MN Opera premieres “Pinocchio”

Andrew Wilkowske is a native Willmar, Minn., and Adriana Zabala has adopted Minnesota as her home away from home. They both came up through Minnesota Opera’s Young Artists program and are now playing the central roles in the North American premiere of The Adventures of Pinocchio. 3-Minute Egg went to Wednesday’s dress rehearsal. The opera opens Saturday at the Ordway Center for Performing Arts, with five curtains through March 8.

Multiples Mall

The Walker Art Center invited Minnesota artists who make book-related multiples to set up shop inside the center for an afternoon. Multiples Mall, which featured artists books, chapbooks, zines and more, was connected with the current exhibition Text/Messages: Books by Artists. 3-Minute Egg spotlights four of the participating artists.

Arts Advocacy Day

Last November, voters amended the Minnesota state constitution to raise a sales tax that will, in part, fund the arts. In the wake of that, while addressing the state’s tremendous fiscal shortfall, Gov. Tim Pawlenty has proposed slashing the State Arts Board’s budget, with a goal toward transforming the Arts Board from a state agency into a nonpropfit. All this inspired about 800 artists and arts administrators from throughout Minnesota — with 3-Minute Egg behind them — to descend on the state capitol yesterday for the annual Arts Advocacy Day.

Alicia Wiley: Halfway Home

Alicia Wiley is a singer-songwriter cut somewhat from the mold of Fiona Apple and Alicia Keys in that she’s a trained pianist who broke out as a teenager by writing and performing her own songs. Wiley comes more from a jazz background, and that influence shapes the pop sensibilities of her third CD, Halfway Home. 3-Minute Egg captured Wiley’s CD release show at the Varsity Theater.

Bakken Trio goes Cello

The Bakken Trio invited cellists from the Minnesota Orchestra and elsewhere into a wide-ranging afternoon of music composed and arranged for cello. 3-Minute Egg went to the performance, at the SPCO Center, to capture the magic of the afternoon.

Political Theatre Festival

Alberto Justiniano was a mathematician in the early 1990s when, at the urging of Latinos in Twin Cities theater, he founded Teatro de Pueblo. The company’s Political Theatre Festival has become its marquee event. The eighth annual version, opening this weekend at Intermedia Arts, features six short and medium-length works — two of them new pieces by local playwrights. 3-Minute Egg went to a rehearsal to speak with Justiniano and emerging playwright Rhiana Yazzie about the festival’s cultural role and relevance. The festival also features a new interactive work from local playwright Dominic Orlando. Performances run through March 1.

Pinter Studies

Several local theatrical directors spent the past five to six months studying their craft through the work of Harold Pinter. Their collaborative exercise culminates in the Minneapolis Pinter Studies — site-specific performances at Interact Theater, in the Colonial Warehouse. 3-Minute Egg takes you through the evening. Performances continue through February 21.

Fringe Festival lottery

You can’t simply sign up for the Fringe Festival, pay your entry fee and buy your way to a hit show. All success begins with the lottery that selects which applicants win performance slots and which go on the waiting list. 3-Minute Egg was there Monday, at the Bedlam Theater, to sample the evening’s hopes, anxieties, joy, relief and disappointments.

NOTE: I don’t have the names of several people appearing in this video — if you’re among those, please let me know so I can add your names to the “tags.”

VD09

A little trend-spotting — Visual artists in these parts are doing something dancers have done for a while: Collecting as friends/colleagues to throw their own micro events. The latest was VD09 — part art showcase, part party — this past Saturday in the Northrup King Building. 3-Minute Egg introduces you to the makers and shakers, including the event’s producers — an artist and marketer who go by Two Betties.

Egg with holiday sauce

3-Minute Egg is taking a long President’s Day weekend off and returns with fresh episodes Tuesday, February 17. We’ve got a great week of Eggs on tap, including an episode I’m shooting from Monday’s Fringe Festival lottery. The Egg and I will see you around the Twin Cities arts SEEN!

- matt