2015 Fall Arts & Dining Pairings

Theatre Previews by John Townsend
Restaurant Pairings by Joy Summers
Produced by Andy Lien, Shane Lueck, Linda Raines, and Mike Hnida

Akeelah and the Bee
Children’s Theatre Company
www.childrenstheatre.org
Through October 11, 2015
This endearing story of a young girl of color from a tough Chicago neighborhood who goes to the National Spelling Bee directed by Charles Randfoph-Wright will be going to Washington, DC’s Arena Stage after its run at CTC. A searing yet heartwarming examination of the dreadful disadvantages of exceptional kids who have to navigate negative environments while pursuing their dreams.

Paired with:
La Belle Vie Lounge
www.labellevie.us
There’s an old adage that kids will live up to the expectations you set for them. Set expectations for this special show with a dinner at arguably the finest of fine dining restaurants in town. The food is stunning and the Lounge setting is just casual enough not to be too intimidating. And, if your dining companion doesn’t love the French-Mediterranean fare, there are some delicious house-made potato chips for snacking.

Throwback BNW: Junk from our Trunk
Brave New Workshop
www.bravenewworkshop.com
Through October 31, 2015
The region’s premiere comedy theater keeps getting better and better every show. No kidding! So it will be a treat when they resurrect some of their best material from over the past decade. The Brave New Workshop archives takes pride in offending people and in lifting the lid off all sorts of issues.

 

Church Basement Ladies
Plymouth Playhouse
www.plymouthplayhouse.com
Through November 15, 2015
Hard to believe, but the madcap Church Basement Ladies franchise premiered 10 years ago! Those zany gals cooking in the basement of a Lutheran church in rural Minnesota may not be heretical but there’s a gentle kind of power in the lovely way the characters work their differences and bridge the generation gap.

The Pink Unicorn
www.tctwentypercent.org
September 3–5, 2015
A Christian widow in a Texas town is compelled to take sides when her daughter comes out as “gender queer” and plans to start a Gay and Straight Alliance at her high school. The school principal rejects the GSA’s application and turbulent divisions happen. A reminder of how little support there is in small towns.

Annapurna
The Jungle Theater
www.jungletheater.com
September 4–October 18, 2015
Two people in one room and the power of longstanding love with Terry Hempleman and Angela Timberman. This two-hander has a woman who tracks her ex to an isolated trailer park to get to the core of their breakup 20 years earlier. He can’t remember what happened. She can’t forget.

Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella
Orpheum Theatre
www.hennepintheatretrust.org
September 8–13, 2015
Rodgers and Hammerstein are still the most popular composer-lyricist team in theater history. The creators of Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, and The Sound of Music also gave us this comparably brilliant stage adaptation of that most legendary fairy tale. This current revival’s contemporary approach still glistens with the same gorgeous tunes.

Elliot, A Soldier’s Fugue
Park Square Theatre, Proscenium Stage
www.parksquaretheatre.org
September 11–October 4, 2015
Elliot Ortiz is forced to relate his experience as an American soldier in Iraq. He considers returning there to face life and death. His mother was a nurse in Vietnam. This is said to be a non-political exploration of the ramifications of war. Contemporary wars continue to be a rich resource for drama.

The Little Pilot
The Southern Theater
www.southerntheater.org
September 11–October 4, 2015
A new ensemble-created play based on the life and work of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry by the innovative and physically ultra-creative Sandbox Theatre. Aerial artist Evelyn Digirolamo and visual designer Kristina Fjellman lead an ensemble that relates the story of The Little Pilot. Timeless themes of responsibility and emotional freedom.

The Farnsworth Invention
Theatre in the Round
www.theatreintheround.org
September 11–October 4, 2015
Playwright-screenwriter Aaron Sorkin penetrates institutional cultures. A Few Good Men exposes military corruption. The Social Network actually glorifies the sexism at the root of Facebook’s founding. In The Farnsworth Invention he muses on the invention of television. Comfortable territory for the man behind The West Wing and The Newsroom.

Dancing at Lughnasa
Yellow Tree Theatre
www.yellowtreetheatre.com
September 11–October 11, 2015
Five unmarried sisters in rural Ireland in the 1930s are challenged when their missionary brother returns from 25 years in a Ugandan leper colony. Ironically, tribal customs he has been influenced by clash with Christian values. A vivid expression of being stuck in a way of doing things over a long stretch of time.

To Kill A Mockingbird
Guthrie Theater’s Wurtele Thrust Stage
www.guthrietheater.org
September 12–October 18, 2015
Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel is an essential American literary work along with Huckleberry Finn and Uncle Tom’s Cabin. A black man falsely accused of raping a white woman exposes the way prejudgment and violent racism go hand in hand. The first production under the steerage of Joseph Haj, the Guthrie’s new artistic director.

Paired with:
Cafe Levain
www.cafelevain.com
Humble, respectful, solid, and beautifully delivered food served with the integrity that matches this classic tale.

The Velocity of Autumn
Old Log Theater
www.oldlog.com
September 12–October 24, 2015
A 79-year-old woman living alone in a Brooklyn brownstone reflects on her life and a division between her and her family about how she should live out the rest of her life. Her estranged son actually turns out to be an unlikely voice of balance in the conflict.

The Genealogy of Happenstance
Guthrie Theater’s Dowling Studio
www.guthrietheater.org
September 17–20, 2015
Charismatic Allegra Lingo delves into the personal reality of a woman conceiving a child within the context of same-sex marriage. Issues regarding sperm banks, intra-uterine implementation, genealogy, and a shift in a woman’s consciousness are portrayed in a revelatory performance that peers into the changing definitions of family.

Roktim: Nurture Incarnadine
The O’Shaughnessy at St. Catherine University
www.oshag.stkate.edu
September 18–19, 2015
This collaboration by choreographer Ananya Chatterjea, visual artist Seitu Jones, and behavioral artist Marcus Young draws from their cultural backgrounds: Indian, African American, and Chinese. Women’s traditions of cultivating and protecting the earth are central themes to this project. Visits to farms with a focus on women farmers have been central to the creative process.

Arthur Miller’s All My Sons
Black Box Theater, Bloomington Center for the Arts
www.artistrymn.org
September 18–October 4, 2015
Arthur Miller looms for his tragic plays. He addresses greed in All My Sons and forces people to think long and hard about the integrity of military contractors. When a military pilot returns home from World War II he finds that his father was at the root of a scandal involving faulty airplane parts.

