The Rake Magazine

Told in flashback, The Counterfeiters is the exciting true story of Salomon Sorowitsch, who, in the years before World War II, was the world’s greatest counterfeiter. Arrested in Berlin, Sorowitsch is sent to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp—as both Jew and habitual criminal he’s considered doubly threatening. But the Germans find a use for Sorowitsch, putting … Read more

Traditionally, Minnesota Opera presents its big American premiere in March; this year, it’s a 297-year-old rediscovered treasure from Germany: Reinhard Keiser’s The Fortunes of King Croesus (March 1–9) … The Guthrie’s production of Heather Raffo’s 9 Parts of Desire (March 1–23), a one-woman play about nine Iraqi women’s lives during war, packs a considerable double-punch … Read more

Things could get interesting when the English and Theater departments at the U of M embark on a joint investigation of Suzan-Lori Parks’s oeuvre. This Pulitzer- and MacArthur Genius Grant-winning playwright boasts a body of work that’s rich in poetics and historic awareness, yet audacious enough to confront issues of emotional brutality head-on. (In other … Read more

One of the most literate, thoughtful choreographers in town, Stuart Pimsler presents a double bill of protest art late in the month. Ways to Behold, a world premiere with accompaniment by spoken-word artist Tiyo Siyolo, juxtaposes the realities of a U.S.-initiated—yet somehow invisible—war overseas with the comforts of daily life on our own shores. Sentry … Read more

Bob Mould hits town at his old First Avenue stomping grounds (March 5) with a resplendent new disc, District Line, that mixes an occasional electronic dance tune with the molten pop-rock … Two substantial (as in deep and dense) jazz bands for the price of one are on the docket when both Ravi Coltrane and … Read more

For those who prefer the hunks in the big hats and tight jeans, well, it’s time you learned it ain’t the meat in a man’s voice, it’s the motion. And even at age seventy-six, the pipes of The Possum will have you moving with him into chasms of loneliness and epiphanies of grace and gratitude … Read more

This odd but spectacular double-header pairs two veteran singer/songwriters from opposite sides of the emotional spectrum. At one end is the naively optimistic Jonathan Richman, known for his playful and charmingly inane simplicity. Even if he doesn’t dive into his classic songbook from his days with the Modern Lovers, he can draw upon nearly thirty … Read more

One of the last things you expect out of Maceo Parker is a new wrinkle, and that’s OK: As the saxophonist for the Godfather of Soul, he’s the man who blew the horn that popped the sweat out of James Brown’s pores. He went on to play with two of Brown’s most renowned heirs to … Read more