March 6, 1998 - MPR's Amy Radil reports on Minnesota Opera’s Opera Ventures program. Where a venerable art form like opera is placed in the hands of eleven and twelve-year-olds, anything can happen….and that's just what's been happening on the stage of the Hibbing High school auditorium with the production, "The Diner Blues."
March 6, 1998 - Beads, broken glass, stones, bottle caps...not what you usually think of when you think of art. But these ordinary objects have been transformed into colorful, extraordinary sculptures and paintings by midwestern folk artists and are on display at The Phipps Center for the Arts in Hudson Wisconsin. There's a six-foot tall replica of syrup-huckster Mrs. Butterworth, a chandelier made of bottle caps and creatures of concrete decorated with broken china. The show "Passionate Obsessions" was curated by Loris Connolly who took us on a tour of the exhibit.
March 12, 1998 - Huge images of young immigrants will dominate the atrium of the Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis for two days. They are part of a video installation by artist Laurie Phillips who says she wants to give visibility to the powerless and allow them to tell some of their own stories.
March 16, 1998 - The Guthrie Theater announced its new season this evening. Artistic Director Joe Dowling selected seven plays ranging from "The Magic Fire" a new play by Lillian Garrett-Groag, to a new adaptation of "The Venetian Twins" which transplants the 18th century Italian comedy to present-day Minnesota. The seaon will also include classics like Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest," "Summer and Smoke" by Tennessee William, "A month in the country" by Turgenev , Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" and Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar:"
March 17, 1998 - For fifteen years, the group Boiled in Lead has taken its unique blend of celtic, east europeon and world music around the globe, while always calling the Twin Cities home. The band has built such a rabid following, its fans are referred to as ‘leadheads.’ Founder and bass player Drew Miller talks with MPR’s Chris Roberts about release of compilation CD “Alloy.”
March 18, 1998 - As the editor of the Hungry Mind Review for the last decade and a half, Bart Schneider has been examining and critiquing books by others. Now he is experiencing the other side of the literary equation as his first novel "Blue Bossa" is published. Schneider told Minnesota Public Radio's Euan Kerr the book tells the story of an aging jazz trumpeter, who after recieving great acclaim in his youth has given up music, in part because he sees it as the only way to escape heroin addiction. Bart Schneider's new book is called "Blue Bossa." He spoke to Minnesota Public Radio's Euan Kerr Sun 28-MAY 12:04:32 MPR NewsPro Archive - Wed 04/11/2001
March 18, 1998 - MPR’s Dan Olson takes a look at the timpani, sometimes called the kettle drum, as it takes the spotlight at The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. Earl Yowell, the chamber orchestra's principal timpanist, plays the seldom performed Johann Carl Fischer’s Timpani Concerto.
March 19, 1998 - Minneapolis playwright Kim Hines tells the story of three prominent African American women of the time who are largely unknown to most Minnesotans. Hines has written monologues portraying the life of businesswoman Amanda Lyle, social worker Gertrude Brown, and attorney Lena Smith.
March 19, 1998 - State funding for a new Saint Paul hockey arena could be in jeopardy because of questions surrounding a deal between the Minnesota Wild Hockey Team and the company it chose to oversee construction of the arena. The team awarded the construction contract to Minneapolis -based M.A. Mortensen after the company paid the team's 100-thousand dollar NHL initiation fee. We get an update from John Knapp who lobbies on behalf of the Minnesota Business Partnership at the state legislature.
March 20, 1998 - St. Paul legislators and the Minnesota "Wild" hockey franchise are looking for a way out of the standoff over the new St Paul hockey arena. Senate Majority Leader Roger Moe has made it clear that he intends to block state funding for the arena... but today (FRIDAY) the Wild and the St. Paul delegation did their best to outmanuever him. Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste reports: The prospects of state funding for the hockey arena have been slipping fast over the past couple of days, as news reports of private deals between the Minnesota "Wild" and the M.A. Mortenson construction company have made the whole project seem vaguely tainted. Last night "Wild" CEO Jac Sperling tried to limit the impression of foul play by sending a ream of company financial papers to key lawmakers... something the team had refused to do until now... and this morning he went before the media to say the "WILD" has nothing to hide: