By now you’ve probably heard all about the New York wunderkinds, Andrew Rasmussen and Rob Laqui, who are bringing Andrew Lippa’s award-winning jazz musical to town. But Joseph Moncure March remains obscure. He’s the man whose 1928 prose-poem spectacular inspired the musical, which recounts the booziest, bawdiest, sleaziest and most stylin’ bash in 1920s Manhattan. Read more about March in Over the Coals (page 81), and then head to St. Paul and get wild with all those jazz babies. 651-290-1221; www.thewildpartymusical.com
Author: rakemag
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The Notebook and The Proof
Our love for Belgium doesn’t stop at frites and chocolate; the Flemish have as much a knack for the avant-garde as their Dutch neighbors. Take De Onderneming, the minimalist, director-free company that is the latest import in the Guthrie’s World Stage Series. This four-member troupe of street performers will reprise The Notebook and The Proof, a company-created double bill that was a smash at last year’s Edinburgh Theater Festival. Juggling characters, set elements, and the poetic texts of Hungarian author Agota Kristof (translated into English, mind you), the company tells the story of two brothers in a war-torn country. To survive, they devise a language and moral code all their own that, inevitably, tears them apart. Years later, when one tries to reunite with the other, the brothers’ history–that version of truth they invented together–is still there, waiting to be wrestled with. 700 First St. N., Minneapolis; 612-377-2224; www.guthrietheater.org
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The Train Wreck is Proceeding Nicely
Game show hosts, goateed beatniks, and a chorus line of bathing beauties? Why, it could only be a McCarthy hearing! Time Track Productions takes an absurdist look at the red scare by envisioning the questioning of J. Robert Oppenheimer as a fifties-era variety show. It’s hard to take on the politics of fear, whether vintage or contemporary, without being heavy-handed, so The Train Wreck is Proceeding Nicely takes the opposite tack, inviting the audience to join the father of the atom bomb and suspected Commie on his romp through patriotism, conscience, camp films, and the late, late, late show. 1420 Washington Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-340-1725; www.southerntheater.org
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Apartment 3A
It’s usually not a good thing when your landlord takes an interest in your love life. But in Annie Wilson’s case, a little meddling is just what she needs. Having recently lost what she thought was the love of her life, she’s uprooted herself to a new apartment across town. The landlord tells her 3A is the best apartment in the building, in large part because of a mysterious yet eligible next-door neighbor. Apartment 3A was penned by the actor Jeff Daniels, the oddball everyman whom we loved in Something Wild (and who currently appears in the family flick, Because of Winn-Dixie). 245 Cedar Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-333-3010; www.theatreintheround.org
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Jane Eyre the Musical
Yes, it seems outlandish, but that’s the correct title. Charlotte Bronte’s classic tale of bitterness and resignation, rendered as a musical. Poor dowdy Jane cultivated an air of invisibility as she skulked about doing her menial work and watching her cruel crush woo other ladies, so the very thought of this mousy heroine breaking into song is a stretch. Nor is this happy ending any kind of Cinderella story. Yet somehow John Caird’s play, with music by Paul Gordon, earned five Tony nominations when it appeared on Broadway. How? By looking on the bright side of things! Laurine Price and Tim Kuehl star as plain Jane and the angst-ridden Rochester, diving head-on into the whirl of emotions that makes this Gothic romance so compelling. 805 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis; 612-673-0404; www.aboutmmt.org
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to the editor
REPRESENTATIVE MAN
While Clinton Collins’ musings have long been a favorite of mine, it is a shame that he is perpetuating the (implied) myth of how the shortest month of the year came to be Black History Month [Love It and Leave It, February]. The selection of February, in fact, was made by a black scholar, Harvard professor Carter G. Woodson, in 1926 when he initiated “Negro History Week” in the second week of February. Dr. Woodson chose that week in homage to Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. There are numerous websites with information on the origins of Black History Month, such as www.freemaninstitute.com/woodson.htm.
Patty Dean
MinneapolisHERE, HERE
African-American history doesn’t fit into white-American folk history in the same way that black South African history didn’t fit into Afrikaan’s folk history. It took years of revolt and international pressure to change apartheid South Africa. Mainstream American history, despite the revolt of the 1960s, is still a folk history filled with tall tales and omissions. American music, writing, the visual arts, and political change owe much to African-Americans. A month of lip-service is insulting.
