There’s a ton of great theater happening in the Twin Cities right now, which I’ve been writing about for the past few weeks. Here are a few more picks, including the return of “Feast,” Walking Shadow’s production that shows the perspective of Grendel’s mother from “Beowulf,” plus a musical featuring the decades of pop hits by Carole King, as it tells the story of her life. Also this week, Mixed Blood Theater opens “The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington,” by Pulitzer Prize winner James Ijames.
Read on for info on two classical music events, including a joint concert with the Bach Society of Minnesota and Rochester’s Choral Arts Ensemble, as well as music from Spain and South America performed by the Isles Ensemble. Finally, The Museum of Russian Art opens a new exhibition featuring surreal paintings by Vladimir Dikarev.
Feast
Walking Shadow Theater Company has brought back two versions of the epic poem, Beowulf, told from different perspectives, to the Black Forest Inn. I had the opportunity to see “Feast,” Megan Gogerty’s adaptation of the story from the point of view of Grendel’s mother. Directed by Allison Vincent, Isabel Nelson is a force of fury and grief in a turn of maximalist acting. Concurrently, but with more limited performances, Walking Shadow’s artistic director performs Charlie Bethel’s one-person version of Beowulf. The “Feast” performances come with the option of dinner and live music before the show.
This week, “Feast” takes place Friday, March 8, Saturday, March 9, and Sunday, March 10 with dinner seating at 6:30 p.m. and the show starting at 7:30 p.m., with the show running through March 24 ($20-$80). “Beowulf” performs Saturdays March 16 and 23rd at 5 p.m. ($15). More information here.
Beautiful, The Carole King Musical
Chanhassen Dinner Theatres has tapped New York City performer Monet Sabel, who starred in the Broadway tour of “Beautiful, The Carole King Musical,” to take on the role for their local production. The story centers around the legendary singer songwriter, who co-wrote hits like “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” with her first husband Gerry Goffin, and “You’ve Got a Friend.” In all, King won four Grammy Awards, the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
In the musical, you follow along on the journey of her life and career, beginning in her teenage years, through heartbreak and ups and downs, and eventually worldwide success. Resident artistic director Michael Brindisi teams up with his daughter, Cat Brindisi-Darrow, to bring this version to the stage.
Thursday, March 7 & Friday, March 8 at 8 p.m. Saturday, March 9 at 1 p.m. & 8 p.m., Sunday, March 10 at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, March 12 at 8 p.m., Wednesday, March 13 at 1 p.m. & 8 p.m. through April 17 at Chanhassen Dinner Theatres (show-only $55-$80, with dinner, $75-$100). More information here.
The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington
The U.S.’s legacy of slavery gets a satirical treatment with James Ijames’ “The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington.” The playwright nabbed a Pulitzer Prize in 2022 for his adaptation of Hamlet, “Fat Ham,” and has garnered praise from critics for his Studio Theatre commission, “Good Bones.” “Miz Martha” earned the Kesselring Prize, a playwriting award distributed by the National Arts Club, back in 2018.
In the play, George Washington is dead, and Martha Washington is having hallucinations. Her husband freed his slaves upon her death, so they are naturally anxious for her to kick the bucket. Part trial, part game show, with dance interludes and other antics, the play examines white privilege with a freshly sharpened knife. Pirrone Yousefzadeh, the interim associate artistic director at Playwrights’ Center, directs the production. Friday, March 8 & Saturday, March 9 at 7:30 p.m., Sunday, March 10 at 2 p.m., Wednesday, March 13 at 10 a.m. and 7:30 p.m., through March 31 at Mixed Blood. (Free, donations accepted). More information here.
“Symphony of Joy” with the Bach Society of Minnesota and the Choral Arts Ensemble
The Bach Society of Minnesota teams up with the Choral Arts Ensemble, from Rochester, for two performances— one in Rochester, and one in the Twin Cities. The two groups last worked together back in 2019, when they presented Bach’s St. John Passion. Now they’re taking on works by both J.S. Bach and his family members (son C.P.E. Bach, uncle Johann Ludwig Bach, father-in-law Johann Christoph Bach) as well as Bach’s friends G.P. Telemann and Johannes Brahms. The Bach Society of Minnesota’s artistic director, Matthias Maute, conducts along with Choral Arts Ensemble’s Rick Kvam.
Saturday, March 9 at 7:30 p.m. at Christ United Methodist Church in Rochester, and Sunday, March 10 at 2:30 p.m. at the Cathedral of Saint Paul ($35, $5 students). More information here.
Opening Reception for Portal to the Surreal: Vladimir Dikarev
The Museum of Russian Art leans into surrealism with a second exhibition devoted to artists working in that realm. Earlier this year, the museum opened an exhibition of surrealist sculptures by Yogoslavian-born Minnesota sculptor Zoran Mojsilov. Massive, textural and at times startling, Mojsilov’s work is installed in the museum’s main atrium. This weekend, TMORA opens another exhibition featuring Minnesota-based artist Vladimir Dikarev, who last exhibited at the museum at the beginning of 2020. Dikarev’s colorful paintings conjure dreamy fantastical spaces and dimensions. While you’re there, you can also view Andréa Stanislav’s multimedia sculpture installation, “Spinner’s Song,” and Olga Volchkova’s garden-themed contemporary icons.
Saturday, March 9 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at The Museum of Russian Art ($14). More information here.
“Journeys” with the Isles Ensemble
Grab your metaphorical plane ticket to Brazil, Andalusia, and Argentina in The Isles Ensemble’s upcoming concert. Guest violinist Hanna Landrum, from the Minnesota Orchestra, and Nicola Melville, a professor of music at Carleton College, join ensemble members Emily Switzer, Kenneth Freed, Laura Sewell, and Tom Rosenberg for a concert of music from Spain and South America. They’ll be playing “La Calle 92” by the King of Tango, Astor Piazzola, and String Quartet No. 1 by another 20th century Argentinian composer, Alberto Ginastera. The concert also features a cello and piano duet by Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, and a string quartet by 19th and early 20th century Venezuelan composer Teresa Carreño.
The group will also perform a piano trio by Joaquin Turina that brings together Spanish folkloric sounds with a French impressionist treatment. Sunday, March 10 at 2 p.m. at Lakes of the Isles Church ($25 or pay what you can.) More information here.
