If you do nothing else this weekend, see the Broadway musical The Band's Visit, touring to Minneapolis this week. The Band's Visit is the story of a traveling Egyptian police band that, due to a spelling error, takes the wrong bus and ends up in Israel, stranded overnight in a tiny town where nothing ever happens. And yet, everything happens for these lonely characters, seeking simple human connection. The Band's Visit is a tiny miracle of a show. No wonder it won ten Tonys, including Best Musical. Run don't walk (this'll be my third time).
Another NYC import is the welcome return of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, with Wynton Marsalis fronting a Big Band Holidays show Friday at Orchestra Hall Minneapolis. One show only!
And if you want to Sing for the Season (and/or just hear great singers), your choices are many and merry in Minnesota. The Rochester Choral Arts Ensemble returns with another Christmas at Assisi concert, bringing a glow to Lourdes Chapel. VocalEssence concludes its annual Welcome Christmas concerts with a brand new suite of Norwegian carols by the Norwegian composer Kim Andre Arneson, to honor the Sons of Norway's 125th anniversary.
Christmas with Cantus launches a long run of concerts in the Twin Cities, and no matter where you are you can hear Classical MPR's live broadcast this Thursday morning (11 a.m.). And last but not least (and perhaps even most), it's the classic one-act Christmas opera Amahl and the Night Visitors, commissioned by NBC Television, back when television networks did that sort of thing.
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