THEATER | Wicked-ly overhypedby Jean Gabler and Jenny Hierlinger, TC Daily Planet(Jean) The buildup I heard from friends who have seen Wicked numerous times made me wonder if the sold-out show could meet my expectations. Sure enough, I was not blown away. My daughter Jenny, who went with me, shared this feeling. (Jenny) I, too, was expecting to see a performance of a lifetime, and maybe that was the problem…what can ever measure up to those expectations? At intermission I felt like saying, “What I am missing here?”MUSIC | Red House spokesfolk Ellen Stanleyby Dwight Hobbes, TC Daily PlanetSt. Continue Reading
by Emilio de Grazia • 11/11/08 • It was the middle of another sleepless night, one of those damp drizzly Novembers of the soul, my mind turning as witlessly as the world. A hundred miles away my nineteen year-old daughter Emily was turning her college life into Big City dreams. Beside me, Leah, my three year-old, lay curled up close to Monica, my wife suddenly pregnant again and round as a small earth.
Quietly I slip downstairs to my favorite chair and most honored book, that wail-song Moby-Dick. Continue Reading
THEATER | Blithe Barefoot makes the Big Apple boringby Jon Behm, TC Daily PlanetWatching Starting Gate’s production of Barefoot in the Park is a bit like watching an old episode of Seinfeld. The feeling that persists throughout the show is, “Wow, I used to consider this really funny.”VOICES | Finally, surcease from the dumb tax attack ads so now we can face some factsby Dane Smith, Growth & JusticeThe very best thing about Election Day is the inner peace it brings, the feeling that the people have spoken and that we will accept our collective verdict, for awhile at least, and maybe everybody should just shut the heck up for a few weeks, please.Nadifa Osman: community organizer with a visionby Swallehe Msuya, African News JournalIn collaboration with Augsburg College, International Leadership Institute, Minnesota Human Rights Advocacy and many other non-profits in the Twin Cities, Somali-born Nadhifa Osman is determined to get solutions for problems faced by women and youth of immigrant populations from the Horn of Africa.NEW IN BLOGSARTS ORBIT | World mourns Miriam Makeba, “Mama Afrika”by Mshale staff • Legendary South African musician and activist Miriam Makeba died early Monday morning in an Italian hospital. Makeba, fondly known as Mama Afrika by her fans, was an icon in the fight against South Africa’s apartheid government.DOWNSTREAM | Of pigs, wolves and one dead whaleby Emilio DeGrazia • It was the middle of another sleepless night, one of those damp drizzly Novembers of the soul, my mind turning as witlessly as the world. A hundred miles away my nineteen year-old daughter Emily was turning her college life into Big City dreams. Beside me, Leah, my three year-old, lay curled up close to Monica, my wife suddenly pregnant again and round as a small earth.HISPANIC FANATIC | No recounts are necessaryby Daniel Cubias • The dancing in the streets has subsided since Tuesday. Of course, I remain stunned that we had dancing in the streets at all. Continue Reading
THEATER | Emotional gymnastics in Nimbus’s Death and the Maiden by Jon Behm, TC Daily Planet • Some plays ask questions and some plays answer them. Ariel Dorfman’s Death and the Maiden is squarely in the former category.VOICES | Si se Pudo!!!! by Alberto Monserrate, La Prensa de Minnesota • Since 2005 Latinos in the United States have endured increased immigration raids, failed attempts at comprehensive immigration reform, vicious rhetoric from anti-immigrant politicians and activists, the sub prime mortgage mess, the economic melt down and increased racist violent incidents against Latinos throughout the country. In 2006 we marched in the millions against anti-immigrant national and local policies. In 2008 we voted. Continue Reading
NEWS YOU CAN USE | Following the Franken/Coleman/recount/lawsuit newsby Mary Turck, TC Daily Planet • SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 9 • As of 8 p.m. on Friday, November 7, the last official update from the Secretary of State’s office showed Norm Coleman leading Al Franken by 221 votes. To check vote totals at any time, go to the Secretary of State’s web site and look for the page for statewide results without the judicial elections. To find information about when the recount will begin, what the rules for the recount are, what other races will be subject to a recount, what Norm Coleman’s latest lawsuit was about, and MUCH more … read the rest of this article, and check back for updates as more news becomes available. (The dateline at the beginning of the article tells when it was most recently updated.)THEATER | A slick Shadowlands at the Guthrieby Jay Gabler, TC Daily Planet • Artistic Director Joe Dowling’s production of Shadowlands at the Guthrie Theater is a testament to the power of film. Continue Reading
