Saturday news and reviews

Art

John Waters to flood Walker Art Center's galleries with tacky weirdness

As if the splotchy plaid jacket and signature mustache weren't enough, John Waters will bring Pig Latin, car crashes, junk food photos and financial detritus to Walker Art Center this summer when he will tweak the museum's long-running "Event Horizon" exhibition.

- Mary Abbe, Star Tribune

Create a More Connected Minnesota

MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.

Waters at the Walker

Filmmaker, author and all-around colorful character John Waters is taking on the role of curator at the Walker Art Center this summer.

- Amy Carlson Gustafson

What Follows What Comes Before at MCBA

Tucked in the back studio at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts (MCBA) is an interesting exhibit called "What Follows What Came Before," featuring a number of artists utilizing a vast array of book arts that speak to the concept of sequencing.

- Sheila Regan, City Pages

Books

Mark Doty talks poetry and inspiration at Pen Pals lecture

Doty was everything I expected. Humorous, yet somehow always serious. Wise, yet full of youthful energy and verve. Generous and open.

- Nikki Miller, City Pages

Sontag: A tortured artist

Susan Sontag failed to create the great novels that she thought it was in her to produce. And yet on certain subjects -- such as photography and cancer -- she is quotable and debatable.

- CARL ROLLYSON, Star Tribune

Swedish Institute embraces Nordic thrillers

Rise in popularity of crime novels prompts increase of literary offerings.

- LAURIE HERTZEL, Star Tribune

Before there was 'Dragon Tattoo,' there was Lackberg

The first two in a series of Nordic mysteries by a Swedish bestseller.

- DAVID SHAFFER, Star Tribune

Word from on high

Looking for fires in a remote forest lookout, a Minnesota native (with his dog) discovers natural beauty, the occasional bear and the meaning of life.

- CHUCK LEDDY, Star Tribune

To the light book club

Three generations of women wrestle with marriage, art and family.

- STEPHANIE WILBUR ASH, Star Tribune

Footprints of the [Norse] gods

In a followup to "In Cod We Trust," Eric Dregni examines the history and influence of Scandinavians in the United States.

- CHUCK HAGA, Star Tribune

A poke at the education bubble

An anonymous professor makes a case against college education for all.

- PATRICIA HAGEN, Star Tribune

Dance

'Dance' moves toward acceptance

Lucinda Childs and Philip Glass recall their collaboration on a work that initially caused some audience members to bolt.

- CAROLINE PALMER, Star Tribune

Movies

"The Music Never Stopped," or, "The Amnesiac Hippie Who Never Lost His Swag"

It's a given that audiophiles will love this movie, but the tumultuous relationship between Gabriel and Henry will still tug at the heartstrings of those who associate the name "Pigpen" with the Peanuts character.

- Chrissy Stockton, TC Daily Planet

Take-Up Productions continues composer series with Bernard Herrmann

Herrmann was a prodigious talent; a conductor of world renowned orchestras, a curator of radio broadcasts, and even the composer of an opera, Wuthering Heights. But for all his diverse accomplishments, it is Herrmann's film work that continues to be most widely praised.

- Brad Richason, Examiner.com

Music

Review: Minnesota Orchestra offers musical sympathies to Japan

Friday's performance of Sibelius' Fifth was filled with mystery and majesty, haunting gentleness and, ultimately, a heart-lifting tone of triumph.

- Rob Hubbard, Pioneer Press

Bright Eyes gazing at a supermoon

Conor Oberst, Omaha's biggest (and rock's youngest) veteran, continues his musical and spiritual quest with a new "Key."

- CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER, Star Tribune

British Sea Power crank it up at the Cedar

I have been to more shows at the Cedar in the first three months of this year than I likely did in all of 2010, so kudos to them for booking so many great acts. That said, I couldn't help but feel like the show would have been significantly more enjoyable in a packed 7th Street Entry, as the Cedar tends to bring out the timid and quiet in crowds (which usually is a good thing).

- Kyle Matteson, TC Daily Planet

"Glee's" Mr. Schue (Matthew Morrison) to kick off tour in Minneapolis on June 18

He will arrive just days after the "Glee" cast performs at Target Center.

- Jon Bream, Star Tribune

Concert news: Matthew Morrison tour stop should make fans gleeful

The kids of "Glee" aren't the only ones who will hit the road this summer. Matthew Morrison -- who plays Will Schuester, director of the show's glee club -- will launch his own solo tour June 18 at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Minneapolis.

- Ross Raihala, Pioneer Press