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We’ve long suspected that Kurt Andersen is a fictional character, or rather, a consortium of writers and raconteurs doing business as Zeitgeist, Inc. How else to explain this purported Kurt Andersen’s cutting-edge sensibilities and sheer ubiquity? Surely no one man could juggle so many chain saws. According to the bio that accompanies Heyday, his latest … Read more

Some of our best storytellers served childhood apprenticeships sitting at the feet of master raconteurs. Rick Bragg’s familial memoirs—1997’s All Over but the Shoutin’ and 2001’s Ava’s Man—are nothing if not evidence of one such early initiation to the oral tradition. Awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1996 for his “elegantly written” New York Times features, … Read more

Pop culture has always played a huge role in Jonathan Lethem’s invented—and wildly inventive—world. He’s sort of the house DJ for a stable of like-minded contemporary writers, offering deft literary mash-ups of science fiction, hard-boiled detective stories, magical realism, and comic-book mythology. Lethem’s first novel since 2003’s Fortress of Solitude is a bit of a … Read more

Minnesota Opera’s production of The Grapes of Wrath last month invited comparisons to Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, as does this new production by another, smaller local company. Is a trend afoot? Lost in the Stars is a jazzy American opus calling for a largely black cast, though its composer is Kurt Weill, better known for … Read more

For its next trick, Ballet of the Dolls pairs some hot and sweaty stage antics with Cajun and early Zydeco music. The he-Dolls will dress down for this occasion, donning muscle shirts and cut-off jean shorts, while the ballerinas are set to prance about in satin slips. But just as country music evolved into a … Read more

Though Jeune Lune dubbed its current season “Mozart and Molière,” this reprise is the only one drawing from both artists. By marrying Molière’s Don Juan to Mozart’s Don Giovanni, both of which were inspired by the legendary Spanish character, this show imagines a pair of lady-killers driving cross-country in a 1950 Plymouth coupe. Dominique Serrand, … Read more

Find out for yourself whether this play, which piqued the ire of Strib columnist Katherine Kersten and conservative bloggers all around town, is worth the fuss. The Pope and the Witch tells the story of a fictional pontiff who, under extenuating circumstances, starts running with a witch doctor who dabbles in abortion and drugs. But … Read more

The kora looks a bit like a prize-winning pumpkin speared by a tree branch, but this twenty-one-string gourd sings like a harp or a lute, depending on how it’s coaxed, and its romantic trill underpins the urgent rhythms of traditional Malian music. There’s only one kora player as good as Toumani Diabaté, and that’s his … Read more

In the span of a few weeks at the Cedar, it’s possible to experience a dozen-piece African band, a haunting hardanger fiddle player, an Iowan folksinger, a Saami joiker, and a legendary bluegrass band. This intimate, no-frills venue, which resembles a middle school auditorium circa 1970, conjures the true spirit of community, with children playing … Read more

Iron John has replaced his men’s drum circle with the sweet, soaring harmonies of Cantus’ nine angelic male singers. Cantus premieres A Sound Like This by Twin Cities composer Edie Hill, which sets to music the mystical verse of Indian bard Kabir, as translated by Robert Bly. Kabir, a fifteenth-century weaver and poet, is said … Read more