It seems inconceivable now, but when Lethal Weapon 4 opened in 1998, it had only been 11 years since the first installment. And back then, it really did seem like both Danny Glover and Mel Gibson were getting too old for that ish.

Well, it’s been nearly as long as the gap between LW1 and LW4 to follow up Men in Black II with Men in Black 3. And the franchise apparently feels old enough to warrant a retro maneuver, sending Will Smith’s coasting Agent J back in time to prevent a rupture in the space-time continuum that would allow for poison-dart spitting alien criminal Boris the Animal to kill Tommy Lee Jones’ Agent K before he can deploy the invasion-preventing ArcNet surrounding Earth.

Got that?

Less complicated than merely far-fetched, the plot at times resembles the ramblings of a nursing home rec room’s denizens attempting to describe the events of Back to the Future to a newcomer.

(Speaking of time gaps that make one feel old: The distance between when MIB3 takes place and the era Agent J leaps back to — 1969 — is more than a decade vaster than the leap Michael J. Fox made back in 1985 when he DeLorean’d himself into the Eisenhower years. Mr. Sandman, just bury me.)

I was never the biggest fan of director Barry Sonnenfeld’s artisan-like job on the Steven Spielberg property when the 1997 original came out. Yes, Men in Black the First delivered a competent good time without insulting the audience’s intelligence, which automatically put it well above the baseline for summer entertainment that year (lest we forget Harrison Ford’s President James Marshall growling, “Get! Off! My! Plane!”). But given the movie’s pretty obvious debt to Ghostbusters, I always thought it seemed slight, and the chemistry between Jones and Smith always felt engineered, unlike the dynamite friction between Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, Ernie Hudson, Rick Moranis and Annie Potts.

If I mention casting, it’s because MIB3‘s one ace in the hole is the decision to cast Josh Brolin as the 1969 version of Agent K. Though the script doesn’t give him nearly enough to do, Brolin nails Jones’ drawl and carriage, at the same time as he suggests the uncanny valley between how Agent K used to be before whatever happened to him to make him so gruff and craggy (i.e. age) happened. Brolin’s vigor makes the comparative indolence of Smith and the check-cashing cameo appearance by Jones all the more irksome.

Bottom line: the experience of Men in Black 3 — enjoyable enough in the moment but something that evaporates instantly from your memory like hand sanitizer — will either have you feeling older than Murtaugh, Riggs and Agent K combined, or as though you’ve just looked into the flashing light of that portable neuralyzer. It’s summer movie smack, and it leaves you hungry only for more of the same.

Fourteen-year-old Rahul Nagvekar, of Sugar Land, Texas, will receive a $25,000 scholarship for his win Thursday. Rahul won by correctly naming Regensburg as the Bavarian city located on the Danube River that was a legislative seat of the Holy Roman Empire from 1663 to 1806.

Thirteen-year-old Vansh Jain, of Minocqua, Wis., came in second, and will take home a $15,000 scholarship. The third-place winner, 13-year-old Varun Mahadevan of Fremont, Calif., wins a $10,000 scholarship.

The competition began with about 4 million students in schools across the country this year.

“Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek hosted the finals, which were televised on the National Geographic Channel.

The finalists this year came from Arizona, California, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Well-known for their mega-hits “Barracuda,” “Crazy On You” and “Dog And Butterfly,” Heart is still rocking and recording albums after four decades of making music.

To promote her upcoming concert at Mystic Lake Casino, lead singer Ann Wilson took some time for a WCCO interview to discuss the show and a plethora of other topics, including her upcoming album, “Fanatic,” Heart’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nomination and much more!

At what point in your life did you decide you wanted to pursue singing/songwriting? Did you and your sister kind of come to the whole idea together or did your interest in music influence your sister?

“Well, we, being sisters, we grew up in a musical family and it was just a natural thing for us to progress into. I think that when we got into a band together, like everybody in the band, you know, wants to make a record someday – that was our goal, too. When that looked like a reality, then we knew that was something we wanted to do. And that was probably around 1976.”

To go along with that, who are your musical and/or artist inspirations?

“Oh god, Aretha Franklin, Joni Mitchell, Paul Simon, god, there are so many, Elton John. I mean, those are people who were having huge careers when I was a kid … of course Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, the Beatles.”

I’ve heard how you were inspired/angered to write Barracuda … are many of your songs created in this way, out of a sudden inspiration or reaction to an experience? Or do you have many different types of processes?

“Most of our songs are taken from our lives. We really write in response to things that happen to us, about real people and real feelings and everything. We don’t usually sit down and make stuff up that often. In fact, when we’ve tried to do that, the songs haven’t been as cool.”

I like hearing what musicians consider their message. So, what would you like a listener to take away from a Heart experience?

“If there is any one thing I can boil it down to is, I would say that, you know, Nancy and I are the real thing and we’re not posers. We just really just try to remain true to ourselves and call it like we see it.”

Are there politics in your songs?

“We don’t take a side, like, you know, Democrat or Republican, in our songs, but we definitely have opinions. And on the new album, there’s a song called “Dear Old America,” which is from the perspective of a soldier in, you know, like in Afghanistan or Iraq and what it’s like to be them and what goes through their mind, and coming back to America after they go through that and see that. We definitely can relate to the modern day world and have opinions. We’re not going to just shut up because we’re in music and don’t want to offend. I think musicians should be participants.”

Do you consider yourself a pioneer for women when it comes to music?

“Yeah, I guess. You know … we did go into the rock music scene when there weren’t any other women really for things rock. I mean, there was Fleetwood Mac, but they were a little less rock, like they were more folk rock, you know? So, yeah, I think we did help to loosen the lock on the door a bit. Joan Jett, too, of course.”

What should fans expect from your show at Mystic Lake?

“Well, they’re going to see a cross-section of all the stuff we do, from the beginning, from our first album, all the way through to the new album that we’re going to release in October, called Fanatic. They’ll see a real cross section. They’ll see a lot of rock and roll, and they’ll see some ballads. They’ll see, you know, Nancy really, really digging in on the guitar and me doing what I do!”

You’re going to be performing a show with Joan Jett at Mystic Lake. Do you have a good relationship with her and the band? Have you played shows together before?

“We’ve played together a time or two — a few times I think. I met her and thought she was awesome, you know? Once again, really authentic … she just really is the real thing. She is what she is, really inspiring.”

Through the course of your career, which musician outside your band have you most enjoyed playing with?

“We collaborated with John Paul Jones at one point on an album we did called “The Road Home.” He produced and played and everything. That was amazing – memorable for sure. He was an amazing musician – was and is. You know, Jerry Cantrell and the guys from Alice (and Chains) have always been close friends and I played a little bit on a couple of their records. That’s a really good musical relationship.”

In 2012, Heart was a nominee for the Rock and Roll hall of fame … will being inducted mean a lot to you or what are your thoughts on this?

“I’m not sitting on a hot stove waiting, you know, to be inducted, because they seem to have a little bit of a … I mean, there’s a woman deficit in the rock hall. But having said that, it’s incredible acknowledgment for your work. And I think if that ever happened, it’d be really amazing to be acknowledged that way. It’s just an amazing deal.”

Talking about that “thing you do,” singing, … have you ever had problems with your voice? You hear of musicians, e.g., Adele and Anthony Hamilton, who’ve had to take extended breaks due to singing-related injuries …

“No, I’ve been really lucky. I’ve been really, really, lucky in my career. I haven’t had throat problems. I mean, I’ve gotten sick once in a while like everybody. But as long as I’m healthy, I haven’t had any ongoing problems – knock on wood. It’s only skin, so a singer has to be careful … So far, it’s been really great for me and singing is really personally and physically liberating.”

Tell me more about the upcoming album.

“Well, ‘Fanatic’ is way more rock-heavy then Red Velvet Car was. It’s got 10 songs on it and I think two of them are what you’d call ballads. It’s quite, it’s a lot heavier. You’re just going to have to judge for yourself. It’s going to be released on October 2. I’m real excited about it.”

