Two Muses Theatre's 'Next to Normal' Production Benefits Common Ground

The West Bloomfield-based company takes on the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical, which tells the story of a family affected by mental illness.

Two Muses Theatre will raise funds to help youth, adults and families in crisis during the run of the female-based performing arts company's next production, Next to Normal.  The Broadway hit premieres June 7 and will be on stage through June 30, at the Two Muses Theatre inside Barnes & Noble Booksellers in West Bloomfield. With music by Tom Kitt and book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey, the local production is directed by Royal Oak resident Frannie Shepherd-Bates. Two Muses Theatre will donate $1 from each ticket purchase to Common Ground, a non-profit agency that has been helping those in need for more than 40 years. Common Ground provides crisis intervention and other services to more than 50,000 people each year, with a majority of the …

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West Bloomfield Native Turns Love of Form, Color Into Glass Business

Kevin Carlin discovered the art in Hawaii and now owns Motor City Glass Works, a studio in Sylvan Lake.

West Bloomfield native Kevin Carlin discovered glass blowing while visiting Hawaii after he graduated from high school and built his love for the art into a business. "I've always been into form and color, and the ability to make a product by hand," said Carlin, who in 2010 founded Motor City Glass Works in Sylvan Lake.  The 35-year-old Brother Rice alum said he wasn't sure what he really wanted to do after high school, so he took some classes at Oakland Community College. A sculpture class got him interested in three-dimensional forms. His trip to Maui and exposure to glass blowing led him to take some courses at the University of Hawaii. "That's where I started doing ceramics and really kind of focused more on the vessel," he said.  …

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'Made in Motor City' Concert Kicks Off Week-Long Music Festival in West Bloomfield

The Michigan Board of Cantors will perform songs created in the Motor City.

The Michigan Board of Cantors kicks off the Stephen Gottlieb Music Festival at the Berman Center for the Performing Arts in West Bloomfield Thursday, with Made in the Motor City, with songs created, written and recorded in the Motor City. The week-long celebration, with performances at the Berman and Jewish Community Center facilities in West Blooomfield and Oak Park, features Broadway and television star Tovah Feldshuh in the radio-style play, “Witches of Lublin,” and popular local band Fifty Amp Fuse in “Rock of Ages: The Jewish Side of Pop Music,” with award-winning music journalist Gary Graff. Additional performances include a patron night event with local singer/songwriter Ethan Daniel Davidson, a family concert with Marc Rossio and …

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Berkley Students to Perform World Premiere of Cantata Based Anne Frank's Life

The May 7 event is hosted by the Holocaust Memorial Center to celebrate the Farmington Hills museum's acquisition of a sapling from the white chestnut tree that brought the young Holocaust victim solace during World War II.

The premiere of My Name is Anne Frank, the first in a series of events hosted by the Holocaust Memorial Center (HMC) in Farmington Hills, will be performed May 7 by the Berkley High School orchestra and choir, at the school's Auditorium, 2325 Catalpa in Berkley. Starting at 7 p.m. , the performance is the world premiere of the composer Volker Blumenthaler's complete and original orchestration, celebrating the life of a young girl who is arguably the most well known Holocaust victim. The program features solos by Hazzan Daniel Gross (of Adat Shalom Synagogue) and Cantor Penny Steyer (of Temple Shir Shalom). This event celebrates the HMC's acquisition of a sapling from the white chestnut tree that brought Anne Frank solace as she and her …

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West Bloomfield Artist's Watercolors, Folk Art Featured at Ferndale Gallery

Alice Frank's show 'Artful' will be on display all month at the Lawrence Street Gallery in Ferndale.

West Bloomfield artist Alice Frank's fascination with folk art will be on display this month at Lawrence Street Gallery in Ferndale.  Frank is one of 27 artists who own and operate the gallery, which takes its name from the group's beginnings on Lawrence Street in Pontiac. Her show, "Artful", will officially open Friday, 6 p.m.-9 p.m.; the public is invited to attend.  A former teacher in Bloomfield and Southfield schools, Frank said she has been "doing art forever". Her favorite medium is watercolor, but she also blows glass and works with fired enamel on metal. "Sometimes, I put them all together," she added. Frank crafts unique collages using hand-painted paper that she attaches to a canvas to produce a three-dimensional effect. She has…

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Jewish Academy Graduate Returns to Direct at Detroit Opera House

Michael Yashinsky directs a children's opera, 'The Happy Prince', based on an Oscar Wilde story.

After five years of study and work at Harvard University, Jewish Academy of Metropolitan Detroit alum Michael Yashinsky has moved back home to direct a children's opera at the Detroit Opera House. The Michigan Opera Theatre Children's Chorus performs The Happy Prince on Sunday, April 28, at 2:30 p.m. Musical director is Livonia resident Dianna Hochella. Three West Bloomfield students are also involved in the production: The opera, which is based on an Oscar Wilde story, is set in an unnamed city enduring the pangs of poverty and class struggle. According to Yashinsky, within the city, "a few noble souls take it upon themselves to effect real good and undertake acts of self-sacrificing loving-kindess". The setting reflects the similarities …

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Walled Lake Schools Hosts DIA Exhibit Kick-Off Thursday

The event starts at 4 p.m. at the Community Education Center, and the public is invited.

The Walled Lake Consolidated School District is hosting the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) Inside/Out Kick-off celebration on April 11 at the Community Education Center (615 N. Pontiac Trail, Walled Lake 48390). The event starts at 4 p.m. and the entire community is invited to attend. There are five pieces of art on display throughout Walled Lake from now until June:

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Former West Bloomfield Resident's Painting Featured in Art of Aging Exhibit

Nancy Forsberg says she learned how to draw and paint while living at Fox Run in Novi.

Nancy Forsberg never knew she had any artistic talent at all, until she walked into an art class at Fox Run senior living community in Novi. Now the former West Bloomfield resident's artworks line the walls of her apartment, and one was featured in last month's 14th Annual Art of Aging Successfully exhibit, held at Greater Grace Conference Center in Detroit.  Forsberg worked with Bloomfield Hills Schools for 30 years, including 11 years at Lone Pine Elementary. When she moved to the senior living community nine years ago, she met another resident who did beautiful colored pencil drawings. Forsberg decided she would give that a try and ended up taking an art class with a Fox Run instructor. "She showed me how to make a tomato, and it …

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Still a Chance to Win DSO Tickets for Thursday

Share your first concert and see the Detroit Symphony Orchestra on Thursday in Southfield as part the of the Neighborhood Concert Series.