Ask Ashley Travis, a 2010 Western Michigan University graduate who is one of the “swing” performers on the current national tour. Typically, Travis hits the stage when one of the regular cast members has to take time off. Sometimes, that can mean going to work midway through a performance.

When it comes to comebacks, Woody Allen could probably teach Cher, Britney Spears and even Lazarus a few lessons by now.

Hans Friedrichs spent three seasons at the Barn Theatre in Augusta as an Equity Membership Candidate. Then he took more than 20 years off.He’s back this summer as the director of “The Great Big Bar Show,” which opens the theater’s 65th season this week.

We live in an era when too many movie trailers and commercials give away far too much ' including all the best jokes, all the biggest shocks and sometimes even the ending of the film. If you talk to marketing people, they’ll tell you this is what audiences demand: Everyone supposedly wants to know exactly what is coming before buying a ticket.

"With Chad’s experience working through the Old Town Commercial Association, as well as his involvement in the community ' and especially his background in the arts and his enthusiasm for Lansing, he’s a great addition to our staff, and we’re thrilled to have him.

Not every mosquito bites ' and not every second or third installment of a series does either. Remember "The Godfather, Part II" and "Toy Story 2"? Sure, you may say, but what about "Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen" and "Sex and the City 2"? Like the summer weather, you never know what you’re going to get.

I’ve been reading your column for years, and I never dreamed I’d be writing to you. But here in Lansing, a local theater is about to expose all your secrets. The play is called “The Lady With All the Answers,” and the actress portraying you is Diane Dorsey, who comes from Chicago (isn’t that your neck of the woods?).

The annual avalanche of summer blockbusters is beginning to rain down on theaters, with the opening of "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" this weekend and "The Hangover 2" and "Kung Fu Panda 2" due to arrive for Memorial Day.

When Sylvia discovers her husband, Philip, is having an affair with Oliver, she can’t even say the term that defines their relationship. It’s 1958 in London and, as author Alexi Kaye Campbell’s “The Pride” reminds us, that sort of behavior wasn’t the sort of thing people talked about in what was called “polite conversation.

Believe it or not, "Chicago" ' which has seen nearly 6,000 performances on Broadway ' was once considered a bit of a disappointment. When the John Kander/Fred Ebb musical opened in 1975, it was overshadowed by another Broadway newcomer: "A Chorus Line," which won more awards and brought in bigger audiences.