The Rake Magazine

SPECIAL EVENT
150 Years of Labor in Minnesota

Happy May Day — and if you don't know what that is, it's International Worker's Day. Celebrate the social and economic achievements of the labor movement at the Saint Paul Labor Center. Labor scholars and historians Hy Berman, Mary Wingerd, and Annette Atkins look at 150 years of labor in Minnesota. After the panel discussion, the Saint Paul Labor Chorus leads a sing-along of popular — and not-so-popular — labor tunes. "We'll fight for shorter hours, for a Health and Safety Bill, / An end to conditions that injure and kill / A future for our kids and fair taxes as well, / And them that don't like it, well they can go to hell!"

7 p.m., Saint Paul Labor Centre, 411 Main St., St. Paul; 651-222-3242.

SHOPPING
Luna Vinca Anniversary Sale

Of course, you could take a really twisted, consumer approach to International Worker's Day and celebrate the things for which you work — the comfort, the decadence, the luxuries you can afford yourself. And you can even save money in the process. Luna Vinca is hosting a 10-year Anniversary Sale with a celebration soiree this evening. Enjoy treats and beverages as you shop for fresh flowers, home decor, jewelry, cards, and gifts — all at 25 percent off.

5-7 p.m. (through Sunday), Luna Vinca, 3344 Hennepin Ave. S, Minneapolis; 612-823-6178.

MUSIC
Michael Christie Conducts Dvořák, Rameau, Ligeti

The romance of Dvořák. The intellectual complexity of Rameau. The sound mass of Ligeti. The Trill of Tartini. Enjoy them all tonight, as celebrated Brooklyn Philharmonic Music Director Michael Christie leads the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra in what I can only describe as an extremely well-rounded and delightful program. SPCO principal second violin Dale Barltrop solos on Tartini’s Devil’s Trill Sonata (probably Tartini's most famous work, and certainly one of the most demanding violin solos). Also on the program are Rameau’s Suite from Zoroastre, Dvořák’s Serenade in D Minor for Winds (Opus 44), and Ligeti’s Concert Românesc.

8 p.m., Temple Israel, 2324 Emerson Ave. S., Minneapolis (Friday at 10:30 a.m. and 8 p.m.,, Wooddale Church, Eden Prairie; Saturday at 8 p.m., Saint Paul’s United Church of Christ, Saint Paul); 651-291-1144; $10-$25.

Get outdoors today and enjoy the weather. It's going to be "mostly" sunny and back up to the 60s. Considering the weather lately, that's pretty darn good. And when the evening starts to fall, get out and use some of that sun-fueled brain & body energy.

MUSIC
Uh Huh Her

For a real spring sound, go check out Los Angeles-based music duo Uh Huh Her at the Varsity tonight. Leisha Hailey and Camila Grey serve up some seriously mellifluous indie electro-pop. You might recognize Hailey, formerly of The Murmurs, from the Showtime hit series The L Word. And Camila Grey, bassist and keyboardist with lo-fi rock band Mellowdrone, has worked with Dr. Dre, Busta Rhymes, Melissa Auf Der Maur, and Kelly Osbourne. How about that?

8 p.m., Varsity Theater, 1308 4th St. SE, Minneapolis; 612-604-0222; $15.

BOOKS & AUTHORS
The Man, the Writer, the Revolutionary, the Legend

We have a legend in our midst today: Amiri Baraka is in town to share his wisdom with us. This man was one of the leading voices of the Black Arts Movement in Harlem in the '60s — the one that essentially laid out the path for a new American theater aesthetics. Author of over 40 books of poetry, essays, drama, music history, and criticism, Baraka has covered virtually all aspects of art, politics, and activism in the United States, the Caribbean, Africa, and Europe. Yes, that's a lot of ground to cover, the man is quite the master. It's not often he comes to Minneapolis from his hometown of Newark, NJ, so be sure to catch him now.

7:30 p.m., Northrop Auditorium, 84 Church St. SE, Minneapolis; $10.