Finally, if you had to pick one song to be remembered by, which song would that be and why?

“I’d say probably ‘Dog and Butterfly.” It’s a ballad, but I think it talks about balance, and it talks about going after what you want to go after and, you know, keeping after it. I think that would be the one if I had to boil it down to one. The other one would of course be Barracuda, because it’s the other side of the ballad coin.”

Heart and Joan Jett and the Black Hearts will be opening the 2012 Mystic Ampitheatre season on June 29, 2012. For more on tickets, click here.

Teen pop singer Justin Bieber will be once again performing at Target Center in downtown Minneapolis this October as part of the “Believe World Tour.”

Tickets for the event will be going on sale on Wednesday at noon. Ticket prices range from $37.50 up through $87.50.

Bieber last appeared at Target Center in June 2010.

The Canadian Bieber came to fame via music videos posted on YouTube. Since then, the performer has sold platinum and whipped up his fan base into an affliction known as “Bieber Fever,” the cure for which appears to be covering one’s bedroom walls with posters of the mop-topped teen.

Bieber’s newest album — Believe — is set to be released on June 19. The lead-off single “Boyfriend” has been said to be the cause for relapse among those whose Bieber Fever had previously been cured.

St. Paul’s Director of the Office of Financial Services Todd Hurley reports that the year over year sales tax collection for St. Paul was $1.5 million for January 2011 and $1.6 million for January 2012. It takes $20 million to account for a $100,000 increase with the half cent sales tax.

“Red Bull has been a great partner for the City of Saint Paul and this analysis proves without a doubt the positive impact Crashed Ice had in our community,” Mayor Chris Coleman said. “Saint Paul is a world-class city that attracts world-class events, and events like Red Bull Crashed Ice provide great strength for our local economy.”

The Crashed Ice event was held January 12 through January 14 near the Cathedral of St. Paul.

Gibb’s representative Doug Wright announced in a statement that Gibb passed away Sunday “following his long battle with cancer and intestinal surgery.”

Gibb was one of three brothers whose soaring falsetto harmonies helped power such hits as “Stayin’ Alive” and “Night Fever.”

The band was best known for the influential “Saturday Night Fever” soundtrack album that became one of the fastest selling albums of all time. The 1977 soundtrack came to epitomize the flashy disco era.

Gibb enjoyed a long career as a Bee Gee and as a solo artist and also produced and wrote songs for many other performers.

He appeared gravely ill at his recent public appearances and had to cancel a string of meetings as his condition worsened.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — The Art-A-Whirl is one of the largest open studio tours in the country, and it takes place at more than 50 locations in northeast Minneapolis.

The 17th annual event runs from noon to 8 p.m. on Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday.

At Clay Squared to Infinity, Layl McDill plans to not only sell her art, but to share it.

“I love to demonstrate and show what I’m doing,” she said.

For more, check out the video report above.

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Just like there are all kinds of artists at Art-A-Whirl in northeast Minneapolis, there’s just as much of an eccentric collection of restaurants, too.

From the upscale to the casual, Jason DeRusha eats his way through the neighborhoods to help you plan your day.

Because as good as the art is, the food might be better – especially when it’s from Element Wood Fired Pizza on Broadway Street.

For more, check out the video report above.

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Matt Brickman has yet to taste walleye.

With the help of viewers, he was able to sink his teeth into the “best walleye dinner in Minnesota.”

He ended up at the Tavern on Grand in St. Paul.

For more, check out the video report above.

Well now someone’s gone and done it. They’ve made a documentary about the scene in The 40-Year-Old Virgin when Steve Carrell gets the hair yanked out of his chest to the accompanying screams of, “YeeeeAAAAAHHHHHH, Kelly Clarkson!”

In Mansome, director Morgan Spurlock bids new school beefcake icons Will Arnett and Jason Bateman to be our tour guides through our brave new world of men waxing, exfoliating, clipping, buffing, tweezing, plucking, target-zoning, lifting and separating.

(Lest you may laugh at my description of Arnett and Bateman as “beefcake,” but ask any woman who she’d rather marry between Arnett and Ah-nold, even in his prime.)

The main focus of the movie ends up dwelling on men’s varying attitudes toward the spots on their bodies where hair grows — which for many marks the separation between them and womenfolk.

Spurlock interviews a cross-section of men on their grooming habits, including a muscle-bound jock who by most standards would likely be considered a paragon of masculinity but for the fact that he’s on an endless mission to remove every unsightly hair from his well-formed husk. On the other side of the coin is a weenie hipster whose ginger beard hangs down to his knees. Embracing his manly facial hair has already earned him wins in competition.

While Spurlock’s movie would deign to position those who obsessively remove every last strand from their chest, neck and back follicles as pathetic narcissists, in practice, the movie ends up making the men who endlessly procure and celebrate their hirsute manes (both up top and elsewhere) seem every bit as self-involved.

Worse, even. Their fixation on their hairy maws ends up, in Spurlock’s hands, verging dangerously close to a neo-misogyny. Because Spurlock is, as ever, so devoted to stunt juxtapositions and snarky asides, he ends up making pretty much everyone look bad, including the gamut of celebrities that have been recruited to pepper the movie’s two-bit sociological inquiry.

There is actually plenty to say about the topic of men and their ever-changing sartorial standards. As more than a few headlines have noted, “Boys are the new girls.” It’s just that Mansome is the movie equivalent of a Cosmo sex quiz.

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A Wisconsin woman is making a name for herself in the music industry with her one-of-a-kind guitar straps.

Singer Zac Brown sported Kim Gilbertson’s artwork at the Country Music Awards this year. Members of Lynyrd Skynyrd are fans too.

“This probably still has dust on it from Georgia, don’t want to wash it off,” said strap maker Kim Gilbertson.

She picked up a dusty banjo case sitting in her basement office. It’s a token of appreciation from some of her biggest fans in music.

“A gift from my friends in the Zac Brown Band,” Kim reads, “Your straps are amazing, Zac Brown.”

Each member of the band autographed it after wearing her hand-beaded buffalo guitar straps on the Country Music Awards in April.

“I want to get up and dance around the house every time I see it.  It never gets old,” Gilbertson said.

Her husband helped her start her business three years ago. Kim got her business jump started after getting on a cruise ship with 17 rock bands including the legendary rockers from Lynyrd Skynyrd.

(credit: CBS)

“The strap I did for Lynyrd Skynyrd is called Freedom Bird,” Gilbertson said.

Kim custom made straps for each of the guitarists in the band, and they were a hit.

Her guitar straps are hand-dyed and custom designed with beautiful colorful stones like amber, turquoise and sodalite and exotic leathers including buffalo, snake skin, ostrich and even stingray.

Each one takes hours and hours to make. After seeing Kim’s work, I was shocked to hear she doesn’t play guitar.

“Sombody has to make guitar straps. If I played guitar, I wouldn’t have time to make guitar straps,” Gilbertson said.

She made her first one at 17 for her now husband.

“I was given signals all through my life that this is what I should be doing,” Gilbertson said.

But she didn’t take those signals seriously until a few years ago, after her life took a dramatic turn.

Her 29-year-old brother Kent was murdered in his home by a friend’s ex-boyfriend.

“My mom called me, I fell to my knees,” she said. “It’s just horrifying.”

Kim was heartbroken. She travelled to Mexico and spent time with artists who designed jewelry and crafts.

After spending months soul searching, Kim came back to Minnesota and decided to do something she loved and something that inspired her.

“It changes your whole outlook on your life to do something you love instead of something that gets you by,” she said.

The idea to custom make and design buffalo straps started partly because of the musicians in her life. Her husband plays guitar and so did her brother Kent.

Kent was a bass guitarist in a band and his photo hangs above her work table in her studio.

“I’m pretty sure he would have loved this,” she said.

Kim named her business Ruliens Lost Muse after him. Rulien was his middle name and he is her inspiration.

“I’ll do this until I die or until I’m very old anyway,” Gilbertson said.

