Music
Classic compositions by Bernstein, Strauss, Tchaikovsky, Erich Korngold, Florence Price and Mary D. Watkins will be performed by the Saint Paul Civic Symphony in a free concert at 2 p.m. Sunday, January 30, at Landmark Center.
Music by Beethoven, Buxtehude, Castello and Haydn will be performed by guitarist Chris Kachian and harpsichordist David Jenkins on Saturday, February 5, in Saint Mary’s Chapel, 2260 Summit Ave. The free concert by the University of Saint Thomas faculty members begins at 8 p.m. Masks are required. Call 651-456-0123.
Theater
’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.
The Anonymous Lover, the 1780 opera by groundbreaking Black composer Joseph Bologne, will be staged from February 5-13 by the Minnesota Opera. Sung in French with English translations, the comic romance tells of a beautiful young widow who doubts she will ever find love again until she begins receiving letters from a secret admirer. The curtain rises at 7:30 p.m. February 5, 10 and 12 and at 2 p.m. February 13 at the Ordway Music Theater. Tickets are $22-$225. Visit mnopera.org.
Not for Sale, a new play by Kim Hines and Barbara Teed about real estate agent Arnold Weigel and his efforts in the 1950s and early ’60s to overcome redlining and help families of color buy homes in the all-white neighborhoods of the Twin Cities, will open on February 5 at the History Theatre, 30 E. 10th St. Andrew Erskine Wheeler and Charity Jones star. Show times are 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and at 2 p.m. Sundays through February 27. Tickets are $15-$53. Call 651-292-4320 or visit historytheatre.com.
La Boheme, the beloved opera by Puccini reimagined by director Peter Rothstein, is being performed by Theater Latte Da through February 27 at the Ritz Theater, 345 13th Ave. NE. in Minneapolis. Tickets start at $35. For reservations, call 612-339-3003 or visit latteda.org.
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/.
The Triple T Square Dance Club will offer weekly classes for beginners from 6:30-8 p.m. Mondays starting February 7 at Saint Mark Evangelical Lutheran Church, 550 W. Seventh St. The first night is free. After that it is $5. No partner is necessary. For information, call 651-503-7040.
Books
Minnesotans describe what it was like to live through the upheaval of an historic year in This Was 2020. Edited by the Ramsey County Library, the anthology of poetry and short prose will be discussed at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, February 3, at Next Chapter Booksellers, 38 S. Snelling Ave. Tickets to the program and copies of the book may be reserved at nextchapterbooksellers.com.
A Cracked Walnut poetry workshop will be held from 10 a.m.-noon Saturday, February 5, in the first floor meeting room of the Highland Park Library, 1974 Ford Pkwy. Bring six copies of an original poem to share and be critiqued. Admission is free. Attendees must be vaccinated and masked. To rsvp, email donna@donnaisaacpoet.com.
“Love: A Universal Language,” a reading by Somali-American poets, will be presented by Cracked Walnut from 2-3:30 p.m. Sunday, February 6, at Next Chapter Booksellers, 38 S. Snelling Ave. Taking the dais will be Khadijo Abdi, Halima Hagi-Mohamed, Samira Hussein, Hudda Ibrahim and Abdi Mahad. Admission is free, though donations will be accepted. Attendees must be vaccinated. Visit nextchapterbooksellers.com.
Author Andrea Gilats will discuss her candid and deeply moving After Effects: A Memoir of Complicated Grief in a virtual program at 7 p.m. Thursday, February 10. In the book, the Highland Park author describes the desolation that followed her husband’s death at 52 and the slow and torturous 20-year journey to reclaim her old life. To register for the free link, visit subtextbooks.com.
Film
Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliche, a documentary about the British punk rock musician of the late 1970s and the daughter who sifts through the archives of her turbulent life, will be screened by Sound Unseen at 7 p.m. Wednesday, February 2, at Trylon Cinema, 2820 E. 33rd St. in Minneapolis. Tickets are $12. For reservations, visit soundunseen.com.
Family
The first Frozen Fun Fest will be held on Friday through Sunday, February 4-6, in Mendota Heights. There will be a public hike from 4-5 p.m. at Valley Park on Friday; ice carving at 10 a.m. at Market Square Park, and live music, food and fun from 2-5 p.m. at Mendakota Park on Saturday; and youth ice fishing lessons from 9-11 a.m. at Rogers Lake Park, and a family kickball tournament from 2-5 p.m. at Mendakota on Sunday. The fest will also include a coloring contest that begins January 28 and a medallion hunt that starts February 3. For information, visit mendotaheightsmn.gov/frozen-fun-fest.
Tour Ghana without leaving Saint Paul. Landmark Center’s Urban Expedition program will present the art, music, crafts and cuisine of this West African country from 1-3 p.m. Sunday, February 13. Admission is free. For information, visit landmarkcenter.org or call 651-292-3225.
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