Events Calendar

EVENTS

SEPTEMBER 2022

Planning an event? Submit event info to calendar@littlevillagemag. com. Include event name, date, time, venue, street address, admission price and a brief description (no all-caps, exclamation points or advertising verbiage, please). To find more events, visit littlevillagemag.com/calendar. Please check venue listing in case details have changed.

MUSIC

Friday, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. Stutterin’ Jimmy and the Goosebumps w/ Matt Jesson, xBk Live, Des Moines, $10-15 Friday, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. Pecos & The Rooftops, Val Air Ballroom, West Des Moines, $20-25 Friday, Sept. 9 at 7:30 p.m. Cheap Trick, Hoyt Sherman Place, Des Moines, $59.5099.50 Saturday, Sept. 10 at 6 p.m. Gurnfest, Lefty’s Live Music, Des Moines, $10

Saturday, Sept. 10 at 7 p.m. Yola, Hoyt Sherman Place, $26-54

Saturday, Sept. 10 at 7 p.m. Dan Padley Quartet, Noce, Des Moines, $15-50 Saturday, Sept. 10 at 8:30 p.m. Richie Daggers, FLT.RTH, Specter Poetics, Gas Lamp, Des Moines, $10 Sunday, Sept. 11 at 12 p.m. PorchFest, Union Park, Des Moines, Free Sunday, Sept. 11 at 3:30 p.m. B. John Burns’ Golden Jubilee, xBk Live, Free monday, Sept. 12 at 6 p.m. OM, Wooly’s, Des Moines, $20

In the Big Leagues

In the mid-1990s, Ben Godar started making the drive from Ames to Des Moines to go to the Varsity Cinema.

“Back then, the Varsity was just one of those places that would get films that nobody else had,” he recalls.

Now, as four years of renovations on the Varsity come to a close, Godar, who is the executive director of the Des Moines Film Society, is excited for the chance to maintain that standard when the historic theater reopens in late 2022.

The Varsity Cinema was not always a film destination. When erected in 1917, it was meant to be an industrial building. Shortly after, it became a Coca-Cola bottling plant until 1934 when it became the beloved Varsity Cinema.

Since then, the Varsity Cinema has been showing arthouse films to movie lovers from near and far. Run by the Mahon family since 1954, the theater became well known for showing movies that wouldn’t be playing in the bigger box theaters in the city, which was a draw for movie aficionados like Godar. In 2018, the Mahons sold the theater to the Des Moines Film Society. It has been under construction since then.

In the new renovations, Godar and the rest of the Des Moines Film Society aim to maximize the space available for bringing unique programming to Des Moines. To do this, they’ve added a second screen in a discreet, top-floor microcinema with 35 seats.

“Because in film booking, you know, sometimes when you have a new film booked, you might be contractually obligated to give them a two-week clean run or something like that,” Godar explains. “So if you have one screen and you have something that you booked on a clean run, that’s all you’re showing. The second auditorium gives us the flexibility to show more interesting rep programming, like older classic films and stuff like that.”

Renovations also aim to focus on space where patrons can gather. In the previous iteration of the theater, the Varsity’s single screen faced about 500 seats. After renovations, the main screen will face only 210 seats. The rest of the space will be repurposed for bathrooms, updated concessions, expanded lobby space and accessibility features, like an elevator that brings patrons up to the microcinema on the second floor.

At the end of the day, Godar expects the renovation project to cost about $5 million, about $2.5 million more than what was originally expected due to rising costs triggered by the pandemic. And while that is a daunting number, Godar said they have experienced nothing but support from the community to make it happen.

“A big component for us was, we had to fundraise,” Godar said. “And we had to kind of find that support. Bravo Greater Des Moines was a lifesaver, really, there. One of the first really big pieces we got was a capital grant from Bravo. And that allowed us to really kickstart the project.”

The Des Moines Film Society has also made it a priority to preserve the theater as a historical building. In order to pursue historical tax credits, the organization had to invite a historic consultant in to determine which elements should be preserved and which could be updated.

But monetary reasons are not the only reason to retain some of the Varsity’s vintage elements. Because the theater has had such a rich history for Des Moines movie lovers, Des Moines Film

the unfinished Varsity exterior patiently awaits its marquee; ben Godar stands under the awning amidst construction; below: original interi-

or stone walls Brittany Brooke Crow / Little Village

Society also wants to nod to those who came before them by keeping some of its recognizable features, as well as showcasing a few surprises uncovered in the renovation process.

One of these surprises was original terrazzo flooring found underneath carpeting in the entrance area. The red and white candy cane stripes will greet patrons as they enter the theater. Godar says the mid-century floating stairs leading up to the second floor will also stay, as well as handhung letters on the marquee, although the marquee itself will be new.

