Friday, June 15
Get Amore
WHAT: Roman Holiday
WHERE: Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis
WHEN: 7:30 p.m.
A financial crisis and a president’s peccadilloes haven’t worn the charm off Italy for Americans, whose love affair with the nation was in full bloom when Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck swooned over gelato and Vespas some 60 years ago. Unbelievably, this is the first musical adaptation, with a couple of Broadway stars playing the icons. guthrietheater.org
Friday, June 15
The New Brazil
WHAT: Céu
WHERE: Dakota Jazz Club and Restaurant, Minneapolis
WHEN: 7 p.m.
One name, many styles. The languid Sao Paulo singer first updated the bossas and sambas of her homeland with jazz, pop, and electronic undercurrents. Now she’s exploring the more African influences on Brazil as well as side-trips to New Orleans and Jamaica. dakotacooks.com
Saturday, June 16
Art on the Water
WHAT: Stone Arch Bridge Festival
WHERE: Father Hennepin Bluffs Park, Minneapolis
WHEN: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Art is no longer in the title of this revived tradition but, rest assured, there will be some 250 artists on hand, plus musicians on three stages, and guys drooling over classic cars. In short, the same pleasant potpourri of activities it always was. Learn more at stonearchbridgefestival.com
Saturday, June 16
Let’s Hear It for the Men
WHAT: T. Mychael Rambo: Tying the Knot, Songs of Our Fathers
WHERE: Fitzgerald Theater, St. Paul
WHEN: 8 p.m.
The warm-hearted, big-voiced singer is joined by poet Marion McClinton; such vocalists as Bruce Henry, Julius Collins, Aimee Bryant, and Tonia Hughes-Kendrick; and other prominent talent from the Twin Cities’ African American community in this celebration of fatherhood. More than just guy songs, the night is meant to deconstruct and reaffirm the role of men in children’s lives—a positive one and, if Rambo has anything to say about it, a boisterous one. Learn more at fitzgeraldtheater.org
Sunday, June 17
The Afrobeat Goes On
WHAT: Fela!
WHERE: Ordway Center, St. Paul
WHEN: 7:30 p.m.
Bill T. Jones choreographed this Tony Award-winning Broadway musical that goes deeper, and further afield, than most—to Africa and into the controversial life of Fela Kuti, the continent’s most influential musician. Kuti was a rebel, within and without his music, and remarkably that edge hasn’t been dulled in memory any more than Afrobeat, the energetic music he pioneered. Learn more at ordway.org
Sunday, June 17
Feeling Blue?
WHAT: Blue Man Group
WHERE: Orpheum Theatre, Minneapolis
WHEN: 1 and 6:30 p.m.
The appeal of silent men in blue-face, as it were, hasn’t diminished much over the decades. In fact, remarkably, this is the troupe’s first theatrical tour of the country. Even more remarkably, the pantomimed humor, pyrotechnic drumming, and stage magic are still sharp, demonstrating the power of pure imagination to continually invent and surprise. Learn more at hennepintheatretrust.org
