The O’Shaughnessy’s 2026–27 season brings a full lineup of thoughtful and entertaining events to St. Catherine University, including powerful explorations of sustainability and climate justice, engaging family-friendly programming, inspiring author events, and unforgettable music performances.
"We are delighted to share this season's lineup with the St. Kate's community as well as the broader public,” said Maria Signorelli Verdoorn, associate director of The O’Shaughnessy. “The year ahead will bring Simone Biles, one of the greatest athletes of all time, to our stage, as well as more New York Times bestselling authors, more music concerts in a wide range of styles, and invitation to engage in our sustainability series that will uplift and inspire us from fall through spring."
The O’Shaughnessy will host several signature St. Kate’s events. This fall, Olympic champion Simone Biles delivers the Bonnie Jean Kelly and Joan Kelly Distinguished Visiting Scholars Lecture, and author Kao Kalia Yang will be in conversation about her book, Somewhere in the Unknown World, St. Kate’s 2026 One Read For Racial Justice selection. In the spring, the Goodman Lecture features authors Lisa Keefauver and Emily Bowen Cohen in conversation about sustainability and navigating climate grief from Indigenous and Jewish perspectives.
The Katie Leadership Impact Women of Color Leadership Series also continues with a keynote by Minnesota native Jothsna Harris, Obama Foundation Fellow and founder of Change Narrative LLC, who will be joined on stage by St. Kate’s students sharing their personal climate stories, and an evening with physician and author Uché Blackstock, MD, whose work at the intersection of health and justice reimagines a future where everyone thrives.
2026–27 Season
JEKI YOO DUO QUICK CHANGE AND MAGIC SHOW
Thurs., Sept. 3, 6:30 p.m.
stkate.edu/yoo
Experience the magic of Jeki and Ellie’s Quick Change and Magic Show, a high-energy performance where costumes transform instantly before your eyes. This husband-and-wife duo blends breathtaking illusions with seamless stage chemistry. Jeki first captivated over 13 million viewers on America’s Got Talent which left Simon Cowell stunned. With a Guinness World Record for the most outfit changes in 30 seconds, their show delivers a fast-paced, unforgettable spectacle.
Kelly Lecture
SIMONE BILES
Wed., Sept. 30, 6:30 p.m.
stkate.edu/biles
The 2026–27 Bonnie Jean Kelly and Joan Kelly Distinguished Visiting Scholar, Simone Biles is widely regarded as one of the greatest athletes of all time. The most decorated gymnast in history with 41 medals across World Championships and the Olympic Games, Biles holds the most World Championship medals (30) and gold medals (23) in gymnastics history. She is a three-time Olympian, and her 11 Olympic medals and seven Olympic gold medals are the most held by a U.S. gymnast.
Biles’s extraordinary accomplishments have received widespread recognition, including the youngest recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Time's 100 Most Influential People, Forbes' 30 Under 30, among others. Her autobiography, Courage to Soar, was a New York Times bestseller and developed into an award-winning TV special on Lifetime. An ambassador for Friends of the Children, Biles utilizes her platform to help advocate for change and support initiatives that provide education and assistance for children and young adults associated with adoption, foster care, and overall wellness.
SYNDEE WINTERS: THE MAKINGS OF A LADY
Fri., Oct. 2, 7 p.m.
stkate.edu/winters
Combining storytelling, jazz, and theatrical performance, The Makings of a Lady is a 90-minute concert-theater experience. Go behind the curtain with award-winning vocalist and Broadway star Winters as she shares about her career in hit shows Hamilton, The Lion King, Motown the Musical, and more. The show celebrates music from the Great American Songbook with her latest recorded album, Syndee Winters Sings Lena Horne. Through lush arrangements of classics, The Makings of a Lady bridges Broadway brilliance with modern jazz sophistication — a musical tribute to courage, legacy, and womanhood.
