The 16 best things to do and see in the Twin Cities this week

Critics’ picks for entertainment in the week ahead.

February 13, 2024 at 12:10PM
Matthew Sweet performs at the Turf Club on Friday in St. Paul. (Evan Carter/Matthew Sweet)

MUSIC

Big Turn Music Fest

Named for the bend in the river that houses Red Wing’s historic downtown, this two-day gigathon amounts to a full-on musical bender. Some 200 acts will perform across 16 walkable venues, including the Sheldon Theatre, St. James Hotel, three churches and bars like Liberty’s and the Red Wing Barrel House. Friday’s top names include Native blues-rockers Corey Medina & Brothers, Trampled by Turtles’ Dave Simonett, Annie & the Bang Bang, Loud Mouth Brass, Sean Anonymous and Maygen & the Birdwatcher. Saturday’s lineup features Turn Turn Turn, the Foxgloves, Desdamona, Porcupine, Molly Brandt, Connie Evingson, Favourite Girl and many more. (4:30 p.m.-midnight Fri. & Sat., downtown Red Wing, $55 or $95/two-day, bigturnmusicfest.com)

CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER

Enrique Iglesias, Ricky Martin, Pitbull

Latin music is all the rage, whether it’s Karol G, Peso Pluma or Bad Bunny. But a previous generation of Latin superstars paved the way. And three of them are uniting for the Trilogy Tour. Each is a worthy headliner, so the order of performers changes from night to night with a trio of full sets. Ricky Martin will reprise ”Livin’ la Vida Loca” and “She Bangs.” Enrique Iglesias will seduce with “Bailamos” and “I Like It.” And Pitbull, that Miami energy machine, will bring the bangers “Timber” and “I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho).” (7 p.m. Fri., Xcel Energy Center, 199 W. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul, $60-$1,200, ticketmaster.com)

JON BREAM

Matthew Sweet

After hunkering down in his native Omaha for the past four years without touring, the guitar-cranking power-pop hero of “Girlfriend” and “Sick of Myself” fame is hitting the road again ahead of what sounds like a busy year. He has a new album in the pipeline as well as a live recording from 1993, when Television’s Richard Lloyd was in his band. This year’s backing unit looks pretty great, too, with the Bangles’ Debbi Peterson on drums and the Orange Peels’ John Moreland on guitar. Alabama’s Abe Partridge opens. (8:30 p.m. Fri., Turf Club, 1601 W. University Av., St. Paul, $35, axs.com)

C.R.

World Music Fusion

The irrepressible, resourceful Gao Hong, a Chinese pipa virtuoso and professor at Carleton College, is involved in another smorgasbord of global music. Joining her will be erhu player Changyao Zhu, known as the Itzhak Perlman of China; Emmy-winning Vietnamese đàn tranh and đàn bầu player Vân-Áhn Võ; guzheng player Zhongbei Wu, who has performed at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, and Twin Cities world music ensemble Speaking in Tongues. (7:30 p.m. Fri. Hamline University, Sundin Music Hall, 1531 Hewitt Av., St. Paul, $18-$25, 952-210-3268)

J.B.

Lunar New Year with the Minnesota Orchestra

The Year of the Dragon is upon us, and the orchestra is celebrating its start with a concert full of music by Chinese composers who create in the area where Western classical and traditional Chinese music meet. Among them is Peking Opera composer Zhenqiang Xie, who will premiere a new piece commissioned by the Minnesota Orchestra. Conducted by Junping Qian, the concert also features the local debut of Vietnamese vocalist, composer and multi-instrumentalist Vân-Ánh Vanessa Võ. (7 p.m. Sat., Orchestra Hall, 1111 Nicollet Mall, Mpls., $38-$78, ages 6 to 18 free, 612-371-5656 or minnesotaorchestra.org)

ROB HUBBARD

The King’s Singers

In the classical realm, there are few vocal ensembles more beloved than the King’s Singers, a multi-Grammy-winning group celebrated for lending its mellifluous harmonies to everything from medieval chant to British Invasion pop. Formed in 1968 at England’s King’s College, Cambridge, the six-man a cappella group has had many personnel changes but maintains a consistently beautiful sound. For this sold-out Bethlehem Music Series concert, they’ll sing a collection of Nordic works by Edvard Grieg, Jean Sibelius, Ola Gjeilo and others. (4 p.m. Sun., Bethlehem Lutheran Church, 4100 Lyndale Av. S., Mpls., free, bethlehemmusicseries.org)

R.H.

THEATER

‘Alice in Wonderland’

Director Peter Brosius steers Alice’s wacky journey through the audience down the rabbit hole in the Children’s Theatre Company’s remount of Lewis Carroll’s imaginative classic. Young stage phenom Audrey Mojica alternates the title role with Anja Arora in a cast that also features Dean Holt as the Mad Hatter and Humpty Dumpty, China Brickey as the Queen of Hearts and Nathan Keepers as the White Knight. (7 p.m. Tue.-Sat., 2 & 5 p.m. Sun. Ends March 31. CTC, 2400 3rd Av. S., Mpls. $15-$87. 612-874-0400, childrenstheatre.org)

ROHAN PRESTON

‘Broadway in Love’

A theater passion has met a new theater opportunity. When he was artistic director at the Ordway Center, James Rocco used to put together shows celebrating all aspects of the Broadway songbook. Those valentines to music and theater have bounced around since. Now they have a new home at the recently resuscitated Park Square Theatre. Rocco’s first cabaret is themed around love and is headlined by vocalists Jennifer Eckes, Hope Nordquist and Cameron Wright, who sang backup for Beyoncé at Coachella. “Broadway is part of the American DNA, and I’m happy to continue sharing our roots with audiences,” Rocco said. “Truly, it’s love on top of love.” (7 p.m. Fri. & Sat., 2 p.m. Sun., Park Square Theatre, 20 W. 7th Place, St. Paul. $40. 651-291-7005, parksquaretheatre.org)

R.P.

