Author: Cristina Córdova

MUSIC
Elegant Melodies of Simpler Times

A homegrown performer with a
sound reminiscent of Jack Johnson or Simon and Garfunkel, Alex Goldfarb
takes the stage tonight at the 331 Club. His crystal clear voice
and elegant melodies spin yarns of sunny days and simpler times. Don’t be fooled, however, by Goldfarb’s seemingly straightforward
themes. His tunes carry an undercurrent of social commentary and
thought-provoking lyrics that allow you to quietly reflect on your own
life and the world around you. With influences as diverse as Iron
& Wine, Metallica, and puddles after a rain, Alex Goldfarb promises
to be an interesting and innovative performer. —Kate Leibfried

9:30 p.m., 331 Club, 331 NE 13th Ave., Minneapolis; 612-331-1746.

THEATER & PERFORMANCE
Peer Gynt

Who better than Robert Bly to revive this cautionary tale of misdirected masculinity? Peer Gynt is
the most deplorable of characters, a swashbuckler who, during the
course of a single play, manages to desert his mother, cajole a bride
into the mountains on her wedding night, get crunk with some
hillbillies, and go on a globe-trotting black-market bender.
Contemporary audiences will notice that nineteenth-century playwright Henrik Ibsen
makes an apt statement about a familiar, modern archetype: the
fatherless adolescent whose thuggish ambitions eclipse all kindness
within. What’s more, Ibsen wrote the entire thing in Norwegian verse;
as with most English translations, Bly’s new adaptation duplicates that
effort. —Christy DeSmith

7:30 p.m., Guthrie Theater, 818 S. 2nd St., Minneapolis; 612-377-2224; $29-$69.

COMEDY
Get Some Schoolin’ in the Laughter Zone

With a long list of credentials
and an even longer list of jokes, Ted Alexandro guarantees a good time. Once a New York City schoolteacher, Ted found his true calling outside the classroom and inside the comedy club, and occasionally on your
television. He has made appearances on Comedy Central, The Letterman Show,
Jimmy Kimmel, Conan O’ Brien, and several other big-time comedy shows. All this week at the Acme Comedy Company we are lucky to have Ted’s
big personality drumming up some big laughs. —Kate Leibfried

8 p.m., Acme Comedy Company, Historic Itasca Building, 708 1st St. N., Minneapolis; 612-338-6393; $15, $27 dinner and show package.

WINE & DINE
Wine after Work: Port, Sherry, and Madeira

Wine implies
sophistication, classiness, and for many, mystery. If you love wine, but have always felt a
little intimidated by it, then Wine After Work is the thing for you. In a
casual and laidback setting, you (and perhaps a few friends) will learn about
the great dessert wines of the world. The event will mainly focus on wines from Spain
and Portugal, especially
Port, Sherry, and Madeira. You will not only learn a little history about
each wine, but also the art of pairing dessert wines with specific desserts. Get ready to hone your palate and impress your
friends with your newfound knowledge of wine. Salud! —Kate Leibfried

5:30 – 6:30 p.m., W.A. Frost and Company, 374 Selby Ave. (corner of Selby and Western); Saint Paul; 651-699-5834; $35.

MORE WINE & DINE
Italian-Inspired Wine Dinner

Treat yourself tonight to the richness
of basil and garlic as you enjoy a six-course Italian-inspired meal prepared by
Chef Hector Ruiz of Café Ena. Chef Ruiz is
an experienced chef who has had the opportunity to explore the local cuisine in
places as diverse as France,
Mexico, and Chicago. If the food isn’t enticing enough, then allow yourself to be lured by
yet another Italian specialty: wine. Each course will be paired with a glass of fine Italian wine to
compliment the distinct flavor of the dish. The wine, the savory Italian food, and the sophisticated atmosphere of
Café Ena will have you singing "Bella Notte" in no time. —Kate Leibfried

7 p.m., Café Ena, 4601 Grand Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-824-4441; $80 (Call to make a reservation or book online).

FILM
Five Film Noir Masterpieces

Tonight kicks off another five-week run of Monday-night film noir at the Parkway. Come on, folks — we have to start taking advantage of these great opportunities, or they’ll simple stop being offered. And how often do we get to see these film noir classics on the big screen? Trust me: it’s just not the same thing. Experience the fabulous low-key chiaroscuro and tenebrism lighting in larger-than-life mode. You can’t go wrong with these brutal crime flicks. The series begins tonight with a Billy Wilder noir masterpiece: Double Indemnity — "a cynical, witty, and sleazy thriller
about adultery, corruption and murder." Raymond Chandler had a hand in the screenplay, and the lovely Barbara Stanwyck stars as the elusive femme fatale. This is film noir at its best, folks; you don’t want to miss it.

