Jess
Adam Qualls (foreground) stars as Jesse James in The Defeat of Jesse James. The time-warping, nail-biting, side-splitting musical tells of the courageous inhabitants of Northfield, Minnesota, who in 1876 stood up to the outlaw and his gang. Written by Jeffrey Hatcher and Chan Poling, the drama is playing through May 28 at History Theatre, 30 E. 10th St. Show times are 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $15-$70. Visit historytheatre.com or call 651-292-4323. Photo by Rick Spaulding

Theater

Antigonick, Anne Carson’s new transla­tion of the Sophoclean tragedy about a daughter’s fight for justice against authoritarian rule, will be performed from May 17 through June 4 by Full Circle Theater. Show times are 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays and at 2 p.m. Sundays and Saturday, June 3, at Mixed Blood Theatre, 1501 S. Fourth St. in Minneapolis. Tickets are priced from $5-$35 depending on ability to pay. Visit fullcircletheatermn.org.

W;T, Margaret Edson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama about a brilliant English scholar who is forced to reassess her life and work upon a diagnosis of ovarian cancer, will be staged from May 18-27 at Theatre in the Round, 245 Cedar Ave. S. in Minneapolis. Kari Steinbach directs this collaboration with Hypnic Jerk Theatre. Show times are 7:30 p.m. May 18, 19, 20, 22, 25, 26, 27 and 2 p.m. May 21. Tickets are $25. Visit theatreintheround.org or call 612-333-3010.

Ghoulish Delights will perform a revised and expanded version of its 2014 Minne­sota Fringe Festival pro­duction, The Tourist Trap: A Midwestern Gothic, from May 18-20 at Crane Theatre, 2303 Kennedy St. NE in Minneapolis. The drama is set in a sinister roadside attraction where tourists peruse relics of a notorious 19th-century death cult that terrorized the people of the Black Hills of South Dakota. Written and directed by Tim Uren, it stars Merit Burgett, Shanan Custer, Sean Dillon, Jay Kistler, Cath­erine Hansen, Alicia Lane and Ariel Pinkerton. Show times are 7 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. Tickets are $20. Visit ghoulishdelights.com.

The classic American drama Our Town is playing through May 28 at Open Win­dow Theatre, 5300 S. Robert Trail in Inver Grove Heights. Directed by Kari Steinbach, the story about the Webb and Gibbs families of Grover’s Corners stars Pete Colburn, Katherine Kupiecki, Craig Johnson and Katie Kaufmann. Show times are 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays and 2 p.m. Saturdays, May 20 and 27. Tickets are $18-$28. Call 612-615-1515 or visit openwindowtheatre.org.

Dance

National Tap Dance Day, a free showcase of the skills and styles of percussive danc­ers from around the Twin Cities, will be presented on Saturday, May 27, at Como Lakeside Pavilion, 1360 N. Lex­ing­ton Pkwy. Sponsored by Keane Sense of Rhythm (KSR), the festival will open at 12:30 p.m. with Tappy Hour, a free tap dance class for adults. Youth Tappy Hour will follow at 1:15. Tap shoes will be available, but are not required. KSR’s Youth Tap Ensemble will perform at 2 p.m., followed by the students from other metro area studios.

Books

Next Chapter Booksellers, 38 S. Snel­ling Ave., will host readings and discussions with author Jim Landwehr and his memoir, At the Lake, on Wednesday, May 17; poets Amie Whittemore, Allison Blevins and Melissa Cundeiff, Thursday, May 18; sisters Sheri and Peggy Brenden and Sheri’s book Break Point, about Peggy’s 1970s Title IX court case, Monday, May 22; Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and his book, Break the Wheel: Ending the Cycle of Police Violence, at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 25, in the Lecture Hall of the Campus Center at Macalester College; and Louis Alberto Urrea and Good Night, Irene, his book about the heroic Red Cross women of World War II, Friday, June 2. The programs are free and begin at 6 p.m. at Next Chapter unless otherwise noted. Visit nextchapterbooksellers.com or call 651-225-8989.

