The Crows is the first mystery novel from local romance writer Maris Soule. The story follows P.J. Benson and her four-month-old Rhodesian Ridgeback, Baraka, as they get personally involved with a series of break-ins and murders that seem to point to Benson as the prime suspect.
The book starts with Benson finding a dying man in her house after returning from a walk with her dog. Homicide Detective, Wade Kingsley, begins to suspect that Benson may be involved in the murder, especially after a series of events keep her in the center of the mystery.
Part romance, part mystery with a dash of suspense, this book has enough twists and turns to keep the reader guessing. Set in rural West Michigan, local readers will enjoy glimpsing their region through the eyes of the characters.
Get cozy in time for fall by roasting marshmallows while enjoying the sounds of local Grand Rapids talent!
Bands at Blandford Series events happen every Friday evening starting August 25th until September 15th.
This annual outdoor music series features local, talented bands that are ready to give your friends and family a fun and relaxing night at the farm. Make it a complete evening by bringing a picnic dinner, a blanket, and a friend (or two!). Additionally, there will be beer and pop for sale on site.
Where: Blandford Farm (3145 Milo St. NW Grand Rapids, MI)
Common Balance, Still Life Paintings by Mike McDonnell
“Afghanistan to Morocco: Journeys of Jim and Virginia Goode”
Exhibition Dates: August 25–October 27
Exhibition Reception: September 18, from 5-7 p.m.
Art Gallery, Performing Arts Center, Allendale Campus
Jim Goode, professor of history at Grand Valley State University, and his wife, Virginia, have explored 11 countries throughout the Middle East for business and pleasure over the past 50 years. They have also taken great satisfaction in introducing more than 100 Grand Valley students, faculty, staff members and friends to the people, cultures and landscapes of this area of the world. Along their adventures the duo has collected a wide variety of ceramics, rugs, textiles and other everyday objects — most representing simple instruments of daily life in these regions of the world. During the art exhibition, “Afghanistan to Morocco: Journeys of Jim and Virginia Goode,” many of these acquired items will be on display for the first time in Grand Valley’s Art Gallery.
“The exhibition displays some very simple, but important objects that allow insight into the daily lives of ordinary people in the Middle East region,” Jim Goode said. “We all share certain common practices, such as the need to prepare food and drink, entertaining family and friends and worshiping. This exhibit emphasizes such commonalities; we are more alike than we are different, regardless of our cultural backgrounds.”
Goode began teaching for Grand Valley’s History Department in 1986, and said students have been at the center oftheir involvement in the Middle East. He helped establish the university’s Middle East Studies program and has facilitated student involvement in the Model Arab League since 1988. Jim has additionally led study abroad programs to Egypt and Turkey over the past 17 years. He will retire from Grand Valley in December; Virginia retired as office coordinator of Grand Valley’s Chemistry Department in 2006.
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GVSU ART GALLERY
For more information about Grand Valley State University art exhibits, call (616) 331-2563 or visit gvsu.edu/artgallery.
“Mathias J. Alten: An Evolving Legacy”
Exhibition dates: ongoing
George and Barbara Gordon Gallery
DeVos Center, Building E, Room 103 and 202, Pew Grand Rapids Campus
Gordon Gallery hours: Friday and Saturday, 1-5 p.m.; closed on holiday weekends
The German-born American artist, Mathias Joseph Alten (1871-1938) is often referred to as the dean of Michigan painters. Working in a traditional representational style, Alten incorporated the aesthetics and techniques of the Impressionist Movement in paintings infused with light and punctuated with deft brushwork. Based in Grand Rapids, Alten created more than 3,800 works of art over a more than 40-year career, including landscapes, seascapes, portraits and florals. Grand Valley State University holds the largest public collection of Alten’s work in the world.
“Common Balance: Still Life Paintings by Mike McDonnell”
Exhibition dates: Thru Sept. 22
Blue Wall Gallery, DeVos Center, Building B, Pew Grand Rapids Campus
In the early 1980s, Michigan-based artist Mike McDonnell became enamored with still life arrangements of common household objects. He began by drawing each object individually, then patiently applied multiple glazes of watercolor paint to achieve rich color and the illusion of realism. This exhibit features a selection of McDonnell’s work from 1982-2009 that spotlights his desire to idealize common objects in balanced and unique groupings.
“Roger That! The Life of Astronaut Roger B. Chaffee”
Exhibition Dates: Thru Oct. 27
Kirkhof Center Gallery, Allendale Campus
Roger Bruce Chaffee was chosen to be one of America’s first Apollo astronauts as part of NASA’s program to send a man to the surface of the moon and back to earth. Tragically, the 31-year-old Grand Rapids native died, along with his two fellow crew members, when a fire broke out inside of their spacecraft during a routine test on January 27, 1967. The photo exhibition, “Roger That! The Life of Astronaut Roger B. Chaffee,” marks the 50th anniversary of that tragedy and seeks to educate the public on his life and achievements.
“Humanitarian Work in Havana: The Story of First-Hand Aid”
Exhibition dates: Thru Sept. 22
Red Wall Gallery, Lake Ontario Hall, Allendale Campus
In June 2012, Gordon Alderink, associate professor of physical therapy, and Charlie Pryor, ’12, traveled to Havana, Cuba, with First-Hand Aid (FHA). FHA is a humanitarian organization based in Grand Rapids that sends representatives to Cuba to provide food, medicine and financial support to people in need. Alderink and Pryor learned of FHA during a previous trip in 2012 to Havana with the organization and the Grand Valley State University men’s baseball team. However, during the initial trip, Alderink and Pryor were unable to join in the work of FHA. So, they decided that they had to go back on their own. This exhibit shares the FHA experience and informs visitors about the Cuban national health system, its strengths and weaknesses and FHA’s story.
Doctor Carrie Ames would be the first person to tell you she is not a coward. Whatever else she is, you can bet on that. At least until she finds herself attacked while working at the local hospital. Then all bets are off. Carrie is shocked to find herself one of the undead: a vampire capable of many things. She is tied by blood to the one who made her, and there are a lot of people who want to see her dead. Why? Because it is unlawful to create new vampires.
Thrust into a world she knows nothing about, Carrie struggles to find allies and a reason to continue living. For someone solely dedicated to the health and welfare of the people around her, can she survive being forced to be a part of something she views as evil and dark?
She’s not alone. Carrie soon finds herself a friend in another vampire living in town. It’s really too bad he’s good looking, a successful entrepreneur, and an elite vampire who hunts those who violate vampire law. It’s all well and good except that last little piece.
Author Jennifer Armintrout cites her experience working for Borgess Hospital in Kalamazoo, Michigan as an influence in her writing. Her Blood Ties series begins with The Turning, a romp into the world and politics of being a vampire. Possession and Ashes to Ashes round out more of this world hidden from view.
Carrie is a unique voice and brings the reader into a new understanding — a reality of the choices and decisions that might accompany being forced into becoming something one never imagined. Fans of JR Ward and Patricia Briggs will certainly enjoy this series. I know I did. This southwest Michigan native has done quite well. Pick up a copy of The Turning today!
Emmy & Telly Award-winner Patrick W. Ziegler leads The Artist’s Way, a 10-week course at the Saugatuck Center for the Arts, 400 Culver St. on Wednesdays, Sept. 13 – Nov. 15, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. To register visit sc4a.org or call 269-857-2399.
The Artist’s Way is a 10-week class guaranteed to awaken the creative giant within. Activate more happiness, peace, and power, and become a magnet for prosperity through this course with Emmy Award-winning director, producer, and writer Patrick W. Ziegler at the helm.