7:30 p.m., Parkway Theater, 4814 Chicago Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-822-3030; $5.

MUSIC
Building Better Bombs

Lately the Triple Rock has been doing free Monday-night shows
featuring cool local bands. The idea is to showcase new local talent and foster
an environment that allows a unified and cohesive local music scene without the usual
barriers that many nightspots impart. And also to sell more beer. Tonight’s
lineup is decidedly more in-your-face than some of the previous shows. Check out
Building Better Bombs – a post-hardcore
band featuring Stef Alexander – aka P.O.S. BBB is a high
energy outlet for the Warped-tour rapper’s screaming punk side. Also performing
are post-AmRep rockers Death To Our
Enemies and goofs The
Talkers. DJ C-Gull will be spinning records and of course the bar will
feature drink specials. —Christopher Hontos

9 p.m., Triple Rock Social Club, 629 Cedar Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612- 333-7399; free.

THEATER & PERFORMANCE
Heads Will Roll, Blood Will Flow

William Shakespeare’s epic revenge tragedy, Titus Andronicus, opens this weekend. Directed by Paul von Stoetzel, and starring Charles Hubbell, this Cromulent Shakespeare Company
production tells the brutal, yet beautifully poetic story of revenge
between Roman General Titus and Tamora Queen of the Goths. Expect a
great deal of blood and death. This is Paul von Stoetzel’s return to
directing theater after his first feature film, SNUFF: a documentary about killing on camera.

Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m., Bedlam Theatre, 1501 S. 6th St., Minneapolis; 612-338-9817; $15.

MUSIC
Abbado Conducts Schubert

Italian conductor Roberto Abbado
knows the difference between flair and flash, or sophistication and
ostentation. After a series of typically elegant performances with the Minnesota Orchestra earlier this decade, he became an artistic partner of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra two years ago and ascended the podium for five weeks of solid Beethoven
last February and early March for performances that enhanced this
undeniably crowd-pleasing music with rigorous exploration. This
season’s three Abbado dates concentrate on another early nineteenth
century Viennese master, Franz Schubert. The program includes Schubert’s Ninth Symphony, the “Great C Major”, preceded by his Overture to Rosamunde and Kirchner’s 1960 Concerto For Violin, Cello, Ten Winds, and Percussion, featuring Steven Copes (violin) and Ronald Thomas (cello). —Britt Robson

Friday at 10 a.m. and Saturday at 8 p.m, Ordway Center; Sunday at 2 p.m., Ted Mann Concert Hall; 651-291-1144; $11-$59.

Also on the musical agenda for the weekend — Charlie Parr is playing at the 331 Club on Friday at 9 p.m. You never want to miss Charlie.

MUSIC & DANCE
It Takes an Orchestra to Tango

Lacking
a little passion in your life? This is the perfect event to heat things
up a bit. Dancers Florencia Taccetti and Somer Surgit join the
Mandragora Tango Orchestra this weekend for a steamy tango performance.
Arrive at 6 p.m. for a tango lesson of your own (in the Jaycees Studio)
prior to the show — the perfect cure for the post-holiday blues.

Saturday at 7:30 p.m., Hopkins Center for the Arts, 1111 Mainstreet, Hopkins; 651-209-6799; $12-$24.

ART
Closing this Weekend: Lynn Geesaman

Lynn Geesaman’s photographs always draw one in. And after that, you
stand around in the image, thinking, Now what am I doing here? I came
here to get something; what was it? The fuzzy, melting landscapes have
the memory-dissolving qualities of a late spring day—and, quite
honestly, who knows whether that’s good or bad? But these days, which
seem to be an era of doldrums in the art world (however well masked by
stratospheric speculation and its attendant glamour), art that affects
its spectator with this kind of subtlety is worth a second look. —by Ann Klefstad

Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thomas Barry Art Gallery, 530 N. Third St., Minneapolis; 612-338-3656.

