Category Archives: Entertainment

Register now for kids’ creative summer classes at Holland Area Arts Council

Citizen Journalism, Entertainment, Kids Activities, Recreation, Upcoming Events, , ,

By Mary Sundstrom

This summer, have your child explore his or her creative side. The Holland Area Arts Council offers Fine Arts Camps for all ages, grades 3 through 12.

The classic 8th Street Fine Arts Camp for grades 3-6 will explore the artwork of Yayoi Kusama, the Polka Dot Queen, and draw inspiration from her vibrant colors, polka dots and infinity rooms. Another quilting camp for grades 5-8 will explore the quilts of modern master Nancy Crow, and each student will again bring home pieced and tied quilt!

The newest addition to the Fine Arts Camps this summer is The Joy of Painting, a teen workshop intensive that will give students grades 9-12 a taste of art school. They’ll learn how to prepare a canvas or board, plan a painting, learn new techniques, gain an understanding of brushes, tools and mediums and finish the week with a peer critiques and a mini exhibition of their work.

The Arts Council offers a Clay Camp every year and have grown the program this summer with five camps, including all-new clay, colors and processes and an awesome new teacher. Grades 3-6 can join Mary Wolter, the Arts Council’s ceramics instructor, to make whistles, games, clay self-portraits, wind chimes — and also learn to use the wheel. The Arts Council is also offering a clay workshop for grades K-2 so the little ones get a chance to play in the mud.

Eat with Your Eyes Cooking Camps are back, too. This summer, grades 3-6 can choose between two culinary camps learning to cook a full day’s worth of food or exploring cuisine from Mexico, Italy and Asia. Kids learn to cook from scratch in these camps and leave with a folder of recipes and the skills to try them at home.

Students will meet at the Holland Area Arts Council each day at 150 East 8th Street in Downtown Holland. Call 616.396.3278 or go here for more information and to register.

Register early! Space is limited and camps fill up fast.

Kids ‘Simmer Camp’ now open for registration

Citizen Journalism, Entertainment, ,

By Downtown Market GR

Summertime is the perfect time for hands-on cooking and greenhouse activities! Downtown Market offers three exciting themes for kids ages 7-11 — but be sure to register now as classes fill up quickly.

HOW TO PLAY WITH YOUR FOOD
(3 DAY CAMP)

June 27, 28, and 29, 10a-2p • $150/child

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

 

July 25, 26, and 27, 10a-2p • $150/child

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

 

Tired of hearing, “don’t play with your food,” when you’re at the dinner table? In this week of Simmer Camp, you will experience culinary creativity through edible potions, sneaky vegetable appearances, and baking surprises. You’ll even build food sculptures and channel our inner Harry Potter with kitchen magic.

BACKYARD FARMING (3 DAY CAMP)

July 11, 12, and 13, 10a-2p • $150/child

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

August 1, 2, and 3, 10a-2p • $150/child

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Gather ‘round and turn the greenhouse and teaching
kitchen into a backyard farm. Learn new ways to grow
things in small spaces and how to use herbs and veggies from your yard or the farmers market. You won’t have to leave the city to get dirty and you’re sure to go home with some new ideas for creating habitats for the smallest helpers in every garden.

MEALS FROM THE MITTEN (4 DAY CAMP)

July 17, 18, 19, and 20, 10a-2p • $180/child
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

August 7, 8, 9, and 10, 10a-2p • $180/child

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

It’s a wonderful time to live in the Mitten State. Fruits and veggies are in their prime so we’ll gather around the table to celebrate Michigan’s bounty. Explore some recipes that are specific to Michigan towns and learn how farmers make the season last longer by preserving the flavors of summer to be enjoyed all year round!

On the shelf: ‘The Highest Tide’ by Jim Lynch

Citizen Journalism, Entertainment, , , ,

By Lisa Boss, Grand Rapids Public Library, Main

 

Newsflash: the Old Book Curmudgeon LOVED The Highest Tide. Ok, I wasn’t so sure at first. I can be a little hasty  about books, and the plot involves one 13-year-old boy’s summer on Skookumchuck Bay. I wasn’t sure if I would be interested in a 13-year-old boy no matter HOW many excellent reviews the book has gotten.

 

However,  it didn’t take long before I began to like the boy and the book very much. Jim Lynch writes with a subtle touch, the characters slowly revealing themselves. Things that might seem obvious at first, are revealed in much more depth later on, with just a few words, a couple of sentences.

 

Initially, I was entranced by the descriptions of the sea life on the tidal flats of Puget Sound. I loved going along with Miles as he turned over rocks (replacing them exactly the way they were) on his rounds across the flats. It was like listening to a marine biologist, only a young, humorous one.

 

Our protagonist, is a small-for-his-age, “almost 14”-year-old. He is the only child of parents who seem seriously mismatched, and his best friend so far in life, Florence, is a very old and  disabled lady who used to have a modest business as a psychic. He has a crush on his neighbor, who is spiraling into mental illness and is also an entrepeneur with a budding sea life business. No wonder he has trouble sleeping nights.

 

Miles O’Malley has a rich inner life, a passion for the sea and for Rachel Carson, and he is gifted with the capacity to think and act in ways that are out of the ordinary, in the sense that he thinks of others, even other life forms, more than he thinks of himself. So you might call Miles an “old soul”, except that he’s also an unintentionally very funny old soul.

 

Miles is an insomniac, which he blames on Rachel Carson:

 

“There is no drop of water in the ocean, not even in the deepest parts of the abyss, that does not know and respond to the mysterious forces that create the tide.” (Rachel Carson)

 

“How do you read that sentence, yawn and turn out the lights?” Miles asks us, and then goes on to explain that he also makes his best discoveries on moonlit nights when he can’t sleep and prowls the flats of Skookumchuck Bay at low tide. One night his ears pick up a faint, but very different sound from across the vast, dark mudflats and gravelly shore: “It was an exhale, a release of sorts, and I instantly wondered if a whale was stranded again.”  He approaches cautiously and finds the unbelievable: an Architeuthis, a giant squid. It will later be confirmed by Dr. Kramer, his mentor, at a huge media event, and thus begins a summer of notoriety for Miles.

 

Other discoveries follow: about sea creatures, about himself, Florence (his elderly friend), Phelps (his unlikely paid associate, whose obsessive interests are more typical: girls and rock ‘n roll), his parents, his love interest. As in most “young adult” novels, the protagonist faces changes and grows to meet them.

 

Some of the experiences are pretty rough and Miles often turns to the sea for help:

 

“…it was hard for me to feel fear or sadness at dawn on that bay… the water was so clear I could see coon-stripe shrimp in the eelgrass near the tavern and the bottomless bed of white clam shells pooled across the sunken tip of Penrose Point.

 

“Those shells, as unique and timeless as bones, helped me realize that we all die young, that in the life of the earth, we are houseflies, here for one flash of light.”

 

You certainly don’t have to be 14 to relate to  this book. The themes resonate well with people (like the Old Book Curmudgeon) who are at the opposite end of their own timeline.

 

What might happen if we really paid attention to life? What might we discover about the world and ourselves if we just looked a little closer and a little longer? We’re swept along by the tides of time whether we will or nil; so much of life seemingly out of our control. Maybe at a certain point the changes don’t look so good as we are drawn inexorably out to sea. And yet, the way Lynch frames things, it doesn’t sound so bad.

 

Miles draws strength from Rachel Carson’s philosophy. He especially admires that she was not “intimidated by time”.  When she looked at the ocean she summed up that:

 

“In its mysterious past it encompasses all the dim origins of life and receives in the end, after, it may be, many transmutations, the dead husks of the same life. For all at last return to the sea—to Oceanus, the ocean river, like the ever-flowing stream of time, the beginning and the end.” Rachel Carson

 

This book would be a gold mine for book clubs. Lots of material for thoughtful discussion here.

 

Don’t let the liberal use of the “F” word throw you off or you might be too hasty and miss a great little work that illuminates the best in us.

6th Annual GRandJazzFest announces 2017 dates

Citizen Journalism, Entertainment, Local Entertainment, Our Cities, Upcoming Events, , , , , ,

 

By Molly Klimas

 

GRandJazzFest presented by DTE Energy Foundation returns to Rosa Parks Circle in downtown Grand Rapids, Mich., this Aug. 19 and 20, for the sixth annual festival. The popular family-friendly festival is West Michigan’s only free, weekend-long jazz festival.

 

At the 2017 festival in August, 11 diverse jazz artists and bands will perform, including a student jazz band and two major headline acts. Free face painting by Fancy Faces will be available for kids and, if lines aren’t too long, for “kids at heart.”

 

The two-day festival will again be free thanks to Presenting Sponsor DTE Energy Foundation, the City of Grand Rapids and other sponsoring organizations, individuals and volunteers.

 

“There’s something special about jazz that brings people together like no other art form. It’s because jazz is so diverse – it has so many styles, from Big Band to Latin to Contemporary, and I’m just naming a few,” GRandJazzFest Founder Audrey Sundstrom said. “GRandJazzFest is what community is all about.”

