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Play about abortion easy to understand, objective
The play "Keely & Du" can be applied to so many award-winning categories, it's almost difficult to pinpoint which area is the best.
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Novel by 'U' grad psychological ride
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.
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Unique art comes to campus hall
Imagine artwork called "Radioactive Cats," "Revenge of the Goldfish" and "Picnic on Wine" - now think what those titles bring to mind.
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Clowns play not 1,000 laughs
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.
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Smoked out
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.
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Yerba Buena to unleash upbeat Latin sound at Wharton
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.
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Duff falls flat in 'Raise Your Voice'
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.
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Play praises family values
"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.
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Pop singer uses bad gimmicks
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.
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Famous choreographer comes to 'U'
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.
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Second City troupe cracks up campus
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.
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Latin American group brings world beats
The Latin American group, Yerba Buena, will be performing at 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Wharton Center.
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Movie tells story of drug transporter
"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.
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Choreographer to visit 'U' on Tuesday
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.
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'Shall We Dance?' dodges Broadway cheese
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.
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Rock your body
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.
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Citizen Cope covers many music genres
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.
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Girlyman unleashes beautiful folk sound
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.
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'Thousand Clowns' to drop punch lines at Riverwalk
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.
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Hitchin' a ride
Sporting Spartan logos, green and white stripes and blaring the MSU fight song, the Cheat to Win (CTWz) van drives into campus, making its way toward tailgate utopia. Customized last summer, the CTWz's nine owners said the van was created to maximize the tailgating experience and embody the Spartan spirit. A labor of love, the van took nearly four months to complete. "We finally found a van in early spring that we could afford," said Brian Dennis, one of the van's co-owners.