This week in the Twin Cities, your arts and entertainment offerings range from a breathtaking new production of the musical version of Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple” at Theater Latté Da to the mind-blowing guitar playing of Stanley Jordan at the Dakota. Over at In the Heart of the Beast, Oanh Vu shares a new ghost-filled story, and Carolyn Halliday uses textiles to document environmental impacts of climate change and pollution. Also this week, the Twin Cities Iranian Culture Collective presents a new musical work inspired by the Iranian uprisings of 2022, and a new exhibition in Stillwater by Dougie Padilla centers his process of grief after the death of his friend, artist Jim Denomie.
The Color Purple
Theater Latté Da has teamed up with the Geva Theatre in Rochester, New York for a new production of “The Color Purple,” and it’s a stunner of a piece. With strong performances throughout and a dynamite design team, it’s a visually appealing ride that engages emotionally. As the central role of Celie, Nubia Monks drives the arc of the story. Monks has been sweeping up gritty roles in the past couple of years— including in “Wine in the Wilderness” at Penumbra very recently and in the Guthrie’s “A Raisin in the Sun.” She’s also a fellow at the Playwright’s Center.
Here, she demonstrates depth in the layered role of Celie, who moves through trauma, survival, love, desire, and resilience. I also just loved the 3 Church Ladies, played by Lynnea Doublette, Heather McElrath and Angela Stewart. They act as a kind of Greek chorus in the piece, adding levity at times which helps balance the more dramatic and sometimes violent material. They also have some wonderful moves choreographed by Heather Beal.
Both Marsha Norman’s book and Daniel J. Bryant’s direction plays a light touch with some of the more horrific elements of Walker’s tale. I don’t know if that’s a bad thing. As audience members, we understand the trauma that happens— including rape, incest, and abuse— but it’s not depicted in a way that’s exploitive or triggering. Meanwhile a nude bath scene is performed with a skin-toned bodysuit. We understand the storytelling and the eroticism of the moment, without the need for actual nudity.
Visually, the show looks exquisite. Eli Sherlock employs modular elements into a silhouetted design that vividly supports the story. Jarrod Barnes’ costumes, meanwhile, move from muted earth tones to bright patterns and colors as Celie comes into her own. Emma Gustafson’s wig work, also, adds important character elements for the different roles, and even shows the characters develop and grow older as time passes.
The show runs through May 5 before it moves to New York. Performances this week are Thursday, March 28, Friday, March 29 at 7:30, Saturday, March 30 at 2 p.m and 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, March 31 at 2 p.m. at the Ritz Theater ($35). More information here.
Phantom Loss
Vietnamese mythology meets American pop culture in a new tragicomedy complete with friendship, a game show, and a ghost named Chicken. Created by Oanh Vu, the story follows a Vietnamese American family who move to a small town, only to find their new home is haunted. Exploring themes of immigration, intergenerational trauma, and resilience, the show features a tabletop format for the puppets.
The show has a preview on Thursday, March 28 at 7:30 p.m., and opens Friday March 29 at 7:30 p.m., then two performances Saturday, March 30 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. The show runs through April 7. ($15 preview, $25 other shows, pay what you can on April 2.) More information here.
Stanley Jordan: Visionary Guitar Wizard
Stanley Jordan is a classically trained pianist and guitarist, who, early in life, wanted to harness the freedom of piano playing for use on guitar. He enjoyed the way his different hands could operate independently on the piano, and wanted to imbue that into his chosen instrument. He even dreamed up inventing an entirely new electric instrument that looked like a guitar but consisted of hundreds of different buttons that would create different notes, but didn’t have funds to create it fully because he was a teenager at the time. Later, he discovered other inventors had the same idea, creating instruments like the Zitar.
Jordan ended up going in a different direction to get the sound he wanted. Instead of buttons, he employed a tapping technique, where he only needs one hand to create each note rather than two. That allows the artist to play notes with two hands, rather than using one hand for strumming or plucking. He can also play two guitars at once, or play guitar and piano at the same time. There’s this amazing older video you can watch to see Jordan describing his technique here. But you can also just go and see his musical genius live over at the Dakota on Friday, March 29 at 7 p.m. ($30-$40). More information here.
Carolyn Halliday: Making Climate Change Visible
Carolyn Halliday brings the colors of nature in the gallery with her new exhibition, “Making Climate Change Visible.” Using knitted wire, Halliday’s fiber installations illustrate the impact of pollution on our air quality, with works that contrast the clearer air during the global pandemic lockdown of 2020 and the forest fire air of 2023. Halliday also investigates both the beauty and the danger of air pollution.
It’s all part of Kolman & Reeb Gallery’s Project Space initiative.The exhibition opens Saturday, March 30, with the gallery open 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. that day. The gallery will host an artist reception on Saturday, April 13 from 7 p.m. – 9 p.m., and a music and dance performance and artist talk on Thursday, May 2 at 6 p.m. – 8 p.m., the exhibition closes May 11 (free). More information here.
Voices Unveiled: A Nowruz Concert and Community Gathering
A major musical work by Iranian composer Ehsan Matoori finds inspiration from the protests in Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022. It’s performed this week in a concert presented by the Twin Cities Iranian Culture Collective. Performed by an ensemble of singers and instrumentalists, including percussion, cello, clarinet, viola, and standup bass, as well as Matoori who plays the santoor. The performance takes place Saturday, March 30 at 7:30 p.m. at the Ordway ($32-$107). More information here.
Conversations with Jim
Artist Dougie Padilla navigates the experience of grief through his art-making practice in a new exhibition called “Conversations with Jim.” Created in the wake of the death of artist Jim Denomie in 2022, Padilla processes a spiritual conversation with his late friend and Denomie’s work. “Conversations with Jim” takes place at ArtReach St. Croix, which exhibited Denomie’s work in 2022 in a show called “Sweet Dreams.” The new exhibition is part of Valley Reads in the St. Croix Valley. The show opens Thursday April 4 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at ArtReach St. Croix in Stillwater. It runs through May 11 (free). More information here.
Sheila Regan
Sheila Regan is a Twin Cities-based arts journalist. She writes MinnPost’s twice-weekly Artscape column. She can be reached at sregan@minnpost.com.