Best of the Week: Rod Stewart, Sam Smith, Deadmau5, 'Korean Drama Addict's Guide'
August 11, 2018 at 6:39AM
Do ya think Rod Stewart is still sexy? At age 73? He still has the rooster hairdo, raspy voice and bon vivant spirit. He has a new album, "Blood Red Roses," coming Sept. 28, but he also has all kinds of oldies including "Maggie May" and "Stay With Me" to deliver. (We hear he's skipping the standards.) Opening is the always colorful and delightfully kooky Cyndi Lauper, who still wants to have fun whether revisiting her hits or duetting with Stewart.JON BREAM
7:30 p.m. Wed., Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul. $32 and up, ticketmaster.com
There isn't a more emotionally open pop singer than Grammy-grabbing and Oscar-winning Sam Smith. Having graduated to arenas behind his 2017 sophomore album, the balladeer, 26, will luxuriate in his sad and yearning songs, including the career-defining "Stay With Me" and the very good "Too Good at Goodbyes." The staging has been described as "stunningly creative," helping to diversify a show that may lack musical diversity. Beth Ditto opens.
JON BREAM
8 p.m. Tue., Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul. $27 and up, ticketmaster.com
"The Korean Drama Addict's Guide to Losing Your Virginity" is a funny and culturally revelatory comedy that expertly tries to maximize the humor even as the show celebrates Hmong and Korean cultures. The culture-clash show orbits around a Hmong woman, 29, whose mother wants her to marry and have a child by 30. Enter a cold, domineering Korean heir who comes to Minnesota for business. The Theater Mu cast pulls it all off with style.
ROHAN PRESTON
2 p.m. today, next Sun.; 7:30 p.m. Thu.-Sat. Park Square Theatre, St. Paul. $35-$40, muperformingarts.org
Just a half-year into its dramatic makeover, the Armory is welcoming one of the biggest names in electronic dance music: Deadmau5, the mouse-headed Canadian DJ/producer last seen in our area playing to about 20,000 fans outside at the Summer Set festival in 2015. The real-life Joel Zimmerman just dropped "mau5ville: level 1," a new collection with his "Ghosts 'n' Stuff" collaborator Rob Swire. It'll be cool having him indoors again.
CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER
8 p.m. Fri., the Armory, Mpls. $55-$100, ticketmaster.com
August means Mixed Precipitation is on tour, taking its unique brand of opera to parks, farms and gardens. This year's mash-up of classic opera with contemporary sounds is based on Otto Nicolai's "The Merry Wives of Windsor" from 1848, updated to a historic fishing community and mining town on Lake Superior. It's titled "Dr. Falstaff and the Working Wives of Lake County."
TERRY BLAIN
7 p.m. Thu.-Fri., Fair Oaks Park, Mpls.; 2 p.m. Sun., Finland Historical Society, Finland, Minn. Tour ends Oct. 7. $10-$20, mixedprecipitation.org
The annual Rhythmically Speaking show always runs the gamut. Produced by Minnesota choreographer/dancer Erinn Liebhard, the 10th anniversary installment includes everything from classic jazz dance and folk to cultural dances from around the world, including Leila Awadallah's exploration of Arab traditions. There's just one through line: movement that draws its lifeblood from musical rhythms. Always a lively time.
SHEILA REGAN
7:30 p.m. Thu.-Sat., 2 p.m. Sat., Southern Theater, Mpls. $20-$24, southerntheater.org
The rich history of American Indian dancing will be shared this weekend at the annual Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community Wacipi. People can experience Indian culture through traditional music, crafts and authentic cuisine. The weekend includes multiple grand entries, drum groups and dance categories with participants from around the country in colorful regalia.
MELISSA WALKER
7 p.m. Fri., 1 & 7 p.m. Sat., 1 p.m. next Sun., Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community Pow Wow Grounds, Prior Lake. $10 for entire weekend, shakopeedakota.org
Daniel Polnau has been creating giant puppets for more than 30 years. For this solo art exhibition, he focuses on sculptural renderings of the ancient crone-witch Baba Yaga, goddess of wisdom and death found in Slavic folklore. But it's the downstairs portion of this exhibition, which is like a cross between a haunted house maze and an homage to the catacombs in Rome, that you definitely want to visit.
ALICIA ELER
2-6 p.m. Saturdays through Sept. 1, Modus Locus Gallery, Mpls. Free, moduslocusmpls.com
The Lakes Area Music Festival kicked off its first season with "The Magic Flute." Mozart's fantastical pantomime returns for the 10th anniversary of this burgeoning Brainerd festival. Soprano Anna Dennis and tenor Mackenzie Whitney play lovebirds Pamina and Tamino. Baritone John Taylor Ward is Papageno. Soprano Jamilyn Manning-White sings the Queen of the Night's ear-popping arias.
TERRY BLAIN
7 p.m. Sat., 2 p.m. next Sun., Tornstrom Auditorium, Brainerd. Festival ends Aug. 26. Free, lakesareamusic.org
about the writer
The Australian rock hero will play the Armory with his old band supporting their new album, “Wild God.”
