It’s entirely possible that you’ve already read and heard more about the unimpeachable greatness of Pulitzer-and-everything-else-winning playwright Tony Kushner than you care to in this lifetime. Which is a shame, because the Guthrie Theater’s three-month celebration of Kushner’s work just got started with the opening of Caroline, Or Change over the weekend—and when it comes to Kushner, the work is really where it’s at. If you don’t want to read any further, I’ll just add that Caroline, Or Change is as marvelous, enchanting, and soul-stirring a show as you’re ever going to see, and if you choose to forego the chance to experience the Guthrie’s absolutely spectacular production of it, you will be missing the opportunity of a lifetime.

Read more.

Other than Wisconsin’s Alpine Valley shows July 18 & 19, the only appearance by the Dave Matthews Band in the upper Midwest this summer will be July 25 at the 10,000 Lakes Festival in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. To accommodate DMB fans, 10KL organizers announced today that a limited number of single-day, music-only tickets for this show will go on sale this Friday, Apr. 24. 

Read more.

It’s often assumed that when times are tough, theater companies lean on one-actor shows to save money. But when the one actor is Guthrie veteran Sally Wingert, ridding the stage of extra people just means it’s easier to focus on, and appreciate, Wingert’s extraordinary skills. 

Read more.

I haven’t seen any of the films being shown in the 27th annual Mpls/St.Paul International Film Festival over the next two weeks, and that’s pretty much the point. I know from past experience that if I don’t take the opportunity to see at least a few of the more than 150 movies and documentaries long-time festival coordinator Al Milgrom has brought to town, chances are I’m never going to get a chance to see them again—ever.

Read more.

The Xcel Energy Center announced today that a limited number of tickets for the May 11 Bruce Springsteen show are available for a mere $20. The seats are located behind the stage (which aren't as bad as you might think), and proceeds from the ticket sales will benefit Second Harvest Heartland in St. Paul.

Hurry—the tickets are available at the Xcel Energy Center Box Office and through all area Ticketmaster locations. Charge by phone at 800-745-3000, or online at www.ticketmaster.com.

Good luck—and may the speediest dialers win.

Read more.

I will be the first to admit that, at first glance, the idea of building an art exhibition around postage stamps doesn’t sound very promising. Stamps are very small, for one thing, so finding little frames to go around them can be a challenge. They are also, well, stamps—and if you collected them as a kid, you know that a little collecting goes a long way. Fill a page or two of an album and you’re good for life.

Read more.

Three or four years ago I was invited to VIP party at Myth Nightclub. All night, the party promoters kept promising that there would be a surprise that would “blow our minds.” Around midnight, the stage lights went on, the fog machine started up, and a beautiful, svelte blonde in a schoolgirl outfit took center stage. For the next 15 minutes this blonde did her best Britney, lip-synching to all of the pop princesses hits. She was pretty convincing.

Then her wig fell off.

Last night, in front of a packed, but not sold-out, crowd at the Target Center, the former princess of pop did a much more expensive version of that  Myth show. Her Circus tour has backup dancers, costumes by Dsquared , acrobats, clowns, and all sorts of aerial apparatus, but it also has a beautiful, not-as-svelte-as-she-once-was blonde at center stage, lip-synching to all her greatest hits. Her wig never fell off, but her roots were definitely showing.

Read more.

After the Donna Uchizono show at the Walker, I overheard a man asking a Minneapolis dancer, “So what did it mean?” She wisely ducked the question, listing instead a few elements she saw. Similarly, a friend told me that he doesn’t know what to say about a dance if he doesn’t recognize the references—the influences, the history. “I don’t normally write about that,” I said. “But then isn’t it all subjective?” he asked.

 

Read more.

The summer concert season is beginning to take shape. Lineups for both Cities 97’s Basilica Block Party (July 10-12) and the Current/Walker Art Center’s Rock the Garden (June 20) have been announced.

Read more.