Books
Ramsey County Historical Society’s 2022 History Revealed series will open at 7 p.m. Thursday, January 13, with a virtual panel discussion of We Are Meant to Rise: Voices for Justice from Minneapolis to the World. The new book is a collection of essays and poems on the American experience in 2020 and 2021 from Minnesota indigenous writers and other writers of color. Editors Carolyn Holbrook and David Mura will be joined on the panel by contributors Suleiman Adan, Marcie Rendon and Kevin Yang. To register for the Zoom link, visit rchs.com.
Dance
Celebrate the Chinese New Year with CAAM Chinese Dance Theater. The local troupe will perform “Songs of Home” at 7 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, January 29 and 30, in the O’Shaughnessy at Saint Catherine University. Inspired by a millennium of Chinese melodies, mythical animals and heroic characters, the original choreography is augmented by vibrant costumes and exquisite lighting. Tickets are $15-$20. Visit oshag.stkate.edu/events/.
Exhibits
Minnesota Museum of American Art is showing two exhibits through January 29 in its window galleries on Fourth and Robert streets and at its Ecolab skyway entrance. In “Sutures,” artists Cheryl Mukherji, Prune Phi, Sopheak Sam and Daniella Thach reappropriate images through screen printing, projection, neon and collage. “Transformation: Art from the Inside” features works by artists incarcerated at the Stillwater and Shakopee prisons. Visit mmaa.org.
“Complexity Made Simple,” the work of Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist Rube Goldberg (1883-1970), is being shown through January 31 in the Fine Art Gallery of the Minnesota JCC’s Capp Center, 1375 Saint Paul Ave. The exhibit focuses on Goldberg’s ability to distill a complex geopolitical landscape into a single image. Also featured are a Rube Goldberg-inspired machine created by Minnesota kinetic artist Robin Schwartzman and a documentary film about the cartoonist by Goldberg grandson, Geoffrey George of Highland Park. For gallery hours, call 651-698-0751 or visit minnesotajcc.org.
“Totally Radical, Designing the 1980s,” an exhibit that captures the variety and ideosyncrasies of the styles prevalent during the 1980s, is being displayed through May 27 at the University of Minnesota’s Goldstein Museum of Design, located in Gallery 241 of McNeal Hall, 1985 Buford Ave. Along with objects from the Goldstein’s collection, the exhibit includes photos and print material from university archives and the Minnesota Historical Society. Admission is free. For gallery hours, visit design.umn.edu/goldstein-museum-design.
The Tiny Art Expo, a multimedia show and sale of one-of-a-kind pieces that measure no more than 10 by 10 inches, is on view through January 30 at AZ Gallery, 308 E. Prince St. For gallery hours, visit theazgallery.org or call 651-224-3757.
After a one-year hiatus due to COVID-19, Art Shanty Projects return to the frozen surface of Lake Harriet from January 15 through February 6. Viewing hours are 10 a.m.- 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Among the highlights are Winding Sheet Outfit’s “Tick Tock Shanty”; Nick Knutson’s “Rock Box” featuring live music and DJs; Emma Wood’s “Rage Room” where visitors smash molded ice; and Adrienne Pabst and Nicole Simpkins’ “Institute for Perpetual Unfolding.” Artist Damien Wolf will install a field of over 600 ceramic flowers. Yoga will be conducted every Saturday afternoon by Bridges Through Yoga. Minneapolis Hoop Jams will have people grooving with hula hoops on Sunday mornings. Scheduled for the final weekend are open lacrosse games run by Twin Cities Native Lacrosse and “Fashion Disasters,” a spectacle by artist Patti Paulson on the threat of climate change. Kick sleds will be available for accessible transport. ASL interpreters and audio describers will also be available from noon-3 p.m. daily. Admission is by donation with $10-20 suggested.
Music
The JCC Symphony Orchestra returns on Wednesday, January 12, with an all-strings concert balancing English romanticism with folkloric colors from Hungary. The free program begins at 7 p.m. at the Capp Center, 1375 Saint Paul Ave. It will feature Gustav Holst’s Saint Paul’s Suite, Edward Elgar’s Elegy amd Salut d’amour (“Love’s greeting”) and Béla Bartók’s 10 Pieces for Children. Reservations are requested at tinyurl.com/c5zafrvf. Walk-ins are welcome, but space will be limited to ensure social distancing. Masks are required.
Violinist Chloe Fedor will join Lyra Baroque Orchestra in a musical tour of Leipzig, Paris, Rome and London at 3 and 5 p.m. Sunday, January 16, in Sundin Hall, 1531 Hewitt Ave. The Grand Tour program includes Ouverture from Céphale et Procris by Jacquet de la Guerre, Sinfonia No. 3 in D Major by Scarlatti, Concerto in A Minor by Bach and Concerto in A Major by Avison. Tickets are $30, $25 for seniors, $5 for students. Visit lyrabaroque.org or call 651-321-2214.
