Culturology 7-28: Opera and rodeo

by Tyler Tyler
The Loon Opera Company is out to prove that opera is not stuffy, but fresh and exciting.  Their production of "The Marriage of Figaro" is on stage in Bemidji Friday and Saturday, 7:30 p.m., at the BSU Bangsberg Fine Arts Complex. I spoke with artistic director Abe Hunter, is a Bemidji-based freelance pianist and artistic director of the troupe.  His company is in its second year of producing opera.  Hear my interview with him and performances from a recent rehearsal here.

Try to find a mobile phone without a built-in camera.  The ubiquity of these devices and their rapid improvement in quality prompted the Crossing Arts Alliance to create a photography exhibition open to cell phone cameras. We visited with Crossing artistic director Millie Morris about the upcoming PhoneCamPics exhibition.  Entries are due in printed form by noon on Tuesday.  Subject matter must be appropriate for a general audience. Photographs must be marked on the back with the artist’s contact information.  Artists need not be Crossing Arts Alliance members.  Special effects may be applied. Photos need not be matted or framed, and should be no larger than 24 by 36 inches. The exhibition will be unstaffed, August 5 - 26, Tuesday to Friday from 11am to 4pm, and Saturday, August 13 from 10am to 2pm. There is no submission fee.

Chris Vinson lives on a farm in rural Itasca County and writes a column for us and the Western Itasca Review.  But she’s been living a lie, and she’s ready to confess.

CULTURE CALENDAR
Thursday
Mississippi Melodie Showboat presents its last weekend of shows for the season.  You can see “Mississippi Marvels” tonight, Friday, and Saturday at 8:30 on Showboat Landing in Grand Rapids.
Second week of performances for Kevin Kling’s play “21A” at Chief Theater, Bemidji. 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday.
Nisswa Community Center hosts an exhibition of 15 local, professional artists showcasing original prints, pottery, watercolors, oils, acrylics, photography, nature printing and more.  Hours are 10 to 5 Thursday through Saturday.

Friday
Loon Opera Co. presents “The Marriage of Figaro”, Mozart’s landmark comic opera.  Performed in English by national-caliber guests and Bemidji-area players.  Friday and Saturday, 7:30 p.m., at the recital hall in BSU’s Bangsberg Fine Arts Complex.
The Little Red Riding Hood story is reimagined as a Cajun musical, titled “Petite Rouge.” It’s on the outdoor stage at Beltrami County Courthouse in Bemidji Friday Saturday and Sunday at 7 p.m.
It's North Star Stampede rodeo weekend in Effie.  Action starts at 5 Friday night and 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
The ladies behind the Church Basement Ladies franchise will be at a luncheon at Coleraine Public Library at noon Friday.  The production “A Mighty Fortress Is Our Basement” is on stage at Reif Center Friday and Saturday night at 7:30, Sunday at 2 pm.

Saturday
Woodcarvers’ Festival, Wayside Park, Blackduck.  9 a.m.-4 p.m.
Free live outdoor music in Crosslake, Motley, and Pequot Lakes.
Northern Cruisers car show, Grand Rapids IRA Civic Center parking lot.
Itasca Vintage Car Club swap meet, Itasca County Fairgrounds, Grand Rapids.

Sunday
Itasca vintage Car Club swap meet and car show, Itasca County Fairgrounds, Grand Rapids.
Lakes Area Chamber Music Festival has a couple of Prelude concerts to generate excitement going into the main festival in August. Pieces from Bach, Brahms, Dvorak, and Schubert are on the program. Sunday at 3 at Salem Lutheran Church in Deerwood, and 7:30 at Lutheran Church of the Cross in Nisswa. 

Wednesday
Opening night for the Paul Bunyan Playhouse production of “The Full Monty”.  It's at the Chief Theater, Bemidji.

MINNESOTA HISTORY DATEBOOK
July 28, 1861: Minnesota's first homegrown governor, John A. Johnson, is born in St. Peter. Johnson would work his way up from poverty to become editor of the St. Peter Herald. He would be elected governor in 1905, and attracted attention as a possible 1912 presidential candidate.  These plans were cut short when he died in office in 1909.
July 30, 1884: The state's first rail shipment of iron ore, from the Soudan Mine, reaches Two Harbors.  By the time Soudan closed in 1962, it had shipped over 15 million tons of rich hematite ore.
July 26, 1937: Governor Elmer A. Benson refuses to give a business license to the Pinkerton Detective Agency, a notorious union-busting group.
July 27, 1972: Virginia Piper, wife of investment banker Harry C. Piper, Jr., is kidnapped. The Minneapolis woman is released near Duluth after a ransom of one million dollars is paid, at the time the highest such payment ever made.
July 29, 1974: Minnesota's Jeannette Piccard, who had once piloted hydrogen balloons into the stratosphere, is one of the first women to be ordained a priest in the Episcopal Church.
July 25, 1990: The U.S. Senate votes 96-0 to denounce David Durenberger for "reprehensible" conduct as a senator, making him one of only seven members to be publicly condemned by the Senate in the twentieth century. Durenberger is censured for financial misconduct, including evading the limit on outside earnings.
July 24, 1998: Pitcher Ila Borders of the Duluth-Superior Dukes is the first woman to win a men's regular season professional baseball game. The Dukes beat the Sioux Falls Canaries 3-1, in Duluth.