Will their face masks be plaid, too?

A production of "Forever Plaid" may be the first live theater in Minnesota since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down almost everything in March. Mankato Playhouse is selling tickets for the Stuart Ross revue, which will play July 31-Aug. 16, as well as a full season of musicals, including "The Addams Family" and "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum." According to the theater's website, it has put in place safety measures including operating at 25% capacity (as dictated by the state), selling dinner-and-show tickets on a table-by-table basis (rather than individual seats), installing hand sanitizer stations and using ticketless entry. The musical, which had a long Minneapolis run at Hey City Stage, is a comic revue in which four doo-wop singers, who died en route to a gig, reunite to perform the set they would have performed if they had survived. Despite a recent spike in COVID-19 cases in Mankato, more than half the 21 tables had been sold for opening night as of earlier this week (at roughly $50 per person, assuming a full table). Several tables also were booked for the first Saturday performance.

CHRIS HEWITT

Signatures for Slim

Over the past two years, St. Louis Park music fan and amateur guitarist Mike Lancial has carried around a Telecaster with an unfinished body, picking up autographs from the likes of Emmylou Harris ("she was as sweet as she is beautiful"), T-Bone Burnett, Lucinda Williams, Gary Clark Jr., Todd Snider, Dave Pirner and a who's who of Minnesota musicians. All along, he planned to sell the guitar to raise money for former Replacements guitarist Bob "Slim" Dunlap's medical fund. Last week, Lancial did just that: The guitar fetched $2,800 via Reverb.com, which went straight into Slim's fundraiser account (slimdunlap21@gmail.com via PayPal). "I'm just a longtime fan and thought it'd be a cool way to help," said Lancial, who built the guitar from an $80 kit. "It actually plays pretty well," he said, "but I think it's more meant to hang on a wall." All that's known of the buyer is that it was a woman in Lexington, Ky.

CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER

State Fair art show, in person

COVID-19 has forced the cancellation of the Minnesota State Fair, but you'll still be able to visit its beloved art exhibit Aug. 27-Sept. 7. Tickets ($10 each) went on sale Tuesday for timed 90-minute slots. The Fine Arts Building will operate at 25% capacity, per the state's social distancing orders. See mnstatefair.org/competitions for details. If you don't want to check it out in person, there will also be a video of the show and a virtual catalog. Artists can still submit work; the deadline is July 27. In 2019, more than 2,500 pieces were submitted and 334 accepted.

Minnesota 'Valley'

It takes place in the Mississippi Delta but the new Starz TV series "P-Valley" may ring some bells with Twin Cities theatergoers. It's based on "Pussy Valley," the Katori Hall play that had its world premiere at Mixed Blood Theatre in 2015. Like the play, it focuses on a Southern strip club whose denizens all seem to have major secrets. Nicco Annan reprises his Mixed Blood role as Uncle Clifford, who presides over the club (called the Pynk, renamed from the play's Pink Pony). Playwright Hall, a Memphis native, has been busy with other projects including the Tina Turner jukebox musical "Tina," which was playing to capacity in London and on Broadway before the pandemic put theater on pause.

C.H.

Blake Shelton at the drive-in

If Garth Brooks can do it, so can Blake Shelton. The country superstar/"The Voice" coach will perform a drive-in theater concert on July 25 with special guests Gwen Stefani and Trace Adkins. Among the hundreds of participating venues are Elko Drive-In in Elko New Market and Rivers Edge Drive-In in New Richmond, Wis. Showtime is dusk. As with Garth's show June 27, this will be a prerecorded concert rather than a livestreamed performance. Tickets are $115 per vehicle, with a maximum of six people, available via Ticketmaster.com. Vehicles will be parked at least 6 feet from each other. State pandemic protocols will be enforced.