Author Elisa Bernick will discuss her new book, Departure Stories: Betty Crocker Made Matzoh Balls (and Other Lies) with Rabbi Debra Rappaport at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 18, at the Minnesota JCC’s Capp Center, 1375 Saint Paul Ave. Poignant and provocative, Departure Stories peers through the lens of recent history to reveal an intergenerational journey through trauma. Admission is free, but registration is requested. Visit minnesotajcc.org.

Exhibits

Four artists working in fabrics, painting, printmaking, clay and found objects will display a total of 40 works from June 1-30 at Grand Hand Gallery, 619 Grand Ave. Cosponsored by Art to Change the World, the exhibit will open with a public reception from 5-7 p.m. Thursday, June 1, with live music by saxophonist Walter Chancellor Jr. and singer Julia Wheaton. The four artists will conduct workshops from 5-7 p.m. on Thursdays in June. The schedule includes purse-making with Lucy Schroep­fer on June 8; denim wear with Briauna Williams, June 15; polymer clay dragonflies with Layl McDill, June 22; and repurposed jewelry with Barbara Bridges, June 29. The workshops are free, but space is limited. To register, email drb@bridgescreate.com.

“Vol. 2 Twogether,” a solo exhibition by artist Jacob Z. Wan, will open with a public reception from 6-8 p.m. Friday, June 2, at Friedli Gallery, 943 W. Seventh St. Through paintings, books, paper objects and installations, Wan expresses the longing and belonging of a gay man. His art will remain on view through July 29. Visit friedliartsgallery.com.

Family

 The annual Flint Hills Family Festival will return on June 2-3 in and outside the Ordway Center. The event will run from 6-10 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday. Featured free outside will be craft activities, face painting, balloon artists, a family dance party featuring the live music of Salsa del Soul beginning at 7 p.m. Friday and a performance by Koo Koo Kanga Roo at 3:15 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are available for the following shows inside the Ordway: the String Queens trio at 7 p.m. Friday; Lightwire Theater in The Adventures of Tortoise and Hare: The Next Gen at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday; and soulful musical duo the ReMINDers at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturday. For tickets, visit ordway.org.

Music

Fingal’s Cave at MetroNome Brewery, 289 E. Fifth St., will host performances by the following: Ramsey Hill drummer Peter Kogan and the Bird & Diz Legacy Quintet performing the bebop of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie from 7-9 p.m. Thursday, May 18 (free); and the best of Burt Bacharach played by RetroFizz with guest instrumentalist Jeff Horwich at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 20 (tickets are $10). Visit metronomebrewery.com.

Ginkgo Coffeehouse, 721 N. Snelling Ave., will present concerts by Bill Lee and his Irish Outfit from 6:30-8 p.m. Friday, May 19 (donations welcome); and Papa John Kolstad and singers Amy and Mabel Houle at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 20 (tickets are $15). Call 651-645-2647 or visit ginkgocoffee.com.

“Nevertheless We Persisted,” the 25th anniversary concert of the Twin Cities Women’s Choir, will be held at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 19, at Roseville Lutheran Church, 1215 W. Roselawn Ave. Tickets: are $22, $20 for seniors, $12 for children. Visit bitly.ws/CUnZ.

The Bach Society of Minnesota choir and orchestra and guest soloists will perform “Magnificat,” the music of J.S. Bach and his son C.P.E. Bach, on May 19 and 20. The concerts will begin at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Saint Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral, 519 Oak Grove St. in Minneapolis, and at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Church of Saint Thomas More, 1079 Summit Ave. Visit bachsocietymn.org.

“Walden Pond: The Earth Sings,” a program by the Singers, will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 20, at House of Hope Presbyterian Church, 797 Summit Ave., and at 3 p.m. Sunday, May 21, at Westwood Lutheran Church in Saint Louis Park. The concert will feature Argento’s Walden Pond, Runestad’s Come To the Woods, Smiley’s Stand In That River, Grau’s Kasar Mie La Gaji, Culloton’s Famine Song, Hailstork’s Nocturne and others. Tickets are $35 or whatever you can pay. Visit singersmca.org.

