"Ordinary Days" by Adam Gwon is a sentimental, often funny Off-Broadway script that wears its influences on its sleeve. Gwon’s music begs comparisons to Jonathan Larson ("Rent") and Stephen Sondheim ("Sweeney Todd," "Into the Woods"). Unlike Larson and Sondheim, Gwon’s songs lack any memorable hooks.

In the 1950s, he formed the Bluenotes with pianist Joe Weaver, which led to gigs with John Lee Hooker, Big Joe Turner, Ruth Brown and Eddie Burns. He also played in the house band for Detroit’s Fortune Records label, where he recorded with Detroit legends Nolan Strong & the Diablos and Andre Williams.

“I don’t do impersonations, and that was a struggle at first,” Mingo said. For millions of moviegoers, Donkey will always be associated with Eddie Murphy, who voiced the character in the quartet of “Shrek” features. Mingo’s strategy was to remain true to the character while putting his own spin on the performance.

There are only so many slots available in each Academy Awards category, which means there will always be worthy performances and notable films that will go unrecognized. Several of them have just been released on DVD and Blu-ray. The Academy voters may not have seen them, but you should.

Director Tony Caselli knows that “Oedipus” may be a hard sell to mainstream audiences. After all, most people only know Sophocles’ classic tale for its most sensational element: the title character’s murder of his father and marriage to his own mother.

Another community sing ' known as Michigania! ' closes out Saturday. Six Michigan singers will lead the crowd in songs from the 1920s to the 1990s, and Rachel Alexander, the founder of Lansing’s womens’ chorus Sistrum will direct the All Comer’s Festival Choir.

Super Bowl Sunday will offer a chance for local residents to help provide health care in Guatemala. Sir Pizza Grand Caf' in Old Town is holding an event at 6 p.m. Feb. 6, to help raise funds for Michigan State University students and teachers venturing on a two-week mission to the reg...

Last Saturday night, the Blackened Moon Concert Hall was filled with smoke, booze and local Lansing metal bands, as Occasus held its CD release party. “The metal scene tries to help each other out,” said Eric Potts, guitarist of Occasus. “The rap scene in Lansing is more cutthroat, but we invited our friends to come play.”

CHELSEA — At first squint and frown, “Corktown,” now playing at the Purple Rose Theater, appears to be nothing more than the latest incarnation of the hit-man-with-a-heart-of-gold genre popularized in crime novels by Elmore Leonard, on the big screen by “Pulp Fiction,” and on HBO by “The Sopranos.”

“Have we become a habit? Do we distort the facts? Now, there’s no looking forward; now, there’s no turning back.” The words come from an old Pat Benatar hit, “We Belong,” but they perfectly express what’s going through the mind of Cindy (Michelle Williams) in “Blue Valentine.” Benatar’s ballad sounds like a fiery ode to the power of passion — until you pay close attention to the lyrics: “Whatever we deny or regret, for worse or for better, we belong together.” Perhaps Cindy is figuring out the underlying meaning of the song for the first time while she listens to it as she drives to work. She is slowly, reluctantly facing the realization that she can’t keep going down the same road.