The Mill City Summer Opera has announced its 2013 production: Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville.” The company made its debut last July with “Pagliacci,” and it was one of the most talked-about events of the summer: opera under the stars in the Mill City Museum’s romantic Ruin Courtyard on the Minneapolis riverfront. No wonder it sold out weeks before opening night. “Barber” will run July 13, 15, 17, 19 and 21; tickets go on sale May 20. We’ll post a reminder when the time comes.
The Jerome Foundation recently authorized nearly $800,000 in new grants for artists and arts organizations in Minnesota and New York. Minnesota winners include Pangea World Theater ($36,000), Pillsbury United Communities/Pillsbury House + Theatre ($46,500), the Rochester Art Center ($18,000), the Soap Factory ($24,000), Springboard for the Arts ($64,000), Coffee House Press ($26,000), Red Eye Theater ($31,500), and the American Composers Forum ($100,000). Grants will support new works by emerging artists.
“Light in the Piazza” opened last weekend at the cozy Ordway McKnight Theatre. Chris Hewitt of the Pi Press liked it. Peter Rothstein directs Theater Latté Da’s production of the Tony-winning musical set in Florence about young love and complex questions. If you go, it’s fun to know that Jessica Fredrickson (Clara) and Aleks Knezevich (Fabrizio) are real-life sweethearts who will marry in May. City Pages’ Ed Huyck has that story. Rothstein is a busy man; he also directs “Other Desert Cities,” which ends this Sunday (March 24) at the Guthrie. Here’s what we thought of “Other Desert Cities.” “Light in the Piazza” runs through April 7. FMI and tickets.
Did you know that TPT has an official station motto? That KTCA was the first public station to broadcast live in color — and later in HD? That it once ran a theater? Me neither. “Almanac” producer and station historian Brendan Henehan has compiled a fun list of “10 Things You Probably Don’t Know About TPT.”
Two casting calls: 1) The CBS reality series “Big Brother” is looking for outgoing, intriguing, competitive types willing to live in a house with a group of strangers while multiple cameras record their every move and sound 24/7. Sound like fun? Sure it does. I don’t know diddly about this show. Is it the one with the angry chefs, the one with the dumpster divers, or the one with the mean moms, wives, or brides? Open call Saturday, March 20, 1 to 4 p.m. at the Mall of America Rotunda. Ages 21 and up. FMI. 2) The Minnesota Renaissance Festival needs musicians, ensembles, street performers, dancers, stage combat performers and actors. No performance experience necessary; all ages welcome. Auditions will be held at the HUGE Improv Theater on two Saturdays, May 11 and 18, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with callbacks on May 25. Email renfestmn@gmail.com FMI and to schedule an audition time. You’ll need a headshot and a resume. This year’s RenFest (the 43rd) runs from Aug. 17-Sept. 29.
Call for young artists: the EDU Film Fest, now in its sixth year, happens May 17 at the St. Anthony Main Theatre. Submissions are open now. If you’re a Minnesota high-school student or young filmmaker under 19 (the festival has been known to feature junior-high work), go here and follow the guidelines for submission. Enter as many films as you want; there’s no entry fee. Deadline April 28.
The American Composers Forum, McNally Smith College of Music, and MPR have partnered for a video game composing conference to be held April 13-14 at McNally Smith in St. Paul. Video game scoring has come a long way since the electronic boops and deedles of the early years; today’s games have full orchestral pieces, compositions that interact with the player’s actions and situations, and music by big stars; guitarist Slash recently updated the theme music for “Angry Birds Space.” The conference will feature award-winning video game composers Lennie Moore (“Star Wars: The Old Republic,” “The Walking Dead Motion Comic”) and Jason Graves (“Tomb Raider,” “Dungeon Siege”). The weekend will be jam-packed with sessions, interviews and keynotes designed to provide the technical and practical information needed to launch and sustain a career in the industry. FMI and registration. On Saturday night (April 13), the Alpine String Quartet will perform a live concert of video game scores by Moore and Graves. The concert will be hosted by Emily Reese of MPR’s “Top Score” podcast about video game composers. 8 p.m. at McNally Smith. FMI and tickets.
This week
Tuesday, Wednesday and almost daily through April 12: the Cracked Walnut Readings Festival takes place in mostly coffee shops (and a few cafés, bookstores and libraries) throughout the Twin Cities. While this must have been an organizational nightmare, the results are amazing: 21 readings, almost 100 writers. Here’s the complete list of whos, whens and wheres (scroll down).