Throughout the course, you will learn to release self sabotage and fear, discover how deeply fulfilling it is to play, create and color outside the lines, and receive easy-to-do tools that activate your creativity and joy every day. Whether you’re looking to bring more creativity into your life, or you’re a seasoned artist – the journey along the Artist’s Way is guaranteed to enrich your life.
After studying Theatre and Communications at Western Michigan University, Ziegler trained at the National Shakespeare Conservatory in New York City. Ziegler ended up working extensively in theatre in various roles and capacities, only to go on to become a producer for Emmy Award-winning production house Wunderfilm Design and for several televisions shows and movies, such as “The Jamie Foxx Show,” and “Cable Guy” starring Jim Carrey.
Ziegler is now the co-founder and managing partner of Fubble Entertainment – a production company that provides services in writing, producing, directing, creative consulting, and many more. Ziegler is an Emmy and Telly Award-winning producer for his work on children’s show “Come on Over!” and dramedy web series “Backstage Drama.”
“We’re fortunate to have Patrick’s caliber of talent, years of experience and passion for teaching here with us this fall,” said Education and Exhibitions Manager Whitney Valentine.
Visit sc4a.org for more information on Ziegler and The Artist’s Way.
Jethro Tull by Ian Anderson (with Anderson from yesteryear on video) made a stop at Meijer Gardens on Friday, Aug. 18, and did not disappoint the sellout crowd. (WKTV/K.D. Norris)
By K.D. Norris
ken@wktv.org
Jethro Tull by Ian Anderson, Aug. 18, at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, Mi.
60-second Review
Two preface points: First, when I say the Jethro Tull concert was rock ’n’ roll theater by a good ol’ dude for good ol’ dudes, I count myself as one of those dudes. (Empirical evidence of the audience’s majority was the fact that the line for the men’s restroom was longer than the for the women’s.)
Second, despite Tull’s heart and soul, Ian Anderson, having turned 70 earlier this month, we will avoid the easy review road by ignoring the band’s 1976 release “Too Old to Rock ’n’ Roll; Too Young to Die”. (Didn’t like the song the year I graduated from high school, and I now avoid cliches whenever possible.)
As to Friday night’s sold-out concert at Meijer Gardens, Anderson and his band — the current line-up includes not a single other member of the original band, but now includes standout keyboardist John O’Hara and lead guitarist Florian Ophale — breezed through a 18-song, 2-hour and 45-minute set that was just what the audience came for.
The current line-up of Jethro Tull, with Ian Anderson center. (Supplied)
Most of the songs were from the band’s very-late 1960s and ‘70s heyday, most mainstays of the “Classic Vinyl” music radio channels and record store record racks. From the opening song, “Living in the Past”, to the set-closing pre-and post-encore break offerings of “Aqualung” and “Locomotive Breath”, Anderson/Tull played the hits.
Having heard Tull’s hits almost ad infinitum, my favorite songs were lesser-known to me and maybe unknown to the casual fan: “Heavy Horses”; the more-modern social commentary of “Banker Best, Banker Wins” and “Farm on the Freeway” as well as the purely instrumental “Bourrée” and “Toccata and Fugue in D Major” (both Johann Sebastian Bach covers).
Aside from the songs, however, the two real pleasures of the night were experiencing what was, really, a video-driven rock show — with a large screen behind the band showing song-by-song videos apparently synched to the live music, or visa versa — and spending a great evening with Anderson, whose singing voice may have, ah, “mellowed” over the years but who can still make his flute whisper and scream as desired.
It was good to see, as Anderson sang in “Locomotive Breath”, with slightly changed lyrics: “You know I couldn’t slow down …” — even if many of the audience had, clearly, slowed down a little.
May I have more, please?
Having been in the pop-music biz for coming on half a century now, Ian Anderson undoubtedly has new music and new stories that few interviewers want to hear or ever ask about. But being the polite, proper Englishman that he is, Anderson provides perfectly acceptable answers to stale answers on his website.
Under the heading of “All Too Frequently Asked Questions” he talks about the origin of the band’s name, the changing line-up over the years, and his on-again, off-again retirement and distance from his Tull.
But the most interesting pat answer, I think, is his response to the question “Do you listen to new bands and who are your favourites?” (Spelled in the English way, of course!) His answer:
“I receive rather a lot of unsolicited demo tapes and CD’s from would-be musicians as well as from more professional performers, so I listen to a lot of “new” stuff that way. The car radio and music television keep me as informed as I want to be. But I have never been a great listener of other people’s work. Even when I first started, I listened only to a few things which really caught my attention. My favourite music to listen to these days is that of Muddy Waters, Beethoven and Indian Classical and pop music.”
Quite an eclectic guy, in music and life, I would say. Would love to share a pint with him sometime.
Great for a storytime read-aloud with the grandkids! Colorful, expressive illustrations by Henry Cole are a delightful addition to this title which will help kids conquer their fears.
Big Chickens is the story of four fearful chickens who seem to talk themselves into a series of predicaments while trying to escape from a wolf. The chickens are afraid to go home, afraid to jump, afraid of cows, afraid of the water, afraid of caves, afraid of big, hairy animals. Will they remain afraid of the wolf?
This predicable tale has some great repetition which invites participation, perfect for preschoolers who will quickly learn the routine. They’ll love to repeat “Me, too!” “Me, three!” “Me, four!” after the first chicken asks about some hypothetical situation. Once a question is asked (What if we fall in the ditch? What if the cows chase us?) you turn the page and find the chickens have to find their way out of that very situation.
The story would be a great discussion starter for preschoolers and their caregivers to help with their fears. Showing how the chickens eventually see how the wolf isn’t necessarily the big bully that everyone thinks he is will allow children to put themselves in the chickens’ place.
The 6th annual GrandJazzFestis Aug. 19 & 20, 2017, at Rosa Parks Circle, in the heart of downtown Grand Rapids. On stage, notable jazz performers as well as up-and-coming artists will please a diverse audience. The festival showcases a jazz headliner and features a wide and encompassing range of jazz artists and acts.
The event is family friendly. Bring folding chairs, blankets and snacks, and get ready to relax for a couple of hours or for the whole weekend! Try out some of the local restaurants and pubs, and be sure to visit other Grand Rapids attractions.
Gillian Flynn’s disturbing and enthralling first novel delves into the dark heart of a small town and the complex relationship between a mother and her daughters. Camille hasn’t been back home in eight years and is eking out a meager existence as a reporter for Chicago’s fourth-largest paper. In search of a prize-winning scoop, Camille’s editor persuades her to return to her southern Missouri hometown and search out the connections between the murder of a girl the year before and the recent disappearance of another little girl. It’s not long before the missing girl is found dead in a manner strikingly similar to the first death, meaning there is a serial killer in the town.
Busy searching for leads, Camille delays going home as long as possible, but finally shows up on her mother’s doorstep, where she is given a half-hearted and vague welcome. She clumsily attempts to get to know her teenage half-sister Amma and becomes messily involved with the detective handling the investigation.
In one sense, the novel is a mystery, as the search for the girls’ killer provides the framework for everything that happens to Camille. But it is also a story of why certain families’ wounds never heal. Flynn only gradually unveils why it is so hard for Camille to go home and why she has chosen to live far away from her mother. There are hints early on that she is damaged—for example, she can only take baths because the shower spray gets her skin to buzzing and she has a specific coping mechanism that she keeps a secret. But the longer Camille stays in Wind Gap, the more her hard-won emotional distance slips away and she finds herself more involved with her family than she had planned.
