Eisenhower Dance Ensemble (EDE) will celebrate 20 years of visionary dance with the concert 20/20 Dance on Friday, December 10, 2010 at 8:00 p.m. at Seligman Performing Arts Center. The concert will present revivals of audience favorites and a new work by EDE Choreography Competition winner Daniel Gwirtzman.

Notes EDE Artistic Director Laurie Eisenhower, “I love the name 20/20 as a concert title for one of our 20^th anniversary concerts. It suggests the visionary outlook that EDE has strived for throughout the past twenty years. I want this program to celebrate our past, but also look forward to the future.”

The retrospective part of the concert will include revivals of Mosaics, one of the most performed works in the Company’s history, The Show, an audience favorite which is a tribute to the movies of Federico Fellini, and Catharsis, a large-scale collaborative work with Oakland University’s Repertory Dance Company.  

States Eisenhower, “EDE has had a long standing relationship with Oakland University, so it is fitting to include a collaboration with OU’s finest dancers.”

Celebrating the future vision of the Company, EDE will present two newer works by guest choreographers. The first is a work titled Falling Out, which is a dramatic work by Chicago choreographer Brock Clawson that was set on the Company last season.

The highlight of the program will be the Michigan premiere of Encore, a fun and exciting new work by New York choreographer Daniel Gwirtzman. The dance is performed as though the Company is conducting a rehearsal and then dancing in a performance, offering a glimpse into the life of a dancer.

Gwirtzman is an established producer, director, choreographer, teacher and critically acclaimed performer. Celebrating fifteen years as a New York City choreographer, Gwirtzman has earned praise for creating a diverse repertory known for its humor, inventiveness and accessibility. The DanceBreak Foundation, which showcases the next generation of great Broadway choreographers, has selected Gwirtzman as one of its six choreographers for 2010.

True to the educational vision of EDE, the program will also include a dance performed by over forty dancers from the EDE Center for Dance student companies.

Concert Information

20/20 Dance

Friday, December 10 at 8:00 p.m.
Seligman Performing Arts Center
22305 West 13 Mile Road, Beverly Hills, MI 48025
Tickets: $16 general, $12 senior, $8 students
Box Office: (248) 559-2095

Founded in 1991, Eisenhower Dance Ensemble is a professional contemporary dance company based in metro-Detroit. Now in its 20th season, EDE is considered by many critics to be Michigan’s premier contemporary dance company. EDE also offers world-class dance instruction to students of all ages and levels of ability at its two school locations. For more information about EDE, please visit www.ede-dance.org or all the EDE offices at 248-559-2095.

“With IndyHub as our partner [our long-term goal is to] start Passport programs in Cleveland, Pittsburgh … cities that might have similar challenges as in Detroit and Indianapolis,” explains Natalie Bruno, Director of Development for Detroit Chamber Winds & Strings and a founding member of DP2A.  “The more cities you have in the Midwest area the more you can share and travel amongst them; this IndyHub is the first step towards that.”

Detroit’s Passport holders already look forward to the signature afterparties that the DP2A board organizes after each DP2A event because they enjoy the opportunity to meet other people with similar interests in a more relaxed, fun social environment than what is typically associated with arts programs.   “Our goal is to foster this growth of relationships between Passport holders so people can meet each other and become friends,” Bruno notes.  DP2A organizers learned from several focus groups that Passport holders trust the Passport program and trust what they do, and are both ready and willing to be exposed to new cultural experiences with other people interested in the arts.  “This is the first baby step toward making this more national.”

And if you’re too quick to question the cultural offerings available in industrial Indianapolis, remember that people think the same about Detroit.  This is your chance to find out what an burgeoning creative city Indianapolis really is.  “Indy is an up-and-coming cultural city,” says Bruno.  “People think it’s a small place where not much is happening and they have to be convinced otherwise, as well as vice-versa [with us in Detroit], so the hopes are that [each city's cultural exchange] will serve each other well.” 

This is your opportunity to be a part of this progressive program’s noteworthy history as both cities open their doors to share their artistic identities with the aim of creating a well-rounded cultural experience for all participants.

DP2A Cultural Exchange with IndyHub
Friday, January 7, 2011 – Sunday, January 9, 2011

Experience DP2A’s sister program in Indianapolis, IndyHub Passport to the Arts. Enjoy amazing food and get to know Indy’s cultural offerings, including a performance of The Elvis Project, presented by Dance Kaleidoscope.

PASSPORT CULTURAL EXCHANGE
Exchange culture with INDIANAPOLIS
Friday, January 7, 2011 – Sunday, January 9, 2011

DP2A shows you some of Detroit great offerings. Now see how another city does culture with the DP2A Cultural Exchange. IndyHub, DP2A’s sister program, will welcome DP2A passport holders for a weekend of food, fun, and of course, culture. Arrive on Friday night, or if you have to work late, start you weekend of fun on Saturday. Your weekend includes accommodation at The Westin Hotel, a party with IndyHubbers, and a performance of The Elvis Project presented by Dance Kaleidoscope.