Turns out Pop Art icon Andy Warhol had strong Minnesota ties. At the height of his fame, he had a show at the Locksley Shea Gallery (formerly in a mansion on Mount Curve) in 1975. (“When Andy Warhol came to Minneapolis,” Gordon Locksley said, “Minneapolis became the center of the world.”) Warhol photographed and created silkscreen portraits of Locksley, George Shea and other local luminaries Richard Weisman, Marcia Weisman, Gardner Cowles, Miles Fiterman and Shirley Fiterman. He executed a gigantic commission of more than 600 sunset-themed silkscreens for the Marquette Hotel. Several portraits and two sunsets are on display at Aria through Saturday, March 23, along with a Marilyn screen print, a shadowy soup can, self-portraits on T-shirts, and numerous other paintings, Polaroids, and works on paper you’ve probably never seen, even if you’re a fan. (Shown in Polaroids with Richard Weisman and actress Catherine Oxenberg, George Hamilton is so tan he’s almost charred.) Nearly everything is for sale; proceeds benefit the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Organized by Christie’s, this is a once-in-a-lifetime show, admission is free, and Aria is a lovely space, so it’s kind of a no-brainer. 105 N. 1st St., Minneapolis. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.
Tuesday at Sundin Music Hall at Hamline University: a free concert by Armenian violinist Arman Tigranian and pianist Armen Sahakyan. The two will play a Handel sonata for violin and piano, the Shostakovich Violin Concerto No. 1, and something from Armenia. Free-will donations are encouraged. 7 p.m. 1531 Hewitt Ave., St. Paul.
Wednesday at the Capri: a free classical music recital by violinist Paul Rosenthal and pianist Doris Stevenson, with music by Bach, Beethoven, Debussy and Saint-Saëns. Co-presented with the Piatigorsky Foundation. 7 p.m. Go here to reserve free tickets.
Thursday at the Bryant Lake Bowl: “Dolls, Murder and Other Guilty Pleasures.” This strange but brilliant twofer combines live music by Bernie King & the Guilty Pleasures with a screening of the film “Of Dolls and Murder,” a 70-minute documentary by Minneapolis-based filmmaker Susan Marks, narrated by John Waters. The film is about the Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death, a series of 18 detailed miniature dioramas created in the 1930s by Frances Glessner Lee, an eccentric Chicago heiress and self-trained forensics expert, to illustrate murders. They’re still being used as teaching tools. (If you saw CSI’s “Miniature Killer” story arc, you know about these.) Here’s the trailer. Here’s a 5-minute bit on the film from "PBS NewsHour" featuring director Marks. 9 p.m., doors at 8. FMI and tickets.
Thursday at the Schubert Club Museum: “Muse Salon: Awakening the Senses with Music.” Part of the Schubert Club’s new “Live at the Museum” series. A wine and food tasting with music, featuring Ora Itkin on piano, Rena Kraut on clarinet, actor Joey Clark and Chef Hadj from Barbary Fig. 7:30 p.m. $25 advance/$30 door. FMI and tickets. Limited availability.
Thursday at the Walker: avant trumpeter Nate Wooley performs in the Walker galleries. Combining vocalization, noise and drone, amplification and feedback, Wooley plugs in and turns it up. Half-hour performances at 6 , 7 and 8 p.m.. Admission to the Walker is free on Thursdays.
Plan ahead
Ends this weekend at the Gremlin Theater: “Six Characters in Search of an Author.” Pirandello’s classic 1921 tragic comedy hasn’t been seen in the Twin Cities for 20 years. Alan Berks & Company bring the play forward into the 21st century and set it within a modern reality TV show, complete with live video. Writing for the Strib, William Randall Beard noted that “under Berks’ sharp direction, interest never flags.” 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, March 22-23, 4 p.m. Sunday. Tickets here.
Sunday, March 24: Rock the Cradle. The annual free day of fun for kids and grown-ups, presented by the Current at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and the Children’s Theatre Company. This year’s entertainment includes Rogue Valley’s Chris Koza, the Bazillions, Duke Otherwise and Guitar Party (with 9-year-old lead vocalist Mijah Ylvisaker), the Kids’ Disco, story time with DJs from the Current, a Kid’s Clubhouse, music classes, and an interactive digital playground. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Registration is appreciated.
Saturday, April 13: open house at TPT. Tour the “Almanac” set, go behind the scenes in the control room, and ask staff your pressing questions about the station. Members only from 9 a.m. until noon; the public is welcome from 1 to 4. The event is free, but you must RSVP.
Monday, July 22: Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers featuring Edie Brickell: “An Evening of Music and Comedy” at the State. The wild and crazy guy released his first bluegrass album, “The Crow: New Songs for the Five-String Banjo” in 2009; it stayed at No. 1 for 12 weeks and won the Best Bluegrass Grammy in 2010. Alt singer/songwriter Edie Brickell is best known for her work with the Texas rock jam band the New Bohemians (and for marrying Paul Simon). FMI and tickets.