Don Calamia
Little bit 'o this, little bit 'o that
ARTS FUNDING UPDATE Both good news and bad were delivered June 11 when Governor Jennifer M. Granholm announced the lifting of a moratorium on grants to the state's arts and cultural organizations. The freeze withheld $7.5 million in previously [...]
A commie lurks at the Purple Rose
CHELSEA – Life might have turned out significantly different for Grosse Pointe native Matt Letscher had he not found his way to the Purple Rose Theatre Company immediately after receiving a bachelor's degree in theater and drama from the University [...]
Actress, advocate makes magic in Detroit
She's everywhere. Although the name Madelyn Porter might not sound familiar, there's a very good chance you'd recognize her as one of Metro Detroit's jewels of the theater – a powerful actress who's graced pretty much every area stage for the past [...]
Art & Around for the period June20-30
SUMMER ARTS FESTIVALS: Ann Arbor Summer Festival A three-week celebration of performing arts, outdoor entertainment and community spirit that offers dozens of legendary artists, pop icons, international superstars and emerging newcomers in and [...]
MI Theatre Festival: 3 days, 8 plays
Michigan's state legislators might want to visit the Boll Family YMCA in downtown Detroit this weekend where 10 of the state's professional theaters will toss aside their differences and collaborate on a three-day festival to achieve a common goal. [...]
Rare pedigree: 'Enuf' at the Blackbird
What I've come to expect from Ann Arbor's gutsy, little Blackbird Theatre is the unexpected – and that certainly describes its current production, "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf." A regular staple of Black [...]
Hate the sin, but love the 'sissies'
"Hate" is a word that is contrary to the life and message of Jesus Christ – yet that is what legions of LGBT people painfully encounter in many Christian churches around the world. It's a conundrum, to be sure, one that playwright Del Shores [...]
He comes, he goes and he's back again
KALAMAZOO – When an anticipated summer job in Grand Rapids fell through earlier this year, playwright/director Randy Wyatt wasn't too upset. "I've been doing stuff at the Circle Theatre every summer for about 15 years straight, so I was looking [...]
Plymouth Rides the Rails' at Historical Museum
PLYMOUTH – The history of the railroad in Plymouth will be celebrated this summer and fall with a special exhibit that opens June 13 at the Plymouth Historical Museum. Trains came to Plymouth in 1871, with the opening of both the Holly, Wayne & [...]
Lapses and laughs galore
Lapses – we all have them. Whether of the mental or moral kind, none of us is immune to the occasional break from "normalcy." But what happens when such occurrences become more and more frequent – as they often do as we get older? That's the [...]
An impressive presentation' at the BoarsHead
Sitting at his desk one morning in the Dutch town of Hoofddorp, a librarian discovers a mystery among the books dropped into the overnight return box: a raggedy travel guide that was checked out 113 years earlier. Being a dutiful bureaucrat, there [...]
What's up with Curtain Calls this summer
With the 2007/08 theater season rapidly coming to a close, Curtain Calls is gearing up for a summer-long season of fun, change and experimentation. For starters, Curtain Calls has listened to its readers and will head to the world famous Stratford [...]