As many of you have probably already heard, The Rake is ceasing publication of its print magazine after this month’s issue (which hit the streets today). While this is extremely sad for all of us, and a great loss to our readers as well, we will, of course, continue online, as always — with daily Secrets, regular arts, sports, and food coverage, and great bloggers all around. In fact, we’ve just added Rich Goldsmith to our list of bloggers, so stop by and check out the Defenestrator. (He’s home working on his first post as I write this.)
THEATER & PERFORMANCE
Framing Suzan-Lori Parks
Things could get interesting when the English and Theater departments at the U of M embark on a joint investigation of Suzan-Lori Parks’s oeuvre.
This Pulitzer- and MacArthur Genius Grant-winning playwright boasts a
body of work that’s rich in poetics and historic awareness, yet
audacious enough to confront issues of emotional brutality head-on. (In
other words, beware of over-intellectualizing.) The series kicks off
tonight when Frank Theatre, the local company with the most Parks plays under its belt, excerpts its productions of The America Play, Venus, and Fucking A (Rarig Center, February 26).
Frank’s founder and artistic director, Wendy Knox, also joins a panel
of experts next week to discuss what it’s like to direct Parks’s plays (Rarig Center, March 4);
and the series culminates with Parks in the flesh at Ted Mann Concert
Hall on March 26, where she will lecture, play her guitar, and “show
her ass,” as she likes to (metaphorically) put it. —Christy DeSmith
7:30 p.m., Rarig Center, Room Proscenium Stage,
University of Minnesota, 330 21st Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-626-1528; free.
MUSIC
Sparks Fly
I admit, when I hear talk of electronic music, I immediately think "rave." I immediately recall a young woman, many years ago — on a most beatific trip, perhaps — swaying in a gas station, crying out to me in her own defense, "It’s just… it’s just… electronic music takes me there." And I suppose a trip "there" — wherever that may be — may not be a bad thing from time to time, but somehow I doubted the utility of her destination enough to turn me off somewhat to the genre. That’s not fair, of course. And being back in Minneapolis has finally taught me otherwise. There’s some darn good electronic music around! In fact, it’s quite amazing now what we can do, what one man, one woman can do with the most simple (or complicated) equipment. Yes, seeing a whole band come together in some magical way will always seduce us; but we can now also enjoy the magic of one person, two persons, however many persons and a machine serving up layers upon layers of sound in utterly deliberate and strikingly creative ways. Of course, this is nothing but a ridiculously long introduction to an interesting event that begins today and continues for the next five days. The Spark Festival of Electronic Music and Arts features dozens of local creators and performers of new media arts. In reality this isn’t just electronic music, so my long-winded intro is even more scornful; the event showcases music, video, dance, theater, plastic arts, and whatever other fabulous creation someone has birthed. Get an initial glimpse tonight with works by Shield Your Eyes, Nic Buron: "Knee Bone", Beatrix Jar: Performance Set (in photo), and Mystery Palace (at the Whole Music Club at 7 p.m.), and Marcos Romero, The Push, Ryan Simatic, James Patrick (at Temple at 10 p.m.). Check the schedule to see what’s coming up. You’re sure to find great stuff for the weekend.
7 – 10 p.m., Coffman Memorial Union, The Whole, 300 Washington Ave. SE, Minneapolis, 612-624-INFO; free.
10 p.m., Temple Restaurant and Bar, 1201 Harmon Pl., Minneapolis, 612-767-3770.
Or Hunt Unicorns
If you’re not feeling quite that experimental today — still odd and quirky, but with a touch of pop flavor — then I’ve got another compelling act for you. Come on now; don’t be stodgy. Live a little. Sia is town, all the way from Adelaide, Australia; and though her website and her myspace page are just a little too colorful and esoteric — or perhaps we can do her the honor of crediting her with some kind of brilliant derisive jab at the whole myspace "thang" — a moment on that same ridiculous page will also reveal her estimable voice. She makes you want to listen — even if she does describe herself as being "born out of the butthole of a unicorn called steve." Don’t you just have to see this gal? Listen to the track she sent us. I’m guessing she’ll put on a show that’s equally skilled and amusing — with extra sass for good measure.
9 p.m. (doors at 8 p.m.), FineLine Music Cafe, 318 First Ave. N., Minneapolis; 612-338-8100; $20.
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