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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.
All Ages Drag Brunch at Lush Lounge and Theater
June 28 — Pride month comes to a close this weekend, and the Twin Cities has plenty of options to celebrate LGBTQ+ culture and community. For families, Lush Lounge and Theater is hosting all ages Drag Brunch.
The show will feature performances from familiar faces to those connected to the Minnesota drag community, including Domita Sanchez and Kamaree Williams. (Jacob Aloi)
Science of Agatha Christie – Author Event
June 28 — No ifs, ands or buts, whodunits are magical. Yet, have you ever asked yourself what makes them work? Two authors set out to answer that question in their book “The Science of Agatha Christie: The Truth Behind Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, and More Iconic Characters from the Queen of Crime.” This Saturday, writers Kelly Florence and Meg Hafdahl share their theory live at The Thinking Spot in Wayzata.
The two explored similar territory when they wrote “The Science of Stephen King,” but this time they look at the recipe behind supersleuths like those in Christie’s books. They have researched 66 detective novels and 14 short stories to answer questions about poisons, crime investigation, locations, psychology and science.
Florence is a communication instructor at Lake Superior College in Duluth and a co-host of “Horror Rewind” podcast. Hafdahl is a horror and suspense author. (Anika Besst)
Narrativity 2025: It Was A Dark And Stormy Night
Through June 29— Calling all writers! Continuing this weekend in Plymouth is a literary meeting of the minds: Narrativity 2025: It Was A Dark And Stormy Night. This convention will feature participatory workshops, panels and open mic opportunities.
Narrativity is a group focused primarily on fantasy and science fiction in written form, but they love good storytelling regardless of genre or medium. The weekend is spent sharing work and advice from beginners or people returning to the storytelling scene. Alongside the convention, they also welcome readers.
The audience will be a major part of the weekend, providing feedback to writers. (Anika Besst)
Bandits on the Run
July 1 — A must-see in the music scene is Bandits on the Run. This musical trio hit NYC in 2019 and has been innovating music and storytelling since.
Comprising actor and musician Adrian Blake Enscoe, musician Sydney Shepherd and actor Regina Strayhorn, the three have created a unique sound combining cello, guitar, accordion and found percussion, incorporating three-part harmonies and rotating lead vocals.
The band continues to evolve their indie-folk music, including composing music for the Netflix animated series “Storybots,” scoring the movie “The Same Storm” and adapting several songs from texts by William Shakespeare for a production of “As You Like It.” Next, they are working on a stage musical adaptation of the novel “What's Eating Gilbert Grape.” (Anika Besst)
Great River Shakespeare Festival
Through July 27 — Each summer, Winona plays host to a celebration of William Shakespeare. The Great River Shakespeare Festival has been presenting the works of the Bard for over 20 years, and produces their work in a theater style that is becoming increasingly rare: rotating repertory. In this kind of theater, a core group of actors performs across two or more plays on alternating nights.
This year, the company is presenting “Romeo and Juliet” and “The Comedy of Errors.” The shows offer audience members the opportunity to see the actors switch between dramatic roles in Shakespeare’s tragic love story and more comedic ones in his slapstick play about mistaken identity. The festival will also host a limited engagement of a production from a Tennessee theater of “The Two Gentlemen of Verona” in mid-July. (Jacob Aloi)
‘Trisha Brown and Robert Rauschenberg: Glacial Decoy’
Through 2026 — “Glacial Decoy” just sounds like the perfect icy antidote for the dog days of summer. Okay – there’s no ice, but this Walker Art Center exhibition sounds cool. “Trisha Brown and Robert Rauschenberg: Glacial Decoy” is part of a nationwide celebration of the centennial year of Rauschenberg (the giant of Abstract Expressionism who died in 2008).
The show pays tribute to the 1979 dance of the same name choreographed by Brown, a Postmodern dance leader who died in 2017. Rauschenberg designed the costumes and sets, including a projection of 159 unique black-and-white photographs taken by the artist. Those photographs will be projected at the Walker, and original costumes, set designs and historical footage will be on display.
“In our collaborations, I was a lightning rod for Bob’s theatrical projections. He described them to me as they occurred to him, often calling in the middle of the night,” Brown recalled in a 1997 interview. “I would, in turn, picture the descriptions proffered, and in some cases choreograph with the spatial notion of the set he described to me in mind.”
There will also be a performance, “Dancing with Bob: Rauschenberg, Brown and Cunningham Onstage” Nov. 11 at the Northrop Memorial Auditorium in Minneapolis. (Alex V. Cipolle)
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