Prep
Pillsbury House + Theatre
www.pillsburyhouseandtheatre.org
September 18–October 18, 2015
Commissioned by Pillsbury House Theatre through a 2014 Joyce Award, Prep is inspired by a number of recent local events with racial overtones that have stirred up emotions and conflict. Playwright Tracey Scott Wilson’s illuminating play Buzzer was produced at Pillsbury House and then remounted by that theater at the Guthrie’s Dowling Studio. In 2014 she spent a month in the Twin Cities in communication with local citizens. The word is that Prep eschews political correctness and off-limits topics.

Murder for Two
Park Square Theatre, Boss Stage
www.parksquaretheatre.org
September 18–November 1, 2015
Marcus, a small town cop, dreams of being a detective. When a major novelist is killed, with no detective nearby, he springs to utilize his sleuthing ability to make his dream come true. This miniature musical comedy mystery has vaudevillian elements, piano-playing, and the who-done-it trappings that everybody loves.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
The Ritz Theater
www.theaterlatteda.com
September 23–October 25, 2015
An exiled barber returns to London to exact revenge. He goes after his enemies by opening a barber shop where he slashes their necks and his partner, Mrs. Lovett, use the bodies to fill her best-selling meat pies. Cannibalistic horror and darkly memorable tunes by Stephen Sondheim. Winner of eight Tony Awards including Best Musical.

Paired with:
The Strip Club Meat & Fish
www.domeats.com
No one is having more carnivorous fun than the crew inside this lively St. Paul restaurant.

U/G/L/Y
Guthrie Theater’s Dowling Studio
www.guthrietheater.org
September 24–27, 2015
Sha Cage portrays multiple characters in a lyrical presentation that draws from personal experience and pop culture. A Freestyle Theatre production with violinist Kate Pehrson and a continued collaborative relationship with director E.G. Bailey. Cage was named Lavender‘s Best Solo Actor of 2014 in Frank Theatre’s Grounded.

Always and Forever Concert
Illusion Theater
www.illusiontheater.org
September 24–27, 2015
The inclusive Illusion Theater ends its 40th anniversary season with this acclaimed dream of a revue of tunes from the soul era arranged with music direction by Sanford Moore. Groove to the sounds of The Jackson Five, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, and Earth, Wind, and Fire.

Sarah Michelson
Walker Art Center, McGuire Theatre
www.walkerart.org
September 24–27, 2015
Sara Michelson is an esteemed experimental choreographer associated with the New York City Players. The Walker Art Center launches their performance season with a new work that she has conceived. Michelson is a star of contemporary dance and art museums. The Walker is the best local venue for dance from outside the Twin Cities.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Ames Center
www.ames-center.com
September 25–October 18, 2015
Gifted director Bradley Donaldson stages this revival of, like it or not, the seminal transvestite musical. This will also be the award-winning Chameleon Theatre Circle’s 100th production and it’s a company that has produced stellar musical productions. A naive young heterosexual couple, Brad and Janet, happen upon a transvestite mad scientist who is aggressively committed to change.

Paired with:
Nighthawks
www.nighthawksmpls.com
Toast the good doctor with a frankenfurter of your own. There’s much to love about the diner fare at Landon Schonenfeld’s new Nicollet Avenue eatery, but the hot dogs are a rollicking good time in your mouth. The snappy meat tube is topped with all kinds of sexy condiments, including the riotously spicy red dragon cheddar. Oh, ROCKY!

The Jungle Book
Children’s Theatre Company
www.childrenstheatre.org
September 29–December 6, 2015
The U.K.’s Greg Banks is grand master of kinetically acted children’s theater and his approach to classic stories and fairy tales is truly unique. He returns to CTC where he wowed audiences with Robin Hood and Pinocchio. Now he brings us Rudyard Kipling’s classic tale of a little boy adopted by loving jungle beasts.

Paired with:
Butcher & the Boar Beer Garden
www.butcherandtheboar.com
It’s just the bear necessities: a great serving of sausage and humble surroundings. The comfortable year-round outdoor seating suits man and beast — or your little wild thing dining companion — just beautifully.

The Events
Guthrie Theater’s McGuire Proscenium Stage
www.guthrietheater.org
September 30–November 1, 2015
Award-winning Scottish playwright David Greig’s The Events was inspired by the 2011 mass murder of innocent Norwegian children by a right-wing Christian extremist. How does a community recover and heal from such a diabolical act? How does one forgive? Can one be redeemed? A different community choir will perform at each performance.

Paired with:
The Bachelor Farmer
www.thebachelorfarmer.com
Before descending into the emotional wringer, find peace and calm in the clean flavors and delicate plating at the Nordic-influenced Bachelor Farmer.

Rodney King
Penumbra Theatre
www.penumbratheatre.org
October 1–11, 2015
In 1991, African American taxi driver Rodney King was savagely beaten by LAPD officers after a high-speed car chase. While it was happening, someone was videotaping it unbeknownst to the cops. Roger Guenveur Smith offers an empathic one-man performance that has new relevance given today’s deteriorating race relations.

Fancy Free / Who Cares?
Northrop Memorial Auditorium
www.northrop.umn.edu
October 3, 2015
Whether intentional or not, Ballet West, with its Rocky Mountain zest, brings us some of the major works sprung from timeless gay figures in dance and music. Their Northrop debut — accompanied by a full orchestra — offers work from choreographer Jerome Robbins with a score by Leonard Bernstein and a George Balanchine ballet.

Paired with:
Parella
www.parellampls.com
Chef Todd Macdonald has recently returned from his leave in New York and is now creating Northern Italian fare inside Calhoun Square. The food is elegantly rustic, beautiful, hearty, and fun.

Pioneer Suite
Nimbus Theatre
www.freshwatertheatre.com
October 3–18, 2015
It’s the 1800s in Minnesota. The tales of women are expressed in short musical form. They include Martha Angle Dorsett, first woman admitted to the Minnesota Bar Association, and Margaret Housel, a Minneapolis society woman.

Paired with:
Spoonriver
www.spoonriver.com
Before celebrating local women, enjoy locavore eating at Spoonriver. The restaurant was created by Brenda Langton, who has quietly, steadily changed the Minneapolis dining landscape.