COST (includes hotel room and tax), IndyHub party and performance of The Elvis Project):

1. One Person/One Night (Saturday Arrival) + Passport Events for One = $155
2. Two People/One Night (Saturday Arrival) + Passport Events for Two = $180
3. One Person/Two Nights (Friday Arrival) + Passport Events for One = $285
4. Two People/Two Nights (Friday Arrival) + Passport Events for Two = $310

Please note that transport to and from Indianapolis, parking, meals, drinks, and additional entertainment are not included in this price.

Don’t miss out on the fun. Make your reservation today!
Please contact DP2A Staffer, Ellen Storch, Development & Marketing Assistant with any travel or logistical questions. You may reserve your hotel and passport tickets over the phone by calling 248.559.2095 or by placing an order here. Prices include the hotel room and event/performance. All other options will be priced a la carte and you can pay as you go, allowing you the flexibility to dine and sight-see at your leisure.

ITINERARY

*DAY 1 (optional)*

 FRIDAY, JANUARY 7

(Optional Arrival) On Friday evening, start with a delicious dinner with fellow Passport-holders.

 Suggested Dinner Option 1: R Bistro is a small restaurant where the menu changes weekly. Food is sourced locally and prepared with penache by chef Regina Mehallick. The average entrée cost is $22.

 Suggested Dinner Option 2: Described as quirky, Yats serves Cajun and Creole food, with many vegetarian options. Prices are low and the food portions are plentiful. 

 *DAY 2*

SATURDAY, JANUARY 8 – If you arrived on Friday, sleep in a bit and then start your day with a spectacular brunch! If you’re arriving on Saturday, get to Indy at your leisure, though try not to miss these great events!

Breakfast: Treat yourself to CafePatachou, Indianapolis’ favorite brunch location. Try the amazing cinnamon toast!

At your leisure – tour the grounds of White River State Park where you’ll find many options:

• The Indiana State Museum (10 min walk)

With exhibits covering the Ice Age to the 21st century, the museum is an eclectic, exciting adventure into the past, present and future of Indiana.
Hours: Tue-Sat 9-5, Sun 11-5 Admission: $7 

• NCAA Hall of Champions (the NCAA’s headquarters) (10 min walk)

Experience all 23 sports of the NCAA®. The hands-on displays and retro gym and sports simulators give you an opportunity to engage in the life of the student-athlete

Hours: Tue-Sat 10-5, Sun 12-5 Admission: $5

• The Indianapolis Zoo and Gardens (20 minute walk)

Be sure not to miss the baby dolphin!

Hours: 9-4 Admission: $8.50

Or, if you’d rather catch the after-holiday sales, visit Circle Centre Mall, conveniently located in the heart of downtown Indianapolis. 

LATE AFTERNOON: Everyone gather at the Westin for a late afternoon snack of hot chocolate and cookies. Rest up for a fun evening!

SUGGESTED PRE-SHOW: Meet up at Tastings Wine Bar before the show (opposite side of the Westin) and delight in the 100 wine options available by the taste, glass, or bottle. Tapas items are available from $5 to $20. This wine bar also sports a good beer selection.

PASSPORT EVENT (6:30 pm): Meet at The Indiana Repertory Theater where you’ll network with IndyHubbers at the IndyHub Passport to the Arts pre-performance event. Heavy hors d’oeuvres will be served! This event is included in the cost of the passport exchange.

PASSPORT PERFORMANCE (8:00 pm): The Elvis Project presented by Dance Kaleidoscope, where they will perform two World Premieres in celebration of the raw energy, passion and humor in the songs of Elvis Presley. Songs include: Trouble, Always on my Mind and Fever. The performance includes a visual art component and an Elvis Impersonator. This event is included in the cost of the passport exchange.

SUGGESTED POST-SHOW (10:30 pm) – Nightcap at Ball & Biscuit, an old time, authentic speakeasy

*DAY 3*

SUNDAY, JANUARY 9 – RETURN TO DETROIT! Before taking off, enjoy more shopping and sightseeing! Westin Check-Out is at 12 pm.

ACCOMMODATIONS:
The Westin Hotel will be your home in Indy. The Westin Indianapolis enjoys an unbeatable location in the heart of the city. Connected by a covered sky-bridge to the Indiana Convention Center and Circle Center Mall, guests have access to everything they need. The hotel is only a short walk from area attractions like the Lucas Oil Stadium, Conseco Field House, Victory Field and the NCAA Hall of Champions.

Please note that guests planning to arrive on Friday night need to call the DP2A office to reserve their space by Wednesday, December 15. Those arriving on Saturday need to reserve their space by Wednesday, December 22.

PARKING:

Parking is available via self-park or valet. The garage is underground and connects to the property. Overnight self parking is $26 and overnight valet is $32.

La Vie Bohème!

Oops, wrong version.

Mark Stryker of the Detroit Free Press said of La Bohème that “there is no better starter opera for newcomers,” referencing the “across-the-board” appeal of Puccini’s emotionally nuanced compositions and the overall timelessness and universal accessibility of the opera’s core love story.  Both of these things are true, but I think we need to consider a few other more contemporary factors as well.