‘Romance Dance’

Emily Tyra, a Minneapolis-born actor, singer and dancer whose screen credits include HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire” and CBS’ “Code Black,” jets into town to headline a gala for the James Sewell Ballet. Also one the stars of the Guthrie Theater’s “Into the Woods” last summer, Tyra got much of her early training at JSB. She returns, seven months pregnant, to sing and emcee for the event but, pointedly, not to dance. (6 p.m. Thu., Westminster Hall, 1200 Marquette Av. S., Mpls. $150. 612-672-0480, jsballet.org)

R.P.

‘The Time Is Now’

Artistry’s spotlight on the talent of charismatic actor and singer T. Mychael Rambo also doubles as the company’s Black History Month salute. Rambo, who played Santa in a recent Hallmark movie, is joined by Thomasina Petrus, Ashley DuBose and Kennadi Hurst for this uplifting mix of blues, jazz, soul and R&B. Maestro Ryan Bynum leads the band. (7:30 p.m. Sat., Bloomington Center for the Arts, 1800 W. Old Shakopee Road, Bloomington. $35 952-563-8575, artistrymn.org)

R.P.

‘Love Notes’

T. Mychael Rambo and Kennadi Hurst are also part of the Guthrie’s Valentine’s Day cabaret. They join Suzie Juul, Madeline Trumble and Max Wojtanowicz, all members of the cast of “Into the Woods,” for a romance-themed selection of show tunes and pop songs under the musical direction of Denise Prosek. The theater stresses that it welcomes everyone to the show, not just couples. (7:30 p.m. Wed., Guthrie Theater, 818 S. 2nd St., Mpls. $49-$89. 612-377-2224, guthrietheater.org)

R.P.

ART

Glass ‘Wonderlands’

For his exhibition “Wonderlands,” artist Michael Lizama takes old stained-glass cathedral windows and re-creates them, adding characters like Jesus as an astronaut, geishas and futuristic weirdness. Growing up in Hawaii during the 1960s, he is inspired by comics, pop culture, all things Japanese, marine life, nature and more. (Ends May 5. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Tue.-Sun., Foci Minnesota Center for Glass Arts, 2213 Snelling Av. S., Mpls., free, 612-759-8476 or mnglassart.org)

ALICIA ELER

Black life under Jim Crow

According to the U.S. Constitution, by 1868 all people born in America were equal, but the harsh “separate but equal” age known as Jim Crow showed otherwise. This exhibition at the Minnesota History Center, organized by the New-York Historical Society, looks at Black advancement from the end of the Civil War through World War I during a time of ongoing racism. Art, artifacts and photographs show Black resistance and resilience. (Ends June 9. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Wed., Fri.-Sun, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Thu., 345 W. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul, $8-$12, free for kids under 4, 651-259-3000 or mnhs.org)

A.E.

DANCE

Les Grands Ballets Canadiens

The Winnipeg-based company returns to Northrop for the first time since 2006 with a double bill of dances set to music by Ludwig van Beethoven. Accompanied live by Minneapolis’ STRINGGenius Symphony, the performance begins with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 for “Complete,” choreographed by the American-born Garrett Smith. That will be followed by “Siebente Symphonie” (Symphony No. 7) considered the masterpiece of the late German choreographer Uwe Scholz. The former director of the Lepzig Ballet, Scholz choreographed Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony in 1991, drawing inspiration from an abstract painting by Morris Louis called “Unfurled.” (7:30 p.m. Sat. & 2 p.m. Sun., Northrop, 84 SE. Church St, Mpls., $22-$71, 612-624-2345, northrop.umn.edu)

SHEILA REGAN

‘C.L.U.E.’

Collide Theatrical Dance Company ventures into the realm of murder mystery with this piece that reimagines the classic board game with a modern twist. In the version, Miss Charlotte becomes Rose Charlotte, a Hollywood starlet played by Renee Guittar. And there are new characters like the widow Ms. Spyder, played by Heather Cadigan Brockman. Audience members will get to vote on the story’s outcome in this work directed by Regina Peluso, with choreography by Peluso, Elly Stahlke, Renee Guittar, Heather Brockman, Rush Benson and Abby Magalee. (7:30 p.m. Sat. & 2 p.m. Sun., through March 10, Southern Theater, 1420 Washington Av. S., Mpls., $45, 651-395-7903, ext. 701, collidetheatrical.org)

S.R.

FAMILY

Cupid’s Revenge

Nowhere Haunted House wants you to skip the lovey-dovey antics and opt for a more frightening kind of thrill guaranteed to make you grab onto your sweetheart. Cupid is king at the one-weekend-only Valentine-themed haunted house where monsters and vampires scare visitors into blood-curdling screams. Friday is an 18+ version where nefarious characters are fully unleashed. Saturday is a less scary, although spine-tingling walk through the attraction. Those who prefer to keep it cute instead of creepy can partake in the “Share the Love” packages for mini-golf and arcade games on Wednesday and Thursday for savings on food and beverages. Guests also can toast to their love as the venue now features prosecco, beer, wine and ciders. (7-9:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat., Cupid’s Revenge: $28; Share the Love packages: $55-$80, 5300 S. Robert Trail, Inver Grove Heights, nowherehauntedhouse.com)

MELISSA WALKER

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