Glensheen
History Theatre
www.historytheatre.com
October 3–25, 2015
Playwright Jeffrey Hatcher and composer Chan Poling take us back to 1977 when an heiress and her night nurse were found mysteriously dead in Duluth’s fabled Glensheen Mansion. This tragedy for the Congdon family was headline news and remains a bizarre mystery. This musical’s style has been compared to Sweeney Todd.

The Little Mermaid
Orpheum Theatre
www.hennepintheatretrust.org
October 8–18, 2015
Plunge into the deep blue depths to a magical kingdom fathoms below. Sweet-singing little mermaid Ariel yearns to experience dry land in hopes of meeting the dreamy handsome Prince Eric. And he’s a human to boot. Take a dip with Sebastian the crab, sea sorceress Ursula, and Triton, King of the Sea too!

The Gloaming
Walker Art Center, McGuire Theatre
www.walkerart.org
October 9, 2015
The fabled Irish folk tradition and New York’s contemporary music scene mixed with African textures pierce the imagination. The virtuoso musicians of The Gloaming have received global acclaim. They include fiddle master Martin Hayes and Iarla Ó Lionáird of Afro Celt Sound System.

Feet Don’t Fail Me Now!
The O’Shaughnessy at St. Catherine University
www.oshag.stkate.edu
October 9, 2015
Imagine a vaudevillian spirit and look when considering the Twin Cities’ eclectic Rhythmic Circus, hopping from one genre to another with percussive dance, vibrant costumes, and an exhilarating big brass band. This group won the “Spirit of the Fringe” award at the world’s seminal Fringe Fest, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Wye Oak and William Brittelle: Spiritual America
Aria
www.walkerart.org
October 14, 2015
Secular spirituality may seem like a contradiction in terms but just wait until you hear electro-acoustic art songs, classical orchestration, and intense pop sounds from Brooklyn-based composer William Brittelle. This collaboration with Baltimore-based indie rock duo Wye Oak is sure to be a mind-blowing experience.

Dean Moss
Walker Art Center, McGuire Theatre
www.walkerart.org
October 15–17, 2015
In this dense, precise, and ambitious stage critique of abolitionist legend, John Brown, acclaimed performance-maker Dean Moss muses on his complex 19th century legacy. A multidisciplinary work that integrates choreography, visual design, video, theater, and community participation.

Yeston & Kopit’s Phantom
Schneider Theater, Bloomington Center for the Arts
www.artisrymn.org
October 16–November 14, 2015
The “other” Phantom from the Tony Award-winning team of Maury Yeston and Arthur Kopit hews closer to the original 1910 novel than the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical most audiences are aware of. A soprano and a volatile man behind the mask are at the core of an iconic story of possessive love.

An Octoroon
Mixed Blood Theatre
www.mixedblood.com
October 16–November 15, 2015
In the 19th century, Dion Boucicault’s 1859 melodrama, The Octoroon, was one of the century’s biggest hits. It dared to look at forbidden interracial love. Playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins has reimagined the classic in contemporary terms that contrasts the antebellum South with America’s modern racial attitudes.

A Thousand Clowns
Theatre in the Round
www.theatreintheround.org
October 16–November 8, 2015
Murray Burns loves his life after having been a gag writer for kids’ television shows. He is happily raising his precocious 12-year-old nephew, Nick. Murray is also unemployed and the Bureau of Child Welfare sends social workers to investigate whether or not Murray is fit to raise his nephew.

Pourush – The Masculine
The O’Shaughnessy at St. Catherine University
www.oshag.stkate.edu
October 23–24, 2015
Katha Dance Theatre’s world premiere of Pourush – The Masculine is about a princess who bravely explores her feminine and masculine sides. New Delhi choreographer Maitreyee Pahari and Katha Dance Theatre’s Founder/Artistic Director Rita Mustaphi fuse the aggressive style of Cchau and the subtler genre, Kathak choreography.

Dream’d in a Dream
Northrop Memorial Auditorium
www.northrop.umn.edu
October 24, 2015
Seán Curran is one of the world’s great dance figures. From Irish step dancing to lead dancer with Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company to the original cast of STOMP, here’s someone who integrates every dimension into his art. The Ustat Shakirt ensemble will play live in collaboration.

Sister Act
Chanhassen Dinner Theatre
www.chanhassentheatres.com
October 30, 2015–February 27, 2016
A clash of cultures and transformation. A wannabe diva is taken by cops to be sheltered in a convent after she witnesses a crime. While there, she ends up bonding with the sisters and they with her. Original music by eight-time Oscar-winner Alan Menken (Beauty and the Beast, Little Shop of Horrors, Newsies).

The Wizard of Oz
Children’s Theatre Company
www.childrenstheatre.org
November 3, 2015–January 3, 2016
Get this! CTC will stage the Royal Shakespeare Company’s version of L. Frank Baum’s magical tale of Dorothy, Toto, and the Wizard! There’s something about Brits latching on to a classic American story that brings about its own magic. This is surely one of the holiday season’s special treats.

Geoff Sobelle
Walker Art Center, McGuire Theatre
www.walkerart.org
November 4–8, 2015
Think of all the material stuff that we all get rid of every day. Imagine an archeological dig that in the future would expose how excessive we were. Solo performer Geoff Sobelle comically and thoughtfully creates an immersive and immense performance-installation that exposes our connection with ordinary objects.

Taiko Groove
E.M. Pearson Theatre at Concordia University
www.muperformingarts.org
November 5–8, 2015
Taiko Groove explores a variety of instrumentation and rhythms inspired by the beguiling Japanese drumming tradition. This collaborative concert will feature special guest artists who will explore a more contemporary taiko groove. Mu Performing Arts has made itself a destination for some of the best ongoing Taiko work in the nation.

Paired with:
Zen Box Izakaya
www.zenboxizakaya.com
In their own Japanese groove, this super-fun Japanese pub combines flavors, textures, and expert hospitality for an exciting and fun meal experience. If there is a ramen special, order it. Chef and co-owner John Ng makes some of the best to be found in the city.

