Five spot: "The Killing," "Clybourne Park," "Rod: The Autobiography," The Wilson brothers

June 15, 2013 at 7:14PM
Rehearsals for the Guthrie Theater production of "Clybourne Park" with cast members Bill McCallum, Kathryn Meisle, Peter Christian Hansen, Sh‡ Cage, Ansa Akyea & Jim Lichtscheidl, Minneapolis, June 1, 2013. © Tony Nelson ORG XMIT: MIN1306031155122083
Bill McCallum, Kathryn Meisle and Shá Cage in “Clybourne Park.” (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

1 "Clybourne Park" by Bruce Norris has delighted audiences with funny, whip-smart craftsmanship. Norris won the trifecta of dramatic awards with the Tony, Pulitzer and Olivier for best play. He takes a razor to the fumbling American dialogue over race, but there is something deeper in Lisa Peterson's superb production at the Guthrie. Norris is writing about the erosion of communities and comity. Actors Bill McCallum, Jim Lichtscheidl and Sha Cage headline a top-notch case. This work is well worth seeing.

2 If you gave up on AMC's "The Killing," try again. Season 3 promises to be the best ever, thanks in no small part to its two leading men. Joel Kinnaman is back as street-sexy ex-junkie cop Holder, still saying "Oh, snap" but now wearing suits on his way up the ladder. Creepy Peter Sarsgaard induces spine shivers without saying a word as this season's No. 1 villain, a guy on death row for brutally murdering his wife in front of his son. Or did he?

3 It took Dan and Matt Wilson a decade and a half to work together again after the end of their band Trip Shakespeare, but it sounds like the St. Louis Park-reared siblings were never far apart on the new live set "Minneapolis 2013." Culled from their Pantages and Bryant-Lake Bowl theater shows in February, the pristine, living-room-warm, 22-song collection ranges from the pre-Trip nugget "Kiss Away the Tears" to several new tunes, and from Dan's mega-hits "Closing Time" and "Someone Like You" to Matt's unsung classics "Dreams" and "Hello Caller." There's a lot of fun between-song banter, too, like when the audience boos Dan's mention of moving to Los Angeles (to which Matt said, "Thank you"). It's available for download via DanWilsonMusic.com.

4 Now that it's out in paperback, "Rod: The Autobiography" makes the perfect summer companion for that trip to the beach. Author Rod Stewart, whose ego often seems to be as big as his hair, is surprisingly modest and candid in this rock 'n' roll adventure that covers everything from his recordings to his rocky relationships. It's been easy in recent years to overlook Stewart's contributions to music. Thank goodness Stewart is still here to remind us in this witty and surprising memoir.

5 Best spot for celebrity sighting in Minneapolis this summer? Hands down, it's Weinstein Gallery in south Minneapolis, where Mary Ellen Mark's "Seen Behind the Scene" photos glow with stars she's snapped over the course of her 40-year career. The candid photos come from Mark's classy new book "Forty Years of Photographing on Set," with filmmakers and stars ranging from the ethereal Catherine Deneuve to the hilarious John Belushi (left), plus at-work-and-at-play snaps of directors Francois Truffaut, Federico Fellini, Woody Allen and lots more.


Sarah Linden (Mireille Enos, left) and Stephen Holder (Joel Kinnaman) star in AMC's, "The Killing," Season 3. (Frank Ockenfels/Courtesy AMC/MCT) ORG XMIT: 1139285 ORG XMIT: MIN1305291107310238 ORG XMIT: MIN1305301600150600
Mireille Enos and Joel Kinnaman in“The Killing.” (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Dan and Matt Wilson, "Minneapolis 2013"
Dan and Matt Wilson, "Minneapolis 2013" (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
In this Thursday, May 2, 2013 photo, singer Rod Stewart poses for a portrait in Los Angeles. His new album, "Time," is out on Tuesday, May 7. (Photo by Eric Charbonneau/Invision/AP) ORG XMIT: MIN2013061216382562
Stewart (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
John Belushi by Mary Ellen Mark
John Belushi by Mary Ellen Mark (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
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