Author: Cristina Córdova

Well, the biggest secret today is clearly our new website. Be sure to check it and enjoy our new features. No more buried content! You’ll find a much airier feel all around — I hope. Hell, forget about going out. Just spend the weekend digging through the archives and emailing articles to your friends. I’m joking, of course — but there are indeed some great articles back there.

Ok. Onward. There are, after all, some great events this weekend.

ART
From Zinnia Seeds to Zinnia Still-Lifes — Art Attack

The Northrup King business is currently just one facet of a global conglomerate, but the massive complex of ten buildings in Northeast Minneapolis retained the name of the seed company founded over a hundred years ago. Now, of course, those buildings all crank out art and crafts. With more than 125 creative tenants, there’s no shortage of goods to peruse, but everything’s concentrated in one location, which is a boon for those of us who are getting on in years, or who are just plain lazy (we’re both). If you find Art-a-Whirl overwhelming, this is the art fair you want. Look for a special exhibit in NKB’s group room marking the fair’s tenth anniversary, with historical displays about the seed company as well as art inspired by present-day activities in the complex. —Julie Caniglia

Friday from 5 to 10 p.m., Saturday 12 – 8 p.m., Sunday 12 – 5 p.m.); Northrup King Building,1500 Jackson St. N.E., Minneapolis; 612-363-5612.

Naked Wonder: Mark Dion, Christine Baeumler, and Eleanor McGough

Colleen Sheehy, curator at the Weisman, put together a nature-themed
show with this Bob Dylan epigraph: “The sky cracked its poems in naked
wonder.” She chose Mark Dion’s candid deer portraits, Eleanor McGough’s
paintings of natural subjects subsumed into lushly decorative patterns,
and Christine Baeumler’s paintings from her recent trip to the
Galapagos and the Great Barrier Reef. Sheehy chose “curator artists”:
Dion has always been interested in what museums do to their subjects,
the animals or art that end up in them; McGough seizes flowers,
branches, cells, and proliferates their patterns, creating a decorative
context that acts much like a museum in deracinating the subjects.
Baeumler seems better able to stand back—in the past, her paintings
often contained such patterns and grids, but these new ones seem to
find rather than seek. —Ann Klefstad

Opening reception on Saturday from to 9 p.m., Gallery Co., 400 First Ave. N., Suite 210, Minneapolis; 612-332-5252.

MUSIC
Lovely Leila

She’s one of those classical music babes—a twenty-something player who, on account on her good looks, packs no small amount of marketing punch. But the peripatetic violinist Leila Josefowicz also has serious chops. She performed with such top-ten orchestras as Cleveland and Philadelphia while still in her teens, for heaven’s sake, and has since managed to forge a successful solo career. She has a passion for new music; she is known, in particular, for playing the works of contemporary composer John Adams. (As for Adams, he is perhaps best known for his operas Nixon In China and Doctor Atomic.) This weekend Josefowicz plays solo on an Adams violin concerto (written in 1993/4) with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. —Christy DeSmith

Friday at 10:30 a.m. and 8 p.m., Saturday at 8 p.m., Ordway Center, 345 Washington St., St. Paul; 651-291-1144; $11-$59.

And, of course, if you’re looking for some fabulous old-school rock, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band are playing at the Xcel Energy Center this evening, Friday, at 7:30 p.m. Yes, the tickets are steep ($67-$97), but Sprinsteen is always worth the cost of admission.

FILM
American Gangster Finally Opens

Between the Coens’ new shoot-’em-up and American Gangster, this year’s Oscar contenders will probably be slam-bang pieces of entertainment. In Gangster, Denzel Washington plays African-American mob boss Frank Lucas,
who ruled ’70s Harlem by making his product—heroin—better and cheaper
than his rivals’, while simultaneously becoming one of the city’s great
civic leaders. Opposing him is one Russell Crowe,
an “outcast cop,” who is equally possessed of a solid moral ethic
amongst a corrupt force. These two men will meet, bullets will fly, and
all the while we’ll be treated to some awesome ’70s imagery, great
music, and two of the sexiest leading men to go head to head in a movie
since Heat. —Peter Schilling

Opens today at area theaters.

