Wednesday, May 26,2010

The Screening Room

'Sex' and the sandy: Fun is just a mirage

by James Sanford

Once upon a time ' way back in 1998 ' there was a fresh new HBO series about four single women slashing and sashaying their way through the Big Apple dating scene. It was called “Sex and the City,” and it was witty and sophisticated and steamy and, in some eyes, scandalous.

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Sunday, May 23,2010

Places, please - It's time for this year's Pulsar nominations

City Pulse theater judges honor the best of the best in their annual award ceremony June 14

by James Sanford

Over the course of the past year, judges Erin Buitendorp, Mary Cusack, Tom and Kathy Helma, Paul Wozniak and Ute Von Der Heyden have surveyed the local theater landscape to find the very best of the best. In order to qualify for a Pulsar award, a show must be seen and rated by at least three of the six judges.

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Saturday, May 22,2010

Which blockbuster will self-destruct?

by James Sanford

“Robin Hood” dodged the bullet. The Russell Crowe/Cate Blanchett epic (which received lukewarm reviews from critics) managed to take in $36 million at the box office last weekend ' not “Iron Man 2” numbers, perhaps, but good enough to save the film from wearing the badge of shame labeled The First Bomb of Summer.

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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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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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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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