There's no better way to create suspense than to have characters hesitantly walk down a dark hallway while the floor ominously creaks beneath their feet.
The play "Keely & Du" can be applied to so many award-winning categories, it's almost difficult to pinpoint which area is the best.
By Debbie Labedz Special for The State News "Esperanza" is a psychological journey of Espy, an underprivileged young girl in prison for murdering her cousin.
Imagine artwork called "Radioactive Cats," "Revenge of the Goldfish" and "Picnic on Wine" - now think what those titles bring to mind.
It didn't have anything to do with clowns, but "A Thousand Clowns" received few laughs Saturday at Riverwalk Theatre, 228 Museum Drive in Lansing. The theater's second production for the season was somewhat entertaining, but all in all was an average play performed with average acting. The story stars Murray, an unemployed TV writer in New York City who has too much time on his hands.
On a gray afternoon, seven patrons shuffle into Oz - a local shop that specializes in glass pipes. They know what they want, and one guy asks a man behind the counter about a glass bong he'd heard was retailing for about $30.
New York City is a blender of life. It has a crude case of insomnia, a heavy history of street violence and a population that stems from all walks of life.
For teen queen Hilary Duff, it's quantity over quality. In the past year and a half she's appeared in five films, all of them entirely forgettable.
"Humble Boy" has everything an amusing play should have - a plot comparable to William Shakespeare's "Hamlet," humor and a message that fills your mind with warmth. Throughout the two-and-a-half hour show at the BoarsHead Theatre 425 S.
Sean Tillman, aka Har Mar Superstar, released his third disc, "The Handler," and while the first single off the album completely rocks, the rest of the CD is flat.
Everybody does it. Mimicking the dance steps to the classic music videos, movie musicals or Broadway shows in front of the bedroom mirror in hopes that your roommates don't come bursting through the door. But did you ever stop to question who created those moves? Twyla Tharp, an accomplished modern dance choreographer, will give a lecture with the "World View Lecture Series" at 7:30 p.m.
By Lindsey PoissonSpecial to The State NewsThe Fairchild Theatre was filled with laughter Saturday while students and community members watched six actors and a piano player perform sketch comedy about current events. The Second City comedy troupe visited campus as part of its 45th anniversary tour. "I was looking for some comedy," said Al Way, 52, of East Lansing, who came with his wife Audrey, 42.
The Latin American group, Yerba Buena, will be performing at 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Wharton Center.
"Maria Full of Grace" teaches that drug trafficking is a lucrative business - if you've got the stomach for it. Maria, a 17-year-old from Columbia, is pregnant, poor and out of work.
Tony and Emmy-award winning choreographer, Twyla Tharp will be the second of three guests for World View: The Lecture Series, 7:30 p.m.
It's not often that a film blends music, comedy and romance without actually tapping into the cheese-factor of a Broadway musical. "Shall We Dance?" does it, however, and does it well. Even though characters waltz, rumba and tango, and even though the film's title borrows from a Rodgers and Hammerstein song, the movie never digresses into those trite synchronized dance sequences where characters ham it up in front of the camera. The closest the film comes is during a scene where the song "Shall We Dance?" (from the 1951 musical "The King and I") is tastefully played during a beginners' night at a ballroom dance club. The moment brings smiles instead of cringes as the film lightly alludes to its title's inspiration. "Shall we Dance?" from director Peter Chelsom, is a remake of the acclaimed 1996 Japanese film "Shall we dansu?" That film won 13 awards from the Japanese Academy Awards, in almost every category in which it was nominated. The original warmed the hearts of U.S.
Welcome back to "Rock Your Body," The State News' fitness and nutrition column. Each week, we hit up our local experts with some questions and pass on their wisdom to you. But before we get to the goods, we thought we'd tell you a little bit about who'll be giving you advice. Tom Ostrander: Tom is the owner of Powerhouse Gym, 435 E.
Citizen Cope, aka Clarence Greenwood, has just released his second album, "The Clarence Greenwood Recordings." This former keyboardist and DJ for the alternative hip-hop band Basehead has a sound Iike nothing I've ever heard before.
Girlyman's debut disc, "Remember Who I Am," is a gift that should be unwrapped with fragile fingers and devoured by thirsting ears. The band, comprised of Doris Muramatsu, Nate Borofsky and Ty Greenstein, blends delicate harmonies, soothing vocals and sensitive percussion to give listeners the feeling of daydreaming a ride above the clouds. And the trio has apparently caught the wave of wonder audiences have tacked to them - they won the 2004 Independent Music Award in the folk/singer-songwriter category and were voted "Most Wanted to Return" at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival. On their eclectic album, Girlyman experiments with overlapping vocals, slide guitar that shimmers through the dimmest moments and folky percussion from the numerous djembes they use to produce their unique, unifying sound. The opening, and emotionally strongest, track on "Remember Who I Am" is "Viola" - a heart-warming tale sang at first by Borofsky, who is later joined during the chorus by Greenstein and Muramatsu. The steel pedal, along with acoustic guitar on this song is reminiscent of a warm summer night where lovers might meet to watch shooting stars and fall asleep under a calming canopy of darkness. They sing, "I drowned myself tonight in sangria/Made with sliced up fruit and cheap marsala/Viola, Viola/... Viola, I swear I miss you." These are the kind of truthful lyrics we all wish we could sing, and "Viola" fuses them with melodies that speak to an unreachable feeling deep inside of us all. Although their sound appears to be categorically folkish, the three-piece group effectively uses their sublime voices and range of guitar skills to change tones and attitudes throughout the album. On "Say Goodbye" Muramatsu, Greenstein and Borofsky tell an all-too familiar tale. "Can't you see how I miss you so?/Can't believe your wanting to go/'Cause I just don't know how to make myself/ Let you go/And I still can't seem to find/A simple way to say goodbye/I'm not the kind for regret/Was there something I wanted to forget?/Either way, you'd already made up your mind." The way the trio flawlessly harmonizes on the last note of "made up your mind" sends chills down my musical backbone. Another song notably impressive for the strength of lyric is "The Shape I Found You In." The opening stanza, sang by Greenstein, climbs into the nook of your heart and builds camp there for the remainder of the song. "You were spoken for/I spent 20 lifetimes at your door/But your heart was busy within/Building bomb shelters under your skin/That's the shape I found you in." Girlyman's CD is brilliant, but they're probably even better live.
Riverwalk Theatre's second production, "A Thousand Clowns," is still expected to humor and entertain audiences with witty jokes and outrageous punch lines - minus big red noses. The play stars Murray, an unemployed TV writer in New York City, who has too much time on his hands.