It took Penumbra’s founder and artistic director Lou Bellamy three decades before he was able to take this powerful play off his to-do list. He said just needed the right timing and the perfect players to pull it off. And boy, did he find them.

Leading the cast of this inspiring production is none other than Greta Oglesby — a woman that’s no stranger to the Guthrie or to bringing down the house with her performances.

Oglesby recently chatted with us about being cast in the role of a lifetime and the personal memories she used to perfect the part.

Q: Tell us a little about “The Amen Corner” and your role in the show.

A: “The Amen Corner” follows the life of Sister Margaret Alexander. She is the bold, charismatic pastor of a small storefront church in Harlem in 1958. She has devoted much of her life to the ministry. When her son reunites her with her estranged husband — a jazz musician — she risks losing her standing in the church and her son, who she’s trying to keep on a religious path.

Q: This production has been 30 years in the making, what’s it like to see it all come together now?

A: Lou Bellamy has been toying with the idea of producing this show for 30 years. He never thought he had the right elements in place to bring his vision to fruition. But a year ago, the stars aligned and here we are today. Baldwin has penned a masterpiece that Lou has honored on many levels.

Q: A lot of people remember you from your outstanding performance in “Caroline, or Change.” What’s it like to be back on the Guthrie stage?

A: After Caroline, (one of my all-time favorite roles) I am thrilled to be back at the Guthrie! On the first day of rehearsal, someone opened the glass doors for me and said “Welcome home.” It truly feels like home.

(credit: Guthrie Theater)

Q: You’ve said the role of Sister Margaret is one that you were born to do. Why is that and how does that translate on stage?

A: I feel like the role of Sister Margaret is a role that I was born play. Because this was my life! I was raised in a little store front church in inner city Chicago. My father was a pentecostal preacher. I know the characters in this play very intimately.

Q: How did you prepare for this role?

A: Unlike other roles, I didn’t have to do much research. I just had to remember Daddy on Sunday mornings, my aunts teaching Sunday School, Mama leading bible study, singing in the choir, and of course, the church politics.

Q: How do you think Minneapolis audiences will react to this show?

A: I don’t think anyone can experience this show and not be deeply moved. It is a powerful story about faith and family, love and sacrifice, and ultimately, redemption.

Q: You also wrote a book, “Mama ‘N Nem.” How did you find the time and why was it important for you to share your family’s stories?

A: I recently published a book “Mama ‘N Nem, Handprints on my Life.” I started writing this book in 2005. It is a love story to the extraordinary people who gave me a history that has shaped my destiny. The stories are poignant, hilarious, rich and full of life. I hope “Mama ‘N Nem” will inspire readers to think about the handprints on their own lives and write those stories down, document them and share them as often as possible.

The Amen Corner runs through June 17. For more information or to buy tickets to the show, click here.

The St. Paul Saints are having some fun at the expense of hometown basketball star Kris Humphries and his brief marriage to Kim Kardashian.

The Saints playfully announced on Wednesday that their two mascot pigs are engaged and will spend the entire season at Midway Stadium in marital bliss. The pigs’ names are Kim LARdashian and Kris HAMphries.

The names were selected from more than 1,000 entries in the team’s “Name the Pig” contest.

Humphries and Kardashian are currently going through a split after 72 days of marriage. The Saints point out their season is 110 days long.

The Saints have had a pig mascot dating back to 1992. Previous names include Brat Favre, Notorious P.I.G. and, of course, Kevin Bacon.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Bon Appetit Magazine bestowed the honor in its debut of the BA Daily Top 10, where it lists and recognizes some of the best new restaurants in the country.

Masu made the list, thanks in big part to its visionary, Katsuyuki (Asan) Yamamoto. The bar’s horseshoe shape and colorful decor are also noted in the article.

Masu General Manager Brent Sokup said they were contacted by Bon Appetit to verify the restaurant’s info, but were merely told it was a possibility that they would make the final list.

When the list was released Tuesday, Sokup said they were thrilled.

“We were very excited, we were very pleased and we’ve been thrilled to have Asan. He’s kind of our homerun hitter, if you will,” he said.

The blog suggests ordering Masu’s Firecracker roll or sashimi offerings and gives shout-outs to their highly popular ramen and sustainable menu.

The announcement comes at a great time for the restaurant, which is in the midst of construction on their second sushi spot, inside Mall of America.

Sokup said depending on the construction schedule, they’re looking to open the new restaurant in late July. The Mall of America spot will be very similar to the northeast location, he said, with just a few minor changes to the menu and a slightly faster approach for service.

Click here to see the full article.

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — “Bizarre Foods” star Andrew Zimmern has taken quite a journey to get to where he is now.

Before he moved to the Twin Cities 20 years ago, Andrew Zimmern lived a much different life.

“I actually had a pretty highly developed food career in New York and L.A., and was operating a group of restaurants with some friends in New York city,” said Zimmern. “It all completely fell apart when my addiction and my alcoholism just when into full-blown life-cratering mode.”

Zimmern says he was addicted to both hard drugs and alcohol, including cocaine, Quaaludes and heroin.

When you look at him today, you’d never guess the star of a hit TV franchise was once homeless in New York City for the better part of a year.

“I really didn’t want to go on with my life, I think the emptiest feeling a human can have is complete failure and feeling hopeless and really legitimately homeless,” he said.

Ready for what he calls “the last attempt to help myself,” Zimmern came to Minnesota.

“Andrew was like a lot of us trying to learn how to live life sober, live life responsibly,” said William Moyers, the vice president of public advocacy at Hazelden.

He was treated at Hazelden using the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous.

“Part of our treatment regiment is helping the addict or the alcoholic understand that the disease is not their fault, but that treatment recovery is their responsibility,” said Moyers.

It worked. As part of the process at Hazelden, Zimmern was encouraged to find work.

“I started dishwashing and busing tables,” said Zimmern.

Then one day, Zimmern filled in for a chef who had called in sick.

“I think within a month I was the executive chef at the restaurant and had replaced a lot of the staff,” he said. Without the destructive power of drugs and alcohol to get in the way, Andrew’s comeback began.

“The minute I stopped having everything be about me and had everything be about other people and got out of my own way, things started happening in my life, started happening in my life that were the things I’d wanted all the time,” Zimmern says.

Part 1 of Chris Stanford’s 2 Part Story

Kookie cat lady Mrs. Smith (played by David Hanbury) — best known for her appearance on “America’s Got Talent” — will head to Bryant Lake Bowl this week for a show-stopping performance with her infamous Broadway Boys.

But wait, what? You’ve never heard of Mrs. Smith? Not familiar with her over-the-top guitar skills and big, crazy gray hair? Well, not to worry, child. She was kind enough to chat with us before her big show this weekend.

Q: Tell us about Mrs. Smith. Who is she and how did she come about?

A: I’m really just a woman searching for my missing cat Carlyle. Along the way, I’ve found myself catapulted onto the national stage because of this quest. Along with that I’m a philanthropist, cat lover and electric guitar virtouoso.

Q: What’s a show with Mrs. Smith like?

A: Music! Comedy! Spectacle! Cats! There’s some audience interaction (but not the annoying, stupid, or scary kind) as well as musical numbers, special guests, and classic tunes sung in the classic style!

Q: Who is this show for?

A: Anyone who loves a gangbusters, take-no-prisoner, Broadway-style one-woman show in the style of “Stritch at Liberty” or “Liza with a Z!”

Q: Obviously national audiences are most familiar with Mrs. Smith from “America’s Got Talent.” What was that experience like? What was it like to be on that big stage?

A: Nerve-wracking and AMAZING! The audience at the Orpheum embraced me wholeheartedly and lifted me up. I was standing on their shoulders — their broad, capable, steady Midwestern shoulders — and because of that I found my head in the clouds! I’m not from Minnesota originally and I thank God for the even-keeled nature of the incredible people who blazed trails to settle here. I call them my Living Lithium because they help me stay calm!

