Stretch your entertainment buck: Explore Metro Detroit’s community theaters
Detroit Theater Examiner Patty Nolan makes a hard-to-resist argument on the merits of seeing more live theater these days:
Examiner.com, April 18: For starters, think right now about investing in season tickets to your favorite theatre. With a wealth of excellent college, community and small-professional venues in the area, this doesn’t have to be expensive. (It’s certainly cheaper than any of the pro sports tickets.) Just think of it as medicine for the soul – a natural antidepressant. Or better yet, a personal anti-depression stimulus package.
Check out this list of theaters featuring both professional and amateur production in Metro Detroit.
Shows going on this weekend include “All My Sons” at the Hillberry Theater in Detroit, “The Pajama Game” at the Village Theater in Canton and “Miss Saigon” at the Grosse Pointe Theater.
Granholm hopes to draw Fiat manufacturing to Michigan
If you never thought the terms “American-made” and “Fiat” could exist in the same category, here’s just another sign times are changing fast in Detroit.
According to an Associated Press story, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm told reporters she hopes to interest Fiat Group SpA in manufacturing their cars in our state.
Read more on clickondetroit.com
Cleveland’s got nothing on Detroit
Ok, so the Cavalier’s killed Detroit in the NBA playoffs. Big deal. It’s probably the only thing Cleveland’s got bragging rights on.
You think you’re the Rock N’ Roll City? More like Detroit Rock City! We won’t even mention the fact that you don’t have a professional hockey team. And your population? Not even half Detroit’s.
This Cleveland tourism video spoof highlights all the city’s blight, and then ends with one supposedly optimisitic statement: “We’re not Detroit.” Watch it and get fired up (though it’s hard not to laugh at the self-deprecating lyrics).
Feds enlisted to halt Central Depot demolition
Either Detroit billionaire and Michigan Central Depot owner Manuel “Matty” Maroun has a soft spot for the decaying landmark, or he doesn’t want to spend the estimated $3 million needed to destroy it.
Whatever the cause, Maroun’s Detroit International Bridge Co. is going to the federal government in hopes that it will acquire the old train depot and redevelop it. The company will be submitting proposals to the government’s acting landlord, the General Services Administration, next week.
The Detroit News, May 1: “We are committed to finding a better use for the Michigan Central Train Depot as soon as possible,” said Dan Stamper, president of the Detroit International Bridge Company. “We hope to work with GSA to develop a project, whether their needs include an adaptive reuse of the depot or the construction of a new facility.”
The move comes weeks after the City Council voted to demolish the building and bill Moroun for the costs, which are estimated at more than $3 million. Mayor Kenneth Cockrel Jr. has proposed demolishing the station that closed in 1988, but using federal stimulus money to do so.
Electronic music fest sees record ticket sales
Ticket sales for Detroit Movement, a world-renowned techno music festival that drew 80,000 people to the city in 2008, is reporting that tickets sales for the 2009 event are double what they were this time last year.
Crain’s Detroit Business, April 29: Representatives of Paxahau Promotions Group L.L.C., which has produced the festival since 2006, said about 1,789 weekend passes have been purchased for this year’s festival, set for May 23 to 25, compared to 838 passes purchased by the same time last year. VIP ticket purchases have increased slightly, from 241 last year to 298.
Organizers hope the upward trend continues, especially after recently announcing that the festival will form an alliance with Italian concert company Movement Europe Limited.
Detroit Free Press, April 29: Movement producer Jason Huvaere described the pairing as a groundbreaking moment for the 10-year-old Hart Plaza festival.
“What this means for Detroit is that we’re going to have a European marketing arm for six months a year,” said Huvaere, president of the promotion company Paxahau. “It’s the greatest opportunity we’ve ever had to bring attention to this city and this event.”
Movement will take place May 23-25 in Hart Plaza. For those who can’t wait to groove to the techno beats, get your fix with this Movement 2009 promotional video.
Entrepreneurs take hold in Metro Detroit
Eight small business owners from Metro Detroit were featured recently on CNN Money. The story showed how Detroit entrepreneurs build their own support systems, but also portrayed small business as a key to reviving the city now that the automakers are losing economic ground.
But some Detroiters think there’s still a long way to go before the city starts cultivating these types of businesses. A panel discussion last night at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit explored Detroit’s role in inventing a new urban model, asking the question, “Is Detroit really the new Berlin?“
In a preview of the panel on the WDET radio show Detroit Today, Michigan Citizen Publisher Catherine Kelly talked about what she thinks are problems with Detroit’s small business atmosphere based on her family’s experience opening a cafe in Southwest Detroit.
Detroit Today, April 30: “The hurdles they had to go through to get this open shows that the structure is used to dealing with the older model, they’re used to dealing with corporations. We should be so free and open that basically you put up a sign out front, you open the doors and you’ve got a business.
We’re looking at third world realities and I think we almost need to start looking at third world solutions, rather than expecting some corporation to come in and create 4,000 jobs downtown …
Look at what happened during the Final Four, were there any vendors, were there any opportunities for a single individual person to go out and make some change in their life? This is where the tension comes in because we don’t see the city making it easy to get these licenses, encouraging these licenses.
Detroit small business resources:
Bizdom U: A one-year training program that helps participants develop an idea for a Detroit-based business. Students end the program with an approved business model and resources for funding.
SCORE Detroit: A nonprofit association dedicated to entrepreneur education and the formation, growth and success of small business in Southeast Michigan.
Michigan Small Business Association: An independent federal government agency broken into local and regional offices that aid, counsel, assist and protect the interests of small business concerns.
Plymouth fair pushes the green life
In its second year, the Plymouth Green Street Fair is expanding from two days to three and will be going on all weekend, starting at noon on Friday and ending Sunday at 5 p.m.
Speakers will give tips on topics like transportation, housecleaning products, gardening and landscaping while local bands play on the “Eco-Beats” stage.
There will be how-to demonstrations for environmentally-friendly activities like recycling, yoga and organic cooking — even be a green magician.
Check out the full lineup at greenstreetfair.com and check out photos from last year’s fair on flickr.
Fair founder Raychel Rork was on Fox 2 News yesterday promoting the event.
Outdoor summer sounds: DTE lineup released
DTE Energy Music Theater just released its summer lineup. Headliners sure to draw big crowds include modern rockers Coldplay and Dave Matthew’s Band, DTE regulars Creedence Clearwater Revisited and Chicago and country music stars Toby Keith and Brad Paisley. Jimmy Buffet’s Aug. 13 show is already sold out.
Prices range depending on the show, from $10 on the lawn for CCR and John Michael Montgomery to $105 pavilion seats for Coldplay.
The Veronicas tonight at the Fillmore Detroit
The Australian chart-topping electro-pop/rock band The Veronicas is coming to the venue formerly known as the State Theater tonight. Tickets are still available for the 7 p.m. show.
The band, led by identical twins and Brisbane, Australian-natives Jessica and Lisa Origliassio, is headlining a U.S. tour for the first time since 2006. They recently performed at the Miss USA pageant in Las Vegas and are rumored to be making a guest appearance this season on the CW show 90210.
Check out a video of their 2008 hit “Untouched.”