“So it’s kind of unique, even just nationwide too. It’s a very old arthouse theater,” Godar said. “Arthouses sometimes don’t have a long lifespan. So this one has a pretty exciting history.”

The Des Moines Film Society has not yet announced when the Varsity will reopen, but Godar is confident it will be before the end of the year. In the meantime, eager patrons can follow the cinema’s progress on its Facebook page, website and mailing list. —Lily DeTaeye

tuesday, Sept. 13 at 6 p.m. Wild Rivers, Wooly’s, $23.50 thursday-Saturday, Sept. 15-17 Sonic Butterfly, Cowles Commons, Des Moines, Free Wednesday, Sept. 14 at 7:30 p.m. Dirty Honey, Val Air Ballroom, $29.50-35 thursdays, Sept. 15, 22, 29 Music in the Garden, Des Moines Botanical Garden, Free$10 Friday, Sept. 16 at 7:30 p.m. Josiah Johnson, xBk Live, $10 Friday, Sept. 16 at 9 p.m. El Perro and Druids, Gas Lamp, $12-15 Saturday, Sept. 17 at 8 p.m. Gemini Parks, Zap Tura, Sophie Mitchell, Danny Russell Wolf, Lefty’s Live Music, $10

Saturday, Sept. 17 at 8 p.m. Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Hoyt Sherman

Place, $35-59 Saturday, Sept. 17 at 8:30 p.m. The Savage Freds and Nothing Special, Gas Lamp, $7-10 Sunday, Sept. 18 at 1 p.m. Iowa Blues Challenge, Lefty’s Live Music, $5 Sunday, Sept. 18 at 6 p.m. OhGeesy, Wooly’s, $25-30 monday, Sept. 19 at 7:30 p.m. Destroy Boys w/Softcult and Penny Peach, Wooly’s, $20-25 tuesday, Sept. 20 at 6 p.m. Iowa Music Industry Meet-Up, xBk Live, Free tuesday, Sept. 20 at 7 p.m. Sevendust, Val Air Ballroom, $29.50-35 Wednesday, Sept. 20 at 6 p.m. American Aquarium, Wooly’s, $20-25 Wednesday, Sept. 21 at 7 p.m. Gwenifer Raymond, xBk Live, $12-17 thursday, Sept. 22 at 7 p.m. Together Pangea w/The Cavves, xBk Live, $17-20 Friday, Sept. 23 at 7 p.m. Andrew Walesch Jazz Orchestra, Noce, $20-60 Friday, Sept. 23 at 7 p.m. Jon Wayne and the Pain, xBk Live, $10-15 Friday, Sept. 24 at 7 p.m. Weakened Friends and Maita, Gas Lamp, $12-14 Saturday, Sept. 24 at 7 p.m. Casey Joe Collins Album Release w/J.Jeffrey Messerole and Sara Routh, xBk Live, $10-15

The hip-hop horizon

This fall will see a wide range of releases from Iowan artists spanning the diverse rap and hip-hop spectrum. While this is far from a comprehensive list of what’s on tap for the next several months, here’s a cross-section looking at five releases from young, up-andcoming artists who have new projects on the way.

Up first in early September is the debut album from XManjin, titled Hate Me. XManjin self-produced roughly half of the tracks, and the release will be rounded out by several features including the likes of DRXCULV (whose own album, Antiporn, is also being readied for release). Thematically, Hate Me looks to serve as an outlet for the 20-year-old rapper and producer to challenge the glorification of drug-culture within music, following his own challenges with substance abuse.

“I just want to look at it in a negative way so people stop glorifying it,” he told Little Village.

Later in September, Shaky Shawn999 will issue an expanded deluxe edition of his Before I Die EP. Born in Chicago, the 21-year-old framed his intention behind his music as influenced by an aesthetic rather than specific style.

“Punk is just anything opposite of a square,” he told Little Village. “That’s exactly what it is.”

Blending beats, vocals and raps, the upcoming album will also feature work from teenage producer TB.

“The shit that he does at his age is mind blowing,” Shawn said.

Bridging September and October are a pair of releases from Quan Draper, titled Viice and Viirtue. Piggybacking off his original Virtue (2018) and Vice (2019) EPs, the rapper and vocalist said the music will find him trying out new sounds and experimenting with songwriting conventions.

“[2021 full-length] Snowfall was very introspective and expressive,” Draper said, whereas “you’ll get two sides of me with these next EPs: the fun, light side” with Viirtue, and the “harsh, competitive side” with Viice.

Expanding on Shaky Shawn999’s conceptual bridge between rap and punk will be the new EP from Antiluv, titled Anti-Pop Rockstar, which more literally connects the two genres. It will see a stylistic split, with one half bearing a vocal and beat-propelled sound and the other leaning into instrumentally driven pop-punk. The tracks were recorded at Carousel Studios in Des Moines, where Antiluv also serves as an audio engineer, and individual songs will see a staggered release before the full collection drops as a unit sometime around Halloween.

