East Isles
TUESDAY PICK | TUES NGHT MUSC CLUB celebrates a year of good times with the Uptown vets
If you go to Triple Double on Tuesdays to see the people your momma warned you about, then TUES NGHT MUSC CLUB (no typo) is where you go to meet the people you could bring home to her. If Dad's a vet, he might be on the scene already: the party's held at the Uptown VFW. Ringleader Matthew Jacobs takes a democratic approach: ordinary people can reserve shifts spinning physical records or virtual tracks while the friendly revelers shake their hips and toss back the free popcorn and coffee that sit conveniently within reach at the edge of the small dance floor. On May 29, TUES NGHT MUSC CLUB celebrates its one-year anniversary; get ready to sweat.
SUNDAY PICK | Math Emergency add it up at the Bryant-Lake Bowl
"Nerdcore" is its own genre in hip-hop, but "Weird Al" Yankovic aside, nerds have had a tougher time making inroads in the rock world. If Math Emergency can't make it happen, no one can: the band includes two MPR guys (John Moe of Wits and producer Pete Clowney), a theater guy (Joseph Scrimshaw), and for the win, a math professor (Andrew Beveridge). They're making their debut on May 20 at the Bryant-Lake Bowl. Wait, is bowling nerdy?
THURSDAY PICK | Mrs. Smith brings her many talents to the Bryant-Lake Bowl
Every drag queen is her own special flower, but Mrs. Smith is a very special flower indeed. Storyteller, dancer, electric guitar wizard, there's not much Mrs. Smith can't do, and she's sure to showcase her many talents on stage at the Bryant-Lake Bowl from May 17-26 as she presents her new one-woman show Mrs. Smith Live at the Bowl! The show is Mrs. Smith's version of the redemption-story one-woman shows performed on Broadway by the likes of Liza Minnelli, Elaine Stritch, and Carrie Fisher. But what on earth could Mrs. Smith possibly have to be redeemed from? You probably won't be sorry you asked.
SUNDAY PICK | The Yes!Lets Collective thinks it's Mom's turn to sit and listen to a story
As long as we're recommending things with names that inspire eye-rolling, let's turn to the Yes!Lets Collective. At the Bryant-Lake Bowl this Mother's Day, May 13, the multidisciplinary crew are presenting an event called 7:7:7. The show features seven performers telling seven "turning points," for seven minutes each, through six different means: dance, music, visual art, puppetry, short story, and traditional storytelling. I'm a little fuzzy on where the seventh performer fits in (I'm guessing the dance), but the point is, this is a nice thing to bring your mom to. Buy her a Bloody Mary to enjoy during the show; she may or may not need it, but she raised you, so she deserves it.
THEATER PREVIEW | Jeffrey Hatcher's "Compleat Female Stage Beauty" to add the latest feather to Walking Shadow's cap
Walking Shadow Theatre Company, since 2004, has established a presence of consequence in Twin Cities theater. No mean feat for a venue competing in one of the nation’s strongest arts markets.MORE »
Talent and tenacity: African-American writers share their work at Givens Foundation Collaborative Retreat Showcase
“I think it speaks to the talent of the mentorship,” said Sherine Crooms-Onukwuwe, a writer who performed at the Givens Foundation Collaborative Retreat Showcase on Tuesday, April 24.MORE »
FRIDAY PICK | "The Sad Vampire Comedy Hour" pits Joseph Scrimshaw against his demons
When you're as well-established on the local comic theater scene as Joseph Scrimshaw is, you have to keep challenging yourself if you want to keep things interesting. Scrimshaw has presented himself with a formidable challenge indeed in his new show The Sad Vampire Comedy Hour: he's doing standup comedy (challenge #1) an an emo character (challenge #2) who happens to be a supernatural being (challenge #3) of that particular persuasion that I'd say has recently been "done to death" in pop culture (challenge #4)—if they weren't dead already (challenge #5). How are you going to get yourself out of this one, Scrimshaw?
THURSDAY PICK | Seth Lepore returns with "SuperHappyMelancholyexpialidocious"
As a satirist, Seth Lepore has that rarest of virtues: restraint. He plays fair with his targets, which is why his wins mean so much more. I put his Fringe show Losing My Religion on my list of the ten best plays I saw on Twin Cities stages in 2011: "Lepore's portrayals of shady self-help gurus were completely compelling, all the more so because he wasn't afraid to let their seductive charms ooze through their ludicrous rhetoric." Lepore returns to Minnesota from March 22-25 for three performances of his new show SuperHappyMelancholyexpialidocious, an exploration of people and places offering portals to self-actualization.
THEATER PREVIEW | "Outside the Circle" explores unrequited love and living outside of "normal"
A new play commissioned by Pangea World Theater and co-presented by Teatro del Pueblo and Intermedia Arts takes a look at unrequited love, borders, and living as an “outsider” in today’s society. Outside the Circle, a new play by Andrea Assaf and Samuel Valdez, tells the story of a queer woman and man living with Cerebral Palsy, who meet by chance at a seedy bar in Tijuana and share stories about heartache living outside of “normal” society. The two writers also act in the production, along with Maria Vale, and are directed by theater and dance artist Dora Arreola.MORE »
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