Q: When you saw the reactions from Howie and Sharon and saw how impressed they were during your incredible guitar riff audition, what was that like?

A: In real life (not in the edited version that appeared on TV) Piers Morgan was, in fact, there and he adored me as much as Sharon did and they both voted me through to the Vegas rounds. The complexities of my performance seemed to be too sophisticated for Howie Mandel, which isn’t surprising because he’s a washed-up stand-up comedian with very little to offer the world.

Q: Meow. So did you travel to Vegas with everyone for the show?

A: After I was voted through by the judges with brains they sent me a laughable, 100-page contract that I literally laughed at. After I picked myself up off the floor, I faxed it to my paralegal Mr. Mau and he described it as “draconian.” I put the contract into the shredder and never looked back!

Q: Tell me about your cat, Carlyle, and how you became such a lovable cat lady.

A: Carlyle is always there with a kind whisker or thoughtful meow when you’re having a tough day. People literally flock to him because he’s such a soothing presence and I have to say, “Please go away, he’s mine!” He is compassionate, wise and possesses special abilities as well. He’s been studied by medical science and parapsychologists alike, he’s just that unique a feline. My life is empty and pointless without him. Why do I go on?

Q: Who are the Broadway Boys?

A: Rick Latterell and Tony Milder are my Broadway Boys. They are multi-talented singer, dancer, actors, puppeteers. They also transport the props from the bins in the basement onto the stage. They inspire me, they perspire on me (which is gross and I wish it wasn’t so hot onstage), they challenge me. They’re great kids and they’ve got a lot to offer the world (if they can keep from falling into the pitfalls of fame and fortune!) I hammer away at them, “Yes, you are brilliant and unique … and so is everybody else!” You’ve got to keep them on their toes!

Q: What was it like working with Andrew Rasmussen for this production?

A: It’s a mixed bag. He’s a slave-driver and yet also very kind. He’s a sadist and a masochist from one moment to the next. Speaking personally, it’s been a horrendous living nightmare and my greatest dream fulfilled at the very same time. He’s is a razzle-dazzle, showbiz showmaster who is giving my whole thing the Broadway treatment.

Q: Final pitch – what would you say to get someone to come to this show?

A: Dancing Broadway Boys! A tortured diva singing to save her own life! Cats! What more could you ask for? Come and be part of the fun already!

Mrs. Smith Live At The Bowl opens May 17 and runs through May 26. For tickets or more information, click here.

EDINA, Minn. (WCCO) — Andrew Zimmern has made living traveling around the world and eating just about anything.

But is the host of Travel Channel’s franchise “Bizarre Foods” really that bizarre?

In the current season of “Bizarre Foods America,” Andrew Zimmern eats a raw abalone gonad, and it appears he doesn’t think twice about it. As it turns out, the famous foodie lives a fairly normal life when he’s home in Edina.

“I’m a very ordinary person with an other-than-ordinary job,” says Zimmern. “I get up with my son, make him breakfast, take him to school and head to the office until about four o’clock,” he adds.

Zimmern makes the most of his time with his wife and son, when he is home. The work is demanding. There’s the show, books, a podcast and much more. He’s on the road more than half the year.

“I have to stabilize my marriage every time I head out the door and reenergize it when I come home.  I have to explain to my child why daddy has to go away every month and I have to reconnect with him every time I come home,” said Zimmern.

The Twin Cities has been his home for more than 20 years and Zimmern has no plans of uprooting anytime soon.  His job would afford him the luxury of living anywhere, but remains in Minnesota.

“It’s the perfect place for me to do the work that I do. I’m away all the time,” said Zimmern. “If I lived in New York or L.A., part of my work life would be easier, there would always be something to do, I could never put work away.”

Zimmern said family comes first, and given the continued success of “Bizarre Foods,” which is now in its sixth season it appears he can balance both.

“It is a sustainable franchise, tent pole show on Travel Channel, and that’s rarified air. I’m the luckiest guy in the whole world and I get to do it in Minnesota,” he said.

Wednesday on WCCO 4 New This Morning, Zimmern will open up about a severe drug and alcohol addiction that ruined his career. You’ll also hear how he came back after finding help in Minnesota.

Web Extra: Extended Interview With Andrew Zimmern

Part One

Part Two

According to the Social Security list, only one new name popped into the top 10 on either list — rocketing to No. 2 overall. That name is getting some Kardashian credit, as Mason bumped out Anthony in this year’s list cracking the top 25 for the first time since 2010 when it hit No. 12.

Here’s the full list:

Boys:

1. Jacob
2. Mason
3. William
4. Jayden
5. Noah
6. Michael
7. Ethan
8. Alexander
9. Aiden
10. Daniel

Girls:

1. Sophia
2. Isabella
3. Emma
4. Olivia
5. Ava
6. Emily
7. Abigail
8. Madison
9. Mia
10. Chloe

For more about the most popular baby names, click here.

The 2012 event will honor the biggest British pop icons from the past 50 years, and the fashion that followed.

The fashion show and musical production will take place Friday, Aug. 3 at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis. Pre-sale tickets go on sale from May 30 through June 7. Tickets range between $60 and $1,000 for VIP packages. For more information, visit their website.

The performers for this year’s event has not yet been released. Past performers include Bruno Mars, the Far East Movement and Macy Gray.

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Looking for last minute gift ideas for mom?

Head over to the St. Paul Craftstravaganza held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds.

The annual urban craft fair offers a lot of free items: free swag bags for the first 100 shoppers, free workshops throughout the day and free admission.

See the video report above for more.

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Valleyfair officially opened for the summer at 10 a.m. today.

They’re calling it “The Best Day Ever.”

WCCO got to sneak into the park a bit early and let loose a couple childish screams.

Check out the video for more.

The show has been rescheduled for Saturday, June 2 at 8 p.m. at Grand Casino Mille Lacs.

Tickets purchased for the May 12 show will be honored on June 2.

If you’re unable to make the reschedule show, tickets can be refunded through the original point of purchase until Friday, June 1. For more information, call 800-626-5825.

DULUTH, Minn. (AP) — A concert to benefit the restoration of Duluth’s old armory building will kick off this year’s Duluth Dylan Fest.

Violinist Scarlet Rivera will headline Friday night’s concert at the University of Minnesota Duluth’s Weber Music Hall.

Rivera performed on Bob Dylan’s “Desire” album and was part of his Rolling Thunder Revue.

Gene LaFond and The Wild Unknown also will perform along with opening act Communist Daughter.

The “Desire in Duluth” concert will benefit the Armory Arts and Music Center. The group hopes to restore the armory as a community event center.

The second annual Duluth Dylan Fest runs Friday, May 18, through Saturday, May 26. Hibbing celebrates Dylan Days May 24-27.

Dylan was born in Duluth and grew up in Hibbing. The folk-rock legend turns 71 on May 24.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

The word progress, in my mind, has a bright, life-affirming connotation. Think of a dandelion seed suspended in a sunbeam or the opening of a cat’s eye in the night. Now, with the weapons of your imagination, pluck those images out.

The result of that game might have left with you a sense of what Surviving Progress feels like.

The documentary’s underlining idea is that humanity’s progress – ever expanding, conquering, multiplying, monetizing – isn’t always a good thing. According to Ronald Wright, arguably the movie’s main talking head, there are things called “progress traps.”

Wright – who didn’t come up with this term — wrote about human history in light of these traps in his book A Short History of Progress. Progress traps are defined (via Wikipedia) as: the condition societies experience when, in pursuing progress through ingenuity, they inadvertently introduce problems they do not have the resources or political will to solve, for fear of short-term losses in status, stability or quality of life. This prevents further progress and sometimes leads to collapse.

By now you’re probably thinking of where such traps exit in our global society. Since we are still feeling the tremors of economic fallout as brought on by the Great Recession, the global economy seems an obvious candidate. And according to the movie, a trap is indeed lurking in the structure of our economy.

