West Michigan's Arts & Entertainment Guide
Review: What a Do expertly captures the fierce humanity of ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’
Written by Marin Heinritz | Sunday, 07 May 2017 17:13 |Not long after the 1955 play “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” earned renowned 20th Century American playwright Tennessee Williams his second Pulitzer Prize and the Drama Critics Circle Award, he published an essay in Playbill magazine about the playwright’s relationship to the director of his plays.
Review: 'Motown the Musical' performances transcend tangled script
Written by James Sanford | Wednesday, 03 May 2017 09:52 |The songs outshine the script — how could it be otherwise? — in “Motown the Musical,” written by none other than Motown founder Berry Gordy (adapting his autobiography, “To Be Loved: The Music, The Magic, The Memories of Motown”) and scored with more than 50 of the immortal tunes his record label issued between 1958 and 1983.
Review: Grand Rapids Ballet’s ‘Alice in Wonderland’ is a modern masterpiece
Written by Marin Heinritz | Saturday, 29 April 2017 13:45 |“Imagination is the only weapon in the war against reality,” the Cheshire Cat purrs in “Alice in Wonderland.” In today’s post postmodern cultural landscape of the information age, in which “alternative facts” litter our news and going “down the rabbit hole” is a central and daily metaphor in our individual and collective lives, there is perhaps no more appropriate story.
Q&A - Peter Perez: President and CEO, Grand Rapids Symphony
Written by Samara Napolitan | Monday, 01 May 2017 09:00 |Peter Perez has been a magnet for uncommon musical experiences his entire life. From conducting his youth festival orchestra as a youngster to requesting that his upstairs neighbor, Placido Domingo, “please rehearse louder,” such experiences have led him to his new role as the Grand Rapids Symphony CEO.
Failure is not a word that many people take lightly. It's certainly not something many would like to admit they are dealing with or have experienced. And yet, a local business-turned-movement is celebrating five years of failure this month.
Elementary Arias: Grand Rapids vocal artists, educators and students team up to create children’s opera
Written by Samara Napolitan | Monday, 01 May 2017 09:00 |Colorful paintings line the halls of the K-12 building at the Grand Rapids Ellington Academy of Arts and Technology. Each work exists as an individual expression, made even more powerful in abundance.
More Than a Spoonful: MCT’s 'Mary Poppins' mixes fantasy and reality in heartwarming musical
Written by Marla R. Miller | Monday, 01 May 2017 09:00 |Featuring a 42-member cast, singing, dancing and high-flying effects, Muskegon Civic Theatre hopes to fill Frauenthal Theater and wow audiences with its spring musical, Mary Poppins.
Stulberg International String Competition nurtures the talent of tomorrow
Written by Samara Napolitan | Monday, 01 May 2017 09:00 |A new children’s book, The Dance of the Violin, is based on superstar violinist Joshua Bell’s first competition at the age of 12.
Many people recognize and collect Edward S. Curtis’ portraits of Native Americans and canyon and desert landscapes in America’s west, but his real intent was to document the lives of the indigenous tribes he spent nearly 30 years studying.
Rube Goldberg is more than just a man — he’s also an adjective. Defined in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as “accomplishing by complex means what seemingly could be done simply,” the iconic American cartoonist and illustrator’s work — including his famous invention drawings — will be on display this month at the Grand Rapids Art Museum in its latest exhibit.
