One can’t help but wonder why an exceptionally dark, three-hour-long musical with about half a dozen central characters and a hero without a romance has endured for nearly 40 years with fans old and new alike clamoring for more.

Now over 25 years into his standup career, comedian Demetri Martin gets joke ideas pitched to him from some surprisingly unexpected collaborators—his kids.

The 15th anniversary Regional Area Dance Festival kickoff performance at Wellspring Theater in Kalamazoo Thursday night featured an eclectic mix of “Michigan Made” dances. This focus on dancers and choreographers working in our very own state is new to RAD Fest this year and in two hours and two acts, 10 distinct pieces showcased wonderful diversity in style, mood, theme, and bodies presented on stage, a celebration of contemporary dance in the Mitten.

To be audience to “Sleeping Beauty” is to bear witness to history, to be fully immersed in tradition and artistry that goes back more than 400 years. And to be audience to a performance as superb as that staged by Grand Rapids Ballet accompanied by the Grand Rapids Symphony, is to be transformed.

The Grand Rapids Art Museum’s five current exhibitions immerses attendees in everything from the bright and colorful world of LEGO to the way photography can freeze a moment in time, allowing it to live even after its photographer has shuffled off this mortal coil.

Western Michigan University’s dance program has a national reputation for very good reason. Described as “a hidden gem”, their annual Winter Gala Dance Concert is a reflection of the best of what they can produce in any given year. It showcases individual talent but also the program’s phenomenal collaborative and innovative powers.

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.

No matter the form they might take, a story that’s shared with an audience will have three central beats—beginning, middle and end. Now, imagine a team of storytellers who accept spontaneous one-word prompts to perform a new story’s beginning, but have no idea of where it might lead to.

The beloved storytelling form of the situational comedy originated on the radio a century ago and they arguably had their heyday on Midcentury American television. Often formulaic, sitcoms continue to be irresistibly palatable to us, largely because of their big characters and the ways in which a problem is always resolved in a satisfying, pithy way.

Aladdin, the musical based on the 1992 animated film (which in turn was based on a story whose origins have been lost to the sands of time), is a cave of wonders.