Out of Iowa City, TheZeffster will be returning this November with a new release combining a series of new recordings with several re-mastered and re-released songs. With production from Lugi Beats, the stillto-be titled EP is being recorded and released through Hit Island Studios in Chicago. Calling his brand of sound “ascension music,” TheZeffster told Little Village his focus with the upcoming collection is to help promote progression in himself and his listeners. “I make music that puts you in high spirits,” he said. —Chris DeLine

Saturday, Sept. 24 at 7:30 p.m. The Cult, Hoyt Sherman Place, $45-89 Saturday-Sunday, Sept. 24-25 Des Moines Symphony: Gershwin, Rodrigo, Ravel, Des Moines Civic Center, $20-70

Sunday, Sept. 25 at 3 p.m. Choro Moingona, The Cave, Des Moines, Free

Sunday, Sept. 25 at 6 p.m. Erin Coburn, xBk Live, $10-15 Sunday, Sept. 25 at 8 p.m. Jason Isabell and The 400 Unit w/Olivia Jean, Val Air Ballroom, $55 monday, Sept. 26 at 7 p.m. Agent Orange and The Complete Disaster, Gas Lamp, $13-15 monday, Sept. 26 at 7:30 p.m. Jamestown Revival w/Field Division, Wooly’s, $22-25 Wednesday, Sept. 28 at 7 p.m. Courtney Patton, xBk Live, $15-20 thursday, Sept. 29 at 7 p.m. EleanorGrace Album Release, xBk Live, $10-15 thursday, Sept. 29 at 7 p.m. Old 97’s, Wooly’s, $20-25 Friday, Sept. 30 at 7 p.m. Good Looks w/ Good Morning Midnight, xBk Live, $14-17 Friday, Sept. 30 at 7 p.m. Adam Larson Album Release, Noce, $15-50 Saturday, Oct. 1 at 7 p.m. B. Well w/Annie Kemble, Wooly’s, $20-25 Sunday, Oct. 2 at 6 p.m. The Deslondes, xBk Live, $15-20 Wedneday, Oct. 5 at 7:30 p.m. Susto, Wooly’s, $15-18 thursday, Oct. 6 at 5 p.m. Sad Park & Heart to Gold, Lefty’s Live Music, $16 thursday, Oct. 6 at 6:30 p.m. All Access Live! Featuring Wiitch Tiit, xBk Live, $10-13

PERFORMANCE

Opening Friday, Sept. 9 Guys & Dolls, Des Moines Playhouse, $29-53 Friday, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. Chicago Comedy Showcase, Teehee’s Comedy Club, Des Moines, $15-20 Saturday, Sept. 10 at 7 p.m. Granny We Made it: Bernard Bell Album Recording, Teehee’s Comedy Club, $15-20 Wednesdays, Sept. 14, 21, 28 at 7 p.m. Comedy Open Mic, Teehee’s Comedy Club, Free Opening Friday, Sept. 16 Sweat, Iowa Stage Theatre Company, Stoner Theatre, Des Moines, $40 Friday, Sept. 16 at 9:30 p.m. The Glory Hole, Teehee’s Comedy Club, $15-20 Saturday, Sept. 17 at 7 p.m. Wisenheimer: Uncensored, Long Form Improv Comedy, Teehee’s Comedy Club, $15-20 Saturday, Sept. 17 at 9:30 p.m. Chowdown: High-Paced Improv, Teehee’s Comedy Club, $15-20 Closing Sunday, Sept. 18 The Sweet Delilah Swim Club, Tallgrass Theatre, West Des Moines, $33-35 Opening tuesday, Sept. 20 Dixie’s Tupperware Party, Temple Theater, Des Moines, $35-75 tuesday, Sept. 20 at 7 p.m. No Shame Theater, Teehee’s Comedy Club, Free Friday, Sept. 23 at 7 p.m. Chastity Washington, Teehee’s Comedy Club, $15-20

TikTok of the ’Bay

magdalena bay, Wooly’s, Des moines, Saturday, Nov. 5, 7 p.m., $20

Electric synth-pop duo Magdalena Bay are making a stop in Iowa on their Mercurial U.S. tour. Spend the evening at Wooly’s dancing nonstop, dazzled by Mica Tenenbaum and Matthew Levin’s energetic, other-worldly presence on stage.

