State of the Arts

State of the Arts: February 10, 2011 Archive

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Art Hounds: Wee Cabaret, Puppet Lab, and more than a mass

Posted at 7:00 AM on February 10, 2011 by Chris Roberts
Filed under: Art Hounds, Dance, Events, Music, Theater

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This week's hounds focus on an art gallery that's become a performance venue, a world premiere of a choral work built on a mass, and new puppetry for adults.

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amandawhisner.JPGTwin Cities actress Amanda Whisner applauds Form + Content Gallery's foray into Twin Cities performance by presenting "Wee Cabaret" during the month of February. It's a weekend showcase offering dance, hip hop, improv and more. On Saturday Feb. 11, and Sunday Feb. 12, choreographer Justin Leaf, performance artist Kjellgren Alkire and "The Truant Lovers" are featured, with rapper Dessa Darling and improv artist Jill Bernard at the end of the month.


andrewmartin.JPGPuppetry for adults. For some that may sound like somewhat of an oxymoron, but for Inver Hills Community College Music professor Andrew Martin, something to celebrate and support. For Andrew, that means going to see In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre's "Puppet Lab," which is winding up this weekend (Feb. 11-13). Puppet Lab features four new works from up and coming puppetry artists.


20090311_david_evan_thomas_33.jpgLocal composer David Evan Thomas can expect to have a great Saturday evening this weekend. That's because one of David's favorite vocal groups is singing a new piece by a composer he thinks highly of. The Singers will gather at First Lutheran Church in Columbia Heights at 8pm to perform Jocelyn Hagen's "Amass." It's a work that expands upon the traditional mass by adding spiritual poetry and new instrumentation.


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And you can get an early sneak peek at the Art Hounds' picks every week by texting the word ART to 677-677.

Thursday news and reviews

Posted at 9:45 AM on February 10, 2011 by Marianne Combs (3 Comments)
Filed under: News and reviews


Art

Antidote for cabin fever: Outdoor Painters of Minnesota at AZ Gallery
In the midst of this seemingly endless winter, it's hard to imagine a better tonic for the sensory deprivation of cabin fever than the exhibition by members of the Outdoor Painters of Minnesota opening February 11 and running through February 26 at AZ Gallery in Lowertown Saint Paul.
- Rich Broderick, Free Speech Zone


Books

Author of Pulitzer Prize-winning 'Tinkers' coming to Cities
Paul Harding, whose gentle and poetic novel, "Tinkers," was a surprise winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 2010, will be in the Twin Cities for three free public appearances next week.
- Laurie Hertzel. Star Tribune


Dance

Little Red Riding Hood meets Goldilocks at the Ritz Theater
The newest production by the Ballet of the Dolls at the Ritz Theater in Northeast Minneapolis takes a contemporary look at the narratives of Goldilocks and Little Red Riding Hood, and the escapades that ensue when the two girls actually cross paths.
- Shelby Myers, City Pages

Movies

Black film series focuses on history
Weekly program sheds light on an African-American movie industry that can trace its roots all the way to the silent era.
- Jeff Strickler, Star Tribune

Oscar-nominated animated shorts are charming and moving
This week, there are a whopping fifteen Oscar-nominated films opening. The films are not feature length, thank goodness: there are three sets of short programs opening this weekend, two at the Lagoon Cinema and the other opening at the Riverview Theater.
- Jim Brunzell III, TC Daily Planet

Trashy movies and Singapore Slings: 'The Roommate' and drinking at Wondrous Azian Kitchen
Somebody tell me this: When, precisely, did Hollywood forget how to do the only thing it ever truly did well? I speak, of course, of making really entertaining trash.
- Max Sparber, MinnPost.com


Music

"Jah-hawks" to return as "Jahskinens," Feb. 28 benefit for Erik Koskinen
The local twang-guitar ace and producer recently had his truck stolen along with a lot of important gear. "Our office," is how bandmate Molly Maher referred to the truck.
- Chris Riemenschneider, Star Tribune

Bob Dylan to play at the Grammys
The producers of the Grammys want a show for the ages, but they also want a show for all ages -- which is why Bob Dylan will be bringing his acoustic guitar to perform this weekend on the same stage as Justin Bieber, Drake and Katy Perry.
- Geoff Boucher, Los Angeles Times


Stage

'The Balcony' hovers over Nimbus' new home
Once banned in London and now considered a classic, Jean Genet's "The Balcony" opens Friday at Nimbus Theatre.
- Chris Hewitt, Pioneer Press

