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Saturday, May 22,2010

The man behind the mask

Tim Martin Gleason is the 'Phantom' menace

by James Sanford
So he stepped into the title role. By then, he’d already had plenty of preparation. “The whole time I was Raoul, I was the Phantom’s understudy as well,” Gleason said, calling from New York City. “On a two-show day, I could be Raoul at the matinee and then be the Phantom at night.
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Wednesday, May 19,2010

’Home’ is where the theater is

Families tell their stories in Williamston production

by James Sanford
In Muskegon, a frazzled family battles over whose turn it is to use the only bathroom in the house. In Madison, Wis., an elderly widow laments what she sees as the deterioration of her neighborhood. In Detroit, a babysitter is taken aback by the unusual lunch request of the boy she’s taking care of.
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Wednesday, May 19,2010

BoarsHead Theater faces final curtain

LCC trustees reject proposed partnership

by James Sanford
“Currently, BoarsHead is defunct, they are bankrupt. We’re not rescuing anyone,” he said. “The BoarsHead people are working hard to reconstitute themselves to once again be a viable theater company in Lansing. Without us, they’d have to go back to the drawing board.
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Tuesday, May 18,2010

Lights out for BoarsHead Theater

Lansing Community College board of trustees votes down potential partnership with closed Equity theater

by James Sanford
The curtains closed on BoarsHead Theater Monday night as the Lansing Community College Board of Trustees voted not to pursue a proposed partnership with the now-bankrupt company.“We’re dead,” said BoarsHead interim director George Orban after the vote.By a vote of 4-2 the LCC trustees rejected a union with BoarsHead, which closed its doors last December in the face of declining ticket sales and high-profile personnel shake-ups.
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Friday, May 14,2010

'Robin' from the rich — eh, not so much

Russell Crowe plays an older outlaw with different priorities

by James Sanford
Emerald-green tights, sneering sheriffs and damsels-in-distress have no place in director Ridley Scott’s “Robin Hood,” which is the latest in an ever-growing series of epics that “re-imagine” a familiar tale. Brian Helgeland’s screenplay takes Robin — or Robin Longstride, as he is known here — back to his final days in The Crusades and into his first visit to Nottingham, where he will meet many of the characters who will become his band of Merry Men.It’s an idea ripe with possibilities. Unfortunately, it’s also the same idea the creators of the excellent BBC “Robin Hood” series had several years ago, and they had more fun with it. Although Scott’s saga is extremely well-crafted and often exciting, it somehow never quite catches fire to become the pulse-pounding, vigorous romantic adventure it aspires to be.
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Wednesday, May 12,2010

Local artists get Live downtown

Two new concert series are in the works

by James Sanford
Lansing Live, a new concert series featuring local artists, kicks off May 20 on Washington Square, while Citadel Broadcasting prepares to launch a revamped version of the Blues on the Square series..
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Wednesday, May 12,2010

The Screening Room

Waiting for ’Eclipse’? Don’t forget ’Juliet’

by James Sanford
Summit Entertainment, which distributes the “Twilight” films, is hoping many of those eagerly awaiting “Eclipse” will use this weekend to check out “Letters to Juliet,” a romantic comedy-drama the studio is positioning as a kind of curtain-raiser for the “Twilight” juggernaut.
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Thursday, May 6,2010

Ironing out the wrinkles

'Iron Man 2' is essentially a mid-life crisis movie, augmented with explosions, high-tech brawls and a couple of awesome electric whips.

by James Sanford
Make it bigger, louder and longer: That’s the typical blueprint for action-movie sequels. Yet “Iron Man 2” is not a completely formulaic follow-up. Director Jon Favreau and screenwriter Justin Theroux have created something that’s closer to a comedy-drama than it is to a traditional summer-movie spectacular. The often loopy, non sequitur-riddled dialogue is reminiscent of Favreau’s earlier movies, such as “Swingers” and “Made,” and, thankfully, the storyline does not slide into the old evil-genius-threatens-to-take-over-the-universe groove.
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Wednesday, May 5,2010

The Screening Room

'Babies': Cute is the universal language

by James Sanford
It’s not uncommon to hear a movie described as “cute.” Often, that’s not a compliment. But if there’s any film that truly deserves to be described with that particular adjective, it must be “Babies,” director Thomas Balmes’ documentary examining the first months in the lives of four infants.
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Wednesday, May 5,2010

A comeback or the final curtain?

The fate of the shuttered BoarsHead Theatre may be decided next week

by James Sanford
The building that once housed BoarsHead Theater is scheduled to be turned into a parking lot. Former BoarsHead artistic director Kristine Thatcher has already launched a new professional theater company called Stormfield. The rest of BoarsHead’s staff has moved on to other ventures.
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