Their debut album, Mercurial World, released in 2021, is a playful, experimental pop album that’s also highly Y2K-inspired and sci-fi-esque. Sonically, when listening to Magdalena Bay, you’ll be reminded of indie pop bands of the 2010s like MGMT, Grimes and CHVRCHES. Vocally, lead singer Tenenbaum has mentioned her sound is influenced by ’90s-early 2000s pop stars like Madonna and Brittany Spears.

I’d recommend checking out their TikTok (@ magdalenabaymusic) before the show; it shows off the pair’s quirky personalities and fun homemade music video clips. ––Sid Peterson

Prairie Pop

Life Cult

On a magical summer evening in 1986, after a fiery performance by the Cult, the sun refused to set. The band’s shows radiated a mystical quality that could realign heavenly bodies, though this anomaly of nature occurred because Finland’s Provinssirock Festival took place north of the Arctic Circle.

“You have this strange situation where it still feels like daytime during high summer,” frontman Ian Astbury said, “even at 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning. I remember walking around the grounds and just observing everybody at the festival. The whole town had been taken over by mostly young people who were attending Provinssirock, and everybody was dressed in a way that expressed a real sense of individualism, connectedness and intimacy.”

Astbury was also struck by the fresh flowers covering the edge of the stage. It’s a visual impression that remains with him four decades later.

“It’s one of those lived experiences that you carry with you that helps shape your character and form your worldview,” Astbury told me. “Because it’s such a rich moment, and I could still access that feeling through that memory, it still rings in the essence of my core.”

That touchstone moment directly influenced the title track of the Cult’s new record, Under the Midnight Sun, which is anchored by a quiet acoustic guitar and a lush cinematic string arrangement that swirls around Astbury as he croons, “Under the midnight sun / with creatures of the wild.”

“The festival was a really beautiful experience coming from where we had been, because we came out of punk rock, which was definitely much more volatile, violent, frenetic, urban and gritty—and this experience was far more transcendent and liberating.”

The Cult got its start after Astbury, who had formed the Southern Death Cult in 1981, began collaborating with Billy Duffy a couple years later. After a brief stint as the Death Cult, which released an EP in 1983, Duffy and Astbury shortened their name to the Cult by the time the band released its gothic post-punk debut, Dreamtime, the following year.

Their follow up, Love, earned them more visibility after the international success of “She Sells Sanctuary,” a majestic single that the Cult performed at Provinssirock, where the blackclad band stood out in the summer sun. Astbury era—that period in the mid-’80s—in terms of self-expression and the cultivation of consciousness. We were living through the Cold War, and we were very much in harmony with environmentalist organizations like Greenpeace. ... You can draw so many correlative and connective lines that run through those frequencies.”

With Under the Midnight Sun, the Cult tap into that cosmic form of networked communication by simultaneously peering in the rearview

mirror and steadily marching forward to the beat of their own drum.

“I try to be the best version of myself right now, and as a group we are so connected and the performances have been particularly intense,” Astbury said. “We don’t do a ‘concert.’ We don’t do a ‘performance’—we create an environment. We’re creating cathedrals, creating spaces for expression and connection to a community. Unfortunately, the essence of that Provinssirock Festival experience is sadly lacking in today’s hyper-commercial, hyper-commodified world.”

cut a particularly dramatic figure with his long black hair and French Revolution-era aristocratic clothes that consisted of a long black dress coat with tails and a ruffled white lace Jabot collar, like something a rock-and-roll Napoleon would wear.

Musically, the past four decades have found the band shifting stylistic gears in ways that made it hard to sustain mainstream success (though they continue to cultivate a large, devoted audience).

“I’ve never arrived at a moment where I think, ‘Eureka, we have a formula!’ It was always about building it, destroying it, rebuilding, destroying,” Astbury said. “I’m talking about scorched earth.

Burn it to the ground, forget everything and look at what’s coming. Let’s immerse ourselves in this moment, our environment and its frequencies. I don’t carry the coffin of my youth around with me. I don’t weep for those earlier periods in my life, though sometimes you can look back to those touchstones and respond to its echoes.”

In 2022, Astbury exudes the vibe of a hippiegoth-punk elder who speaks of frequencies that can open the doors of perception and liberate humankind—an invisible cultural web that permeates everything and links us all together.

“One of the wonderful things about live music is that you’re right there in that moment, and then it’s gone,” he said. “But that experience at the Provinssirock Festival is something I can access through memory. It was a really beautiful

the Cult, Hoyt Sherman place, Des moines, Saturday, Sept. 24, 7:30 p.m., $70-$320

“I DON’t CArrY tHE COFFIN OF mY YOUtH ArOUND WItH mE.”

Kembrew McLeod navigates the psychic frequencies and comes in contact with outer entities, to paraphrase Blondie’s “(I’m Always Touched By Your) Presence, Dear.”

Friday, Sept. 30 at 7:30 p.m. Nick Swardson, Hoyt Sherman Place, Des Moines, $39.5049.50 Friday, Sept. 30 at 9:30 p.m. Michael and Laura Sanders: Stand-Up Comedy, Teehee’s Comedy Club, $15-20 Saturday, Oct. 1 at 7:30 p.m. Sw!ng Out, Des Moines Civic Center, $15

Cultural CrossPollination

Literature

Friday, Sept. 9 at 6:30 p.m. Meet the Author: Leah Angstman, Beaverdale Books, Des Moines, Free Saturday, Sept. 10 at 10 a.m. Authors on the Riverwalk, Iowa Events Center, Des Moines, Free-$30 monday, Sept. 12 at 6:30 p.m. Meet the Author: T. Patrick Graves, Beaverdale Books, Free thursday, Sept. 15 at 5:30 p.m. Iowa Author Spotlight: Rachel Mans McKenny, Central Library, Des Moines, Free thursday, Sept. 15 at 5:30 p.m. Don Tate Workshop, Des Moines Civic Center, Free Friday, Sept. 16 at 7 p.m. The Author Afterparty: Denise Williams and Rachel Mans McKenny, Storyhouse Bookpub, Des Moines, $6 Sunday, Sept. 18 at 1 p.m. Meet the Author: Graham Spanier, Beaverdale Books, Free tuesday, Sept. 27 at 6:30 p.m. Meet the Authors: Jody Keisner, John T. Price, Kristine Langley Mahler, Beaverdale Books, Free tuesday, Oct. 4 at 6:30 p.m. Meet the Author: Kirsten Anderson, Beaverdale Books, Free

COMMUNITY

Friday, Sept. 9 at 5 p.m. Art Center Trivia Night, Des Moines Art Center, Free Saturday and Sundays, Sept 10-11 and Sept. 17-18 Renaissance Faire, Sleepy Hollow, Des Moines, $19-35 Sunday, Sept. 11 at 10 a.m. Vintage in the Valley, Valley Junction, West Des Moines, Free Saturday, Sept. 10 at 10:30 a.m. Hop-On Hop-Off Public Art Tour, Des Moines Art Center, Free Saturday, Sept. 10 at 10:30 a.m. Multicultural Fall Festival, Evelyn K Davis Park, Des Moines, Free Saturday, Sept. 10 at 11 a.m. Autumn Equinox Psychic Fair, Des Moines New Age Shop, Free Sunday, Sept. 11 at 1 p.m. Wild & Scenic Film Festival, The Palms Theatres & IMAX, Waukee, $10-50 A s we celebrate the arts in this issue, it’s only appropriate to recognize a growing trend in this region. The power of unity can be used in the arts as it is in other facets of positive community growth. As creative community contributors, cultural organizations have a growing responsibility to work smarter to integrate their core missions into their regions. Developing partnerships for specific projects is one way to build new synergies. As the saying goes, if our cut of the pie is to remain the same, let’s build a bigger pie.

Coffee shops were early trendsetters in Central Iowa, beginning with Julie McGuire, owner of Zanzibar’s Great Coffee Adventure, the Des Moines area’s longest running coffee shop. McGuire has offered wall space for artists to exhibit their works since she opened up in 1993, featuring a new artist each month and hosting opening receptions.

The Des Moines Metro Opera’s 50th anniversary season this year is a golden example of strategic collaborations producing impactful works. The opera organized a performance at the Des Moines Art Center with Pyramid Theatre Company; they also tied their Shakespearean productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and A Thousand Acres (based on King Lear) with Iowa Stage Theatre Company’s Salisbury House and Gardens production of King Lear.

Another new collaboration is on display this September thanks to the willingness of two cultural leaders exploring creative new possibilities. Susan Watts, owner of one of Iowa’s most respected galleries, Olson-Larsen Galleries, and Gale Brubaker, executive director of the West Des Moines Historical Society (WDMHS), decided they could give a fresh spin on a visit to the WDMHS’s signature museum.

Jordan House, a stately Victorian home of Italianate Gothic design, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a member of the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program. Olson-Larsen Galleries has been serving private and public patrons since 1979, anchored by its stable of some of the finest Midwestern artists.

The two developed their exhibition, Timeless,

the Jordan House museum, West Des moines, tours Available Fridays 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. and Sundays 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., $5

to capture the bonds that span generations by curating a selection of art that reflects the styles and content of artists from Jordan House’s earliest days, including landscapes, engravings, etchings and photos printed in the Van Dyke brown style. The final pieces will be on display throughout the house, carefully integrated into spaces.

Watts’ galleries are going through a major renovation and had to relocate to a temporary site in their Historic Valley Junction neighborhood. Brubaker, a devoted fan of the mission and artists of Olson-Larsen, sensed an opportunity.

