Wednesday, July 27,2011

'Moments that are coming'

Look inside MSU’s Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum

by Lawrence Cosentino

Two second-floor balconies, at right angles to each other, overlook the vast west gallery. We climbed the stairs to the second floor and stopped at the rails to gape. Overhead, the roof zoomed on without us to the northwest, framing a stunning view of Grand River and East Lansing.

Read more Read it in print

Wednesday, July 27,2011

Rough times, smooth jazz

Bob Baldwin digs a straight groove in a zig-zag biz

by Lawrence Cosentino

In February 2008, jazz pianist and composer Bob Baldwin was driving through the countryside of Westchester County, N.Y., soaking in musical inspiration, when he got a depressing text message. New York’s WQCD was shutting off the smooth jazz spigot after 15 years.

Read more Read it in print

Wednesday, July 27,2011

'River' siren

Bonnie Jo Campbell makes a major splash

by Bill Castanier

It’s easier to name a major author Bonnie Jo Campbell hasn’t been compared with (Edith Wharton comes to mind) than it is to tick off the long list of writers to whom she’s being compared: Eudora Welty, Mark Twain, Raymond Carver, Daniel Woodrell,...

Read more Read it in print

Wednesday, July 27,2011

Shakespeare's zoo debut

‘Merchant’ cast provides laughs, but can’t reveal the play’s darker side

by Paul Wozniak

A complex tragic-comedy with religious overtones, sensual puns and poetically barbed insults, “Merchant” shows that expensive courtships have always had life-threatening consequences.

Read more Read it in print

Wednesday, July 27,2011

Lukewarm

Fitfully funny ‘Flaming’ doesn’t quite roar

by Mary C. Cusack

While not a flameout, Riverwalk Theatre’s production of “Flaming Idiots” is not quite as funny as it could be. In his directorial debut at Riverwalk, Josh Martin displays skill in staging physical comedy, but his direction of dialogue needs work, as this play relies heavily on equally good timing of both.

Read more Read it in print

Wednesday, July 27,2011

Strength in numbers

WKAR documentary chronicles Lansing’s ‘community sings’

by Rich Tupica

The frequent singing events are held locally at the Unitarian Universalist Church and annually at the Hannah' Community Center for the Mid-Winter Singing Festival, which packs the house with hundreds of people ready to tackle the Great American Songbook, folk standards and spirituals.

Read more Read it in print

Wednesday, July 27,2011

Turn it Down: A survey of Lansing’s musical landscape

by Rich Tupica

The band opens a show at Mac’s Bar Thursday in support of its new 7-inch single “Night on the Town” (Magwheel Records). In early 2010 Porter also released his debut solo album, “Party of One,” then went on to play dozens of shows across the East Coast, Midwest and Canada, hitting all the major cities.

Read more Read it in print

Wednesday, July 27,2011

The Screening Room

When very bad movies happen to very good actors

by James Sanford

I was thinking about this two weeks ago when I was watching an alleged comedy called “The Best and the Brightest” (the title, as it turned out, was a double lie).

Read more Read it in print

Thursday, July 21,2011

Friendly invasion

Touring German youth orchestra smuggles big guns into the Midwest

by Lawrence Cosentino

“It blasts you out of your seat,” Klaue said. The Ahresnburg Youth Orchestra was formed in 1968, and Klaue has been the conductor since 1993. The musicans are drawn from a school in the Ahrensburg area, north of Hamburg. Only half the students at the school, selected by audition, get to go on the American tour.

Read more Read it in print

Wednesday, July 20,2011

Secrets of the Old Town sisterhood

How women are remaking Lansing’s oldest district

by Lawrence Cosentino

Antiques and boutiques, yoga and flowers, hair and more hair. Stores with names like Love, Betti, October Moon, Grace and Polka Dots Bead-A-Full Boutique. Attorneys, non-profits and design firms bring a pinch of rough and tumble to the picture, but it’s pretty much official by now: Old Town has turned into a woman cave.

Read more Read it in print