Sharp Objects is appropriately named. It is not a comfortable book to read, but the sharp edges in both the characters and the setting add to the power of the novel. Flynn’s portrayal of Wind Gap is nicely full of details that highlight the setting of a small Missouri town and she paces out the revelations perfectly for a sense of suspense. This is a mystery that got under my skin and even missing a traditional happy ending has nonetheless stuck with me as one of the more thought-provoking reading experiences I’ve had this year.
Next, I’ll be checking out Flynn’s second novel, Dark Places, which also deals with past tragedies and the often bizarre interior world of families.
As far as I’m concerned, you can’t go wrong with Elizabeth Berg. Her latest release is a collection of short stories that celebrates women and moments in their lives. Most of these moments start with a spark of discontent and blossom into something wonderful.
As a lifetime member of Weight Watchers (currently over my goal weight) the title story celebrated food and health and what we go through to maintain ourselves in order to live longer in a manner that I related to. Berg successfully takes the everyday events of our lives and somehow makes them more. Each character in this collection becomes you, someone you know, or someone you’d like to know. For new readers and regular fans, this book won’t disappoint.
The Grand Rapids Public Museum (GRPM) has announced it is extending the popular summer exhibit, “Mindbender Mansion,” now through Sept. 17. Visitors of all ages enter an eclectic mansion and are challenged with puzzles, brainteasers and interactive games.
Families enjoy exercising their minds as they try to master each of the 40 individual brain teasers and the five group activities in this fun and unconventional exhibit. Visitors to “Mindbender Mansion” are greeted by the wacky Mr. E., master brainteaser and puzzler extraordinaire to explain the mysteries of “Mindbender Mansion,” then set out to gather hidden clues and secret passwords.
Upon completing each of the select brainteasers and group challenges, visitors will see if they gathered the necessary clues and passwords to become a member of the Mindbender Society and add their portrait to the “Wall of Fame.”
“This exhibit has been very popular this summer, and we are excited to offer the community an extended chance to visit!” said Kate Moore, VP of Marketing and PR at the GRPM. “Mindbender Mansion” is great for all ages, with puzzles and games for young kids and teens, and even stumping adults on some of the brainteasers.”
Admission to “Mindbender Mansion” is $10 for adults and $5 for children, $7 for Kent County resident adults and $2 for Kent County resident children, and free for Museum members. Visit grpm.org/Mindbender for tickets and more information.
Throughout the exhibit visitors find a combination of tabletop brainteasers they can solve on their own and larger group challenges that require assistance from their fellow mansion guests.
“Mindbender Mansion” was produced and is toured by the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, Portland, Oregon.
Award-winning musician and three-time Detroit Blues Champion John Latini will perform in the Summer in the Studio Concert Series at the Saugatuck Center for the Arts (400 Culver Street) on August 21 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets for the show are $15 and are available at sc4a.org or at 269-857-2399.
“Recalling the raspy, liquor-soaked growl of Tom Waits, Latini’s soulfully controlled vocals animate the stories of the songs. At once smooth and rough, his singing sounds alternately celebratory, remorseful, seductive and dangerous,” says the “Ann Arbor Observer.”
Latini grew up in Queens, New York, but says his is “as true a son of Michigan as any.” He personifies the best that the heartland, and especially Michigan’s rock history, has to offer – an honest, no-nonsense commitment to real songs about real people. Latini also knows that all the best American music flowers from blues roots, and whether he’s tearing it up at a blues fest, or captivating a room with original songs, folk and blues go arm in arm in his music like the blood brothers they are.
In addition to being a clever songwriter, Latini is the purveyor of a blues-soaked, economically hard-driving guitar style, and is an intense, incandescent performer with a testosterone-charged voice.
Tickets are available at sc4a.org or by phone at 269-857-2399.
Ganders Grand Rapids will be offering Michigan-themed courses for this year’s Restaurant Week GR.
Restaurant Week Grand Rapids (RWGR) kicks off today with 12 days of delicious dining in Greater Grand Rapids. The event takes place today, Wednesday, August 9 through Sunday, August 20. New this year, over 25 participating locations will be offering a lunch option. Lunch will include 2 courses for $14.
“This is our 8th year organizing Restaurant Week Grand Rapids, and we wanted to spice things up,” said Doug Small, President and CEO of Experience Grand Rapids. “By offering lunch we are inviting more restaurants to participate in the culinary event that might not have had the chance, and it allows our local chefs another opportunity to create a unique dish.”
Most of the 76 restaurants participating in Restaurant Week GR are featuring 3-course menus for $28 per person – or – 3 courses for 2 people for $28. Some of the participating restaurants have vegetarian and vegan selections, as well as other dietary foods (such as gluten free) on their menus. Menus for the restaurants are featured on RestaurantWeekGR.com.
RWGR not only promotes the Greater Grand Rapids culinary scene, but also helps The Secchia Institute for Culinary Education Student Scholarship Fund with educational support. Since 2010, Restaurant Week participating restaurants and sponsors have contributed over $127,000 to the Secchia Institute for Culinary Education’s Student Scholarship Fund at GRCC. Participating restaurants donate $1 for every Restaurant Week meal sold to the scholarship fund that is granted to selected students within the Institute’s culinary program. Twenty-five students have received scholarships over the past 8 years.
The public can share their RWGR experiences on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram by using #RWGR.
Secrets. We all have them. Do we share them? Should we keep them? It was this concept that I found so I intriguing in Barbara Delinsky’s latest book, The Secret Between Us.
Deborah, a recently divorced family physician in a small New England town, and her daughter, Grace, are the principle characters in this deception. The story opens with a car accident during a torrential downpour on an unlit street, and spirals from there. Deborah went out in the rain to pick up Grace from a friend’s house and allowed Grace to drive home with her learner’s permit. The two are arguing when suddenly there is a flash of movement, a hideous thump, and events unravel from there.
While I could totally relate to the maternal instinct to protect your child at all costs, I don’t think this story could have worked without its setting. Everybody in a small town knows, or knows of, everyone else, which is what makes the keeping of secrets so tenuous. They all know each other’s business and each character naturally has something to hide. I found parts of the story to be somewhat contrived, but I was still interested enough to finish the book.
If you’re looking for an opportunity to sort through some small town family dynamics, this is the book for you.
It’s like “Modern Family” meets wedding party drama when Saugatuck Center for the Arts’ Mason Street Warehouse (MSW) theatre company presents “It Shoulda Been You,” a musical comedy about an unforgettable wedding day with a game-changing plot twist. The final production of MSW’s 15th season runs from Aug. 18 – Sept. 3. Tickets are available online at sc4a.org, by phone at 269-857-2399, or at the box office.
“It Shoulda Been You” invites you to a wedding day you’ll never forget, where anything that can go wrong does, and love pops up in mysterious places. The bride is Jewish. The groom is Catholic. Her mother is a force of nature; his mother is a tempest in a cocktail shaker. And when the bride’s ex-boyfriend shows up, the perfect wedding starts to unravel faster than you can whistle “Here Comes the Bride.” Plots are hatched, pacts are made, secrets are exposed – and the sister of the bride is left to turn a tangled mess into happily ever after.
“This new musical, this Broadway season’s freshest and funniest to date, defies skepticism, both in its wacky humor and its big, buoyant heart,” said USA Today of ‘It Shoulda Been You.’ The Dallas News called the musical comedy a “frothy escape into a world of unexpected happy endings.”
