Tag: Michigan theater

Preview: The Skeleton Twins

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What: The Skeleton Twins

Where: The Michigan Theater

When: Opens Friday 26 September

How Much: $8 for students and veterans, $10 general admission

 

Starring Kristen Wiig (SNL, Brides Maids), Bill Hader (SNL), Ty Burrell (Modern Family) and Luke Wilson (The Royal Tenenbaums, Legally Blonde).

The Skeleton Twins is about the reuniting of estranged twins Maggie (Wiig) and Milo (Hader) who are each struggling in their individual lives. Together they trace back to where things went so wrong for each of them and realize that repairing their relationship with one another could provide the solution to fixing everything.

1 hour, 33 minutes, rated R.

 

Review: Pussy Riot comes to Ann Arbor

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On Thursday 19 September 2014, The Michigan Theater Ann Arbor played host to two members of Russian activist group Pussy Riot. They spoke about their experience in Russian prison, their activism and some of their experiences in the US.

Nadya Tolokonnikova and Masha Alekhina have been traveling in the US this year performing and, more recently, speaking at Harvard and The University of Michigan about their new projects Zona Prava and MediaZona.

Zona Prava is an NGO aimed at providing support and human rights protection to individuals who “may be deprived of their liberty” in prisons and camps. Tolokonnikova and Alekhina spoke about the importance of education in the prison system as well as their own experience in the Russian prison system last year, which inspired them to establish this organization.

MideaZona is an independent news website aimed at countering the manipulative, censored and propagandistic flow of information released by Russian media. The website was launched on the 4th of September.

Tolokonnikova and Alekhina are well spoken and passionate about the ideals that drive their outrage and passions. They expressed their appreciation for the openness and accessibility of the American prison system, contrasted with the rigidity and complete inaccessibility in Russia.

The moderator asked about their thoughts about the overlap between activism, music and art to which they aptly responded that there is often no difference between the two. They spoke of the London graffiti scene and of course the international punk movement.

Tolokonnikova spoke about the importance of the voice of the people in a government system and how the corruption of Russian President Vladimir Putin has limited any possibility of this kind of social exchange. She did not respond to the inquiry about what kind of change she envisioned or if she was in fact an anarchist.

Tolokonnikova and Alekhina have been asked whether they would consider going into Russian politics. They replied that they are more interested in establishing grass roots, community based movements to create change instead of working through a centralized, and in the case of Russia, highly corrupt political system.

 

Having these two accidental celebrities come to Ann Arbor and speak about the work they have done, their experience living under a totalitarian regime, the country they live in and their continued efforts to bring about change in Russia, was very important.

Due to the history between Russia and the United States so much information has been skewed by political opinion and nationalistic pride. Although Pussy Riot is a specific, radical activist group, which is by no means representative of the greater Russian population, hearing the voices of two strong women speaking about their pride in being a Russian citizen despite all the injustices occurring in their country was very inspiring.

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On the more critical side – The moderator of the discussion was disappointing. Her questions seemed uninspired and occasionally irrelevant to the experience and expertise of Tolokonnikova and Alekhina. It is also a question whether or not the message from Pussy Riot effectively translates to the United States.

 

Thanks to Michigan Radio, The Michigan Theater, U of M School of Art and Design, WCBN and of course Nadya Tolokonnikova and Masha Alekhina.

 

For more information about the Penny W. Stamp Speakers Series line up for this year click on this Link.

REVIEW: Michigan Pops presents Game of Pops

csatter

After arriving at the Michigan Theater, and hearing sounds of a small jazz ensemble coming from the main theater, I knew this was going to be an interesting concert. With the couple who started a slap fight in front of me, an audience who rarely stopped talking, and an intermission in which the musicians wandered around to chat with the audience, I can honestly say I have never experienced an orchestra concert quite like this one.

Centered around the theme of games, the Michigan Pops Orchestra played 14 pieces, including music from the Olympics, Halo, Rocky, and the ever popular Game of Thrones. While most of the pieces were played well, the second half of the concert was stronger than the first, and the suites from Video Games Live and Game of Thrones were when the orchestra really shined. In those moments there weren’t any homemade movies or awkward gags, and the Michigan Pops let the music speak and showed off how well they can play and how great they sound together.

The two soloists, Allen Chang, a clarinetist, and Dylan Stasack, a singer, were wonderful additions to the concert and both performed very well. While the insertion of a classical concerto into a concert of predominately movie and video game music felt a little awkward, Chang’s excellent playing captivated the audience. Stasack gave a strong performance of “Go the Distance” from Hercules, which showed off both is musical and theatrical skills.

Overall, the concert was pretty good, with interesting pieces that were played well. Although it is a student run orchestra, I was surprised with how informal the concert was. The constant chatting of the audience, flash photography in the dark theater, unconventional intermission, and over played gags were distracting and had me wishing for a more traditional and formal orchestra concert.