 

 

ART
Day of the Dead

An amalgamation of indigenous ritual, Catholicism, and Mexican tradition, Día de los Muertos celebrates and honors those who have traversed the line between life and death in Latin American cultures. In reverence to this special day, the Altered Esthetics exhibition opening this evening presents more than 30 national artists’ representations of this visually-oriented, festive-yet-spiritual theme. Since traditional ofrendas (offerings for the dead) can include anything from tequila to old household items, expect images ranging from the mundane and comforting to the colorful and sexy. Participants at the opening reception tomorrow night are encouraged to bring momentos, pictures, and collages for a memorial wall commemorating those who have passed in the last year. The gallery is supplying candles and flowers for a community processional. –Danielle Cabot

1-7 p.m., Reception tomorrow from 7-9 p.m., Altered Esthetics, 1224 Quincy St. NE.; Minneapolis; 612-378-8888; free.

 

FILM
An Offering for the Dead

Also in honor of Día de los Muertos (and a good deal of filmmaking talent), the Walker opens the first session of its Cinematica series of Latin American film. For the next two weeks (and again in January), you can explore a broad spectrum of filmmaking styles from New Mexican Cinema. Quite fittingly, the series begins this evening with La Ofrenda: The Day of the Dead. Directed by Lourdes Portillo and Susana Muñoz, this 1988 documentary "reveals the pre-Hispanic roots of the Day of the Dead and invites us into present-day celebrations in Oaxaca and the United States."

7:30 p.m., Walker Art Center, 1750 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis; 612-375-7600; free.

 

THEATER & PERFORMANCE
Festival of Lies

Art meets life in this informal, party-like performance replete with food and drink from the Cedar-Riverside area’s Tam-Tam’s African Restaurant, and a locally produced soundtrack of African music. But the main attraction is Congolese choreographer Faustin Linyekula and his troupe of dancers and actors, who move within a shifting installation of fluorescent light fixtures, electrical chords, and other detritus to communicate, with movement and speech, stories both personal and political. The catch: Some of these tales are true, some lies — Linyekula’s reflection on the collective amnesia that tends to plague citizens of a corrupt, turbulent nation — and it’s the audience’s job to discern the difference. Presented by the Walker Art Center. –Christy DeSmith

8 p.m. (tonight through Saturday), Cedar Cultural Center, 416 Cedar Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-375-7600; $25.

 

MUSIC
Gypsy Mayhem

We first saw Gogol Bordello at the creatively named Bulgarian Bar at Canal and Broadway, the nexus of downtown New York. It was odd, to say the least, to eat pierogis at a table while watching a new, weird mutation of punk – the kind that was happening in suburban basements throughout the 80s – unfold on a tiny stage, as a small clutch of moshers steadily grew. Within a couple of years frontman Eugene Hutz, who is like a Ukrainian version of Iggy Pop, and his band of collaborators were being mobbed uptown, at the opening night of the Whitney Biennial. More a cabaret of chaos than a typical rock show, Gogol’s live performances fusing punk, Eastern European folk, and avant-garde DJ-ing are legendary. As Hutz once told a critic, "Sometimes we just sit around and think ‘We are this kind of band, but wouldn’t it be great if there were this and this and this kind of band’?" Exactly! –Julie Caniglia

6 p.m., First Avenue, 701 First Avenue N., Minneapolis; 612-332-1775; $18.

 

Still Holding Steady

The Hold Steady are well known for tossing hosannas to the Twin Cities’ landscape and music scene, past and present — from name-checking the "Grain Belt bridge" and Payne Avenue to sonic nods to all manner of local bands. Never mind that frontman Craig Finn, a native of Edina, decamped to Brooklyn some seven years ago — the Twin Towns (and their suburbs) remain a key inspiration. Of course, influences outside our city limits also filter into Finn’s songs: hints of Jersey boy Bruce Springsteen (okay, maybe not just hints) or Ohio’s Guided By Voices, not to mention shout-outs to dive bars and shopping malls stumbled across on countless and lengthy tours. What’s their latest Twin Cities reference? Find out when the Hold Steady plays the State Theatre this evening. While you’re at it, check out frontman Craig Finn’s playlist in this month’s issue. –Christy DeSmith

7:30 p.m., State Theatre, 805 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis; 612-339-7007; $23.50.

MUSIC
Walking in Minneapolis

Singer-songwriter Marc Cohen — best known for “Walking in Memphis” — is in town tonight promoting his latest album, Join the Parade. Cohen has come a long way since Carly Simon discovered him. He’s even come a long way from that Best New Artist Grammy he won in 1991. In fact, he’s no doubt among the top American lyricists today. Enjoy this evening’s performance, with a gritty opening blues act by Amy Correia.

