Books
Douglas Stuart, Booker Prize-winning author of Shuggie Bain, will read from his second novel, Young Mungo, at 6 p.m. Friday, April 29, at Next Chapter Booksellers, 38 S. Snelling Ave. For the required tickets, visit nextchapterbooksellers.com or call 651-225-8989. Next Chapter will celebrate Independent Bookstore Day on Saturday, April 30, with appearances by Diane Wilson, author of The Seed Keeper, at noon and Marcie Rendon, author of Murder on the Red River, at 2 p.m.
The many meanings of May Day will be recognized in a free Literary Bridges reading at 2 p.m. Sunday, May 1, at Next Chapter Booksellers, 38 S. Snelling Ave. Joining host Stan Kusunoki will be poets Athena Kildegaard, Lee Kisling, Peuo Thuy and Michael Walsh and spoken-word artist Tu the Judoka (Eric Tu). Call 651-225-8989.
Aspiring poets may take part in a free Cracked Walnut Poetry Workshop from 10 a.m.-noon Saturday, May 7, in the first floor meeting room at the Highland Park Library, 1974 Ford Pkwy. Participants are asked to bring eight to 10 copies of an original poem to share. Please RSVP to donna@donnaisaacpoet.com.
Kerri ni Dochartaigh will discuss Thin Places in a virtual program at noon Saturday, May 14. A native of Derry, her new book is a memoir of one family’s experiences during the Troubles in Ireland and a celebration of the healing power of the natural world. To register for the free program, visit subtextbooks.com or call 651-493-2791 for more information.
Dance
Class of ’85, a celebration of acceptance and inclusion in the stereotypical world of high school, is being staged by Collide Theatrical Dance Company through May 1 at Gremlin Theatre, 550 N. Vandalia St. Dancers Jarod Boltjes, Renee Guittar, Rachel Seeholzer, Patrick Jeffrey, Javan Mngrezzo, Grace Kidder, Megan Carver and Ben Siglin star. Show times are 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 and 5 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $30-$55. Visit collidetheatrical.org or call 651-395-7903.
Exhibits
“Totally Radical, Designing the 1980s,” an exhibit that captures the variety and ideosyncracies of styles prevalent during the 1980s, is being displayed through May 27 in the University of Minnesota’s Goldstein Museum of Design, located in Gallery 241 of McNeal Hall, 1985 Buford Ave. The exhibit includes objects from the Goldstein collection and photos and print material from U of M archives and the Minnesota Historical Society. Admission is free. For gallery hours, visit design.umn.edu/goldstein-museum-design.
“Documenting a Reckoning: The Murder of George Floyd” is on view through June 5 at Mill City Museum, 704 Second St. S. in Minneapolis. Through 54 images taken by professional and amateur photographers, the exhibit illustrates 11 long months in the history of the Twin Cities, from the murder of Floyd on May 25, 2020, through the conviction of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.
The Catherine G. Murphy Gallery at Saint Catherine University is displaying two new exhibits through May 22. “Not Here” features drawings, prints, collages, illustrations and cabinets of curiosities by Minneapolis artist Jody Williams. “Rooted Forward” includes the art of Saint Kate’s students Liz Connors, Mathis “Blue” J. Edwards, Cora Dean-Wyatt, Ellie Leonard, Carolina Lopez, Megan Riley and Theo von Weiss. The students will discuss their art from 11:45 a.m.-1:15 p.m. Thursday, May 5. Admission is free. Visit gallery.stkate.edu or call 651-690-6644.
“Mestizaje: Intermix-Remix,” the art of eight Latino artists, is on view through June 12 in the sidewalk and skyway galleries of the Minnesota Museum of American Art, 350 N. Robert St. Marcela Rodríguez Aguilar, María José Castillo, Luis Fitch, Bobby Marines, Dougie Padilla, Maria Cristina Tavera, Xavier Tavera and Vlocke Negro explore what it means to identify as mixed-race. A panel discussion on what it means to be mestizo will be held from 6-7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 12, via Zoom. Visit mmaa.org or call 651-797-2571.
“Righting a Wrong: Japanese Americans and World War II,” a Smithsonian Institution traveling exhibit, is being exhibited through July 3 at the Minnesota History Center, 345 W. Kellogg Blvd. With personal stories and historical images and objects, the exhibit examines the complicated history set in motion by President Franklin Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066, which led to the incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans and Japanese nationals following the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. Admission to the History Center is $12, $10 for seniors and college students, $6 for children ages 5-17.
“Landscapes of Home: Visions of Sovev Kinneret,” vibrant prints and captivating photos of this naturally beautiful region of Israel by Israeli artists Amos Yaskil, Yuval Gasser, Chaim Moreno, Oshri Vizman and local artist Linda Passon-McNally, are being displayed through May 31 at the Minnesota JCC’s Sabes Center and Capps Center, 1375 Saint Paul Ave. A reception for the artists will be held from 6-8 p.m. Monday, May 2, at the Sabes Center, 4330 S. Cedar Lake Road in Minneapolis. Call 651-698-0751.
New works by landscape artists Cheryl LeClair-Sommer and Michelle Wegler will be paired with poetry and prose in a multimedia exhibit that celebrates the beauty of Minnesota’s lakes and rivers. “Ebb and Flow” will be displayed from May 6 through June 17 at Larson Art Gallery in the Saint Paul Student Center, 2017 Buford Ave. An opening reception will be held from 5-7 p.m. Thursday, May 12. Call 612-625-0214 or visit sua.umn.edu/events/ebb-and-flow.
