Tag Archives: Agatha Christie

Snapshots: Wyoming, Kentwood weekend news you ought to know

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By WKTV Staff
joanne@wktv.org

Quote of the Day

“If you place your head in a lion’s mouth, then you cannot complain one day if he happens to bite it off.” 
                                                 - Agatha Christie

Mayhem and Murder

Did Emily Brent do it in the library with the candlestick?

Join Cathy Van Lopik, aka Emily Brent, and the rest of the Grand Rapids Civic cast for a little murder mysteries by one of the best, Agatha Christie. Civic Theatre presents “And Then There Were None Jan. 11 – 27 at its theater, 30 N. Division Ave. Tickets are $18 – $29 with student tickets $26.

Some Local All Stars

East Kentwood High School lead the way for the AP All-State listings for the state of Michigan.

This past football season lead to four local high school players earning the title of first team AP All-State in the state of Michigan. East Kentwood, somewhat unsurprisingly, lead the way with three of those All-Staters coming from their team after a tremendous season from the Division 1-2 Falcons finishing the season 9-2. A student also came from South Christian High School and Wyoming’s Tri-Unity Christian had two seniors for 8-man football.

Something Funny’s Goin’ On

Getting their funny on: Brian Borbot (center) with comedians Stu McCallister (left) and. Matt Harper (right).

Brian Borbot, part of the Sunday Night Funnies, talks with area comedians about the art of being funny. The podcasts are part of a new feature at the WKTV Journal. To check them out, click here. Sunday Night Funnies is at 8:30 p.m. every Sunday at Woody’s Press Box, 5656 Clyde Park Ave. SW.



Fun fact:

Oymyakon, Russia

That is consider the coldest inhabited place in the world. In Oymyakon, the winter temperatures are known to average -58 F (-50C). Water freezes at 32 F. About 500 people live in the area. And while many Michiganders treasure having remote start to warm their cars, those in Oymyakon have to run their cars 24/7 to make sure the batteries do not die. The community earned the title in 1933, when a temperature of -90 F was recorded. The city beat its own record in 2013, when a -98 F temperature was recorded. Now that’s cold.

For one Wyoming resident, theater life can be murder

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Cathy Van Lopik reprises her role as Emily Brent in the upcoming production of Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None” at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre.

By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
joanne@wktv.org

Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Was None” is one of Cathy Van Lopik’s favorite plays. So when she learned that both Jenison’s Shadblow Theatre and Grand Rapids Civic Theatre had included the famous murder mystery in their 2018-2019 season, it was a given that Van Lopik was going to audition.

“I knew I was going to audition for both shows in the hopes that I might get into one,” said the Wyoming resident. “There was a chance I might not get into either, but I was going to try.”

She ended up landing a part in both shows, portraying Emily Brent this past summer for Shadblow Theatre’s production and a role she will reprise for the Grand Rapids Civic Theatre’s, which opens Jan. 11 at the theater, located at 30 N. Division Ave.

“When I came in for rehearsal, they were like ‘You already know your lines, right? You’re off book already,’” Van Lopik said with a laugh.

With a different director comes the opportunity to explore the character of Emily Brent from another viewpoint.


“You see a different aspect to the character,” Van Lopik said. “(Director) Bruce Tinker has a different take and will say something like she could be responding to something this character said and it gives you a new perspective as to why why she is saying this particular line.”

Brent is one of 10 seemingly normal people who are invited to stay at the isolated Solider Island off the Devon coast of England. Once a gramophone announces the group’s sins to all the other occupants, things start to get interesting and people start to disappear.

“Basically you put 10 strangers in a room and give them a crisis and watching how each of these people deal with it is very interesting,” she said. “Each of these 10 people have an individual way of handling this situation making it a compelling look at human nature and how people react.”

Van Lopik is a familiar face to the theater scene in Grand Rapids, having worked with Master Arts Theatre for several years, currently serving as the director of the group’s traveling troupe. She also has performed and directed a number of shows, including the 2017 Van Singel Fine Arts production of “Willy Wonka The Musical.” However, this is the first time Van Lopik will perform on the Civic stage.

