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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.

‘The Lodger’ with Live Score by Paris1919

 “The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog,” from 1927, is often cited as the film where Alfred Hitchcock first found his voice, even if it was silent. Now accompanied by music, 

“The Lodger” will screen at the Parkway Theater

 with a brand-new live score by Chris Strouth, performed by his avant-pop collective Paris1919.

Strouth is joined by vocalist Natalie Nowytski (celebrated for her multilingual range), guitarist Kent Militzer and multi-instrumentalist David J. Russ. What will it sound like? Canadian DJ Kid Koala described Paris1919’s music as "sometimes futuristic, sometimes nostalgic, but always evocative, dwelling in a perfectly focused space between tranquility and chaos." 

 — Earlier this year JOANN (formerly Jo-Ann Fabrics) closed stores nationwide

, leaving artists and crafters devastated

 while creating a hole in the textile ecosystem. Enter 

, a secondhand textile supplies shop that will host a grand opening 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday in a repurposed classroom at the Textile Center of Minneapolis. The shop will offer yarn, fabric, sewing machines, tools and more.

“Our community shines during our ever-popular Textile Garage Sales — bringing excitement, energy and creative ideas to our space as they hunt for secondhand supplies and treasures,” Textile Center director of operations Erin Husted said. “I wanted to find a way to capture that spirit and provide access to unused supplies all year long.” 

 — Minnesota’s homegrown cinema gets the spotlight with the 

 which is screening short narrative films created by local artists and filmmakers. Happening Friday evening, their “Reel Local: A Local Film Showcase” is showing five films, including “tracings” by creative maker and curator Sharon Mansur and dance artist and healing practitioner Sydney Swanson and “Laylian the Alien” by videographer Brynn Artley.

The showing will be followed by a talk-back and Q&A session with the filmmakers. The event takes place at the Winona Arts Center. (

‘the oldest deer – the longest path – the highest bough’

 presents a supernatural play. In its 36th original work, the Minneapolis-based company tells the story of a ghostly herd of deer that emerges at the edge of a forest, leading to a mythical border-crossing.

The show fuses world mythology, immersive projection art and physical performance. It features an original score, live animated set design and integrated captions.

The piece will be performed twice at the Barbara B. Barker Center for Dance in Minneapolis. 

 — A new book from the Minnesota Historical Society Press 

will celebrate its publication this Saturday

 “Enmity and Empathy: Japanese Americans in Minnesota” by Ka Wong, draws on interviews and archival records to explore wartime relocations to Minnesota. The book weaves personal interviews and archival sources to tell the story of relocating to Minnesota during wartime.

Not only is this book packed with intimate stories of community and identity, it is also incredibly timely as conversations around belonging come into focus. Wong includes the experiences of students, young people training at the Military Intelligence Service Language School (MISLS) and people who served in hospitals. 

A poignant detail: the event takes place Saturday in the very building where some MISLS students once lived at Fort Snelling. 

 — This season, tenor Jack Swanson, a native of Stillwater, is making his debut at the crème de la crème of American opera: The Metropolitan Opera in New York. 

Swanson performs the role of the lovestruck Count Almaviva in Gioachino Rossini’s “Il Barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville).”

“It’s a long journey being an opera singer,” Swanson says. “The Met debut has been a dream come true.”

Swanson began singing at Trinity Lutheran Church in Stillwater. He credits high school voice teacher Obed Floan — now director of the St. Croix Valley Opera — for steering him toward opera. 

The next performance is May 31, which will also be his debut for “The Met: Live in HD,” which means the opera will screen in cinemas nationwide, including in Minnesota. “I have a big group going to the Marcus Oakdale theater on Saturday,” Swanson says. 

 — Some music simply feels good to hear. One of the latest artists to provide this fix is 

 Her discography is reminiscent of a collection of love poems. She molds playful, raw lyrics to fit songs that upcycle a mix of genres. Her loose phrasing runs up against alternative R&B and pop that feels fresh and free.

The 22-year-old Filipino American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist rose to prominence on TikTok in 2020. Her coming-of-age songs have since drawn a loyal following. She brings her Buzzkill tour to the 

‘LET HER PAINT: Latin American Women Muralists’

 is in St. Paul painting murals for the Chroma Zone Mural & Art Festival this September. She hosts a talk from 7 to 8 p.m. on Monday called 

“LET HER PAINT: Latin American Women Muralists” at the NewStudio Gallery.

The talk will include “a historic overview of women as allegories and muses in classical European and Latin American paintings and early muralism; the early struggles by women for public authorship; and symbolic and physical censorship of women's public art.” Ajras will also cover the technical side of creating large-scale art. 

 — Argentine composer Alejandro Brittes brings his acclaimed, accordion-drenched approach to chamamé to 

Chamamé is a genre of South American music that draws on Indigenous Guaraní rhythms and Baroque influences. The results are distinct enough to earn it recognition from UNESCO as an “Intangible Cultural Heritage.”

He’ll be joined by the Havana Quartet, a classical and contemporary music group that originated in Cuba but relocated to the Twin Cities. 

 — Outlaw lore runs deep in Minnesota — Northfield still celebrates the Defeat of Jesse James Days every fall. Minnesota’s infamous female “Outlaw King” is 

getting her moment in the spotlight with a new musical at the History Theatre

 in St. Paul. Nellie King, who was also known by other aliases, gained notoriety across Minnesota for her crimes during the 1800s.

“Whoa, Nellie!” was created by Josef Evans. It dramatizes her life through a style inspired by vaudevillian shows, and also examines America’s obsession with celebrity. 

Correction (May 30, 2025): This story has been updated with the correct day for the ‘LET HER PAINT: Latin American Women Muralists’ event.

Jacob Aloi

Author

Anika Besst

Alex V. Cipolle

Max Sparber

This week’s MN Shortlist highlights a live score performance of Hitchcock’s “The Lodger,” a new musical about Minnesota outlaw Nellie King and a talk on Latin American women muralists.

MN Shortlist, May 30–June 5: Hitchcock with a live score, an outlaw musical and women muralists

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