Photo: Playatta - Hal and Kara Lovemelt

Nick LeMere in He & Him / She & Her, part of Works-In-Progress 2012, May 31-June 3

Next week, The Red Eye Theater kicks off its annual New Works 4 Weeks Festival featuring new and developing projects by theater, dance, and performance artists. The event begins this weekend with Works-In-Progress, a showing of four pieces by emerging artists who have been workshopping under the guidance and support of the Red Eye staff for the last six months.

This year's Works-In-Progress promises bare chested men in cut-off wedding gowns, a performance-art piece inspired by sculptor Eva Hesse, live dance with simultaneous video projection, and a piece about obsessive love. The New Works 4 Weeks continues through July 1 with new works from SuperGroup, Deborah Jinza Thayer, and Stephen Peabody, as well as Jenny Pennaz and Blake Nellis, two artists featured in last year's Works-In-Progress.  More >>

Photo copyright Act One, Too, Ltd.

Rachel Finch and Nicholas Leeman in The Hollow.

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Image courtesy Gremlin Theatre

Why is this man leering? Find out at An Absolute Turkey.

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Photo by Vicki Madsed

Tracie Hodgdon, Lindsay Marcy, and Erin Mae Johnson.

Something's rotten in a small town in the heart of Dixie; something that has ensnared a trio of sisters in its grasp. Call it Southern Gothic, or maybe it's just a case of everyday family madness, but the characters at the center of Beth Henley's Pulitzer Prize-winning play are starting to move beyond eccentric.More >>

Photo courtesy of the artist

Laurie Anderson

Yesterday, the Walker Art Center announced its 2012-2013 performing arts season. It looks like it's going to be a fantastic year filled with a number of powerhouse women performers, political work, a number of festivals, and, as usual, a continued search for new forms. Icons such as performance artist Laurie Anderson and Judson Dance Theater founder Deborah Hay are scheduled to perform, and there will also be a festival of contemporary dance featuring African women choreographers. There is much to be excited about.   More >>

Photo by Vicki Madsen

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Tyler Olsen hopes to bring some smiles -- and some patrons -- to University Avenue, which has been hurting for customers ever since construction began on the Central Corridor. On Friday, Olsen's Happy Minnesota, an initiative of his company Dangerous Productions, is teaming up with AEDA to offer a free night of comedy, music, and entertainment. The event will take place at Mai Village, which is located in the recently re-branded Little Mekong area of Frogtown.

According to the group's website, the goal of the project is to bring people and economic growth to the area, to entertain with high-energy shows, and to "create a HAPPY community of artists, residents, and businesses along the Central Corridor." 
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Photo by Dan Norman

Mrs. Smith and the boys.

After a year where his Mrs. Smith alter-ego had a scary Halloween, hosted a failing fundraiser, and then went to a women's prison, David Hanbury wanted to explore a different side of the character -- the song and dance side, to be exact. More >>

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Photo by Michael Brosilow

Greta Oglesby and Hannibal Lokumbe in The Amen Corner.

The Amen Corner, James Baldwin's landmark work, has been on the radar of Penumbra Theater's Lou Bellamy for a long time. "I've been teaching the play for over 30 years at the University of Minnesota," he says. "It was always on the list, but then it would fall off."

The show, currently in previews at the Guthrie Theater, opens this Friday. It stars the incomparable Greta Oglesby as Sister Margaret, the devout leader of a Harlem congregation, and Hannibal Lokumbe as her estranged, jazz-playing husband Luke. 

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