"She only wrote one good book. But if you write a book that good, you only need to do it once.” Neil Gaiman said that of Hope Mirrlees, author of Lud-in-the-Mist, but he could as easily have been talking about Harper Lee.

• DeVos Performance Hall
• theatre
• Broadway Grand Rapids
• Broadway

On Thursday, April 18, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center will bring to the stage String Magic, an evening of music ranging over 140 years and demonstrating the enduring beauty of the art form.

It’s 2024 and arts organizations in West Michigan are thriving, with incredible, jam-packed seasons of art, conversations, fun and community involvement.

• theatre
• jazz
• arts
• Classical Music
• Plays

Dance performed to live music is one of life’s great joys, and Grand Rapids Ballet’s “Jumpstart 2024” celebrates the marvelous musicality of their dancers.

• Ballet
• Grand Rapids Ballet
• Jumpstart
• Reviews

If Grand Rapids has a reputation for celebrating art, a significant amount of credit for that reputation belongs to Avenue for the Arts.

• Avenue for the Arts
• Third Thursdays

Most of us who have studied American history to any degree have encountered the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire of 1911 as a devastating and pivotal event that led to much-needed, fundamental change in labor laws.

• St Cecilia Music Center
• Ballet
• Deos Contemporary Ballet

A late film critic once said of the even later director Alfred Hitchcock’s work that, in it, “nothing is ever taken quite seriously.” That’s certainly true. You might remember the episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents entitled “Lamb To The Slaughter,” in which the titular meat, having been used as a murder weapon, is cooked and served to some clueless cops. That’s awful, yes, but it’s also funny.

It’s 2024 and arts organizations in West Michigan are thriving, with incredible, jam-packed seasons of art, conversations, fun and community involvement. This month, you can visit the theaters for big Broadway shows and intimate plays, listen to symphonies play the classics and modern pieces, and head to local museums for a variety of stunning art. Check it out.

• arts

The stories of Detroit are the stories of America. This is but one of many reasons that places Detroit native Dominique Morisseau’s brilliant “Skeleton Crew” solidly in the canon of classic American plays.

Among the 52 headshots included in the program for stageGR’s production of Matilda (onstage through March 10th) is one that isn’t a headshot at all. Instead, it’s a cute drawing of a cat, thick white lines on a sky-blue background. Below it is a signature: Tessa.