Directed and choreographed by Saugatuck Center for the Arts (SCA) Artistic Director Kurt Stamm, “It Shoulda Been You” welcomes back several MSW alumni actors, including David R. Gordon who starred as Huey Calhoun in the SCA’s first production of the summer, “Memphis: the Musical.”
“I’m very excited about our upcoming production of ‘It Shoulda Been You’ because we have so many MSW alumni coming back to work with us,” said Stamm. “Of the 13 cast members, seven of them have worked at Mason Street before, so it will be like a family reunion… a good family reunion! I also really love this show. It’s incredibly charming and funny, and has one of the best plot twists you’ll find in a musical.”
In addition to his lead role as Huey Calhoun in “Memphis: the Musical,” David R. Gordon has also performed in the international tour of Grease and the first national tour of “Flashdance the Musical.” “It Shoulda Been You” also features Beth Glover, who performed in MSW’s very first season in “Dirty Blonde,” and most recently in “Death Trap,” as well as the Broadway national tour of “Cinderella,” as the Wicked Step Mother and in the film “The Awakening.”
Also returning from “Memphis: the Musical” is David Spencer, who won a Wilde Award for Best Supporting Actor in MSW’s 2011 production of The 39 Steps. “It Shoulda Been You” also features Michael Iannucci, who last appeared at MSW in “Chicago the Musical” and has performed in the national tours of “Annie” and “Fiddler on the Roof.”
Returning actress Ellie Francis performed in last summer’s production of “The Great American Trailer Park Musical,” and before that in “Evita.” Also returning is Natalie Renee who was last seen at MSW in “Avenue Q.” Casey Prins, who was originally a backstage intern for “Xanadu” in 2013 and has since gone on to perform in the national tour of “Annie” and the regional tour of “Mary Poppins,” will be playing the role of Rebecca.
“It Shoulda Been You” also features Broadway talent Susan Cella, who has performed in “The Babylon Line” at Lincoln Center and in the national tours of “Fiddler on the Roof” and “Hairspray.” Cella has been featured on “The Sopranos” and “All My Children.” “It Shoulda Been You” also features Mark Epperson, whose theatre credits include the international tour of “Mamma Mia!” and “Chicago the Musical,” as well as the national tour of “Elf the Musical.”
Rounding out the rest of the cast are Katie Finan, David Duiven, Michael Glavan, and Jeff Meyer. Get ready to make a toast to the funniest wedding you’ve ever attended!
When I started to read The Devil in the White City, I was surprised to discover that it was a nonfiction book. Larson skillfully alternates between two stories about the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair: the story of the men who built the Fair, and the story of the serial killer who used the Fair to lure young women to their death.
I have always been fascinated with the Chicago World’s Fair, however I found the chapters on its creation to drag a little, and I often found myself skimming them so that I could get back to the fast-paced chapters about H.H. Holmes, the charming serial killer and his evil doings. I understand that the author was using the juxtaposition of the light and dark sides of Fair to create tension, but I found the dark side of the story more compelling.
The Devil in the White City is a fascinating read for history buffs and true crime fans alike. The book brings to life turn-of-the-century Chicago, the growth of a nation, and a frightening tour inside the mind of a killer.
Can a novel deliver entertainment and promise spiritual enlightenment? It can when served up by West Michigan pastor and spiritual director Sharon Garlough Brown. Packed inside her engaging story, Sensible Shoes, is a small non-fiction work on incorporating ancient spiritual disciplines into life. This 2013 Midwest Publishing Awards Show Honorable Mention book chronicles the friendship between four women who meet at a spiritual disciplines class, a class none of them initially wanted to attend.
The back cover of the book describes the women this way:
Hannah, a pastor who doesn’t realize how exhausted she is
Meg, a widow and recent empty-nester who is haunted by her past
Mara, a woman who has bounced from relationship to relationship and who is trying to navigate a difficult marriage
Charissa, a hard-working graduate student who wants to get things right
The book is structured around the development of the friendships, how the women are responding to the Saturday morning lessons given over three months, and what the practice of each discipline is dredging up from their pasts. Key to the development of the story and spiritual growth of the women is the seminar leader, Katherine Rhodes, and Charissa’s professor, Dr. Nathan Allen. The reader is set up to understand the conflict in the story by Brown’s effective use of short flashbacks.
Most chapters begin with the handout the women received at the start of a session, followed by the leader walking the women through the new discipline. Brown makes smooth transitions from the seminar to the lives of each woman, which she separates within the chapters. The story flows just like a typical novel.
Do not be deceived. Even if you skip reading the handout page or the explanation of the discipline you will not be able to escape the spirituality because the women share it with you, with either the personal reflection going on in their heads or in dialogue with each other.
At times, the dialogue itself will make the reader feel as if they are sitting with their own spiritual director. Take these examples:
“He (professor) placed his elbows on his desk, still clasping his hands together. ‘Your desire for control is keeping you from entrusting yourself to Christ, Charissa. And your desire for perfection is preventing you from receiving grace. You’re stumbling over the cross by trying to be good, by trying so hard to be perfect.’”
In the session on praying with imagination, the leader, Katherine refers back to the story of Bartimaeus asking for sight: “That’s a courageous thing to ask for, isn’t it? Sometimes it’s easier to remain in our darkness and blindness. But Bartimaeus wants to see.”
In the session about establishing a rule of life, Katherine gives an analogy: “Rules of life are like trellises … helping branches grow in the right direction and providing support and structure.”
Other practices Brown successfully weaves into her story include: Walking a Labyrinth as a Journey of Prayer, Lectio Divina, Praying the Examen, Wilderness Prayer, and Self-Examination and Confession.
Although I believe this book will find only a small audience in readers from West Michigan, readers of Christian fiction, and readers of Christian spiritual growth books, my hope is that others will pick up this gem and be as pleasantly surprised as I was.
Mason Street Warehouse’s (MSW) 2016 theatre season has been honored with five nominations for the 2017 Wilde Awards, including Best Musical and Best Performance by a Lead Actor. The award ceremony takes place at The Berman Center for the Performing Arts in West Bloomfield on Aug. 28. The ceremony is open to the public with doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the main event at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are available at theberman.org.
“We are both honored and excited to have been nominated for five Wilde Awards recognizing last summer’s season,” said MSW co-founder and Saugatuck Center for the Arts’ (SCA) Artistic Director Kurt Stamm. “We had incredibly talented casts and crews for The Great American Trailer Park Musical, Million Dollar Quartet, and Murder for Two last summer.”
The Wilde Awards honor the best productions, performances, and technical work produced or presented by professional theatres across the state of Michigan. Nominations are made based on reviews by professional critics at EncoreMichigan.com.
“After reviewing a record-breaking – and sometimes resource-stretching – number of productions at theaters all across the state during the 2016-17 season, our team of critics sifted through their extensive notes and determined which were the best productions, performances, and designs of the year,” said David Kiley, publisher of EncoreMichigan.com and producer of The Wilde Awards.
Mason Street Warehouse received the following Wilde Award nominations for its 2016-2017 season:
Best Musical: The Great American Trailer Park Musical, Kurt Stamm, Director
Best Performance, Lead Actor – Musical: James Scheider, Million Dollar Quartet
Best Performance, Lead Actor – Musical: Tom Vendafreddo, Murder for Two
Best Design – Sets: Jeremy Barnett, The Great American Trailer Park Musical
Best Music Direction: Jamie Reed, The Great American Trailer Park Musical
“Last summer was a very special season with all three of the Mason Street productions, garnering rave audience reviews and setting sales records,” said SCA Executive Director Kristin Armstrong. “We’re delighted to be recognized via this state-wide platform, and look forward to bringing a few Wilde Awards back to West Michigan.”
