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Best of the week ahead: Smashing Pumpkins, Keith Urban, 'The Boys Room' and 'Pirates of Penzance'

Critics' picks for entertainment in the week ahead.

By Star Tribune staff

November 3, 2022 at 10:00AM

Tank and the Bangas (Jeremy Tauriac/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Smashing Pumpkins & Jane's Addiction

These two bands that straddled the alt-rock and metal worlds 30 years ago are full-fledged classic rock nostalgia acts now. Billy Corgan's three-quarters-original Pumpkins lineup does have a new three-LP rock opera coming in April, but the band's mostly sticking to oldies on this tour. Jane's is limping into the trek with frontman Perry Farrell coming back from an injury and guitarist Dave Navarro out altogether because of "long COVID," but there's still excitement for the "Been Caught Stealing" hitmakers' first local gig in a decade. Arty glam-metal singer Poppy opens. (6:30 p.m. Fri., Xcel Energy Center, 199 W. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul, $35-$146, ticketmaster.com)

CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER

Minnesota Orchestra

Osmo Vänskä has some unfinished business. The orchestra's longtime music director returns to complete its quest to record all 10 of Gustav Mahler's symphonies. The epic Third is the conventional classical repertoire's longest symphony, one in which, the composer said, "the whole of nature finds a voice." The Minnesota Orchestra expects to keep it under 95 minutes when performing it with mezzo Jennifer Johnston, the Minnesota Chorale and the Minnesota Boychoir, going before the mics the following week. (11 a.m. Nov. 10, 8 p.m. Nov. 11 and 12; Orchestra Hall, 1111 Nicollet Mall, Mpls.; $30-$104; 612-371-5656 or minnesotaorchestra.org.)

ROB HUBBARD

Keith Urban

Fresh from pickin' his banjo on Sunday's live tribute to Loretta Lynn, the New Zealand-born, Aussie country star wraps up the U.S. leg of his Speed of Now World Tour in the Twin Cities. The concert is more a celebration of Nicole Kidman's husband's entire career than his most recent album, 2020's "The Speed of Now Part 1." Country music's most exciting live guitarist has already moved on to his next project, releasing three singles, including "Wild Hearts," from a forthcoming album. Opening are "More Hearts Than Mine" hitmaker Ingrid Andress and Tyler Hubbard of Florida Georgia Line, who has dropped a single, the bro-country love song "5 Foot 9," from his debut solo album due in January. (7 p.m. Sat., Xcel Energy Center, 199 W. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul, $25.50-$135.50, ticketmaster.com)

JON BREAM

Tank and the Bangas

A Grammy nominee for best new artist in 2020, this colorful collective comes across like a modern-day Parliament Funkadelic with hip-hop and New Orleans flava. Led by the joyful force known as Tarriona "Tank" Ball, this NPR-endorsed NOLA crew recently dropped its third album, "Red Balloon," featuring "No ID," a breezy lite-funk tune about going deeper in a relationship, and "Anxiety," an edgy hip-hop jam for our uncertain times. Tank and the Bangas headline the Music 4 Shelter benefit for Simpson Housing Services, a Minneapolis nonprofit that has been helping the homeless for 40 years. Also appearing are Purple Funk Metropolis and Soul Beautiful. (6 p.m. Fri. Fillmore Minneapolis, 525 N. 5th St., Mpls., $65, universe.com)

J.B.

'The Boys Room'

Bickering brothers (Peter Christian Hansen and Dan Hopman) retreat into the safety and comfort of their childhood bedroom. Who's not feeling so comfortable about that? The women in their lives, played by Linda Kelsey and Lucy Farrell, who wish the men would grow up in Joel Drake Johnson's drama. (7:30 p.m. Thu.-Sat., 3 p.m. Sun., ends Nov. 27, Gremlin Theatre, 550 Vandalia St., St. Paul, $32, gremlintheatre.org)

CHRIS HEWITT

The Spektral Quartet's 'Enigma'

This intrepidly innovative, Grammy-nominated string quartet is, alas, calling it quits. But not before presenting an immersive 360-degree mixture of concert and art installation in the Bell Museum Planetarium, featuring the ambient music of Iceland's fascinating Anna Thorvaldsdottir and the surreal visuals of her countryman Sigurður Guðjónsson. The program also features music of Renaissance composer Tomas Luis de Victoria, Eliza Brown and Claude Debussy. (7 and 9 p.m. Fri. and Sat.; 2088 W. Larpenteur Av., Falcon Heights; $33.50; 612-375-7600 or walkerart.org.)

R.H.

Ukrainian Village Band

After playing countless fundraisers and serving as proud Twin Cities ambassadors since the war in Ukraine broke out in February, this locally based Eastern European folk/polka party band is closing out the year with a well deserved party to celebrate its 15^th anniversary. The sextet's waltz/polka-flavored music is intended for weddings and other happy occasions, but it still feels good even when things are still bad. Dancing is encouraged. (8 p.m. Sat., Cedar Cultural Center, 416 Cedar Av. S., Mpls., all ages, $15-$20, thecedar.org)

C.R.