Closing this Weekend: Nicola Lopez’s Constriction Zone

Creativity is a double-edged sword. This was something I first
realized after reading a detailed account of the torture regimen used
by the Sforzas, a Renaissance-era Milanese family whose fortune had
been made in arms sales. They called it “Lent”: forty days of inventive
and excruciating pain-inducing practices almost guaranteed to leave the
victim alive at the end. And the Sforzas were renowned arts patrons to
boot; Petrarch did their PR, in fact. What does this have to do with
Lopez, who is getting a lot of attention in New York for her big,
complex, print-based installations? These works, which explore
infrastructure and built environments, are baroquely inventive, while
also enacting the menace of urban sprawl and so-called progress; Lopez
herself is an artist with enough sense to see not just the beauty in
human creativity, but also its potential detriments. —by Ann Klefstad

Friday and Saturday from 12 to 5 p.m., Franklin Art Works, 1021 E. Franklin Ave., Minneapolis; 612-872-7494.

FILM
Summer Love in Winter

The story is not a new one: Man and
woman are together. Woman gets antsy and wants a new life. A stranger comes to town.
Guess what happens next? I won’t get into the details, but let’s just
say man loses woman. What makes Piotr Uklański’s Summer Love
unique isn’t the spectacular storyline. It’s all in the presentation.
The film is visually stimulating, more a series of images than an
ongoing dialog — something you’ll notice immediately as the film begins with a bang, a shot literally, and a bloody stranger dying on screen. And just as the film begins with a bang, it sets the tone for the upcoming Expanding the Frame
film series.

Saturday at 7:30 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m., Walker Art Center, 1750 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis; 612-375-7600; $8 (members $6).

MUSIC
Learn about the Bird and the Bee, LA Style

The middle of January may be the best time to warm up to The Bird And The Bee’s stylish,
airy continental pop sounds. Steeped in bossa nova, solid-gold AM pop and classic
new wave, this fetching boy/girl duo from LA are favorites of both critics and
crowds. They also don’t ignore the nearly forgotten art of the succinct,
economical EP — as of September they have eclipsed their ratio of EPs to albums
by 2:1 with the release of Please
Clap Your Hands. It’s a five song document of simple, sexy retro-pop that comes
off something like the prodigal kid siblings of the Brazilian Girls or Nouvelle
Vague, minus the pretentious clubbiness and the sophomore slump, respectively. Also
performing is Charlie W.

—Christopher Hontos

8 p.m., Varsity Theater,1308 4th St. S.E., Minneapolis; 612-604-0222; $12.

BOOKS & AUTHORS
Fight: Or, Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Ass-Kicking but Were Afraid You’d Get Your Ass Kicked for Asking

Well, the title is a mouthful, but it certainly has that fabulous Fight Club appeal. Who can resist? I mean, really — who amongst us hasn’t wanted to kick some ass at one point or another? Even if you don’t use it, it would be nice to know you could. Trigger any interest? In his new book — Fight: Or, Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Ass-Kicking But Were Afraid You’d Get Your Ass Kicked for Asking — Eugene S. Robinson exposes an underground world of hand-to-hand combat — knife fighters, soccer hooligans, mobbed-up boxers, prison yard pugilists, and mixed martial artists — and he among them. "When Robinson and his fellow fighters mix it up, they live completely for the moment: absorbed in the feel of muscles slippery with sweat; the metallic tang of blood mingling with saliva in the mouth; the sweet, firm thud of taped knuckles impacting flesh. They fight because it feels good. They fight because they want to win. And even if they lose, they fight because they love fighting." Yup. Sounds pretty Fight Club-y to me. Maybe after this evening’s presentation, Robinson will give you an ass-whooping of your own.

7:30 p.m., Magers & Quinn Booksellers, 3038 Hennepin Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-822-4611.

THEATER & PERFORMANCE
Raw Stages

The History Theatre has
hit its share of fouls lately—last fall’s production based on the life
of Kirby Puckett was uniformly blasted, and the recent Hormel Girls
had a lackadaisical score and a script wholly reliant on stereotype.
But this institution also boasts a singular and noble characteristic:
It commissions more original works by living, local playwrights than
any other Twin Cities theater. Its annual Raw Stages
series bundles four samplings of works-in-progress, each with a certain
destiny for the History Theatre mainstage. This year’s lineup includes
the chronicle of a haunted Summit Avenue mansion, by the edgy
Minneapolitan Deborah Stein (see “Heavy Rotation”); and the story of Tyrone Guthrie and Ralph Rapson’s collaboration building the landmark Guthrie Theater at Vineland Place—by the prolific, Minnesota-based playwright and screenwriter Jeffrey Hatcher. —Christy DeSmith

History Theatre, 30 E. Tenth St., St. Paul; 651-292-4323; $10/show or $25 for a full pass.