River Road Boogie, The Augie Garcia Story

World premiere: Augie Garcia was known as the "Godfather of Minnesota Rock 'n' Roll." He'd hop on stage in a pair of Bermuda shorts and make his guitar scream for hours with his Augie Garcia quintet. Garcia started the band with music that blended his Mexican heritage with rhythm and blues and they found their voice playing the River Road Club in Mendota. The legend goes that they opened for Elvis at the St. Paul Auditorium and Augie's performance was so raucous that Colonel Tom Parker kicked them off stage lest they upstage the King. Joe Minjares, the local playwright/actor/restaurateur, wrote the script for this new play at the History Theatre and Raul Ramos will direct a cast that includes Ivey winner Ricardo Vázquez in the title role. Sarah Burk is the music director for a show that promises lots of tunes. (8 p.m. Sat., 2 p.m. Sun., 8 p.m. Thu.-Fri. Ends May 31; History Theatre, 30 E. 10th St., St. Paul; $15-$40, 651-292-4323 or www.historytheatre.com)

Graydon Royce

Giselle

This weekend: "Giselle" is one of the most creepily romantic tales in all of ballet. The story follows a peasant girl who dies of a broken heart when her lover becomes betrothed to another. She's summoned to life by zombie women who dance men to death, but she stops them from harming her man. Ballet Minnesota shares its version, restaged by Cheryl Rist from Jules Perrot and Jean Coralli's original choreography. Also on the program for this 27th Annual Minnesota Dance Festival is a student performance of "At the Museum" about a young ballet dancer who is left behind at the Minneapolis Institute of Art and encounters paintings and sculptures that come to life. The two evening shows feature the entirety of "Giselle" while Saturday's matinee will show only the second half to make room for special guests including Dance and Other Behaviors, Cheremosh Ukrainian Dance Ensemble of Minneapolis, Sendero Flamenco and Jim Lieberthal. (7:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 2 p.m. Sat.; The O'Shaughnessy, 2004 Randolph Av., St. Paul; $14-$30, 651-690-6700 or oshag.stkate.edu.)

Sheila Regan