“So many of the [Olson-Larsen Galleries] artists use the classical techniques that were used at the same time that James Jordan and his family were living in their house,” Brubaker said. “It seemed like a perfect partnership.”

Watts echoed Brubaker’s enthusiasm. “As Alyss Vernon, our gallery director, and I talked about this setting, the more excited we got. We started brainstorming, went through our roster and decided to focus on artists who create with techniques that were in existence or popular when the Jordan House was very vibrant … It will be fun to integrate these pieces into this new environment.”

The wheels continued turning from that initial brainstorm, with other ideas being added to their wish list.

“We hope that people will come and enjoy the juxtapositioning of old art with new art,” Brubaker said. “We’re also talking about doing something at the Bennett School Museum, our one-room schoolhouse museum, in the near future.”

This initial doorway of imagination apparently is leading into a vast arena of possibilities. The ultimate benefactors are those who take a little time to add to their cultural adventurism, and experience the outcome of such a collaboration.

Brubaker’s smile, reflected by Watts, says it all. “We all have to support each other.” —John Busbee

Book Club

© Google 2022

Nestled in a cozy town square off of Beaver Avenue, Beaverdale Books has been a space for Des Moines book-lovers since 2006. They offer a wide array of books from both local and farther flung authors, and the bookstore also boasts an impressive events calendar featuring author meet and greets, readings and book fairs throughout the year. Most events are free to attend and some even offer complimentary coffee and cookies, making you feel even more at home.

Want to start reading more books by local authors but don’t know where to start? Beaverdale Books has a designated Iowa Author section, taking up an entire bookcase on the right-hand side of the store. Each time I’ve visited, a staff member has pointed it out to me, proud of the local talent Iowa grows and the bookstore’s ability to showcase it.

The space is small but the staff is friendly and invested in your reading experience, bringing the comfort of a small-town library to this neighborhood bookstore. Attend an event! Ask a staff member for a recommendation! Buy a book! Or even just stop in to say hi. I promise that a smiling face will be there to greet you behind the desk. —Lily DeTaeye

All readings take place at the store unless otherwise noted. *Indicates Iowa-connected authors.

Leah Angstman—Out Front the Following Sea, Friday, Sept. 9 at 6:30 p.m. t. patrick Graves*—Let Us Not Talk Falsely Now, Monday, Sept. 12 at 6:30 p.m. Graham Spanier*—In the Lions’ Den, Sunday, Sept. 18 at 1 p.m. Jody Keisner—Under My Bed, John t. price* —All is Leaf, Kristine Langley mahler—Curing Season, Tuesday, Sept. 27 at 6:30 p.m. Catherine Haustein*—Wrinkles in Spacetime, Thursday, Sept. 29 at 6:30 p.m. Kirsten Anderson*—More Than Words: Turn #MeToo into #ISaidSomething, Tuesday, Oct. 4 at 6:30 p.m. Anne E. terpstra*—Beyond Any Experience, Friday, Oct. 7 at 6:30 p.m. Darcy maulsby*—The Lincoln Highway, Artisan Gallery 218, Monday, Oct. 10 at 6:30 p.m. Kay Fenton Smith & Carol mcGarvey*—Baking Blue Ribbons: Stories and Recipes from the Iowa State Fair Food Competitions, Artisan Gallery 218, Monday, Oct. 24 at 6:30 p.m. Anne Winkler-morey—Allegiance to Winds & Waters: Bicycling the Political Divides of the United States, Friday, Oct. 28 at 6:30 p.m. phil Adamo—The Medievalist, Thursday, Nov. 3 at 6:30 p.m. rob Sand*—The Winning Ticket, Artisan Gallery 218, Monday, Nov. 14 at 6:30 p.m. mary Helen Stefaniak*—The World of Pondside and The Six-Minute Memoir: Fifty-Five Short Essays on Life, Tuesday, Nov. 15 at 6:30 p.m.

Season of the Witch ballet

Ballet Des Moines pulls from a moment in history this fall to show that different doesn’t mean dangerous. Taking a history lesson from the Salem witch trials, choreographer and Ballet Des Moines Artistic Director Tom Mattingly was certain that people need to be reminded to not judge a book by its cover.

“I thought it was so interesting that the fear of demonic possession and witchcraft was being really pushed by the church, ‘we have to resist all of this evil,’” Mattingly said. “Whereas, they were some of the biggest impacts in creating the evil within the community because of how it spread.”

Salem, the first offering in the company’s 202223 season, encourages audiences to confront these fears and judgments. The new work is set to compositions by Igor Stravinsky (Rite of Spring) and Evan Ziporyn (Qi).

