THEATER
Museum: Conversations in the Gallery
Feb. 17–26
WMU Theatre
You’ll never know who you are talking or listening to in this immersive theater production in the Richmond Center for Visual Arts, Western Michigan University’s fine arts gallery space.
In this unique WMU production, the audience will have a chance to enjoy the art, meet an array of characters and hear their stories as they move throughout the gallery. Perhaps the people next to the audience members are actors, perhaps just guests.
Show times are 7:30 p.m. Feb. 17–18 & 24–25 and 1 and 4 p.m. Feb. 19 & 26. Tickets are $6–$21 and available by calling 387-6222 or visiting wmich.edu/theatre.
First Date: Musical
Feb. 10–19
The Civic
What seems like certain disaster — blind date newbie Aaron is set up with serial dater Casey — turns into a musical journey in this production at the Kalamazoo Civic’s Parish Theatre.
Jordan Bruner and Nadya Beyar (in her Civic debut) are the hapless couple whose inner critics take on a life of their own when other restaurant patrons transform into supportive best friends, manipulative exes and protective parents who sing and dance them through icebreakers, appetizers and conversational land mines.
The show contains adult content and language. Show times are 7:30 p.m. Feb. 10, 11, 17 & 18 and 2 p.m. Feb. 12 & 19 at the Parish, 405 W. Lovell St. Tickets are $17–$30 and available by calling
343-1313 or visiting kazoocivic.com.
Caught Up in the Circle of Life
Feb. 18
All Ears Theatre
This all-audio theater production looks at how our lives intertwine with others and how what we seek is sometimes not what really is.
The script is by local playwright Buddy Hannah, and the show is directed by Marissa Danielle Harrington.
Show time is 6 p.m. at the Kalamazoo Nonprofit Advocacy Building/First Baptist Church, 315 W. Michigan Ave.
The Mountaintop
Feb. 23–26
Kalamazoo College Festival Playhouse
This fictional depiction of Martin Luther King Jr.’s last night on earth set entirely in Room 306 of the Lorraine Motel on the eve of his assassination in 1968 will be staged by Kalamazoo College. Written by American playwright Katori Hall, the production will be directed by Quincy Thomas.
Show times are 7:30 p.m. Feb. 23–25 and 2 p.m. Feb. 26 at Kalamazoo College’s Nelda K. Balch Playhouse, 129 Thompson St. Tickets are $10–$25 and are available online at festivalplayhouse.kzoo.edu or calling 337-7333.
Something Rotten!
Feb. 24–26
Center Stage Theatre
How do two brothers running a theatrical troupe in 1595 cope with being outshone at every turn by none other than William Shakespeare? That’s the tale at the heart of this musical comedy.
The show is directed by Douglas Gaertner, with Jack Ford-Teich and Drew Dixon as Nick and Nigel Bottom, respectively. It will be performed at Comstock Community Auditorium, 2107 N. 26th St.
Show times are 7:30 p.m. Feb. 24 & 25 and 2 p.m. Feb. 25 & 26. Tickets are $12–$15 and available at kzoocst.com.
Ongoing Productions
Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea
Feb. 2–5
Williams Theatre, WMU
The Great Leap
Feb. 2–12
Farmers Alley Theatre
Clybourne Park
Feb. 3–5
Civic Theatre
LITERATURE
Author Hop
Feb. 10
Portage District Library
Meet more than 20 local authors whose work ranges from nonfiction to children’s books to fiction and mystery at this event, running from 5–8 p.m.
It will include the opportunity to purchase signed copies of the authors’ books, a prize drawing, live jazz and refreshments. Among the participating writers are two Encore contributors, Robert Weir and Heidi McCrary.
For more information, visit portagelibrary.info.
Poets in Print: Layli Long Soldier & Chet’la Sebree
Feb. 18
Online
Two award-winning poets will read from their works in this 7 p.m. virtual event via Zoom.
Chet’la Sebree is the author of Field Study, winner of the 2020 James Laughlin Award from the Academy of American Poets, and Mistress, winner of the 2018 New Issues Prize and nominated for an NAACP Image Award. Her poetry and prose have been published in journals and magazines including The Yale Review, The New Republic, Kenyon Review, and Guernica. She is an assistant professor of English at The George Washington University and is working on her debut essay collection.