But the trap is not imbedded in the idea that free markets are necessarily bad, the trap is imbedded in the big banks, which have rigged the world so that some poor countries are shackled to poverty.

These poor countries own such huge debts that even if they pay all their yearly earnings to their creditors, they only cover the interest, the movie says. Thus they end up selling off their assets – wood, minerals, oil – to banks and foreign powers. The trap, in this economic case, is in the form of credit; a tool (or a process/ technology) that many people can’t escape and some can’t seem to help but exploit to a ridiculous and dangerous degree.

I picked the debt trap because I found it the most interesting. Wall Street economist Michael Hudson’s words on the subject were particularly piquing.

“Progress has meant: You will never get back what we take from you,” he says.

The doomed tone in that statement is mirrored by the tone of the movie. Watching it, you get the feeling there are traps everywhere and unless global society makes some major changes – such as: cease to follow religion, forgive enormous debts, learn to live within its means, and make a serious effort to preserve the planet’s resources – civilization will fail.

That idea offends me. I think it should probably offend you, too. I’m horrified by the thought of self-destruction, of losing what we’ve worked so hard to create, of our best tools failing us.

In fact, I couldn’t help feeling annoyed when the movie talked about science and technology as though they can be problems. To me, religion is a problem; bigotry is a problem; corruption is a problem; our primitive brains are a problem; but science isn’t. If anything, science is the clear tool for our continued presence on the crust of this lovely, cooling planet.

Sorry, sometimes my Carl Sagan fanboi-idis gets the best of me. What I mean to say is: Surviving Progress is provocative. It challenges your view of humanity and what it will take for us and our planet to survive.

Also, the movie is beautiful. It’s shot with stoic style and there are some juxtapositions of image and idea that are surprisingly intuitive and poetic.

Unlike many documentaries, Surviving Progress refreshingly ends without a call to arms. All too often, I’m enjoying a documentary when an eye-rolling, vainglorious ending ruins everything. Surviving Progress avoids this particular trap and leaves you with the weight of its ideas – ones that are enormously heavy, pregnant with doom, but nevertheless central to the current chapter in humanity’s history.

Surviving Progress is directed by Mathieu Roy and Harold Crooks. It’s playing at the Lagoon Cinema.

10. Alice Hyatt, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974)

Erin Brockovich almost made it into this slot in the single mom sweepstakes, but I prefer this Oscar-winning performance from the actress Julia Roberts beat out at the 2000 awards. Ellen Burstyn’s raw, very real performance anchors Martin Scorsese’s domestic drama. (She’s every bit as good, though a bit less “admirable” as a mother, in 1973′s The Exorcist.)

09. “Euphegenia Doubtfire,” Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)

Give up one of ten slots on a list of mothers to a father? What could I possibly be thinking?! Well, to be honest, the movie’s message seems to be that the best thing a father can do for their children is to be a little bit more like their mother. That’s pretty progressive, no?

08. Donna Trenton, Cujo (1983)

Dee Wallace’s performance in E.T. would’ve been fine here too, but there’s something awesomely ferocious and protective at work here. No scene hits on the combination of love, terror and frustration that motherhood can invoke as the scene when Donna snaps at her dying son, screaming “Alright, I’ll get your daddy!” Another strong candidate in this same vein (from the same year, even) is Jane Alexander as Carol Wetherly, helplessly watching her family die in the aftermath of nuclear disaster in Testament.

07. Mildred Pierce, Mildred Pierce (1945)

Faye Dunaway’s Joan Crawford topped the list of bad moms. But the real Joan Crawford played one of the best, or certainly one of the most (unbelievably) selfless mothers ever.

06. Mrs. Parker, A Christmas Story (1983)

Melinda Dillon has been a fantastic movie mother not once, but twice. She earned an Academy Award for, basically, radiating sheer maternal warmth in Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind, but it’s her performance in this holiday classic that will endure. Fully rounded, she allows her ’40s suburban mom to come off exactly as Ralphie (the narrator) remembers her, a bundle of neuroses wrapped up in nostalgia.

05. Julia, Julia (2009)

OK, Tilda Swinton’s alcoholic hot mess doesn’t exactly start out as a model mother. In fact, she only gets progressively worse after her introductory bender. The fact that the “child” she “mothers” is actually not hers, and that she actually kidnaps him at gunpoint … well, I guess you could call this my unconventional pick. But watch the movie and see if Swinton doesn’t turn you into a convert.

04. Ma Joad, The Grapes of Wrath (1940)

Pathos and sacrifice aren’t required to be a great mother. But they don’t exactly hurt when it comes to movie representations.

03. Annie Johnson, Imitation of Life (1959)

See above. Also, see this movie, probably the best pre-Civil Rights era Hollywood movie to tackle racism in America.

02. Diane Freeling, Poltergeist (1982)

Steven Spielberg movies have had a lot of great moms, but the best of them all was in a movie he only wrote and produced. JoBeth Williams’ devoted mother remains steadfast even when otherworldly souls snatch her youngest daughter and take her into the dimension between life and death. She even plunges into the otherworld without so much as batting an eye, all in the name of protecting her kin.

01. Helen Buckman, Parenthood (1988)

The 1980s are positively littered with single mothers doing it for themselves. Many of them balanced career and family without a hitch. Dianne Wiest’s Helen Buckman doesn’t fall into that trap. She’s constantly perched on a fine line, trying to keep it together as her divorce continues to resonate and her children grow into their troubled teens. All the while, she maintains a mordant sense of humor about the whole mess. This is the realest portrait of suburban middle-class motherhood I’ve ever seen in a movie.

In fact, he’s poured his heart and soul into 104 minutes of pundit bashing, reality show smashing, and oodles of ultra-violent fantasy fodder. And all with a huge, wicked grin on his face.

White, middle-aged liberal Frank (played perfectly by Joel Murray, younger brother of Bill) gets fired from his desk job, and is diagnosed with a brain tumor soon after.

As he sits alone, weeping in front of his TV with a six-pack of beer and a loaded gun, a reality show featuring a sniveling sixteen year old girl comes on.
As the brat loudly laments her unacceptable birthday present of a Lexus, Frank flips into homicidal maniac-mode. He enlists a like-minded teenage girl, and a bloody rampage ensues, with the mean and the rude as the targets.

Goldthwait’s gleeful bloodlust may turn as many stomachs as the non-stop preachy speeches written for Frank and his accomplice. But Bobcat truly shines in his spot-on lampoons of 24-hour cable news silliness and endless reality show garbage.

Yeah, the first couple murders are funny and cleverly executed, and it’s fun to see several cameos from Goldthwait’s comedian pals, like Larry Miller and Tom Kenny. But this roadtrip is not nearly as much fun as Goldthwait’s previous effort and magnum opus, the 2009 Robin Williams vehicle World’s Best Dad. God Bless America lacks World’s heart, and surprisingly, it’s realism.

Goldthwait is a true independent filmmaker. He lovingly embraces his low budgets, and revels in the zero compromise his freedom affords. God Bless America may not be the savior of the long-rotting American independent movement, but it’s fearlessness and ethos should be commended.

- Stephen Swanson

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A Minneapolis woman thought she’d already had the best surprise of her life when she found out she was pregnant. What she wasn’t expecting at five months along was to hear from one of her heroes – Ellen DeGeneres.

“You can be having the worst day, so many things go wrong, turn Ellen on, and I will be sitting there crying because I am laughing so hard,” said 28-year-old Christine Sampair, of Minneapolis, who said she is one of Ellen’s most devoted fans.

You may have seen Sampair on Ellen Thursday.

Ellen announced she received 10,000 emails from viewers expecting their first child, who wanted to be a part of her Mother’s Day show, and Christine’s email stood out from the rest. While Christine didn’t get a ticket to the show, Ellen had another prize up her sleeve — a lifelong memory for the Sampairs’ and their baby girl.

Ellen read Christine’s letter to her audience, describing her struggle to conceive. Christine underwent surgery for endometriosis, a condition that often causes infertility.

