Artist and muralist Ta-coumba T. Aiken's solo exhibition "Awakening," a series of recent paintings and works on paper, opened in May at Dreamsong gallery in northeast Minneapolis. This Friday the 2022 Guggenheim Fellowship winner will be in conversation about his work and what's next. Aiken's studio practice is rooted in abstraction, and his artwork seeks to create healing in the hearts and souls of people and communities. His work as an artist, activist and educator has significantly changed the landscape of the Twin Cities. Shortly before the pandemic, he collaborated with Seitu Jones to create shadow figures that left a mark on the state's history, and are now lodged into the sidewalks of the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden forever. (Friday, 5 p.m. Dreamsong, 1237 NE. 4th St., Mpls. Free. Masks required. RSVP at dreamsong.art)
After the youngest of them, Alana, took a star-making turn on screen in Paul Thomas Anderson's "Licorice Pizza" — with the rest of their family in a fun support role — the Haim sisters are more famous than ever. But they also seem to be having as much fun as ever in their namesake pop/rock band. The trio earned an album-of-the-year Grammy nomination for 2020's ultra-hooky but wryly meaningful "Women in Music Pt. III," and they're finally back on the road promoting it with fellow Angeleno singer Sasami as a must-see opener. (8 p.m. Mon. The Armory, 500 S. 6th St., Mpls., $44-$82, ticketmaster.com)
The gay country singer with the fabricated stage name and secretive mask seems gimmicky at first. But he does such a convincing job of channeling early Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Roy Orbison on his two albums of original tunes that it's hard to resist his vintage-sounding material. He's no Chris Isaak, but he's no novelty, either. (9 p.m., Sat. & Sun. First Avenue, 701 1st Av. N., Mpls. $30-$35, first-avenue.com)
The roof of the Bakken Museum is becoming a familiar venue for Open Eye Theatre, which returns, through June 19, for the world premiere of a play about Bigfoot. Tall tales, environmental themes and a plucky teen detective are a few of the elements in the irreverent musical, written by Josef Evans and directed by Joel Sass. The ticket price also gets you into the museum of innovation. (7 p.m. Fri.-Sun., Wed., Bakken Museum, 3537 Zenith Av. S., Mpls., $30, openeyetheatre.org.)
An organ concert at Northrop can be a full-body experience, as the music may set your seat to vibrating. Olivera is a renowned Argentine virtuoso who's played many of the world's great organs, and he'll apply his head, heart, hands and feet to a program of "Tantalizing Transcriptions and Tangos" that includes music by Giacomo Meyerbeer, Cesar Franck, Louis Vierne and others. The concert also will be livestreamed and available on-demand through June 12. (2 p.m. Sunday; Northrop auditorium, 84 SE. Church St., Mpls.; $25-$10; 612-624-2345 or Northrop.umn.edu.)
'Black Candle' Artistic director Rita Mustaphi revives one of Katha Dance Theatre's repertory works that is based on Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's collection of poems. Using text interwoven with the classical Northern Indian dance form kathak, the work pays tribute to the strength and resilience of South Asian women, shining light on their joys, pain, love and challenges they face. ASL interpreter and post-show discussion Sunday. (7:30 p.m. Fri. & Sat., 2 p.m. Sun., Southern Theater, 1420 Washington Av. S., Mpls., southerntheater.org.) SHEILA REGAN
Theatre Elision — which had to cancel a production last October when union rules changed in the middle of rehearsals — is back with a program of brief musical works by artists including Timothy Huang ("Costs of Living") and Michael John LaChiusa ("First Lady Suite," which Elision will stage later this year). (7:30 p.m. June 9-11, Elision Playhouse, 6104 42nd Av. N., Crystal, $25-$35, elisionproductions.com.)
About six months before the great Minneapolis mandolinist/fiddler died in 2021, he called Kyle Carpenter, CEO of MacPhail Center for Music, to donate his mandolins so MacPhail could create a mandolin program. (Carpenter's daughter, Laura, was Ostroushko's first remote mandolin student.) It turns out that it's a mandolin and fiddle program at MacPhail headed by multi-instrumentalist Richard Kriehn, Ostroushko's personal pick. Kriehn, guitar stalwart Dean Magraw and others will celebrate Ostroushko's distinguished life as a composer, musician and performer in which he worked with everyone from Bob Dylan to the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. (2 p.m. Sun. MacPhail Center for Music, 501 S. 2nd St., Mpls., free, macphail.org)
The most vital local-centric live music venue to emerge in the Twin Cities in the past decade — and a popular dining spot, too — Icehouse will celebrate the start of its second decade and its summer patio season with a 10th-anniversary concert featuring two hometown fixtures: electro-rock hippie groovers Solid Gold and ethereally voiced R&B/neo-soul singer Lady Midnight, both of whom have been woodshedding new music of late that will be spotlighted here. (8 p.m. Tue, Icehouse, 2538 Nicollet Av. S., Mpls., $22-$25, icehousempls.com)
'In the Next Room, or the Vibrator Play'
In Sarah Ruhl's uproarious comedy, a doctor develops a bold way to treat Victorian women who suffer from "hysteria" (which we'd likely diagnose as mental illness these days). The top-notch cast includes Emily Gunyou Halaas, Addie Phelps and James Rodriguez, under the direction of busy Austene Van, who also helmed the Guthrie's "A Raisin in the Sun." (7:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 2 p.m. Sun., Yellow Tree Theatre, 320 5th Av. SE., Osseo, $27-$31, 763-493-8733 or yellowtreetheatre.com.)
The pandemic wasn't all bad for the Twin City Model Railroad Museum. Despite the time of uncertainty, the museum's board took the opportunity to expand. This weekend an open house will show off the renovated digs that increased room for birthday parties and conferences, as well as workshop and storage spaces. The museum will continue fundraising for future projects including STEM exhibits, hands-on play areas and front-of-house improvements for members and visitors. (10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat.; noon-5 p.m. Sun.; 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Mon. 668 Transfer Road, St. Paul. tcmrm.org.)
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