Wrack and Ruin

Don Lee's latest novel has gotten a lot of attention lately (so I'm guessing it's quite good), and he's here in town today to speak for himself (you know, a reading, a discussion, a book signing, and all that jazz). Lee, currently a resident of St. Paul, served as editor of Ploughshares for nine years, prior to accepting an associate professor position at Macalester College, teaching creative writing, of course. And it seems we got him at just the right time, as Wrack and Ruin takes the world by storm. In this latest novel, Lee writes about about two brothers, one a sculptor-turned-Brussels sprouts farmer, the other a charlatan movie producer. If you happen to have read Yellow, his previous collection of stories, you'll recognize the made-up town of Rosarita Bay, California, the setting for his latest novel. Apparently, having grown up as a diplomatic brat, it's easier for Lee to make up a fictional home than to draw from his own experience (though, to be fair, it is based on a real town).

7:30 p.m., Barnes & Noble Booksellers Galleria, 3225 W 69th St., Galleria Shopping Center, Edina; 952-920-0633.

FILM EVENT

Educational Event: New Media

MN Women in Film and Television has organized a special event for film and new media lovers this evening. Join local new media gurus this evening for an HDMG tour, iChat demos, and a panel discussion featuring local media gurus Chuck Olsen (co-founder of The UpTake, founder of Minnesota Stories, producer-director of Blogumentary, and Minneapolis correspondent for Rocketboom), Jenni Pinkley (award-winning multimedia producer for StarTribune.com), Julie Rappaport (co-founder and artistic director of Smokin' Yogi Visions), and me (co-founder of Chasing Windmills and editor of The Rake). We hope to have much to offer in the way of experience (and all the things you shouldn't do).

6:30-9 p.m., HDMG, 6573 City West Parkway, Eden Prairie.

FILM
Touch of Evil

More interested in good-old enduring and endearing archetypes than in new media? Take in a classic film noir this evening at the Parkway. A Touch of Evil — starring Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, Orson Welles, and Marlene Dietrich — is a dark and twisted story of murder, kidnapping, and police corruption in a Mexican border town. Regarded as the last film noir of its time, A Touch of Evil is best known for its opening shot — a three-minute shot considered to be one of the greatest long shots in American cinema. You certainly don't want to miss this Welles classic.

7 & 9:10 p.m., Parkway Theater, 4814 Chicago Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-822-3030; $5.

SPORTS
Twins vs. Sox

It's still early in the season, and the Twins have a home game against the Chicago White Sox tonight. Go show your support, lend your voice to the cause, and be sure to check out Brad Zellar's post-game commentary. (If nothing else, it's a great excuse to eat a ballpark weiner and have a few beers.)

7:10 p.m., Metrodome, 34 Kirby Puckett Pl., Minneapolis; 612-375-1366.

And if you have a few moments to spare today, be sure to check out Denis Jeong's fabulous Voltage slideshows. You will find photos with which to keep yourself occupied for quite some time.

 

THEATER & PERFORMANCE
Most Excellent and Lamentable Tragedy of Romeo & Juliet

Romeo and Juliet — when we hear this we think of a bittersweet tale. We think of doomed love. But we usually think of it against a backdrop of festivity and decadence. Now, 3AM Productions presents a different look at Shakespeare's great tragedy — perhaps a more realistic one (as if we need more realism). Perhaps a more contemporary one. Definitely a darker one, a dingier one, a dirtier one. Set against the backdrop of a fallen city, the Most Excellent and Lamentable Tragedy of Romeo & Juliet highlights the crippling effects of violence on an entire city — "the destruction that awaits any society that insists on attacking itself." Told through the eyes of the chorus, the play uses a more contemporary, crumbling industrial setting — the Grain Belt Brewery — to show how love can become the one motivating factor to rise above our current blood-thirsty quest for power. (A mighty lesson indeed.)

7:30 p.m.,, Grain Belt Brewery Bottling House, 77 and 79 Thirteenth Ave. NE, Minneapolis; 612-781-3019.

