Art Hounds

Actor Gabriele Angieri of Burnsville went with his family to see the play “The Family Line” at the Capri Theater in Minneapolis. The 2-man show takes place entirely within a car, as a Jewish grandfather and his 15-year old biracial grandson meet for the first time and embark on a 24-hour road trip from Florida to Minnesota.

The grandson, whose mother has just died, struggles with a sense of abandonment as his grandfather swoops into his life to deliver him to a new life in Minnesota with a father he does not know. Set in 2020 during the unrest in Minneapolis, it's a show interwoven with family secrets and social commentary that Angieri said sparked both laughter and tears, as well as an excellent discussion with his 12 year-old daughter afterward.

“The Family Line” is the second show for Stage North, which launched in fall of 2021 with a focus on plays about urban life. Its shows are performed at the newly remodeled Capri Theater in North Minneapolis. Stage North has a partnership with Patrick Henry High School Drama Club, whose student members worked on the crew for the show.

The show runs through April 17th, with 2 PM matinees Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday and evening shows Friday and Saturday at 7:30 PM.

Fiber and textile artist Nora Rickey has enjoyed watching Cecilia Rolando’s evolving art show at the Front Porch Coffee & Tea Co. in Ely. In place since January, the show has been extended through April, and Rolando has continued to add new work as pieces sell. Rolando’s creative work is wide-ranging, from realistic watercolor florals to bold abstract paintings, from collages to jewelry to haiku. Rickey says the throughlines of the visual work on display are Rolando’s vivid colors, which add to the warmth of the popular community coffee shop. If you miss the show at the Front Porch, Rolando’s work is also on display at Art and Soul Gallery and Gift House down the street.

Bassist Rob Morgan clearly recalls the massive transition he made from music student to touring performer, and he’s excited to see a theater version of that launching ground when the University of Minnesota/Guthrie Theater’s BFA students mount “The School for Lies,” starting Friday. This will be the first time in two years that graduating seniors in the acting program will take to the Dowling Stage on the Guthrie’s 9th floor. The play by David Ives is an adaptation of Moliere’s classic comedy “Le Misanthrope,” so you can expect to see larger-than-life characters and drama with plenty of witty repartee. Scenes, costume, light, and sound were all designed by University of Minnesota faculty. The show runs through April 23.

Arts Hounds Actor Gabriele Angieri of Burnsville went with his family to see the play “The Family Line” at the Capri Theater. ber and textile artist Nora Rickey has enjoyed watching Cecilia Rolando’s evolving art show at the Front Porch Coffee & Tea Co. in Ely and Bassist Rob Morgan recommends the University of Minnesota/Guthrie Theater’s BFA students mounting of “The School for Lies,”

Artist, poet, and activist Dougie Padilla recommends a visit to ArtReach St. Croix in Stillwater to see the exhibit “Jim Denomie, Sweet Dreams,” which runs through May 7. Denomie passed away March 1. Padilla, his longtime friend, said Denomie was a “truly brilliant painter” and “a sweet and gentle man, a blessing to many in many different communities.”

“Jim was also the master of his own style of portraiture, and of what can only be called Dreamworld painting. With his own unique palette of blues and purples, pinks and oranges, greens and golds, Jim told stories that came out of some deep underground stream from far down inside his psyche, in the psyche of his Ojibwe ancestors,” Padilla said. “It penetrates the heart softly, even while shaking the very ground beneath our feet.”

The show in Stillwater includes portraits and character studies. Denomie painted figures with antlers and rabbit ears, riding on horseback.

“Are they leaving this world headed for the next? Are they already in the next world looking back, waiting for us? Named almost a year ago, this exhibit “Sweet Dreams” not only foreshadows Jim's leaving us here on this troubled Earth. It takes us along with him for the first mile or two of his ride home,” Padilla added.

Eric Heukeshoven, a jazz musician and composer who teaches at St. Mary’s University, plans to drive from Winona to Rochester to attend “A Tribute to John Paulson: Jazz at 70.” Paulson plays saxophone and flute, and he’ll perform original compositions and jazz standards. The rest of the quintet has musicians drawn from Rochester, Winona, and environs: Cliff Jack on guitar, Larry Price on piano, Miles Johnston on drums, and Robert S. P. Gardner on bass.

The Rochester Chamber Music Society event is Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Christ United Methodist Church in Rochester. Masks are optional, and the show is free. 

Musician Keith Nystrom of Ham Lake says he was “blown away” by Minneapolis musician Jesse Norell’s new concept album, “Aorta Borealis.”  Norell’s daughter Alyssa was born with Trisomy 21, also called Down’s Syndrome, as well as a serious heart defect. The album describes learning the diagnosis, the darkness and uncertainty of the heart surgeries and, ultimately, the love and joy of family. Alyssa is now 6.

