Festival Season is Upon Us!

Here's what's coming up:

	The 19th Annual Twin Cities Jazz Festival takes place June 22-24 with three days of free music in and around Mears Park in Lowertown, Saint Paul. Headliners this year include include John Coltrane Quartet pianist McCoy Tyner performing with Joshua Redman; Grammy Award-winning trumpeter Terence Blanchard; Anat Cohen with Choro Aventuroso; and keyboardist, organist, and Minnesota-native Bobby Lyle. Ride to the festival for free with a downloadable MetroTransit bus and lightrail pass. Gear up for the weekend with pre-festival events at the Saint Paul Libraries and Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church in Minneapolis.
	Also the weekend of June 22 - 25, One Voice Mixed Chorus is bringing the Pride celebration to Saint Paul with a special production of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Piarates of Penzance on Raspberry Island. In collaboration with Nautilus Theater, this topsy-turvy, gender-bending musical adventure for the whole family is sure to be unlike anything the Twin Cities has ever seen. The show is free, though reservations are recommended.
	This weekend, Nero Wolfe returns to Park Square Theatre with a new, world premiere commission of Might As Well Be Dead: A Nero Wolfe Mystery, playing through July 30. Whether your style is NCIS or Miss Marple, this is a delicious chance to discover or share one of the great detectives with your family and friends. Then, later this month, Girl Friday Productions, one of Park Square's Theatres in Residence, presents Idiot's Delight on the Andy Boss Thrsut Stage, June 29 - July 23. Single tickets and season packages are now on sale for Park Square's 2017-2018 Season.
	Then, next month, the Lowertown Blues and Funk Festival returns to Mears Park with a night of soul and funk on Friday, July 21, followed by a day of blues on Saturday, July 21. The lineup for the Twin Cities' largest, free blues and funk festival includes a salute to the music of Prince by Chase & Ovation, as well as performances by Average White Band, Shannon Curfman, Tomy Castro & the Painkillers, and more.

Spring is on it's way!

	Later this week, the 36th annual Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival kicks off, bringing 250+ new feature length and short narrative and documentary films representing 70+ countries to audiences throughout the region. Running April 13 - 29, this year’s lineup features a Virtual and Augmented Reality Showcase, a Minnesota Made series with 80+ locally created films, retrospectives on the work of Frederick Wiseman and Sarah Pillsbury, and number of parties and social events including the MSPIFF Preview Party and annual XYZ Party.
	Currently on stage at Park Square Theatre is the The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence, a brilliantly witty, time-jumping tale playing through April 30. Then Twin Cities favorites Linda Kelsey and Tracey Maloney take the stage next month in Amy's View, playing May 12 - June 4. Park Square also recently announced their 2017-2018 Season which kicks off this fall with Henry and Alice: Into the Wild, Michele Riml's hilarious follow-up to the smash hit Sexy Laundry. Season packages are on sale now.
	Next month brings the Festival of Nations, May 4 - 7, at the Saint Paul RiverCentre. Through world-class music and dance performances, exhibits, demonstrations, activities, and food, this family-friendly festival provides a look into the traditions, history and journey of nearly 100 ethnic groups, and sheds light on how each one contributes to the American cultural landscape. This year’s theme, Ceremonies and Rituals, will be seen throughout the Festival. Tickets and more info »
	Also next month is the debut performance of PRIME Productions, a new professional theater company in the Twin Cities focused on “Celebrating women in their second act.”  Little Wars tells the story of Lillian Hellman, Dorothy Parker, Gertrude Stein, Agatha Christie, Alice B. Toklas and Muriel Gardiner having the best what-if dinner party you can imagine as World War II looms on the horizon. The show plays May 5 - 21 at Mixed Blood Theatre.

Happy New Year!

2017 is already promising to be a busy year, but it's off to a great start! Over Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, One Voice Mixed Chorus performed "The Man Behind the Dream," honoring the life and work of openly gay civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, for almost 2,000 people. Then, on Jan 19, Park Square Theatre was one of more than 100 theatres around the country that participated in the Ghostlight Project. Inspired by the theatrical tradition of keeping a “ghost light” on in a darkened theatre, participants created light for the challenging times ahead and vowed to provide brave spaces where all can gather.

Here's what else is coming up this year:

Currently on stage at Park Square Theatre is Big Money, a new play presented and created by Sandbox Theatre playing through Jan 28, as well as a co-production with Mu Performing Arts of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Flower Drum Song playing through Feb. 19. Next month, Nina Simone: Four Woman is back by popular demand, playing Feb 7 - 26 after gracing many of the year-end "best of" lists for 2016.

This weekend, Jan 28 - 29, the Twin Cities Winter Jazz Festival returns to downtown Saint Paul, now with two days of music, film, and special events. The 2017 summer festival dates are also set for June 22 - 24. Stay tuned for headliners to be announced soon!

On Sunday, March 5, JazzMN Orchestra presents NextGen Jazz a concert devoted to jazz's future with guest artists from LA's Urban Renewal Project as well as all-star jazz students from the Minnesota Youth Jazz Bands and the Dakota Jazz Combo.

Also in March, One Voice Mixed Chorus returns to the Ordway on March 18 for Well-Versed, a celebration of LGBTQ youth and an evening of choral music, strings and poetry with New York’s hottest string quartet, Well-Strung, and youth poets from RECLAIM.