Calendar of Events
Friday, November 20, 2009
"Whitmore Lake Coffee Break": Ann Arbor Bicycle Touring Society.
Every Fri. Slow-paced 20-mile ride to Gloria's Restaurant in Whitmore Lake.
meet at Olson Park, Dhu Varren at Pontiac Tr. Free. 663-4498.
Storytime: Waters Place Borders.
Every Wed.-Fri. Borders staff read from books for infants, babies, and toddlers.
Borders, 3140 Lohr Rd. Free. 997-8884.
Storytime: Arborland Borders.
Every Wed. & Fri. A Borders staffer reads stories and leads a craft project for toddlers. Raffle.
Borders, 3527 Washtenaw. Free. 677-6948.
"Social Media": Workantile Exchange.
Talk by annarbor.com blogging leader Ed Vielmetti.
Workantile, 118 S. Main (enter through Mighty Good Coffee). Free. 395-6779.
Nov. 6 & 13.
Talks by visiting scholars. Today's topic: "Peranakan Musical Cultures in Singapore" (Nov. 6) and "Explaining the 2009 Parliamentary and Presidential Votes in Indonesia" (Nov. 13).
1636 SSWB, 1080 South University. Free. 764-0352.
Movie Matinee: Ann Arbor Senior Center.
Every Fri. Screening of a film TBA. Lunch available ($2.50), 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Ann Arbor Senior Center, 1320 Baldwin. Free. 769-5911.
Bridge: U-M Turner Senior Resource Center.
Every Mon. & Fri. All seniors invited to play bridge. Refreshments.
Turner, 2401 Plymouth Rd. Free. 998-9353.
ESL Conversation Group: Ann Arbor District Library.
Every Mon. & Fri. All levels of English speakers invited for conversation.
AADL Malletts Creek Branch, 3090 E. Eisenhower between Stone School & Packard. Free. 327-4200.
"Michigan Beer Tastings": Cranbrook Whole Foods Market.
Nov. 6 & 20. With representatives from Dark Horse Brewery (Nov. 6) and Arbor Brewing Company (Nov. 20).
Whole Foods wine bar, 990 W. Eisenhower Pkwy., Cranbrook Village shopping center. $3 pints, $1 tastes. 997-7500.
Magic: The Gathering Tournament: Get Your Game On.
Every Sun.-Fri., except Nov. 26. All invited to compete in tournaments of this popular collectible card game using standard constructed (Sun. & Thurs.), vintage (Mon.), Elder Dragon Highlander (Tues.), Legacy (Wed.), and booster draft (Fri.) decks. Prizes. Bring your own cards Sun.-Thurs.
Get Your Game On, 709 Packard. $5 (Tues., free; Fri., $15 includes cards). 786-3746.
Parents' Night Out: Ann Arbor YMCA.
Kids ages 2-10 can enjoy dinner, games, and sports, and (age 5 & older only) a dip in the pool.
YMCA, 400 W. Washington. $30 (members, $25). Preregistration required. 661-8058.
AXIS Coffeehouse: Ann Arbor District Library.
Nov, 6 & 13. All youth in grades 6-12 invited to perform their own poetry or monologue or a favorite by another writer, or just to sip a hot drink and listen.
AADL Malletts Creek Branch, 3090 E. Eisenhower (between Stone School & Packard). Free. 327-4200.
Team USA Under-17 vs. Tri-City Storm.
The Ann Arbor-based USA Hockey national development team plays this U.S. Hockey League rival.
Ann Arbor Ice Cube, 2121 Oak Valley Dr. at Scio Church Rd. $12 (seniors, students, & children, $6; kids under 5, free). 327-9251.
U-M Women's Volleyball vs. Minnesota.
Cliff Keen Varsity Arena, S. State at Hoover. $5 (age 17 & under, $3). 763-2159.
U-M Men's Basketball vs. Houston Baptist.
Crisler Arena. $15 & $22. 764-0247.
"Gimme a Shelter": Ann Arbor District Library.
Award-winning documentary filmmaker Tom McPhee, director of An American Opera: The Greatest Pet Rescue Ever, shows teens in grades 6-12 how to make a documentary on animal rights.
AADL multipurpose room (lower level), 343 S. Fifth Ave. Free. 327-8301.
Fall Concert: U-M Dicks and Janes.
This co-ed a cappella ensemble sings the Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby," Coldplay's "Viva La Vida," Alicia Keys' "Where Do We Go from Here," group member Hannah Winkler's "Dear Love," and others. They also sing a few songs from their brand new CD, Acousticophilia, including Sufjan Stevens' "Chicago," Ben Folds' "You Don't Know Me," and Malcolm Dalgish's "Great Trees."