“It just hasn’t worked out before,” Van Lopik said. “I’ve had other things going on or it just didn’t work.

“I have auditioned before and there is so much talent in the area, that you just don’t get the role. Having been a director, I know how it feels when you have two or three people who would be great but you can only pick one.”

Van Lopik will be back in the director’s chair after “And Then There Were None” wraps. She will be directing “Sunshine Boys” at Holland Civic Theatre, Feb. 11 and 12; and “Around the World in 80 Days” for Master Arts Theatre, June 6 – 22.

That’s of course is if Emily Brent survives the island escapades in “And Then There Were None.” To find out if she does, you’ll have to catch the show, which runs Jan. 11 – 27. Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. Wednesday – Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $18 – $29, with student pricing $16. For more on this production or other shows at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre, visit grct.org.

Snapshots: Wyoming and Kentwood news you need to know

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WKTV Staff

joanne@wktv.org

 

 

Quote of the Day

"I would travel only by horse, if I had a choice."- Linda McCartney

 

 

Come One, Come All

 

Patrons visit the GRAM for free during ArtPrize.

The Grand Rapids Art Museum recently announced it would be part of the Museums for All programs, providing free admission, for up to four people, with the presentation of a SNAP Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card; commonly known as the Michigan Bridge Card. The GRAM joins the Grand Rapids Children Museum and the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts in offering free and reduce admission. The Grand Rapids Symphony has the Symphony Scorecard program, which provides up to four free tickets to those receiving financial assistance from the State of Michigan and/or are active, reserve or guard military families.

 

 

A horse is a horse, of course, of course…

 

Bill catches up with an old friend at Lee’s Summit Equestrian.

WKTV volunteers Bill and Charlotte Rinderknecht have hit the road in search of stories about horses and the people who work with them for their documentary series “Horses and Their People.” Follow the couple as they journey through the United States, visiting ranches and exploring the local culture of the communities they visit.

 

Feeding the Mind and the Body

 

Snatching up the snacks

During the summer, Kent District Library’s newest branch, the Kelloggsville branch, has been participating in The Meet Up and Eat Up program. Sponsored by the state, the program is designed to bring nutritious meals to lower income areas. Set to wrap up this week on Aug. 17, the KDL Kelloggsville Meet Up and Eat Up served students living near the high school, where the facility is located. As KDL Executive Director stated “Feeding the minds, imaginations and spirits is something that we have always done at KDL, but now we are literally feeding hungry people.”

 

 

 

Murder She Wrote

 

The cast of the upcoming production of “And Then There Were None”

At first, no one wanted to produce the play version of Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None” because they insisted that the storyline wouldn’t work on stage and that people would laugh at it. In 2015, it was voted the World’s Favorite Christie having been made into several movies with such groups as the Superman comics and “Family Guy” making parodies of it. This weekend you can catch several local residents as they perform the murder mystery at the Jenison Theater of the Arts, which has productions running Aug. 17-19 and 24-26. If you can’t make that production, Grand Rapids Civic Theatre will be offering a production in January. In between the two productions, you can always read the book.

 

Fun Fact:

17 hours

That is how long it took to make all the costumes and puppets for the Broadway production of Disney's The Lion King. It took 750 pounds of silicone rubber with the tallest animal being the 18-foot giraffes and the smallest being a five-inch trick mouse on Scar's cane. You can see it all next year as Broadway Grand Rapids recently announced that Disney's The Lion King will be part of its 2019-2020 season.

Area residents come together to present Agatha Christie’s most famous mystery

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The cast of the upcoming production of “And Then There Were None.”

By Josh Kennedy

WKTV Intern

 

Decades before Gillian Flynn wrote “Gone Girl” and long before Dennis Lehane penned “Shutter Island,” Agatha Christie wrote “And Then There Were None,” one of the best selling murder mysteries in history.