 

GRandJazzFest typically draws thousands to the heart of downtown Grand Rapids for the two-day, outdoor event always held the third weekend in August.

 

Holding the festival in the center city is by design, to enable festival-goers to take in all that downtown has to offer: restaurants, clubs, museums, microbreweries and shops. The festival typically occurs during Restaurant Week in Grand Rapids. The festival’s location provides easy access to those who ride the bus, walk or bike, and is also close to parking.

 

The 2017 festival lineup will be announced on April 26 at the House of Entertainment and Music (H.O.M.E.) at The B.O.B.

 

 

On the shelf: ‘The best of James Herriot: favorite memories of a country vet’ by James Herriot

Citizen Journalism, Entertainment, , , , ,

By Lisa Boss, Grand Rapids Public Library, Main

 

“All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small, all things wise and wonderful, the Lord God made them all.” (Cecil Alexander)

 

Great books are like musical pieces, with chords and leitmotifs that resonate in our hearts and help us to cope with a painful world. As such, new ones are not necessarily better than older ones, and personal favorites may bring the comfort and wisdom of time-tested friends. I re-visit a few of the Herriot books every so often, and feel the better for it. James Alfred Wight (1916-1995) — pen name, James Herriot — grew up in Scotland and graduated from Glasgow Veterinary College, going to work at a small rural practice when he was 23. A self-confessed “city boy”, he soon fell in love with the wild, spacious countryside of the Yorkshire Dales and its inhabitants.

 

The semi-fictionalized tales of his eccentric partner, Siegfried, with his devil-may-care brother, Tristan, and a larger cast of town characters, have been the bedrock of an enduring legacy. Memoirs of a time and place that don’t exist anymore; Britain between the great wars and on into the forties and fifties, when a great transition was taking place from tiny farms powered by draft animals to a more industrial form of agriculture.

 

To dip into these reminisces is to visit a quieter time, but not an easier one, for vets or their patients. A time before the “miracle” drugs were yet to appear, leading the author to remark, “Those old black magic days with their exotic, largely useless medicines reeking of witchcraft. They have gone for good and though as a veterinary surgeon I rejoice, as a writer I mourn their passing.”

 

Wight wanted to preserve that unique time, and when he started writing his memoirs in his fifties, he imagined a small book of humorous anecdotes, but the books soon grew into a whole world with all its joys and sorrows. Not just about animals, but more about how all the components of work, relationships, love and duty fit together to form healthy communities.

 

And like many compassionate people, the author himself did not always have an easy time of it. He endured a chronic physical ailment and could suffer bouts of depression (possibly from Brucellosis), which one might never guess from his books, except that there is much more depth and understanding of the human condition than a quick glance might reveal.

 

Loved for over 30 years, they are true modern classics.

March 27 is deadline to enter The Eclipse Awards

Citizen Journalism, Entertainment, WKTV Projects, , ,

By Tom Norton, WKTV

 

The 6th Annual Eclipse Awards are on their way to a record number of entries, and there are just three days left to enter: Deadline is 5 pm Monday, March 27.

 

Michigan is hopping with serious content creators and WKTV’s Digital Cinema Program, the WMFVA, Ferris State University, Compass College of Cinematic Arts and the West Michigan Film Office are all sponsors of Michigan’s only competition for film, television, online and the crafts that support them.

 

Sixty judges from a vast array of disciplines in Grand Rapids, Los Angeles and New York will see your work, whether or not you’re screening in any of these cities.

 

Viewing and voting begins March 30. The announcement of nominations is April 17 at 7 pm. Go here to enter.

 

 

Saugatuck Center for the Arts hosts an evening of cool jazz

3-bottom, Entertainment, , ,
Tania Chantzi

By Angela Peavey

Saugatuck Center for the Arts

 

The Saugatuck Center for the Arts features international singer Tania Chantzi for a “Hot Evening of Cool Jazz” Saturday, March 25, from 8 – 10 p.m. Hosted by Leslie and Stelios Dokianakis, guests will mingle, enjoy a drink, and experience  the smooth sounds of jazz classics and American Songbook favorites performed by Chantzi and her quartet.

 

Tickets for the event are $50/person and are in support of the SCA’s “Growing Young Artists” program for K-8thgrade migrant students. Space is limited; call 269-857-2399 or sc4a.org to reserve your tickets.

 

Native of Greece, Chantzi has performed with the bands Jazzin’ Around, Da Band, and Dear Rene. She is currently studying Jazz Voice at Hope College. Her quartet for the evening is an all-star lineup of West Michigan instrumentalists: Rufus Ferguson (piano), Jeff Beavan (bass guitar), Jim Cooper (vibraphone), and Steven Perry (drums).

 

“We are very excited about this event,” said Kristin Armstrong, SCA Executive Director. “We’re transforming the lobby into a club setting for the evening. This is the only opportunity to experience this group – it’s going to be a wonderfully intimate night of live music with these very talented musicians.”

 

Armstrong noted that proceeds from the evening will support the SCA’s “Growing Young Artists” (GYA) program which gives pre-K through 8th-grade migrant students the opportunity to participate in a two-week project based learning intensive. Taught in Fennville and South Haven schools, GYA supplements the students’ math, science, and language classes through arts-infused project based learning. As a result, the students learn important soft skills like teamwork, collaboration, problem-solving, and empathy.

 

“Leslie and Stelios are deeply supportive of Growing Young Artists and our children’s programs. This special event was their brainchild – a way to introduce friends to the SCA and our programming through an evening of great music.” Armstrong said only a few tickets remain for the event; they can be purchased online or by calling the SCA.

 

The Saugatuck Center for the Arts is located at 400 Culver St., Saugatuck.

Van Andel tickets for The Who concert go on sale Friday

Entertainment, , , , , ,

By Hilarie Szarowicz

Van Andel Arena

 

One of rock’s most legendary and defining bands, THE WHO announced today that they will return to Grand Rapids to perform at Van Andel Arena for one night only on July 25, at 7:30 p.m. The London Souls will open the show.

 

Tickets go on sale to the general public beginning Friday, March 24 at 11:00 AM. Ticket prices are $39.50, $59.50, $82 and $139.50 and will be available at the Van Andel Arena and DeVos Place® box offices, online at Ticketmaster.com, and charge by phone at 1-800-745-3000. VIP packages will be available via Ticketmaster. A purchase limit of eight (8) tickets will apply to each order and prices are subject to change.

 

Fans can expect the band to take them on an ‘Amazing Journey’ through their entire career from the days of ‘The High Numbers’ to classic albums such as ‘Who’s Next’ ‘Tommy,’ ‘Quadrophenia,’ ‘My Generation’ and ‘Live at Leeds’ up to the present day.

On the shelf: ‘Still Alice’ by Lisa Genova

Citizen Journalism, Entertainment, , , ,

By Julie Tabberer, Grand Rapids Public Library, Main

 

Still Alice is the story of Alice and her journey through early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. I initially heard about this book from a friend who works at a local retirement community and told me that Still Alice was a bit hit with their reading club.

 

Alice, 50 years old, is a professor in Harvard’s psychology department and a woman who defines herself by her ability to think intelligently. As we enter her life, Alice is forming a vague suspicion that something might be wrong. The story follows her through diagnosis and into the full-blown takeover of her mind by the disease.

 

The novel parallels Alice’s journey: after her diagnosis, there is no path for her other than dementia. As you read, you hope that somehow the plot will be derailed — the diagnosis is wrong, a treatment is found, Alice somehow defies nature.

 

This book connects strongly with the reader on an emotional level, but also offers an opportunity to learn. The author, Lisa Genova, has a PhD in neuroscience and bases the story on her research. Still Alice seeks to tell the truth about Alzheimer’s disease as much as it seeks to tell Alice’s story. The book succeeds on both levels, offering the reader insights into the effects of Alzheimer’s disease on individuals, family and friends.

 

Still Alice is a great read, and not just for those who are dealing with Alzheimer’s disease in their lives. With a discussion guide at the end of the book and numerous themes to discuss, it is also well-suited to a reading club.

Local author has signing in conjunction with Grand Rapids Public Museum’s ‘Whales’ exhibit

Citizen Journalism, Entertainment, , , ,
Christopher Kemp

By Kate Moore

Grand Rapids Public Museum

 

The Grand Rapids Public Museum (GRPM) is partnering with local author and scientist, Christopher Kemp to bring his book Floating Gold: A Natural (and Unnatural) History of Ambergris to the Grand Rapids Public Museum’s Curiosity Shop.

 

Kemp will be in the main foyer of the Museum in front of the Curiosity Shop on Tuesday, March 21, from 4 – 7 p.m. Floating Gold: A Natural (and Unnatural) History of Ambergris will be available for visitors to purchase and have signed by Kemp.