“Jesse has a real knack for doing very complicated things, but doing them in such the right way, that you don't really notice how complex they are,” said Nystrom.

Jesse Norell has an album release show on Friday with guests Ben Noble and Chris Mason at the Parkway Theater in Minneapolis. Doors open at 7 p.m. Music starts at 8 p.m.

Musician and educator Harry Chalmiers has admired the music and performances by Gao Hong since he first saw her in the ‘90s. Gao Hong, who teaches at Carleton College, is a master of the pipa, a Chinese instrument used for thousands of years and which is similar to a lute. The style of play is both highly technical and poetic. On Sunday, she’ll celebrate 50 years of performing in a 3 p.m. concert at the Ordway in St. Paul.

Chalmiers called her a “fabulous collaborative spirit” whose adventurousness in exploring different styles and performing with others across genres continues to produce innovative music.

The lineup of Sunday’s performance is an example of her wide-ranging collaborations. It will include rapper-singer Dessa, members of the Minnesota Orchestra and Gao Hong’s group Speaking in Tongues, whose musicians hail from Ghana and Mexico as well as the U.S.

Elementary school music teacher Becca Michaelson knows the power of video games to ignite a passion for music. She recalls transcribing her favorite “Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time” tune for flute as a fifth grader. That’s why she’s excited to attend the Video Games and Music Convention in Minneapolis, which will have listening and playing opportunities for all ages.

The three-day convention features opportunities for gamers and musicians alike. Bands will perform jazz, funk and classical, and takes on favorite video game tunes.

Michaelson recommends the orchestra clinic, open to all who want to bring their instruments and play video game music.

The conference is Friday through Sunday at Crowne Plaza Minneapolis West in Plymouth, Minn. There are online options as well. Proof of COVID vaccination is required to attend in person.

Padma Wudali of Minneapolis is a longtime student of Carnatic classical music. She loves the sound of the Twin Cities musical group, Maithree.

Maithree is Sanskrit for “friendship.” Wudali enjoys how the six musicians combine south Indian instruments like veena and mridangam with keyboard, cello, clarinet and voice to create a variety of styles of world music.

Hearing a clarinet or cello blend perfectly with Indian classical music is an “extremely endearing” image of friendship, Wudali said, where the musicians bring the best of their skills “into each others’ spaces” to make something beautiful.

“Maithree: the Music of Friendship” takes place on Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Lakeville Area Arts Center, part of their ongoing coffee concert series. The in-person event will also be livestreamed.

Dan Boyer of Virginia, Minn., who’s part of the music scene on the Iron Range, can’t say enough good things about the community of singers and songwriters in the north.

In particular, he’s a big fan of the Virginia-based band Horse Fzce, whose lyrics are twists on familiar circumstances, set to music that’s “folk-oriented” with a “pop-y drive to it.”

Two members of the band will be among the lineup of talented local singer/songwriters Thursday at the Ore House in Gilbert. The music starts at 6 p.m.

Apple Valley, Minn.-based musician Kerry Johnson recommends seeing the play “The Big Blue River” at the North Garden Theater in St. Paul.

It’s a double-debut — marking the launch of both the Mariah Theatre Company and of the play, written and directed by Mariah Theatre founder Patrick Coyle of St. Paul.

The show follows Laura Grace, a therapist who combats burnout by writing a fictional story based on one of her clients. The lines between reality and imagination quickly become blurred, and Johnson said by intermission he had no idea which way the play would go, which he enjoyed. Adding to the layers of storytelling, a short black-and-white film noir-style movie is included in the middle of the play.

The show is at 7 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays through March 27, with a Q&A after both Thursday shows.

Sage Kiefer, a junior at Gustavus Adolphus College, says the current campus show by Minneapolis-based artist Max McInnis has been one of her favorites in her college career.

McInnis’s exhibit at the Schaefer Art Gallery is “Dress Shopping at the Salvation Army Family Store and Donation Center.” McInnis explores the connections between design and fine art, turning furniture from thrift stores and other objects into surreal yet functional pieces — picture chairs with eyes, gemstones or chains.

McInnis upholstered logs as furniture and hung a bright rug on the wall. As an art student and avid thrifter, Kiefer says she was inspired. The show runs through April 6.

Diamond Knispel recommends checking out the work of a fellow Bemidji, Minn.-area visual artist, Tawnee Corning of Bagley. Corning is working on a series of 5 feet by 6 feet paintings that place humans in natural, yet surreal settings. The thought-provoking oil paintings are lavished with bright colors.

Conceived as a project that people could view regardless of any COVID restrictions, Corning’s work is on view both on her website and in a series of time-lapsed videos on YouTube that document her painting process.

The videos document the progression of both her paintings and her pregnancy with her third child. Motherhood is an important theme in Corning’s work, along with our connection to nature.

