FOOD AND FUN
We’re in This Together, You and Me
Here’s a secret for you — Galactic Pizza is having another Richard Simmons Night. That’s right, another one; apparently this is an annual event. You have to give this place credit. They lack no imagination. Order a pizza and Captain Awesome will be there in a jiffy in his electric Galactic wack-mobile. (Employees get to pick their own superheros when they start.) Well, now they’re giving it up to exercise guru/joker Richard Simmons. Dress like Richard Simons, act like Richard Simons, squeal like Richard Simons — or one of his “fatties” — and you’ll get half off your second pizza, second round, or second anything. Me, I’m going to pay full price and get some free entertainment. The employees all have to dress like him, too.
Friday, Galactic Pizza, 2917 Lyndale Ave S, Minneapolis; 612-824-9100.
MUSIC by Britt Robson
Modest Mouse
The mainstreaming of Modest Mouse has predictably put many undies in a bunch among the band’s original die-hards. Aside from an occasional blast of belligerence and a meandering sonic idyll or two, the sextet’s new We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank furthers the commercial maturity of their improbable hit, “Float On.” And it cements a spot for frontman Isaac Brock (alongside the Talking Heads’ David Byrne and Pavement’s Stephen Malkmus) in the pantheon of “indie-rock” tunesmiths who like their clever, quirky, sardonic lyrics served up with angular, jangly, soft-elbowed grooves. The big splash of ex-Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr joining the band wasn’t overwhelmingly apparent on the disc, but one imagines his arching riffs will protrude a little more noticeably onstage.
Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m., Orpheum Theater, 910 Hennepin Ave; 651-989-5151; $32.
If you dare to step outside the metro area for the night, there’s more good music to see in every direction: The BoDeans in Mankato on Friday; Cake at Winona State on Friday, and at Concordia College on Saturday; and Greg Brown in Rochester on Saturday night. Hell, I’d even drive to Iowa to see him.
DANCE
Progressive Evolution
But the must-see event this weekend isn’t just about music, it’s about dance. This weekend, the Minnesota Dance Theatre and Springboard come together to present Playin’ At The Pantages. Dance Theater member Dario Mejia — who I’ve had the pleasure of seeing grow up a bit over the past fifteen years — is making his choreographic debut with Soil, spinning from Ravel and Whitacre to Golillaz and Sia. Then watch as the Springboard dancers bring us the world premiere of Strange Attractors, composed by Shirley Mier and choreographed by Penelope Freeh (James Sewell Ballet) and Wynn Fricke (MDT Choreographer-in-Residence). That’s all for the premieres, but there are several other beautiful pieces to be performed, even an excerpt from George Balanchine’s Seranade.
Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m., Pantages Theatre, 710 Hennepin Ave, Minneapolis; 612-339-7007; $32.
THEATER AND PERFORMANCE
She Did It All for Love, Amen!
Tonight is the opening night of Frontier Theatre’s production os Nicky Silver’s The Maiden’s Prayer at the Lowry Lab Theater. It’s a love story story with all the traditional fixings — obsession, romance, betrayal, tragedy. “The Maiden’s Prayer examines the delicate balance of loving someone and needing someone. Falling in love with the idea of someone can be tricky, and as these characters unpack their emotional baggage, their desperate romantic fixations breed betrayal, tragedy, and a little accidental prostitution.”
7:30 p.m., Lowry Lab Theater, The Lowry Building, 360 St. Peter Street, St. Paul; 612 669-9306; $15.
FOOD AND SHOPPING
Secure Your Produce and Secure the Farm
Anybody know what Community Supported Agriculture is? Take the Farmer’s Market one step further and set up a direct partnership between the farm and the consumer. You simply subscribe to a share of the harvest. Your investment covers the farm’s operating costs, and your produce is delivered to one of various drop-off points each week. Find out more this Saturday at the sixth annual Seward Co-op Community Supported Agriculture Fair.
Saturday from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m., Seward Co-op, 2111 East Franklin Ave, Minneapolis; 612-338-2465.
READING
A Touch of the Erotica
“To be thrilled at the touch of leather, aroused by the sound of harsh words, or satisfied by the security of rigid bondage is the mark of a lover. To be thrilled at the opportunity to provide useful service, aroused by a pleased nod, and satisfied by the proverbial job well done, is the mark of a slave. It may sound severe. Almost anti-erotic. Until you see two people, owner and owned, existing in a complementary relationship where each suits the other like balances on a delicate scale.” — That’s an excerpt from Laura Antoniou’s Marketplace series. Now, you decide whether or not you’re up for it. Do you really want to be the one to say no?
Saturday at 7 p.m., DreamHaven Books, 912 West Lake St, Minneapolis; 612-823-6161.
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