The Salem witch trials were held 16921693 in Salem Village (present-day Danvers), Massachusetts. More than 200 people were accused of witchcraft; 30 were found guilty and 19 were executed. The local justice system was overwhelmed with trials, which pushed the governor at that time to order a special court.

Fears of witchcraft peaked in the American colonies after the British war with France there in 1689. Accusations in Salem Village came from a group of young girls who were under the compulsion of adults to falsely enact being possessed including spasms, contortions and screaming.

“And there were things, like, all of a sudden, they would twist and writhe and say, ‘She’s pinching me, she’s pinching me!’ But you can’t prove that any of that is true,” Mattingly said. “And that spectral evidence was allowed in the court as evidence for so long until towards the very end of the trials, it was finally taken out.”

Those who were accused would admit guilt in hopes to save themselves, often throwing friends and family members under the bus as well.

“I think as soon as it became clear that if you are accused … you participate and you help to find the other witches, then you’re spared—that temptation just to keep your own life, I completely understand why so many of them then accused others,” Mattingly said.

But many of the accused, he said, began accusing those who were already exposed or already executed. Mattingly thinks this roundabout strategy made perfect sense.

“So many of the accused were trying to stop the madness by not accusing new people,” he said.

The Ballet Des Moines production will start in the middle of the history of the Salem trials, which will be portrayed with costumes evocative of the time (a modern-dress reimagining of harsh Puritan styles) and showcased through the villagers’ behaviors towards the unpopular, minority community of Salem. The characters include a Preacher, a Girl, the First and Second Accused and a personification of Fear.

“It starts, it’s a fire,” Mattingly said. “There’s these little sparks that then catch on to the tinder. Then enough of that happens, and there’s this whoosh to this raging fire. Then eventually, it takes so much time to stamp it out … And it took so long for people in power to step in and help.”

Mattingly looks at the Salem witch trials to be an awful moment in time and doesn’t understand how something so monstrous could have happened.

“It’s sad and really disappointing that it didn’t

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ballet Des moines presents: Salem, Stoner theater, Des moines, Opens Oct. 20, $40.50-50.50

get squashed immediately, that there weren’t people in higher positions of power to recognize that this is awful and wrong,” he said. “And there’s literally no proof that any of these accusations are true. Nothing demonstrative. And it’s like, Why? Why did these people have to suffer? The entire community? It’s ridiculous. It makes me mad. It’s surprising that it was able to run so rampant.”

One historical figure included in the piece is Giles Corey. He was pressed to death after his wife was accused and put to death. Corey refused to enter a plea resulting in him demanding more weight as stones were stacked on his chest.

Mattingly learned about the history of Salem from Erin Wegleitner, a Salem descendant and assistant professor of theater arts at Drake University, and from Lisa West, a Drake English professor who is teaching the Salem witch trials. Mattingly also has done a lot of reading and listening to podcasts.

He believes Des Moines needs to experience the emotions around Salem because, although this tragedy occurred more than 300 years ago, the effects are recognizable.

“I think we see people today who get swept up by fear and panic and power, and horrible things come out of it if it’s not checked in some kind of a way,” Mattingly said.

He says it all comes down to people feeling the need to be one hundred percent correct.

“I feel like there’s a lot of fear right now. And a lot of panic. And power is such a commodity,” Mattingly said. “And there’s so much power given to so few people, that there are so many other people that are just in survival mode, like the accused witches in Salem.”

Ballet Des Moines chose to stage Salem at Des Moines Performing Arts’ Stoner Theater because of the way its intimacy complements the show. Salem opens Oct. 20; tickets are available now. —Courtney Guien

Mighty Pucks

It’s been 17 years since Minnesota-born filmmakers Tommy Haines, JT Haines and Andrew Sherburne founded their independent production company, Northland Films, with a focus on nonfiction storytelling. In that time, they’ve produced, directed and released six film projects—all while Sherburne was busy founding and expanding Iowa City’s nonprofit cinema FilmScene. Their best-known documentary to date, Saving Brinton (2017), follows an Iowa man’s attempts to preserve a rare and fragile film collection from the first decades of moving pictures.

Northland’s latest release harkens back to its first—2008’s Pond Hockey, which ESPN commentator John Buccigross dubbed the “best and purest hockey movie ever.” Hockeyland, directed by Tommy Haines, has already enjoyed screenings at DOC NYC, Big Sky and other national documentary festivals. But thanks to being picked up by independent distribution company Greenwich Entertainment (Free Solo), it will make its way to theaters starting Sept. 9 in Minnesota and Sept. 16 nationwide.

In the North Country region of Minnesota, hockey is as central to life as football is to Alabama and Texas. Part slick sports doc, part small-town coming-of-age story, Hockeyland follows two rival high school hockey teams as they prepare to face off in a state championship game that will define their legacy at home and, with potential NHL contracts at stake, in the annals of hockey history.