2011 Fringe lottery picks 169 plays
From 360 applications, 169 plays were chosen at this week's lottery for the 2011 Minnesota Fringe Festival, which takes place Aug. 4-14.
- Pioneer Press

Brecht-acle creates Social Addendum to Mother Courage
This weekend Bedlam and Open Eye Figure Theatre continue their month-long Brecht-acle Festival with a cabaret featuring works inspired by Brecht, adapted from Brecht's texts, or somehow related to avant-garde theater or Germany. The heart and inspiration of the ongoing event is of course Brecht's Mother Courage and Her Children, produced by Chicago's Bricklayers Theatre and Paris's Collectif Masque, starring Barbra Berlovitz
- Sheila Regan, City Pages

Comedy Suitcase readies all-star 'Amateur Hour'
Comedy Suitcase masterminds Joshua English Scrimshaw and Levi Weinhagen have gathered up a bunch of local theater luminaries (including Leslie Ball, Josh Carson, Nancy Donoval, David Mann, Pablo, and Tim Uren) for Amateur Hour, where the embarrassments of youth will be revisited.
- Ed Huyck, City Pages

(3 Comments)

Weekend Outlook: Brecht-acular

Posted at 2:26 PM on February 10, 2011 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Events

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German playwright Bertolt Brecht

Barbra Berlovitz, formerly of Theatre de la Jeune Lune, takes on one of the most challenging female roles in modern theater - Bertolt Brecht's "Mother Courage." The German playwright is considered the father of "epic theater" in direct opposition to melodrama and escapism, and used his plays as a way to talk about political ideals. Berlovitz takes on the role of Anna Fierling, a woman who sets out to profit from the war, and ends up losing her children to it. A production of Collectif Masque and The Bricklayers Theatre Company, "Mother Courage" runs through February 20 at the Lab Theatre.

Can you get at the truth, when the truth is so colored by our lenses of experience? Ten Thousand Things presents "Doubt: A Parable" at Open Book. The play, which deals with intimations of child sexual abuse by a priest, was the inspiration for the recent award-winning film starring Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Merde! Intermedia Arts presents Pardon My French, an original one woman show about the classroom experiences of a Minneapolis French teacher, and her challenges engaging her students while maintaining a sense of humor. Performances run tonight through Saturday.

Nimbus, the company that bills itself as presenting "theater for a world gone mad", celebrates moving into its new theater space in Nordeast Minneapolis with a production of "The Balcony" by Jean Genet. Set in an exclusive brothel at the center of a revolution that threatens the established regime, Irma, the madam, oversees a collection of patrons acting out archetypes of power in society, including a bishop, a judge and a general. As the situation outside becomes more volatile, a plan is formulated to re-establish the status quo while simultaneously fulfilling the patrons' fantasies.

So, not feeling like your relationship is worth celebrating this Valentine's Day? Well then maybe, you'll want to take advantage of some free relationship counseling on stage in front of a live audience... or maybe not. Either way, you'll probably get a kick out of CHOCOLATES and SHAME, an evening of romantic comedy with Joseph Scrimshaw. Bring your date for an evening of romance themed stories, stand-up, improv and all around "tender loving comedy." Two Nights only (this Friday and Saturday) at People's Center Theater.

Stuart Pimsler Dance & Theater bring back their romantic hit "The Ends of Love" at the Southern Theater this weekend. Set in an imagistic world of emotional movement and intimate dialogues, The Ends of Love muses on love, lust and loss from youth to old age, referencing works from Plato's Symposium to Nicole Krauss' The History of Love. Performances Friday and Saturday night, plus a Sunday matinee.

So, what are you doing this weekend?

David Hyde Pierce returns to Guthrie

Posted at 11:16 AM on February 10, 2011 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: People, Theater

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David Hyde Pierce

If you've ever walked the halls of the Guthrie Theater and checked out the many images of past performances, you probably recognized the face of David Hyde Pierce. The actor, best known for his role as Kelsey Grammer's brother Niles in the long-running comedy "Frasier," was a member of the Guthrie Theater acting company from 1983 to 1986, appearing in such shows as The Seagull, Cyrano de Bergerac and A Midsummer Night's Dream.

On Sunday, March 13, Pierce will return to the Guthrie stage - not to perform, but to talk - as part of the Guthrie Theater's In Conversation series, hosted by Artistic Director Joe Dowling. Tickets go on sale February 17.

(1 Comments)
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