Emilie/Eurydice
Illusion Theater
www.illusiontheater.org
November 5–21, 2015
Transatlantic Love Affair has been a continuously popular physical acting troupe at Minnesota Fringe Festivals of recent years. Isabel Nelson directs a new work drawn from the myth of Eurydice and a Radiolab piece. With movement and words it explores dilemmas around love and ambiguous loss in today’s world.

Stanley Ann: The Unlikely Story of Barack Obama’s Mother
Black Box Theatre at the Ames Center
www.ames-center.com
November 6–22, 2015
Stanley Ann Dunham was Barack Obama’s mother. This series of monologues in this one-woman show spans over 30 years, from her Kansas childhood to becoming a woman who could have no way of knowing she was raising a future President of the United States. Stanley’s time in Hawaii and Indonesia paired with her soul-searching nature and idealism triumphed despite bouts of doubts and disillusionment.

The Night Alive
The Jungle Theater
www.jungletheater.com
November 6–December 20, 2015
When Tommy defends a destitute woman from a violent attack, his way of seeing life shifts. Before that he would intrude on his uncle’s privacy in his ramshackle house in Dublin, plot get-rich-quick schemes with his buddy, and evade his estranged family. The Jungle has a knack for Irish drama.

Madonna
The O’Shaughnessy at St. Catherine University
www.oshag.stkate.edu
November 7, 2015
The Persephone myth is re-imagined with surrealist physical movement wherein the boundaries of rational thought are transgressed. The regional dance premiere of Maureen Fleming’s multimedia creation includes text by David Henry Hwang, music by Philip Glass, and live accompaniment performed by pianist Bruce Brubaker

The Wedding Singer
Old Log Theater
www.oldlog.com
November 7, 2015–February 20, 2016
A popular New Jersey wedding singer’s life is thrown into a tailspin when his fiancée leaves him at the altar. Though devastated, he is made to consider what love and marriage really mean; a waitress from one of his wedding-singing venues helps him reshape his view.

Paired with:
Constantine
www.constantinempls.com
Relive the ’80s glory days with throwback cocktails like the Treasure Trail, a modernist approach to a Fuzzy Navel.

My Children! My Africa!
Park Square Theate, Boss Stage
www.parksquaretheatre.org
November 11–29, 2015
Teaching and poetry are things Mr. M., a teacher in a segregated township in 1984 apartheid South Africa, deeply believes in. When anti-apartheid rioting ensues, he forms a debate club in hopes of creating reconciliation. However, terrorism, revolution, and people’s lives spinning out of control are formidable obstacles.

A Christmas Carol
Guthrie Theater’s Wurtele Thrust Stage
www.guthrietheater.org
November 12–December 27, 2015
Crispin Whittell’s stage adaptaton of Charles Dickens’ classic retains its ferocious critique on the extreme concentration of wealth that many feel applies even today. This is the Guthrie’s 41st year of producing the favorite. Joe Chvala will direct the production for a fourth consecutive year.

Paired with:
Oak Grill at Macy’s
www.macysrestaurants.com/oak-grill
Take one tradition and pair it with another, the holiday show inside Macy’s: A Day in the Life of an Elf. After a quick walk through, enjoy the wonderful feast of popovers and pot pies fireside (even if it isn’t a real fire). It’s a Minnesota tradition.

A Hunting Shack Christmas
Yellow Tree Theatre
www.yellowtreetheatre.com
November 13–December 27, 2015
Let’s be honest. A hunting shack is a hunter’s man cave. But when Charlie wants to get away form the suburbs just before the holidays he finds his estranged uncle and his mistress and his cousin operating an illegal venison and jerky outfit. Featuring comic marvel Greta Grosch and boy-next-door Sasha Andreev.

The Cocoanuts
Guthrie Theater’s McGuire Proscenium Stage
www.guthrietheater.org
November 14, 2015–January 3, 2016
A Marx Brothers romp with tunes by Irving Berlin. Groucho owns a second-rate hotel in Florida and preys on naive Northerners who want to escape the cold. This riotous comic farce spoofs affectations of the rich and how young women serve as pawns of parents interested in having them married off for money. But what if the man she loves is a lowly hotel clerk?

Paired with:
Sanctuary
www.sanctuaryminneapolis.com
It’s just a quick walk away from the theater, but the gargoyle welcomes diners for an experience unlike any other dining in the cities. Chef Patrick Atalain’s creativity on the plate is always a fun, edible discovery.

The Magic Flute
Ordway Center for the Performing Arts
www.mnopera.org
November 14–22, 2015
Komische Opera Berlin and the British theater group 1927 collaborated on Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s classic opera with a highly stylized concept and synchronized animation. A surrealistic stage, a madcap cast, and sensational music explore love, truth, and the pursuit of enlightenment. An eagerly awaited Minnesota Opera remount. Tradition and transgression unite!

Cinderella
Old Log Theater
www.oldlog.com
November 17–December 31, 2015
The dream of finding the man of your dreams and escaping the limits of a life ruled by a wicked stepmother and stepsisters. The magic of a pumpkin turning into a beautiful carriage pulled by horses that were originally mice. Cinderella appeals to our deepest fantasies, hopes, and dreams whoever you may be.

Beautiful – The Carole King Musical
Orpheum Theatre
www.hennepintheatretrust.org
November 18–29, 2015
Some of us are old enough to remember when Carole King’s LP, Tapestry, smashed record sales. Her music was simple, melodic, profound. In the early ’70s, acid rock sound ruled, but King’s gentle-yet-dynamic sound stood tall. This hit musical taps into her songwriting with hubby Gerry Goffin.

Paired with:
Corner Table
www.cornertablerestaurant.com
Some of the most beautiful food in the Twin Cities would make a lovely pairing with this show. It’s also been a string of hits, from locations to chefs to owners. It’s not “Way Over Yonder” or “So Far Away,” but at 46th and Nicollet in Minneapolis. You’ll feel the earth move under your feet and you will still love them tomorrow.

Christmas My Way
Plymouth Playhouse
www.plymouthplayhouse.com
November 18, 2015–January 17, 2016
Frank Sinatra looms as perhaps the most popular male singer ever. His smooth resonant sound embodies masculinity totally at ease with itself and the world around it. This tribute to Old Blue Eyes will offer classic carols, Rat-Pack-like renditions of Christmas carols, and Sinatra staples like “Fly Me To the Moon.”

