Local

You’re not going to find a stronger theater company in the Twin Cities than the Theatre in the Round Players, and they’ve done it again, mounting yet another first-rate production. The White Sheep of the Family, by L. du Garde Peach and Ian Hay, is a splendidly written, sharply directed, beautifully acted farce you’re going to rush home and tell family, friends—pretty much anyone who’ll listen—all about. MORE »

If poets write (as I believe they very often do) to explore and make sense of their own lives—and, by extension, all of life—then St. Paul poet Margaret Hasse has managed to put her days and nights—and, by extension, ours—into remarkable order and clarity. MORE »

NORTHFIELD, MN — In 2001, two third-grade girls from Northfield had a dream.

They would go to college together and be roommates. There was only one problem: Stephanie was a blond-haired, blue-eyed Midwesterner, and Alejandra was Hispanic. Back in 2001, only 18% of Northfield’s Latino population passed the Minnesota Basic Skills Test (BST), a requirement to graduate from high school. MORE »

by Jay Gabler •

by Jay Gabler •

Going to see Alicia Wiley recently at the 331 Club, I caught a couple of pleasant surprises. Nathan Cole (bass player with Kymara, 2 Wurds), whom I hadn’t seen in ages, was there. No sooner had we started catching up when Shannon Johnson (who, for all intents and purposes, is Kymara) waltzed in. It was great seeing those two again—and Shannon just happened to have, out in the car, a two-song demo of material from Kymara’s new, currently in-progress album. MORE »

Singer-songwriter Richard Marx was the first solo artist to have his first seven singles make the top five on the U.S. Billboard charts. Marx, whose #1 singles include “Hold on to the Nights,” “Satisfied,” and “Right Here Waiting,” has recently released two albums available for download on his Web site: Emotional Remains and Sundown. He’ll be at Trocaderos on December 13 for an acoustic show with Matt Scannell of Vertical Horizon; in anticipation of that show, he talked by phone about opening for REO Speedwagon, managing his image, singing for drunk philanthropists, hanging out with Lionel Richie, and jockeying with Prince for the top of the charts. MORE »

I’m a huge fan of Christmas. I start secretly playing Christmas music as soon as I blow out the candles in the jack-o-lanterns. I pull out my stack of holiday books and supplement those with more from the library. I have my list of must-see holiday shows, and the Guthrie’s Christmas Carol is always included. It’s always the same—for better and for worse. MORE »