 

Christopher Kemp lives in Grand Rapids and works as a scientist. He has a personal connection to the Whales: Giants of the Deep exhibit, as the author of the book Floating Gold: A Natural (and Unnatural) History of Ambergris. His book explores the entertaining and lively history of ambergris, a rare secretion produced only by sperm whales, and it’s fascinating use in perfume. Kemp’s book also contains images from the very same specimen of ambergris that is included in the exhibit.

 

Kemp’s journey begins with an encounter on a New Zealand beach with a giant lump of faux ambergris—determined after much excitement to nothing more exotic than lard—that inspires a comprehensive quest to seek out ambergris and its story. He takes us from the wild, rocky New Zealand coastline to Stewart Island, a remote, windswept island in the southern seas, to Boston and Cape Cod, and back again. Along the way, he tracks down the secretive collectors and traders who populate the clandestine modern-day ambergris trade.

 

Floating Gold is a history that covers not only these precious gray lumps and those who covet them, but presents a highly informative account of the natural history of whales, squid, ocean ecology, and even a history of the perfume industry. Kemp’s obsessive curiosity is infectious, and eager readers will feel as though they have stumbled upon a precious bounty of this intriguing substance.

 

Tickets are currently on sale for the Whales: Giants of the Deep exhibition, which runs through April 15. Members will be $2 per ticket, and non-member adults are $13, non-member children are $8. Admission to Whales: Giants of the Deep includes general admission to the Museum. Further discounts to Kent County residents. Tickets can be purchased by visiting grpm.org/Whales or calling 616-929-1700.

Ancient text translated for modern theater production of ‘Helen’ at GVSU

Entertainment, , , ,

By Matthew Makowski

Grand Valley State University

 

As the legend is told, Helen of Sparta was the most beautiful woman in all of Greece. “The face that launched a thousand ships” fled to Troy with Paris, son of the Trojan king Priam, to escape her husband Menelaus. This act of treachery instigated the 10-year Trojan War.

 

But, what if Helen never fled to Troy? That is the question proposed by Euripides, an ancient Greek playwright, in his play “Helen.” The play, first produced in 412 B.C., has been translated for modern audiences by Diane Rayor, professor of classics at Grand Valley State University, and will be performed by students.

 

Productions of “Helen” will take place March 24, 25, 30, 31 and April 1 at 7:30 p.m., and March 26 and April 2 at 2 p.m. All performances will take place in Louis Armstrong Theatre, located in the Performing Arts Center on the Allendale Campus. Tickets are $12 for adults, $10 for seniors and Grand Valley alumni, faculty and staff, and $6 for student groups. For more information or to purchase tickets, call the Louis Armstrong Box Office at (616) 331-2300.

 

There will also be many additional events during the run of “Helen.” For a full list of related events, visit http://gvsu.edu/s/0pb.

 

In Euripides’ play, Helen never went to Troy. Instead, the gods made Paris a phantom Helen from a cloud and sent the real Helen to Egypt for safe-keeping during the Trojan War, which was subsequently fought over the fake Helen. Seventeen years later, Menelaus lands shipwrecked in Egypt with his reclaimed phantom bride, and the real Helen attempts to convince him that she is the true Helen in order to avoid marrying the Egyptian king.

 

Rayor spent much of 2016 translating Euripides’ writing into modern English through a grant from the Loeb Classical Library Foundation. When translating ancient texts into performance pieces, Rayor said collaboration with all parties involved in a production is key.

 

“By revising a draft in collaboration with actors and their director during rehearsals, I fine-tune the translation into a truly actable script that combines accuracy with lively performance,” she explained. “When someone stumbles on a line, asks what something means, or unconsciously changes something, those are all clues to me that revisions need to happen.”

 

Mallory Caillaud-Jones, a senior majoring in theater who portrays Helen in the production, said participating in the translation process helped her connect to her character more deeply.

 

“This process allows us to have a voice in how we think our characters would word certain things, which in turn bring us closer to them,” she said. “It is very daunting to have to put yourself into the mind of a character whose entire life has been derailed by hundreds of people dying in her name because of a war her husband waged as a result of his hurt pride.”

 

In addition to assisting with the script, Caillaud-Jones said she is excited to portray a strong female character on stage.

 

“Almost all the ancient texts that refer to Helen portray her as a passive subject of desire for men, but this is the only tale in which she takes control and tells the story as it truly happened,” she explained. “It is unfortunately rare to find strong female characters in both contemporary and classical plays, but this play is extremely female centered.”

 

“Helen” draws expertise from not only the theater and classics departments at Grand Valley, but also the departments of music and dance, and art and design.

 

Nayda Collazo-Llorens, a visual artist currently serving as the Art and Design Department’s Padnos Distinguished Artist-in-Residence, has created video projections that will be used during the production. Also, Pablo Mahave-Veglia, Early Music Ensemble director and associate professor of cello, will perform the music of “Helen,” along with, at times, a chorus of 13 female student voices.

 

“I think that audiences will find the play to be a completely sensory experience due to the combination of live actors, video and music, much like what we would think of as a piece of installation art,” said Karen Libman, professor of theater and “Helen” director. “My hope is that the play will provoke pleasure and interest because it is so unique, and then maybe cause the audience to reflect on their own perceptions and well-loved myths.”

Paws, Claws & Corks benefit for Humane Society is tonight

Citizen Journalism, Entertainment,

Tickets will only be available for sale at the door on the day of the event until tickets run out.

Sip on samples of fine wines and microbrews, enjoy tastes of Grand Rapids’s best restaurant, and bid on exciting packages including adventures, trips, wine, sports memorabilia and much more! Most importantly, money raised will benefit the Humane Society of West Michigan in our mission to promote the humane treatment and responsible care of animals in our community through education, example, responsible placement and protection.

The event takes place at 6 p.m. in the Steelcase Ballroom at DeVos Place, 303 Monroe Ave NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49503.

Tickets now on sale for Tulip Time Knick Series’ guitarist Duffy King

Citizen Journalism, Entertainment, , , ,

By Susan Zalnis

 

Tickets are now on sale for the award-winning guitarist, Duffy King, who will be performing at Tulip Time Festival this year.

 

Festival entertainment is returning to downtown Holland for three great nights at the Knickerbocker Theatre, 86 E 8th St, Holland, Mich. On Thursday, May 11th, Duffy King will take the stage. Energetic, kinetic grooves, driving rhythms, blistering leads, and finesse are words that have been used to describe Duffy’s style of guitar playing.

 

Hailing from Detroit and its vast musical heritage, Duffy has toured throughout the world and has done countless studio sessions, including nationally televised ad campaigns and major label releases that have been nominated for awards including Grammy Awards, Billboard Magazine awards, and World Music Awards. The combination of these accomplishments, and performing with an array of world class musicians, has earned him a reputation as a top caliber guitarist. Well-versed in all styles of playing, Duffy is best known for his potent Jazz/Rock and R&B/Funk chops.

 

Duffy’s talent doesn’t stop with playing guitar. His song writing skills have won awards in Billboard Magazine’s Songwriter’s Contest, and received acclaim for his solo release, Livin’ for the Big Time, which charted in the top 10 on many radio stations throughout the mid-west region.

 

Also a strong vocalist, Duffy has had 20 Detroit Music Award nominations, (winning 6), including nods for Outstanding R&B Instrumentalist, R&B Vocalist, R&B Artist, R&B Recording, Jazz Recording. His Solo Guitar Christmas was nominated for a Detroit Music Awards Outstanding Jazz recording. His newest release, Acoustically Speaking, has met with rave reviews and is currently charting in the top 10 on a number of jazz stations.

 

The Tulip Time performance will feature several cuts from this release.

 

Other Knick Series performances include funny man Andy Beningo for a night of clean comedy on Friday, May 12th, and the return of Chicago’s legendary improv group, The Second City. Tickets for these shows, and all other festival events, can be purchased online at www.tuliptime.com, via phone at 616.396.4221 or visit the Tulip Time box office at 74 W. 8th Street in Holland.

 

The Tulip Time Festival Guide is now available offering complete details for the 2017 program. Festival Guides can be viewed online or you can request a copy at www.tuliptime.com/join. Connect with Tulip Time and download the free app.

Mason Street Warehouse summer line-up dazzles to celebrate SCA’s 15th Anniversary

3-bottom, Citizen Journalism, Entertainment

Mason Street Warehouse housed at the Saugatuck Center for the Arts (SCA) is celebrating its 15th Anniversary, bringing a dazzling lineup to the stage.  The lakeshore’s only professional Equity theatre, Mason Street is producing the Michigan premiere of “Memphis The Musical:” the hilarious comedy “Fully Committed;” and the fresh, modern musical comedy “It Shoulda Been You.”

 

Mason Street Warehouse (MSW) performances are at the Saugatuck Center for the Arts, 400 Culver Street, Saugatuck. Season and individual tickets are now on sale at sc4a.org or 269-857-2399. 