 

This story will be brought to stage Aug. 17-19 and 24-26 at the Shadblow Theater at the Jension Center for the Performing Arts, with many of the actors hail from Wyoming and Kentwood. 

 

“And Then Where None,” original written in 1939, is a murder mystery that will keep the audience guessing until the final act. This psychological thriller follows a group of seemingly normal people who are invited to an island retreat by an eccentric millionaire. Once a gramophone announces the group’s sins to all the other occupants things start to get interesting and people start to disappear. 

 

“I think to be able write like Agatha Christie, you would have to draw on the people around you in life,” said Director Kristin Tomlin. “And the characters in here, some of them are so much large than life, that you must think, she must know someone like that.”

 

Cathy Van Lopek portrays Emily Caroline Brent

This is fairly evident as the various cast members describe their characters. After all, who hasn’t run into someone like the fanatically religious spinster Emily Caroline Brent, portrayed by Wyoming resident Cathy Van Lopek.

 

“She is very judgmental about everybody she comes across,” Van Lopek said. “I don’t think there is a human being living on the Earth who meets her standards.”

 

Then there is the action-first, think-later Capt. Philip Lomard, played by David Cobb.

 

David Cope is Capt. Philip Lomard

“He’s the adventurer,” Cobb said. “The man of action. I think he is the first one who gets a little suspicious about everything.”

 

Also among the guests is former detective William Henry Blore. “He is not a very good detective,” said William Cope who plays Blore. “He is kind of incompetent and bites at every single red herring that is offered.”

 

The storyline itself — which is based off an old children’s rhyme — is a difficult one that very much intrigued the author.

 

“One thing she said about this play is that the idea of it was so challenging and so difficult to her she just had to do it,” Tomlin said. “She just had to try and write it.”

 

William Cope (right) is William Henry Blore

In fact, at first, no one wanted to produce the play version of Christie’s “And Then There Were None” because they insisted that the storyline wouldn’t work on stage and that people would laugh at it. In 2015, it was voted the World’s Favorite Christie story having been made into several movies with such groups as the Superman comics and “Family Guy” making parodies of it.

 

Who’s pulling the strings and who is just trying to stay alive? You’ll just have to catch the show, Aug. 17-26, to find out. Show times are 7:30 p.m Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays at the Jension Center for the Performing Arts, 8375 20th Ave., Jenison. Tickets are $16.50/adult, $13/seniors who are 60 and older, and $8/students under 18. 

WKTV Journal: Hugs, Metro Cruise, and Getting Involved

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In the latest segment of the WKTV Journal, we sit-down with Kentwood artist Meoshia Thomson who discusses the power of hugs, a key element in her 2018 ArtPrize submission.

 

We also take a sneak peek into the upcoming 28th Street Metro Cruise, which is set for Aug. 24 and 25 at Rogers Plaza and catch up with a group of Wyoming and Kentwood actors who are in one of Agatha Christie’s most famous plays, “And Then There Were None,” set to be performed at the Jension Center for Performing Arts.

 

Wyoming resident Chris Hall visits with us to talk about the Wyoming’s Community Development Committee, which serves as an advisory board to the Wyoming City Council on the federally-funded Community Block Development Grants. The committee has openings for Wyoming residents with Chris noting it is an excellent way to get involved with the Wyoming committee.

 

Lastly, we take a trip down memory lane with Wyoming History Commission member Bill Branz and WKTV Contributor Katey Batey as they talk about S&H Green Stamps.

On the shelf: ‘And Then There Were None’ by Agatha Christie

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By Megan Andres, Grand Rapids Public Library, Ottawa Hills Branch

 

Originally published as Ten Little Indians, And Then There Were None invites ten complete strangers to a weekend getaway on a fictitious island outside of Devon, England. The host of the weekend is a millionaire who is nowhere to be found. Each guest was invited by the host under a different name.

 

Sounds like a classic mystery novel from Christie. Wait. It gets much better.