Internationally acclaimed pianist Eric Lu will perform in a Chopin Society recital at 3 p.m. Sunday, January 23, in Mairs Concert Hall at Macalester College. The 24-year-old Massachusetts native received top honors at the U.S. National Chopin Competition in 2015 and won the International Leeds Competition in 2018. His program will include Brahms’ Variations in D minor, Schumann’s Arabeske and Waldszenen, and Schubert’s Sonata in A Major. Tickets are $40. Visit chopinsocietymn.org or call 612-822-0123.
Italian classical guitarist Aniello Desiderio, professor at the Conservatorio Domenico Cimarosa of Avellino, will perform in a Minnesota Guitar Society recital at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, January 29, in Sundin Hall, 1531 Hewitt Ave. His hour-long program will include Suite Espanola by Gaspar Sanz, Chaconne from the Violin Partita No. 2 in D minor by Bach, Variations sur “Folia de España” et Fugue by Manuel Ponce, Escarraman by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, and The Harp & Shadows by Leo Brouwer. Tickets are $10-$25. For reservations, visit mnguitar.org or call 612-677-1151.
Theater
South Minneapolis comedian Lorna Landvik has returned with her solo show, Still a Party, on Fridays and Saturdays, now through January 29, at the Bryant-Lake Bowl, 810 W. Lake St. The improvised program of stand-up, sit-down and sideways comedy runs from 7-9 p.m. Tickets are $22, $20 in advance. Call 612-825-8949 or visit bryantlakebowl.com.
Naked Stages, Pillsbury House Theatre’s program for up and coming performance artists, will offer six new works by local playwrights virtually from January 15-30. The online program features Mango Songs, a drama about memory loss by Alia Jeraj; As My Heart Grows, a play about romantic love, self love and maternal desires by Atlese Robinson; giving people what they want by C. Michael Menge in collaboration with Jay Owen Eisenberg; Never Underestimate a Short Asian Woman with an Accent by Alys Ayumi Ogura; Fantasmamama: A Powderhorn Ghost Story by Margaret Ogas; and Joy on Me by Ashembaga Jaafaru. Tickets are priced from $5-$25. Visit pillsburyhousetheatre.org or call 612-825-0459.
La Boheme, the beloved opera by Puccini reimagined by director Peter Rothstein, will be performed by Theater Latte Da from January 19 through February 27 at the Ritz Theater, 345 13th Ave. NE in Minneapolis. The tale of love among young artists in Paris in the 1830s was inspired the Broadway hit Rent. Rothstein has moved the story to the Nazi occupation of Paris during World War II. Tickets start at $35. Call 612-339-3003 or visit latteda.org.
An Officer and a Gentleman, a new musical by Dick Scanlan based on the Oscar-winning film, will be performed from January 20-23 at the Ordway Music Theater. Wes Williams and Mia Massaro star. Show times are 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are $44-$132. Visit ordway.org or call 651-224-4222.
’Til Death: A Marriage Musical returns to the Bucket Brigade Theatre for nine shows from January 28 through February 14 at Art House North, 793 Armstrong Ave. Husband and wife playwrights Jeremiah and Vanessa Gamble star as a middle-aged couple in marital crisis who get stuck in a remote cabin with newlywed couples who are “perfectly perfect” for each other. Joining them on stage will be real-life couples Nathan and Stephanie Cousins and Damian and Anna Leverett. Michael Pearce Donley returns as musical director and accompanist. The curtain rises at 7:30 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays. Tickets are $30, $25 for students and seniors, or whatever you can afford on February 7. For reservations and COVID precautions, visit bucketbrigadetheater.com or call 612-547-9839.
Family
Bina’s Six Apples, a new play by Korean-American playwright Lloyd Suh about the impact of war and displacement on children and families, will be staged from January 14-February 13 at the Children’s Theatre Company, 2400 Third Ave. S. in Minneapolis. Tickets are $15-$63. Visit childrenstheatre.org or call 612-874-0400.
The warm glow of streetlights and holiday decorations turn the Twin City Model Railroad Museum into a miniature winter wonderland from 3-7 p.m. on Saturdays, now through February 26. Admission to this special program at 668 Transfer Road is $15, free for children age 4 and under. For reservations, visit tcmrm.org or call 651-647-9628.
Et cetera
March of the Governors, free podcasts on the governors of Minnesota, are being offered by the Ramsey County Historical Society. Author Paul Nelson and a team of local historians will introduce listeners to each of our heads of state. Programs on the first 11 governors are now available. Visit rchs.com/news/rchs-podcasts.
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