design
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TU Dance
November 21 to 23
O’Shaughnessy
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Chris Botti with the Minnesota Orchestra
November 22 and 23
Orchestra Hall
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A Christmas Carole Petersen
opens November 28
Ordway Center
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Leo Kottke
November 29
State Theatre
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Haley Bonar and the Owls
November 29
Cedar Cultural Center
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