Theater
The Primrose Path • Roger Rees has acted on TV (Cheers), in movies (Frida), and in theater (snagging a Tony). Now he’s directing a world premiere at the Guthrie, a play by fellow Brit Crispin Whittell, known for his snappy update of the Guthrie’s A Christmas Carol. It’s about a Russian noble who leaves his adulterous wife for the country, a story as layered as Rees himself. • 4/27–6/15, guthrietheater.org
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Stick Fly • Marion McClinton directs this dramedy stuffed with secrets. • 4/26–5/19, parksquaretheatre.org
Deathtrap • Steve Hendrickson, Cheryl Willis, and Michael Booth star in the mystery.
• 3/29–5/19, jungletheater.com
Alice in Wonderland • Lewis Carroll gets the CTC treatment. • 4/30–6/15, childrenstheatre.org
Music
Joey Kantor CD release • Kantor, who plays the keys for Rogue Valley, has a jazz and classical background, and on his solo album, Tucson, he combines that with a hook-laden pop sensibility. It’s part of a larger project cooly called Chalet, and he’ll release it amid a photo exhibition, cocktails, a remix set by Grant Cutler, and general chilling at the gallery-like Live Letters Loft in Minneapolis. • 4/25, thisischalet.com
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Josh Ritter • The singer/songwriter/novelist pulls from his new marriage-breakup album.
• 4/25, first-avenue.com
Michael Nesmith • The former Monkee is on tour for the first time in 30 years. • 4/5, fitzgeraldtheater.org
Night: Simone Dinnerstein & Tift Merritt • Classical meets indie-country in this cool project.
• 4/11, dakotacooks.com
Film
Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival • It’s the year to get real as documentaries dominate. The new More REEL series features two Werner Herzog documentaries and other imaginative searches for truth while the Songs of Exile series offers new documentaries about immigration and displacement. For local pleasures, check out the Minnesota Made films. • 4/11–28, mspfilmfest.org
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HD Opera • The Heights broadcasts Eugene Onegin on April 14 and Il Trovatore on April 28.
• heightstheater.com
MotionPoems • Local poet Todd Boss’s initiative of turning poems into film, at the Walker.
• 4/24, motionpoems.com
Blind Faith: London Hyde Park 1969 • Rock’s first supergroup, on the big screen.
• 4/4, theparkwaytheater.com
Dance
Lover • Ah, to meet cute. The James Sewell Ballet offers a poetic shout-out to the sweet and silly romance of Depression-era musicals in this story of tough love—literally—set to the music of Rodgers and Hart. Actor Bradley Greenwald, singer Maria Jette, and musician/storyteller Dan Chouinard add their own winking artfulness to the drama. • 4/5–13, thecowlescenter.org
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Botanica • Momix celebrates spring with Vivaldi and giant puppets by Cirque du Soleil designer Michael Curry. • 4/20–21, thecowlescenter.org
Cinderella • The fairytale comes alive, thanks to Ballet Minnesota. • 4/5–6, theoshaughnessy.com
Niicugni • Truly a one-woman show—choreographed and performed by Emily Johnson.
• 4/21, northrop.umn.edu
Visual Arts
Brewer’s Craft • Craft beer may or may not be an art form, but northeast Minneapolis is blending its two historic industries into a combined brewing and arts district. And Altered Esthetics gallery is putting the results on the wall in an exhibit featuring artist-submitted pieces and fresh work from last year’s Featured Artist Contest winner, Chris Price. • 4/4–25, alteredesthetics.org
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Flood • Recent work by Jil Evans, who observed the Cannon River flooding in 2010.
• 4/4–5/11, formandcontent.org
Out of the Abyss • Works from William Murray’s collection of prison inmate art. • 4/12–5/17, btacmn.org
The Museum of Non Participation • An international exhibit on how artists try to reconcile aesthetics and politics. • 4/18–7/14, walkerart.org
Events
Miriam Karmel • The Kenwood resident has published fiction in this magazine, among other places. Her slim debut novel, Being Esther (Milkweed, $22), tackles aging and the meaning of life with a memoirist’s touch for detail and the kind of wry humor that could get you through life’s final indignities. She’ll launch the book at Magers & Quinn. • 4/4, magersandquinn.com
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Saint Paul Art Crawl • The biannual studio tour in a revitalized Lowertown. • 4/26–28, stpaulartcrawl.org
Homegrown Music Festival • The Duluth fête of local music marks 15 years.
• 4/28–5/5, duluthhomegrown.org
Colum McCann • The National Book Award winner talks at Coffman Union in advance of his new novel, Transatlantic. • 4/10, english.umn.edu
