rakemag

If you’re managing to keep in the holiday spirit, you might want to know about that a couple promising Christmas shows open tonight. Both are reprises. There’s Ballet of the Dolls’s irreverent take on The Nutcracker, which bears the telling subhead (Not So) Suite. This plays at the Ritz. There’s also The Seven Poor Travellers, … Read more

Tonight, the Lagoon Cinema is hosting a free, advance screening of Volver, Pedro Almodovar’s latest film starring Penelope Cruz. I haven’t seen it yet, so I can’t offer my personal endorsement. However, our much-trusted film guy, Peter Schilling, seems to like it. On the other hand, plenty of critics have panned the thing, as is … Read more

Today’s my 31st birthday. If I weren’t already set to enjoy a home-cooked dinner, as made by my fabulous boyfriend, and then drinks-upon-drinks with my closest friends, I’d probably want to spend the evening at Walker Community Church, where I’d detail and repent the very many sins I’ve committed this past year. Just Kidding! This … Read more

It’s the rare Monday night on which a worthwhile theater production takes place. The not-often seen (not often anymore) Open Eye Figure Theatre will present its version of The Nativity Story–and the Virgin Mary promises to be a lot punchier than in Catherine Hardwicke’s playing-it-safe film version. Another thing to note about the show: although … Read more

All kinds of promising rock shows are scheduled for this evening: Curtiss A’s Tribute to John Lenon is at First Ave, this being the anniversary of Lenon’s murder; The Alarmists are at the Turf Club; Beatifics are at the Uptown–which reminds me that the beatific Mr. Chris Dorn left me a message a while back, … Read more

I’m writing about secrets in two sections today, since the first will probably offend the tastes of some readers. Section one: Today, folks from the Rochester Art Center (yes, all the way down in Rochester) are talking about the influence of graffiti and skateboard culture on contemporary art. Scott Sulen, a young artist and, if … Read more

An art dialogue worth noting: A collection of artists, critics, and administrators are gathering tonight at the Minnesota Museum of Art to discuss the life and work of George Morrison, a Minnesota-born American Indian artist most famous for his abstracted “North Shore” style. (If you need a primer, go look at the sidewalk mosaic outside … Read more

It’s the sort of thing that might keep you up at night, but nevertheless, the Jonestown documentary that’s playing at Oak Street Cinema is worth seeing. Lots of folks are too young to remember or know exactly what transpired at Jonestown. Of course, most of us have seen those haunting images of heaped bodies, faced-down … Read more

Wow, this Monday there’s something really cool and uplifting going on (besides shopping). The Blind Boys of Alabama perform tonight on the Guthrie stage. Get a sample at blindboys.com.

What’s impressive: The Walker Art Center’s programming of “semipopular music” this season. Personally, I anxiously await the arrival of The Books, a duo of “recording artists” whose live performances have been known to fall a little flat on audiences’ ears. But when it comes to laying down her credit card, a loyal fan doesn’t discriminate … Read more