St. Catherine University 2026 One Read For Racial Justice
A CONVERSATION WITH KAO KALIA YANG
Thurs., Oct. 29, 6:30 p.m.
stkate.edu/yang
Kao Kalia Yang is a Twin Cities-based, Hmong American teacher, speaker, and writer. She is the award-winning author of the memoirs The Latehomecomer, The Song Poet, Somewhere in the Unknown World, and Where Rivers Part. Yang co-edited the groundbreaking book What God is Honored Here?: Writings on Miscarriage and Infant Loss By and For Native Women and Women of Color. She is a librettist for The Song Poet opera, commissioned by Minnesota Opera.
Yang’s work has been recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts, a finalist of the National Book Critics Circle Award, and garnered seven Minnesota Book Awards. She was the Star Tribune’s 2024 Artist of the Year. Yang holds an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Carleton College. She is a McKnight, Soros, and Guggenheim fellow.
Katie Leadership Impact Women of Color Leadership Series
MOVED BY CLIMATE: JOTHSNA HARRIS AND ST. KATE’S STUDENTS
Thurs., Nov. 12, 6:30 p.m.
stkate.edu/harris
Known for speaking into the truth of the moment with clarity and depth, Jothsna Harris, founder of Change Narrative LLC, will deliver a keynote on the power of climate stories to drive impact and the importance of imagination to build a better world. Prior to her appearance at The O’Shaughnessy, Harris will hold a fall semester storytelling workshop with St. Kate’s to develop tools to reshape climate narratives and advocate for justice. Harris will be joined onstage by some of those students who will share their personal climate stories, accompanied by original art and music.
Presented with generous support from The Manitou Fund.
WHAT YOU WON’T DO FOR LOVE
Sun., Nov. 15, 2 p.m.
stkate.edu/love
“What’s love got to do with it?” A lot, according to David Suzuki.
After a lifetime devoted to climate activism, internationally-renowned environmentalists David Suzuki and Tara Cullis take to the stage in an intimate and inspiring theatre experience. A rare behind-the-scenes look at a life shaped by deep love, commitment, and the courage to act; they reflect on their extraordinary 50-year partnership in life and work.
What You Won’t Do For Love is a personal and poetic performance, and a powerful reminder that change begins with connection.
Presented with generous support from Schroeder Properties LLC.
Kevin Kling and Friends:
TALES FROM THE CHARRED UNDERBELLY OF THE YULE LOG
Sat., Dec. 5, 7 p.m.
stkate.edu/yule-log
Kevin Kling, Dan Chouinard, and Simone Perrin perform their celebrated holiday show. Joined again by the ever-popular Brass Messengers, the show has been performed every year since 1995 and has become a holiday tradition for many.
THE OKEE DOKEE BROTHERS
Sun., Dec. 6, 11 a.m.
stkate.edu/okee
Their music has been called “the Shel Silverstein of family music” for the way it reaches both kids and parents. With banjo, guitar, and brotherly harmony at the heart of their sound, the Grammy Award-winning duo creates songs that make you want to dance in the kitchen and sing by the campfire. Blending humor and heart, their work reminds listeners that wisdom can be simple, and that the best adventures can begin right outside your door.
AN EVENING WITH CHANEL MILLER
Tues., Feb. 9, 7 p.m.
stkate.edu/miller
Chanel Miller is a writer and artist who received her BA in literature from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her critically acclaimed memoir, Know My Name, was a New York Times bestseller, a New York Times Book Review Notable Book, and a National Book Critics Circle Award winner, as well as a best book of 2019 in Time, the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, NPR, and People, among other publications. She was named one of the Forbes 30 Under 30 and a Time 100 Next honoree and was a Glamour Woman of the Year honoree under her pseudonym Emily Doe.
Miller addresses how to reclaim agency and use storytelling as a tool for healing and progress. Emphasizing the power of art, truth, and narrative control, she encourages audiences to find, harness, and uplift their voices.
Presented with support from the Mary Alice Muellerleile ’60 Endowed English Chair Fund.
