Month: June 2003

It’s late afternoon and State Auditor Pat Awada is negotiating southbound traffic on 35E in her white Jeep Cherokee, one hand on the wheel, the other occupied with a Marlboro Light that she ashes out her open window. She brushes a length of long blonde hair from her deep blue eyes and considers the impact…

On the first day Pat Awada met with The Rake, she mentioned a behavioral analysis test she had taken in 2001, prior to an Eagan City Council retreat. Our writer was amused to be told about the test, but did not expect much more than that. Then, three days later, she arrived at her weekly…

Summer does not last long enough around here, as everyone knows, and you should make any excuse to get Uptown and have a walk around Lake Calhoun. Here’s one: This Southern-themed restaurant on the shores of Minneapolis’ primary pond. We’ve had great luck with the carnivore-friendly fare on recent visits, enjoying the crab-cakes appetizer and…

Classical canonical theater is, of course, what the Guthrie does best, even if upstarts like Jeune Leune are giving them a run for their money. Last year, Irish actor Alan Stanford developed this adaptation of one of the English language’s most beloved novels. It’s a natural fit for the stage, and the buzz from the…

The jewel in the crown of the long collaboration between W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan, The Mikado has been wowing musical-theater audiences for 118 years. Its take on Japanese culture lacks a certain amount of authenticity, perhaps, but pointing out that Nanki-Poo, Ko-Ko, and Yum-Yum aren’t real Japanese names would be missing the point of…

Like the titular vamp of this summer’s production, the Showboat’s enjoying a new life after death, now in its second season in a new St. Paul barge built after the old one was destroyed in a devastating fire. Written and directed by longtime Showboat skipper Charles Nolte, Dracula matches the U of M theater’s traditionally…