“I am adopted. My mom couldn’t have babies, her sister couldn’t have babies. So when I learned there was a possibility of not being able to have babies, it was really hard,” she said.

But, when her lifelong dream of motherhood became a miracle earlier this year, she shared her story with the Ellen show. Yesterday, she thought the producers wanted to learn more over Skype.

“But when the picture pops up, it’s going to be me,” said Ellen.

“Immediately there was no question about it, I knew it was Ellen and I said Ellen!?” said Sampair, who burst into tears.

“Never in a million years would I think that would be something that would happen to us. I had a million things to thank her for and say to her and tell her how much she moves me and inspires me and all these things, I didn’t say any of them,” she said.

But Ellen knew exactly what to say, telling Sampair she would receive $8,000 dollars’ worth of giveaways on the Mother’s Day show, Friday, May 11.

Sampair recently started a business, Twin Cities Nanny, a nanny placement service, and says the surprise really helps during the struggles of trying to get a business off the ground.

“She said, only if we name her Ellen,” laughed her husband Dave, who said one of the top names for their baby girl is Nelle, which is Ellen spelled backwards.

No question, Ellen brought the couple joy before they receive the greatest prize of all.

“We will remember it for the rest of our lives, that’s for sure,” they said.

Watch the full video on Ellen.

Read Christine’s letter she sent to Ellen:

I am so excited to have an opportunity to share my story. My husband and I are expecting our first baby in September. In June we will have been married 2 years. Since I can remember, I always knew I wanted to be a mommy when I grew up. And now that I am pregnant I know that it is exactly what I am supposed to be doing with my life. Last spring we learned that I have Endometriosis. This is a painful “lady” disease that causes abnormal tissue growth in the reproductive parts. As a result, many women have fertility issues, and for many like my Mom and Aunt (I am adopted), infertility. When the doctor told me that my growth could potentially cause infertility, I was very worried and confused. FORTUNATELY, I had a successful surgery in July and six month later we conceived (ON OUR FIRST TRY)! So miracles do happen and everything happens for a reason. I also started a company in September 2010, called Twin Cities Nanny, LLC. We help families find the best nannies and babysitters for their little ones. Starting a business is hard and financially challenging. Come August, we will determine if I will be able to keep the business open, or need to return to corporate position after baby is born. Like, I sad, everything happens for a reason so wish us luck. I just have to keep trusting the universe and be grateful for all the blessings that do turn out, like our baby. THANKS FOR ALWAYS MAKING ME GIGGLE & SPREADING LOVE! CSamps

JLo and Enrique’s tour was so popular, they added more dates and cities, including Minneapolis.

The Latin superstars will be playing the Target Center on Wednesday, Aug. 1.

Tickets will go on sale at noon on May 18.

They range from $29 to $129.

In some respect, the Addams Family musical would be expected to be a bit more perky, a bit more bright and yes, a tad more jubilant. It’s a Broadway musical, after all.

But the family that greeted us on opening night Tuesday at the Ordway Center for Performing Arts was not at all what one might have expected. For better or worse? I’m still not sure.

I’ll give them credit — this show is packed with punchlines. Not all of them hit, but the ones that didn’t were quickly forgotten with the barrage of one-liners that followed.

Gomez (Douglas Sills) is credited with a majority of these zingers and plays to the audience well with his mix of rim-shot gags and physical humor. And while his Latin background certainly comes to the forefront in this show, it’s his animated mannerisms that had me more-so picturing a Chris-Kattan-esque “SNL” character than Mr. Addams.

The storyline itself also diverges a bit from what is typically “Addams.” Here, daughter Wednesday (played by Cortney Wolfson) announces she’s fallen in love and is planning to marry a seemingly “normal” boy. Of course, that means dinner with the future in-laws and a chance for both worlds to collide.

Wolfson does an amazing job with the vocals in the show and carries her solos in an absolutely pitch-perfect way. But the storyline’s transformation — from gloomy hunter Wednesday into falling-in-love, sunny, girly Wednesday is a bit far-fetched.

Personally, I believe Broadway has enough young teens falling in love, dancing around the stage, singing about their exciting future. I was looking forward to a night of bleak, expressionless faces with talk of death and darkness, not love and marriage.

Still, the show was plenty entertaining with original music, ghoulish dance numbers and a nod to the characters that made the movie and TV show a success.

Morticia, played by Sara Gettelfinger, had the same long, black hair and yes, slinky down-to-there attire (truth be told, I found myself slightly distracted waiting for a nip-slip that I missed most of her vocal numbers). But there was an essence of mystery and refinement that was so effortless in the Angelica Houston character that I found myself missing Tuesday night.

The side roles of Uncle Fester (Blake Hammond) and Lurch (Tom Corbeil) were perhaps my favorite of the evening. Lurch’s incredible zombie-like, understated movements and incomprehensible speech were only made funnier when he came out of his shell at the end of the performance. Uncle Fester’s side story (of his love affair with the moon) was certainly random but made for the show’s most entertaining musical number involving a pitch-black backdrop, hidden stage hands and a bright, bouncing moon ball.

I don’t blame the cast in this production at all — they all do a spectacular job with the script and task at hand. And perhaps I misjudged just how the evening would unfold and was expecting something far more gloomy and kooky — a bit more understated and less obvious. But it’s still a musical and certain characterizations must adapt.

So instead, I urge theater-goers to go to the show without any preconceived notions and expectations, because on face value it’s a great evening out — one that can provide the perfect escape to a dull week and perhaps help you reevaluate your own family and all their ookiness.

The Addams Family runs through May 20 at the Ordway Center for Performing Arts. For tickets or more information, click here.

Officials with the orchestra said they are laying off nine full-time workers and seven part-time workers in the hopes of saving nearly $500,000 per year. The cuts represent 13 percent of the permanent staff, but do not affect any musicians.

Orchestra officials said the duties affected by the layoffs will be picked up by other staff members, and audience members will not notice the reductions. The orchestra announced last November that it’s facing nearly a $3 million deficit.

APPLE VALLEY, Minn. (WCCO) — The blockbuster summer attraction at the Minnesota Zoo just arrived by truck — Dinosaurs!

Fifteen different animatronic creatures will be on display, including a Tyrannosaurus Rex. When it stands up, it towers 18 feet, is more than 40 feet long and weighs a whopping 7,000 pounds.

They come from a company in Texas, where the employees take a lot of pride in the details.

“Trying to get a really nice patterning and color schemes, getting the details of the teeth and claws and the eyes, and subtle movements,” said Sean Dickson with Billings Productions, Inc. “Trying to get a realistic subtle movement out of them.”

From start to finish, creating one of these prehistoric predators takes up to six months. They make noise, the eyes move and some of them even spit.

“We have this cute little thing at the beginning, we’ve built a ‘Stargate,’ and they come through and the dinosaurs spit water, which I think they kids will like,” said Kevin Henderson, the project manager for Dinosaurs.

The exhibit opens Memorial Day weekend and will be open through Labor Day at the Minnesota Zoo. Tickets are $4 on top of regular admission.

Officials said Anita Baker, Wiz Khalifa and Journey will all play at the grandstand.

Anita Baker will perform at 8 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 26. Tickets are $38.

Wiz Khalifa and Mac Miller will perform at the grandstand at 6:30 p.m. on Labor Day, Sept. 3. Tickets for general admission will be $39 and for reserved seating will be $29. They will go on sale at 11 a.m. on Saturday, May 19.

The popular band Journey, joined by Pat Benatar featuring Neil Giraldo and Loverboy, is scheduled to play at the grandstand at 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 1. Tickets range between $38 and $58.

Tickets for all three shows will go on sale on Saturday, May 19. They can be purchased by going to the Minnesota State Fair web site, going to the State Fair box office on May 19 or by calling (800) 514-3849.

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – After competing against 10 other couples and winning eight different legs, Dave and Rachel Brown are this season’s Amazing Race champions.

Rachel grew up in Maple Grove and later moved to Madison, Wisconsin. She says her Midwest upbringing played a huge part in her winning the race.

