MN Shortlist: April 3-9
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MN Shortlist is your weekly curated roundup of recommended events from MPR News, highlighting standout performances, exhibits and gatherings around the region.
Art & Sound Lounge, Vol. 1
April 3 — The Walker Art Center transforms into a “moody listening salon” for the first night of a three-week series. Guest artists Andy Jacobs and DJ Maracuya will collaborate on the music while guests enjoy cocktails and craft artmaking. Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (Max Sparber)
‘Broadway Dancin’
April 4–13 — Bob Fosse? Jerome Robbins? Sonya Tayeh? You bet — Collide Theatrical Dance Company allows audiences to view some of the 20th century’s most memorable theatrical choreography with its second installment of a high-energy tribute, including new pieces from Broadway hits like “Pippin,” “Chicago,” “Carousel,” “West Side Story” and “Moulin Rouge.” Luminary Arts Center in Minneapolis. (Max Sparber)
Spring Fling Romance Book Fair
April 5 — Love is in the air at Inbound Brew Co., which is hosting the Spring Fling Romance Book Fair. The taproom transforms for a day devoted to romance lit, with local booksellers on hand and a slate of activities, including trivia based on the wildly popular A Court of Thorns and Roses series. Expect readings, signings, and plenty of chances to swoon over new titles and authors. Inbound Brew Co., Minneapolis (Jacob Aloi)
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Shemekia Copeland
April 5 — Electric blues powerhouse Shemekia Copeland takes the stage at the Dakota, performing songs from her latest album “Blame It On Eve.” With a voice that’s both raw and commanding, Copeland channels lived experience into every lyric. Her set blends grit and soul with piano, snare drum and bass guitar backing, inviting the audience to move with the music while soaking in its emotional depth. The Dakota, Minneapolis. (Anika Besst)
Road trip: Kate Voss & The Hot Sauce
April 8 — Any excuse to dance on a Tuesday night is a good one — especially when Kate Voss & The Hot Sauce are on the bill. The group delivers a swinging set of Hot Club, blues, and vintage pop from the ’50s and ’60s, led by Voss’s versatile vocals and upright bass. Think Nancy Sinatra, Patsy Cline and Ray Charles, all delivered with infectious energy. The Taproom, Stone Arch Brewpub, Appleton, Wis. (Anika Besst)
‘Witch’
Through April 13 — Walking Shadow Theatre Company impressed with its immersive solo show “Feast,” an exploration into folklore and mythology. Its latest production, “Witch,” continues in that spirit, offering a darkly comic and thoughtful look at temptation, despair and the price of a soul in difficult times. Set in a world where deals with the devil seems like a practical solution., the play blends sharp dialogue with timeless themes. Open Eye Theatre, Minneapolis. (Jacob Aloi)
McKnight Printmaking Fellowship exhibition
Through May 11 — Highly detailed and emotionally resonant, the annual McKnight Printmaking Fellowship exhibition showcases new work by 2024 fellows Fidencio Fifield-Perez and Grace Sippy. Their prints explore themes of memory, loss, and home using techniques including lithography, chine collé, collagraph, letterpress, and hand embroidery.
Fifield-Perez reflects on chosen family and caretaking through images of houseplants, while Sippy uses her children’s garments as a medium to process the presence and absence of a child. Free. Highpoint Center for Printmaking, Minneapolis. (Alex V. Cipolle)
Grand Panorama of a Whaling Voyage ‘Round the World’
Through March, 2026 — The longest artwork in the U.S. is now on view at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum in Winona. On loan from the New Bedford Whaling Museum in Massachusetts, the “Grand Panorama of a Whaling Voyage ‘Round the World” is 1,275 feet long, which means it could hang from the top of the IDS Tower and still have about 500 feet left over. Artists Benjamin Russell and Caleb Purrington painted it in 1848.
Dave Casey, the museum director of engagement, says it was essentially an early form of film. “It’s a big painting on a scroll that would have been turned on the stage, and there would have been a narrator and music,” Casey says. “It tells the story of a whaling voyage from New Bedford, Massachusetts, to the South Pacific and back over the course of a year.”
The Winona museum had to build a special mount and scroll display for the painting, which, because of gallery size constraints, can only be displayed in 40-foot intervals. The museum will periodically advance the scrolled panorama so all sections can be viewed before it comes down March 1, 2026. The first advancement is 12:30 p.m. Saturday, April 12. Minnesota Marine Art Museum, Winona. (Alex V. Cipolle)