 


MSW Founder and Artistic Director Kurt Stamm held auditions in New York City, Chicago, and various Michigan locations – Mason Street received more than 3,400 submissions in NYC alone this year.  Stamm says the strength of Mason Street’s brand means he’s bringing outstanding professional talent back to West Michigan this summer.

 

“Memphis is a huge song and dance show and we’ll be putting up the Michigan premiere. We had truly phenomenal talent audition for the production as well as for ‘Fully Committed’ and ‘It Shoulda Been You,’” Stamm said.  

 


“Memphis: The Musical” is the largest production Mason Street has produced in its 15-year history and was a very deliberate choice, Stamm said. “We had a tremendously strong season last summer and this year we’re celebrating our 15th anniversary. We’re pulling out all the stops and giving the community a seriously dazzling lineup!”

 


Stamm noted that this summer’s shows will feature professional actors making their Mason Street debuts as well as MSW “alumni.”  “We’re still nailing down our contracts, but I’m very excited about the possibility of welcoming back several fabulous actors who have been on the Mason Street stage before. It’s always wonderful to bring these professionals back to West Michigan.”


Individual and season tickets are now on sale, and season tickets to see all three shows can be purchased at a great discount. Mason Street also offers senior, student, and group discounts. Call the box office for more information: 269-857-2399

Tickets now on sale for the 2017 D&W Fresh Market Picnic Pops

Citizen Journalism, Entertainment, , , , , , , ,

By Jeffrey Kaczmarczyk

The Grand Rapids Pops will rock your world in more ways than one at the 2017 D&W Fresh Market Picnic Pops.

Three weeks of classic rock, including a brand-new show, Women Rock, with the music of Tina Turner, Carole King, Aretha Franklin and more, are part of the 2017 D&W Fresh Market Picnic Pops season at Cannonsburg Ski Area. The season opens July 13-14 with The Music of ABBA starring Arrival from Sweden.

“It’ll be a joyously, infectious opening night. Everything about it is fun,” said Principal Pops Conductor Bob Bernhardt, who will be a big part of the summer season.

The summer of rock continues July 20-21 with The Musical Legacy of Chicago featuring Brass Transit.

The three-concert series ends July 27-28 with Women Rock, a brand-new show that pays homage to some of the biggest stars and best-known female singers of the past 50 years with songs including Carole King’s I Feel The Earth Move, Tina Turner’s What’s Love Got To Do With It, Aretha Franklin’s Freeway of Love, Janis Joplin’s Piece Of My Heart, Pat Benatar’s Hit Me With Your Best Shot, and Heart’s These Dreams.

Classical Fireworks on Friday, Aug. 3, welcomes Grand Rapids Symphony Music Director Marcelo Lehninger to the podium for his debut at Cannonsburg. Lehninger will lead the orchestra in audience favorites including Copland’s “Hoedown” from Appalachian Spring, the finale from Dvorak’s “From the New World” Symphony No. 9, and Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture.

Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán, dubbed the world’s best mariachi band, ends the season on Saturday, Aug. 5.

For more info and to purchase tickets, go here.

 

Saugatuck Center for the Arts offers an evening of family films

Entertainment, , , , , ,
“Afterglow”

Grab a bag of popcorn and join us for a very special evening of award-winning family cinema at the Saugatuck Center for the Arts, 400 Culver Street, on Friday, March 24, at 6:30 p.m.  The SCA is proud to host the Telluride Film Festival’s Moutainfilm on Tour, featuring engaging films for all ages (run time 135 minutes).

 

The SCA’s Family Film Night features 14 films ranging from two-minute shorts to a 25-minute feature film. Mountainfilm staff member Cara Bunch will emcee the evening, introducing five of the selections. The playlist includes a variety of “adrenaline” films, thoughtful environmental films, and titles with a splash of humor, including:

 

  • Reinvention of Normal: Toothbrush maracas, an umbrella with plant pots, a tea cup cooling fan, and the reverse bungee … all are inventions of London artist/inventor/designer Dominic Wilcox. This short film follows Wilcox on his quest to come up with something creative every day. The result is a font of productivity as he transforms the mundane and ordinary into surprises, wonders and, sometimes, just plain absurdities.
  • Afterglow: Hailed as one of the most cinematically profound ski films ever made, Afterglow features bold, uncompromising, creative imagery. Filmed at night in British Columbia and Alaska’s backcountry with powerful lights and ski suits studded with LED lights.
  • Making Waves: Morocco has some terrific surf breaks, but for most local Muslim women these waves are off limits. Not so for Oumaima Erhali, a 17-year old determined to partake in the sport she loves.
  •  Rabbit Island: In the middle of the vast watery stretch that is Lake Superior sits Rabbit Island, 91 acres of rocks, earth, trees and wild habitat. Rabbit Island has never been divided or developed, nor will it ever be. This place offers a new kind of wild experience, where the point is to do nothing to an ecosystem and see what it teaches us. This film is a brief study of an island set on the majestic Lake Superior, and the artists who gather there for inspiration.
  • The Fisherman’s Son: Anyone who’s seen Patagonia photographer Jeff Johnson’s film “180 Degrees South: Conquerors of the Useless” remembers Ramón Navarro, the Chilean surfer who gives the traveler and his crew a humble introduction to his beloved, overfished waters. The Fisherman’s Son is a film that finally explores Navarro’s life in depth, following the trajectory of a boy who came from a fishing family to become one of best big-wave riders in the world and is now an impassioned environmental activist.

 

Making Waves

Established in 1979, Mountainfilm is dedicated to educating, inspiring, and motivating audiences about environments, cultures, issues, and adventures. Working at the nexus of filmmaking and action, its flagship event is the renowned Telluride Mountainfilm festival, in Telluride, Colorado. The festival has attracted leading documentary filmmakers, artists, photographers, conservationists, mountaineers, scientists, journalists and explorers form around the world to engage in the festival’s tag line of “celebrating indomitable spirit.”

 

Through Mountainfilm on Tour, the festival touches the lives of over 50,000 people every year and visits more than 100 locations on six continents. The visit to Saugatuck is their way of extending the reach of the annual festival and helping the filmmakers’ inspiring content be seen by audiences who otherwise might never have the opportunity.

On the shelf: ‘The Pillars of the Earth’ by Ken Follett

Citizen Journalism, Entertainment, , , ,

By Lisa Boss, Grand Rapids Public Library, Main

 

The year is 1123, England is full into the Middle Ages, and a routine event is occurring in the town square: a man is being hanged. There’s something odd about this particular execution though. The man is unknown to the people.  He sings in French before his death, and the crowd becomes uneasy, absorbing the unrest of the officials at hand. Suddenly, a young woman appears, cutting the throat of a cockerel as she utters a terrifying curse, and throws the blood spattering bird directly at the three men responsible for the stranger’s death. Shock momentarily paralyzes the populace, and she disappears into the forest.

 

This is the heart of the mystery that pulses at the center of the numerous plot lines: who was this man and why was he killed?

 

The Pillars of the Earth is a riveting, epic work, with a cast of real, engaging characters, living in times that will definitely take your mind off your 401K.  Written in 1989, it has always enjoyed a place on “great reads” lists, and was chosen as an Oprah Book Club pick in 2007. Like all epics, the author celebrates the continuous struggle of Good against Evil in this work, and how human nature can be so easily inclined either way. I loved (or hated) the characters. Listening to it on audio, I found that I was constantly making excuses to drive somewhere to find out what was going to happen. I was hooked after the first few minutes, actually sobbing out loud as one early drama (probably very commonplace back then) unfolded. So, there’s plenty of emotional connection to the characters, and the plot is filled with unexpected twists and turns.

 

Follett begins his tale with a brief reference to a great historical disaster for the English Crown that occurred in 1120: the wreck of the White Ship. King Henry I, (1068-1135), who was the youngest son of William the Conqueror, had one son. On a fatal night in November 1120, the White Ship set out from France to England, carrying this son of Henry; but it foundered on the rocks, and all aboard perished in the sea, save one man.

 

The end result of this disaster was the lack of an obvious inheritor to the throne. Henry arranged for his daughter, Matilda (Maude) to succeed him, but his nephew, Stephen, also had factions supporting him, and civil war broke out. Later known as “the time of anarchy”, chaos and lawlessness broke out, lasting almost 20 years until another undisputed king was crowned.

 

During this time, wars are fought, political alliances are formed and betrayed, bishops are created, men and women live and die, and life in Kingsbridge increases and wanes, according to the whims of the larger forces that seek power, and the fierce spirit of human creativity and growth.

 

Follett was well-known for writing intricate, popular thrillers before this work. He said that Pillars of the Earth grew out of his fascination with the history and architecture of the great cathedrals. He began to imagine the men that built them, the mathematical discoveries that informed their advance into new building forms, resulting in the creations that would inspire and awe for generations to come. If you’ve ever walked into an old cathedral, you’ll appreciate this book all the more. Follett said that he wanted to tell their story, but in a way that would convey everything that was put into them and going on around them. If you’re looking for a long, absorbing historical novel that’s also a total thriller, this is for you!

