Item World: Surly Doomtree beer, Tommy Tune here for benefit, Randy Levy sells We Fest, more

An only-in-Minnesota pairing has been taking place behind the scenes with the Surly brewmasters and the Doomtree hip-hop crewmasters, who have teamed up to create a new beer in time for the latter's 10th annual — and final — Blowout concert marathon. Surly Doomtree will be available in kegs throughout the eight-day run, Dec. 6-14. The flavor of the beer is tightly under wraps until then, but the brewery promises "it's a style that is fitting of both Doomtree and Surly — nontraditional and hard to classify." The second day of the Blowout schedule, Dec. 7, has already been billed as Doomtree's Surly Day. No performance is scheduled, but members of the group will be doing something else they're very good at: barhopping. Word is the beer may not be limited to Blowout week, too, should demand for it outlast the rap shows.

CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER

How did the Lundstrum Center, a nonprofit performing-arts studio in north Minneapolis, get Tommy Tune to headline its fundraiser on Thursday? Turns out two of the center's staffers, creative director Kerry Casserly and acting teacher Peggy O'Connell, both hoofed it with him on Broadway in the Tune-choreographed "My One and Only" during its two-year, mid-1980s run. After Tune saw Casserly perform as Christine in "A Chorus Line," she recalls, "he left a note backstage asking me to swing around to the St. James Theatre to see him. I was nervous, just giggly when I got to go back to his dressing room, but so honored when he cast me."

Kristin Tillotson

After 30 years, Minneapolis promoter Randy Levy has sold We Fest, the huge country-and-camping festival held in Detroit Lakes, Minn. The buyer is Townsquare Media, a Connecticut firm that owns and operates 46 country radio stations, 300-plus digital platforms (including theboot.com) and five country fests in Colorado, Montana and New York. Levy, who took over We Fest after it nearly went under during its first two years, announced the sale and his "retirement" via e-mail: "I think it is a chance to buy some time back, to lower some of my risk, and get a few chips off the show business casino table. That is a convincing trifecta." Levy will still be involved with Soundset and Festival Palomino at Canterbury Park — and his cabin is down the road a piece from We Fest. But, like Garth Brooks, he just enjoyed a pretty good payday around here.

Jon Bream

She's written a dozen heavy-duty, footnote-laden books on comparative religion and religious history. She's grappled with the gods of every faith, in every era. She freely quotes Socrates, John Locke, Shakespeare and Jane Austen. Her new "Fields of Blood" tackles religion's role in global violence. But when push comes to shove, Karen Armstrong, speaking Tuesday in St. Paul as part of the Talking Volumes series, boiled her prescription for world peace down to something that is disarming, even radical, in its simplicity: the golden rule. "Do not impose on others that which you yourself would not desire."

After 25 years, the Soap Factory art complex has much to celebrate at its anniversary bash Saturday night. Bathrooms, for one. It added those to its brick-and-timber warehouse a few years ago, and in January it will install a heating and air-conditioning system. Such mod cons enable a year-round exhibition program and help keep the staff happy. The place didn't even have a paid staff until 2002, so this is a big deal, said executive director Ben Heywood. "Twenty-five years ago this was a real soap factory," he told I.W. "They were melting down animals and turning them into fat and then throwing lye into it and turning it into soap." Bands, DJs, food, drink and, of course, an auction will be part of the festivities.

Mary Abbe

Reached at his home in Sweden Wednesday, new St. Paul Chamber Orchestra artistic partner Martin Fröst waxed enthusiastic about his upcoming collaborations with the orchestra (to last through the 2018-19 season). The star clarinetist, who bowled over SPCO audiences in concerts here last month, said the chamber orchestra's musicians "don't just sit there. They sit on the edge of their chairs. They are a perfect pairing for me to try new things." One of those new things, he hopes, will be performances of his original conceptual work "Dollhouse," which combines musical performance, dance and special lighting effects, with musicians taking cues from the choreography. Roll over, Beethoven.