Weekend Best Bets: Nov. 16-18

Todd about Town: Your to-do list in the Twin Cities this weekend includes musical shows, “Mystery Science Theater 3000 Live,” and more

Looking for other events throughout November? Check out more arts and entertainment picks.


1. Dive-in Movie at Tropics Water Park

Shoreview Community Center, Shoreview

November 16, 7-9 p.m.

Tickets: A daily pass is $10.25 for adults, $9.40 for youth (1-17 years) and seniors; a family pass is $39

Bring your water noodles to the Shoreview Community Center pool and wade about during a family-friendly movie, projected onto a poolside screen like a drive-in movie. (Get the pun?) No need to make reservations—just show up for an evening of pool time. (Pool toys not included.) Learn more.

2. Rainy Days & Mondays: The Music of the Carpenters

Chanhassen Dinner Theatre, Chanhassen

November 16-18

Tickets: Dinner and show, $55; show only, $40

Carpenters fans, make your way to Chanhassen, where a 12-piece tribute band will play your favorite numbers from the hit ’70s easy-listening group, like “Close to You,” “Yesterday Once More,” “Mr. Postman,” “Superstar,” “We’ve Only Just Begun,” and more. Aimée Lee takes the stage as Karen. Learn more.

3. Teen Idol: The Bobby Vee Story

History Theatre, St. Paul

November 17-December 16

Tickets: $25-$62

On the day that Buddy Holly’s plane crashed in 1959 near Clear Lake, Iowa, young North Dakotan Bobby Velline started performing—kicking off a career that would make a teen idol out of him, dubbed Bobby Vee. (Bobby Vee’s first hit single, “Suzie Baby,” was recorded in Minneapolis.) Now, a musical journey based on his life, and the lives of other ’60s music stars, unfolds at History Theatre, starring Tyler Michaels as Bobby Vee and Nicholas Freeman as Buddy Holly. Learn more.

4. Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol

Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, St. Paul

November 17-18

Tickets: $38-$48

At the Ordway, visit the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, where sparrow-voiced country-music icon Dolly Parton grew up. This world-premiere musical (staged reading, that is—without the full production, but featuring a beloved local cast) with a score written by Parton herself, adapting Charles Dickens’ holiday classic. Parton says she will make an appearance at the Ordway prior to the show on Saturday, November 17. Learn more.

5. Bentleyville Tour of Lights

Bayfront Festival Park, Duluth

November 17-December 26

Tickets: Free; goodwill offering encouraged, along with new, unwrapped toys or non-perishable food donations

This Duluth park on the shores of Lake Superior has been transformed into a truly impressive wonderland of holiday lights—the biggest walk-through display in the country, it claims. Guests freely walk through, enjoying the holiday music and taking in elaborate luminary setups, including ones featuring Thomas the Tank Engine and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. The main attraction? The massive, LED-lit, 12-story Christmas tree. It’s twice the height of the tree in New York City’s Rockefeller Plaza. Learn more.

6. Mystery Science Theater 3000 Live

State Theatre, St. Paul

November 17

Tickets: $39.50-$49.50

After a tour stop in 2017, the cast of comedy cult classic Mystery Science Theater 3000, including creator Joel Hodgson, returns to Minneapolis to poke fun at terrible-amazing B-movies in two new shows. First up: The Brain, sci-fi horror in Canadian suburbs. Then: Deathstalker 2, an epic, ancient-times monster movie. Your favorite puppets perform sketches to a full theater, and after binging the Netflix show, it’s nice to realize in person how many out there are laughing with you. Learn more.