Walt Rupp
St. PaulMILL CITY MUSEUM: ALIVE AND WELL
It was wonderful to read last monthÕs cover story about the great things happening with the new Minneapolis Library [Who Needs All These Books, Anyway? February]. But given the flurry of activities that happen daily at Mill City Museum, we were bemused to see ourselves described as an “exquisite corpse.” The grand architectural achievement created at the museum is becoming well known through various awards and public acclaim, but we fear that the article missed the point of how this architecture was envisioned, and how visitors experience history at the museum. Since our opening in September 2003, more than thirty thousand schoolchildren have explored their roots through our engaging programs. Another one hundred thousand regular visitors have experienced history in a variety of innovative ways–through the eight-story “Flour Tower,” a modern music series in our Ruin Courtyard called Mill City Live (sponsored by The Rake), and numerous events such as weddings, class reunions, corporate parties, and, yes, a multitude of museum programs and demonstrations that put the past into context. And if readers need further convincing about the vitality of this place, then they simply need to come marvel at the transforming and vibrant Minneapolis riverfront from the top of our building–perhaps the most dramatic observation deck in the state. According to the National Historic Trust for Preservation, Mill City Museum is now the national standard in successful public/private preservation. Even the American Institute of Architects recently honored Mill City Museum with its highest award for architectural achievement. These awards are testament to the power of making history matter for people in the current moment, and for the ability of this unique venue to create a sense of the past that informs our communityÕs hopes for the future. We invite you to come down and give us a pinch. You’ll find we are alive and well, and eager to treat you to a taste of Minneapolis past and present.
John Crippen
Mill City Museum Director
Minnesota Historical SocietyLIBRARIANS DO IT IN THEIR STACKS
What a great article! I live in western Hennepin County but I sent my check for twelve dollars (and more) to the Minneapolis Public library. I used this system extensively when in college and could not have graduated from college without it. Well-staffed and stocked school libraries actually boost all students’ test scorces K-12. We have test data for more than six years that prove it. Regardless of socio-economic factors and education level of parents. What a great buy! Let’s all rejoice in all libraries.
S. Mays
MinneapolisEXTEND THOSE HOURS, ASAP
When I was a kid in Chicago, libraries were open until midnight on Friday and Saturday. They also showed educational films to the general public. The libraries were a place to go, learn, and talk to your neighbors, and they were pretty busy. The libraries here are not typically available for anyone other than people who have the day off or on weekends. I believe they should all be open until 10 P.M. and they should start to open themselves up to more community events. Whatever happens, libraries are a great resource and could be more effectively used as the hub of a community.
Daniel Blackburn
St. PaulTRAFFIC RADIO
Regarding 511 Is A Joke [Good Intentions, February]: MnDOT’s cancellation of the KBEM partnership is yet another major public education cut made by a governor’s administration that is simultaneously pretending it is increasing funding to public schools and has yet to do anything real about our traffic situation. We all know that traffic changes by the minute. 511.org is outdated by the time I get to my car, and calling 511 takes more time to use than driving during rush hour. I do hope the partnership will be reconsidered (reinstated) by MnDOT. Minneapolis Public Schools should consider selling airtime to other metro school districts. Not only would MPS retain ownership of this important asset, but students from all metro districts would learn about all facets of operating a radio station while getting a first-class education in jazz. That is a win for students, MPS, and those of us stuck in traffic.
Tom Madden
MinneapolisSMOKE ‘EM IN THE BOYS ROOM?
In response to Fred Eisenbery, the smoking bike-messenger who complains, “Minnesota is such a mommy state, where absolutely nothing is allowed … ” [One Step Forward, Two Smokes Back, the Rakish Angle, February]: If you want to smoke your lungs out like I did when I was eighteen, so be it. I strongly recommend that you quit, but you’re a big boy now. My main beef is with your secondhand smoke, not your bad habit. You and your buddies are standing outside Dunn Brothers on Nicollet because that smoke coming off your cigarettes and out of your lungs is not only putting you at risk, but also everyone working there, and the people like me who start off every day with some high-octane joe. That’s why indoor workplaces are going smoke free in Hennepin County in March, and hopefully statewide in August. Still think smoking isn’t so bad? Check out our website: www.alamn.org.
Robert Moffitt
Communications Director
American Lung Association of Minnesota -
Dopes on Journalism
Image courtesy Nathan WalshNow that we know that President Bush smoked dope, I guess we can finally admit that we were in the room when some of that went on at our college, too. And, also because we now know the President has finally admitted to what we all knew anyway, I don’t feel bad pointing you to High Times for this interview with Hunter S. Thompson, Mr. Gonzo himself, who is at least a bastard godfather to all journalists of my age. Thompson killed himself yesterday.