7:30 p.m., Fitzgerald Theater, 10 E. Exchange St., St. Paul; 651-290-1221; $51.50.

Al Di Meola World Sinfonia ’07-’08

Celebrated by Guitar Players Magazine as the highest rated guitarists of all time, Al Di Meola has been at the forefront of jazz for over a quarter of a century — something you’d never guess from the looks of him, but clearly evident in his playing. Di Meola has tried it all. He’s explored numerous styles and voices. He’s traversed the globe both physically and musically. He’s played with greats in just about every musical genre, and from just about every country. And now he’s here for two nights only.

7 & 9:30 p.m., Dakota Jazz Club & Restaurant, 1010 Nicollet Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-332-1010; $45 & $30.

BOOKS & AUTHORS
Sixty-two Million a Year Ain’t Peanuts

Given the acclaim that has greeted Schulz and Peanuts, the new biography of Charles Schulz, it’s surprising that St. Paul has not rolled out the red carpet for its author, David Michaelis. After all, if one judges from the number of bronze Peanuts statues populating the city, it’d be hard not to conclude that Schulz, not F. Scott Fitzgerald, is its most favored son. Then again, boosterism via Peanuts statues is hardly the same thing as promotion for the man who has painstakingly researched the warts-and-all story of their creator. And from what we’ve read, there are a lot of warts. Anyhow, Michaelis will be appearing in Minneapolis on the University of Minnesota campus to discuss the self-described bland man who became the world’s richest cartoonist. –Julie Caniglia

2 p.m., U of M Bookstore, Coffman Union, 300 Washington Ave. S.E., Minneapolis ; 612-625-6000.

SPECIAL EVENT
Mix It Up

Can’t seem to settle on just one thing this evening? Try an evening of Music, Art, and Conversation at Homewood Studios. Join composer and guitarist John Penny for an acoustic set of sculpted and improvised jazz stylings. Enjoy the artwork of University students determined to translate oral narratives from Northside residents into works of art. View a few of John Penny’s drawings as well. And engage your fellow artists and art lovers in some awe-inspiring conversation. (You can do it.)

7 p.m., Homewood Studios, 2400 Plymouth Ave. N., Minneapolis; 612-521-0399; $5.

SPORTS
Remember, There’s That Other Sport

With so many losses all around us, it’s time to broaden the playing field and support some of those teams you may be neglecting. I’m not talking Gopher Sports here, people. This is Minnesota. Remember hockey? I mean, when I was in high school here that’s all anyone ever talked about. Of course, those were the Minnesota North Stars days — before Norm Green took our team away. But this is still hockey country, regardless of El Niño, and the Minnesota Wild need our support. Granted, they dropped the ball (or the puck, in this case) against the Colorado Avalanche last week with three straight losses; but we’re expecting the much-needed four-game homestand, against Pittsburgh.

6 p.m., Excel Energy Center, corner of Kellogg Blvd. and W. Seventh St., St. Paul; $22-$275.

Universities
shape mind. Universities teach us to "think." But do they teach us to
think for ourselves, or simply to think like "they" do. And who are
"they" anyhow? Do they really want diversity? Do they really want
diversity of thought? These are some of the questions raised by Evan Coyne Maloney’s new documentary, Indoctrinate U.
Interviews with students and members of academia, combined with live
on-campus footage, illustrate a repressive political climate that
transforms education into indoctrination and threatens our freedom of
thought. Don’t expect the usual liberal film in which students complain
that their radical ideologies are being suppressed. Maloney was once
called the "conservative answer to Michael Moore" by The New York Sun.

Through Nov. 1, 7:15 & 9:15 p.m., Oak Street Cinema, 309 Oak St. S.E., Minneapolis; $8 (students $6, members/seniors $5).

BOOKS & AUTHORS
Frank Warren Can’t Keep a Secret

Pssst. Wanna hear a secret? How about 100,000 of them? PostSecret contains over 100,000 postcards from across the globe, each with some kind of secret — from the poetic to the perverse. And the man responsible for the site, Frank Warren, is in town today, promoting his new book — just what you’d expect: A Lifetime of Secrets: A PostSecret Book. This, I believe, is his fourth PostSecrets book; and if you go meet him this afternoon, you could be in the fifth. Pick up a PostSecret postcard at the event, and share your secrets with Warren (and perhaps the rest of the world). His latest collection “lays bare the confessions of people at every stage of life and ultimately offers a glimpse into our collective psyche, touching on the hopes, dreams and fears of our relationships and experiences.” A Lifetime of Secrets is a photo collection of 4×6 postcards from people revealing their deepest secrets — you know, all that stuff we’re not supposed to see.

