In Steve VanWagoner’s eyes, the shuttered AMC Meridian 6 Theatres complex could one day be an upscale cinema, with refreshments whipped up by chefs, plush stadium-style seating and possibly even a liquor license. He envisions an enormous difference between the shabby old AMC, almost apologetically tucked away behind the Meridian Mall, and Celebration! Cinema’s latest venture, Studio C!, which VanWagoner hopes will be open before the end of the year.

Much of the action unfolds in locations like the Macao Surf and Turf Nightclub Gambling Casino, where characters such as the drifter Mitch Boonton ("I'm an expatriate American, 38 to 45, very masculine, sure of myself and a little bored with life") collide with lost souls and cryptic Asians.

Rob Roznowski, Michigan State University associate professor of acting, was named Michigan Distinguished Professor of the Year by the Presidents Council, State Universities of Michigan. The award recognizes an educator at one of Michigan's 15 public universities who has been nominated by his or her peers for outstanding contributions through classroom work and advising.

Plenty of people insist that nothing gets accomplished in Washington these days. Craig Mitchell Smith is not among them. The Lansing glass artist took a quick trip to the nation's capital last Friday to attend the Michigan Business Leaders Briefing, hosted by the White House Business Council and Business Forward.

That’s the poisonous promise of Annie (Abby Murphy), a development director at a cash-strapped TV station. Annie’s not an assassin, though: She’s simply a woman who’s been knocked a bit off-balance by seismic shake-ups in her personal life (including a cheating husband, an abrupt move to a new home and a brush with a peculiar neighbor) that have turned a hectic pledge week into an over-the-edge week.

With its tattered black curtains, chipped and dusty proscenium and an assortment of grungy props and scenery pieces strewn around the stage, the Riverwalk Theatre looks like it’s seen better days. That’s exactly how it’s meant to be for “Follies,” Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman’s musical psychodrama set in a soon-to-be-razed playhouse.

If you missed out on getting a ticket for Jerry Seinfeld´s Thursday show at the Wharton Center, you can get some idea of what goes into one of his shows from the 2002 documentary "Comedian," which documents Seinfeld's return to the world of standup comedy after he wrapped up his phenomenally successful sitcom. If you are not a comedian, "Comedian" will probably not inspire you to try breaking into the business.

“It’s the most upsetting job in the world,” he said in a phone interview last week. He recalled understudying Evan Pappas, the lead in a 1993 production of the Burt Bacharach/Hal David/Neil Simon musical “Promises, Promises” at Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, Conn. As Tom Petty once sang, the waiting is the hardest part, a sentiment Roznowski can stand behind: He had to be prepared to take over at any time if Pappas was sick and, in keeping with the show’s title, there were plenty of promises Roznowski would get his shot.

More superheroes equal more money. By the end of the week, “The Avengers” — which brings together Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) — will have surpassed the total box office of the “Star Wars: A New Hope”; by the end of the month, it will have grossed over $500 million. It’s already No. 6 on the list of the biggest domestic blockbusters of all time.

Zeko announced the series will be taping its first four episodes June 26 and 27 at the Albert White Performing Arts Theater in the Hannah Community Center instead of WKAR-TV’s Studio A of the Michigan State University’s Communication Arts and Sciences building.