The Blues Project
Northrop Memorial Auditorium
www.northrop.umn.edu
November 19, 2015
Tap dance innovator and Bessie Award-winner Michelle Dorrance makes her Northrop debut with her company of extraordinary dancers and featured soloists, Derick K. Grant and Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards. They’re joined by blues composer Toshi Reagon and her band BIGLovely. One of the year’s most eagerly awaited performances.

Paired with:
Famous Dave’s Calhoun Square
www.famousdavesbluesclub.com
Get down on some ribs in an eatery that appreciates the blues as much as the people putting on this show.

Tanya Tagaq in Concert with Nanook of the North
Walker Art Center, McGuire Theatre
www.walkerart.org
November 19–20, 2015
Inuit throat singer vocalist Tanya Tagaq performs in accompaniment with the groundbreaking 1922 silent film Nanook of the North, which observes an Inuit community in northern Quebec. Tagaq has won the Juno Award for Aboriginal Recording of the Year. Percussionist Jean Martin and violinist Jesse Zubot enhance this reflective work.

Paired with:
Saint Dinette
www.saintdinette.com
This new Lowertown eatery explores the cuisine of places settled by the French, including a bit of Quebecois-flare.

Black Coffee
Theatre in the Round
www.theatreintheround.org
November 20–December 20, 2015
Dame Agatha Christie is the best-selling woman writer ever. In this play, she gives us an inventor found murdered at an English country estate. Moreover, his new earth-shattering formula has been stolen. Hmmm. Master detective Hercule Poirot arrives late, but sets out to solve the mystery. Can he do it?!

Paired with:
Black Coffee and Waffles
www.blackcoffeeandwaffle.com
Enjoy a deep, dark cup of something strong with a side of perfect waffles before descending into this mystery.

TU Dance
The O’Shaughnessy at St. Catherine University
www.oshag.stkate.edu
November 21–23, 2015
Minnesota’s elegant and primal TU Dance led by Toni Pierce-Sands and Uri Sands returns to the O’Shaughnessy Audtiorium as part of its 12th annual performance season. You’ll see a world premiere work by the honored Italian Canadian choreographer, Gioconda Barbuto, and selections from TU Dance’s magical repertoire.

Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story
History Theatre
www.historytheatre.com
November 21–December 20, 2015
From Lubbock to Clovis to the Big Apple to Clear Lake, Buddy Holly’s rise to fame in the late 1950s still haunts our imaginations. His was a proverbial tale of obscurity-to-stardom come to life. This has become a standard holiday hit for the History Theatre. Rockingly powerful and uplifting.

Paired with:
Convention Grill
www.conventiongrillmn.com
Take a step back in time where you could easily imagine Buddy grabbing a bite with his best gal. The burgers, fries, and shakes inside this throwback eatery are classics for a reason.

Cedar Cypher
Mixed Blood Theatre
www.mixedblood.com
November 27–28, 2015
For two days, emerging and established artists from the multicultural Cedar-Riverside neighborhood present their work in Mixed Blood’s newly remodeled facility. Enjoy musicians, dancers, performers, visual artists, spoken word artists, poets, actors, playwrights, and sculptors. There will also be performances, panel discussions, arts exhibits, and documentary screenings.

The Snow Queen
Park Square Theatre, Proscenium Stage
www.parksquaretheatre.org
November 27–December 27, 2015
Hans Christian Anderson’s fairy tale tells of two children who love the summer but who must face the arctic ferocity of the Snow Queen and the harshness of winter. Kari’s eyes and heart are pierced by ice shards. Gerda must deal with soldiers, bandits, and witches. A musical production.

Paired with:
Heyday
www.heydayeats.com
Unearth the blue mussels from the snow and taste the epic journey faced by Gerda in this classic tale. Chef Jim Christiansen’s creative, Nordic-influenced cuisine is cooked with as much heart and love as any other menu you’ll find.

Choreographer’s Evening
Walker Art Center, McGuire Theatre
www.walkerart.org
November 28, 2015
The Twin Cities have steadily become a major center for dance in the way local theater and contemporary bands draw big audiences. The Walker’s Choreographer’s Evening is without doubt one of the very best ways to truly get in touch with the professional dance scene. Curated by Justin Jones.

OOIOO
Walker Art Center, McGuire Theatre
www.walkerart.org
December 3, 2015
Tribal sounds, pop music, and experimental music infuse the inventive Japanese avant-tribal-noise-pop collective OOIOO (oh-oh-eye-oh-oh). Led by Yoshimi P-We (cofounder of the Japanese band called Boredoms), OOIOO has been innovating music and how we hear it since the1990s.

Black Nativity
Penumbra Theatre
www.penumbratheatre.org
December 3–20, 2015
The nation’s flagship African-American theater gives us what, for many, is their favorite Penumbra show. The perennial favorite sparkles with Christmas tunes in a spirit of love and acceptance of differences between people. A perfect event for reflecting on your past year and future hopes and dreams.

FEMMES: A TRAGEDY
Nimbus Theatre
www.tctwentypercent.org
December 4–12, 2015
Clare Boothe Luce’s 1938 comedy reimagined in terms of contemporary femme lesbian culture. A burlesque show curator’s polyamorous girlfriend throws her aside for a hot bartender. Thoughts swirl around about references to sexuality, gender, and cyberspace. A show that will help get you up to speed with recent queer cultural developments.

Miss Richfield 1981’s Cone of Silence for Christmas
Illusion Theater
www.illusiontheater.org
December 4–20, 2015
Way too often we inhibit and edit ourselves from talking forthrightly about things on our mind. But you can have the chance if you catch drag superstar Miss Richfield 1981’s open discussion about forbidden topics. The Cone of Silence shall be lifted and anything goes! She’s an Illusion holiday tradition!

The Turn of the Screw
Black Box Theatre at the Ames Center
www.ames-center.com
December 4–20, 2015
Henry James’ classic horror novella in dramatic form. A young governess accepts a position at an isolated English manor. She discovers the place has dark secrets which compel her to wonder about what actually happened to the previous governess. Classic macabre literature brought to perfectly eerie life.

Paired with:
Northeast Social
www.northeastsocial.com
Before the horror novella brought to life, tuck into this cozy Northeast neighborhood spot with the gothic artwork adorning the walls. It’s just spooky enough to set the mood for the show.