BOOKS & AUTHORS
Poets Exchange: Christina Davis

Join the Loft this evening for the first-ever State-to-State Poets Exchange event. Now, poets from the Big Apple and the Mini Apple can connect to active literary communities outside their home state — which means of course that we get to enjoy a bunch of New York poets (and they ours). Our first visitor will be poet Christina Davis, author of Forth A Raven, and finalist for the Beatrice Hawley Award and the Foreword Book of the Year Award. Davis will give a public reading and on-stage interview on her current work in progress. A reception will follow.

7 p.m., Open Book, 1011 Washington Ave. S., Minneapolis.


FILM
You Can't Take It With You

Frank Capra and Jimmy Stewart — is there a more feel-good combination out there? If you need your heart warmed tonight, then head over to the Parkway for this evening's screening of You Can't Take It With You. The 1938 film, which launched Stewart into the public's embrace, won two Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director. The lovely Jean Arthur plays a member of an extremely whacky and eccentric family who falls in love with Stewart, a stuffy rich boy. Comedy ensues in this final feature of Take-up Productions' latest series — Sweet Escapism: Screwball Comedies of the Great Depression.

7:30 p.m. Parkway Theater, 4814 Chicago Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-822-3030.

ART
W(e are )here: Mapping the Human Experience

Last night, groups of creative explorers got together to form a psychogeographic map of Uptown Minneapolis. How did they do this? They planned tours at the roll of a die; then — utilizing Google Earth, a projector, and a wall sized "canvas" — the groups layered their experiences during the walk over a projected representation of the city. Tonight, that psychogeographic map collective of human experience will be on display for all to enjoy at the W(e are )here: Mapping the Human Experience Exhibition Party. Enjoy fascinating multimedia presentations, music, drinks, and food; and share with beautifully creative minds.

Friday from 7 to 11 p.m., Intermedia Arts, 2822 Lyndale Ave S, Minneapolis; free.

DANCE
Tricia Brown Dance Company

For 35 years, the Tricia Brown Dance Company has been pushing the boundaries of contemporary dance, offering bold and exciting work and choreography. This month, they bring three such works to the Twin Cities: Present Tense, Foray Forêt, and I love my robots. The first and last are newer pieces. Present Tense is set to the avant-garde music of John Cage (who worked extensively with Merce Cunningham before passing away in the early '90s). And I love my robots is one of Brown's latest, set to the music of another great experimental musician (and performance artist), Laurie Anderson. Foray Forêt, on the other hand, is an older piece — now one of the company's signature works — actually commissioned by the Walker back in 1991. It'll be good to have it back in Minnesota.

Friday at 8 p.m., Northrop Auditorium, 84 Church St. S.E., Minneapolis; 652-393-2837; $31-$52.

BOOKS & AUTHORS
Beyond the Black Box

Advanced Aircraft Accident Qualified Investigator and University of North Dakota professor George Bibel will discuss his new book Beyond the Black Box: The Forensics of Airplane Crashes. Ok. Wait. Hold on. What the heck is an Advanced Aircraft Accident Qualified Investigator. Ok. Ok. I think I've got it. That's quite a mouthful, but I'm guessing he's qualified to investigate aircraft accidents. Aha! Remember the famous black box of 9/11? Bibel's book explains the significance of the infamous black box provides a behind-the-scenes look at plane wreck investigation from 1931 to the present. Learn about all the factors involved in an accident, and all the experts that work through it.

Friday at 4 p.m., University of Minnesota Bookstore, Coffman Memorial Union, 300 Washington Ave. S.E., Minneapolis; 612-626-0559; free.