Nothing to Envy follows the lives of six North Koreans over fifteen years — a chaotic period that saw the death of Kim Il-sung, the unchallenged rise to power of his son Kim Jong-il, and the devastation of a far-ranging famine that killed one-fifth of the population. Taking us into a landscape most of us have never before seen, Barbara Demick brings to life what it means to be living under the most repressive totalitarian regime today — an Orwellian world that is by choice not connected to the Internet, in which radio and television dials are welded to the one government station, and where displays of affection are punished; a police state where informants are rewarded and where an offhand remark can send a person to the gulag for life.
Demick takes us deep inside the country, beyond the reach of government censors. Through meticulous and sensitive reporting, we see her six subjects — average North Korean citizens — fall in love, raise families, nurture ambitions, and struggle for survival. One by one, we experience the moments when they realize that their government has betrayed them.
This is an outstanding work of narrative nonfiction that offers a never-before-seen view of a country and society largely unknown to the rest of the world. With remarkable detail and through a deeply personal look at the lives of six defectors from the repressive totalitarian regime of the Republic of North Korea, Demick brings to life what it means to be living under the most repressive totalitarian regime in the world today.
The reader will find it heartbreaking, pitiful and with every page turn wish it not true.
The annual Don Lubbers Cup Regatta, named after former Grand Valley State University president and rowing supporter Arena D. (Don) Lubbers, featured hundreds of athletes and some of the top rowing teams from across the Midwest, all coming to Spring Lake on April 7-9 of this year.
And WKTV was there, filming the best moments. WKTV will replay those best moments on Saturday, July 29, at 6 p.m., and again on Wednesday, Aug. 2 at 6:30 p.m., on Comcast WKTV Channel 25 and on AT&T U-Verse Community 99.
Since its origin in 1995, the Lubbers Cup Regatta has grown to an event that attracts over 500 student athletes to Spring Lake to kick off the regatta season, according to the event’s website. The Lubbers Cup is produced in partnership with The Chamber of Commerce Grand Haven, Spring Lake, Ferrysburg, Grand Valley State University Club Sports, Grand Valley Rowing Club, and the communities of Spring Lake and Ferrysburg.
Some of the finest carillonneurs from around the world will fill the air with music on the campuses of Grand Valley State University during the annual International Carillon Concert Series. The 23rd annual Cook Carillon International Concert Series will take place on Sundays at 8 p.m. on the Allendale Campus through August 20. The 17th annual Beckering Family Carillon International Concert Series brings five concerts to the Lacks International Plaza located at the DeVos Center on Grand Valley’s Pew Grand Rapids Campus. These concerts will take place on Wednesdays at noon. For more information, contact Grand Valley’s Music and Dance Department at (616) 331-3484.
Beckering Carillon – Pew Grand Rapids Campus
August 2 – Julianne Vanden Wyngaard, GVSU university carilloneur
By Karen Thoms, Grand Rapids Public Library-West Side Branch
The word ‘hospitality’ brings to mind dinners or parties with friends and family. Almost always being hospitable includes food and drink shared with people you know. If this description of hospitality resonates, you may find Christine Pohl’s discussion of the evolution of hospitality in Making Room an interesting read.
Weaving together Biblical texts and ancient philosophical writings, Pohl discusses the roots of hospitality. Initially people, especially members of the church, were hospitable to strangers in need. Gradually, the magnitude of these genuine needs caused people to think in new ways about meeting those needs. Hotels, hospitals and even our current mental health care system sprung up. As these agencies, businesses and non-profits became part of the social landscape, fewer individuals stepped up to aid the poor and outcasts of society.
Today professionals attend to those who need lodging and healing, making face-to-face encounters with people in need more difficult and less frequent. Pohl argues that the long-term effects of professionalizing hospitality contributes to those helped being disconnected from the community and feeling invisible. Her honest assessment includes how to engage with the disenfranchised instead of sending them to professionals or, if need be, to stand with them as they seek professional help.
Throughout this excellent work, which comes with a companion study guide, Pohl will guide you from abstract commitments of loving your neighbor to concrete expressions of hospitality to the marginalized. Read as a history you will be enlightened, read as a commentary on society and the church you will be challenged to think differently about what true hospitality is and provoked to actions that contribute toward community healing.
Emmy & Telly Award-winner Patrick W. Ziegler leads “Theatre Camp: Life On, Off, and Behind the Stage” for children ages 6-9 and 10-14 years at the Saugatuck Center for the Arts (400 Culver Street). The camp runs from Aug. 7-11 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. To register visit sc4a.org or call 269-857-2399.
Ziegler will guide campers through songs and scenes during the week-long Theatre Camp, culminating in a variety show performance on Friday evening. Campers will experience acting, music, improv, dance, choreography, and will even dabble in makeup and costuming. Additionally, Ziegler will improve upon campers’ critical lifelong communication skills, such as listening and speaking, problem-solving, motivation and teamwork.
Theatre Camp will also give campers the opportunity to have exclusive backstage experiences, interact with special guests from Mason Street Warehouse, and learn from theater professionals.
“We’re fortunate to have Patrick’s caliber of talent, years of experience and passion for teaching youth here with us this summer,” said Education and Exhibitions Manager Whitney Valentine.
After studying Theatre and Communications at Western Michigan University, Ziegler trained at the National Shakespeare Conservatory in New York City. Ziegler ended up working extensively in theatre in various roles and capacities, only to go on to become a producer for Emmy Award-winning production house Wunderfilm Design and for several televisions shows and movies, such as “The Jamie Foxx Show” and “Cable Guy” starring Jim Carrey.
Ziegler is now the co-founder and managing partner of Fubble Entertainment – a production company that provides services in writing, producing, directing, creative consulting, and many more. Ziegler is an Emmy and Telly Award-winning producer for his work on children’s show “Come on Over!” and dramedy web series “Backstage Drama.”
Along with the camp, tuition includes a camp t-shirt and two discounted tickets to the Mason Street Warehouse production of “It Shoulda Been You.” Campers should bring a lunch for the week-long camp.
After a summer filled with master level classes, hands-on training, and countless rehearsal hours, this season’s talented groups of 13-19 year old students are ready to shine in two Civic Theatre summer productions: “The Neverending Story” and “Hairspray, Jr.”
Civic Theatre, known for delighting audiences with seemingly magical performances, has not held back this repertory season either. Fans of “The Neverending Story,” an epic fantasy based on Michael Ende’s 1983 novel, will delight as they see how Bastian’s daily encounters morph into reality while he reads from the magical book. The technical aspects of this show suspend disbelief as the story telling is shared through exceptional costuming and characters that include shadow screens, puppets, and foam created characters. Director, Allyson Paris notes “Growing up, this story was a favorite of mine. I was drawn to the idea that a child could be reading a book and imagining it come to life – only to have it happening in real time somewhere in our universe. This time, that somewhere is Civic Theatre’s stage.”
Hairspray, Jr.
The always ready, Tracy Turnbald and her justice seeking friends have few surprises in store for audiences too. “Hairspray, Jr.” will sing and dance its way into your heart . . . with moves directly from Broadway. Choreographer, Worth Hages, who played Amber VonTussle on the first national tour of “Hairspray,” has led the cast in bringing Jerry Mitchell’s delightful original choreography to life. Director Andrew Schneider said, “It’s extremely rewarding to see the passion for art grow for each student. The heart of this story is the message of love and acceptance of self and others, which is not only a perfect ‘lesson’ for these students but we are eager to share it with West Michigan audiences in such an uplifting and inspiring way.”
