The Great Gatsby centennial continues at the Orpheum, Pillsbury House + Theatre uses puppetry to explore the impact of ICE on South Minneapolis, a group show explores mutual aid, a feminist choir turns 50 and more in this week’s MN Shortlist.
“The Great Gatsby” at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis — Through June 7
While a major Prince celebration is taking over downtown Minneapolis this week, another Minnesota legend is getting his flowers at the Orpheum Theatre. F. Scott Fitzgerald, who was born in St. Paul, wrote “The Great Gatsby” over 100 years ago, and a musical adaptation of his great American novel is now on tour across North America.
The show doesn’t have the depth of the novel—save for a few moments where the devastating consequences of the pursuit of the American dream leaves a lump in your throat. The homoerotic subtext of narrator Nick Carraway is also for the most part excised from this adaptation. However, the musical numbers are slick and sparkly, and the music is well composed, leaving you humming several of the songs. (Jacob Aloi)
A Gay “Midsummer Night’s Dream” at The Modern Rep. — Through June 20
When William Shakespeare first mounted his plays, only men were allowed to perform on stage—requiring them to play both male and female roles. While it is now standard practice to see people of all genders portray a variety of roles in Shakespeare’s canon, some productions harken back to those Renaissance times with an all-male cast–in what is called “original practice.”
For Grant Sorenson, a theater director and founder of the relatively new performing company “The Modern Rep,” the idea of performing Shakespeare in this way intrigued him, leading to his version of one of the Bard’s best-known plays.
“I started to look at how could you cast ‘A Midsummer Night's Dream’ with a group of male actors?” Sorensen said, adding that he wanted to explore the queer elements that seem inherent to the play, given that it would have been all men portraying the show’s love stories back in the day.
“When you have men speaking romantic poetry to each other…it felt like that was sort of ripe for re-imagining, so I was excited to cast an incredible group of local actors, the majority of whom identify as gay or queer,” Sorensen said. (Jacob Aloi)
Katy Vernon and “Favourite Girl” at Aster Cafe in Minneapolis — June 5
London born musician Katy Vernon has made Minnesota her home for 30 years. She’s mainly known for her singer-songwriter vibes, and for performing with her self-titled band for many years. But when the band broke up in 2021, Vernon decided to take on a new project.
“I almost immediately started dreaming up, you know, what would be next, and kind of pulled myself up off the floor,” Vernon told MPR News.
What blossomed out of that sad moment for her was “Favourite Girl,” a new rock band fronted by Vernon, featuring a mostly female lineup.
“We have one guy who plays trumpet,” Vernon said, explaining that she wanted “more female energy” for this band than previous projects.
“Favourite Girl” released their first album earlier this year. The self-titled debut record has elements of English Rock, mixed in with the sound of other female fronted bands like the Go-Gos, along with shades of musical theater. “Favourite Girl” is available via CD and streaming, and will also be available on vinyl. To celebrate the vinyl release, the band will be playing a show at the Aster Cafe in Minneapolis on June 5. Doors open at 7:30 p.m., and the show kicks off at 8:30 p.m. (Jacob Aloi)
“Boundless / Sin límites” at Pillsbury House + Theatre — Through June 14
The Twin Cities-based All at Once Puppet Company, run by puppeteers of color Sofía Padilla, Oanh Vu, Andrew Young and Erica Warren, aims to create narrative performances based in transformation and culture. Using shadow, tabletop and rod puppetry the company has created “Boundless / Sin límites,” a story rooted in South Minneapolis, which follows Sol, “a young person sheltering in place from ICE, is swept into a time-traveling journey by Coyote, a trickster deity.”
The production was developed using story circles with South Minneapolis neighbors. Pillsbury is located about three blocks away from where an ICE agent killed Renee Good in January. A month later, Pillsbury senior artistic producing director Signe Harriday told MPR News: “Trauma is showing up in every corner of our work, whether it’s with our participants, our families, our artists, our kids, our staff, everyone is touched and impacted in some way.” (Alex V. Cipolle)
‘Carrying Each Other’ exhibition at Lanesboro Arts — June 6-Aug. 2
Many current art exhibitions are examining how artists and community members help one another (including two ongoing exhibitions about neighbors highlighted in a May Shortlist). The group show “Carrying Each Other” picks up that torch by asking participating artists to “submit work exploring these visible and invisible forms of support, exchange, and mutual care that shape community life and why it matters to them.” And so, on view, there will be everything from quilted textiles and leather work to photo collages and audio records. There will be an opening reception 6 to 8 pm June 6. (Alex V. Cipolle)
Calliope Women’s Chorus 50th anniversary show at Hamline University — June 6
Calliope said it's the second oldest feminist choir in the U.S. with a founding in 1976 (The Twin Cities are a hub for very longstanding choruses). On Saturday at Hamline’s Sundin Music Hall, to kick off PRIDE month, the chorus will celebrate a half-century of creating “a comfortable place for the LGBTQ+, ally and feminist communities to gather, celebrate and renew spirits. Calliope will also perform the Golden Valley Pride Festival on June 13.
You can learn more about the history of the chorus in a recent episode of “Queer Voices: The Official Podcast of Gala Choruses,” which features an interview with Calliope artistic director Klo Garoute, president Maddy Hull and secretary Laurel Rand Lewis.
“Part of this 50th anniversary is really honoring the people who started the choir and honoring the legacy of the women who would meet in their living rooms and just gather and want a space for themselves,” Rand Lewis said. The anniversary “really just celebrates people being whoever they are.” (Alex V. Cipolle)