 

While most murder mysteries feature one crime, And Then There Were None tells the story of murder and mayhem over an entire weekend. The story is set to the tone of a nursery rhyme called Ten Little Indians. In the rhyme each little Indian meets a horrible fate. It’s no coincidence that there are only ten house guests.

 

Agatha Christie was no doubt the Queen of Crime when it came to the modern murder mystery. Her narrative style is enough to hold the reader by itself. Each of the ten characters is completely developed and faces their own demons as the weekend continues. Wicked pasts cannot be hidden. The rhyme ends with, “One little Indian left all alone; He went out and hanged himself and then there were none.”

 

Take a look at And Then There Were None to find out who survives the weekend.

Civic Theatre has a few tricks up its sleeve for the upcoming season including a not-yet-to-be-named musical

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By Nancy Brozek

Grand Rapids Civic Theatre

 

From start to finish, this year’s lineup promises to surprise, delight, and challenge audiences in the way only live theatre can.  Civic Theatre’s 2018-2019 season is brimming with titles you will recognize from Broadway and your favorite books, along with one show so exciting that we are not able to reveal its name until later in the season.

 

Civic Theatre Executive and Artistic Director Bruce Tinker notes, “We were very fortunate to secure the rights to this show – but only if we agreed to withhold revealing the title until a later date this season. The chance to produce one of the most successful and entertaining musicals of recent history was too important to pass up.” Tinker continued, “As a community theatre, it isn’t unusual for rights to be released with strong guidelines.  If a show is touring, currently on Broadway, or in production at an (equity) theatre in a geographic location deemed ‘near,’ then our rights are often restricted. One of the examples mentioned is the reason why we are keeping the title under wraps for now.  We can share, this show will be produced on our stage February/March 2019 and . . .it’s a MUSICAL, it’s BIG, and it’s filled with FUN”.

 

There is a delicious sense of anticipation when you are waiting for the curtain to rise. For Civic Theatre, that moment is even more tantalizing with a season filled with love, mystery, sacrifice, dreams and an overall sense of WOW!!

 

Season Ticket Packages are on sale now, to purchase online visit www.grct.org, order by phone at 616-222-6650, or in person in Civic Theatre’s box office.  Ticket Packages are $135.  Single tickets will go on sale August 22.

 

 

Steel Magnolias

Playwright – Robert Harling

Sept. 7-23, 2018

 

From a small-town beauty parlor in Louisiana, the outspoken Truvy and her new assistant Annelle treat their clientele to shampoos, haircuts, and advice, not necessarily in the order.  When the local socialite’s daughter marries a good ol’boy and decides to start a family, complications from her diabetes force all to face life’s big questions with the strength of steel and the fleeting beauty of magnolias.

 

Number the Stars

Playwright – Dr. Douglas W. Larche

Based on – Sean Hartley’s adaptation of Lois Lowry’s book Number the Stars

Oct. 12-21, 2018

 

Written from a child’s perspective, the play begins when Ella surprises her best friend Annemaire by arriving unannounced to spend the night.  Not long after, Nazi soldiers appear at the door looking for Ella’s family, and Annemarie’s family claim that Ella is their own daughter.  Annemairie realizes that all Jewish Danes are in danger, and their only hope is for their Christian neighbors to escort them to safety in nearby Sweden.   Defying the law of the land, she steps up to help Ela’s family escape…but will they reach Sweden before it is too late.

 

Disney’s The Little Mermaid

Book – Doug Wright

Music – Alan Menken

Lyrics – Howard Ashman, Glenn Slater

Nov. 16 – Dec. 16, 2018

 

Always fascinated by the world above, Ariel’s longing becomes even greater when she rescues Prince Eric from drowning.  Though her father warns her to stay away from humans, she eventually trades her beautiful singing voice to the sea witch Ursula, in return for a pair of human legs.  When the bargain turns out to be more than it appears, Ariel needs the help of her animal friends Flounder, Scuttle, and Sebastian to overcome the witch’s evil plans and make a choice that will let her live happily ever after.