'Baptized Imagination'

Ballet 5:8, a Chicago-based company, comes to Burnsville with two faith-centered world premieres. "Look to the East" by artistic director Julianna Rubio Slagerexplores the resurrection narrative through ballet. "Solace" by Matthew Rushing, associate artistic director at Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, captures the notions of comfort, particularly through a religious lens. The ballet company, which takes its name from the Bible (Romans 5:8), also will present two crowd-pleasers — "Gospel Impressions," inspired by Makoto Fujimura's abstract paintings, and "Día de Los Vivos," which takes its title from the Day of the Dead tradition and looks at suicidal ideation and the decision to choose life. (7 p.m. Fri., Ames Center, 12600 Nicollet Av. S., Burnsville, $28-$48, ballet58.org)

SHEILA REGAN

'Requiem for Frankie Silver'

Bradley Greenwald leads a huge cast, including a chorus and 35-piece orchestra, in a world premiere that combines music and folk tales to illuminate the life of the title character, a young woman who was hanged for murder in North Carolina in 1833. (7:30 p.m. Sat., Bethel University, 3900 Bethel Drive, Arden Hills, $37-$110, bethel.edu)

C.H.

'The Pirates of Penzance'

If the abridged version of "Pirates" at the Lake Harriet Band Shell this summer whetted your appetite for the whole shebang, you're in luck. The Gilbert & Sullivan Very Light Opera Company is presenting the duo's most popular comic opera, directed by Twin Cities veteran Gary Briggle, for three weekends beginning Friday. The rollicking story of young Frederick, apprenticed by accident to a band of semi-competent pirates, his mentor the Pirate King and of course, the modern Major General, still delights. (7:30 Fri.-Sat., 2 p.m. Sun., through Nov. 20. Howard Conn Fine Arts Center, 1900 Nicollet Av. S., Mpls. $18-$28, 651-255-6947, gsvloc.org)

CYNTHIA DICKISON

'Tales From the Fiefdom'

Gnarly Bard, which creates new one-act musicals, turns its eye (and ear) to England in the Middle Ages. War, disease and famine are problems for the characters, who place their hope in a search for a cure. Any of that sound familiar? (7 p.m. Wed.-Sat., 2 and 7 p.m. Sun., Crane Theater, 2303 NE. Kennedy St., Mpls., $25, gnarlybardtheater.com)

C.H.

'Transubstan'

Pedra Pepa has been busy of late, having performed at Weisman Art Museum, All My Relations Gallery and even libraries in Minneapolis and St. Paul as part of the Drag Story Hour, even in the face of anti-trans protesters. Now, Pepa heads to Red Eye Theater for a solo show and gallery exhibition. It's been in the works since the dancer/choreographer was a resident artist with Rosy Simas Danse last year and was further developed while Pepa spent time with the Gunas, an Indigenous people in Panama. The piece explores notions of transition — geographically, through the body and the artist's identity. (Free gallery: 11 a.m.-2 p.m. & 6-9 p.m. Thu.- Sun. Show 8 p.m. Nov. 16-19., Red Eye Theater, 2213 Snelling Av. S., Mpls., $15-$75, redeyetheater.org)

S.R.

'Between the Stripes, Under the Stars'

Ten women artists, most immigrants from Asia, the Middle East and Africa, explore the question of what it means to be "American" in this new exhibition. Considering identity through the lenses of multiculturalism, language, gender, legacies of colonialism and more, each artist offers her own perspective through art. Some of the artists in this group exhibition, including Hend Al-Mansour, Roya Farassat, Fawzia Khan and Helen Zughaib, were part of the similarly themed show "I Contain Multitudes" at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design in early 2019. (Opening reception Sat., 5-7 p.m. at the Catherine G. Murphy Gallery at St. Catherine University, 2004 Randolph Av., St. Paul. Hours: 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Mon.-Thu., 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Fri., noon-6 p.m. Sat.-Sun. gallery.stkate.edu or 651-690-6644. Ends Dec. 11.)

ALICIA ELER

'Aftersun'

A Turkish resort is the setting for a father-daughter drama that has been racking up prizes on the film festival circuit all year. Paul Mescal ("Normal People") plays the dad, who learns more about his 11-year-old than he expected to on the fraught holiday, which seems destined either to bring them closer together or drive them apart forever. It's a bracing debut from director Charlotte Wells, who seems poised on the brink of very big things. (Showtimes vary, AMC Southdale, 400 Southdale Center, Edina, $12-$16, amctheatres.com)

C.H.

Railway Historical Society reopens

The Hennepin Overland Railway Historical Society has reopened after being closed during the pandemic. The south Minneapolis "Station 2501" is home to a railroading museum and hobby shop. An 1,800-square-foot display features steam era structures and eastbound and westbound main lines that whiz through the fictitious towns of Bergin and Summit. The freelance layout also features a logging line and camp, steel mill and grain terminal complexes and staging yards. (1-4 p.m. Sat.-Sun., $10, $25 per family, 2501 E. 38th St., Mpls., 612-276-9034, hennepinoverland.org.)

MELISSA WALKER

'The Queen's Ball: A Bridgerton Experience'

Practice on the curtsy, dig out the long-elbow gloves, fan and tiara and put on a puff-sleeved gown before heading to the Queen's Ball. Don't forget your dancing shoes or phone either. The event, which opens Wednesday, transports you to an 1813 Regency era where you can go selfie crazy. Take photos before Insta-ready backdrops, meet-and-greet the queen, learn to dance from actors, aka valets, and watch professionals waltz, sometimes "intimately." A bubbly is included in the VIP ticket price but general admission attendees have to pay for "Bridgerton"-themed cocktails. The 90-minute experience is for ages 16-plus. (Wed.-Dec. 18, time slots vary, Lighthouse ArtSpace, 1515 Central Av. NE., Mpls., tickets start at $39, bridgertonexperience.com)

ARTHI SUBRAMANIAM