Family
Alice’s Looking Glass, dance theater that combines Lewis Carroll’s The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland with his Through the Looking Glass, will be performed on April 26 and 27 by Out on a Limb Dance Theatre. A cast of more than 70 will take the stage at 7 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday in the O’Shaughnessy at Saint Catherine University. Tickets are $32, $30 for seniors, children and military personnel. Visit oshag.stkate.edu.
Speak Out and Lead, an arts festival of, for and by youths, will be held from noon-4 p.m. Saturday, April 30, at Springboard for the Arts, 262 University Ave. Artists ages 13-21 will take part in the festival as vendors, performers and workshop leaders. All ages are welcome. Admission is $2-$5 for youths ages 13-21, $5-$20 for ages 21 and up, free for children under 13. Complimentary scoops of Sweet Fruci’s Ice Cream will be offered. For information, visit victoriatheater.org.
Music
“Let’s Dance.” Kantorei wraps up its 34th season with a joyful program of dance-inspired choral music at 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 29, in Sundin Hall, 1531 Hewitt Ave. Songs in Spanish, French, German and English by such artists as Carlos Guastavino, Amy Beach, Moira Smiley and Gilbert & Sullivan will be featured along with a Venezuelan joropo dance, a jazzy take on Bach, and Brahms’ Liebeslieder Waltzes, which the maestro wrote to woo the daughter of Clara Wieck Schumann. Tickets are whatever you want to pay. Visit kantorei.net.
The Kupinski Guitar Duo of Poland will make its Minnesota debut at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 30, in Sundin Hall, 1531 Hewitt Ave. The husband and wife duo will play compositions by Sor, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Gershwin and Sergio Assad. Tickets are $10-$25. Visit mnguitar.org.
Ancia Saxophone Quartet will perform world premieres by North Carolina pianist Robin McLaughlin and Twin Cities pianist Laura Caviani in concert at 4 p.m. Sunday, May 1, at the Weisman Art Museum, 333 East River Pkwy. The program will also feature movements from Ex Machina by Mark Mellits, Astor Piazzolla’s Fuga y Misterio and Tangata, and Sonny Rollins’ Sunnyside of the Street. Admission is by donation. Visit anciaquartet.com.
Steve Heitzeg’s Green Hope After Black Rain (Symphony for the Survivors of Manzanar, Hiroshima and Nagasaki) will be performed by the Saint Paul Civic Symphony in a free concert at 1 p.m. Sunday, May 8, at Landmark Center. The Mother’s Day program will also feature Grieg’s Piano Concerto and Dvořák’s New World Symphony. Images of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Manzanar Japanese internment camp in California by Toronto photographer Katy McCormick will be shown. After the concert, Civic Symphony music director Jeffrey Stirling will be joined by Heitzeg and McCormick in a discussion of themes of the program.
Theater
Atacama, playwright Augusto Federico Amador’s metaphorical story of the choices, views and actions that tear families and countries apart, is being performed through May 1 by Full Circle Theater. Lara Trujillo directs. Show times are 7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday on the proscenium stage at Park Square Theatre, 20 W. Seventh Place. For ticket information, visit parksquaretheatre.org.
Avi Aharoni and Nathan Keepers star in Six Points Theater’s production of Seth Rozin’s drama, Two Jews Walk Into a War. Directed by Sally Wingert, the play tells of Zeblyan and Ishaq, the last two Jews living in Kabul who are intent on repopulating the ancient Jewish community but cannot agree on how to do it. Sixteen evening and matinee performances are scheduled from April 30 through May 22 in the auditorium of the Highland Park Community Center, 1978 Ford Pkwy. Tickets are $14-$38. Call 651-647-4315 or visit sixpointstheater.org.
Set in Paris in the 1920s, Moliere’s satire The Miser will be performed by Classics Lost ’n’ Found Theater Company from April 29 through May 7 at Lake Nokomis Presbyterian Church, 1620 E. 46th St. in Minneapolis. Show times are 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Tickets are $15, $12 for students, or whatever you can afford for the additional show at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 30. Call 612-724-4539.
Souvenir, playwright Stephen Temperley’s story about American socialite and would-be opera star Florence Foster Jenkins, will be performed from April 29 through May 14 by Bucket Brigade Theater. Jeffrey S. Miller directs this hilarious and poignant drama, which stars Vanessa Gamble as the delusional Florence and Michael Pearce Donley as her accompanist. Show times are 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. Saturday, May 7 and 14. Tickets are $20, $30 and $40, or whatever you can afford for the additional show at 7:30 p.m. Monday, May 9. Call 612-547-9839 or visit bucketbrigadetheater.com.
For its first full production in two years, Park Square Theatre offers a breath of fresh air. Airness, playwright Chelsea Marcantel’s comedy about the world of competitive air guitar playing, will open May 13 for a four-week run on the proscenium stage at 20 W. Seventh Place. Directed by Angela Timberman, it stars Shae Palic, Daniel Petzold, Neal Skoy, Michael Terrell Brown and Julia Valen. For show times and tickets, call 651-291-7005 or visit parksquaretheatre.org.
Film
More than 200 films from around the world will light the screen in the 41st annual Minneapolis Saint Paul International Film Festival, running from May 5-19 at the MSP Film Society’s newly renovated five-screen theater, 115 Main St. SE in Minneapolis. Many of the films will also be shown virtually. For ticket information and the complete schedule of screenings, panel discussions, parties and networking events, visit mspfilm.org.
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