When: April 14 at 7:30 pm, April 15-16 at 8:00 pm, April 17 at 2:00 pm
Where: Power Center
How Much: $12 for Students, $26 and $32 for General Admission
Why: Because it is the last big performance of the year! Who doesn’t love a good classic musical performed by some of the best in the country?! The Musical Theatre Department never fails to make their final show a memorable one. So if I were you, I wouldn’t miss out! People will be talking about it for years to come!
I remember. I remember when waking up, getting ready for grade school, and sleepily munching on my cereal. And hearing the tv news anchors say “ Something about sex abuse with young boys in the Catholic Church.” This was hard to fathom as trix was slowly being munched in my mouth. I remember thinking, “Boys get sexually abused.. I thought that happened more to girls?” Another question I had was, “.. Catholic church priests’ are the ones who are abusing..How is this possible?” I was not sure if it was the morning or abuse and church being in the same sentence, but none of this made sense.
Well grade school ended and summer vacation began. I remember Peter Jennings night after night discussing about more sexual abuse cases coming out. One time I remember a grown man, a victim, go to a priest and ask him why he did this.
If you are like me and remember your childhood background music being sprinkled by such atrocities, then you may want to hear about how these stories made it to the press- or rather almost did not make it to the press.
This movie has a lot of good ensemble acting; great dialogue; and shows a lot of intricacies and nuances to Boston society. The costume and art design also highlight the somber tone and mood of both the story line and Boston itself.
This movie is a great one cinematically and as well as being a great story! Believe it or not, this story can still be found at some theaters and video on demand ( and of the course the state theater’s midnight screenings)! Go see it!
Alice McDermott, author of critically-acclaimed novels such as Someone and Charming Billy, will be reading her work at Rackham, April 12th at 5:30. As someone who has read Someone (ha!), I assure you that it is a beautiful novel and her prose is the essence of elegance. McDermott writes in a lyrical but not smothering fashion, drawing your eye to glint here and there but not bombarding you with every detail. She has been the MFA programs writer-in-residence so be sure to expect something extra special from this reading. There will be a conversation between her and Peter Ho Davies on Thursday at 5:30, at UMMA, in case this reading leaves you thirsty for more.
April is National Poetry Month and Literati’s poetry series is celebrating! Monday, April 11th at 7 pm Sarah Messer and Suzanne Wise will read some of their respective work in the Espresso Bar (the second floor space of Literati).
Sarah Messer is a professor here at the University of Michigan. Actually, she’s my poetry professor. I’m very excited to get the chance to hear her read some of her work and talk about it! Aside from explaining to students like me the effect of syntactic doubling, Messer also runs One Pause Poetry here in Ann Arbor and works on White Lotus Farms. She’s received multiple awards and has four published works, including a history/memoir “Red House”.
Suzanne Wise is the author of “The Kingdom of the Subjunctive” and “Talking Cure.” I’m currently reading “The Kingdom of the Subjunctive” (for Sarah Messer’s class) and have found it fascinating, intricate, and full of discoveries. She has taught at Middlebury College, Pratt Institute, and Poets House.
Check out the Facebook Event for more details. It’s sure to be a great night to celebrate National Poetry Month!
The Mountain Goats come to Ann Arbor this Friday! As part of a tour where they are specifically choosing smaller venues for more intimate shows, they will be at our very own small venue, The Blind Pig. The indie folk band has 15 albums out (so if you want to go listen to them, have fun diving in) including the critically-acclaimed (and my personal favorite) All Hail West Texas and the most recently-released Beat the Champ. This show has been sold out since February, so if you want a ticket, your best bet is to search Facebook and be prepared to pay something hefty. You can also expect the show to be absolutely packed, so get there early if you already have the ticket!
Well here I am thinking I have been exposed to enough SMTD performances that nothing could surprise me anymore. How wrong I was! The Imaginary Invalid was by far one of the most unexpected plays I have seen yet at the University of Michigan. Of course, you go in expecting a relaxing night of comedic entertainment, and leave wondering what the heck you just witnessed. Our theatre department has mastered this skill to surprise the audience, no matter the genre of the performance, and I think this is the true reason why I love our school so much. We do not settle for a normal rendition of Molière, but strive to surprise the audience and provide them with a completely unique experience.
Admittedly, I have never seen Molière performed before, so I was not entirely sure what I was in for, but I could have never imagined the raucous farce that awaited me. There was everything from potty humor to satire on medicine, beautifully executed choreography to improved jokes about it being April Fools’ Day. My personal favorite must have been the moment towards the end when Argan had just been made a doctor in a fake ceremony, and out comes Hillary Clinton on stage, declaring her love for Argan. It was the pinnacle of a truly bizarre and hysterical show.
Not only was the humor perfectly executed, but the characters were played effortlessly by the actors. Particularly Toinette and Argan were performed with incredible ease. It truly makes a huge difference when the actors have such a solid grasp on their characters, since comedy comes off much better to the audience when there is no meagerness in the performance. And in the crazy moments when the humor is verging on outlandish, the actors must portray the joke perfectly according to the setting of the play, or the audience will not find it amusing. If the actors take on the situation whole-heartedly and revel in its strangeness, the audience will follow along. This was perpetuated by the interactivity with the audience throughout the play, such as when the actors would run through the chairs in a middle of a spat. I really felt absorbed in this crazed world of insanity for the length of the performance, and I loved every moment of it. I definitely recommend you get out to see this play before it ends next week! One of my favorite shows I have seen yet, and the most I have laughed in a long time!
