This week, "Art and Soul" is about the performing arts. 89.1 WEMU’s Lisa Barry is joined by Wendy Wright and a special guest, local filmmaker Donald Harrison, who is getting ready to preview his documentary about Ann Arbor's Community High School.
Donald is an independent filmmaker and lead producer of 7 Cylinders Studio, a custom video production company in Ypsilanti, MI, which he launched in 2012. He’s taught film & video courses at the University of Michigan, Eastern Michigan University and The Neutral Zone in Ann Arbor. Donald served as Executive Director of the Ann Arbor Film Festival from 2008 – 2012, growing the organization through its historic 50th season. He currently serves on the Cultural Economic Development Committee for the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation and helps program the Ypsi Experimental Space (YES).
About "Welcome to Commie High"
During the late 1960s, a wave of experimental public schools based on humanistic and anti-establishment ideas, began spreading across the United States. Community High School, situated in downtown Ann Arbor, MI and considered a “school without walls” by its founders, was challenged from its opening day in 1972.
Maligned with a bad reputation, threatened regularly with closures, it was called “Commie High” by some that questioned its merits (and proudly by many within its culture). Fast forward twenty years later, Community High had became so popular that long lines formed to attend, culminating in a two-week camp out in 1996, and a subsequent lottery system for admission. Today, “Commie High” remains one of the only schools from this movement to do school differently that survived and continues to evolve and thrive.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
THEATER
All My Sons by Arthur Miller, Purple Rose Theatre - Chelsea (Continues until June 1st)
How far will a man go to protect his family and his interests? All My Sons shows a post-war American family in a spiral of lies, greed, love, and loss.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Igs5UGskGTc">Brigadoon by Lerner & Loewe, The Encore Musical Theatre Company - Dexter (Continues until May 19th)
The enchanting tale of an 18th century Scottish village that appears every century for one day only—and the complications that arise when it’s discovered by two 20th century Americans.
DANCE
Martha Graham Dance Company – Two Different Programs
The two different programs pair Graham classics with new works created for the company by contemporary choreographers.
FRIDAY, APRIL 26th 8:00 PM AND SATURDAY, APRIL 27th 8:00 PM AT THE POWER CENTER
READINGS AND LECTURE
A GOOD AMERICAN FAMILY: THE RED SCARE AND MY FATHER
By David Maraniss, Pulitzer Prize-winning author
Nicola’s Books, May 20th - 7:00pm
The pervasive fear and paranoia that gripped America during the Red Scare of the 1950s through the chilling yet affirming story of his family’s ordeal, from blacklisting to vindication.
MUSIC
Mr. B's Blues and Boogie Celebration
Saturday April 27th - 7:30 PM at the Ark
Special Guests: Luca Filastro (Rome, Italy), Philippe LeJeune (Toulouse, France) and Bob Seeley
Monday May 6th – 8:00 PM at the Ark
With Special Guest: Elizabeth and the Catapult
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-JIp_WgXVo">Susan Werner
New New Orleans–flavored music from Susan!
Saturday May 11th – 8:00 PM at the Ark
Tuesday May 7th 7:30 PM at the Michigan Theater
His latest project is the Afro-Caribbean Mixtape.
May 10-11, 7 & 9:30 P.M at Blue LLama Club
Mother’s Day Brunch
May 12, 11:30 - 2:30 P.M. at Blue LLama Club
COMMUNITY
The Power of Music
Sunday, April 28th – 3:00 pm at Skyline High School
Ypsilanti Community Choir Spring Concert
Thursday May 9th – 7:30 pm at Towsley Auditorium - WCC Campus
By Ray Bradbury
Ann Arbor Civic Theater, April 25-28 at Arthur Miller Theatre, U-M North Campus
What happens when the destruction of knowledge gets to be too much for one civil servant? “Stuff your eyes with wonder” and take in an incredible piece of theatre in Bradbury’s own adaptation of his searing novel.
By Paul Osborn
PTD Productions
MAY 9-18 - Riverside Arts Center, Ypsilanti
The Tony Award-winning play, “Morning’s at Seven” written by Paul Osborn is a funny, poignant story of the four aging Gibbs sisters and their unusual families, living in a small Midwestern town.
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— Lisa Barry is the host of All Things Considered on WEMU. You can contact Lisa at 734.487.3363, on Twitter @LisaWEMU, or email her at lbarryma@emich.edu