“Whatever our future holds, it seems that with Tawnee’s view on the world and with her paintings, it might be a more colorful one,” Diamond said.

Jex Arzayus of Minneapolis had their introduction to the Shrieking Harpies, a musical improv trio, when they attended a woman/trans/nonbinary improv class taught by one of the members, Hannah Wydeven.

Excited by the empowering space Wydeven created, Arzayus went to see the group perform and was hooked by the Shrieking Harpies’ ability to spin hourlong musical plays from a single audience suggestion.

“It was so well done that I thought, why aren't you guys on Saturday Night Live?” said Arzayus, who remembers laughing and crying at that first show.

The Shrieking Harpies perform every Friday at 7 p.m. in March and April at the HUGE Improv Theater in Minneapolis.

Michael Melrose guesses he’s been a fan of The Dollys for 15 years. Their roots-based country and Americana music make him nostalgic for the artists he heard growing up.

The Dollys cover Lucinda Williams, Emmylou Harris, Johnny Cash and — yes —Dolly Parton, exploring deep cuts as well as favorites and adding their own bluegrass flair.

He recommends checking out their Saturday brunch show at the Icehouse in Minneapolis at 11 a.m.

Puppeteer Seth Eberle is excited to see the “low-tech, high-magic puppetry effects” when “Once Upon a Winter Night” opens Thursday at Open Eye Theatre in Minneapolis.

“If there's something that Open Eye does very well, it is making fairy tales for adults with really good puppetry,” Eberle said.

The show is a new production by Open Eye co-founder Michael Sommers, whose work has explored ideas from Hans Christian Andersen in the past.

Live music and original score by Eric Jensen bring this winter dream to life on a snow globe set complete with crows. The show runs through March 20.

When a friend told artist Sarah Nassif about the multidisciplinary show, “Thermal” at the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis, she had to check it out.

In the mansion’s ballroom-like space, Nassif encountered Kim Heidcamp’s massive cut-paper sculpture that evokes a hibernating creature. Composer Josh Clausen’s soundscape, created by more than 75 MP3 players and small speakers, plays while three dancers from Arena Dances bring life and energy.

“It's just one of the most original works that I've seen in memory,” said Nassif.

The performance is designed to allow audiences to contemplate the anxiety and uncertainty of climate change along with the wonder and beauty of our environment. “Thermal” runs Fridays and Saturdays through March 19.

Kris Prince, an artist and educator in the Minneapolis Public Schools said she was every bit as delighted as the children in the audience when she saw the musical “The Dragon Who Likes to Spit Fire” at the Sabes Jewish Community Center in St. Louis Park.

She said retired Temple Israel Rabbi Sim Glaser fulfilled a lifelong dream when he wrote the music and the lyrics to the musical, based on a 1961 picture book by the same name. The story follows Princess June, who befriends Darius the dragon and invites him home to her castle, on the condition that he not spit fire while inside. But breathing fire is Darius’ favorite thing.

The final shows are Saturday at 2 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.

Duluth singer-songwriter Breanne Tepler of Breanne Marie and the Front Porch Sinners is digging the new album by Matthew French, who is based in Minneapolis.

The album is called “Two Sides,” and French digitally released the first five songs as “Side 1” at the end of January. The songs take on themes arising from the pandemic.

Tepler singles out the song “Still Got a Heart” for its call to kindness and civility amid polarized politics.

“There's just something really comforting and exciting at the same time about his music, his voice and the way he plays his guitar,” said Tepler.

The digital launch of “Side 1,” hosted by Sarah Morris, is viewable on YouTube. “Side 2” is coming at a future date.

Visual artist Alison Price of Minneapolis admires the bold colors and geometric patterning in the works of Sheri Grube, a mechanical engineer-turned-painter.

Grube lives with dystonia, a chronic neurological disorder that can cause muscles to contract and twist involuntarily. She turns to painting as a way to calm her tremors.

Price says the fine details of Grube’s paintings as well as her “inverted” colors, magenta trees and green skies turn flowers and landscapes into something new on the canvas.

Grube’s exhibit, “An Affair of the Heart,” is on display at the Hastings Art Center through the end of March.

Science fiction writer Rayson Lorrey of Rochester loves the theater, and he’s looking forward to an upcoming play at the Rochester Repertory Theatre about one of the great contributors to astronomy.

“Silent Sky” by Lauren Gunderson tells the story of Henrietta Leavitt, whose work at Harvard University in the early 1900s helped astronomers realize how vast the universe is. Leavitt’s discoveries created a standard measurement for determining the distance to other galaxies.

Director Philip Muehe joined the Repertory Theatre last fall from the Commonweal in Lanesboro, Minn., which staged the play in 2018.

Lorrey likes the simple set that allows the strong story to shine. At times it appears the actors are walking on the night sky.

