Director-to-admire Bryan Bevell ("Lobby Hero," "Copenhagen") pulls off a minor miracle in his staging of Shakespeare's early farce "The Comedy of Errors" (through Oct. 23 at Lenox Little Theater, 6715 Minnetonka Blvd., St. Louis Park). If it's bold, zesty entertainment you crave (along with free parking, bargain tickets and fart jokes), this show's for you. Though the 58-seat theater has no backstage or wing space, Bevell moves his 15 actors in and out swiftly and seamlessly, which is key in a show so full of hilarious, slapstick incident. If you don't keep this thing moving, the entire soufflé may flop. Two sets of twins, long separated from each other and their parents, ignite wholesale confusion, or what the Duke describes as "an intricate impeach." Aided by artful DIY props and sound effects, Bevell's entire cast seems to have set their phasers to "high frivolity."
CLAUDE PECK
Driving Mr. Nick
In his opening set before beloved British popster Nick Lowe at the Dakota Tuesday, Nebraska-bred singer-songwriter Josh Rouse did some explaining to the sold-out audience. "The reason I'm here is I'm Nick Lowe's chauffeur. I drive. I'm serious." He's right. Rouse pointed out how Lowe, known for recording his lone hit "Cruel to Be Kind" and writing "(What's So Funny) 'Bout Peace Love Understanding" for Elvis Costello, is accustomed to driving on the left side of the road. So what's Rouse's ride? "I don't know," he told Artcetera, pointing out it was the first night of the Midwest tour. "I'm going to get the rental car in the morning. It'll probably be a minivan." Ah, for guys with guitars.
JON BREAM
Drama in dairy aisle
The plucky, itinerant Frank Theatre company looks for stages anyplace — the Guthrie, the Ritz, the Playwrights' Center. Any place that will have founder/director Wendy Knox and her players. Now here's a breakthrough venue: the former Rainbow Foods store on E. Lake Street in Minneapolis. If the space is big, so is the cast for Brecht's "The Good Person of Setzuan," about the search to find virtue in a world corrupted by vice. John Middleton, Kirby Bennett, Janis Hardy and Sally Ann Wright are among the actors who will be carrying on in the old produce department. Or was that the dairy aisle?
ROHAN PRESTON
Lost in their mind
After driving nearly 1,400 miles straight from Spokane, Wash., the Head and the Heart's members could be forgiven for thinking they were still one city to the west of their final destination Wednesday afternoon. "It's great to be back in Minneapolis," guitarist Jonathan Russell said at the start of a happy-hour gig at the Turf Club. Yep, that's in St. Paul. Head and the Heart prefaced Thursday's sold-out Northrop concert with a six-song unplugged club set as part of 89.3 the Current's "Microshow" series. The trio picked out four harmonious tunes off their new Warner Bros. album before a hand-clapping rave-up of their 2011 hit "Lost in My Mind." At least violinist Charity Rose Thielen wasn't lost in her highway-fried mind. "I think we might be able to make it to St. Paul at some point," she winkingly told the crowd. She knows: Her mom grew up in Roseville and her parents used to live in Arden Hills.
CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER
Hot seat
Lissa Ingaldson, a Twin Cities production manager and actress, was selected this week as one of 10 semifinalists for a special contest on ABC's "Live With Kelly." The winner will serve as co-host with Kelly Ripa on Oct. 21. Ingaldson made the top 10 after viewers voted on 20 contenders. The five finalists, selected by producers, will travel to New York City next week to compete live on the show. Ingaldson's competition includes a former Miss New Jersey and a retired SWAT commander. The show has been searching for a permanent guest host ever since Michael Strahan announced this past April that he was leaving to log more time at "Good Morning America." Among the guests scheduled for Oct. 21: Elijah Wood. Perhaps it's not too early for Ingaldson to start boning up on her "Lord of the Rings" trivia.
NEAL JUSTIN
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