Nutcracker (not so) Suite
The Cowles Center for Dance & the Performing Arts
www.jsballet.org
December 4–20, 2015
An extra special reason to celebrate the holidays in style: Myron’s back! The Ballet of the Dolls’ dream choreographer and master of camp is reviving his sweetly irreverent Nutcracker (not so) Suite for James Sewell Ballet. They’ll step into this updated version set in the swingin’ ’60s. Myron was James’s first dance teacher.

Paired with:
Hola Arepa
www.holaarepa.com
Forget dinner, just hit the salty, sweet dessert menu inside this restaurant for the perfect food pairing for this show. Pastry chef Heather Kim’s creative takes on sweets has unleashed Hot Cheeto brittle on the world and made us all fall in love with a Corn Pop-studded cookie smushed around creamy vanilla ice cream. They are nutty sweets that aren’t too sweet.

Purple Cloud
Mixed Blood Theatre
www.muperformingarts.org
December 4–20, 2015
Three generations of Huangs take a mythical journey from China to America and back again accompanied by four jade pieces. Three intertwining stories delve into the consequences of acculturation. The grandpa immigrates to America during World War II. This in turn, shapes the lives of his son and granddaughter.

Paired with:
Rainbow Chinese
www.rainbowrestaurant.com
Taste Chinese cuisines through an American fitler inside this Eat Street restaurant owned and operated by chef Tammy Wong and her family. Her fresh cuisine enlivens tastebuds, but there is still plenty of sweet and sour to be found on the menu as well.

A Midwinter’s Night Revel
Red Eye Theater
www.walkingshadowcompany.org
December 4–30, 2015
Playwright John Heimbuch plays with Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream as a Yuletide revel. In a dark midwinter, in World War I, a changeling boy comes out from the fairy realm. Villagers get caught up in a rivalry between spirits with magical powers. The enchanted chaos will be directed by Amy Rummenie.

Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol
Park Square Theatre, Boss Stage
www.parksquaretheatre.org
December 9–20, 2015
Charles Dickens’s beloved Christmas classic is retold from Ebenezer Scrooge’s business partner’s point of view. So tables are turned in an intriguingly different way. He gets a chance at redemption when he goes from the Jaws of Death to the Gates of Hell. But what about the pesky demon he meets?!

The Sound of Music
Ordway Center for the Performing Arts
www.ordway.org
December 10, 2015–January 2, 2016
It would become the most profitable and popular film musical ever but was sprung from the live Broadway stage. The lovable and reliable Maria Von Trapp brings love and harmonic orderliness to the home of widower Captain Von Trapp and his children. Relish awesome songs like “My Favorite Things,” “Do-Re-Mi,” and “Edelweiss.”

All Is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914
Pantages Theatre
www.theaterlatteda.com
December 16–20, 2015
The Western Front. Christmas. 1914. German soldiers, French soldiers, and British soldiers said “Enough!” and called a Christmas truce. On opposite sides of the battlefield, they dared to step into the dangerous space between themselves which was called No Man’s Land. They laid down their arms and actually embodied Jesus’ message of peace, love, and kindness. Theater Latte Da’s musical holiday tradition.

Blue Man Group
Orpheum Theatre
www.hennepintheatretrust.org
December 18–20, 2015
Those skin-tight body suits are marvelously sensual and these guys are marvelously talented. Kinetic movement by the ensemble flickers about performing unlikely tricks. The blue scenic design feels like the inside of a space ship. A superior fusion of technology, comic precision, wonderful music, and wild imagination.

The Great Work
Guthrie Theater’s Dowling Studio
www.guthrietheater.org
December 20, 2015–January 3, 2016
7th House Theater gave us Jonah and the Whale last year and returns to the Dowling Studio with the world premiere of a new musical written and directed by Grant Sorenson. Music and lyrics by David Darrow, known for his first-rate performances in musicals. Choreographed by Cat Brindisi, also known for her first-rate musical performances. This new work is set in Vienna.

A Gentleman’s Guide To Love & Murder
State Theatre
www.hennepintheatretrust.org
January 5–10, 2016
Gold-digging has no gender. Monty Navarro, a distant heir to a fortune, sets out to eliminate the relatives ahead of him in the line of succession. But Monty is being preyed on as well. His mistress’s intentions are not totally pure. Winner of the 2014 Best Musical Tony and Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album 2015.

The Beauty Queen of Leenane
Park Square Theatre, Boss Stage
www.parksquaretheatre.org
January 6–24, 2016
Maureen, a bitter and unmarried middle-aged woman once thought of as a physical beauty, resents caring for her spiteful mother. They have created a mutual emotional living hell between themselves. When a man she knew long ago returns to their town her dreams reawaken. By master Irish playwright, Martin McDonagh.

The Team
Walker Art Center, McGuire Theatre
www.walkerart.org
January 7–9, 2016
Talk about original! The spirits of sex god Elvis Presley and President Theodore Roosevelt target the soul of a shy woman named Ann who works at a meat-processing company. This hallucinatory road trip goes from the Badlands to Graceland. RoosevElvis questions icons and sets up a gender role reversal.

Fahrenheit 451
Theatre in the Round
www.theatreintheround.org
January 8–31, 2016
Ray Bradbury’s novel is a triumph of science fiction. This stage adaptation fits into our time of increased surveillance and non-transparency of corporations, military, and governments. In Bradbury’s dark vision, books are banned and firemen actually start fires. Everyone is glued to their TV, much like people are glued to their gadgets today.

Paired with:
The Library at Marin
www.marinrestaurant.com
Dine surrounded by books in this studious room with the elegant fare before heading across town to take in this classic tale.

The Frog Bride
Children’s Theatre Company
www.childrenstheatre.org
January 12–February 28, 2016
There are both myth and fairy tale textures in this Drama Desk nominee for Unique Theatrical Experience of 2006. Once again, CTC brings us exceptional children’s programming from beyond the Twin Cities. Written, conceived, and performed by David Gonzalez with music by Sergei Prokofiev and Daniel Kelly. This is a sure bet!

Lullaby
The Ritz Theater
www.theaterlatteda.com
January 13–February 7, 2016
A play with music by Michael Elyanow in which a widowed young mother learns to write lullabies from a lesbian songwriter for her baby son. Haunted by the death of her husband she finds friendship with her. A world premiere direct from Theater Latte Da’s NEXT: New Musicals in the Making series.