Kevin Kling and Friends:
THE LOVE SHOW: YOU CAN’T FIX CUPID
Sat., Feb. 13, 7 p.m.
stkate.edu/love-show
As much as we try to control our passions with protestations, pleading, and plain sense, desperately grasping for manuals, metaphors, and manifestos, the heart has its own agenda. Face it, Cupid is what Cupid does.
This Valentine's Day the sirens of sentiment, Dan Chouinard, Bradley Greenwald, Prudence Johnson, Simone Perrin, Claudia Schmidt, Dane Stauffer, and Kevin Kling focus on the fickle, fixed, and force of love’s calling. Come share an evening sure to bring hearts together with our unique blend of new and familiar songs, poems, and stories. You can wrench it, rock it, fine tune it, but you can’t fix Cupid.
Caution: Objects of affection may be closer than they appear.
Katie Leadership Impact Women of Color Leadership Series
AN EVENING WITH DR. BLACKSTOCK
Tues., March 2, 6:30 p.m.
stkate.edu/blackstock
Uché Blackstock, MD, is a physician, author, and changemaker reimagining the future of health. A Harvard-educated emergency physician with over 17 years of frontline experience, she is the founder and CEO of Advancing Health Equity, a strategic consulting firm that partners across the healthcare ecosystem to create systems where everyone can thrive. Dr. Blackstock is also the New York Times-bestselling author of Legacy: A Black Physician Reckons with Racism in Medicine.
Presented with generous support from The Manitou Fund.
AMERICA IN PURSUIT: AMAZING GRACE WITH LARA DOWNES AND IMANI PERRY
Thurs., March 18, 6:30 p.m.
stkate.edu/america
In a musical conversation developed for her NPR series “America in Pursuit,” renowned pianist and thought leader Lara Downes presents a unique program of live music that blends into a discussion with author, scholar, and MacArthur Fellow Imani Perry, PhD, about the presence and power of grace, the possibility of redemption, and the need for forgiveness and empathy in the American past and present.
THE WAILIN’ JENNYS
Sat., April 3, 7 p.m.
stkate.edu/jennys
The Wailin’ Jennys have grown over the years into one of today’s most beloved international folk acts. Founding members Moody and Mehta, along with Taos-based Masse, continue to create some of the most exciting music on the folk-roots scene, stepping up their musical game with each critically lauded recording and thrilling audiences with their renowned live performances.
Goodman Lecture
MOVED BY CLIMATE
Thurs., April 8, 6:30 p.m.
stkate.edu/goodman
Lisa Keefauver, author and expert on the topic of grief, will guide the audience through an exploration and mental model to manage climate grief. Author Emily Bowen Cohen joins Keefauver onstage to discuss environmentalism through Jewish and Indigenous lenses. How can we move through grief toward hope and action? Join us in this conversation to find out.
MOLLIE B & FRIENDS
Sun., April 25, 2 p.m.
stkate.edu/mollieb
Mollie B, multi-instrumentalist, award-winning vocalist, and host of the “Mollie B Polka Party” TV show, has been performing music all her life. Mollie B started her career performing with the Jim Busta Band when she was only a child. Through hard work and dedication, Mollie B now performs nationwide to live audiences, as well as TV productions and the movie screen. She performed 20 years in the band SqueezeBox, and currently leads “Mollie B & Friends.”
More information
Save up to 50% with a subscription. Learn more and purchase tickets online at stkate.edu/oshag.
Adult single tickets range from $19 to $48 — see event pages for specific single ticket information. Youth (under 18) and full-time students single tickets are $15.
Discounts are available for St. Kate’s students, faculty, staff and alumni. For more information, contact The O’Shaughnessy Ticket Office at 651-690-6700, oshaughnessy@stkate.edu, or in person from 12–4 p.m. Tuesday–Friday. The Ticket Office is located on the main campus of St. Catherine University at 2004 Randolph Ave., St. Paul.
Photos and images courtesy of The O'Shaughnessy