 

Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None

Based on Agatha Christie’s book, And Then There Were None

Jan. 11-27, 2019

 

As the story begins, ten strangers arrive on an island where they will meet their fate.  Each one has a secret and shameful past – and each one is marked for murder.  Who’s next?  And whodunit?  It’s impossible to say.  Nevertheless, one by one, each guest meets his or her end in a way that mirrors the lines of the nursery rhyme, “until there were none”

 

Surprise Musical

Feb. 22- Mar. 17, 2019

 

Our licensing agreement prohibits us from revealing the name of this show until later this season.  We look forward to lifting the curtain to reveal the title of this surprise musical.  All we can say is; it’s a musical, it’s big and it’s filled with fun!

 

Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach

Book – Timothy Allen McDonald

Music & Lyrics – Bej Paskek and Justin Paul

Based on Roald Dahl’s book James and the Giant Peach

April 26- May 5, 2019

 

James finds a door in the peach and discovers a crew of fantastic creatures living inside, all transformed, by a potion, to giant size.  When the peach rolls off the tree and into the ocean, the crew must work together to overcome hunger, battle sharks, and escape greedy aunts who are plotting to fumigate the peach and everyone inside.   From the branches of the tree, to the Atlantic Ocean, to the skies above New York city, their daring exploits teach James’ and his new friends to work together and redefine what it means to be a family.

 

Disney’s Newsies

Book – Harvey Fierstein

Music – Alan Menken

Lyrics – Jack Feldman

Based on – Disney film written by Bob Tzudiker and Noni White

Originally Produced = by Disney Theatrical Productions

Mary 31- June 23, 2019

 

The strike begins when Pulitzer and Hearst raise distribution prices on their papers, forcing the newspaper boys to sell more to earn a living.  Jack the paperboy steps up as leader of the Newsies, rallying underpaid newsboys across the city to stand up to the publishing titans.  A friendly reporter’s interest in the story leads to a budding romance with Jack and publicity for the cause, but will the pressure be enough to make Pulitzer and Hearst bow to what’s right?

 

All Shook Up

Book – Joe DiPietro

Inspired by and featuring the songs of Elvis Presley

Young@Part Edition Adapted by Marc Tumminelli

Young@Part Edition originally produced at Broadway Workshop in New York City

First workshopped at Hoboken Children’s Theatre, NJ, Chase Leyner, Director.

July 26 – August 4, 2019

 

Loosely based on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night and Midsummer Night’s Dream, the story takes place in 1955, when a handsome stranger stops in town to get his motorcycle fixed and catches the eye of the gas station owner’s daughter, Natalie.  When he fails to take interest in her, she disguises herself as “Ed” to get close to him and earn his trust.  A case of mistaken identities and mixed-up couples create a web of comedy and confusion, and it becomes anyone’s guess if Natalie will find her happily-ever-after by the last song.

 

Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland

Playwright – Deborah Lynn Frockt

Based on – Lewis Carroll’s book Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland

July 27-August 3, 2019

 

The play begins on a lazy summer day, when young Alice follows the White Rabbit down its hole and comes upon a curious world with food and drinks that make her grow or shrink most inconveniently.  Alice encounters a disappearing Cheshire Cat who warns her that no one around her is sane.  She observes a series of puzzling adventures at the Mad Hatters tea party.  She plays a game of hedgehog croquet with the King and Queen of Hearts, and holds a philosophical conversation with a Mock Turtle.  When Alice finds herself on trial, she must draw on the new skills she has learned in this Wonderland, to save her from danger.

The LowellArts Players presents ‘The Mousetrap’ by Agatha Christie

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40f9a8_eb57b6378bd54e038de95437fc3d13f6mv2_d_1641_1263_s_2The world’s longest running play, The Mousetrap, is coming to the historic Strand Theater, now called Larkin’s Other Place, at 315 W. Main St., Lowell, MI on Oct. 28, 29, 30 and Nov. 4, 5 and 6.