“Silent Sky” opens March 4 and runs through March 20.

Visual artist Alison Price says she is regularly struck by the power of A. Drew Hammond’s paintings and collages. Some of Hammond’s works are fun and playful — she particularly likes his anthropomorphic frogs — while others take on Black history and current events in a way that stops her in her tracks.

Case in point, she says, is his work “Melon Colony,” in which watermelon seeds are packed in the formation of people on a slave ship. His thoughtfully layered collages always encourage a closer look, says Price. 

A. Drew Hammond shares a studio with his wife, artist and dancer Beverly Hammond, in the Northrup King Building in northeast Minneapolis. His work is also on view in the Ramsey County Courthouse, the Grandview Square Financial building in Edina, Minn., and at the Community Commons at the Mall of America.

Guitarist and vocalist Julian Manzara was a Cedar Commissions artist in 2017-2018, and he recommends checking out this year’s contingent when they perform this weekend.

This year’s six Cedar Commissions artists will each perform 30 minutes of original work, drawing upon Welsh bardic tradition, African stringed instruments, Hmong folk song and more. 

“It's kind of like a musical buffet of stuff you've never tried before,” says Manzara. “I would say just go, don't worry about wrapping your mind around exactly what you're going to see. You can trust the Cedar in terms of their curation, and it will be a great experience that you can just dive into regardless of how familiar you are with these emerging artists.”

Following last year’s virtual event, artists this year will be back on the Cedar Cultural Center stage in Minneapolis.

Friday’s show features Carlisle Evans Peck, Nyttu Chongo and Maddie Thies. Saturday’s lineup is Vie Boheme, Alicia Thao and Kat Parent. The concerts start at 7:30 p.m.

Gospel singer Robert Robinson has performed at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Community in Minneapolis in the past, and he knows the strong lineup of performers who will take the stage on Sunday evening for a concert celebrating Black History Month.

The event is entitled “Oh Let us Build This Place,” and it’s an evening of music and historical vignettes that examines 75 years on the south side of Minneapolis. T. Mychael Rambo, Thomasina Petrus, Carmen Michelle and Gwen Matthews will perform with Dan Chouinard as host and band leader. 

Robinson says the evening will be “education and entertainment all wound up into one,” as the artists and others reflect on the experience of African Americans in the area where the church is located. Included in that history is the building of Interstate 35W, which displaced thousands of south Minneapolis African American homes and businesses beginning in the late 1950s. 

The event takes place 7-9 p.m. on Sunday. Masks are required, as is proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test result from within 72 hours.

Kelli Foster Warder of Theater Latte Da recommends going to see a musical fitting for Valentine’s Day. It’s Bucket Brigade Theater’s “Till Death: A Marriage Musical.”

The show tells the story of two married couples stuck together in one cabin. One couple is reevaluating their marriage, while the other appears caught up in that honeymoon glow. The result, Warder said, is “hilarious and insightful and a really great night.”

The 10-year-old production’s performers are all married couples in real life, including Jeremiah and Vanessa Gamble, who co-wrote the music and lyrics. Warder said she’s seen the show several times over the years and gets something new from it each time.

The final four shows of the run are Friday through Monday at Art House North in St. Paul. The production is in-person with reduced audience capacity and masks required.

St. Paul actress and writer Greta Grosch is an equity actor, but it’s community theater that she’s excited to share this week: Theatre in the Round stages “Marjorie Prime” starting this weekend.

Set in the near-future, 85-year-old Marjorie has a handsome young man in her life. That “man” is a hologram of her late husband, imbued with artificial intelligence so that he can feed Marjorie the stories of her life as she loses her memory.

The heartfelt play by Jordan Harrison is full of plot twists that take the audience on a journey. The play was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2015, and it was made into a movie in 2017.

Grosch said she’s thrilled to see Theatre in the Round emerge through the pandemic to celebrate its 70th season this year. “Marjorie Prime” runs Friday through March 6. Masks and proof of vaccination or negative COVID test are required.

Pamela Potter Langley loves to support her local arts scene in Zumbrota, and she’s thrilled that a Minnesota musician she has admired since the ‘80s will be coming to her town for a concert.

Folk singer/songwriter John Gorka’s long career has spanned 11 albums and a collector’s edition, with performances across the globe.

“John’s music just keeps aging beautifully,” said Potter Langley, “and some of the lyrics are, for me, as pertinent now as they were back in the ‘80s when I listened to some of the songs for the first time.”

Potter Langley said she’s traveled far to hear the iconic singer perform so she feels lucky that she can walk a few blocks to the historic State Theatre in Zumbrota to enjoy this show with friends. The show begins at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Masks are required in the theater unless eating or drinking.

The State Theatre in Zumbrota celebrated its 100th anniversary last October.