A local comedy club is teaching people the skills of comedy writing, performance and improv, but not all of those people end up onstage. Many of them simply want to apply the skills in their everyday life, whether it’s as a writer, an actor or just in social settings.

It’s a very different world today than the one in which “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” burst onto the Off-Broadway scene in 1998. This critic was tits-deep in queer theory and Judith Butler’s ideas about gender identity formation as a wide-eyed undergraduate, and mainstream culture wasn’t in any way ready for a rock musical/cabaret featuring a heart-broken, foul-mouthed, East German, gender fluid rock star who suffered from botched sex reassignment surgery. But the theater world was — as it always is for a brilliant character with righteous dramatic flair.

One of the most beautiful aspects about live theater is its ability to take people back to a moment in their own lives, a memory that’s ingrained in their brain from long ago or an event that recently happened. With the Wharton Center’s season opener, Come From Away, most members of the audience will probably have at least one memory or two of the event at the center of the musical: 9/11.

The Barn Theatre has a way of playing to its strengths, which turns out to be all kinds of things, from big sweeping musicals to off-color farces to classic dramas to rock operas to family friendly comedies and beyond. They’ve offered much of that this year in their 73rd summer stock season, but to bring this excellent season to a close they’re offering something completely different—that yet also plays to their strengths as comedians, character actors, as well as phenomenal singers and dancers.

A complete preview of art exhibitions and events in West Michigan for the 2019-2020 season.

A look at the many classical music and jazz performances happening in the 2019-2020 season.

A guide to all the plays and musicals coming to West Michigan theaters in the 2019-2020 seasons.

A preview of exhibitions and events coming to West Michigan museums in the near future.

Heavily inspired by the emerging art scene in Grand Rapids’ Creston neighborhood, muralist and printmaker Michelle Facer is ready to make her mark in West Michigan. A 2017 graduate from Kendall College, Facer works in printmaking, illustration and large-scale mural art. Drive through the Creston neighborhood and you’ll have the chance to view not one but two of her beautiful and dreamy murals.

Rooted in the grit of Midwestern manufacturing and the chaotic independence of DIY artist culture, Bryan Kosciolek is a printmaker and painter creating out of Grand Rapids. Focused slightly more on the process than the product, Kosciolek’s spontaneous and playful attitude is highlighted throughout his entire collection of work, which expands across an impressive array of materials and mediums. Kosciolek is a part of the Dinderbeck Studios community of downtown Grand Rapids, but when he’s not there, you can find him screenprinting at CreateMyTee or collaborating with local organizations, such as the DAAC and Experience Live Art.