Dakota Discography

by Ruth Milne

I’m a little low on punk and other underground and/or local news this week, and I haven’t seen much relevant national news to post either — unless there’s a way to work Michelle Obama’s dresses or just how annoying those vivaaaaa Viagra ads are or Tom Daschle suddenly being somebody again into Black Hills entertainment goings-on. That’s not to say it’s impossible… Tom Daschle wearing a weird silky black-and-red number while singing Elvis covers at the Firehouse? I’d buy a ticket.

If you know of any local bands performing soon, please let me know! Just don’t try to sell me Viagra. I am not your target market.

Seriously.

However, I want to re-emphasize that the Black Hills Symphony Orchestra concert this Saturday, Nov. 22, should be excellent. Sure, there aren’t any female composers featured, but in every other way this “Made in America” concert is a great introduction to classical music that doesn’t fit the 1800s-rich-European-man stereotype.

Watch this space for a review.

by Ruth Milne

Classical music: Boring music made in the 1800s by rich European men in powdered wigs, right?

Not so fast, says the Black Hills Symphony Orchestra. “Made in America,” presented at 7 p.m. this Saturday, Nov. 22, at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center, features several works that directly contradict that assumption. The slate of all-American music will include the overture to Leonard Bernstein’s operetta Candide and Morton Gould’s American Ballads.

Not only is the next composer American, he’s still alive. Joseph Schwantner’s brand-spanking-new Chasing Light… is inspired by an original poem Schwantner wrote. (I found the poem online and won’t dignify it with a link. Here’s hoping the music is better.) The work premiered Sept. 20 in Reno, Nev.

Finally, William Grant Still, a pioneering African-American composer from Mississippi, authored the Afro-American Symphony. I am most looking forward to this piece: It was written in 1930 and incorporates elements of blues.

Tickets to Saturday’s concert cost $8-$21 for students and $10-$26 for adults and are available at www.gotmine.com and at the box office the day of the show.

Oh, Beethoven… there will always be a place for Für Elise, but classical music has not been stagnant since then.

by Ruth Milne

“Wacky Wednesday,” when a one-time-only super-cheap showing of Black Hills Community Theatre’s newest play “Cinderella” is offered, will take place this Wednesday, Nov. 19, in the new theater space in Rushmore Mall, between JC Penney’s and Radio Shack. The tickets are cheap, but the production quality isn’t — you see the same excellent show that I gave a very positive review of not long ago.

Tickets cost $10 for adults, and $5 for students, and will be available at the box office starting at 7 p.m. Wednesday; no advance tickets will be sold for this performance and Season Tickets do not apply. Curtain is at 7:30 p.m.

(Obviously, I am back online. Knology does not suck as much as previously advertised.)

by Ruth Milne

Well, if you read this yet tonight, anyway, and you’re interested in local film and/or local politics.

An abbreviated, one-hour version of Denise Ross’ documentary about the 2006 abortion ban in South Dakota, Unplanned Democracy: America’s First Vote on Abortion, is airing at 9 p.m. Central/8 p.m. Mountain on South Dakota Public Broadcasting.

The nonpartisan documentary was filmed as the ban was passed and then voted down, and it features interviews with politicians, activists, regular folks and more.

That’s Channel 9 for the old-school folks, and Channel 5 for those with cable.

by Ruth Milne

A news release today from the Rapid City Concert Association announced that tomorrow’s scheduled performance of Cherish the Ladies, an Irish traditional music and dance group, has been canceled due to a death in the family of the group’s leader and founder.

How sad — as the concert association said, “Our hearts and prayers go out to the family and friends.”

The press release went on to say:

Rescheduling or replacement of this event will be announced when information becomes available. Single performance tickets issues for this performance will be honored for the rescheduled performance or its replacement. Please check www.rapidcityconcertassociation.com for further information.

I’ll keep you updated with any news of a rescheduled or replacement concert.

by Ruth Milne

I’m currently without Internet access at home and will be until at least next week. Posting will resume at that time. (I’m at work right now — naughty! And won’t happen again.)

On a related note, Knology sucks. Apparently they no longer make appointments — it’s “we’ll be there between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m.” now, which isn’t so great for us working folks. Is Midcontinent any better?

by Ruth Milne

If your eardrums are still intact after Thursday’s punk show, and/or if you didn’t expect The Goods tickets to sell out so soon, this might cheer you up:

It takes place Friday night, Nov. 14, at the Imperial Inn, 100 St. Joseph St. Admission is $10 all ages, and the music starts at 7 p.m. (allegedly).

The headliners are Born of Osiris and Shai Hulud, both heavy, hardcore-style bands with lots of puke-your-guts-out screaming.

Openers are Vendetta spoken, Over the Years, and the band formerly known as Placentagram.

by Ruth Milne

The Dahl Arts Center has announced that tickets are sold out for The Goods, this Thursday’s event celebrating food, wine, music and anonymous art.

No more advance tickets; no tickets at the door.

If you want to attend the 2009 fundraiser, get your tickets as soon as they’re available next year — this is a popular event and always sells out.

by Ruth Milne

What are you doing on the fourth weekend of January 2009?

Since calendars aren’t dirt cheap until sometime in February, my Januarys usually end up in limbo, but I’m going to try to remember this event: Black Hills Community Theatre’s annual dinner theater fundraiser at Rushmore Plaza Holiday Inn. The play is “Take a Number, Darling,” a zany comedy by Jack Sharkey.

From the BHCT website:

Since concert pianist Duncan Latimer and his wife, Ellen a famous soap opera star, lead impeccable lives, their PR lady has no qualms about having a reporter from the scandal magazine interview them.

But just before he arrives, so does Duncan’s old Navy buddy and Ellen’s former lover from her literally messy past … and so does an extra wife Duncan forgot to tell anyone about! It’s crazy and comical confusion all the way!

The play is performed at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Jan. 23 and 24 (social hour at 6 p.m., dinner at 6:30 p.m.). On Sunday, Jan. 25, the social hour begins at 12:30 p.m., followed by brunch at 1 p.m. and the show at 2 p.m.

The dinner on Friday and Saturday starts with garden salad; continues with your choice of beef tenderloin tips marsala over noodles, chicken parmesan over pasta, or vegetable lasagna; and concludes with angel food cake with strawberry sauce and whipped cream. Also, there is complimentary wine on every table.

The Sunday brunch, of course, is “a melange” of “delights.” With a complimentary mimosa station.

Tickets aren’t cheap, of course — $65 per person, or $600 for a table of 10 — but if you start saving those pennies now, you may be able to afford the gas to drive to the Holiday Inn. Reserve your ticket today by calling 394-1787.

by Ruth Milne

And that’s what The Dahl Arts Center is there for.

Not just in providing art, which it does, but also in providing little art — literally little. As in, eight inches by eight inches. That’s the size of the pieces of art for sale in the anonymous art auction at the annual “The Goods” fundraiser this Friday.

Tickets cost $30 per person and include food, three drinks, a Nat King Cole and Motown hits show, and the chance to bid on the art. It’s also the first-ever event in the Dahl’s newly constructed event center, so that’s pretty special too.

The Goods runs from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, Nov. 14. Tickets are limited, but nothing on the Dahl’s website seems to indicate they’re sold out already — so give them a call at 394-4101 and reserve yours today.