“I need to win the million dollars so I can get a week at a spa,” said Rachel. “It was truly an amazing experience.”

She’s going to need that spa. They traveled to five continents, nine countries, and 22 cities.

Leg 3 of the race was the most challenging.

“By far, the watermelons in Paraguay. That was terrible,” said Rachel.

Tossing the huge fruit proved to be futile for the couple. They became the first team not to complete a single task.

But that didn’t set them back too much. She was a rock star in the Bolly Dance.

“That was a great challenge for me, I loved that one,” said Rachel.

She’s been dancing since she was 3, and was the dance line captain at Maple Grove High School.

Rachel’s mom, Deb Van Dyke, was not shocked by her success in the race.

“She’s always been outdoorsy and she’s skydived before, and we’ve gone swimming with the dolphins when she was little, so she’s a dare devil,” said Van Dyke.

Her adventurous spirit was a useful tool.

“I think my Midwest work ethic was definitely the reason we won. Dave and I are both from the Midwest,” added Rachel.

The team also broke an Amazing Race record. They won eight total legs of the race.

“I feel like this race has really brought us together and I couldn’t be more grateful,” said Rachel.

Rachel works for a medical records company, and Dave is in the Army. They say they’re going to pay off their mortgage and invest the rest of their million dollars.

Wolfson, who heads to the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts for the show’s opening on Tuesday, is fresh off the Broadway production of The Addams Family musical and said and said it’s been amazing to be part of the national tour.

Before donning the pale white skin and jet black wig, Wolfson starred in the Legally Blonde musical’s first national tour as sorority alum and fitness instructor Brooke Wyndham — quite the polar opposite to her dark and gloomy role of Wednesday.

But Wolfson said the character’s not exactly what you might remember from the TV or movie family. She explained why — and talked about her return visit to the Twin Cities — in a fun little chat before the show’s opening night.

Q: What were your memories, or introductions to The Addams Family before you signed on for this part?

A: My history started in the ’90s when the movie came out. I was just at the right age to be a fan of Christina Ricci, or be close in age in real-life. I was a huge fan. And then, as I grew up, I wasn’t actually familiar with the TV show until I did the show on Broadway. We also had this book floating around of all the original sketches and this amazing book of all the cartoons, which was on the dresser so I’d look at those. And since then I’d watch the TV show and what not. My original Addams Family fandom came from the movies.

(credit: Ordway Center for the Performing Arts)

Q: When you heard about the musical, what were your thoughts?

A: I was excited because the story is completely unique. I think people come wondering if it’s going to be the same storyline or a continuation of the TV show or movies. But story’s 100 percent unique and I actually did a reading of it, it was actually like a workshop of it in the very, very beginning stages almost five years ago, I think, and when I was cast in that I was super excited just because of my familiarity with it, I thought, it was going to be great. And it turned out to be exactly what we wanted.

Q: So a lot of people are maybe wondering — The Addams Family plus a musical. Does that work?

A: Definitely. Most of the audiences probably know that Gomez is Latin, and so there’s a lot of flamenco and it really lends itself toward that and there’s a great tango at the end and a lot of this beautiful flamenco music. And then, also it’s such a contemporary musical and the composer/lyricist Andrew Lippa is such a contemporary writer so there’s a lot of great pop music in it, like most of the stuff that I sing is all contemporary music theater — you could hear it on a radio, pop-wise. But I think what people don’t normally know is that it’s a comedy — and it’s really, really funny. The music is all very clever and the writing and the lyrics just really lend itself towards that. It’s just like hilarious music theater. I think when a lot of people see Addams Family, they think ‘Oh, dark and spooky,’ but it’s actually this huge comedy.

Q: So looking at your bio, you were involved in the first national tour of Legally Blonde: The Musical.

A: Yes! We came through St. Paul.

Q: Oh awesome, that’s right. Well, I was going to say, I can’t really think of anyone that might be more of an opposite to Wednesday than Brooke Wyndham.

A: I know. I think when I came through St. Paul, I played Sarina who was a cheerleader and then I actually played Brooke Wyndham on tour later on, so yeah, I played both. Brooke Wyndham is like the exact opposite of Wednesday — hair color and all.

Q: Right, totally. So has it been difficult at all to transition to a polar opposite role?

A: You know, I think I actually fit somewhere in real life between the two of them. I’m not quite the Delta Nu blonde but not quite the dreary and dark Wednesday. But one of the fun things with this role, too, is that when it comes to the show the big crisis that happens at the beginning is that Wednesday is engaged to this boy — this normal guy from Ohio. And one of her problems as a character is that since she’s in love, she’s starting to feel all of these things she didn’t feel before, where she used to run around in the woods and shoot geese with a crossbow, now she’s thinking about bunny rabbits and the color pink and wearing yellow dresses. It’s kind of fun because you see her transition into more of the stereotypical, you know, teenager that’s falling in love. So it’s fun because she becomes a little bit of a more normal person as the show goes along, too.

Q: Was that the last time you were in Minnesota, with the Legally Blonde tour?

A: That was the last time that I was there, yeah. And actually my best friend since I was 11 years old now lives in St. Paul so I’m anxious to get there and see her and two kids actually that I went to high school with, because I’m from the Midwest. I grew up in Indiana, went to college in Michigan so we’re so happy to be in the Midwest, I love it. And I’ll head to Mall of America, obviously. I spent so much money the last time I was in St. Paul, oh my gosh, I came back broke after being there. I can’t wait to be back.

Q: Do you have any rituals that you do before each show?

A: I have a handshake with my brother Pugsley that we have to do before every show starts, every single night. If we don’t do it, we can’t start the show. (laughs)

Q: Awesome. So how have audiences been reacting to the show?

A: They’ve loved it. We have been so happy on tour. The show takes place, where the Addams family lives in the middle of New York. I have done this show in New York and know how audiences there react to the jokes but we have been so thrilled by the audience reaction. I think it’s just so relate-able. People come and they already love the characters, everyone knows who the Addams family is. But when they leave, they end up finding out they’re seemingly normal, or abnormal, and everyone can relate to them. I don’t think that they know that when they’re first going to the show. And every single night, people are on their feet. We’ve been so lucky. It’s so fun for us because when the audience loves it, it just makes our job 100 times easier. We have a blast.

The Addams Family Musical opens Tuesday and runs through May 20 at the Ordway Center for Performing Arts. Tickets are available at www.ordway.org.

On their way to victory, Dave and Rachel Brown raced across five continents, nine countries and 22 cities. They won in December, but their win was only revealed during Sunday’s season finale.

The show pits 11 two-person teams against each other in a trek around the world in which they must overcome a series of physical and mental obstacles.

Some of this season’s challenges required strategic thinking and the ability to read terrain, which proved to be an advantage to Army veteran Dave Brown. The former Blackhawk helicopter pilot has a background in military intelligence was also an officer in the Wisconsin Army National Guard.

“This is definitely my element,” he remarked when he and his wife boarded a helicopter.

The win was in doubt when the Browns, who are both in their 30s, arrived at the final destination only to be told they had missed an obstacle.

“We thought he was kidding,” Dave Brown said. “We were under the impression that there was just one roadblock.”

In a bit of good fortune for the two Wisconsin natives, the contest came down to a test of bowling skills. Rachel Brown had to roll a stone down a dirt field into a makeshift goal. After just a few tries she nailed a strike.

“Dave and I were actually in a bowling league at Schwoegler’s one year and we were terrible,” she said. “We were one of the worst teams in the league.”

Other challenges included scaling a 45-story building and rappelling back down, and paddling across a pond while standing on a surf board.

The couple agreed that after being kept apart by Dave’s Army deployment and Rachel’s frequent travel for her software company job, being able to spend time together was one of the best parts of competing.

“Just being with each other 24-7 was awesome,” Dave said.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

NELSON, Minn. (WCCO) – Since the other fish in the lake already see them as snack food, minnows do the job of luring “the big ones” to the hook.

