A lot of local Monkees fans were surprised to learn that Peter Tork, who passed away last week at 77, studied at Carleton College in Northfield before going on to superstardom. Now we have visual proof he was a full-on Carl. A photo from the 1963 Algol yearbook shows young P.H. Thorkelson standing alongside his dorm mates from the fourth floor of Burton Hall. (Judging from the photo, that may have been the party floor that year.) The future rock and TV star is easy to spot, in a sweatshirt that says "Tork." A 1982 article on the ex-Monkee from the school's newspaper, the Carletonian, also surfaced last week. Interviewed by then-student Sam Delson at a time when he was playing solo acoustic gigs, Tork recounted his rather abysmal academic performance but otherwise fun time in Minnesota. He started in 1959, took a break, then spent two more years at Carleton before getting kicked out in 1963 "for low grades and missing chapel," as Tork put it. Originally from Connecticut, he declared himself an English major and was also an intramural wrestler, but neither was his main pursuit at college. "There were no women in my hometown, but there were women at Carleton," he enthused, "even though they lived on the other side of campus in closed dorms and visitation was allowed only two or three times a year." One bit of good news for Monkees fans: Tork's surviving bandmates, Mike Nesmith and Micky Dolenz, are performing March 14 at Mystic Lake — just 30 miles from his old alma mater. CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER
Search begins at Mia
The Minneapolis Institute of Art has begun its search for the successor to director Kaywin Feldman, whose last day is Friday. This week, the museum's search committee, led by former board chair Maurice Blanks, co-founder and chief operating officer of Blu Dot, began interviewing potential executive-search firms. Once a firm is engaged, the process will take about nine months. "The committee believes that the opportunity to build on Kaywin's legacy and the staff's commitment to excellence makes the prospect of becoming Mia's next director and president a very desirable one," said Blanks in an e-mail to staff. During Feldman's tenure, the museum doubled its attendance, setting a record in 2017 with 891,000 visitors. She's moving to Washington, D.C., to become executive director of the National Gallery, where she'll handle a budget four times as large as Mia's $35 million, and manage more than twice as many employees as Mia's 440.
ALICIA ELER
Coming soon to Crystal
Another Twin Cities theater is moving to the northern suburbs. Theatre Elision has purchased an old fabric factory in Crystal that will be transformed into Elision Playhouse by summer, with plans for two performing spaces under one roof: a 119-seat main stage and a 60- to 100-seat cabaret. The company's most recent show was January's "Gone Missing" at Dreamland Arts in St. Paul. The first show in its new venue will be a July remount of "Ruthless!," a satiric musical inspired by the 1950s evil-child thriller "The Bad Seed." The cast will include "Church Basement Ladies 2" writer Greta Grosch and Susan Hofflander, currently playing Madame Armfeldt in Theater Latté Da's "A Little Night Music."
CHRIS HEWITT
Long shot
It's been a few weeks now since Minneapolis troubadour Larry Long posted his protest song "White Sheets in the White House" on social media, but he hasn't gotten a tweet from President Donald Trump yet. Still, he said, "my e-mail is slammed with people posting their responses and opinions about 'White Sheets in the White House,' " Long said. "As Woody Guthrie wrote, 'Left wing, right wing, chicken wing.' People are just people, and we've got to find a way to get along." Inspired by Billie Holiday's anti-lynching ballad "Strange Fruit," Long enlisted vocalists Robert Robinson and Van Nixon, pedal-steel ace Joe Savage, bassist Sid Gasner and drummer Daryl Boudreaux for the recording, which has racked up more than 42,000 views on Facebook.
C.J.
WCCO goes to Lake
Henry Lake, a longtime member of the KFAN family, is switching teams. The radio personality will host "Lake Night" from 9 p.m.-1 a.m. weekdays, starting March 11 on WCCO Radio. He replaces Al Malmberg, who was let go in February. Lake was a regular on KFAN before moving to Kansas City for five years. He returned to KFAN last year as a fill-in host. Calling WCCO "one of the truly legendary stations in radio," he said he plans to bring "an entertaining and fresh voice" to the station, which has been broadcasting since 1922.