About Summer Repertory Theatre Intensive: This program offers students (ages 13-19) a hands-on theatre experience under the direction of Civic Theatre, regional, and nationally trained professionals. Productions are produced by students, 30 of whom are making their Civic debut in this summer. Through this program, students learn performance skills, as well as technical aspects of theatre – including set design, costume design, backstage work, sound, and lights. Both shows are family-friendly, affordable, and a great summer outing for kids and teens.
“The Neverending Story” and “Hairspray, Jr.” is July 28 – Aug. 6. Tickets are $10 – $16. Check www.grct.org for times.
By Mary Knudstrup, Grand Rapids Public Library, Main
Packing for your summer vacation? Be sure to take along Mary Roach’s Packing for Mars. Not exactly a travel guide, but an informative and often hilarious look at the arduous task of getting a human into space. This is not book about rocket thrusters and gaining orbit, but a look at the more intimate aspects of space travel that confound NASA scientists.
While reviewing the history of the space race, Roach unabashedly investigates some of science’s most delicate engineering challenges. Among her topics are digestion, and egestion in a zero-gravity environment and the problems that result from “two men, two weeks, no bathing, same underwear.” She revels about the joys of weightlessness; “(it’s) like heroin, or how I imagine heroin must be. You try it once, and when it’s over, all you can think about is how much you want to do it again.”
Her writing is smart, sassy and well-researched, loaded with footnotes that stand out as quirky entertaining side-bars to the main text; for example, did you know that guinea pigs and rabbits are the only mammals thought to be immune to motion sickness? Dogs, on the other hand, come by the old adage “sick as a dog” quite honestly. She also delves into the problem of taking a corned beef sandwich on a space mission and the contribution of cadavers to the space program.
While never losing sight of the heroic feats that astronauts perform, Roach probes fearlessly into the “ick factor” of living in space and in the end gives the reader an even deeper appreciation for what astronauts endure in terms discomfort and lack of privacy. Whether you are scientifically inclined or not, Packing for Mars will take you to places you’ve never been before.
Learn how to create batik designs at West Michigan Center for Arts + Technology, July 24–27, 2017, from 9:30 am-12:00 pm.
Batik is a traditional Indonesian fabric dyeing technique that allows artists to create beautiful patterns using a wax “resist”. You will also experiment with other dyeing techniques and design a hand-dyed pattern of your own.
Workshop leader John Cox specializes in color, design and textiles. He has taught fiber arts at WMCAT since 2008. John earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Interior Design from Kendall College of Art and Design with additional studies in textiles, industrial design and art history. He owned an arts retail business in Grand Rapids for 12 years and worked as an artist in Japan. John has displayed his work at galleries throughout West Michigan.
Go here to register. Fee is $125. Call 616.454.7004 for more information.
West Michigan Center for Arts + Technology is located at 98 E. Fulton St. Ste 202, Grand Rapids, MI 49503.
The Grand Rapids Public Museum (GRPM) announced that a special week of Laser Light Shows will take place this summer at the Chaffee Planetarium. For one week only, visitors to the Chaffee Planetarium can recline, relax, and rock out to dazzling laser light performances set to popular and classic music. From Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin to nineties hits and today’s hottest pop, get ready for a timeless journey of light and sound.
Laser Light Shows have something for every music lover, including: Laser Beatles, Pink Floyd’s The Wall, Laser Vinyl (the best of classic rock), Laser Zeppelin, Laserpolis (pop, rock, alternative and oldies), Laser Country, Electro Pop (today’s hottest hits), Lase Rock (classic rock), Laser Tribute (great artists whose music has inspired many), Electrolase (electronic dance music), and Metallica.
Laser Light Shows will take place starting Monday, July 24 and continue through Sunday, July 30. Shows begin at 3 or 4 p.m. each day, and continue with the last show at 9 p.m. Tickets to shows are $4 with Museum general admission, and $5 for planetarium-only tickets. Members receive free admission to planetarium shows. For a full schedule and to purchase tickets in advance, please visit grpm.org/Planetarium.
The Chaffee Planetariums special week of Laser Light Shows will return in September during ArtPrize. Save the dates for Sept. 25 through Oct. 1 for another round of dazzling lights and tantalizing tunes.
The Grand Rapids Public Museum (GRPM) just announced a new exhibit, “Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids,” opening this November. “Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids,” organized by the American Museum of Natural History in New York, traces the natural and cultural roots of some of the world’s most enduring mythological creatures from Asia, Europe, the Americas, and beyond.
Opening on Saturday, November 11, visitors will explore the various mythical creatures of the world. “Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids” features models and replicas of preserved specimens as well as cast fossils of prehistoric animals to investigate how they could have, through misidentification, speculation, fear, or imagination, inspired the development of some legendary creatures.
“Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids” offers many interactive stations throughout the exhibition. Visitors can build their own dragon on an engaging touch-screen and watch it come alive before their eyes in a virtual environment.
The exhibition will include imaginative models, paintings, and textiles, along with other cultural objects from around the world. The exhibit will bring to light surprising similarities and differences in the ways people around the world have been inspired by nature to envision and depict these strange and wonderful creatures. “Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids” is great for all ages.
Visitors will touch casts of a narwhal tusk to discover how they lent credence to the centuries-old belief in the unicorn. Hands-on stations also include the lower jaw of Gigantopithecus (extinct group of apes) and a life-size reproduction of the talon of a Haast’s eagle.
Admission to “Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids” will be $12 for adults, $7 for children, $9 for Kent County resident adults, $4 for Kent County resident children, and $2 for all Museum members! Tickets will include general admission to the Museum. This exhibit will be located on the Museum’s third floor and run from Nov. 11 to May 20.
“Mythic Creatures: Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids” is organized by the American Museum of Natural History, New York (amnh.org), in collaboration with the Australian National Maritime Museum, Sydney; Canadian Museum of History, Gatineau-Quebec; Fernbank Museum of Natural History, Atlanta; and The Field Museum, Chicago.
The Grand Rapids Mini Maker Faire announced that the Call to Makers for the 4th annual Grand Rapids Maker Faire has been an extended! Makers now have until Friday, Aug. 4, to sign up to showcase what they have invented or are making.
This year’s Maker Faire will be Aug. 19 and 20 held at the Grand Rapids Public Museum and nearby Grand Valley State University’s John C. Kennedy Hall of Engineering.
Maker Faire is looking for participants who enjoy tinkering, hacking, building and designing new technology based inventions. Any groups or individuals interested in participating in the Maker Faire should complete the application at Grand Rapids.MakerFaire.com. Unfinished projects are also welcome at Maker Faire.
The Grand Rapids Maker Faire is a family-friendly celebration featuring tech enthusiasts, crafters, educators, hobbyists, engineers, artists, students and commercial exhibitors. Part science fair, part county fair, and part something entirely new, Maker Faire is an all-ages gathering. All of these “makers” come to Maker Faire to show what they have made and to share what they have learned.
The Faire will be open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 19, and from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 20. Early bird tickets are available for purchase at GrandRapids.MakerFaire.comthrough Friday, August 4! Museum members receive FREE early bird tickets.
The Grand Rapids Maker Faire is being organized by a collaborative committee chaired by DTE Energy Scotty Kehoe, along with the GR Makers Mark Van Holstyn, The Geek Group Lis Bokt, Grand Rapids Community College Moss Ingram, Grand Valley State University Dr. Wael Moktar and Samhita Rhodes, Kent District Library Craig Buno, Kent Intermediate School District Rick Mushing and Ebiri Nkugba, Camp Newaygo Scott Lakin and Engine Matt Gryczan, Michigan Crossroads Council- Boy Scouts of America Bridget Knight, WMCAT Trudy Ngo-Brown and the Grand Rapids Public Museum.