2 p.m., University of Minnesota Bookstores, 300 Washington Ave. S.E., Coffman Memorial Union, Minneapolis; 612-625-6564; free.

MUSIC
David Sanchez Quartet

I’ve been a David Sanchéz fan for years. The man is from my home town in Puerto Rico, and true to our culture, has the most musical of souls. Influenced a great deal by the legendary Charlie Parker, Sanchéz has played alongside greats like Eddie Palmieri and Dizzy Gillespie. But the man doesn’t need these big names to toot his horn. He’s a master of the tenor sax and a prolific composer, with numerous Grammy nominations under his belt and a perfect sound that can do no wrong.

7 & 9:30 p.m., Dakota Jazz Club & Restaurant, 1010 Nicollet Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-332-1010; $25 & $17.

FILM
There Never Was a Woman Like Rita

Gilda is Rita Hayworth at her finest — the quintessential sultry redhead. “There NEVER was a woman like Gilda!” reads the movie poster. And there never was. Forget all these wannabe stripper-stars out there, like Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears; Rita is the real deal — without removing anything but her gloves. Yes, this is the film that gave us the now-so-familiar image of the stiptease kick-off with the long black satin gloves. Directed by Charles Vidor, this film noir plays on the post-war fear of Nazi war criminals escaping to South America.

8 p.m., Parkway Theatre, 4814 Chicago Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-822-3030; $6.

Molding Young Minds

Universities shape mind. Universities teach us to “think.” But do they teach us to think for ourselves, or simply to think like “they” do. And who are “they” anyhow? Do they really want diversity? Do they really want diversity of thought? These are some of the questions raised by Evan Coyne Maloney’s new documentary, Indoctrinate U. Interviews with students and members of academia, combined with live on-campus footage, illustrate a repressive political climate that transforms education into indoctrination and threatens our freedom of thought. Don’t expect the usual liberal film in which students complain that their radical ideologies are being suppressed. Maloney was once called the “conservative answer to Michael Moore” by The New York Sun.

7:15 & 9:15 p.m., Oak Street Cinema, 309 Oak St. S.E., Minneapolis; $8 (students $6, members/seniors $5).

Not the Fictional Amadeus

Amadeus may have been a good film — beautifully acted at least — but its fictional nature did a disservice to the Master, and to the millions of people who walked away from it thinking they now understood Mozart. If you’re one of these people, don’t worry. Tonight you have an opportunity to learn about the real deal. In Search of Mozart paints a picture of Mozart’s life and music, focusing on the parallels between the two. Framed as a detective story — with the mission of finding the real Mozart — this Phil Grabsky documentary follows a 25,000-mile journey “along every route Mozart every traveled.” While the music certainly takes center stage — as well it should — interviews, personal documents and letters, expert commentary, and English actress Juliet Stevenson’s narration come together to give a full picture of the beauty that was Mozart.

7 & 9:15 p.m., Bell Auditorium, 10 Church St. S.E., Minneapolis; $8 (students $6, members/seniors $5).

ART & WOMEN
In Our Own Right

What better way to celebrate the achievements of women in the arts than to spend an evening enjoying the “expressions, perspectives, and self-revelations” of local women artists. Tonight’s In OUR Own Right performance and closing reception features performances by singer/songwriter JoAnna James (winner of two consecutive Minnesota Music Awards for “Female Vocalist of the Year”), storyteller and performer Amy Salloway, contemporary dance ensemble the SHE Collective, Perpich Center for Arts Education poets Ali Scott and Heather Campbell-Bezat, and spoken word artist Madame Mimi.

Friday at 8 p.m., The Minnesota Museum of American Art, 50 W. Kellogg Blvd. (at Market St.), St. Paul; 651-266-1030; free.

ART & MEDITATION
Clear Your Mind for Artistic Expression

While our creativity is certainly fueled by experience, by all the clutter around us, our environment. The truth is, it’s also squelched by all the noise. Like all energy, creative energy must be allowed to flow, to move, to express itself. But getting there, freeing your mind from the chaos around you and appreciating the simplicity and brilliance of things as they are, can be quite a challenge for some of us. Need some help with this endeavor? The Minneapolis Shambhala Center invites you to participate in parts one and two of a five-part Shambhala Art Program based on the teachings of Chogyam Trungpa, meditation master, poet, and artist. The program uses contemplative exercises and meditation instruction to explore and celebrate artistic expression that springs from the meditative mind. Enjoy a free public talk this evening, and participate in the workshop Saturday and Sunday. No previous experience required.

Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Shambhala Meditation Center, 2931 Grand St. NE, Minneapolis; 612-331-7737; free public talk on Friday, $150 workshop on Saturday and Sunday; no one will be turned away for lack of funds.

ART
Frida Kahlo

On the centenary of Frida Kahlo’s birth, a comprehensive retrospective can go a long way to rescue this tough, rich artist from her Art Heroine Poster Grrrl status. She deserves more. Kahlo was full of contradictions and had moments of heroism and weakness; she had blindness, insight, and a gift for telling a story with pictures. She also had talent — maybe not quite enough for her desire, but that’s true of many deservedly beloved artists: Edward Hopper and Paul Cézanne, for instance, were given deeper insight into the nature of the world by their own clumsiness at levering it into paint. Kahlo shares this divine thumbiness; it helps her create the new and make it accessible to her fellow mortals. –Ann Klefstad

Preview Party on Friday from 9 p.m. to 12 a.m., opens Saturday (11 a.m. to 5 p.m.), Walker Art Center, 1750 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis; 612-375-7600.

SHOPPING
Discover Friends, Discover Treasures

Granted, collecting antiques — or at least the romantic ideal of it — is about long drives to the boondocks, sifting through dust and rejected “knick knacks,” and discovering a treasure no one knew they had. In the end, it’s usually about exploiting the seller’s ignorance of the object at hand’s value. True, somehow, I doubt that The Minneapolis Institute of Art is terribly ignorant of the value of any antique. But if you want to avoid the long drive and the dust — if you’re looking for a perfectly curated antique show, bringing together some of the finest antique dealers from across the country — then you won’t want to miss MIA’s 24th annual Antiques Show & Sale this weekend.

Friday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday & Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p,m., Sunday 11 a.m. – 9 p.m., Zuhrah Shrine Center, Harrington Mansion, 2540 Park Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-871-3555; 612-870-3039; $10 (museum members $8).

FOOD & WINE – BENEFIT
Celebrate Bacchus and Do Some Good

Join Napa Valley Grille Executive Chef Matthew Fogarty this evening for a walk-around food and wine tasting with over 50 wines and 15 food sampling. For the first time ever, the Napa Valley Grille will close (open to you, of course) its doors this evening to host a benefit for the Second Harvest Heartland foodshelves. That’s right: feeding yourself will feed others — unfortunately for them, not with the same food. Tonight’s menu will include cider-roasted stuffed suckling pig, seafood paella, roasted leg of lamb, imported cheeses and breads, plus a wall of dessert tiers in the wine cellar. Sample the food, indulge in the wine, and participate in a silent auction of 25 mystery wine grab bags. Earmarked at $25, these lovely bags will contain wine bottles priced up to $100. Sounds like a win win situation to me. And, of course, all proceeds will benefit Second Harvest Heartland.

Friday from 6:30 – 9 p.m., Napa Valley Grille, Mall of America, 2nd level West side, Bloomington; 952-858-9934; $65.

DANCE
James Sewell Ballet

The James Sewell Ballet presents its fall program this weekend, featuring the premiere of Kinetic Head, a piece commissioned by Richard and Sandra Jacobson on the occasion of their 40th wedding anniversary. Kinetic Head’s choreography continues Sewell’s exploration of multiple coordination in ballet, taking the movement patterns and layers to a new level of structural complexity. The music is designed to serve the choreography, and is compiled and engineered by Sewell from diverse music loops, plus music by John Scherf and J. S. Bach. Also on this weekend’s agenda are Schoenberg Serenade, choreographed by Sewell for the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra in 2006, and excerpts from Raymonda, with choreography re-staged after the 1898 classic by Marius Petipa.

Friday & Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m., The O’Shaughnessy at the College of St. Catherine, 2004 Randolph Avenue, St. Paul; 651-690-6700; $32 (students $16); there will be a $10 First Chance Dance performance on Saturday at 11 a.m.

