Around 20 years ago, a trip to the Chicago Drum Show changed Shawn VanSteeland’s life.
“I was like, ‘This is awesome, we should do it in …
The Lansing area is awash with resources for performing and recording musicians, burgeoning artists looking to hone their craft, live music fans, record and CD collectors and beyond. If you consider …
If you, like me, grew up in a working-class Catholic home in the 1970s, you’ll find Katie Forgette’s memory play, “Incident at Our Lady of Perpetual Help,” at Williamston …
You should never say never, but it’s a safe bet that no two artists have ever kneaded their brains together the way Mark Chatterley and his daughter, Teagan, did to create their joint exhibit, …
Bill Morrison knows a thing or two about satire. The St. Clair Shores-based College for Creative Studies alumnus has served as executive editor of Mad magazine, an illustrator for “The …
In May 2020, Christian Cooper, a dedicated birder, was on his home turf in New York’s Central Park looking for the elusive mourning warbler when he came across a “bird” he had never …
The busy brushes of Brian Whitfield
The paint brushes of local muralist Brian Whitfield never get a chance to dry out, and that’s a good thing.
Whitfield, who is noted for his many …
Local rapper and event planner J.Plantana is well-versed in being the change she wants to see in the world. From center stage to behind the scenes, she’s making waves in the area’s …
For Evolve Theatrics’ 20th anniversary show, co-founder Helen Hart wanted to direct something special. Being a fan of old-school musicals, she felt “The Sound of Music” would be the …
Murals find their way on to some unusual spaces, including street crosswalks, communication boxes and walls and windows in the downtown. And now drain grates and catch basins will be getting a …
Along with the east side, Old Town is known as an epicenter for Lansing’s LGBTQ+ community. But it hasn’t always been that way. Though Cheryl VanDeKerkhove, a …
As someone who enjoys tinkering with bikes and fixing things around the house, Scot Wright has watched craftspeople do “some pretty amazing things” on YouTube.
But four months ago, …
The Green Door, an eastside Lansing institution for more than three decades, serving up the blues and a wide variety of other music while also thriving as an old-school neighborhood bar and grill, is …
Local author RJ Erskine begins his new paranormal thriller, “The Coigreach,” like many other books in the genre: A young, enigmatic traveler has car trouble and settles in a …
MONDAY, June 23 — The Green Door, a Lansing institution on Michigan Avenue for more than three decades, serving up the blues and a wide variety of other music while also thriving as an …
It’s been 14 years since “The Book of Mormon” premiered on Broadway and won the Tony Award for best musical, so at this point, no one should go in expecting a family-friendly production.
The stars are dotted across the night sky in a grand, continuous scroll, but if you look closer, you see that each dot burns with its own chemistry and life story.
Peter Bernstein, one of the …
King Ghidorah, the golden, winged monster of “Godzilla” fame, comes at you with three fire-breathing heads.
This year’s Summer Solstice Jazz Festival features a Ghidorah of a …
It’s high time for “Summertime,” in more ways than one.
Tiffany Gridiron, a spellbinding singer in the tradition of Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and Nancy Wilson, is the …
Deadtime Stories wasn’t made with a sequel in mind.
“Owning a small business is not for the weak, especially these days,” owner Jenn Carpenter said. “So, there was no …
(This is the second in a two-part series on Detroit’s famed writer.)
C.M. Kushins was 11 when his mother gave him a copy of “Get Shorty.” It led to a life of writing. He writes …
Bonnie Knutson, a professor of business at Michigan State University and a longtime patron of the school’s Wharton Center for Performing Arts, is positive that her love of theater and the arts …
You can pack a lot of fun into two of the longest days of the year.
Michigan State University guitar maestro Randy Napoleon, in his first year as artistic director of this weekend’s Summer …
Long before the Lansing Civic Center was reduced to rubble in 1999, the 6,500-capacity arena at 525 W. Allegan St. stood as a beating heart of live music in Michigan’s capital city. For …
Chalk another one up
The public art season is upon us. Last weekend was Chalk of the Town in Old Town, where artists competed for the best chalk art installation. First place in the over-18 …
Pamela Loewen didn’t set out to build a gallery.
The first two times the Williamston quiltmaker needed more space in her home studio, she added onto her house. The third time, she looked …
(This is part one of a two-part article on the legendary Elmore Leonard. Next week, I will interview his biographer.)
How cool is cool? Well, Detroit crime writer Elmore Leonard was …
MSU Juneteenth Commemorative Celebration
With the theme “A Juneteenth Renaissance: Bridging Freedom’s Legacy and Tomorrow’s Vision,” MSU’s fifth annual Juneteenth …
As LGBTQ+ historian Tim Retzloff says in the following pages, the coming-out story has a “stock structure.” Reflecting on his own, which he wrote in the early 1990s, he explained it was …
(The author is a local transgender advocate and sits on the Lansing Pride Board of Directors.)
My story is a long one — 60+ years. I had a desire to wear dresses at age 6. This was 1960, …
(The author is a local activist for legal marijuana and LGBTQ+ rights.)
I always felt different.
As a little kid I never fit in with the “regular” kids and spent years trying to …
(The author is a longtime local activist for the LGBTQ+ and Latino communities.)
“Coming out” is a process by which an individual recognizes his or her sexual orientation and openly …
(The author is a historian who teaches history and LGBTQ+ studies at MSU as a fixed-term assistant professor.)
In late 1991 or early 1992, I took training to be part of the speakers’ …
(The author is an associate professor in MSU’s media and information department who studies the use and design of technology in Africa.)
Coming out is a lifelong process. For me, it began …
(The author is a local advocate for LGBTQ+ and disability rights.)
Years ago, I came out to my aunt when she asked if I was talking to a girlfriend or boyfriend on AOL. I chose honesty, and told …
(The author is a longtime LGBTQ+ community activist, currently co-leading the LGBTQ+ and allies community group the Crowded Table Coalition.)
My coming out story? Which one? I’ve come out …
Those who think the only culture to be found in Lansing is on yogurt shelves in local markets should reconsider. Lansing Community College is once again offering free theater by none other than …
On paper, the members of Michigan State University’s Groove Doctors 3 are a tad overqualified for what started as a non-paying Tuesday night gig at the Peanut Barrel. Vocalist Mike Lawrence teaches …
“Fools”
June 5-8
7 p.m. Thursday-Saturday
4 p.m. Sunday
MSU Summer Circle Theatre
542 Auditorium Road, East Lansing
www.theatre.msu.edu
“The …
“You either die a SpongeBob or live long enough to become a Squidward.” I don’t recall who started that internet meme, but it has long since achieved immortality among older fans of …
Almost 30 years ago, Terri L. Jewell, a Lansing Black lesbian poet and author, committed suicide at the age of 41. Her life is still memorialized in the Stephen O. Murray Keelung Hong Special …
There’s a story Michael Dease wants to tell, and now he can tell it his way.
The Michigan State University-based trombone professor, composer and educator was awarded a prestigious …
Rebecca Titus, owner and CSA manager of Titus Farms in Leslie and winner of Best Farmer in City Pulse’s inaugural Top of the Town People Contest, has been attending farmers markets her whole …
Allen Farmers Market
Year-round
Summer season: Through Oct. 29
3-6:30 p.m. Wednesdays
Allen Neighborhood Center
1629 E. Kalamazoo St., Lansing
…
