From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Their recommendations are lightly edited from the audio heard in the player above. 

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Take your valentine somewhere that’s green 

Writer and art lover Susan Montag recommends the work of Theatre 55, a Twin Cities-based theater company whose shows all feature casts of actors over age 55. Their production of the musical “Little Shop of Horrors” is playing at the Gremlin Theatre in St. Paul through Feb. 22.

She’s particularly looking forward to hearing vocalist Patricia Lacy, who is known for her work with Luther Vandross and with Sounds of Blackness, sing out “Feed me, Seymour,” when she plays the hungry plant from outer space, Audrey II.  

Susan says: I’ve seen a lot of the Theatre 55 shows. They are always so much fun. I like to see on the stage the folks who represent someone in my age group, showing that people over 55 are still very vibrant, very energetic and have a lot of talent to share!

— Susan Montag

Take your Valentine to see a rom-com play in Duluth 

MacKenzie McCullum is a writer and podcaster living in the Twin Cities, and she suggests taking your Valentine to see a Minnesota-original rom-com play at Zeitgeist Theater in Duluth.

“String” opens tonight and runs through Feb. 22. There is an ASL-interpreted performance Wednesday, Feb. 19. The play was a runner-up for the Kennedy Center Mark Twain Comedy Playwriting Award. 

MacKenzie says: I like to say that this play is like your favorite Nancy Meyers or Nora Ephron romantic comedy that you see on screen, but it’s on stage. It’s just a beautiful showcasing of genuine love that you can find every day.

It’s an unlikely courtship between a poet and a pizza delivery boy. It’s a great ensemble play: there are lots of great characters that will make you laugh out loud.  

The playwright, Jessica Lind Peterson, is a Duluth native. She actually wrote this play while she was in school at the University of Minnesota Duluth. She went on to co-found Yellow Tree Theater based in Osseo. “String” had kind of a life of its own in productions all over the country, and now it is back in Duluth for the 20th anniversary.

— MacKenzie McCullum

Match made in heaven: Mathematics + art 

Freelance mathematics writer Barry Cipra of Northfield recommends a solo art show that celebrates the connections between mathematics and art.

John Shier’s exhibit “From Order to Chaos” features visual art created from equations. The show at the Steeple Center in Rosemount runs through March, with an artist reception and talk on Wednesday, Feb. 19 from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.  

Barry points out art and mathematics are both fundamentally creative endeavors, adding that John is part of a long tradition of artists using mathematical thinking to create their work. Leonardo da Vinci, anyone?

Barry offers this introduction: John Shier’s a retired physicist. He taught for many years at Normandale Community College here in the Twin Cities, and has been doing his own kind of art, using equations and algorithms to create interesting, colorful [works], everything from landscapes to completely abstract works.

He also uses a lot of randomness. He calls it stochastic geometry — a term of art in the mathematical world. You let chance play a big role in what you get. He then, of course, uses his own eye to make selections. If he doesn’t like what the computer produces, he’ll try it again and see if he gets something that looks better.

— Barry Cipra