The 4th annual Grand Rapids Maker Faire is sponsored by Make: Magazine, JR Automation Technologies, LLC, DTE Energy Foundation, Allegra Marketing, Print, Mail, Grand Rapids Community College, Grand Valley State University. Kent ISD, Lloyd Mandelbaum Director at Chicago Crucible LLC, Koops, Inc. and Open System Technologies.
Follow the development of the Grand Rapids Maker Faire on Twitter @makerfaireGR, as well as on its Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/makerfairegr/ .
Grand Rapids Mini Maker Faire is independently organized and operated under license from Maker Media, Inc.
Saugatuck Center for the Arts’ Mason Street Warehouse presents “Fully Committed,” a smart comedy about the behind-the-scenes going-ons in a trendy five-star restaurant. The production runs from July 21- August 6. Tickets are available at sc4a.org, by calling 269-857-2399, or at the box office.
“Fully Committed” features Sam, a struggling actor who works the red-hot reservation line at one of Manhattan’s hottest restaurants. A cast of desperate callers will stop at nothing to get a reservation from him. From bribing socialites, to crazy waiters and fickle celebrities, Sam juggles a host of demanding, eccentric characters while desperately trying to keep his personal life and acting career afloat.
The New York Times called “Fully Committed,” “immensely entertaining! A richly comic affirmation of everything you’ve ever heard, or suspected, about the bad behavior that good food can inspire.” Variety says not to miss this “tasty concoction of a play.”
Written by Becky Mode and directed by David Alpert, “Fully Committed” serves up a delicious helping of juicy schemes and hilarious characters that will have you laughing out loud.
Mason Street Warehouse alumnus Francis Kelly returns in the lead role of Sam. Kelly previously appeared as Nicky/Trekkie Monster in Mason Street Warehouse’s production of “Avenue Q.” He has appeared in New York as Burrs in Michael John LaChiusa’s “The Wild Party” at Columbia Stages, in the NYMF Audience Award-winning production of “Smoking Bloomberg,” and in the Drama Desk nominated “Animal Farm.”
The Saugatuck Center for the Arts welcomes guest Director David Alpert, from Muskegon, for the production. Alpert has worked on the Broadway productions of “If/Then” and “The Trip to Bountiful,” as well as on the first national tour of “Flashdance.” He was also nominated for Best Director (NYMF) for his work on “A Scythe of Time.”
Saugatuck Center for the Arts Artistic Director Kurt Stamm notes that Alpert himself is a Mason Street Warehouse alumnus, having been a Center Stage intern in 2006. “David was already very talented and focused as a student at Western Michigan University. It has been exciting to watch his star rise in the New York theatre world, and we’re thrilled to welcome him ‘back home’ to Mason Street for this terrific piece.”
Following the run of “Fully Committed,” Mason Street Warehouse wraps up its 15th Anniversary season with the musical comedy “It Shoulda Been You” which runs from August 18 – September 3.
Men are passionate about many things, and Piot’s memoir, No Time to Lose: A Life in Pursuit of Deadly Viruses is by turns, chilling and fascinating, as he reveals how a boy growing up in a small Belgium town, went on to pursue a consuming desire to help eradicate major infectious diseases, especially in Africa. People who are aware at a young age, of their calling — of some great work they must achieve, have always intrigued me. How do they know? Where does such an unselfish desire and drive come from?
As a child, Peter would pass by the tiny museum dedicated to a local man who had been a missionary to the lepers in Hawaii. He was incensed by society’s cruelty to people with a disease that brought such condemnation and isolation, and determined that he too, would serve those in great need.
Fresh out of medical school, in 1976 he was employed at a Belgium laboratory when a blood sample, thought to be a variety of yellow fever, came in. Routine tests were done on what Dr. Piot would later have the honor of helping to put a name to: Ebola. The most lethal and feared of all the hemorrhagic viruses to come out of Africa, with a 50-90 percent death rate.
After Ebola came another mysterious epidemic, slower to kill, but quicker to spread; and he realized how wrong his old professors had been, thinking that we had conquered the microbes. Piot would eventually go on to head up UNAIDS for fifteen years.
The author has a great storytelling voice — down home, funny, compassionate, engaging. He’s like a witty professor combined with a pirate with Bill Clinton, as he talks about working with political leaders and prostitutes, scary plane flights, irascible bosses, turf wars at the U.N. and more. A wonderful read.
As the sun sets on his reign, the great and powerful Henry Plantagenet (Guest Artist Robert Newman) calls his wife Eleanor (Guest Artist Kim Zimmer) to the castle at Chinon for Winter Court, along with their three sons — the warrior Richard (veteran Jamey Grisham), and the bumble-headed John (first year apprentice William Dunn), and the conniving Geoffrey (first-year apprentice Jabri Johnson). Eleanor has been imprisoned by her husband since 1173 and uses every moment she can to ensure Richard to be the successor to Henry. The key to the throne is to marry Alais, King Henry’s mistress (second-year apprentice Audrey Morton), who is promised by her brother, King Philip of France (second-year apprentice Quinn Moran), to Richard.
Locked behind the palace doors, a deadly game of alliances and betrayals unfolds as each player moves to control who will sit on the throne when Henry is gone. Goldman has combined keen historical and psychological insights with delicious, acid wit to create a modern theatrical masterpiece.
The Lion in Winter was originally produced on Broadway in 1966 with Robert Preston and Christopher Walken in the cast. It became an Academy Award-winning film in 1968 with Peter O’Toole, Katharine Hepburn, Anthony Hopkins, and Timothy Dalton. In many ways, this play is the very precursor to the Game of Thrones phenomenon. The political sleight of hand accompanied with the raw, often turned violent, emotions that can only be accessed in the most brutal of family dramas is sure to keep audiences at the edge of their seats as they try to distinguish love from lies.
Since their final appearances on TV’s Guiding Light, Robert and Kim have been sustaining their palpable chemistry and remaining a dynamic duo. They have worked together in productions of GYPSY at Pittsburgh CLO, and CURTAINS at Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey. They will soon be in a production of WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF later this year at the Theatre Workshop of Nantucket — but this marks the first time the power-couple has ever shared the Barn stage.
Performances for The Lion in Winter are Tuesday-Saturday at 8 pm and Sunday at 5 pm, July 25–August 6.
The Barn Theatre is located on M-96, west of Augusta. Tickets are $37 for adults and $25 for children 12 and under for all performances. Rehearsal Shed reservations can now be made online–day of show. Go to www.barntheatreschool.org. Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express are accepted. Group rates available. Tickets may now be purchased online. To reserve tickets at the Box Office – Call 269.731.4121; open daily 10 am-10 pm, or visit www.barntheatreschool.org.
“D. Wayne Sharf slid across Winky Butterfield’s pasture like a greased weasel headed for a chicken house.” Criminal stealth and practice have readied D. Wayne with a center cut pork chop as part of his kit, and soon he is on the run with his victims. A hail of bullets from their frantic owner suggests to D. Wayne that there has to be a better way to make a living, but — what? “There was stealing dogs, cooking meth, and stripping copper wire and pipes out of unoccupied summer cabins. That was about it in D. Wayne’s world.”