New shows launch at the Chaffee Planetarium

Entertainment, , ,
The Grand Rapids Public Museum. (Supplied)

By Kate Moore

Grand Rapids Public Museum

 

The Grand Rapids Public Museum has announced a brand new line-up of shows that will premiere at the Roger B. Chaffee Planetarium this spring. Beginning March 19, the Chaffee Planetarium will be showing Eclipses and Phases of the Moonand Escher’s Universe to audiences.

 

This year, 2017, marks a special year for solar experiences in the United States. On Monday, Aug. 21, a total solar eclipse will take place across the continental U.S. from Washington to South Carolina. Leading up to this special event, the GRPM will be showing Eclipses and Phases of the Moon, highlighting how and why solar and lunar eclipses happen. Visitors will learn about the mythology surrounding eclipses, as well as everything they must to know to safely see the astronomical event. Eclipses and Phases of the Moon is produced by Physics Foundry.

 

The GRPM will be hosting an Eclipse Day Party on August 21 with special activities relating to the solar eclipse here in Michigan and the solar system, along with planetarium shows and more.

 

Is being shown in preparation for the Aug. 21 eclipse.

A second new show for the spring line-up features the mathematically inspired graphic arts of M.C. Escher through an art documentary created specifically for planetariums called Escher’s Universe. Visitors can expect to learn about Escher’s life as a unique mix of artist, astronomer, mathematician and traveler. This documentary will take viewers to the Escher’s studio where his most iconic works are displayed, revealing his unique ability to join science with art. The show will continue to explore how Escher’s travels impacted his work and marvel at shapes, three-dimensional reconstructions, dual worlds and unreal buildings revealing Escher’s continuous search for knowledge.

 

Planetarium tickets are $4 each with purchased general admission to the Museum, $5 each for planetarium-only tickets and free to Museum members. It is located in the Grand Rapids Public Museum, 272 Pearl St. NW. For more planetarium show times and to purchase tickets, visit grpm.org/Planetarium.

 

These new planetarium shows are brought to the Museum by the citizens of Kent County and the voter approved 2016 millage.

Waltzes and world-class female conductor at GR Symphony March 24-25

Citizen Journalism, Entertainment, ,
JoAnn Falletta

By Jeffrey Kaczmarczyk

 
When JoAnn Falletta attended Mannes College of Music in the early 1970s, her teachers were reluctant to allow her to major in conducting. They didn’t question her musical abilities as a classical guitarist. They doubted whether the New York native ever would be given a shot at becoming music director of an orchestra. Times changed, and JoAnn Falletta beat the odds.

Today, Falletta, who celebrated her 63rd birthday in February, is music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra (since 1999) and the Virginia Symphony Orchestra since 1991. She’s conducted over 100 orchestras in the world. She attended master classes with Leonard Bernstein (whose 100th birthday is in 2017), and she’s conducting the Grand Rapids Symphony on March 24-25. 

 
Waltzes by Ravel and Strauss, a cryptic scherzo by Grand Rapids Symphony’s own Alexander Miller, and Italian pianist Fabio Bidini performing Saint-Saens’ exotic, Egyptian Piano Concerto No. 5 all are on the program.
 
Interesting back story:  One of Falletta’s principal conducting teachers was Russian conductor Semyon Bychkov, who was Music Director of the Grand Rapids Symphony from 1980-85. Bychkov was succeeded in 1986 as Music Director of the Grand Rapids Symphony by Catherine Comet, who helped pave the way for women as music directors. The French-born conductor was the very first woman appointed music director of a regional professional American orchestra.
Tickets

Tickets start at $18 and are available at the GRS ticket office, weekdays 9 a.m.-5 p.m., at 300 Ottawa Ave. NW, Suite 100, (located across from the Calder Plaza), or by calling 616.454.9451 x 4. (Phone orders will be charged a $2 per ticket service fee, with a $12 maximum.)

 

Tickets are available at the DeVos Place box office, weekdays 10 a.m.-6 p.m. or on the day of the concert beginning two hours prior to the performance. Tickets also may be purchased online at GRSymphony.org.

 

Full-time students of any age are able to purchase tickets for only $5 on the night of the concert by enrolling in the GRS Student Passport program. This is a MySymphony360 eligible concert.

 

Keller Williams ‘Raw’, but in ‘Sync’ with gig at Intersection 

Entertainment, Local Entertainment
Keller Williams will be in solo concert this week at the Intersection Lounge in Grand Rapids. (Supplied/C. Taylor Crothers)

WKTV Staff

 

Buckle up for a wild ride this week as multi-instrumentalist Keller Williams brings his almost indescribable sound — and music from his latest release, “Sync” — to the Intersection Lounge in Grand Rapids.

 

Williams will be in solo concert Friday, March 17, at 8 p.m. in an all ages show. Tickets are available.

 

Williams’ latest release, “Sync”, released in January, is actually the first studio album from an ensemble going by the name of KWahtro, which features Williams on vocals and guitar, as well as bassist Danton Boller, guitarist and longtime Williams’ collaborator Gibb Droll and drummer Rodney Holmes.

 

Williams has said KWahtro performs “acoustic dance music,” according to supplied material.

 

But his solo shows often find him jumping between instruments and a looping machine, which he uses to build dense, intricate walls of sound.

 

However, also in January, Williams also released “Raw”, a 10-song collection of solo acoustic material with straightforward performances not enhanced by the looping Williams has become known for during his solo performances. “Raw” showcases the artist and his instrument, according to supplied material.

 

So, be prepared for that wild ride.

 

Tickets are $18 advance and $20 at the door (if available), For more information visit sectionalize.com .

 

On the shelf: ‘Push’ by Sapphire

Citizen Journalism, Entertainment, , , , , ,

By Lisa Boss, Grand Rapids Public Library, Main

 

“Every blade of grass has its Angel that bends over it and whispers, “Grow, grow.” ~ The Talmud

 

Push is a beautiful, strong novel that reads like raw poetry. The narrator, Claireece Precious Jones, speaks right to our heart, in an original, spare, untouched way. Physically, mentally and sexually abused by both of her loathsome parents, she has “slipped through the cracks” of myriad social welfare systems and finds herself pregnant with her father’s second baby at age 16. Illiterate, obese, friendless and despairing; half crazed from her torturous home situation, Precious experiences times of fading into and out of awareness.

 

One incident is going to bring about seismic changes in her life though —

 

This author grabs us by the neck and makes us think and makes us mad.  When did incest, child abuse, institutional failure and depraved people lose the power to shock us? The saddest part is that it’s one more look into the “banality of evil” and our fascination with it. As one of the girls from Precious’s new alternate school, “Each One Teach One” says, “Everybody likes to hear that story. Tell us more tell us more more MORE about being a dope addict and a whore!” But there’s a lot more to the story than that, and the end is well worth the beginning. If it seems a little gritty at times, remember that former First Lady Barbara Bush highly recommends it.

 

Sapphire reminded me of Charles Dickens, writing about the deplorable conditions of his time in Victorian England. Both authors want to move us to action with their unforgettable characters and fast-paced plot. This isn’t a book anyone will put down midway.

 

We may not want to see what Sapphire shows us in her mirror, but we look anyway. It’s good that we do, because everyone will take away something different and something valuable from this short volume.

 

St. Cecilia’s chamber music season finale features pianist Wu Han in French mood

Entertainment,

 

Wu Han and other members of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center will be in concert this week at St. Cecilia Music Center. (Supplied/Lisa-marie Mazzucco)

By St. Cecilia Music Center

 

It will be an evening of chamber music master musicians playing in the French mood March 16 as St. Cecilia Music Center’s 2016-17 Chamber Music Series concludes with another concert by members of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

 

The program is titled “French Virtuosity” and featuring Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center co-artistic director and pianist Wu Han performing with colleagues Kristin Lee, Yura Lee and Arnaud Sussman on violins, Richard O’Neill on viola and Nicholas Canellakis on cello.

 

“Sometimes people have the idea that chamber music concert will be stuffy and that the artists will be unapproachable. This idea can’t be further from the truth!” said Catherine Holbrook, Sty. Cecilia executive director. “The artists from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center are some of the most fun and outgoing people I’ve met. And this exuberance shines through during their exquisite performances. I’m very excited to have Wu Han and these five world class string artists here to engage with our enthusiastic Grand Rapids audience in the intimate Royce Auditorium.”

 

The program will include Leclair’s  Concerto in E minor for Violin, String Quartet and Continuo, Op. 10, No. 5; Françaix’s Trio for Violin, Viola and Cello; Ravel’s Tzigane, rapsodie de concert for Violin and Piano; and Chausson’s Concerto in D Major for Violin, Piano and String Quartet, Op. 21”

 

There will be a pre-concert wine and hors d’oeurves reception from 6-7 p.m. (for a $15 fee), a pre-concert artist talk with the musicians performing that evening moderated by St. Cecilia executive director Catherine Holbrook from 7-7:30 p.m., and a complimentary post-concert wine, coffee and dessert reception for the audience to meet the artists and obtain signed CDs.

