What’s happening this week
On the radar: I was eight years old when David Copperfield floated over the Grand Canyon in 1984, and I remember watching it on TV, in disbelief that my parents could continue reading the paper and doing the dishes like nothing unusual was happening. I mean, there was a man floating over the Grand Canyon on national television—with Bonnie Tyler and Ricardo Montalban as witnesses! How could that not change everything? Weren’t there theological implications, if nothing else? Apparently not—but I still don’t know how he did it. The master magician is at the State Theatre tonight.
Under the radar: Casper and the Cookies are at the Turf Club tonight, with Aquaserge. Here’s what I had to say when they played the Nomad in August. “What do Casper and the Cookies look like? Two words: eyelash extensions. What do Casper and the Cookies sound like? Imagine the music of the 70s, minus the three main genres that defined the 70s. Take away disco, punk, and the singer-songwriter movement, and what do you have left? The Velvet Underground, Pink Floyd, Tom Petty, David Bowie…lots of good stuff.”
On the radar: “This Mr. Stay-Puft’s okay! He’s a sailor, he’s in New York…we get this guy laid, we won’t have any trouble!” The Trylon kicks off its summer series of Bill Murray comedies with the greatest of them all, Ghostbusters.
Under the radar: Producerman Hamil, Time Squid, Clayton Davenport, Count Snuggula, Rock ‘n’ Roll Ray and his trusty sidekick Big Papa Matt—all your favorite Freaky Deeky friends (including me) take the stage at Patrick’s as the cult-favorite MTN series makes its theatrical debut, bringing Inge Cassidy’s Artwurst cabaret to a shuddering climax.
On the radar: The Cinco de Mayo celebration in St. Paul’s District del Sol is not only the largest Latino event in Minnesota, it’s one of the ten largest Cinco fiestas in the country. With no fewer than five stages of entertainment, it’s in full swing today.
Under the radar: As of May 15, Lyndale Avenue will be a little less Lyndale: Arise! Bookstore, a community institution since 1993, is permanently closing its doors. A clearance sale begins today.
On the radar: I’m still not on board with the whole duet-with-the-dead thing she did on “Unforgettable,” but there’s no denying that Natalie Cole inherited a generous share of her father’s peerless vocal talent. She’s at Mystic Lake tonight.
Under the radar: Poet Judith Harway explores the legacy of a fictional Jewish immigrant family in her new collection All That is Left. Minneapolis poet Tim Nolan hosts Harway this afternoon in a reading at Magers & Quinn.
On the radar: Carl Atiya Swanson, reporting from SXSW: “As borne out by their excellent albums Sing the Greys, The Midnight Organ Fight, and the recently released The Winter of Mixed Drinks, Frightened Rabbit play their hearts out. They did it in the face of adversity on a hot day in Texas and will surely do it again in more amiable circumstances at the Varsity Theater on May 10th.”
Under the radar: Over the first four Mondays of Native American Heritage Month, New Native Theatre is presenting a staged reading of Vine Deloria’s scathing 1969 text Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto.
On the radar: Taking Frightened Rabbit’s places on stage at the Varsity are the just-as-sensitive but despite-their-name-not-quite-as-noisy Shout Out Louds.
Under the radar: Continuing to spin off updated, focused, and portable guidebooks from Larry Millett’s indispensable AIA Guide to the Twin Cities, the Minnesota Historical Society Press has just published dedicated guides to downtown Minneapolis and downtown St. Paul. Millett is at the Mill City Museum tonight to talk about the big (and small) buildings at the heart of the City of Lakes.
On the radar: When Surdyk’s sponsors a wine tasting, they don’t mess around—over 200 varieties will be available tonight on Nicollet Island at an event benefiting East Side Neighborhood Services.
Under the radar: The Rabbit Show advertises itself as “thoughtful dance for real people.” Does that mean the rest of Twin Cities dance is for un-real people? Well, blowup dolls have been spotted at the Ritz.
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Daily Planet arts roundup
• Kate Nash on sudden fame, lasting happiness, and her return to First Ave (interview by Jay Gabler)
• Rachel Trachtenburg of Supercute!: “You should break rules about art” (interview by Jay Gabler)
• Shameless Plug of the Day: 5 Fifths of Sherlock Holmes (preview by Matthew A. Everett)
• Thursday, April 29: Last workshop before MayDay (photos by Alan Wilfahrt)
• Green T brings a folksy Pinocchio-chan to Mixed Blood (review by Jay Gabler)
• It’s The Happy Show! Live Action Set populates Bedlam Theatre with shiny, determinedly happy people (review by Jay Gabler)
• MJTC’s Women’s Minyan tackles taboo topic (review by Doris Rubenstein)
• A classy South Pacific at the Ordway (review by Jay Gabler)
• Wing Young Huie’s University Avenue Project reveals the unseen stories of St. Paul (feature by Sheila Regan)
• RAN ART targets General Mills with satirical posters and “scathing rock-and-roll” (feature by Crystal Erickson)
• I love Peninsula on Eat Street (blog entry by Rachel Dykoski)
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