Blog Post
Carving Out a Sound: Internationally renown luthier Tom Rein sets up shop in Saline
by christopherporter
Through a combination of grit, trial and error, an ear for music, and an engineering mind, my brother-in-law Tom Rein has managed to make a living for 40-plus years as a string-instrument maker (also called luthier). Tom started his luthier business, Tom Rein Guitars, in the mid-1970s when there were under 50 in the entire U.S. Now, he estimates, there are over 1,000.
Blog Post
Past, Tense: U-M grad Akil Kumarasamy's "Half Gods" is a masterful debut
by christopherporter
“The past is never dead," wrote William Faulkner. "It's not even past.”
Blog Post
Vision for Flint: Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha's “What the Eyes Don’t See” tracks the city's public health crisis
by christopherporter
While it’s easy to see the Flint water crisis as a story of government failing the people it’s supposed to serve, it’s a lot more than that. It’s also the story of a resilient community, the determined people who live there, and the activists who helped bring the situation to light.
Blog Post
Fake Facts: Theatre Nova’s dark comedy "The Totalitarians" wades through a political swamp
by christopherporter
Theatre Nova’s September offering, The Totalitarians, centers on a campaign manager trying to help her candidate win an election in Nebraska. The candidate, Penelope Easter, is an earthy, compulsive woman whose tenuous relationship to facts seems, well, familiar. Peter Sinn Nachtrieb’s dark, witty comedy touches on politics, revolutions, and the twists, turns, and perils that come with both.
Blog Post
Michigan’s extensive role in modern design among Kerrytown Bookfest highlights
by christopherporter
If you don’t necessarily consider Michigan a hotbed of the modern design movement, you’re not alone. But two recent books aim to change that perception, and their authors will appear in Ann Arbor this weekend as part of the Kerrytown Bookfest.
Blog Post
Deep in Thoughtful Music: Kenji Lee and the Canterbury House Concert Series
by christopherporter
Saxophonist Kenji Lee is a final year University of Michigan student who is entering his third year as Concert Series coordinator at Canterbury House, the home of U-M’s Episcopal Chaplaincy, and a welcoming space in which U-M music students, their friends, and local and touring musicians can share their work and have fellowship amongst themselves and the broader community.
Blog Post
The Ann Arbor Russian Festival brings Northern Eurasian culture to Washtenaw
by christopherporter
For the group that puts the Ann Arbor Russian Festival together every year, it’s about much more than simply having a fun time, it’s about sharing their culture.
“Nobody knows what is Orthodox church,” laughed Leta Nikulshina, the festival’s entertainment director. “People think, ‘Are you Catholic?’ ‘No, we’re not.’ Or, ‘Are you Jewish?’ ‘No, we’re not.’
Blog Post
Civic Theatre’s "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" plays the con game for laughs
by christopherporter
After directing seven serious dramas in a row, including Jean-Paul Sartre’s vision of hell, No Exit, Glenn Bugala was ready for some laughs.
Bugala is directing the musical comedy version of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels for the Ann Arbor Civic Theatre. Bugala, who has a Master of Fine Arts in acting from Purdue University, has performed and directed numerous productions at Civic since he became involved with the theater in 1997. His credits include directing Rent, Chess, Tommy, A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream, and Front Page.
Blog Post
Art forms will come together at Rasa Festival's "Poetry Through the Ages"
by christopherporter
Art forms will interconnect during "Poetry Through the Ages," one of the many events of the second Rasa Festival, which goes from September 1 to October 7. Visual art, dance, and music are to embody the words of Indian poetry in this new addition to the festival on Saturday, September 15, from 8-9:30 pm at the Arthur Miller Theatre in Ann Arbor.
Sreyashi Dey is a conceptual artist, choreographer, and dancer for this event, as well as director of the Rasa Festival and president and artistic director of Akshara, the organization producing the festival. She described the concept of "Poetry Through the Ages" by saying "words of the poetry will find expression in the diverse art forms that will work together to create a new aesthetic tapestry."
Blog Post
The Evil That Men Do: Alice Bolin’s "Dead Girls: Essays on Surviving an American Obsession"
by christopherporter
Without a doubt, Laura Palmer’s corpse remains one of the most enduring images to come out of ‘90s television.
Anyone who has watched the Twin Peaks premiere (either at the time of its airing or as part of the younger, revivalist crowd) is certain to recall the eerie impression that Laura is simply sleeping, bound to wake up any minute -- this despite, of course, the fact that she is quite clearly “dead, wrapped in plastic.”