Weekend Best Bets: April 15-17

A to-do list of the most entertaining events around town.

Friday, April 15

I heart strings

WHAT: String Theory Music Festival
WHERE: History Theatre, St. Paul
WHEN: 8 p.m.
Organized by the Southern Theater, this ambitious festival of contemporary string music makes it clear that classical music, far from dead, has become one of the hippest fields for musical exploration. At tonight’s show, indie-rockers Owen Pallett and Nat Baldwin are joined by the clever virtuosos in the yMusic ensemble, each backing the other. Learn more at southerntheater.org

Friday, April 15

Art games

WHAT: A Machine to See With
WHERE: The streets of Northeast Minneapolis
WHEN: Times vary, appointments necessary
From the Sundance Film Festival comes this interactive art game, sponsored by the Walker Art Center, in which you—the participant—arrive alone on a street corner and wait for your cell phone to ring. You’ll receive recorded instructions at each step along the way: You are now an actor in your own movie, as it were, moving from parking garage to movie theater to Lund’s pharmacy and other locales as the voice instructs you, in the tradition of a suspenseful film. Learn more at walkerart.org

Saturday, April 16

The Hitchock opera

WHAT: Minnesota Opera’s Wuthering Heights
WHERE: Ordway Theater, St. Paul
WHEN: 7:30 p.m.
If you’ve seen a Hitchcock film, you’ve probably heard Bernard Herrmann’s handiwork: The composer wrote the seminal scores for North by Northwest, Psycho, Vertigo, and many other suspense films. And in between he wrote an opera: a darkly beautiful take on Wuthering Heights that’s as suspenseful and psychologically fraught as any Hitchcock film. And he finished writing it in Minneapolis. Here, the Minnesota Opera offers just the second-ever production. Learn more at mnopera.org

Saturday, April 16

The art of irrational fear

WHAT: Terrence Payne’s “My Apocalypse Will Be Better Than Yours”
WHERE: Rosalux Gallery, Minneapolis
WHEN: 7 to 11 p.m.
Terrence Payne’s latest paintings feature large portraits over his signature bold patterns, sweetly if wryly depicting our earnest pursuit of potential, that idealized life we imagine for ourselves even as we stumble on the everyday catastrophes in our path. Learn more at terrencepayne.com

Sunday, April 17

The sun comes up

WHAT: The Children’s Theatre Company’s Annie
WHERE: Children’s Theatre Company, Minneapolis
WHEN: 2 and 5 p.m.
For the first time in its 45 years, the Children’s Theatre Company is staging Annie, the classic musical about a girl with big dreams, little patience, and some life lessons for her seemingly amoral new father, Daddy Warbucks. Learn more at childrenstheatre.org

Sunday, April 17

One last song

WHAT: Frank Theater’s Cabaret
WHERE: Centennial Showboat, St. Paul
WHEN: 7 p.m.
Forced to close its sold-out regular run of Cabaret early, due to flooding, Frank Theatre is assembling the cast and orchestra one last time for a fundraising concert. Featuring Bradley Greenwald as the Emcee and Mlissa hart as Fraulein Schneider, the cast will reprise the music without costumes. Learn more at franktheatre.org