Layli Long Soldier is the author of WHEREAS, which won the 2018 PEN/Jean Stein Book Award and was short-listed for the National Book Award. She has received a Lannan Literary Fellowship, a National Artist Fellowship from the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation, and a Whiting Writers’ Award. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
For a link to the reading, visit kalbookarts.org.
Author TJ Klune
Feb. 21
Communiteen Read 2023
This award-winning author, whose novel The House in the Cerulean Sea was this year’s Portage Communiteen Read selection, will discuss his book at 6 p.m. at the Portage Zhang Senior Center, 203 E. Centre Ave.
The book won an Alex Award in 2021 from the American Library Association. These awards are given annually to 10 books written for adults that have special appeal to young people ages 12 to 18.
Communiteen Read, a program co-hosted by Portage Public Schools, Portage District Library, and This is a Bookstore/Bookbug, has Portage teens read and discuss a selected book and culminates in a visit from the author.
Klune is a prolific writer whose novels also include Into This River I Drown, winner of a Lambda Literary Award. In addition to stand-alone novels, he has written books in a number of series.
His Feb. 21 presentation is free and open to the public. For more information, visit communiteenreadportage.com/2023.
DANCE
Winter Gala Dance Concert
Feb. 10–11
WMU Department of Dance
The Western Michigan University Department of Dance will present its annual student and faculty dance showcase in WMU’s Shaw Theatre.
Students will perform dances by Great Works artist Decidedly Jazz Danceworks and other guest choreographers in styles including ballet, jazz, modern and contemporary dance. The Winter Gala Dance Concert will also feature choreography by dance faculty and students.
Show times are 8 p.m. Feb. 10 & 11 and 2 p.m. Feb. 11 & 12, and tickets are $6–$21. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit wmich.edu/dance/events.
MUSIC
Clayton Stephenson
Feb. 5
Gilmore Rising Stars Series
While in-person tickets for pianist Clayton Stephenson’s performance have already sold out, you can still see it virtually.
Stephenson, the 2022 Gilmore Young Artist and a finalist at the 2022 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, will perform at 5 p.m. in the Wellspring Theater, 359 S. Kalamazoo Mall.
He has performed at BeethovenFest in Bonn, Germany, and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall and is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in economics at Harvard and a master’s degree in piano performance at the New England Conservatory.
His concert program includes works by Bach, Gershwin, Beethoven, Tatum, Scriabin and Prokofiev. Tickets for a livestream of his performance are available on a name-your-price basis at thegilmore.org.
Bronzefest
Feb. 19
Kalamazoo Ringers
Six handbell choirs will join as one to play in this annual concert celebrating the art form of handbell ringing.
This free concert will begin at 3:30 p.m. at Portage West Middle School, 7145 Moorsbridge Road. It will be directed by Fred Gramann, an internationally renowned handbell clinician, director and composer. For more information, visit kalamazooringers.org.
Fascinating Rhythm with Megan Dooley
Feb. 25
Kalamazoo Concert Band
Kalamazoo vocalist Megan Dooley will once again join the Kalamazoo Concert Band for a night of music and song at 7:30 p.m. in Chenery Auditorium, 714 S. Westnedge Ave.
Dooley, who last performed with the band singing World War II era songs in the 2020 show The Homefront, will lend her vocal talents to this concert, which explores the rhythms that surround us.
The concert is free. For more information, visit kalamazooconcertband.org.
WMU School of Music
Various venues
Throughout the month
WMU’s School of Music is only a month into the new semester but has a full slate of concerts scheduled for February. Unless noted, performances will be in the university’s Dalton Center Recital Hall and are free. The performances scheduled are:
• Western Winds, made up of WMU graduate students and faculty mentors, in WMU’s Bullock Series, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 1 with pre-concert talk at 7 p.m. Tickets are $5–$15.
• University Jazz Orchestra and University Jazz Lab Band, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 2. Tickets are $5–$10.
• University Symphony Orchestra, with pianist Yu-Lien The, 3 p.m. Feb. 5 at Miller Auditorium.
• University Wind Symphony and Concert Band, conducted by Scott Boerma and Mary Land, 3 p.m. Feb. 12 at Miller Auditorium.