 

For more information and tickets, call 616-459-2224 or visit scmc-onlilne.org.

 

GVSU composition competition to examine media overload

Entertainment, , ,


 

 

 

 

By Matthew Makowski

Grand Valley State University

 

Grand Valley State University students will put their composing skills to the test when they create original pieces of music for an upcoming competition inspired by the current Art Gallery exhibition “Comfortably Numb.”

 

The one-minute compositions will be performed by Grand Valley’s award-winning New Music Ensemble in rapid succession and judged by a guest panel and the listening audience for various prizes.

 

The competition will take place Friday, March 17, from 7:30-9:30 p.m., in the Art Gallery (room 1121), located in the Performing Arts Center on the Allendale Campus.

 

“Comfortably Numb,” created by Nayda Collazo-Llorens, combines more than 2,000 pieces of clippings from various magazines and other printed materials, and stands nine feet high and spans across 45 feet of wall space. Collazo-Llorens, the Art and Design Department’s Padnos Distinguished Artist-in-Residence, said the piece spotlights media overload in today’s world.

 

Jack Sligh, a senior majoring in music composition, said he approached his two composition submissions in very different ways.

 

“One is a straightforward interpretation of media overload during which the instruments all start to blur together into a mess,” he said. “The other is a stylistic subversion of the whole idea based on the title in a jolly style as an old-timey folk tune. If we are in fact comfortably numb to all of this daily media exposure, then we’re left with something completely normal.”

 

The exhibition serves as one of the culminating projects of Collazo-Llorens’ residency as the Stuart and Barbara Padnos Distinguished Artist-in-Residence. Her residency will conclude at the end of the 2016-2017 academic year.

 

“Comfortably Numb” will be on display through March 31. For more information about the composition competition or the exhibition, visit gvsu.edu/artgallery.

Grand Rapids Civic Theatre recently announced its 2017-2018 season

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A cat in a hat, everybody’s favorite red hair orphan, and a grumpy green Ogre will lead the Grand Rapids Civic Theatre’s 2017-2018 season.

 

The theater company recently announced its upcoming season which will include the musicals “Seussical the Musical, Oct. 20 -29; “Annie,” Nov. 17 – Dec. 17; “My Fair Lady,” Feb. 23 – March 18; and “Shrek the Musical,” June 1 – 17.

 

Kick off the season will be the play “Calendar Girls,” Sept. 15 – Oct. 1, the story of a group of middle-age garden club members who decide to create a pin-up calendar. Other plays for the season are “All the Way,” Jan. 12 – 28, a look behind the doors of the Oval Office as President Lyndon Johnson tries to pass a landmark civic rights bill, and “Akeelah and the Bee,” April 20 – 29, a young women’s fight against the odds to be placed at the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

 

The Summer Repertory Theatre Intensive showcases will feature the musical “School of Rock” and the classic Louisa May Alcott’s “Little Women,” July 27 – Aug. 5.

 

Season subscriptions are on sale through Dec. 30. General tickets to individual shows will be on sale starting Aug. 23. For more information, visit www.grct.org or call 616-222-6650.

Acclaimed environmental documentary to be shown at Saugatuck Center for the Arts

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Leonardo DiCaprio in the documentary “Before the Flood.”

By Angela Peavey

Saugatuck Center for the Arts

 

Academy Award-winning film-maker Fisher Stevens and Academy Award-winning actor, environmental activist, and U.N. Messenger of Peace Leonardo DiCaprio delve into the science and impact of climate change in their acclaimed documentary “Before the Flood.” The film is part of the Saugatuck Center for the Arts’ Real to Reel Series and set to screen March 16 at 7 p.m.

 

According to DiCaprio, “This documentary shows how interconnected the fate of all humanity is—but also the power we all possess as individuals to build a better future for our planet.”

 

This film, presented by National Geographic, follows DiCaprio as he travels to five continents and the Arctic to witness culminate change firsthand. He goes on expeditions with scientists uncovering the reality of climate change and meets with political leaders fighting against inactions. He also discovers a calculated disinformation campaign orchestrated by powerful special interests working to confuse the public about the urgency of the growing powerful special interests working to confuse the public about the urgency of the growing climate crisis.

 

“This is one of many documentaries about climate change; many aren’t much fun, but with DiCaprio at its center, this one offers crucial, current information, as well as a measure of hope,” says Common Sense Media.

 

With unprecedented access to thought leaders around the world, DiCaprio searches for hope in a rising tide of catastrophic news.

 

Saugatuck Center for the Arts is located at 400 Culver St., Saugatuck. General admission tickets are $5 for members and $7 for future members. For more information on this event please visit sc4a.org or call 269-857-2399.

 

 

In a neighborhood next door, comes a comedian of Jedi portions

3-bottom, City of Wyoming, Entertainment, , , , ,
Charles Ross in Edinburgh (Supplied by Charles Ross)

By Kathy Richards

Van Singel Fine Arts Center

Like many, many others, Charles Ross spent much of his childhood watching and re-watching (and re-watching again) the Star Wars Trilogy. The result of his deep love and appreciation for the film series is his hilarious show One Man Star Wars, presented by the 2016-2017 Chemical Bank Series on Thursday, March 16 at 7:30 p.m.

In the show, Ross single-handedly plays all the characters, sings the music, flies the ships fights the battles and condenses the plots into one fun show for all ages. He does so with no props, sets or light-sabers. It’s evokes the films famous scenes, dialogue and musical themes but also allows the audience to use its imagination.

Officially endorsed by Lucasfilm Ltd, and produced by the same company as Evil Dead! The Musical and Potted Potter, Ross’ energetic performance has toured to London’s West End, Off Broadway, Dubai and the Sydney Opera House.

SPIN magazine called the show “funnier than you can possibly imagine.” Conan O’Brien praised its accessibility and the Chicago Sun Times saluted Ross on his “impressive Star Wars run in less than 12 parsecs!”

Reserved seats are $24.50 for adults and $16.50 for students (high school and younger). Reserve tickets in person at the Van Singel box office or by calling 626-878-6800, Monday through Friday, noon to 5 p.m. Tickets are also available online at www.vsfac.com.

The Van Singel Fine Arts Center sits at the east end of the Byron Center High School complex, located at 8500 Burlingame SW (84th Street and Burlingame SW) in Byron Center, just 1.5 miles west of US-131. The Van Singel features free, easy parking and curbside handicap parking is available.

NPR comedian James Judd comes to Saugatuck Center for the Arts

Citizen Journalism, Entertainment, , , ,
James Judd

By Angela Peavey

Saugatuck Center for the Arts

 

The Saugatuck Center for the Arts opens its 15th anniversary season with the star of NPR’s Snap Judgement comedian James Judd.  Judd will be at the SCA one night only: March 18.

 

The storyteller and comedian takes audiences on a rollercoaster joy-ride, sharing tales that pull you up and down and leave you laughing till you cry. The Toronto Star calls Judd, “off-the-wall and out-of-the ballpark entertainment,” and the San Francisco Chronicle says Judd is, “hilarious!”

 

A former member of the Los Angeles based improv group—and Saturday Night Live training ground—The Groundlings, Judd worked the stand-up circuit until he was 30, when he made a U-turn going back to law school to become a criminal defense attorney. Ultimately Judd returned to comedy but this time through autobiographic storytelling.

 

Judd is a recurring storyteller on the acclaimed radio show Snap Judgement and can be heard at festivals across the nation.  “Like David Sedaris on a pot of coffee,” says the Democrat & Chronicle.

 

The show is at 8 p.m. at the Saugatuck Center for the Arts, 400 Culver, Saugatuck. Tickets are $29 in advance and $32 the day of the show. For more information, or to purchase tickets, visit sc4a.org or call 269-857-2399.

On the shelf: ‘Feed Your Pet Right’ by Marion Nestle & Malden C. Neshiem

Citizen Journalism, Entertainment, , , ,

By Steve Maesen, Grand Rapids Public Library, Van Belkum Branch

 

Within the “I didn’t know I needed it until I read it” genre Marion Nestle and Malden C. Neshiem’s Feed Your Pet Right: The Authoritative Guide to Feeding your Dog and Cat is an informative overview on pet nutrition as well as an interesting look inside the multi-billion dollar a year pet food industry.  Investigating both the widely available commercial foods and the less common, though growing, holistic/organic/natural/raw pet food movements, what they discover about what goes into our pet’s food is surprisingly comforting.

 

Throughout the book the authors provide detailed descriptions of the different kinds of pet foods, treats and supplements on the market: where they come from, why they are used and whether or not they should be used in pet food. Looking into such controversial ingredients like animal by-products the reader may well be surprised by their conclusions. Acknowledging the various issues many people have with feeding their pets “commercial” grade food, they engage the reader in a discussion about what roles personal ethics and morals play in selecting pet foods.