From the passage he wrote about looking down into the trunk of his Cadillac which was stuffed full of marijuana, LSD, mushrooms, uppers, downers, and a tank of ether, and figured “with careful rationing, I could make it through the weekend,” to last week’s report of him and Bill Murray driving golf balls then shooting them like skeet, Thompson was bigger than the rest of us who merely wrote about stuff other people did. “Living large” was a phrase invented for him.
He wrote a lot of great stuff, and a lot of crap, too. We certainly remember Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas from college…it’s maybe the only thing we remember from college. But, while that was all in good fun, what we really remember was his essay, which amounted to an endorsement, of then Georgia governor Jimmy Carter, after he heard Carter give a speech at the U of Georgia on Law Day 1974.
Thompson was drinking Wild Turkey at the luncheon, while everyone else was sipping that overly sweet Southern ice tea. I can’t find the piece he wrote on the internet, but it’s in his book The Great Shark Hunt. That piece, as much as any, except maybe All The President’s Men, made me pick up the typewriter. I had to do a lot of typing one handed because it took me a while longer to remember to put down the Wild Turkey.
Drug addled though he may have been, Thompson set a standard for truth telling in his journalism that is rarely matched today. (My favorite example: “There is no way to grasp what a shallow, contemptible and hopelessly dishonest old hack Hubert Humphrey is until you’ve followed him around for a while.”)
Maybe his epic battles with the likes of Richard Nixon left him with less to fear than journalists have today. As far as I know, he didn’t face jail when he crossed some lines, unlike Judith Miller and Matthew Cooper do today. But then, Nixon was a complete amateur at dealing with the press, when compared to that old dope smoker George W. Bush. If only Nixon had thought of populating the White House press corps with gay prostitutes, maybe things would have gone easier for him.
I wish Thompson could have held off his own demons long enough to write about hot military studs in the White House. I would have paid to read his thoughts on something so weird even he couldn’t have made it up.
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Why my cable bill is so high
Every time I look at my Time Warner bill and wonder why I’m paying so much for so little I think of Groucho’s advice: “I find TV very educational. When someone turns it on, I go into the other room and read a good book.” It’s not that easy though. I’m as dumb as the next guy, and when the damn thing turns itself on (I’ve got to quit sitting on the remote) I tend to just sit there and take it in.
It’s not really that bad. I used to like West Wing, and I do like the Sopranos and the movies on Turner Classics, but every time I really think of pitching the box out the window I begin to worry that I’m going to miss an episode of Real Time with Bill Maher.
If you haven’t seen Real Time, or you don’t remember when Bill used to have a show on ABC before he said something Ari Fleischer didn’t approve of, here’s a sample of why it’s so good from today’s LA Times.
The new season of Real Time starts tonight at 10 on HBO. If you call right now, I’m sure they can add HBO to your package. While you’re on the phone, ask them if it’s any cheaper if you can drop the Fox News Channel.
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Voting for ourselves
The Strib did a nice job last Sunday in their Op-Ex section on immigrants.
Some views from both sides, including some of their own pieces and the obligatory screed from the Center of the American Experiment. (Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be a link to the series, so you’ll have to dig the section out of the recycling pile if you want to reread it.)
Included in the section was a very short sidebar written by two religious leaders: Evangelical pastor H. Gene Follis from Rochester and Catholic Bishop Harry Flynn from St. Paul.
You should read it yourselves and make your own judgments about which iteration of Christianity attracts you, but I want to comment on one thing Follis said. He argues that big government, and its taxes, hinder his brand of Christians’ ability to give to the poor. The government, he says, is taking too much of the money that Christians would otherwise willingly turn over to their less fortunate brothers.
He goes on to say, “America’s founding fathers predicted that a democracy without a strongly biblical/moral foundation will spawn a growing percentage of the people voting in favor of their own maintenance…”
Now aside from this putting anyone who’s in favor of using tax money to help the poor firmly in the not biblical/moral camp, he now also seems to shove those who vote in favor of their own interest over there, too.
So, keep that in mind the next time you vote. You can vote for the candidate who promises to lower your taxes, but only if you promise to give every penny of what you get back to people in need. Otherwise, I guess we’ll be seeing you in hell along with Bishop Flynn and all the other Democrats.