The Gilmore kicked off its 2018-2019 season on Sunday evening with the first performance from its Rising Stars series. Italian concert pianist Luca Buratto impressed a near-full house at the Wellspring Theater in Kalamazoo with a century-spanning selection from his repertoire.

Go inside a teenage boy’s brain with the Michigan premiere of “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” at Actors’ Theatre Grand Rapids. With their unique use of set pieces and props, sound and talented acting, this play is not one you want to miss this month.

Civic Theatre’s latest production, “Steel Magnolias,” highlights the eternal strength of women through life’s ups and downs. Set in Truvy’s Beauty Salon in late ’80s small-town Louisiana, the set, costumes and characters all reflect the time and place — from teased up hair held by hairspray, to blush pink carpets and strong southern accents.

The genius of the creative collaboration between composer Leonard Bernstein and choreographer Jerome Robbins, two legends in their own right, is perhaps more lasting than love. That is, if we are to believe the larger theme of “On the Town,” the grand 1940s musical they created together based on their previous ballet, “Fancy Free.”

If there’s one thing anyone who’s ever been to The Barn Theatre in Augusta knows, it’s that they know how to do a killer rock musical. And anyone who’s had the good fortune of seeing shows there this summer certainly knows the 72nd season company of Michigan’s oldest resident summer stock theater is well-versed in brilliant, campy comedy.

After spending her day job staring at a screen for hours on end, Kelly Kermode found herself needing a release, so she returned to an old love: pottery.

When patrons visit the renovated Howmet Playhouse in Whitehall, not only can they expect new seats, carpets and restrooms, but they’ll see features of the building’s historic character unveiled. 

A typical day in the life of Miranda Krajniak involves an Uber through the stop-and-go traffic on Monroe Center Street, asking her driver what they think of the bright, yet stormy mural of an angelic, silver woman outside the window. After giving their full opinion, the driver learns exactly who their passenger is: the executive director of the Urban Institute of Contemporary Art, and she has been on the forefront of most of Grand Rapids’ major street art installations over the past five years. 

Working under the name Old Growth, Nick Nortier’s colorful murals cover brewery walls and building exteriors around Grand Rapids and beyond. 

When it comes to enjoying a concert, keep the iPhone in your pocket and leave the photos to the pros. A great photographer captures the essence of an artist and those moments within the sweat and reverberation while watching from the floor. Count Adeshola Makinde among the best of those with a lens. Visceral, kinetic and undeniably dope, his photos are a bridge to connecting with these larger-than-life icons. Sometimes a peek behind the veil, always fully immersive, he has a knack for coaxing the X-factor out of his subjects.