Books
Arts Orbit Radar: 11/5/09
What's Happening This Week
On the radar: For most of human history, no one ever said, "Fo shizzle, my nizzle." Then Snoop Dogg said it, then everyone said it—and now, thank God, we're back to no one (except your awkward uncle) saying it. The West Coast drawler will be at Epic tonight, playing to a crowd of former frat boys, aging gangstas, and hipsters who face a tough choice between Snoop and A Fine Frenzy.
Under the radar: Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Ensemble isn't coming to Minnesota in the near future, but tonight we have the next best thing: Robaybat and Güvenç and Burk Orchestra, an all-star cast of local musicians who promise to lead "a musical journey through Greece, Turkey, into the Balkans, through Central Asia and Persia."
On the radar: This weekend's Art Attack gives you a chance to see the work of Northrup King artists without having to fight the Art-a-Whirl crowds. If you're looking for a crowd, try to squeeze in to the Paramore show at Roy Wilkins.
Under the radar: Lowertown has been pushing hard to compete with Minneapolis as an entertainment destination, and at least according to Sean McPherson, it's working. Tonight, the newly-anointed Lowertown Entertainment District hosts its first monthly First Friday open-studio event.MORE »
NEWS DAY | Dinosaurs doing battle
That’s the way Susie Fruncillo, one of the owners of Lake Country Booksellers in White Bear Lake, described the current best-seller price war to MinnPost.MORE »
Stories of renewal for North Branch Library
Minneapolis' first branch library is about to get a new lease on life. The North Branch library was built in 1893. More than a century later it is about to get new life through the help of Emerge and Mike Wynne. MORE »
Arts Orbit Radar: 10/29/09
What's Happening This Week
On the radar: Unbelievably, there are still Miley Cyrus tickets available for tonight. This is going to leave her with no choice but to follow the Britney route and start getting skanky. Speaking of skanky, those man-whores Jim James, Conor Oberst, Mike Mogis, and M. Ward have all put their steady bands on hiatus to jump into a wild foursome at the Orpheum as Monsters of Folk.
Under the radar: Artist Lucia Hwang, writes the curator of her show opening today at Augsburg, "brings up the conflict that occurs when people cannot entirely accept or reject the world around them." Specifically, she does this with 365 rolls of toilet paper. They're right...I can neither entirely accept nor entirely reject that.
On the radar: Tiësto, the world's #1 DJ (more or less), is at Epic tonight with several celebrity collaborators "joining" him on video.
Under the radar: Alarmel Valli, one of the greatest living practitioners of classical Indian dance, performs at the O'Shaughnessy tonight. If you go, expect to rub elbows with the Twin Cities' most passionate dance connoisseurs.MORE »
Arts Orbit Radar: 10/22/09
What's Happening This Week
On the radar: When Theatre de la Jeune Lune closed last year, company leaders Dominique Serrand and Steve Epp promised they'd be back—tonight, they keep that promise with The House Can't Stand, a one-man show starring Epp (in drag) and directed by Serrand.
Under the radar: Combined music/art/film festivals are all the rage these days, and just because it's getting a little nippy to do them outdoors doesn't mean they're going to stop happening. This weekend, OX-OP and the SooVAC bring you (take a deep breath) Non Consensual Post Dada Constructivist Cerebral Warts, "a multi-media onslaught" featuring bands playing in a room where no one else is allowed to go. (Art!) Tonight's opening event also features the short films of local hero Chris Mars.
On the radar: Ten Thousand Things brings Othello to life in a production co-directed by Michelle Hensley and the actress Sonja Parks—who brought down the house with her performance at the Ivey Awards. The casting of Ansa Akyea (Kirby) as the Moor and the often-exuberant Luverne Seifert as Iago suggest that this may be a lighter take than most; but a team this talented can probably pull off just about any kind of take they want. Meanwhile, the Weisman opens its new show To Have It About You, a collection of 1/50th of the artworks collectors Dorothy and Herbert Vogel have donated to U.S. museums. (Each state gets an equal share.)
Under the radar: Open Eye Figure Theatre has made its name for mysterious, beautiful, and strange work with the kind of productions epitomized by Elijah's Wake, a 2003 "visual poem" by master puppeteer Michael Sommers that is being revived for a three-week run starting tonight.MORE »
Rainbow Rumpus launches new book project in Minneapolis
Rainbow Rumpus, a local online magazine for youth with LGBT parents, will be holding a book release launch party of their new Printable Picture Books project at True Colors Bookstore in Minneapolis on October 24. The event for preschool and early elementary children and their families will include storytelling, live music, face-painting, and a bake sale, and children who come to the store on that day will receive a downloaded pdf of the books in Rainbow Rumpus's current Printable Picture Book series. MORE »
Play by Play: A new independent bookstore for the theatrically-minded
Surrounded by empty bookshelves, stacked chairs, oversized papier-mâché hats, and other left-over props, Kelly Schaub, the owner of Play by Play Theatre Bookstore, and I sat down to discuss the inspiration and future plans for this unique store located at 1771 Selby Avenue in St. Paul—between Fairview and Snelling, near Macalester College and the University of St. Thomas.MORE »
Missing Ruth
Ruth F. Brin's review of American Prophet, Bruce Feiler's new book about the influence of Moses on American history and culture, appeared in the previous edition of the AJW. Unfortunately, Ruth did not see her review in print; she died of cardiac arrest on Wednesday morning, Sept. 30. She was 88.MORE »
Arts Orbit Radar: 10/15/09
What's Happening This Week
On the radar: Boy, was everyone too busy editing Fringe blogs to actually go to the Fringe, or...oh. I guess that was just me. Well, this weekend a few of the best shows from the 2009 Fringe Festival are returning to the Minneapolis Theatre Garage in a series called Nights of the Living Fringe, so whatever your reason for missing them, you can now correct that omission.
Under the radar: Michael Jackson was a weird, theatrical guy with substance abuse problems and strange hobbies...so obviously, the Bryant-Lake Bowl is the perfect venue at which to pay him tribute. Audra Tracy leads a group of performers in a multimedia tribute, and Paul Anka will be there to break a Martini glass over Tracy's head if he's not given proper credit.
On the radar: Fans of adventurous but accessible art and music are not going to know what to do with themselves tonight. The Soap Factory's Haunted Basement opens for business (early word is that it's as frighteningly brilliant as ever); Spike Jonze's much-anticipated adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are arrives at movie theaters; and Bella Koshka leads a "Rock 'n' Roll Circus" at the recently rebooted Music Box Theatre.
Under the radar: Soft and cuddly puppets move to the cutting edge as In the Heart of the Beast hosts puppeteers Janaki Ranpura and Bart Buch; and at the Germanic-American Institute, Waterbear will be providing a live musical score for the creepy Expressionist silent film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.MORE »
BOOKS | John Sandford's "Wicked Prey" opens a Pandora's Box of moral uncertainty
In John Sandford's Prey novels, which paint the Twin Cities as dark as Gotham City, the noble but fault-ridden hero Lucas Davenport leads his own justice league of crackpot superheroes to rescue the victims of outrageous crimes. Far less moral than Superman, Lucas and his team of Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) agents are equally diligent yet far funnier and more human than those characters. While their humanity makes them entertaining and at times unlikable, they solve crimes and implement a form of justice that feels more satisfying (albeit disturbing) than traditional American heroes.MORE »
