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MN Shortlist is your weekly curated roundup of recommended events from MPR News, highlighting standout performances, exhibits and gatherings around the region.
Kalevala Puppet Pageant
Aug. 15–16 — Another year, another puppet extravaganza in Otter Tail County. The New York Mills Arts Retreat and Regional Cultural Center hosts the 16th annual “Kalevala Puppet Pageant.”
Written and narrated by creative director and Minneapolis puppeteer Anne Sawyer, the pageant is “an original large-scale street theater play based on stories from the Finnish national epic poem, the ‘Kalevala.’”
For two weeks, community members of all ages from the New York Mills region have been participating in workshops that will culminate in two performances: a free show at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 15, during the annual Corn Feed at the New York Mills VFW Post 3289; and a 12 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 16, performance ($5 suggested donation, children under 16 get in free) at the Finn Creek Open Air Museum for the Finn Creek Festival. (Alex V. Cipolle)
Penn and Teller Return to the Minnesota Renaissance Festival
Aug. 16 — The Minnesota Renaissance Festival is an opportunity for attendees to cast their minds back to the late 1500s. But this weekend, a special set of performances will let revelers relive a 1970s phenomenon — magicians Penn and Teller will perform at the festival.
The pair, known for their various television programs and long-running Las Vegas show, first performed as a double act at the festival in 1975. Fifty years later, they return to Minnesota for two displays of their legendary showmanship and magical prowess. The shows will be performed on the Crown Stage inside the Minnesota Renaissance Festival at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. (Jacob Aloi)
The Apollo Music Festival in Rochester
Aug. 17 —The first of two classical performances by the Apollo Music Festival takes place this Sunday at the Rochester Art Center. First will be “Coolidge Commissions: Britten and Prokofiev,” including some of Benjamin Britten’s greatest, like the 1941 work “String Quartet No. 1 in D major, Op. 25,” selections from the 1943 Hollywood Songbook by Hanns Eisler and Sergei Prokofiev’s 1931 “String Quartet No. 1 in B minor.”
The Apollo is based in Houston, Minn., and features musicians from across the nation — and world. It focuses on sharing chamber music. The second performance is of Beethoven’s “Razumovsky String Quartet” on Aug. 24. (Anika Besst)
Obon Festival in Como Park
Aug. 17 — Each year, Japan celebrates “Obon” or “Bon,” a holiday that draws from Buddhist traditions of honoring your family and ancestors. Its most recognizable element is a ceremony where lanterns are released, guiding the spirits who have come to visit to return to the spirit world.
At Como Park in Saint Paul, the annual Obon Festival acts as both an opportunity to take part in the lantern ceremony as well as a celebration of Japanese culture.
Live music, martial arts demonstrations and food will be offered as part of the festival — including daiko drumming. The Obon Festival begins at 3 p.m. and tickets must be purchased in advance. (Jacob Aloi)
L.A. Buckner & BiG HOMiE at the Fine Line
Aug. 16 — This local show will feature the jazz, Gospel, hip-hop and avant-funk of north Minneapolis native Arthur “L.A.” Buckner. His performances burst with energy, innovation, and fearless genre-mixing.
He is a teaching artist and serves as a co-host for the PBS music education YouTube series Sound Field. Buckner’s band, BiG HOMiE, reached iTunes’ #1 Jazz position within a day of its release five years ago. In June, Buckner and BiG HOMiE were a headlining act at the Twin Cities Jazz Festival. (Anika Besst)
Author Chuck Tingle at the Parkway in Minneapolis
Aug. 17 — If queer monster erotic fiction ever goes mainstream, we all would likely have Chuck Tingle to thank. The prolific writer — who is almost certainly writing under a pen name — first gained success with an absurd and satiric series of self-published books, often featuring mythical creatures and characters with a variety of gender identities and sexual orientations.
Works include “Camp Damascus” and “Bury Your Gays.” His latest book, “Lucky Day,” follows a bisexual statistics professor as she unearths a mystery.
An author event featuring Tingle will be hosted by Magers & Quinn Booksellers in Minneapolis. There will be a Q&A and a photo opportunity. (Jacob Aloi)
25 Years of ‘Because of Winn-Dixie’
Aug. 19 — A literary touchstone is turning a quarter of a century old. To celebrate the 25th birthday of “Because of Winn-Dixie,” the Riverview Theater is hosting a showing of the film adaptation and a Q&A with the author Kate DiCamillo.
The 2005 adaptation returns to its roots at the Riverview, where it first premiered. Tickets for this event include one copy of the book. DiCamillo is a former National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature and a two-time Newbery Medalist. She was born in Philadelphia, grew up in Florida and now lives in Minneapolis. (Anika Besst)
A Radical Alteration: Women’s Studio Workshop as a Sustainable Model for Art Making
Through Oct. 4 — During the height of second-wave feminism in the ‘70s, countless arts organizations and collectives were formed by women-identifying artists, including Minnesota’s own WARM, or Women’s Art Registry of Minnesota. Today, only a few remain, including the Women’s Studio Workshop, which was formed in 1974 by artist Anna Kalmbach, Tatana Kellner, Anita Wetzel and Barbara Leof Burge in Kingston, New York.
To celebrate making it to a half-century, the exhibition “A Radical Alteration: Women’s Studio Workshop as a Sustainable Model for Art Making” is on a national tour, stopping at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts gallery in Minneapolis Aug. 16 – Oct. 4. Through artist books, ephemera and printed and archival materials, the exhibition explores the organization’s “rich history as a proponent of book arts for marginalized communities in the U.S.,” writes curator Maymanah Farhat. (Alex V. Cipolle)
Music on Hennepin
Through Nov. — The music: Prince, Babes in Toyland, Sheila E., Vanity 6, Jellybean Johnson, The Jets, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. The venues: The Longhorn, Goofy’s Upper Deck, Glam Slam, Taste Show Lounge and First Avenue & 7th St. Entry.
The exhibition “Music on Hennepin” explores the people and places that cultivated the “Minneapolis Sound” of the 1980s and 90s through photography (from music photographer Daniel Corrigan), archival videos, old First Avenue calendars, show posters and other music memorabilia.
While the exhibition has been up all year at The Hennepin (next door to the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Minneapolis), a recent announcement is a good reminder to check it out before it closes in November.
Producer Orin Wolf has announced the casting of the two leads for the “pre-Broadway world premiere stage adaptation” of “Purple Rain.” Singer-songwriter Kris Kollins will make his professional stage debut as “The Kid,” the role originated by Prince in the 1984 film, and Rachel Webb (who recently starred in the touring show of “& Juliet”) co-stars as “Apollonia.” “Purple Rain” will run Oct. 15–Nov. 16 at the State Theatre before heading to Broadway. (Alex V. Cipolle)
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