U-M MLB Auditorium 3, 812 E. Washington. Tickets $10 (students & seniors, $8) in advance by emailing carlmciara@gmail.com or by calling (248) 444-5339.
"Lost in Yonkers": U-M Basement Arts.
Nov. 19-21. Richie Grasso directs U-M students in Neil Simon's award-winning bittersweet comedy, set in New York in 1942, about a multigenerational family living in happiness and strife, as seen through the eyes of teenage brothers sent to live with their strict grandmother and loving but scatterbrained aunt when their father takes a job away from home.
Walgreen Drama Center Studio One, 1226 Murfin, North Campus. Free. basement.studentorgs.umich.edu
Mark Webster Reading Series: U-M English Department.
Nov. 6 & 20. Readings by U-M creative writing instructors and grad students. Today: poetry by Darrel Holmes and fiction by Tim Hedges.
U-M Museum of Art Helmut Stern Auditorium, 525 S. State. Free. 615-3710.
"Pinocchio": Young Actors Guild.
Nov. 19-21. Donald Amerson directs young local actors in Madge Miller's 1954 adaptation of the classic story of a puppet that wants to be a real boy.
Episcopal Church of the Incarnation, 3257 Lohr Rd. $10 (students through high school, $5). 913-9800.
"Annie Get Your Gun": Skyline High School.
Nov. 13-15, 20, & 21. Anne-Marie Roberts directs Skyline students in the popular Irving Berlin musical, a fictionalization of the life of sharpshooter Annie Oakley, a country girl and crack shot who joins the traveling Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show and falls in love with a fellow entertainer who's intimidated by her superior shooting skills. Berlin's score is one of his finest and includes "There`s No Business like Show Business," "You Can't Get a Man with a Gun," and the humorous competitive duet "Anything You Can Do (I Can Do Better)."
Skyline High School, 2552 N. Maple. Tickets $8 (students, $6) in advance at showtix4u.com and at the door. 994-6515.
U-M Ice Hockey vs. Bowling Green.
Yost Ice Arena, 1016 S. State at McKinley. $19-$25. 764-0247.
"Hokkaido Rails" and "Monon Memories": Ann Arbor Train & Trolley Watchers.
Video-illustrated talks by club members Larry Kreig and Gary Sample.
St. Andrew's Episcopal Church social hall, 306 N. Division ("just up the hill from the Amtrak station"). Free. 996-8345, 971-8329.
Ann Arbor Kirtan.
All invited to join a group performance of this traditional devotional call-and-response music based on Hindu Vaishnava texts and the writings of poet-saints. Accompanied by live music based on rhythmic Indian ragas on bass guitar, tabla, and drums.
Friends Meetinghouse, 1420 Hill St. Free, but donations accepted. 761-7435.
"Our Town": Greenhills School.
Nov. 20-22. Nancy Heusel directs upper school students in Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer Prize-winning portrait of a small town at the beginning of the 20th century. The 3 acts examine "Daily Life," "Love and Marriage," and "Death" with graceful simplicity.
Greenhills School Campbell Center for the Performing Arts, 850 Greenhills Dr. (off Earhart). Tickets $10 (students & seniors, $5). 205-4098.
"Struggle for Existence: Darwin's Dreams": U-M Exhibit Museum/Residential College Drama Concentration.
Nov. 20-22. RC drama lecturer Kate Mendeloff directs her acting students in the world premiere of U-M Museum of Paleontology research scientist and RC lecturer Catherine Badgley's play about Darwin's struggle, in the weeks before the publication of On the Origin of Species, to reconcile his research with the impact his findings will have on his own and future societies. The action takes the form of a series of waking dreams in different exhibits and spaces as the audience walks through them. Note: There is a Nov. 19 performance for U-M students only.
U-M Exhibit Museum, 1109 Geddes at North University. $10 suggested donation. Reservations required. 764-0480.
"Hero of Helpmart": Rudolf Steiner High School Drama Club.
Nov. 19-21. Rudolf Steiner students perform a drama, by Steiner School English and drama teacher Mary Emery and her son Jules Holbrook, about an aspiring young writer who uses the power of her imagination to transform a job she hates into something marvelous.
Rudolf Steiner High School, 2230 Pontiac Trail. $5 (students, $3; family, $12). 669-9394.
"The Man Who Came to Dinner": Huron High School Players.
Nov. 13, 14, 20, & 21. Huron High School students present George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart's enduring 1939 comedy about an egomaniacal celebrity who moves in with a Midwestern family after he falls and breaks his leg on their doorstep. His oversize personality and the ensuing publicity as he prolongs his stay end up upsetting not only the household, but the entire town.