• University Symphonic Band, conducted by Trey Harris, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 13, Miller Auditorium.
• Pianist Jasmin Arakawa, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 16.
• Composer and WMU faculty member Christopher Biggs and saxophonist Ben Schmidt-Swartz, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 19.
• Vocalist Greg Jasperse and Grammy-nominated guitarist Chico Pinheiro in WMU’s Bullock Series, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 22, with pre-concert talk at 7 p.m. Tickets are $5–$15.
• Amphion, Anima and University Chorale, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 25.
• Student Composers recital, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 28.
For more information or to purchase tickets, visit wmich.edu/music/events.
Jurassic Park in Concert
Feb. 24
Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra
Steven Speilberg’s iconic 1993 science fiction film about man against prehistoric predators will be shown as the symphony orchestra performs John Williams’ iconic score to the film.
The event begins at 7 p.m. at Miller Auditorium. Tickets are $6–$68 and are available at kalamazoosymphony.com.
Paths to Dignity
Feb. 19
Kalamazoo Junior Symphony Orchestra
See story on our website.
VISUAL ARTS
All Together Now: Contemporary Prints from the University Art Collection
Through Feb. 25
Richmond Center for Visual Arts
Nearly 100 works representing the wide-ranging history of printmaking and taken from the Western Michigan University Art Collection are featured through Feb. 25 in the Albertine Monroe-Brown Gallery of WMU’s Richmond Center for Visual Arts.
This exhibition includes dozens of post-modern and contemporary artists, including Joseph Albers, Laylah Ali, Sol Lewitt, Lorna Marsh, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Do Ho Suh, Roger Shimomura and Cy Twombly.
Gallery hours are noon–5 p.m. Wednesday–Friday and noon–4 p.m. Saturday. For more information, visit wmich.edu/art.
Ginger Owen-Murakami: Girl’s Own Guide
Through Feb. 25
Richmond Center for Visual Arts
Wet-plate collodion photographic images inspired by the woman recognized as America’s first published abolitionist writer, Lydia Maria Child, will be featured in this exhibition by Ginger Owen-Murakami in the Rose Netzorg and James Wilfrid Kerr Gallery.
Child, a women’s rights activist, opponent of American expansionism, activist for the rights of indigenous people, novelist and journalist, published The Girl’s Own Book in 1834.
Owen-Murakami is a professor of photography at Western Michigan University’s Gwen Frostic School of Art, whose artwork derives imagery from narratives and themes of family history, race, gender and culture.
For more information, visit wmich.edu/art.
The Illustrated Accordion
Feb. 3–March 24
Kalamazoo Book Arts Center
Books created in the accordion style by emerging and established artists will be featured in this annual exhibition, with a reception for the artists set for 5–8 p.m. March 3.
Accordion books are composed of a continuous folded sheet of paper that can be stood up to view all the pages at once. They had origins throughout Asia and were created to accommodate scroll-style books.
The KBAC is at 326 W. Kalamazoo Ave., Suite 103A. Gallery hours are 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Monday–Friday or by appointment. For more information, call 373-4938 or visit kalbookarts.org.
Michigan Mementos: A Painterly Collection of Memories and Places
Through Feb. 28
Portage District Library
A collection of paintings by Kalamazoo artist Anna Barnhart that give a snapshot of some of Michigan’s well-known places will be on display in the library’s Atrium Gallery.
Barnhart, whose style ranges from vividly impressionistic to nearly abstract, captures the landscapes and moods of the Midwest.
Gallery hours are 9 a.m.–9 p.m. Monday–Thursday, 9 a.m.–6 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m.–5 p.m. Saturday. For more information, visit portagelibrary.info.
FILM
Local Filmmaker Showcase
Feb. 23
Kalamazoo Film Society
Works by local filmmakers will hit the silver screen in this inaugural event presented by the Kalamazoo Film Society.
It runs from 7–9 p.m. at Celebration Cinema, 6600 Ring Road. After the screenings, filmmakers in attendance will participate in a question-and-answer session.
The free event is designed to encourage and celebrate local filmmakers. The showcase began taking submissions in October, and those whose works were chosen for screening were notified in January.
For more information, visit kalfilmsociety.net.
