Art Hounds: A strike story, a tragicomedy, and scenes from nature

From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Their recommendations are lightly edited from the audio heard in the player above. Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here.A story of the 1977 bank strikeAs Artistic Director of the Twin Cities Women’s Choir, Randi Grundahl Rexroth loves Women’s History Month and the opportunity to empower women’s voices. She’s looking forward to the opening of Twin Cities actress Sandra Struthers’ new play “Hungry Like the Wolf," which tells the story of the 1977 bank strike in Willmar. In the first bank strike in the U.S., eight women demanded equal pay with their male counterparts. The show features an all-female directing and design team. See it at the History Theatre in St. Paul, Saturday, March 21 through April 12.Randi is looking forward to an engaging show with strong 80s vibes.Randi says: The script is fast-paced and guaranteed to speak directly to us Gen Xers. Sandra Struthers uses comedy to engage the audience and discuss really difficult subjects like gender and gender inequity and double standards and harassment. The cast includes Sandra and Jen Maren, who last teamed up at the History Theatre's production of ‘Glensheen,’ Allison Vincent, Sam Landman and History Theatre veteran JJen Burleigh-Bentz.— Randi Grundahl RexrothA Gilbert & Sullivan tragicomedyAllison Amy Wedell is the Alto Two Section Leader of the Twin Cities Women's Choir, and she’s looking forward to great singing on display in “The Yeoman of the Guard; Or, The Merry and His Maid” from The Gilbert & Sullivan Very Light Opera Company. Allison says this tragicomedy is “a little more opera than operetta” with a wider range of emotion than some of their satires. Performances run Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through March 29 at the Conn Theater at the Plymouth Congregational Church in Minneapolis. The March 28 performance will be livestreamed.Allison says it’s one of Gilbert and Sullivan’s most musically ambitious works, staged by local talent:Allison says: It's music-directed by Dr. Randal Buikema and it's directed by Gary Briggle. I personally know Gary Briggle as an actor from his 10-year run in “Glensheen” at the History Theatre, but I'm really looking forward to seeing him apply his considerable musical theater talent to this show.— Allison Amy WedellPainting Minnesota wildlifeAlejandra Pelinka is the Director of Creative Placemaking for the City of Bloomington, and she feels fortunate that she gets to see art exhibits curated by Artistry in the building where she works. On display right now is Kat Corrigan’s exhibit “Minnesota Neighbors.” The series of vibrant paintings of Minnesota animals runs through April 19 in the Atrium Gallery at the Bloomington Center for the Arts.Alejandra says: What I really love about this exhibit is how it really makes you slow down and notice the animals we live alongside every day. You'll see a very loose, expressive painting method. And what I love about that is it gives it motion, and it gives it emotion as well. With this exhibit, specifically, you feel like you're not just looking at an animal, but it feels like you're kind of meeting it.— Alejandra Pelinka