Item World: One Direction's Harry Styles, Mavis Staples, Fancy Ray McCloney, more

Did the members of One Direction age five years in 15 months, or was it just us? The British pop stars, ages 19 to 21, looked significantly older and less clean-cut at Target Center last week than in their promo photos. Part of the difference might have been their attire: tight T's and muscle shirts instead of preppy wear, which allowed them to show off their emerging biceps and tats. More than a few attendees also thought lead hunk Harry Styles looked hung over or unnaturally out of it. One thing 1D did not show off, however, was any proof that they are witty conversationalists off camera. There were many "You guys are the best crowd evah!" comments between songs. Their live Q&A via Twitter resulted in only a few minor chuckles, such as when one fan asked if they could speak with a Minnesota accent (a woman in the crowd coached them on long "O's"). Least funny was a long bit at the end when they went into a dissertation-like speech on which kinds of soup they like best. Anything with "ham" would've seemed perfect.

CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER

At her concert Sunday at the Minnesota Zoo, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Mavis Staples surprised fans by introducing some of her relatives. Actually, she surprised the "relatives," too. All 17 of them. It turns out that they are relatives of Mike Kappus, Staples' longtime agent who is originally from Eau Claire and whose sister, Faith McCaghy, lives in Lakeville and led the zoo contingent. Since there wasn't time to greet Kappus' kin privately before or after the show, Staples decided to acknowledge them between songs. Kappus, who runs the Rosebud Agency in San Francisco, told I.W. about how Mavis insisted at her father Pops Staples' funeral in Chicago in 2000 that Kappus and his wife were part of the Staples family. Said Kappus: "I told people we were the white sheep in the family."

Jon Bream

When real estate goes belly-up, bring in the artists. And hire Joan Vorderbruggen to round them up. The veteran organizer of the Whittier neighborhood's successful Artists in Storefronts program has been drafted by the Hennepin Theatre Trust to fill all 40 of Block E's empty storefront windows with art projects, starting Sept. 28. The block's temporary transformation is part of "Made Here," a series of pop-up projects planned to animate Hennepin Avenue. Having supported herself as a nurse pretty much forever, the hyper-energetic Vorderbruggen is ecstatic about her new gig. She texted I.W.: "I keep hearing 'The Jeffersons' ('We're Moving On Up') theme song in my head. LOL!"

Mary Abbe

Fancy Ray McCloney, Minneapolis' indelible standup comic and advertising pitchman, can add recording artist to his résumé. The self-described "best-looking man in comedy" has just signed with Minneapolis' Secret Stash Records, vinyl-loving home to such veteran Twin Cities R&B names as the Valdons, Sonny Knight and Jackie Harris. McCloney is making a comedy album, which should be challenging since I.W. thinks 90 percent of his appeal is visual.

Last week Paste magazine put a spotlight on "12 Minnesota Bands You Should Listen to Now," part of its "50 States Project." Paste's own editor, Josh Jackson, tallied the MN lineup, which pretty much reads like a playlist from 89.3 the Current, minus the acts mentioned in the list's intro as names that readers should already know (Poliça, Dessa, Jeremy Messersmith, Trampled by Turtles, more). Each entry includes an accompanying song to click on and hear: Caroline Smith & the Good Night Sleeps; Chastity Brown; Communist Daughter; Guante; Haley Bonar; Joey Ryan & the Inks; Lucy Michelle & the Velvet Lapelles; Night Moves; Prissy Clerks; Rogue Valley; Sleep Study and We Are the Willows.

Chris Riemenschneider

Traci Allen has been selected to join the Children's Theatre Company's resident acting troupe. The Howard University-trained actor starred as the title character in "Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy" at CTC. She also was part of the national tour of "The Color Purple" and has acted at Theatre Latté Da, Penumbra and Park Square. Allen, who is from Winston-Salem, N.C., will star as Cinderella at the holidays.

Rohan preston

I.W. knew Paul Rudoi could sing. But the Cantus tenor is now getting noticed for composing choral work. Rudoi placed second in the American Prize, a series of competitions for the performing arts. Rudoi's work included "Song of Sky and Sea," which Cantus premiered last fall. In 2011, Rudoi won grand prizes in competitions at Milwaukee, New York and Minneapolis.

Come September, former Walker Art Center curator Doryun Chong will move to Hong Kong for a new job as chief curator of the still-in-development M+ Museum, which is scheduled to open in 2017. Coincidentally, the M+ is being designed by the Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron, which also designed Walker's 2005 addition. Now an associate curator at New York's Museum of Modern Art, the multilingual Korean-American curator brought a lot of Asian art to Walker in his six-year Minneapolis tenure (2003-09).

Mary Abbe