Waste Land - UICA FIlms review
Submitted 02-26-2011 under OPINION
"There is so much excess that it becomes art." - Vik MunizOK, I’ll admit it. I like stuff. A lot. The Husband, as I refer to him, detests the accumulation of stuff for stuff's sake. So we’ve agreed to this rule: For every one thing we (well, I...
Toi, Toi, Toi! Love at the Opera for You!
Submitted 02-11-2011 under LOCAL LIFE
The classic head-over-heels love story transcends centuries. A man falls in love with a beautiful woman. The woman is passionate about the man. Yet the seduction of material luxuries and trickery by another man who can provide those...
Ghost Heart releases debut LP at Founders this Saturday
Submitted 01-26-2011 under OPINION
I have a preferred context for listening to most albums. It's not a set-in-stone thing but, for example, Metallica's Kill 'Em All is best listened to while driving on the highway. It just is. Jens Lekman's Night Falls Over Kortedala is a walking...
[REVIEW] Opening night of "Beacons" at UICA
Submitted 01-15-2011 under OPINION
After days and nights of monotonous snow and slush, West Michiganders are ushered to the light that is “Beacons: An Exhibition of Luminous Art,” now showing at the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts. The show is full of beauty and stillness with...
It Is Fine, Everything Is Fine! Actor/Director Crispin Glover speaks, performs, screens films at UICA
Submitted 12-08-2010 under OPINION
I had not heard of Crispin Glover until 2 p.m. yesterday afternoon. Since listening as he read his books at a slideshow live at Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts (UICA - 41 Sheldon SE), I have watched countless YouTube videos, trailers to...
[REVIEW] The Bad Plus at Royce Auditorium
Submitted 12-04-2010 under OPINION
The avant-garde trio The Bad Plus (Ethan Iverson, piano; Reid Anderson, bass; Dave King, drums) opened their set at St. Cecilia's Royce Auditorium Thursday night with Igor Stravinsky’s “Apollo” and encored to enthusiastic...
Voces exhibition honors the dead and challenges viewers
Submitted 11-24-2010 under OPINION
Voces ("Voices"), a solo exhibition by Mandy Cano Villalobos, addresses the mass femicide in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico. Femicide is historically defined as the systematic killing of women by men simply because they are women. In Ciudad...
Denali: Local playwright's hot little number in sub-zero setting
Submitted 11-16-2010 under OPINION
"People give you things so you'll open the door. So they can see inside." On Nov. 5, local playwright Austin Bunn gave 50 of us at Spectrum Theater's black box space the gift of a high-stakes plot and intricately connected characters in the...
Audience captivated by Breathe Owl Breathe at first of two shows at The DAAC
Submitted 11-14-2010 under OPINION
Seeing Breathe Owl Breathe perform live is like being invited to watch your children hold a concert in your living room, only the beautiful music they hear in their heads actually comes to fruition. They welcome you into their world of adventure and...
Theater Review: End Days at Spectrum Theater
Submitted 11-05-2010 under OPINION
The message of a neurotic and anxiety filled “End Days” is, in the end, acceptance. Playwright Laufer hits home while her cast runs the audience around a multitude of mixed emotional states. The Stein family has become disfunctional during the two...