April 2012 Arts Calendar

What you need to do, see, and hear this month

Theater

Spring Awakening • Theater Latté Da’s production is a tutorial in winning eight Tony Awards: take one controversial story about coming of age, add contemporary characters (sheltered, hormonal teenagers), mix it up with an alt-rock score (by Duncan Sheik), and blend until Broadway smooth. Collect trophies. • 4/12–5/6, Rarig Center, latteda.org


[THE RUNNERS-UP]

Mamma Mia! • Too much ABBA? Nej! • 4/24–4/29, Orpheum Theatre, hennepintheatretrust.org

The Glass Menagerie • Jon Cranney directs the Yellow Tree Theatre. • 4/13–5/6, yellowtreetheatre.com

Time Stands Still • Joe Dowling helms the hit play about love and war. • 4/7–5/20, guthrietheater.org
 

Music

A Love Letter to New Orleans • Irvin Mayfield is a trumpeter, an inspiration to bald men everywhere, and now an author. He’s also a world-class partier, celebrating his new CD and book at Orchestra Hall with Aaron Neville, Bill Summers, and Jason Marsalis, hosted by CNN anchor Soledad O’Brien. Alas, no jambalaya. • 4/6, mnorch.org
 

[THE RUNNERS-UP]

Glen Campbell • The “Rhinestone Cowboy,” recently anointed at the Grammy Awards, plays Mystic Lake Casino. • 4/13, mysticlake.com

Trampled by Turtles • The band releases its new CD, Stars and Satellites, at First Avenue. • 4/11, first-avenue.com

Madame Butterfly • Local diva Kelly Kaduce stars in the Minnesota Opera’s revival of Puccini’s geisha romance. • 4/14–4/22, mnopera.org
 

Film

Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival • The celebration of cinema returns with a new Andrew Bird tour film, a local documentary (narrated by John Waters) about dollhouse crime scenes, and films from more than 60 other countries—250 in all. You’re gonna need some popcorn. • 4/12–5/3, St. Anthony Main Cinema, mspfilmsociety.org
 

[THE RUNNERS-UP]

Lawrence Kasdan • The Walker hosts a retrospective and dialogue with the writer of Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Big Chill, etc. • 4/11–4/20, walkerart.org

The Peanut Butter Solution • A bald 11-year-old boy uses peanut butter to grow hair. • 4/25, Trylon, take-up.org

The Defenders: Jahna Peloquin • The stylist and fashion writer hosts a secret film and defends her choice. • 4/18, Trylon, take-up.org
 

Dance

Voices • A galaxy of local dance stars (Uri Sands, Carl Flink, Wilson Mendieta) honor the 25th anniversary of the Shapiro & Smith dance company by looking backward and forward—a mix of brand-new works and past favorites, with live music from the Orange Mighty Trio. • 4/6–4/8, Cowles Center, thecowlescenter.org
 

[THE RUNNERS-UP]

Carmina Burana • Minnesota Dance Theatre celebrates 50 years with a poetic ballet. • 4/26–4/29, Cowles Center, thecowlescenter.org

Snow White • France’s Ballet Preljocaj mixes the fairy tale with Jean Paul Gaultier at the Orpheum.
• 4/13–4/14, hennepintheatretrust.org

Fashion Ball • Dancers from Ballet of the Dolls model cutting-edge designs. • 4/13–4/14, Ritz Theater, ritzdolls.com
 

Visual Arts

Flashing Red • Tara Costello and Sean McNulty raise the ghost of Abstract Expressionism in this Rosalux show of new work, with Costello sexing up her black-on-black mindscapes with cat-scratch abrasions and McNulty attacking abstract color fields with a palette knife. Rothko and Pollock, you have been summoned.
• 4/5–4/29, rosaluxgallery.com
 

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Candice Eisenfeld and Marc Civitarese • Two of the nation’s best landscape painters at Circa Gallery.
• 4/20–5/26, circagallery.org

Parables of Mutation • Luke Hillestad’s Old Masters style paintings at the Rogue Buddha. • Opens 4/6, lukehillestad.com

The Flesh Show • Six artists poetically illustrate the human form at Cult Status gallery. • 4/27–5/11, cultstatusgallery.com
 

Events

Minnesota Twins home opener • O baseball gods who art in left field, please turn thy attention to Target Field and grant the worst team of 2011 the strength, wisdom, and lack of concussions to beat Torii Hunter and the Los Angeles Angels to heck, just this once. They’re no angels, and we really need the W. • 4/9, minnesotatwins.com
 

[THE RUNNERS-UP]

Denis Johnson • The National Book Award winner reads at Coffman Union. • 4/11, events.umn.edu

American Craft Council Show • The country’s top artisans  show their wares at the Saint Paul RiverCentre. • 4/20–4/22, craftcouncil.org

Bluff Country Studio Art Tour • Local art and lovely landscapes converge. • 4/27–4/29, bluffcountrystudioarttour.com