Daniel Fish
Walker Art Center, McGuire Theatre
www.walkerart.org
January 14–16, 2016
The late writer David Foster Wallace was a man of the internet era. Yet he valued handwriting and called the Bic pens he often wrote with “orgasm pens.” Five actors create physical theater with words relentlessly streaming from their headphones. Director Daniel Fish draws from Wallace writings and recordings.

Paired with:
Smack Shack
www.smack-shack.com
For a moment before the show, take the time to literally consider the lobster. Then crack it open, douse it in butter and call it a day.

Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations
Park Square Theatre, Proscenium Stage
www.parksquaretheatre.org
January 15–February 7, 2016
An escaped convict, an orphan, and a widow change the life of a boy named Pip. His connection with these people brings about remarkable changes in his life as he gains access to different possibilities, getting rich in the process. Pip becomes the gentleman he has always dreamed of. But at what price?

The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
Schneider Theater
www.btacmn.org
January 15–February 14, 2016
Politically incorrect and yet clearly defiant of puritanical views, this classic musical reminds us that small towns are not necessarily cradles of virtue. Miss Mona’s Chicken Ranch, a bordello that services hypocritical politicians and other randy men, hits a bump in the road when an ego-driven televangelist goes after the enterprise.

Paired with:
Betty Danger’s
www.bettydangers.com
As Miss Dolly Parton said, it takes a lot of money to look this cheap. Revel in the kitschy design and Mex-Hampton cuisine before heading to The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.

Pericles
Guthrie Theater’s Wurtele Thrust Stage
www.guthrietheater.org
January 16–February 21, 2016
Incoming Artistic Director Joseph Haj makes his directorial debut at the Guthrie. Pericles, Prince of Tyre, has the feel of a fable and a fairy tale. A voyage to woo a princess delivers him to not only turbulent waters but pursuit by an evil king. Finding love and losing it, then the loss of their infant at sea, make for a sweeping powerhouse of a play.

Paired with:
Chino Latino
www.chinolatino.com
Taste this Uptown eatery’s interpretations on world cuisines before setting sail on this epic Shakespearean romance.

Riding on a Cloud
Walker Art Center, McGuire Theatre
www.walkerart.org
January 21–23, 2016
Lebanon’s master of semi-documentary theater, Rabih Mroué, draws from his brother Yasser’s experience during the Lebanese civil war. Riding on a Cloud involves prerecorded video, images, and text. At 23 years old, a sniper shot Yasser in the head and altered his physical functions. Yasser actually performs himself.

Paired with:
Emily’s Lebanese Deli
www.emilyslebanesedeli.com
Have a taste of Lebanon inside this Northeast eatery. Even something as simple as yogurt and flatbread are humble, satisfying, and entirely delicious at this sweet café.

Rusalka
Ordway Center for the Performing Arts
www.mnopera.org
January 23–31, 2016
You may well be familiar with Czech composer Antonin Leopold Dvorak’s swelling New World Symphony but his Rusalka is among opera’s top classics. A water nymph falls in love with a prince and goes after him on the surface at the cost of her beautiful singing voice. Sound familiar?

Halory Goerger and Antoine Defoort
Walker Art Center, McGuire Theatre
www.walkerart.org
January 28–30, 2016
These two bring to mind Jacque Brel. Their popular piece, Germinal, muses on what we might do if we were able to start remaking the world from scratch. Mind-melds, pickaxes, microphones, electric guitars, and four-part harmony blend into the ensemble. One of the best internationally received works in contemporary theater.

Clybourne Park
Yellow Tree Theatre
www.yellowtreetheatre.com
February 5–March 6, 2016
Race, real estate, and gentrification converge in a Chicago neighborhood. Act I starts in 1959, a black family moves into a cliquish white neighborhood. Act II takes place in 2009 at the same house, as gentrification sets in and the roles are reversed. An homage to Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun.

George Bonga: Black Voyager
History Theatre
www.historytheatre.com
February 6–28, 2016
In the bitterly cold winter of 1837 Boundary Waters voyageur George Bonda sets out in pursuit of a fugitive Ojibwe warrior accused of murdering a white man. Carlyle Brown is a first-rate playwright who reflects on obscure stories from U.S. history. You’ll see Penumbra Theatre actors in the History Theatre roles.

Newsies
Orpheum Theatre
www.hennepintheatretrust.org
February 9–14, 2016
Gay master playwright Harvey Fierstein wrote the book for the Disney musical stage version of Newsies, a family-oriented story inspired by the New York newsboys strike of 1899. Though Fierstein is synonymous with gay issues, Newsies shows his passion for labor issues, as did his recent Kinky Boots.

Paired with:
The Newsroom
www.thenewsroommpls.com
The walls are decorated with replicas of newsprint and the menu isn’t afraid to have a bit of fun. Order the “fungus amoungus” flatbread, the “beet goes on salad” or the New York strip. Hey, we don’t all have to be clever.

The Snowy Day and Other Stories by Ezra Jack Keats
Children’s Theatre Company
www.childrenstheatre.org
February 9–March 20, 2016
Think back to the first time you ever saw snow. It was probably a wondrous thing. That’s what is experienced by the boy in the red coat when he first experiences that miraculous event. Italian puppet master Fabrizio Montecchi’s design promises to be an event in itself.

Paired with:
Fika at ASI
www.asimn.org/visit/fika-cafe
Sitting inside this cafeteria style eatery, there’s an entire wall of glass through which to watch the snow fall on a real castle.

Romeo and Juliet
Park Square Theatre, Boss Stage
www.parksquaretheatre.org
February 12–13, 2016
The quintessential tale of forbidden love and the most popular play in history continues to captivate and thrill audiences, even those who go to take their seat in the theater insisting, “But I don’t understand Shakespeare!” Accomplished director David Mann returns to remount the fabled story of the star-crossed lovers.

THE NAKED I: 4.0
Intermedia Arts
www.tctwentypercent.org
February 12–20, 2016
20% Theatre Company Twin Cities, along with Gadfly Productions, has developed trans-inspired at a level not seen since Actors for Change 20 years ago. Their annual NAKED I offerings have showcased numerous short works that have taken on binary views of gender and how they create social inequity. Written, performed, and directed by GLBTQIAP+ people, this production explores queer and trans experiences through brand new, never-before-seen monologues, short scenes, movement pieces, and spoken word poems.