 

Performed by the LowellArts Players, the classic who-dunnit play by the foremost mystery writer of her time, Agatha Christie is set at the Monkswell Manor Guest House where a group of strangers is stranded during a major thunderstorm, one of whom is a murderer. The suspects include the couple who run the house, a spinster, an architect, a retired Army major, a magistrate and a strange little man. A policeman no sooner arrives when a murder occurs.

 

The play is offered as Dinner Theater with a cash bar on all dates. Dinner theater begins at 6:30 pm on Friday and Saturday evenings (Oct. 28 & 29 and Nov. 4 & 5), show-only tickets are available with a 7:30 pm start time. Sunday Matinee Dinner theater begins at 1:30 pm (Oct. 30 & Nov. 6), show-only tickets are available with a 2:30 pm start time. Advanced tickets are required for Dinner Theater. Show tickets are $14 to $18. Dinner is an additional $13. Purchase tickets online here or by calling 616.897.8545, or at the LowellArts office, 149 S. Hudson St., Lowell, Tues-Fri 10 am-5 pm.

 

The Mousetrap first opened as a short radio play broadcast in 1947 called Three Blind Mice, in honor of Queen Mary and the play has run continuously in London for 60 years. The murderer’s identity is divulged near the end of the play in an unusual twist ending.

 

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By tradition, at the end of each performance, audiences are asked not to reveal the identity of the killer to anyone outside the theater to ensure that the end of the play is not spoiled for future audiences.

 

LowellArts has been connecting regional artists and audiences through visual and performing arts in the greater Lowell community since 1977. Annual programming includes The Lowell Showboat Sizzlin’ Summer Concert Series with 10 live outdoor concerts on the Flat River Thursday nights throughout the summer. The Fallasburg Fall Festival for the Arts outdoor two-day art fair showcasing the works of over 100 artists with over 25,000 attendees. Three multi-weekend community theater productions by the LowellArts Players. And, six visual arts exhibitions including the LowellArts Holiday Artists Market and the West Michigan Art Competition.

lowell-arts

“Mousetrap” keeps audiences guessing

Local Entertainment, Local Faces, Recreation, , ,

susanne_albaitis The world’s longest running play, Agatha Christie’s “The Mousetrap,” is now showing on Grand Rapids Civic Theater’s stage.  This same play has been running continuously in London’s West End for sixty-three years.  Christie adapted the play from a radio show called “Three Blind Mice.”

 

The curtains open to a very impressive set.  Two open arches, two arched doorways, thick wooden trim, period furniture and snow falling outside the window take the audience to an English inn so many decades ago.  All of these details bring the viewers into the scene and make the characters even more believable.

mousetrap 4
Nervous house guests try to survive a vacation that’s become murder.

A radio broadcast sets the stage with a startling bit of information that a murderer is close by.  A pledge is exacted from the audience to keep the ending a secret, then the play jumps right into the first murder scene.  The audience is left with an eerie whistling of “Three Blind Mice” and the guessing begins.

 

We are introduced to each of the inn’s guests one at a time.  Wren, an odd, child-like architect, is the first guest to arrive.  He brings comic relief to every scene, but also great suspicion because of his attachment to nursery rhymes, like “Three Blind Mice.”

 

Mrs. Boyle and Major Metcalf are next to arrive, followed by Miss Casewell and then Mr. Paravicini.  Some of the guests have reservations and a few do not.  As each guest arrives, many suspicious hints are given.  And each is dressed exactly as the murderer is described on the radio report. No one is quite who they appear to be. Everyone has secrets.

 

Like other Christie tales, everyone is trapped in the same house with no way to call for help. Yet it’s frighteningly clear the murderer is among them. And then what happens…?

 

Come enjoy the suspense that has made “The Mousetrap” London’s longest running play.  The play runs January 16 – February 1.  Show times are Wednesday through Saturday at 7:30 PM; Sundays matinee at 2 PM.