Montana folk duo Storyhill, aka Chris Cunningham and John Hermanson, will perform at 8 p.m. Saturday, May 20, at the Cedar Cultural Center, 416 Cedar Ave. S. Joining them will be Colorado singer-songwriter Edie Carey. Tickets are $27 in advance, $32 on day of show. Visit thecedar.org.

The Minnesota Philharmonic Orchestra will close its 30th anniversary season with a concert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 20, at Ted Mann Concert Hall, 2128 4th St. S. in Minneapolis. The program includes works by Libby Larsen, Augusta Holmes and Duke Ellington and the world premiere of “Briefly Gorgeous” by Andrew Yee. Tickets are $25 or whatever you can pay. Visit MNPhil.org.

Giving Voice Chorus, a choir for people with dementia and their care givers, will venture down country roads, over the rainbow and to the moon in concert at 1 p.m. Sunday, May 21, at the Minnesota JCC’s Capp Center, 1375 Saint Paul Ave. Tickets are $12. Visit eventbrite.com.

Hamline Church’s Festival Chorus and Orchestra will perform A Choral Cadenza at 4 p.m. Sunday, May 21, in the sanctuary at 1514 Englewood Ave. The program will feature Schubert’s Mass No. 2 in G Major, various motets, part songs, and solos. Admission is by donation.

The Seward Concert Band will boldly go where it has never gone before at 7:30 p.m. Friday, June 2, in the auditorium of Sanford Middle School, 3524 42nd Ave. S. in Minneapolis. In its season finale, the band will explore compositions about space and space travel, including the music of Hoagy Carmichael, Richard Strauss, Gustav Holst, John Philip Sousa, John Williams, Julie Giroux, Michael Giacchino and Murray Gold.

Film

Adam & Henry Adventures, a new film by Macalester-Groveland artist William Blackwell Kinney about Central High School graduates Adam Swanson and Henry Phillips and their bicycle trip across the world, will be screened at 7 p.m. Friday, May 19, at Art House North, 793 Armstrong Ave. Free tickets are available at arcadonpictures.com.

The Baldies, a PBS documentary about the multiracial skinhead gang who fought Neo-Nazis in the streets of Minneapolis in the 1980s, will be screened from 1-3 p.m. Saturday, May 20, in 3M Auditorium at the Minnesota History Center, 345 W. Kellogg Blvd. The skinhead gang later started the nationwide Anti-Racist Action. A panel discussion with former Baldies and film director David Roth will follow the screening. Admission is free, but seats are limited. To register, visit eventbrite.com.

Top Gun Maverick (2022, PG-13) will be screened at 1 p.m. Wednesday, May 24, at the Minnesota JCC’s Capp Center, 1375 Saint Paul Ave. Admission is free and open to all. Call 651-698-0751.

Et cetera

Get a taste of the State Fair three months early with the Kickoff to Summer running May 25-28 on the Minnesota State Fairgrounds. Thirty-five state fair food vendors, craft beers, the Giant Slide, a nine-hole Can Can Wonderland miniature golf course, live music and roving entertainers will be among the attractions. Guided historical walking tours, Trivia Mafia, pickleball and other yard games, skateboard demonstrations and children’s crafts will be available free of any additional charge. Hours are 4-9 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Admission is $15.50 at the gate, $12.50 in advance, free for children ages 4 and under. Visit etix.com. Parking is free. Call 651-288-4467.

COMMENTS TERMS OF SERVICE

MyVillager welcomes comments from readers. Please include your full name and the neighborhood in which you live. Be respectful of others and stay on topic. We reserve the right to remove any comment we deem to be profane, rude, insulting or hateful. Comments will be reviewed before being published.

Leave a Reply