The Aliens
Red Eye Theater
www.walkingshadowcompany.org
February 12–27, 2016
A young barista wants two people who plan novels and write songs to get the heck away from the coffee shop vicinity. However, when they illuminate him about music, Bukowski, and tea, they actually become friends and find a place of transcendence. A play with music from Pulitzer Prize-winner Annie Baker.

Richard III
Theatre in the Round
www.theatreintheround.org
February 12–March 6, 2016
Shakespeare’s entertaining villain, the deformed Richard, Duke of Gloucester, boasts that he “can smile and murder whiles I smile.” His thirst for power is so intense that he goes after his own family members. This tragedy has us consider that seizing power is one thing but holding onto it is definitely another.

A Chorus Line
Ordway Center for the Performing Arts
www.ordway.org
February 16–28, 2016
The Tony-winning Best Musical changed the way we see musicals in a revolutionary way in the mid-70s. Interviews with dancers were theatricalized into a spare but magnificent stage concept with some of the most dynamic tunes in theater: “One” and “What I Did For Love.” Also winner of the Pulitzer Prize.

Faye Driscoll
Walker Art Center, McGuire Theatre
www.walkerart.org
February 17–21, 2016
New York-based choreographer Faye Driscoll creates work wherein dancers entangle with other dancers. Remember the Twister game you played as a kid? This is the first work of her new trilogy that the Walker will present over the next three years. The whimsical Thank You for Coming: Attendance runs 75 captivating minutes.

Gypsy
Pantages Theatre
www.hennepintheatretrust.org
February 17–March 13, 2016
The legendary true story of striptease artist Gypsy Rose Lee and her overbearing stage mother looms as a Jule Styne-Stephen Sondheim masterpiece. Theater Latte Da and Hennepin Theatre Trust return for the fourth year of Broadway Re-Imagined. Thrill and be uplifted by incomparable tunes like “Everything’s Coming Up Roses,” “Together (Wherever We Go),” and “Some People.”

Noura Mint Seymali
Cedar Cultural Center
www.walkerart.org
February 19, 2016
Noura Mint Seymali is making a name for herself as an African artist to keep your eye on. Her songs inspired by the Sahara are beguilingly blended with psych guitar played by Jeich Ould Chighaly. Echoes of flamenco, reggae, and blues resonate the natural power of the desert.

Ballet Works Project
The Cowles Center for Dance & the Performing Arts
www.jsballet.org
February 19–28, 2016
JSB’s annual choreographic laboratory gives the audience an inside look at their creative process. Dancer Eve Schulte explores along with local choreographer Christine Maginnis. Special guest Belinda McGuire from New York City (and a Juilliard alumnus) will also her present with her captivating movement vocabulary.

[title of show]
Black Box Theatre at the Ames Center
www.ames-center.com
February 19–March 6, 2016
Hunter and Jeff are facing a three-week deadline to submit an entry to a new musical theatre festival but they haven’t even started on it! So they decide to use their own experience to fuel their creative process in portraying this dilemma along with some friends.

Paired with:
The Rookery
www.travailkitchen.com
No one is having more fun in the restaurant than the crew of hardworking chefs inside this Robbinsdale hot spot. Experience the small, creative bites on the more casual side of the eatery and build your own tasting menu. It’s the kind of spontaneous, creative experience that the creators of this show would appreciate. (Keep an eye out for the Nerf gun.)

You for Me for You
Guthrie Theater’s Dowling Studio
www.guthrietheater.org
February 19–March 6, 2016
North Korea is a cruelly isolated country ruled by a bizarre family dynasty, That’s the setting. A sibling helps another sibling — who is very sick — flee the dictatorship. When the healthy sibling makes it to New York without the other, the temptations of the free West confuse and seduce. Will the other remain stuck in North Korea?

Paired with:
Sole Cafe
www.solecafe.weebly.com
Explore Korean cuisine beyond the bulgogi that has become so popular at other eateries. The thready noodles in the japchae bely the heavenly flavors they harbor and the kimchi inside here burns like none other.

The Real Inspector Hound
Guthrie Theater’s McGuire Proscenium Stage
www.guthrietheater.org
February 23–March 27, 2016
Tony-nominated director Michael Kahn wowed Guthrie audiences in the late ’80s with his haunting revival of The Duchess of Malfi. After too long of an absence, he returns with a double-bill of two one-act comedies about critics: Jeffrey Hatcher’s The Critic and Stoppard’s The Real Inspector Hound.

Paired with:
Spoon and Stable
www.spoonandstable.com
Before laughing at the critics, feast inside what has been the most critically reviewed restaurant in recent memory. Every reviewer worth their salt has passed judgment on Gavin Kaysen’s North Loop eatery. Isn’t it about time you did, too?

Rez Abbasi’s Invocation Quintet
Walker Art Center, McGuire Theatre
www.walkerart.org
February 25, 2016
Guitarist Rez Abbasi brings together vanguard jazz and South Indian and Indian Carnatic sounds. This new project celebrates his prowess as both a composer and bandleader. The project is being shaped with saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa. The Walker is the Upper Midwest’s best venue for unique performances from other countries.

Doubt: A Parable
Black Box Theater
www.btacmn.org
February 26–March 13, 2016
In recent years pedophile scandals have savaged the Catholic Church. But the problem is hardly anything new. Set in 1964, John Patrick Shanley’s drama ingeniously sets up a situation where a very bitter Mother Superior takes on a personal crusade against a young white priest she thinks has molested a black boy.

Mixed Repertory
Northrop Memorial Auditorium
www.northrop.umn.edu
March 1, 2016
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater was founded in 1958 and became a crucible of African American expression and American modern dance. This performance includes Ailey’s signature piece, Revelations, which uses blues and spirituals to commemorate the struggle from slavery to freedom. Ailey died of AIDS in 1989.

The Dutchman and The Owl Answers
Penumbra Theatre
www.penumbratheatre.org
March 3–27, 2016
Finally, we get to see a great African American theater offer one of the great works of African American drama. Amiri Baraka’s The Dutchman blew the lid off the American stage when it took on the taboo of interracial relationships in 1963. On a one act double bill with The Owl Answers.