If “Shakespeare” brings to mind recollections of high school English, all “thee, thou, thine,” The Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company entices you to give a live performance a try. Thou just might like it more than ye think.
The idea to document the Work Progress Administration and the Farm Security Administration during the late 1930s through photography was an idea well ahead of its time, according to Michelle Stempien, curator of education for the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts.
Home to nearly 5,500 campers and 700 faculty members studying music, art, theater and dance every summer, Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp also hosts an annual Summer Arts Festival that offers evening entertainment in July and August. Cost is no barrier, as nearly every event is free.
American author L. Frank Baum’s children’s book “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” has been adapted practically countless times since its publication in 1900, and for good reason. It’s a timeless allegorical quest tale of self discovery — about trusting what’s real beyond false facades, believing we already possess that which we seek, and realizing that when we know ourselves, we’re always at home, anywhere.
What’s the big deal about Mamma Mia!, the fluffy jukebox musical built upon Swedish disco-pop group ABBA’s hits? With a 14-year run on Broadway and solidly placed in the top-10 longest running shows in both Broadway and West End history, and a movie adaptation with a sequel set to release this year, it’s a show people are downright wild about.
There is perhaps no more perfect musical than “Hairspray,” the multiple Tony Award-winning Broadway hit adapted from the John Waters’ 1988 cult classic film.
People like to describe what Sutton Lee Seymour does as “old school drag,” though the opening night of her two-night engagement at Farmers Alley Theatre this weekend indicates an homage to camp, to Broadway, to Disney princesses from a performer who’s so skilled at singing, dancing, character work, improvisation, and innovative (not to mention lightning-quick changes in) costumes, s/he clearly owns whatever stage s/he inhabits.
At the exact moment when it seems as if not one more thing could possibly go wrong for the second-rate British touring company putting on the ill-fated sex farce “Nothing On,” its director, Lloyd, cries out in exasperation “This play is beyond a director’s hell.”
