Don Calamia
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Review: 'Detroit Neutrino Project' Guerilla comedy invades Ann Arbor, film at 8 It's a Saturday evening in August. You and a date – or a friend, it really doesn't matter; heck, you could even be by yourself – are strolling the hustle-bustle [...]
Theater Events for the period Aug. 11-20
Professional Theater: And The Winner Is An Oscar-nominated Hollywood actor wakes up in a strange bar where time has no meaning and where nothing is as it seems. Purple Rose Theatre Company, Chelsea. Wed.-Sun. through Sep. 24. $17.50-32.50. [...]
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Review: 'Take Me Out' Performance Network stages major league hit When most gays and lesbians decide to "come out" – that is, when they choose to reveal their sexual orientation to the people around them – the news rarely makes front-page [...]
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Review: 'Heavenly Body' Eye candy and laughs served at dinner theater What do you get when you mix a pair of opposite-sex writers desperately searching for a plot and a buxom beauty who mysteriously shows up at the cabin they're sharing for a [...]
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Review: 'Small Packages' Planet Ant gives summer gift of laughter "Good things come in small packages," my mother used to say. And Planet Ant's 17th original comedy, "Small Packages," is just that: a good thing! The entertaining comedy explores [...]
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Review: 'And The Winner Is' On a wing and a prayer, Purple Rose closes winning year If the bedtime prayer, "Now I lay me down to sleep,' has fallen off your radar screen, you might want to reconsider making it a part of your nightly routine. At [...]
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Tidbits: Theater News from Around Town Those lovable women from 'Menopause' set yet another record Those menopausal women at Detroit's Gem Theatre have done it again! Not only did "Menopause The Musical" recently celebrate its first birthday at [...]
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Review: 'Crowns' It's all in the 'hattitude' at Plowshares Even as a fashion-challenged white gay man, I've long recognized that there's both an art and a science to how black women wear hats. The same hat on different women, I observed, takes on [...]
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Review: 'Twelfth Night' Love Ð and fun Ð is in the air at the Michigan Shakespeare Festival Two words not often associated with each other these days are "Shakespeare" and "fun." That's because some directors treat The Bard's comedies with such [...]
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Theater Profile: Wharton Center Michigan's largest performing arts center offers diverse new season Here's a quick quiz for you: Name Michigan's largest performing arts center. If you answered anything but East Lansing's Wharton Center, you're [...]
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Opinion: Confessions of a Cranky Critic Let's have a discussion, shall we? Welcome to the first in a series of occasional columns in which I discuss – or ramble on about – the goings-on in and around Michigan's professional theater community. [...]
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Review: 'The Tribute to Frank, Sammy, Joey & Dean' Musical proves they sure don't make 'em like the Rat Pack anymore Son-of-a-gun! It works! Having been a long time fan of the original Rat Pack – Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin and [...]