Tuesday, March 11, 2025

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Features

FEATURES

Broadway legend arrives at Wharton

For a show that centers around a bloody revolution and features a thief, prostitute and an obsessed police officer as main characters, the success of Wharton Center’s next big  musical is nothing short of phenomenal. “Les Misérables,” the second longest-running play in Broadway history, recently entered its 16th year of performing in the United States and has enjoyed high ticket sales in scores of major cities. The show’s East Lansing stop is no exception.

FEATURES

The F-bomb:

When you were young, you had your mouth washed out with soap for saying it. As you approached those pubescent years, you felt so cool when it blurted from your mouth - even if you really didn’t understand what it meant or why it was so bad. It can be used to describe something un-frickin’-believably good, but can also be used as a demeaning, vile insult. You were taught never to use it because it was a naughty or dirty word.

FEATURES

Beck finds success with somber Sea Change

After the appropriate and exotic overtones of Beck’s last record, “Midnite Vultures,” he returns with “Sea Change,” what many critics believe to be his best effort. Gone are the strobe lights and whacked-out disco beats that plastered his last disc, and thankfully he’s returned to the inspirational songwriting that surrounded 1998’s “Mutations.” Instead of ranting about “Sexx Laws” and “lobotomy beats,” we see the calm, collected side of Beck, as most of the songs have minimal percussion and emphasize his diverse musical talents. But most noticeably, the lyrics and overall mood display a sad and helpless man. There are many answers flying around the media trying to explain why this record is so much more melancholy compared to “Midnite Vultures” or even “Odelay,” but the real answer is simple: Beck is a striving musician who won’t settle for anything less than making a completely different record each time he walks into the studio. I find it difficult to immediately label this as Beck’s greatest collection, as some publications have boldly proclaimed. But I will go as far as to agree that this record is at the forefront for this year’s “Album of the Year.” The seas have changed yet again for Beck, and for that, we thank him.

FEATURES

Western Keys creates catchy sound

Austin, Texas’ Western Keys makes the kind of music that fluctuates from sweet and simple melodies to twisted and torn tunes that are ridiculously catchy and entertaining indie rock. Ben Dickey’s voice is addictive in its imperfection as it breaks and jumps around the songs, never sticking to routine.

FEATURES

Nirvana scandal a disgrace, Love should get a life

I’ll say it now: Courtney Love is completely out of her mind. Ever since I started following Love’s vendetta against the surviving members of Nirvana after the death of her husband and the band’s former frontman Kurt Cobain, I’ve lost nearly all respect for the once talented lead singer of now-defunct Hole. The ruckus Love raised while trying to stop the release of one of Nirvana’s last recorded songs, “You Know You’re Right,” caused a standoff that spiraled out of control, creating one of the worst publicity stunts I’ve ever seen. Following Cobain’s death in 1994, things were bad for Love. I’ve got sympathy for her there - losing her husband to suicide, leaving her to care for their daughter Frances, certainly couldn’t have been easy.

FEATURES

Chan, Hewitt disappoint in James Bond imitated Tuxedo

Chris Tucker must not have been available to co-star in Jackie Chan’s action comedy “The Tuxedo.” Of course, the story would have to be altered to make room for Tucker and his big mouth personality since it doesn’t exactly fit the “Rush Hour” profile. Instead, a more passive role was filled by Jennifer Love Hewitt.

FEATURES

Ledger leads complex life in inspiring Four Feathers

At a time when the British crown had claimed nearly one quarter of the world and was in a constant fight with different civilizations, there had to be a few inspiring stories. “The Four Feathers,” a remake of the 1939 original, is an epic tale of one soldier’s need to save face and overcome cowardice. At the end of the 19th century, a newly engaged Harry Feversham (Heath Ledger) and his best friend Jack Durrance (Wes Bentley) learn they must ship out to Sudan to defend a British fort that fell to rebels in Khartoum. Facing a promising future with fiancee Ethne (Kate Hudson) in one hand and a questionable mission in the other, Harry resigns from his commission as his troops go to war.

FEATURES

Center of the Universe opens at BoarsHead

The BoarsHead Theater, 425 S. Grand Ave. in Lansing, kicks off its 2002-03 season with the Joan Vail Thorne comedy “The Exact Center of the Universe.” The five-person cast is headed by BoarsHead veteran Carmen Decker as Vada Love Powell, an elderly Southern belle whose son, 35-year-old Appleton, is the center of her universe.