 

Worth the read, if only for the brief but fascinating history of pet food in America, the book also serves as an informative and objective reference for any pet owner who wants to make sure they are doing the best they can for their four-legged friend.

 

Celebrate St. Patty’s Day with Irish singer, songwriter Cathie Ryan and Grand Rapids Pops

Citizen Journalism, Entertainment, , , , , , ,
Cathie Ryan

By Jeffrey Kaczmarczyk 

 

For nearly 30 years, Cathie Ryan has been a leading light in Irish music.

 

The former lead singer for Cherish the Ladies has recorded five solo albums on her own and collaborated with a galaxy of Irish and Celtic musicians. Twice she’s been named Irish Female Vocalist of the Decade by LiveIreland and honored as one of the Top 100 Irish Americans by Irish Music Magazine.

 

Surprisingly, the singer and songwriter isn’t from Dublin; she’s from Detroit.

 

A first-generation Irish-American, Ryan is the daughter of immigrants Mary Ryan from County Kerry and Timothy Ryan from County Tipperary. Though she grew up surrounded by the music of Motown in the Motor City, Ryan also was steeped in the music of her ancestral home. Her father sang tenor, her grandmother was a fiddler and singer, and Ryan regularly crossed the Atlantic Ocean to visit relatives back home.

 

Singing “songs of the heart” in a distinctive soprano voice, folksinger and songwriter Cathie Ryan joins the Grand Rapids Pops for a St. Patrick’s Day Celebration that opens on St. Patrick’s Day itself, March 17.

 

Associate Conductor John Varineau leads the Fox Motor Pops concerts at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, March 17-18, and 3 p.m. Sunday, March 19, at DeVos Performance Hall, 303 Monroe Ave. NW.

 

The Cathie Ryan Band, with traditional musicians Patsy O’Brien on guitar and vocals, Patrick Mangan on fiddle, and Brian Melick on percussion, perform Ryan’s original songs such as Carrick-a-Rede plus a blend of Irish traditional music mixed with rafter-raising jigs, reels and rousing Irish step dancing with special guest dancers, West Michigan’s own Scoil Rince Ní Bhraonáin.

 

Ryan’s tales about her parents and their childhood in Ireland, paired with her humorous take on Irish culture, creates a true celebration of Irish-American music.

 

Ryan’s family’s musical legacy, coupled with the early influences while growing up as a member of The Gaelic League and Irish-American Club of Detroit, gave Ryan her start. But she faced challenges along the way.

 

She left Detroit to attend Fordham University in New York. In the early 1980s, she sang in a band, married a musician, became a mother and set aside her own musical career. Then she got divorced.

 

When her son was little, she cleaned houses during the day and returned to school at night, eventually finishing her bachelor’s degree in English literature and secondary education at the City University of New York in 1991.

 

But four years earlier in 1987, Ryan became the lead vocalist for Cherish the Ladies, writing songs including the title track for Cherish the Ladies’ 1992 album, The Back Door.

 

A 1995 appearance on a PBS-TV special, A Christmas Tradition with Tommy Makem, starring the Irish folk musician and storyteller, gave Ryan the break she needed to launch a solo career.

 

Cathie Ryan has been in the vanguard of Irish music ever since. Her fifth CD, Through Wind and Rain, is bringing her music to a much wider audience.

 

Closer to home, in 2012, Ryan was one of the first people inducted into the Michigan Irish Hall of Fame alongside another well-known descendant of Ireland, Henry Ford.

 

Tickets

Tickets start at $18 and are available at the GRS ticket office, weekdays 9 am-5 pm at 300 Ottawa Ave. NW, Suite 100, (located across from the Calder Plaza), or by calling 616.454.9451 x 4. (Phone orders will be charged a $2 per ticket service fee, with a $12 maximum.)

 

Tickets are available at the DeVos Place box office, weekdays 10 a.m.-6 p.m. or on the day of the concert beginning two hours prior to the performance. Tickets also may be purchased online at GRSymphony.org.

 

Full-time students of any age are able to purchase tickets for only $5 on the night of the concert by enrolling in the GRS Student Passport program. This is a MySymphony360 eligible concert.

On the shelf: ‘My Cross to Bear’ by Gregg Allman

Citizen Journalism, Entertainment, , , , ,

By Lisa Boss

Grand Rapids Public Library

 

Born in 1947, Allman looks back on a long life, having beaten the odds, so to speak. In a career field where sex and drugs are ubiquitous, he stood out with six ruined marriages and decades of heroin, coke and alcohol addictions. In 1995, after an embarrassing speech at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Gregg went into his last rehab. In 2010 his liver had deteriorated so badly from the Hepatitis C that he received a transplant. But wait, it’s not all bad news!

 

His memoir is a fascinating chronicle of the twists and turns of the Allman Brothers band, forging a new sound back in the sixties — “southern rock”, a mix of blues, rock and country. It’s also an honest, revealing look at a man remembering a life filled with triumphs and failures. Some of the material about his mom and brother Duane is just kind of heartbreaking, and the photos underscore the sense of love and loss.

 

An interesting twist for me was that when I had finished the book, I checked out the library’s collection of Allman Brothers music, and found that I really liked the CD, Low Country Blues — that Allman recorded at the age of 63 — best. He went back to the blues roots that he loved, and the tracks have that haunting, powerful sound. So, maybe getting clean and finding religion was the best thing he ever did musically…

 

Review: GR Symphony, Lehninger offers perfect ‘Pictures’, alluring Barber adagio

Entertainment, Reviews, ,
Marcelo Lehninger, the musical director of the Grand Rapids Symphony, on stage from a previous concert. (Courtesy of the Grand Rapids Symphony)

By K.D. Norris

ken@wktv.org

60-second Review

Grand Rapids Symphony, March 3, at DeVos Performance Hall, Grand Rapids, Mi.

First, of course, Maurice Ravel’s orchestration of “Pictures at an Exhibition” was suburb with Marcelo Lehninger conducting the Grand Rapids Symphony. But then I am biased, owning three recordings of the work: Mussorgsky’s initial, almost haunting piano solo; Ravel’s lush full symphony orchestration; and even Emerson, Lake and Palmer’s mesmerizing progressive-rock, synthesizer-driven version.

Stefan Jackiw (supplied; Sophie Zhai)

But the highlights of Lehninger’s final concert of the 2016-17 season, for me, may have been discovery of the guest soloist Stefan Jackiw on violin, who was brilliant both as musical and showman, as well as the conductor leading the symphony string section in an offering of Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings.

This being my first time seeing Lehninger leading the symphony, he more than lived up to his billing as a fiery young lion with baton in hand — a reputation he gained with the Boston Symphony, among others, and now brings to West Michigan as musical director.

Jackiw, too, demanded being center of attention on Erich Korngold’s Concerto for Violin in D Major, not only due to his shining guest soloist work but for his being an almost emotional force of nature. He is young, modern in style and artistic expression, and in the words of modern music, he and his violin shreds. His solo encore of the Largo from Bach’s Unaccompanied Violin Sonata in C was just musical icing on the evening’s cake.

Despite the age of the compositions presented at this concert, youth was served.

May I have more, please?

Lehninger prefaced the performance of Barber’s adagio by saying, from the stage, that it may be “the most melancholy and sad piece ever written” but adding that it was also “such a special piece.” And special it was. Given the dominating of much anticipated big, bold sections of Korngold’s concerto and “Pictures”, the haunting and, indeed, very sad Barber piece was a welcome introduction to a great evening.

Of course, I am also a fan of Barber’s works in general and, again, admit a bias.

Also, the Brazilian-born Lehninger hinted at the musical world of is home country he will bring to Grand Rapids next season when he will lead the orchestra in several pieces by Brazil’s best-known composer, Heitor Villa-Lobos, including Momoprecóce featuring Brazilian pianist Nelson Freire.

Can’t wait.

Register now for kids’ Spring Break cooking classes at the Downtown Market

Citizen Journalism, Entertainment, , , , , ,

 

By Downtown Market Grand Rapids

 

Spring break is nearly here and you know what that means — a lot of extra time for kids to get antsy, especially if you plan on staying home. No worries! The Downtown Market has the perfect recipe for keeping kids ages 7-11 engaged — take a trip around the world without leaving Grand Rapids!

 

KIDS SPRING BREAK GLOBETROTTERS

Doing a staycation this spring break? The Downtown Market can help! Spring break classes will take kids around the globe as they make foods such as Jamaican jerk chicken skewers, Asian egg rolls, Norwegian elk sliders and Madagascan marshmallows on the braai. For kids ages 7-11.

  • Tues., April 4, 10 am-12:30 pm — $50/child
  • Wed., April 5, 10 am-12:30 pm — $50/child
  • Thu., April 6, 10 am-12:30 pm — $50/child

KIDS SPRING BREAK ROADTRIPPERS

For the young domestic traveler, you’ll visit a few delicious U.S. destinations that are sure to expand kids’ culinary knowledge. Kids will cook up tasty Memphis barbecue, Chicago-style hot dogs and southwest veggie quesadillas. Not to be forgotten, the Floria orange sorbet will have your kids asking, “Are we there yet?” For kids ages 7-11.

