On March 1, 2023, the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in St. Paul, Minnesota, announced the addition of five new board members. These new board members have different skill sets and backgrounds, including representation from the fields of law, engineering, and digital services. The Ord…

This year’s Minnesota Cuba Film Festival (MCFF) festival takes place at the MainTheater six consecutive Wednesdays, March 1-April 5, 2023.

Led by Juan de Marcos (co-creator of Buena Vista Social Club), the Afro-Cuban All Stars (ACAS) returns to Dakota Jazz Club Tuesday night, February 28 for performances at 6:30pm and 8:30pm.

Stories of struggle, resilience and celebration come to musical life through an exhilarating collaboration between VocalEssence and Minneapolis-based artist Joe Davis and The New Renaissance, an artistic production company that cultivates immersive experiences at the nexus of poetry, music a…

The Prom, an uplifting, hilarious musical comedy that dazzled Broadway audiences with its old-school song-and-dance energy and message of acceptance, is coming to Chanhassen Dinner Theatres! The Tony-nominated show has only recently been licensed to regional theaters, and Chanhassen Dinner T…

Back by popular demand

A Soldier’s Play comes to The Ordway Feb 8-12.  The 1982 Pulitzer Prize-winning thriller by Charles Fuller, has rocketed back into the spotlight, thanks to the 2020 Tony Award to Roundabout Theatre Company, winning in the Best Revival category.

Minneapolis-Saint Paul, MN/Los Angeles, CA/New York, NY (January 9, 2023) — As part of their landmark partnership, the five Generation Now theatres (Latino Theater Company, Ma-Yi Theater Company, Native Voices at the Autry, Penumbra, and Children’s Theatre Company) have awarded their first r…

Jevetta Steele and William Pierce bring to the stage an all-star lineup of gospel music artists includingTonia Hughes-Kendrick, Cornisha Garmon, Geoff Jones, J. Michelle Caldwell, Fred Steele, Jr., Jhadiya Steele, Jackson Hurst, Angel Woods, and Lysanis Shelby. 7pm Saturday, February 4, and …

“Sometimes I sit counting the stars. Maybe one is my mamma and one is my daddy. And maybe that’s why sometimes they flicker a bit.” – Lonnie, Locomotion

AMERICAN EXPERIENCE presents Zora Neale Hurston: Claiming a Space, a new in-depth biography of the influential author whose groundbreaking anthropological work would challenge assumptions about race, gender and cultural superiority that had long defined the field in the 19th century. Directe…

The Godfather of Harlem, Bumpy Johnson, is an enigma.

Beauty and the Beast continues through Dec. 31, 2022, at the Ordway.

Byron Allen’s inaugural TheGrio Awards honored comedian Dave Chappelle with the Cultural Icon Award, Allyson Felix with the Sports Icon Award, and Patti LaBelle with the Music Icon Award.

A new exhibition debuting next spring at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) will celebrate Chadwick Boseman’s Black Panther hero costume.

Spoiler Alert—If you haven’t seen the movie, pleeze don’t read this!

Nothing boosts a woman’s morale at the movies than to see BadAss women owning their power and kicking butt as they complete their mission, which is usually to save the world—because that’s what we do.

Wain McFarlane returns to The Dakota Jazz Club Wednesday, December 7, 2022 with his first time ever “Family Affair Show” which features his son, vocalist Miles McFarlane, and Wain’s granddaughter, Clarq, a singer, songwriter and dancer from Albuquerque, NM.

The 6th Annual MN Black Authors Expo (MBAE) will be televised on Saturday, October 22 at 1pm - 2pm CDT on the NineNorth local cable television station, channels 14 and 15. The MBAE Expo will also be streamed on the MN Black Authors Expo Facebook page and will include an author panel discussi…

Children’s Theatre Company (CTC) is proud to announce the cast and creative team that will bring to life Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas, playing from November 8, 2022, through January 8, 2023. Opening night is Saturday, November 12 at 7 pm. This is the 10th time CTC has produced …

A tender portrait of motherhood, loss, and the journey to healing.

The McKnight Foundation announced Douglas R. Ewart as its 2022 Distinguished Artist, an award given annually to a Minnesota artist who has made significant contributions to the state’s cultural life. “This award honors his heart and genius as well as his influence and impact,’” said DeAnna C…

In the age of MeToo and women raising their voices, this film is one that speaks to the moment, while looking back at the historical greatness of women.

Back in a 1974 review of the Bond-like Cleopatra Jones movie starring Tamara Dobson, Feminist and former Ms. Magazine editor Margaret Sloan spoke volumes about Black female spectatorial desire. Damn, that felt good she wrote. After viewing The Woman King, we know exactly what she meant.

Valerie Maynard, 85, sculptor, printmaker, designer and educator died last week in Baltimore. The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) presented a survey of her work in 2020.

Children’s Theatre Company (CTC) prsents Circus Abyssinia, the internationally acclaimed Ethiopian circus that delighted Minnesota audiences in 2019, with their brand-new show, Tulu.

The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts presents Nachito Herrera and the Havana Jazz All Stars  on Saturday, Sept. 24. This will be the Minnesota jazz icon’s third time performing at the Ordway. This year’s show will kick off the Ordway’s 2022-2023 season and is part of the Ordway Presents…

Saint Paul, MN. August 25, 2022: Park Square Theatre’s 2022-2023 Season opens with the Tony Award-winning comedy-drama THE HUMANS (September 14 - Oct 9, 2022) by Stephen Karam, directed by Lily Tung Crystal. A one-act performed in real time, the play takes place as three generations gather f…

“This year marks JazzFest’s twenty-first anniversary,” says Mychael Wright, founder of the Selby Ave JazzFest and owner of Golden Thyme Coffee Café. “With the great performances, weather, and overall vibe, last year’ s event was one of our best. We’re hoping to capture the same feeling that …

New York Times

It has a homecoming kind of feeling. Micah McFarlane and his business partner, television superstar Justin Hartley, are in town this week to spike the buzz around their agave spirits beverage, Revel Avila.

Slow Roll Southside Hotter than July happens Tuesday July 26th.

Wain McFarlane holds court Tuesday night July 26th at Dakota Jazz Club in downtown. Minneapolis. Check out the KFAI-90.3FM Conversations with Al McFarlane broadcast interview with Wain from his live sound check at 1pm earlier in the day. The interview includes a chat with television personal…

In a playful twist on the Jane Austen classic, Hamill offers a fast-paced screwball comedy with rom-com sensibilities.

Singer Jamela Pettiford; master storytellers Nothando Zulu, and Beverly Cottman; Radio DJ Dee Henry Williams; poet Waheedah Shabazz, and performing artist Danielle Daniel present I Am Woman -- Voices of the Elders, 7PM Saturday, June 11, 2022 at The Capri Theater, 2027 W. Broadway Ave, Minneapolis.

Another Mother’s Day has passed. We have biological mothers, mothers by adoption, mother figures, mothers who have gone on to glory, and mothers to our community. In spending time with my mother that day, I was reminded of the Detroit Spinners song “Sadie.” That being said, here’s a reminder…

The year is 1925.  In the late Senator Simon Guggenheim’s first gift letter to the Board of Trustees of the newly established John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, he wrote, “the purpose is to give ‘blocks of time’ in which Fellows can work with as much creative freedom as possible.”  T…

As we all know, history was made when Ketanji Brown Jackson became the first Black woman confirmed for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court bench, where her unique skill set and qualifications will make a difference in the conversations among the justices. Last Friday, I had the great pleasure t…