The Music
Kool G Rap and DJ Polo
Fri., May 17, 10 pm • Cabooze, 917 Cedar Avenue S., 612-338-6425 or www.cabooze.com • Kool G Rap is regarded as a hugely influential golden age rapper. He is often cited as one of the most influential and skilled MC’s of all time • With special guest Empire Status, (Bobby Raps & Muja Messiah), and Long Doe (Tony Bones, Big Wiz, Mike the Martyr & DJ Nimo the Hooligan) and dj’s King Otto & Just Nine.
Dennis Spears & Ginger Commodore
Sat., May 18, 8 pm • Dakota Jazz Club & Restaurant, 1010 Nicollet Mall, Mpls., 612-332-1010 or www.dakotacooks.com • Spears and Commodore, both known for their contribution to Moore by Four, as well as being gems of the Midwest music and theater scenes in their own right, join forces for a night of sizzling soul and powerful vocals.
The Blu Ice Soul Session featuring. Erica West w/DJ Smoke D
Tues., May 21, 8 pm • Icehouse, 2528 Nicollet Ave. S., Mpls., 612-276-6523 or www.icehousempls.com • Combining R&B and jazz with a fresh neosoul sound, Erica West has fast become one of the most sought after female vocalists in Minneapolis • DJ Smoke D is a radio personality on KMOJ Radio every Saturday and has worked with KMOJ for many years.
John Legend
Wed., May 22, 7 pm • Fitzgerald Theater, 10 E. Exchange St., St. Paul, 651-290-1200 or fitzgeraldtheater.publicradio.org • RESET Education presents: An Evening with John Legend • In addition to recording platinum R&B albums and performing worldwide, nine-time Grammy Award-winner John Legend is an outspoken proponent for improving the quality of and access to American education. Legend will share his views on the importance of effective teaching and strong school leadership, and his experiences working with high-poverty schools that are getting great results for kids. Legend will take questions from the audience and will close the evening by performing a few songs.
Soundset 2013
Sun., May 26, 11 am — 8:30 pm • Canterbury Park, 1100 Canterbury Rd. Shakopee, MN, 952-445-7223 or www.soundsetfestival.com/ • This years Soundset Festival features nine hours of hip hop music all in one day – rain or shine. Performers include Snoop Dogg aka Snoop Lion, Busta Rhymes, Atmosphere, P.O.S., Greg Grease, A$AP Ferg, Tech N9ne, Joey Bada$$, Dizzy Wright, Sean Price, The ReMINDers, and many more.
Memorial Day Blowout/Soundset After-Party
Sun., May 26, (doors open at) 9 pm • Insert Coins, 315 1st Ave. N., Mpls., 651-564-4016 or www.insertcoinsmpls.com • Hosted by Snoop Dogg and featuring a live performance by MN Fats and music by DJ D Mil.
The Screen
Peeples
Various theaters • Sparks fly when Wade Walker crashes the Peeples annual reunion in the Hamptons to ask for their precious daughter Grace’s hand in marriage • Produced by Tyler Perry and starring Craig Robinson, Kerry Washington, and David Alan Grier.
Reel Talk! 2013: Killer of Sheep
Monday, May 20 • 7:00 pm • Penumbra Theatre • 270 N Kent St., St Paul, MN • (651) 224-3180 or www.penumbratheatre.org • Deemed one of the “100 Essential Films” of all time by the National Society of Film Critics, Killer of Sheep examines Watts in the 1970s – a Black ghetto of Los Angeles – through the eyes of Stan, a sensitive dreamer who is growing detached and numb from the psychic toll of working at a slaughterhouse.
The Stage
Stick Fly
Through May 19 • Park Square Theatre, Historic Hamm Building, 408 St. Peter St., Suite 110, St. Paul, 651-291-7005 or www.parksquaretheatre.org • A relaxing weekend on Martha’s Vineyard … until the baggage got unpacked • Two sons of a financially privileged African American family bring their girlfriends home to meet their parents, only to find that Dad is the only one in residence. As family secrets unravel and sibling rivalries flare, class distinctions rise to the surface.
A Streetcar Named Desire
May 23-26 • Open Book, 1011 Washington Ave. S., 612-203-9502 or www.tenthousandthings.org • An all-new take on this universal story of family dysfunction, delusion and desire. Guest directed by Randy Reyes, in consultation with Lear deBessonet. Featuring Elizabeth Grullon, Kurt Kwan, Kris Nelson, and Austene Van.
The Arts
Realism Reconsidered
Through July 26 • Gordon Parks Gallery, Metro State Univ. Library and Learning Center, 645 E. 7th St., St. Paul, 651-793-1631 • Featuring Minneapolis-based artists Raina Belleau and Howard Quednau, who turn to folklore and the narrative to explore a different sense of truth. Belleau’s manipulated animal sculptures and Quednau’s skillful tiny model dioramas become playful, and sometimes dark, representations of altered realities and fictitious spaces.
Contemporary Arts Studio: Spring 2013
Through June 6 • Juxtaposition Arts (JXTA), 1108 W. Broadway Ave., Mpls., 612-588-1148 • Visit their renewed gallery and see the ideas, issues, and techniques used in artwork by Cameron (age 15), Kayla (age 14), and Namir (age 14), who were employed as contemporary artists at JXTA this winter • Young artists in JXTA’s Contemporary Art Studio produce commission works for clients like Minnesota Alliance with Youth and Youthprise, in addition to developing, showing and selling their own work • All of the work on exhibit is reasonably priced, with items starting as low as $100 • Gallery hours: Tues., Wed., and Thurs., 10 am — 5 pm, other hours by appointment.
Send all Entertainment Spot briefs abuchanan@spokesman-recorder.com, or call 612-827-4021.