Who knew they could also lure humans into a bar?

The Corral Supper Club in Nelson, Minn., celebrates the fishing season with Friday night shots – with a splash of minnow.

“I’m a little nervous to tell you the truth,” said Kristin Klemenhagen of Alexandria, as she nervously eyed the fish tail sticking out of her shot glass. “I’m hoping it stays in, you know — doesn’t come back out (of my mouth).”

For $7, willing participants get a shot of booze or pop with a minnow inside, and a celebratory T-shirt that declares “I Shot The Minnow.”

Corral’s owner, Ken Jensen, started the tradition eight years ago.

“The first year, I ordered 100 T-shirts, thinking that was going to be it for the whole summer,” he said. “And I ran out by two hours after I started it.”

They started with live minnows, until the Minnesota Department of Health intervened. Now, they get them frozen and specially wrapped.

Jensen said he expects to sell 6,000 to 8,000 minnow shots between next weekend and Labor Day.

One customer, Terry Loeffler, said he has taken part every year from the beginning.

“I’ve seen families — grandpa and grandma and the kids all come down here and have their pictures taken while they’re doing this,” Loeffler said.

We checked out the annual Walk For Animals held by the Animal Humane Society in Golden Valley. Matt Brickman went to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts to check out the best museum in Minnesota. The folks at Chino Latino showed us some fun drinks for Cinco De Mayo, Jason DeRusha checked out the menu at the Nicollet Island Inn for his DeRusha Eats and we previewed the Courage Center’s Black Tie Charity Ball.

Check out all the segments below.

DeRusha Eats: Nicollet Island Inn

Best Of MN: Museum

Animal Humane Society Walk For Animals

Chino Lation’s Cinco De Mayo Drinks

Courage Center Black Tie Charity Ball

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – In his weekly segment DeRusha Eats, Jason DeRusha checked out some famous pancakes at the Nicollet Island Inn in Minneapolis.

Looking to make some for yourself? Check out the recipe below and the video above.

Nicollet Island Inn’s Oatmeal Pancakes
All purpose Flour 1 1/2 cups
Oats 1 Cup
Granulated Sugar 1/3 Cup
Baking Powder 2 tsp
Baking Soda 1 tsp
Kosher Salt 1 tsp
Buttermilk 1 1/4 Cups (add 1.25 tablespoons of lemon juice to 1 1/4 cups milk)
Whole Milk 1 1/4 Cups
Eggs 2
Canola Oil 1/4 Cup

Combine all ingredients and put in a food processor, puree until smooth. Oil the griddle, and heat to 350. Spread granola on the griddle. Ladle batter on top of granola.

Yield: 8 pancakes

“Tentpole” is hardly the word for The Avengers. The movie has a reported $100 million marketing budget beyond the movie’s estimated $220 million production budget. It has been preceded by what could now technically be referred to as four prequels — two Iron Mans, a Thor and a Captain America — with a collective budget of $630 million. In other words, depending on how you slice it up, more than $1 billion went into the making of this particular fanboy event. So, no, it’s no “tentpole.” It’s the Big Frickin’ Top.

Happily, it’s on the whole a more fully enjoyable affair than any of the movies that preceded it, save maybe the first Iron Man. Writer-director Joss Whedon doesn’t saddle the movie with a complicated plot set-up or multiple twists. In short, Thor’s nefarious (and, in my Norse opinion, misrepresented) brother Loki comes to earth from Asgard to snatch from the S.H.I.E.L.D. organization a blue, glowing energy cube called a Tesseract.

What it does, what it’s capable of and, frankly, why Loki even wants it aren’t important. All Whedon cares about is setting up the apparatus that will unite Marvel Comics’ almost all-star team to unite and conquer. The bumps in the road getting their iron wills to mesh are what Whedon seems to savor the most. The bulk of the movie’s running time is devoted to various scenes in which, say, Tony Stark trades barbs with Nick Fury, and Black Widow nervously navigates a conversation with loose cannon Bruce Banner. It’s like the superhero version of Duets.

That said, I came away from the movie greatly preferring some team members’ performance over others. If The Avengers is to be followed with sequels (which, oh yes, it is — three or four of which have already been given the green light), then here’s the batting order I’d most look forward to. (NOTE: Had I decided to rank Tom Hiddelston’s miscreant villain Loki among the rest, he would’ve been second or third. He’s a feisty minx.)

01. Hulk/Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo)

(credit: Marvel)

PRO: After two solo appearances in the aughts that most fans regard as misfires, what a joy it is to report that the Hulk has finally earned the distinction “Incredible.” It’s not even so much that Hulk, um, SMASHes with such abandon. It’s that Mark Ruffalo finally taps into Bruce Banner’s core tragedy. “I’m always angry” is both an intense call to action and a bitter adult truth amid so much child’s play.

CON: Practically none, though his powerhouse contributions to the final battle will have audiences so roused, you probably won’t catch some of the dialogue.

02. Iron Man/Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.)

(credit: Marvel)

PRO: As the only member of the Avengers to have already headlined two successful solo movies of his own, Tony Stark — or, rather, Robert Downey Jr. — has enough swagger for the entire militia. While that ‘tude grated during Iron Man 2, it provides nice ballast against some of the more rigid personalities among his teammates here.

CON: The pervasive sense that he’s about ready to go all Diana Ross on the rest of them.

03. Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg)

(credit: Marvel)

PRO: OK, this is a little bit of a cheat. He’s not technically a member of the Avengers. But Coulson’s half-suit, half-geek agent has been on the margins of this franchise for a while now, and his role moving The Avengers into its third act is absolutely crucial. If the movie has an emotional anchor, he’s it.

CON: Can not bench press a small town.

04. Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner)

(credit: Marvel)

PRO: Whether Hawkeye is regarded on the same level as Hulk or Thor or any other superhuman figure is in the eye of the beholder. What can’t be argued is that any of his fellow cast members do as much heavy lifting to elevate their respective characters as much as Jeremy Renner does here. No one else could’ve made a guy crouching with a bow and arrow seem so impossibly cool.

CON: Well, there is the small matter of what he does to S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Helicarrier.

05. Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson)

(credit: Marvel)

PRO: Black Widow wins the movie’s “most improved” prize, following a pretty inconsequential stint in Iron Man 2. Scarlett Johansson still fails to really sell the character’s apparently quite painful backstory, but that probably won’t matter to anyone when she’s doing that thing people say they do before they “take names.”

CON: She’s always one step behind Loki, in the end.

06. Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson)

(credit: Marvel)

PRO: Much like Phil Coulson, he gets in on a technicality, but he’s still a crucial inclusion. Without him, there would be no unified Avengers.

CON: Still, you’ve got to admit, given what happens in the middle of the film, you can’t exactly call him a faultless team leader. And there is that whole matter of what he knows about why S.H.I.E.L.D. wants the Tesseract. Moral relativism, anyone?

07. Thor (Chris Hemsworth)

(credit: Marvel)

PRO: You know, I actually kind of liked last summer’s Thor, in a kitschy Xanadu sort of way. Chris Hemsworth emphasizes the Norse god’s stoicism just short of camp. C’mon, dude summons bolts of lightning!

CON: What we have here is sort of the opposite of Tony Stark’s “pro” column above. What registered as a humorous riff on square-jawed heroism in Thor’s solo movie seems a lot duller in an ensemble. For a god, he’s kind of a drag.

08. Captain America (Chris Evans)

(credit: Marvel)

PRO: Well, Chris Evans has the best physique in the entire cast, excepting maybe Hemsworth. (But I always thought Thor looked a little too juiced to be true.)

CON: Unfortunately, his personality pretty much begins and ends with his pectoral muscles. Yes, Captain America has always sort of been Marvel’s prom king. His dogmatic defense of old fashioned values (which worked in his solo movie’s WWII setting) always threatens to stop the movie cold, unfurl a stadium sized Old Glory in the background and give Evans a stage to recreate George C. Scott as Gen. Patton.