Playin’ at the Pantages

When I first moved to Minnesota with my family so many years ago, my sister sat crying by my side as we left her East coast world of ABT (dance afficionados will no doubt recognize that as the American Ballet Theater). As a rising and promising — though still young — ballet dancer, she wasn’t exactly excited about being land-logged here in the midwest. That is, until she learned that Loyce Houlton was teaching at the Minnesota Dance Theater. Houlton is a legend in the dance world, having studied with both Balanchine and Martha Graham (it doesn’t get much better than that) — and having choreographed so many wonderfully energetic and inspired pieces. And while she is no longer with us, she leaves her legacy at the heart of the Minnesota Dance Theater. This weekend, enjoy a touch of that legacy, that energy, that inspiration and beauty, as MDT opens its 2007-2008 season with two pieces by Houlton: 293.6, inspired by the 1969 Apollo 11 mission to the moon, and her more classical Boccherini Dances. Also on the slate for the evening is Eliot Feld’s A Stair Dance, created in memory of Gregory Hines; Sir Frederick Ashton’s Façade, a witty ’20s piece; and Portrait Project, a collaboration of three former MDT dancers.

Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m., Pantages Theatre, 710 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis; $31.50.

MUSIC
Bill Frisell Trio

Bill Frisell’s loping, laconic guitar phrases are as implacably beautiful and subtly shape-shifting as a prairie landscape, a perfect soundtrack for compelling visuals. Indeed, two of the cooler items in his quilted discography were created to accompany the photographs of Walker Evans (This Land) and the films of Buster Keaton (Go West). Now the Walker has co-commissioned Frisell to provide the atmosphere on the photos of Mike Disfarmer, who made Evans-like images of the Arkansas poor in the ’40s. But unlike the horn-oriented ensemble for This Land, Frisell will be joined by violinist Jenny Scheinman and lap-steel guitarist Greg Leisz. –Britt Robson, photo by Mike Disfarmer

Saturday at 7:30 & 9 p.m., Walker Art Center, 1750 Hennepin Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-375-7600.

THEATER & PERFORMANCE
The 14th Annual BareBones Halloween Show

Yes, sirree. Halloween is right around the corner, and that means another big-time puppet extravaganza by the light of the moon. If you’ve been to the BareBones Halloween Show since its 1993 inception, you’ll certainly want to repeat the experience. This is an all-out production, a real celebration of All Hallow’s Eve (and then some). With over 150 artists involved, the show features larger-than-life puppets, shadow puppets, handpuppets, costumes, masks, choral singing, fire artistry, stilting, and a live musical score composed and performed by a 10 piece orchestra. Bring a blanket, dress warm, don your own costume — at least a mask — and experience the narrative unraveling before you. “This year’s show begins on the Mississipi River Bank with the arrival of a macabre steamboat bearing a hilarious and satircal travelling carnival. River spirits arrive to guide audiences through a sublime river landscape (recreated in the forest) to a puppet river town. The arrival of Huck and Jim (from Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn) causes a town controversy from which the two have to flee. From there we follow their adventures down the river encountering wildlife, spirits, and the river’s dark history. All culminates in the swamp of reckoning with a call for justice and flood of light.” See what I’m saying? Big-time extravaganza! As always, you’ll even have an opportunity to honor the dead. (Come on; it’s Halloween.) And the audience is invited to stick around after the show for food, live music, and dancing.

Saturday through Wednesday at 7 p.m., Hidden Falls, base of the North Gate entrance, 1309 Mississippi River Blvd. S., St. Paul; 612-341-1038; free with donations encouraged.

And Now, We Sing for You

As a companion piece to their scaled-down production of La Bohème, Theater Latté Da presents three evenings of minimalist cabarets, somewhat appropriately titled Bohemian Rhapsodies, in which a bunch of local, aging bohemians gather around a piano and, from what we hear, sing for you. The first installment (this Sunday) features singer Ann Michels, storyteller and performer Josette Antomarchi, jazz vocalist Dennis Spears, poet and memoirist Patricia Hampl, and opera tenor Vern Sutton. Truth be told, we’re more looking forward to the November 4 show because we’ve got an awfully soft spot for at least one of the following: It stars soprano Maria Jette, husband-and-wife duo Fred and Anna Mae Vagle (they’re well known for their musicianship about St. Joan of Arc Church), folk singer Ann Reed, Russian singer Sima Shumilovsky, and co-host of The Current’s semi-popular The Morning Show, Dale Connelly. –Christy DeSmith

Sunday at 7 p.m., The Southern Theater, 1420 Washington Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-340-1725; $18.