Huron High School New Theater, 2727 Fuller Rd. Tickets $8 (students & seniors, $6) in advance and at the door. 994-2095.
"The Night of the Iguana": MorrisCo Art Theatre.
Nov. 19-21. Susan Morris directs local actors in Tennessee Williams' drama about the unexpected connection between a disgraced Episcopal priest and a poor spinster artist. Set at the Costa Verde hotel in 1940s Mexico, "a place where hard notions of good and evil go soft in the sun," the play maps "the terrible limbo of human loneliness," says a New York Times review. It's about "accepting goodness and beauty where and how you find them." Cast: Glenn Bugala, Colby Halloran, Laurie Atwood, Bob Green, Patricia Rector, Lisa White, Glen Modell, and Christopher Potter.
Riverside Arts Center, 76 N. Huron, Ypsilanti. Tickets $18 (students & seniors, $15) in advance at info@morrisco.org and 996-2549.
"Escanaba": Purple Rose Theatre Company.
Every Wed.-Sun. (except Nov. 26) Sept. 17-Dec. 19. See review. Guy Sanville directs the world premiere of Jeff Daniels' comedy, the third in his deer-hunting Yooper trilogy that includes the hugely successful Escanaba in da Moonlight and Escanaba in Love. This installment reveals the origins of some of the Soady family's time-honored deer camp traditions. Stars Julian Gant, Wayne David Parker, and Tom Whalen.
Purple Rose, 137 Park St., Chelsea. $25 (Sun. eves., Wed. & Thurs.), $33 (Sat. & Sun. matinees), & $38 (Fri. & Sat. eves.) in advance and at the door. 433-7673.
"Uncommon Women and Others": U-M Theatre Department.
Nov. 19-22. U-M drama professor John Neville-Andrews directs U-M theater students in Wendy Wasserstein's witty, high-spirited 1977 drama about 5 women who reunite 6 years after their graduation from college and revisit episodes from their senior year when, caught between traditional ideas of womanhood and feminism, each woman made decisions that would determine her place in the world.
U-M Walgreen Drama Center Arthur Miller Theatre, 1226 Murfin, North Campus. Tickets $18 & $24 (students, $9) at the Michigan League Box Office in advance and at the door. To charge by phone, call 764-2538.
"Christmas Carol'd": Performance Network Professional Season.
Every Thurs.-Sun. (except Nov. 26 & Dec. 25), Nov. 19-Dec. 27. David Wolber directs local playwright Joseph Zettelmaier's fast-paced, gleefully inventive adaptation of Dickens' classic Christmas tale in which 5 actors play more than 40 roles. Stars John Seibert.
Performance Network, 120 E. Huron. Preview tickets: whatever you can afford to pay (Nov. 19), $22 (Nov. 20 & 22), and $30 (Nov. 21). Nov. 27 opening night tickets: $39 & $41 includes reception. After Nov. 27: $27 & $29 (Thurs.), $32 & $34 (Fri. & Sun.), $25 & $27 (Sat. matinee), $39 & $41 (Sat. eve.). $3 discount for seniors age 60 & over. Tickets available in advance at performancenetwork.org & by phone, and at the door. $10 student discount in advance, half-price student tickets at the door only. For reservations, call 663-0681; to charge by phone, call 663-0696.
Michael Loftus: Ann Arbor Comedy Showcase.
Nov. 19-21. This quick-witted comic from Columbus, Ohio, a founding member of the Midwest Tool & Die Improv Troupe, is known for high-energy stream-of-consciousness monologues on politics, current events, and anything else that troubles his peace of mind. Preceded by 2 opening acts. Alcohol is served; all Fri. & Sat. early shows are nonsmoking.
314 E. Liberty (below Seva restaurant). $8 (Thurs.) & $10 (Fri. & Sat.) reserved seating in advance, $11 (Thurs.) & $13 (Fri. & Sat.) general admission at the door. 996-9080.
Singles Dance: Parents Without Partners.
All singles invited for an evening of dancing and socializing. Recorded 70s to contemporary dance music played by DJ John Brown. Cash bar. Smoking allowed in designated areas. Preceded at 8 p.m. by free dance lessons.
Grotto Club, 2070 W. Stadium. $8 (PWP members, $6). 973-1933.
"Picasso at the Lapin Agile": Ann Arbor Civic Theatre.
Nov. 19-22. Thom Johnson directs Steve Martin's inventive, sharp-witted play about an imaginary meeting, set in a Parisian cafe at the turn of the last century, between Picasso and Einstein. The action is an exhilarating mix of dramatic speeches, surreal episodes, sexual sparring, music hall bits, and comedy both high and low.
Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre, 911 North University. Tickets $18 (seniors, $16; students, $10; Thurs., $14) in advance at a2ct.org or by calling 971-2228.
"happenchance on a blank body": U-M Dance Department B.F.A. Concert.
Nov. 19-21. An evening of original choreography by U-M dance majors Betsy Busald, Catherine Coury, Elizabeth Dugas and Nadia Tykulsker. Busald's group work is a sextet illustrating the nature of memory, and her solo is a collaboration with playwright Goli Rahimi. Coury's group work, inspired by the Spanish poet Garcia Lorca, highlights the lifestyle of gypsy women, and her solo, set to the works of spiritual activist Marianne Williamson, explores the discovery of self-worth in the shedding of fear. Dugas presents 2 complementary works based on the perplexity of one's path in life. Tykulsker's group work is a series of succinct 2-minute dances inspired by the poetry of U-M student Kellen Braddock and set to a score by U-M student Jake Merkin, and her solo is a study of personal growth inspired by her experience moving from Brooklyn, NY, to Ann Arbor. Note: These shows often sell out very quickly.
U-M Dance Bldg. Betty Pease Studio, 1310 North University Ct. $5 at the door only, beginning at 7 p.m. 763-5460, 763-5461.
"Hair": U-M MUSKET.
Nov. 20-22. U-M students present Gerome Ragni, James Rado, and Galt MacDermot's archetypal 60s rock musical. A celebration of the hippie counterculture, Hair explores issues of social injustice, free love, drugs, and the Vietnam War through the story of a young man who is debating draft-dodging. Several of the show's songs are still popular, including "Aquarius," "Let the Sun Shine In," "Good Morning, Starshine," and the title tune.
Power Center. Tickets $13 (students, $7) in advance at the Michigan League Ticket Office and at the door.
Old Crow Medicine Show: The Ark/Outback Concerts.
Old-time acoustic string band music performed with punk bravura by this young Nashville-based quintet. The band plays music in a wide range of old-time styles, from Appalachian to Memphis blues and jug band music, and its repertoire includes both vintage tunes from the 20s and 30s and originals in a similar style. A frequent guest on Prairie Home Companion, the band received a standing ovation at its Grand Ole Opry debut, and its fans include Marty Stuart and Ricky Skaggs, who says "these boys make me think of Dock Boggs on steroids."
Michigan Theater. Tickets $20, $27, & $35 in advance at the Michigan Union Ticket Office, all other Ticketmaster outlets, & ticketmaster.com, and at the door. To charge by phone, call 763-TKTS.
"Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda": (University Musical Society).
Tony Award-winning Broadway star Patti LuPone is known for her dramatic flair and magnificent pipes. "You don't want to miss it when Patti LuPone throws a party," says a Washington Post review of tonight's program, calling it "less a consideration of what LuPone coulda been than a celebration of the singular stage force she is." Tonight's program includes selections from Hair, Bye Bye Birdie, Funny Girl, West Side Story, Peter Pan, Evita, and other Broadway shows. The program is preceded at 5:30 p.m. by a cabaret prelude dinner ($50) that features a talk by U-M musical theater professor Brent Wagner.
Hill Auditorium. Tickets $10-$54 in advance at the Michigan League Box Office and ums.org, and (if available) at the door. To charge by phone, call 764-2538 or (800) 221-1229.
Duo Diorama: Great Lakes Performing Artists Association.
This husband-and-wife duo of Canadian pianist Winston Choi and Chinese violinist Minghuan Xu performs works TBA.
Kerrytown Concert House, 415 N. Fourth Ave. $10-$25 (students, $5). Reservations recommended. 769-2999.
Advanced Study Group: Rudolf Steiner Study Circle of Ann Arbor.
Nov. 6 & 20. All invited to join an ongoing discussion of Rudolf Steiner's Sleep and Dreams. Familiarity with Steiner's basic ideas required.
3247 N. Wagner (Nov. 6) & 1923 Geddes (Nov. 20). Free. 944-4903.
Angell Hall Observatory Open House: U-M Student Astronomical Society.
Nov. 6 & 20. All invited to peer through the telescopes in the observatory and on the Angell Hall roof and to view shows in the planetarium. Also, short astronomy presentations by club members.
5th floor rooftop observatory, Angell Hall (from the large State St. entrance, take one of the elevators on the left). Free. 764-3440.
"Swing Dance Party": Ann Arbor Swing Dance Association.
Every Fri. Lindy hop, East Coast swing, Charleston, blues, and Balboa dancing to prerecorded music. No partner needed. Bring hard-sole shoes. Preceded at 8 p.m. by beginning lessons.
Dakota Bldg., 1785 W. Stadium. $5 (includes lessons; students, $3). 417-9857.
