Detroit Music Weekend Starring Aretha Franklin Coming 6/8
What just may be her last live performance in her beloved hometown, Aretha Franklin will headline a free outdoor concert which includes some of the most popular Detroit bred musical acts from R&B to Rock, to Hip Hop, to Techno and even Country and Gospel. On Saturday June 10 in the center of the Detroit Entertainment District, bookended by a Friday June 9 Tribute concert to the Queen of Soul starring a bevy of selected celebrity vocalists and backed by the Detroit SuperBAND at Music Hall.
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD Comes to Life onstage at Birmingham Village Players
The Village Players continues their successful 93rd season with the gripping drama TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD adapted by Christopher Sergel from the novel by Harper Lee. This timeless drama illustrates the evils of racism and the dangerous emotions that result from treating people of color differently. Ms. Lee vividly shows us that we all have a need to see the world through the perspective of others; only then can we truly understand each other, and consequently treat everyone with love and respect.
Our Movie Critic Counts Down his 15 Favorite Movies of 2015
Now that 2015 is squarely in the rearview mirror, and everyone is back to work after the holidays, it is time to take a look at some of the best films of the past year. As was the case with my Top 15 TV Shows of 2015 list, this is not intended to be a comprehensive list. I am one man, and I have not yet seen every major movie released last year. However, as I continue to work through screeners and upcoming screenings (I live in Orlando, so not all of the awards-bait has been released here yet), I will count down the top 2015 releases that I saw during the calendar year. Notable omissions are BRIDGE OF SPIES, THE REVENANT, THE DANISH GIRL, and CONCUSSION, all of which I hope to see by the end of the week.
BWW Review: THE HATEFUL EIGHT is Violent, Captivating, Quintessential Tarantino
While the setting, style, and time period of Quentin Tarantino movies have changed throughout the years, there are three things that have remained consistent; ensembles of gleefully flawed characters; depraved, but often gorgeously bloody violence; and lots and lots of profanity. While the theatre is no stranger to violence or profanity, it is his legendary ability to create compelling, but bizarre characters that has led me to say in print and on podcasts that if the 52-year-old writer and director had been born a few decades earlier, Tarantino could have been one of America's greatest playwrights, alongside Williams, O'Neill, Miller, Stoppard, and Mamet.