MUSIC
Cloud Cult

Listening to Feel Good Ghosts is a visceral event with images flooding from vocalist Craig Minowa's decadent lyrics. Take this snippet from "When Water Comes To Life": "And underneath your ribs/ they'll find a heart-shaped locket/ an old photograph of you in daddy's arms/ then they'll sew you closed." In one moment it sounds painfully fragile, as if being fastened together by a teary-eyed romantic. The next moment its musical bravado blossoms around their insecurities. Cloud Cult is a mix between indie-tastic emotional crooners like Bright Eyes and The Shins and a genre of its own creation. The band fuses elegant strings with crunchy guitars all while speckling cheerful ba-da-das in the background of Minowa's warbly tenor. Feel Good Ghosts is a sonic wonderland that folds out into a third dimension as Cloud Cult incorporates two visual artists into its live shows. —Erin Roof

Saturday at 5 p.m., First Avenue, 701 First Avenue North, Minneapolis; 612-338-8388; $15.
Gundecha Brothers

If you have any idea what Dhrupad is, you've probably heard of the Gundecha Borthers. Of course, most of us have no idea what Dhrupad is. Likely the oldest style of North Indian classical music, Dhrupad is a modal mesh of poetry and music. And Umakant and Ramakant Gundecha are now its leading voices. Trained by the renowned Dhrupad vocalist Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar, the Gundecha Brothers have recorded more than 25 cassettes and CDs, and have traveled the world over, bringing their music to the world.

Sunday at 4 p.m., College of St. Catherine, 2004 Randolph Avenue, Saint Paul, 651-690-6700, $17 (students/members $12).

FILM
Augsburg Native American Voices Film Series

Explore Native American voices in film. The Ausburg Native American Voices Film Series brings you a great collection of films this Sunday — selections from the 7th Annual Fargo International Film Festival and New Voices in Native Media: Works by Emerging Native Media Artists. Films include Grace, directed by Darwyn Roanhorse, Oakland, CA (1 p.m.); Red Lake: The Sacred Heart of Our People, by the Students of Project Reserve, Red Lake, MN (1:15 p.m.); Native American Voices WLCO TV Science Report, by Tribal Youth Media Camp, WI (1:45 p.m.); Sitting Bull: A Stone in My Heart, directed by John Ferry, Santa Barbara, CA (2 p.m.); 133 Skyway, directed by Randy Redroad, Ontario (4 p.m.); I'm Not the Indian You Had in Mind, directed by Thomas King, Toronto (4:30 p.m.); and A Letter Home, directed by Ernest Whiteman III, Chicago (4:45 p.m.).

Sunday from 1-5 p.m., New Parkway Theater, 4814 Chicago Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-822-3030.


THEATER & PERFORMANCE
Hamlet II

What if Hamlet had a happy ending? Would Hamlet and Ophelia live happily ever after? Would justice be served? And what about Hamlet's mother? The traitors? Don't you just wonder? Well, thanks to Sam Bobrick, author of Hamlet II (Better Than the Original), you can now know. This weekend, enjoy the People Sittin' Around Doin' Theatre production of Hamlet II, directed by Christina Akers, and starring Jason Dugan, Kathleen Lindmeyer, Matthew Pfaffendorf, John Zimmerman, Cory Enriquez, Joshua Cashman, Rachel Lenora Johnson, Clint Heino, Ron Kerr Jr,. and Kyle Connor as Bernardo.

Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 4 and 7:30pm, Sunday at 6:30 p.m., The Lowry Lab Theater, 350 St. Peter St., St Paul; 612-616-8171; $16, but Sunday is a Pay-What-You-Can performance ($7 suggested donation).


THEATER LECTURE
The Life and Work of August Wilson

August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean is currently being staged at the Guthrie, and we have a very special treat this weekend, as Penumbra Theatre Artistic Director Lou Bellamy and Constanza Romero Wilson, wife of the late playwright, come together for a chat following Sunday's matinee performance. Listen on as they explore Wilson’s Twentieth Century Cycle, the significance of Gem of the Ocean, and what this work meant to playwright. (August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean runs through May 18.)

Sunday after the 1 p.m. performance, Guthrie Theater, 818 S. 2nd St., Minneapolis; 612-377-2224; $24-$69 for performance.