Friday, January 4
Elton in Egypt
WHAT:Aida
WHERE: Pantages Theatre, Minneapolis
WHEN: 8 p.m.
On Broadway, this was a sword-and-sandals epic, with a lot of flash and not much invention. In the hands of Theater Latté Da, however, the scale is reduced and the love story — between an Egyptian army captain and a Nubian princess — becomes more intimate. Peter Rothstein directs in his typically humanizing and humanist fashion. Learn more at hennepintheatretrust.org.
Friday, January 4
Welcome to Margaritaville
WHAT: Party in the Rec Room
WHERE: Bryant-Lake Bowl, Minneapolis
WHEN: 7 p.m.
Novelist Lorna Landvik has an irrepressible goofy streak, and this annual one-woman show/fiesta gives her plenty of time to broaden and indulge it as she dons a wig, makes up characters, offers comic monologues, and, of course, makes margaritas on stage for the audience. Learn more at bryantlakebowl.com.
Saturday, January 5
Return of the Horn
WHAT: Kelly Rossum Quartet
WHERE: Dakota Jazz Club and Restaurant, Minneapolis
WHEN: 11:30 p.m.
Kelly Rossum, the adventurous, mohawk-sporting trumpet player who enthralled the Twin Cities until departing a few years ago, returns from his new home in New York for a late-night gig. He’ll have fellow emigrant Michael O’Brien on bass and Jeremy Walker on piano. Hard to imagine a better time and place for a reunion. Learn more at dakotacooks.com.
Saturday, January 5
Great Memories
WHAT:Undertow: Rebecca Krinke and Elaine Rutherford
WHERE: Rosalux Gallery, Minneapolis
WHEN: 7 to 10 p.m.
Krinke and Rutherford explore the idea of memory through various media, from Krinke’s black-bound notebooks trapped in cabinets and wild half-human sculptures to Rutherford’s installations employing images of roads, bridges, and bodies of water as metaphors for transition. Learn more at rosaluxgallery.com.
archival pigment ink on cotton rag paper.
Sunday, January 6
Colonial Collapse
WHAT:Guy Tillim: Avenue Patrice Lumumba
WHERE: Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis
WHEN: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
This is the final weekend of a remarkable exhibition of contemporary photography from Africa. Tillim’s images of government offices reveal quite literally the crumbling colonial and post-colonial infrastructure of nations (Angola, Congo, Mozambique) whose revolutions have calcified into paper-strewn bureaucracy, even as war and poverty rage outside. Learn more at weisman.umn.edu.
Sunday, January 6
The Talking Cure
WHAT:A New, More Dynamic You: The Talk Show
WHERE: Bryant-Lake Bowl, Minneapolis
WHEN: 7 p.m.
Former Utne editor Jon Spayde continues his monthly Oprah-esque adventures in “performance-art therapy” with new Minnesota-centric characters, like Sir Tyrone and the Snoose Boulevard Vaudeville Ghost, musical interludes, and, of course, tips on investing, dating, and all that other stuff you need to know! Learn more at bryantlakebowl.com.