And for those hoping Haines and Sherburne

Hockeyland, FilmScene, Iowa City, opens Friday, Sept. 23

will turn their lenses Iowa-ward again, never fear—Northland Films is currently in production on The Workshop, a documentary promising to offer an intimate portrait of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop at the University of Iowa. Release date, TBA. ––Emma McClatchey

The Horror!

For those itching to marathon horror movies during the upcoming Halloween season, xBk Live is offering a stop on your itinerary not to be missed. On Oct. 25, Austin, Texasbased instrumental rock collective Invincible Czars will perform a live score to F.W. Murnau’s landmark vampire film, Nosferatu, A Symphony of Horror (1922) in celebration of its centennial.

Known as “Austin’s Emperors of Eclecticism,” Invincible Czars was formed 20 years ago by its sole constant member, Josh Robins. The group has spent the past two decades touring the country performing original scores for classic silent films and ballets, among them, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), Phantom of the Opera (1925) and The Nutcracker (1892).

Their quirky sound, drawing upon the premier oddballs of the rock and roll world, such as Frank

Zappa, Primus, Mr. Bungle and Danny Elfman, has won them a considerable following of, as their website puts it, “music nerds, horror fans,

film lovers,” as well as “anyone with a complicated relationship with heavy metal and classical music.” Invincible Czars begin a heavy tour schedule this fall revisitINVINCIbLE CZArS bEGIN A HEAVY tOUr SCHEDULE ing Nosferatu, a tHIS FALL rEVISItING NOSFERATU, A FILm tHEY film they origiOrIGINALLY SCOrED AND tOUrED IN 2015. tHE FILm, nally scored and toured in 2015. A CLASSIC OF GErmAN EXprESSIONISt CINEmA, The film, a clasWAS rELEASED DUrING tHE WEImAr pErIOD AND sic of German expressionist SErVED AS AN UNOFFICIAL, AND UNAUtHOrIZED, cinema, was reADAptAtION OF brAm StOKEr’S DrACULA. leased during the Weimar period and served as an unofficial, and unauthorized, adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, with its release prompting legal action from the author’s

Invincible Czars present: Nosferatu, xbk Live, Des moines, tuesday, Oct. 25 at 7 p.m., $20-25

heirs, including a court order stipulating that all copies be burned. Luckily, several copies of the film survived.

With its eerie and ethereal set design, performances and atmospherics, Nosferatu has gradually attained masterpiece status, and continues to both mesmerize and terrify viewers 100 years later, from casual horror fans to veritable cinéastes. Invincible Czars’ return to Des Moines on Oct. 25 will pay artistic tribute to the film and provide viewers a chilling, yet entertaining primer for this year’s Halloweekend.

tuesdays, Sept. 13 and 27 at 7 p.m. Bad Bitch Bingo, Teehee’s Comedy Club, Des Moines, Free thursday, Sept. 15 at 5 p.m. Latinx Heritage Celebration, Forest Avenue Library, Des Moines, Free Friday, Sept. 16 at 6:30 p.m. Jazz, Jewels & Jeans, Willow on Grand, Des Moines, $75-150 Friday-Saturday, Sept. 16-17 Beaverdale Fall Festival, Des Moines, Free Friday-Sunday, Sept. 16-18 World Food & Music Festival, Western Gateway Park, Des Moines, Free Saturday, Sept. 17 at 11 a.m. Lua Oktoberfest, Lua Brewing, Des Moines, $5-22 tuesday, Sept. 20 at 6 p.m. Flourish: Fund Ideas that Matter, Jasper Winery, $30 Saturday, Sept. 24 at 9 a.m. Run to Exile, Exile Brewing Co., Des Moines, $50 Saturday, Oct. 1 at 10 a.m. Heartland Bazaar, Rumors Vintage, Des Moines, Free

Heartland bazaar, rumors parking lot, Des moines, Saturday, Oct. 1, 10 a.m.–6 p.m., free

Rumors Has It

Vintage collectors and lovers, I hope you have Heartland Bazaar penciled into your calendar! Rumors, the vintage clothing and camera shop near Roosevelt High School, is hosting its bi-annual clothing market. The market has been happening summer and fall since June 2019 and is curated by Allison Lyons, the owner of Rumors.

Spend the first Saturday of October strolling through 30+ vendors who’ll be bringing clothing, accessories, jewelry and antiques. Market-goers will also hear Rumor’s neighbors, Rogue Planet Music, blasting vintage vinyl from their hi-fi system. ––Sid Peterson THROUGH SEPTEMBER 25, 2022

info at desmoineartcenter.org

SUPPORT FOR THIS EXHIBITION PROVIDED BY

The Harriet S. and J. Locke Macomber Art Center Fund