Thus begins the newest Virgil Flowers thriller, and no sooner had I brought it home, than my husband nabbed it. Putting aside his historical studies, he decided he needed a break with some less taxing reading. Soon he was chortling away, as detective Flowers steps in to help a close friend find some missing dogs. All this is on the QT, since Flowers can’t tell his boss he’s working a dog-napping case. But soon after the BCA agent arrives, the quiet southern Minnesota town of Trippton is struck by a murder. And then another murder—
Flowers is soon on the trail of a very, very, bad school board, meth makers, killers, and worst of all, cold-hearted dog-nappers. If you are already a Sandford fan, you’ve already read this book (pre-ordered possibly!), but if you haven’t tried him yet, he writes a meanly humorous thriller. This one is just a little lighter than usual, but it was just as much fun.
The rock band Chicago never dominated pop culture like Elvis or Madonna. Its musicians never became household names like John, Paul, George and Ringo. The group from the Windy City never filled arena after arena the way Bruce Springsteen, Prince or the Rolling Stones did.
Yet Chicago, over a 50-year career, has become, according to Billboard, “the greatest of all time” American band in singles chart success as well as the greatest of all time American band in album chart success.
The music of Chicago, one of the longest-running, most successful rock groups of all time, is coming to the Grand Rapids Symphony’s D&W Fresh Market Picnic Pops for the second week of the 2017 Picnic Pops.
Brass Transit from Toronto joins the Grand Rapids Pops for The Musical Legacy of Chicago at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday, July 20-21 at Cannonsburg Ski Area, 6800 Cannonsburg Rd NE. Principal Pops Conductor Bob Bernhardt will be on the podium for concerts underwritten by Gerald. R. Ford International Airport, Mercy Health, Vredevoogd Heating and Cooling, and Witness Inspection as Benefactor Sponsors.
Lawn seats begin at $19 for adults, $16 for seniors and students, $5 for ages 2 to 18, and free for children under age 2. Call the Grand Rapids Symphony at (616) 454-9451 ext. 4 during business hours or (616) 885-1241 or go online to PicnicPops.org
Grand Rapids Symphony performs at the Picnic Pops. Photo by Terry Johnston
Chicago, the self-described “rock and roll band with horns,” This rock and roll group, according to Billboard, led the U.S. singles chart during the 1970s and has sold over 40 million units in America.
With songs such as Beginnings, Saturday in the Park, andYou’re the Inspiration, Chicago has sold more than 100 million records worldwide over a five-decade career that began in 1967.
Their 1969 debut album, Chicago Transit Authority, was a double album, rare for a band’s first release. But within a year, the band sold over 1 million copies, earning a platinum disc, an impressive beginning for the group that would go on to record 25 or 6 to 4,Feelin’ Stronger Every Day and the ballad, If You Leave Me Now, which held the No. 1 spot on the U.S. charts for two weeks in 1976, winning the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus.
Brass Transit, organized nearly 10 years ago specifically to play the music of Chicago, features eight accomplished, award-winning musicians from Toronto, Ontario. Founder Tony Carlucci, musical director and trumpet player, launched the group to do something for himself. He explained, “My favorite band of all time is Chicago, and I decided to put something together to just have some fun.”
The plan was to stay local and play at nightclubs from time to time. After the son of one of the band members posted a video of their performance on YouTube, Brass Transit took off. Carlucci said, “The ball was thrown in my court and I decided to run with it.” Hear Brass Transit on YouTube.
Today, Brass Transit has been successful enough that several members of the group have filled in as occasional subs with Chicago itself. This tribute band does not simply play songs; they embody the music and bring the notes to life on stage.
In addition to all of the songs above, Brass Transit joins the Grand Rapids Pops for such Chicago hits as Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is, Make Me Smile, Old Days andHard To Say I’m Sorry.
In an October 2014 review on Icon Fetch, Tony Peter, after attending a concert, wrote, “I’ve seen Chicago 25 years ago, and they were nowhere near this good. Brass Transit led a high-energy, hit-filled evening that, with or without orchestra, is a must see.”
This incredibly talented band will appear at Cannonsburg for the first time on July 20-21 at 7:30 p.m., bringing D&W Fresh Market Picnic Pops fans back to some of the most memorable times of their lives in concerts underwritten by Grand Wealth Management, Mercantile Bank and Ranir as Patron Sponsors.
Coming next week, the Grand Rapids Pops’ three-concert, all classic pop/rock series rolls on with the music of Janis Joplin, Tina Turner, Carole King and Pat Benatar in Women Rock on July 27-28 at 7:30 p.m.
In August, join the Grand Rapids Symphony for the audience favorite Classical Fireworks show on Thursday, Aug. 3 with Music Director Marcelo Lehninger making his debut at Cannonsburg. Capping off the D&W Fresh Market Picnic Pops is the marvelous mariachi sound of Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán on Saturday, August 5. Both special-event shows begin at 8 p.m.
About Cannonsburg Ski Area
Gates at Cannonsburg Ski Area open at 5:45 p.m. each night for picnicking and pre-concert entertainment, including free, kid-friendly activities such as face painting, crafts, and a musical instrument petting zoo.
Pack your own picnic baskets and coolers or purchase food from the grill at the Cannonsburg concession stand. Alcoholic beverages are permitted on the grounds, and parking is free for concertgoers.
Tickets
Single Tickets
Single tickets for lawn seats in advance to The Musical Legacy of Chicago are $19 for adults, $16 for college students and seniors, or $5 for ages 2-18. Single tickets for general admission chair seating are $30. Single tickets for an individual, reserved table seats are $51 or $408 for an entire table for eight.
MySymphony360 members can attend for $15. U.S. Military on active or reserve duty or in the National Guard may purchase up to two tickets for $15 each. All children younger than age 2 are admitted for free.
All single tickets for all concerts are $5 more on the day of the show.
Flexpass Packages
The Flexpass 6-Pack offers six lawn tickets that can be used in any combination, on any concert night, for The Musical Legacy of Chicago and Women Rock on July 27-28. Flexpasses are $96 for adults and $84 for seniors. Flexpasses cannot be used for the special events in August.
Group discounts are available for groups of 10 or more people by calling (616) 454-9451 ext. 192.
Tickets can be purchased through the GRS box office by calling (616) 454-9451 ext. 4 weekdays or (616) 885-1241 evenings; or in person at 300 Ottawa Ave. NW, Suite 100; or online at GRSymphony.org.
Tickets also may be purchased through Ticketmaster at (800) 982-2787, or at Ticketmaster outlets at select D&W Fresh Markets, Family Fare stores and Walmart. Tickets purchased at these locations will include a Ticketmaster service fee.
Grand Haven native Erin McCahan presents her critically acclaimed young adult novel ‘The Lake Effect’ Tuesday, July 18 at 7 p.m. at Schuler Books & Music, 2660 28th St. SW.
A funny, bracing, poignant young adult romance and coming-of-age for fans of Huntley Fitzpatrick, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, and The Beginning of Everything.
When eighteen-year-old Briggs Henry decides to work for an eighty-four-year-old widow at her house on Lake Michigan the summer before college, he assumes he’ll take her to doctor appointments and help her with house work. Wrong. Briggs tries to leave behind his family and school troubles for a relaxing summer on the lake and instead encounters an eccentric elderly woman, tight-knit locals, and an enigmatic girl all of which gives a new meaning to “lake effect.”
McCahan grew up on the beaches of Grand Haven and Macatawa. Now a resident of landlocked New Albany, Ohio, she and her husband return every summer to North Beach in South Have, not he shores of Lake Michigan.
By Tim Gleisner, Grand Rapids Public Library, Main