REVIEW: M-Agination Films Festival

Phillip Wachowiak

Usually student films are envisioned as earth-shattering ideas that will shake the world, only to end up on Youtube or Vimeo with 200 views.
Events like the M-Agination Film Festival allows films to transcend this by showcasing a collection of these films on the big screen in the Michigan theater for a much wider audience, in the best possible way to experience a film.

Before I go any further, I will admit that I am a producer on the board of M-Agination films. I am one of the ten students who sorts through dozens of scripts at the beginning of each semester, choosing a handful of scripts that we like enough to produce.

Consequently, I might be a little biased. I may be more apt to appreciate the work that goes into these films, but I am also more prone to see the wide range of errors that student films can make.

Despite a technical difficulty at the beginning of the festival, M-Agination is one of the best student film fests, if not the best overall film festival on campus. Compared to student festivals such as Lightworks, the venue of the Michigan Theater is a thousand times better than the cramped space of the Natural Science Auditorium.

On top of that, the films shown this year were consistent high-quality films—you can go to this festival expecting enjoyable films all night rather than a collection of hit or miss pieces. While the festival doesn’t quite match the Ann Arbor Film Festival, it’s free and you get a free t-shirt if you show up early.

Now on to the films themselves.

There was a nice diversity of films: comedy and tragedy, narrative and experimental, ancient and modern.

“Pinkie Promise” was a classic feel-good love story about a boy and a girl getting together after promising to do so when they were teenagers. “696” takes a polar opposite approach of a married man lamenting the death of his earlier love.

“Dream Girl” was an experimental piece on the simple premise of a guy seeing a cute girl at a party, while “Initiation” dealt with the grim subject of hazing of college athletes. This was especially powerful because it added overt messages offering help to those who may need it. As far as I know, it will be used as a powerful tool to show to students experiencing alcohol addictions.

“Price of Art,” about two women stealing artwork to make the headlines and finding out that no one cared, was an interesting commentary on the status of the Detroit Institute of Arts.

The two films that truly stood out were “Calvin” and “Crook’d.” Not only were these films made by talented students, but they had professional filmmaking equipment at their disposal and Kickstarter dollars as well. With long steadicam shots, incredible sound mixing, and top-notch script writing, these films were phenomenal partially because they could almost stand alongside Hollywood films.

I have heard that this was one of the best years yet for M-Agination. If this festival keeps improving, then it will easily become one of the best film festivals in Ann Arbor, period.

Student Video

REVIEW: Coriolanus

Chelsea Zabel

Seeing Coriolanus at the Michigan Theater was definitely a good decision. The acting was spectacular, of course. A cast of greats including Tom Hiddleston and Mark Gatiss left the little Donmar Warehouse with queues of people camping out overnight to buy tickets to the show. The audience in the screening of this production probably mirrored the Donmar’s usual audience for the show: half an older crowd who enjoy Shakespeare, and the other half a crowd of young women who enjoy Tom Hiddleston (I would like to include myself in both of these categories). Hiddleston’s portrayal of Caius Martius Coriolanus left nothing to be desired as his acting ran the spectrum of emotions: a ruthless soldier who would like nothing more than to add one more man’s blood to his sword, to a son pleading for comfort and compassion from his mother. He carried the show, and wasn’t afraid to get dirty.

The Donmar is a great example of the kinds of theaters in which I prefer to see Shakespeare performed. It is a thrust stage (the audience sits on three sides), and a small space with limited seating. Shakespeare, to me, is best seen and understood in an intimate setting, and I believe this held true for Coriolanus. For most people the language takes a little getting used to, but this was achieved quickly with a close-up view of the actors. The smaller stage is also able to take more risks. The set was minimal: the concrete brick wall of the theater painted red and black and littered with graffiti, a ladder permanently fixed on the stage reaching higher than the audience could see, chairs for the actors to sit in while not in the scene, and a red square painted freshly on the stage floor during every performance.

Red was the color of the show. It first appears as it’s being painted on the stage, and next when Martius returns from slaughtering hoards of Rome’s enemies. He’s covered in blood to the point of excess in my eyes, and to the point that he can barely speak or see because so much fake blood has been poured on his head and is dripping in Tom Hiddleston’s eyes. Naturally, to get that blood off of him, water falls from the ceiling onto the stage in a stream steady enough to clean him up so that his face is visible.

Photo via mail.com

This is the kind of risk a smaller theater can take that will pay off, and it is executed brilliantly. It has a strong impact, but also doesn’t require a big scene change to accomplish. Sure, the stage gets wet, but they can get some actors with squeegee-like mops to clean it off while another scene is taking place. The stage floor became a set piece in this production, constantly being redecorated with different red objects from flower petals to blood.

I was very unfamiliar with the story of the play upon arrival but the minimal set, the careful portrayals from the actors, and the close proximity of the action allowed me to come away from Coriolanus quite moved. It was an excellent production, and I’m glad that National Theatre Live was able to provide me and many others the opportunity to see it.