  • Tues., April 4, 2:30-5 pm — $50/child
  • Wed., April 5, 2:30-5 pm — $50/child
  • Thu., April 6, 2:30-5 pm — $50/child

Click here for the complete April 2017 culinary calendar.

On the shelf: ‘In Pharaoh’s Army: Memories of the Lost War’ by Tobias Wolff

Citizen Journalism, Entertainment, , , , ,

 

By Lisa Boss, Grand Rapids Public Library

 

After reading Jon Krakauer’s new book, Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman, (which is an excellent book!), I remembered that Tobias Wolff had also been in the Special Forces during the Vietnam era, and that both Tillman and Wolff were unusually honest in their thoughts about the military.  While Krakauer’s work about Tillman’s life trajectory from childhood to pro-football to Afghanistan is contemporary, Wolff needed a lot more time to distill the essence of his experience.

 

He begins his memoir at the wheel of his armor-plated truck, rolling along towards a chaotic street scene. He honks a warning — another one — and then, since the villagers do not get their bicycles out of the road, Wolff runs right over them.

 

“Seven months back, at the beginning of my tour, when I was still calling them people instead of peasants, I wouldn’t have run over their bikes. I would have slowed down or even stopped until they decided to move their argument to the side of the road, if it was a real argument and not a setup.    

 

“But I didn’t stop anymore. Neither did Sergeant Benet. Nobody did, as these peasants — these people — should have known.”

 

The parallels between then and now are thought-provoking, because while Wolff’s slim volume was written almost 30 years after his military experience of 1967-68, one wonders if it could be yesterday in Iraq or Afghanistan.

 

Wolff’s ultimate take on the Vietnam war was, “Here were pharaoh’s chariots engulfed; his horsemen confused; and all his magnificence dismayed.”  By contrast, Krakauer, an excellent writer and journalist, leaves us to draw our own conclusions, as to where we are headed in Afghanistan.

 

Eclectic season planned for GR Symphony in 2017-18

Citizen Journalism, Entertainment, , , , ,

 

By Jeffrey Kaczmarczyk

 

The Grand Rapids Symphony has unveiled its 2017-18 season with classical blockbusters, classic rock, Broadway’s biggest hits, family friendly entertainment and cinematic special events including second and third films in the Harry Potter Film Concert Series with live music.

 

In 2017-18 the symphony will perform all-time classical favorites including Ravel’s Bolero, Holst’sThe Planets, Mozart’s Jupiter Symphony No. 41, and an all-Tchaikovsky program on the Richard and Helen DeVos Classical series.

 

In addition to pianist extraordinaire, Nelson Freire, world-famous soloists including violinist Sarah Chang and pianist Gabriela Montego — all three personal friends and colleagues of the Grand Rapids Symphony’s new Music Director Marcelo Lehninger — will perform on the stage.

 

The 2017-18 season*

Grand Rapids Symphony’s 88th season includes such monumental works as Richard Strauss’ epic tone poem, Ein Heldenleben or A Hero’s Life in DeVos Hall.

 

The Brazilian-born Lehninger will lead the orchestra in several pieces by Brazil’s best-known composer, Heitor Villa-Lobos, including Momoprecóce featuring Brazilian pianist Nelson Freire. Several years ago, Lehninger led a performance of it with the Freire and the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood.

 

Grand Rapids Symphony Chorus will join the orchestra for Verdi’s Requiem in the fall and for Beethoven’s “Choral” Symphony No. 9 to end the 2017-18 season.

 

“It’s one of the pieces I enjoy conducting the most,” Lehninger said about the Verdi Requiem.

 

*Click here for a pdf of the lineup.

 

St. Cecilia Music Center

At St. Cecilia Music Center, the Grand Rapids Symphony’s Crowe Horwath Great Eras and Porter Hills Coffee Classics series will expand from three concerts to four.

 

Sarah Chang, who was in Grand Rapids as St. Cecilia Music Center’s 2011 Great Artist, will open the Grand Rapids Symphony’s 2017-18 season with West Side Story Suite for Violin and Orchestra, arranged for her by David Newman from Leonard Bernstein’s musical score. The performance coincides with the 100th anniversary of Bernstein’s birth in 1917.

 

“Sarah’s a wonderful violinist, a wonderful artist, and a personal friend of mine,” Lehninger said. “She’s the only one who plays the piece, so it was a perfect fit.”

 

Venezuelan pianist Gabriella Montero will be soloist in Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1, part of the all-Tchaikovsky program Lehninger will lead.

 

“Gabriella has a sound, a big, round sound that’ll be perfect for it,” Lehninger said. “She’s a great, great pianist with a great personality, a wonderful heart, and a fabulous musician.”

 

The Grand Rapids Pops

Join the Grand Rapids Pops at the movies for a full-length screening of An American in Paris starring Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron, the 1951 film powered by live musical accompaniment. Back by popular demand, the Fox Motors Pops Series celebrates the music of one of the greatest film composers in history with ‘Star Wars’ and More: The Music of John Williams.

 

The six-concert season, which opens with a salute to the music of Fleetwood Mac by the rock group Landslide, includes an evening of Broadway blockbusters with songs from Broadway’s biggest shows of all time including Wicked, Phantom of the Opera, The Sound Of Music, Chicago, A Chorus Line, and Cats.

 

Principal Pops Conductor Bob Bernhardt will be on the podium for the Wolverine Worldwide Holiday Pops, one of three shows he’ll lead on the series. Associate Conductor John Varineau will conduct the other three concerts including The Second City Guide to the Symphony, an evening of sketch comedy and beautiful music featuring The Second City comedy troupe.

 

A highlight of the 2017-18 season will be special-event screenings of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the second and third films in the Harry Potter franchise of eight movies, based on the books by J.K. Rowling.

 

Meanwhile, the Grand Rapids Symphony will unveil its 2017 D&W Fresh Market Picnic Pops series in mid-March. Plenty of great music is coming this summer to Cannonsburg Ski Area.

 

Back to Carnegie Hall in 2018

Nearly 12 years ago, the Grand Rapids Symphony capped off its 75th anniversary season with a trip to the Big Apple and a concert in New York City’s Carnegie Hall.

 

New York Times critic Bernard Holland, noting the enthusiastic reception for the orchestra in the 2,800-seat hall, began his review with, “The Grand Rapids Symphony came to Carnegie Hall on Saturday night and brought a good part of the city with it.”

 

The Grand Rapids Symphony, under Lehninger, will return to Carnegie Hall near the end of its 88th season in April 2018. The Grand Rapids Symphony Chorus, for the first time, will travel along with the orchestra for the performance in the world-famous concert hall.

 

The Brazilian-born conductor will be joined by the eminent Brazilian pianist Nelson Freire for a performance on April 20, one week after appearing in DeVos Performance Hall with a concert featuring Freire as soloist in Manuel de Falla’s Nights in the Gardens of Spain and Heitor Villa-Lobos’ Momoprecóce.

 

Tickets

Season tickets are on sale now with select concerts also on sale to subscribers. Subscriptions are available at a discount of up to 50 percent off select series and seats for new package orders. Single tickets will be available beginning July 31.

 

Tickets are available at the GRS ticket office, weekdays 9 am-5 pm, at 300 Ottawa Ave. NW, Suite 100, (located across from the Calder Plaza), or by calling 616.454.9451 x 4. (Phone orders will be charged a $2 per ticket service fee, with a $12 maximum.)

On the shelf: ‘Incidents in the Night’ by David B.

Citizen Journalism, Entertainment, , , , ,

By Drew Damron, Grand Rapids Public Library, Main 

 

I’ve been a huge fan of David B.’s comics since I first read Epileptic a few years back, and I think this new title is my favorite of his so far. I really like the surreal nature of Jorge Luis Borges’s stories, and David B.’s comics often share the same fascination with dreams and labyrinths. This book in particular takes a very dreamlike, scholarship-as-labyrinth, style of storytelling and simultaneously remixes it with a textbook on the history of religions and a pulpy crime novel.  It’s a very strange story but it’s very captivating.

 

What I love most about David B.’s comics is the way he is able to create such metaphor-rich visuals.  Every panel of his features some interesting iconic juxtapositions done up in a noir-ish flavor, and this particular book offers a very surreal, yet sophisticated aesthetic. Each drawing clearly presents his technical proficiency, yet his lines are executed with a shaky rhythm that kind of reminds me of the older Peanuts comics from Charles Schultz, and I think this little suggestion of sloppiness gives the dreamlike imagery its authenticity.  All of my dreams are fuzzy and often difficult to remember, so it seems to me that this story would be interpreted very differently if done up with very sleek line work.

 

If you’re in the mood for something new and a bit different, then definitely check this one out!