LAURIE ANDERSON'S 'DIRTDAY!'
Nov. 2-3 at Walker Art Center
Ten years ago, after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, an introspective Laurie Anderson performed a piece at Walker Art Center called "Happiness," a most unusual theme for this stalwart of the music-and-performance avant-garde. Anderson returns to provocative form this year with "Dirtday!," a show of songs and hallucinatory musings that erupts from this year's bitter presidential contest. She addresses some of the charged themes that arise out of the crucible of U.S. politics by using references to feminism, Darwinism and the Tibetan Book of the Dead.1750 Hennepin Av. S., Mpls., $39, 612-375-7600 or walkerart.org.
"Appomattox" This is the crown jewel of the Guthrie's Christopher Hampton festival. The playwright wrote this new script, based on his own libretto for a 2007 opera with Philip Glass. By adapting the story into a straight play, Hampton has greater range to flesh out the ideas and history of two eras that are critical to U.S. civil rights. The first act centers on the events around Robert E. Lee's surrender to Ulysses S. Grant at the Appomattox Court House. The second act jumps 100 years to February 1965, when a black church deacon is shot by Alabama state troopers during a peaceful protest. David Esbjornson directs this world premiere.
Sept. 29-Nov. 11, Guthrie Theater proscenium, 818 S. 2nd St., Mpls., $29-$64, 612-377-2224 or guthrietheater.org
"Next to Normal": Mixed Blood founder and director Jack Reuler puts a local spin on this Pulitzer- and Tony-winning musical by Brian Yorkey and Tom Kitt that was a surprise hit on Broadway. The dark story, about the effects of chronic grief and mental illness on a mother, Diana, and her family, is part of a Mixed Blood "Center of the Margins" festival. Actor Aditi Brennan Kapil has been cast as Diana in a production that includes Brittany Bradford, Thomas Jones II and Regina Marie Williams as a psychiatrist.
Oct. 4-Nov. 11, Mixed Blood Theatre, 1501 S. 4th St., Mpls., free rush line. Reservations. $15, 612-338-6131 or mixedblood.com.
"Bye Bye Birdie": Believe it or not, Chanhassen Dinner Theatre has never produced this classic example of mid-century Broadway Americana. Director Michael Brindisi will harness his usual creative team, while Michael Gruber and Ann Michels star as Albert Peterson and Rose Alvarez, two people who want to be in love but spend most of their time tending to the career of Conrad Birdie, played by Twin Cities newcomer Frank Moran.
Oct. 5-Jan. 26, Chanhassen Dinner Theatre, 508 W. 78th St., Chanhassen, $46-$81, 952-934-1525 or chanhassentheatres.com.
"Lombardi": Jim Detmar, a native cheesehead, plays the legendary Green Bay Packers coach, and Norah Long plays Marie Lombardi in this exploration of a 1960s phenomenon. Eric Simonson, better known as a director for Minnesota Opera, wrote the play, which ran on Broadway for seven months two years ago. Simonson is a native of Milwaukee and a childhood Packers fan. Ron Peluso directs the History Theatre production. It should be interesting to see how Sunday matinees sell.
