Art Hounds: Escape the cold, or embrace it

This week on Art Hounds: Escape the cold, or embrace it.

Barbara Horlbeck used to work for arctic explorer Will Steger, so she's excited to see Hero Now Theatre's production of "Terra Nova," which follows Robert Scott's expedition to the South Pole. In true arctic style, Hero Now Theatre is staging the show in a heated tent on one of the coldest weekends of the year. Horlbeck says the conditions won't be nearly as brutal as those Scott faced, but are a perfect setting for this gripping tale. Performances run Jan. 14-17 at Central Park in St. Anthony Village.

Poet Katrina Vandenberg would rather escape the bitter temperatures this weekend, so she recommends taking refuge in the humid warmth of St. Paul's Como Conservatory for a Sunday afternoon concert. This week Lucy Michelle is the featured performer in the "Music Under Glass" series in the conservatory's sunken garden. But Vandenberg says the real charm of the series is that for two hours you can hang up your parka and revel in a warm and humid garden in bloom, sheltered from the winter by a building made of glass.

Alison Klawiter, board member of Wise Fool Shakespeare Company, is going to Zenith City Cabaret this Saturday at the Zeitgeist Arts Café Atrium in Duluth. Klawiter says the cabaret is kind of like a cast party, with people gathering around a piano and singing show tunes from great musicals and operas. Often area students show up to practice their audition numbers, and the atmosphere is enthusiastic and supportive. Plus it's free.