Art Hounds: ‘Wife of a Salesman,’ art and healing in Duluth and jazz at Crooners
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From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art.
Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here.
A new take on ‘Death of a Salesman’
Girl Friday Productions is currently staging “Wife of a Salesman,” and Twin Cities actor Kathleen Winters says she can’t think of a better comeback to the local theater scene. Written by Eleanor Burgess, the play doesn’t name the salesman’s wife, who pays a visit to his Boston mistress, but the characters are written in clear reference to Arthur Miller’s famed play, “Death of a Salesman.” In his play, the two never meet, but Burgess uses the confrontation to explore hurt and healing, commitment and the way women define themselves. The show runs Thursdays through Sundays through Oct. 4 at the Gremlin Theatre in St. Paul. The show runs 90 minutes with no intermission.
Here’s Winters’ review:
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“I hesitate to use superlatives for fear that people will think I'm exaggerating, but this show really is terrific in all respects. There are twists and developments that I'm not going to give away, but that are so clever and so engaging, you can't even blink.
The performances are just top-notch...genuine, grounded, relatable portrayals. Great costumes, great set, sound and lighting. There is at least one light cue that is so funny. I mean, honestly, you have to see it. Who makes a light cue funny? But this play and this designer do.”
Art and healing come together in Duluth
Kylee Pass of Duluth is a lover of arts and crafts and a former advocate for First Witness Child Advocacy Center. She recalls enjoying the first art exhibit the nonprofit coordinated in 2023, and she’s excited to see their new event this weekend, The HeART of Healing. The exhibit features work by 40 artists who answered a community call on that theme. It's a short-lived show at Zeitgeist Friday and Saturday. Pass says there will be live music and a chance to hear from some of the artists at 5 p.m. on Friday. She adds that all artworks are for sale, and artists were able to choose whether to keep the proceeds or to donate some (or all) of it to First Witness.
Pass said, “The biggest lesson that I learned in being an advocate is that folks don't receive justice from systems in the way that they think they do. Part of why I love art, specifically for folks moving through healing of any kind is it gives you the control back."
Jazz singer Bernadette Spray at Crooners
Anne Harrington has been following the work of jazz singer Bernadette Spray for years. Harrington admires Spray’s powerful voice and skill at scat singing. The two met when Spray was a child and Harrington worked in special education. Spray was diagnosed with autism at age 2. Now in her 20s with a degree in musical education, Spray will perform on Saturday, Sept. 26 at Crooners Supper Club in Minneapolis from 8-9:30 p.m.
Harrington said, “She's been performing around the Twin Cities for some time through a grant that she received to help promote awareness and acceptance of people with autism, and this will be the first time she's doing it to make a living rather than donating the proceeds to nonprofit organizations through the grant.”