INSIDE THE DAILY PLANETReaders, Writers and BooksBook note: New gay mystery is Sweet Poison for the Ellen Hart cultby Jay Gabler, TC Daily PlanetA few months ago, the Daily Planet received a galley of a forthcoming mystery novel: Sweet Poison, by local author Ellen Hart. I was about to pass it to another reviewer when I noticed the publicist’s accompanying letter, which quoted Entertainment Weekly calling Hart “a top novelist in the cultishly popular gay mystery genre.” There’s a whole genre of gay mysteries? It’s cultishly popular? One of its top novelists lives in Minneapolis? What’s a “gay mystery,” anyway?150 best Minnesota books #32: Maps of “vigorous and lusty” Minnesotaby Patrick Coleman, Minnesota Historical SocietyIn 1873 salesmen covered Minnesota like locusts, hawking a landmark publication: the first illustrated atlas of any state. Continue Reading
Cutting down the crime: Offenders & victims shake hands by Swallehe Msuya, African News Journal • North Minneapolis has a reputation of heinous crimes, some committed by teenagers. Mary Johnson, a resident of this location had her 20 year-old son gunned down by a 16 year-old boy over a trivial misunderstanding in a dance hall!Here comes the parade by Jean Gabler, TC Daily Planet • Living in the Merriam Park neighborhood, my family has always looked forward to the University of St. Thomas fall homecoming parade which goes down Summit Avenue. We would bundle up and walk from our home down the streets golden with fall colors, shuffling through the piles of leaves as we went. The crowds along the parade route were always small until the parade—with marching bands from UST and area high schools—nears the campus. Continue Reading
THEATER | Chilling, unforgettable How I Learned To Drive by Lydia Howell, TC Daily Planet • The tenacious human drive for recognition, acceptance, and emotional connection is revealed in a totally unexpected place in Theatre Unbound’s production of Paula Vogel’s play How I Learned To Drive. This family comic-tragedy, which can stand as a contemporary classic with the finest works of Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, and August Wilson, made Vogel the first female playwright to win the Pulitzer Prize.New program will better serve low- and medium-risk children and their families by Rev. Mary Flowers-Spratt, Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder • Last week’s column described the work of the Police Community Relations Council (PCRC) and the Unity Community Mediation Team over the past five-plus years, and our efforts to address the problem of out-of-home placements of our children. This week I want to describe the pilot project that has grown from these efforts.Tubridy: Making art and saving Polaroid (or at least trying to) by Chris DeLine, TC Daily Planet • “When our company let everyone go after the dot-com crash,” says Sean Tubridy, “I went out on my own and haven’t looked back.” When his graphic design firm laid him off six years ago, Tubridy moved from Massachusetts to Minnesota, where he started his own company, Blue Over Blue. This week, he’ll be displaying his work at the Northrup King Building’s annual Art Attack open house.LIFE OF CYN | Local bands’ best babymakin’ music by Cyn Collins, TC Daily Planet • Dear Cyn, I moved to the Twin Cities from the east coast a few months ago, and I’ve just started dating a very sexy, slightly older woman who’s fanatically into the local music scene. I want to satisfy her compulsive urge for local music especially at the most intimate moments, but I’m still a stranger here. Continue Reading
THINGS PEOPLE SAY | Minnesota “monster”?Paul Krugman wrote in the New York Times on Wednesday that this election marked “the end of the monster years.”Views and Reviews: TheaterTHEATER | In Jon Ferguson’s Animal Farm, the oinks have itby Jay Gabler, TC Daily Planet • George Orwell’s Animal Farm is a dark, cynical parable about the susceptibility of the human race (and the equine race, and the bovine race, and the ovine race) to the easy promises of corrupt but charismatic leaders. This works on the page because you don’t actually need to see the animals. The challenge of translating a dark political parable about farm animals onto the stage is that you’re going to have to have people portraying animals. Despite the purest, most despairing intentions, director Jon Ferguson and his very talented cast onstage at the Southern Theater can’t help having a conspicuous amount of fun.THEATER | Mixed Blood smells of sandalwood for ambitious 1001by Jon Behm, TC Daily Planet • Jason Grote’s 1001 is an ambitious piece of theater. With some sticky metaphysical glue he attempts to connect a modern-day biracial love story with that of the ancient Arabian legend of One Thousand and One Nights. Continue Reading
Long lines, pissed off voters and drinking games by Staff, TC Daily Planet • Read your neighbors’ stories below — and contribute your own election day stories, anecdotes, photos, and opinions. Click on Contribute News and submit your story directly or e-mail it to editor@tcdailyplanet.net.Locally-made pond hockey documentary wins fans across the country by Jim Brunzell III, TC Daily Planet • Since having its world premiere and winning the “Best of Fest” award this past April at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival, the wonderfully entertaining sports documentary Pond Hockey has won fans across the country. On Wednesday the film returns for one last screening in the Twin Cities before its November release on DVD. The (mostly) locally-shot film depicts the U.S. Pond Hockey Championship, which takes place on Lake Calhoun. Continue Reading