La Bohème is also a great “starter opera” because of its pop-cultural familiarity, and not just in its depiction of the shared human experience of love and loss.  Perhaps you’ve heard of a little stage play called Rent?  Or maybe (to a slightly lesser extent) Baz Luhrmann’s 2001 romantic musical Moulin Rouge!?  RENT-heads will find much of La Bohème more than a little familiar, from the self-possessed bawdiness of the Musetta/Maureen character to the duet sung by Mimi and Rodolfo/Roger as she asks him to light her candle and they fall hopelessly in love.  Moulin Rouge! also borrows many of the same plot elements and themes (bohemian subculture in 19th-century Paris, the dying love interest), so anyone new to the opera and/or new to THIS opera will find a lot with which they are already familiar.

This predisposed familiarity will inevitably make audiences more receptive to this Italian opera (with English subtitles).  It also helps that the opera is broken down into four short acts (versus the two long acts most are written as), making it easy to digest without getting sleepy or distracted.  Yes, as a beginner’s opera, La Bohème — the second most-performed opera in the United States — makes for good training wheels.

But it is also, quite simply, a great story, full of love, humor and raw emotion (anger, jealousy, grief).  There is also something impossibly romantic about bohemian Paris (despite the poverty and disease) that lends La Bohème endless intrigue.  The story focuses on the relationship between Mimi and Rodolfo, a seamstress and a writer who live in the same tenement building.  Other characters include Rodolfo’s roommate, the painter Marcello, and Marcello’s torrid relationship with the fun-loving (yet well-intended) free spirit Musetta, as well as more of their bohemian friends.  The heavy-heartedess of the doomed love story is offset by playful interactions amongst the characters, from mostly harmless trickstering to friendly jabbing and horseplay.

The Michigan Opera Theatre’s production of La Bohème at the Detroit Opera House does not miss a beat in balancing the humor with the tragedy.  (After all, life is a little of both, is it not?)  The cast assembled for this production are not only tremendous vocal talents, but also tremendous actors, able to convey playful wit and powerful emotion not only with their refined voices but also in their body language and physical interaction.  A viewer doesn’t need to watch the projected subtitles to still have a good sense of what is happening onstage, once again making it a bit more accessible for opera “n00bs.”  Kelly Kaduce — who plays Mimi on 11/13, 11/17, & 11/20 and who was also the saving grace of the MOT’s Don Giovanni earlier this year — sings with such delicate intonation it makes the emotional expression in her voice seem almost intuitive; she is once again the prize jewel of the production (I wonder how much it will be affected when the role of Mimi is played by soprano Grazia Doronzio on 11/19 & 11/21?).  Kimwana Doner as Musetta is a riot and a diva and a wonder.  The four male bohemian friends — Rodolfo (Francesco Demuro), Marcello (Marian Pop), Colline (Andrew Gray) and Schaunard (Lee Gregory) — were all while males with similarly-coiffed shaggy brown hair of comparable length and all of only slightly varying height and weight which made distinguishing them from each other a bit of a challenge, though this may simply be my own experience having left my glasses at home.

The sets are also impressive, structures made to look like paintings made to look like structures.  Particularly the set for Act 3, which is made to look like a snowy winter night, in which the backdrop looks like the night sky reflecting the light from the moon, the stars, the snow … I swear I could almost see the northern lights.

On opening night the orchestra overpowered the singers’ voices a little, though that seemed to be corrected by the second act.

This was overall a great production with wide audience appeal, though admittedly I left there with “Seasons of Love” and “La Vie Boheme” ringing through my head.  Whether you’re new to the opera or a longtime supporter, La Bohème at the Opera House is a fine production with which to cross this integral piece off of your cultural bucket list.

7:30 p.m. Saturday, Wednesday and Nov. 19-20; 2:30 p.m. Nov. 21. Detroit Opera House, 1526 Broadway, Detroit. 313-237-7464. michiganopera.org. $29-$121.

For the launch event of the 2010-2011 season of the Detroit Passport to the Arts, 400 passport holders were welcomed into the Detroit Opera House for the penultimate performance of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado. I was warned prior to the performance that it was comedic, even campy. Reading through the cast of characters – names like Nanki-Poo and Yum-Yum – I found myself wondering just what kind of cheesy musical theatre had I committed myself to for the night?

The result was a wacky, delightful opera experience, certainly unlike anything I had ever seen before. Gilbert and Sullivan were known for their bracingly political works satirizing 19th-century British government and aristocracy (ironically what would have been the same audience who attended their shows). The Mikado, set in the fictional “exotic” location of Titipu, Japan – the “exoticness” of which is commented on very directly within the show itself, making a mockery even of what (and why) an audience might believe a place in the ORIENT, the FAR EAST would be “exotic;” in other words, further cutting commentary on the arrogance of the audience that likely went largely unnoticed in Gilbert and Sullivan’s day.

Much of the satirical humor would be lost on modern audiences, or perhaps more accurately would not be appreciated as the biting social commentary it once was. Right from the opening number “If you want to know who we are” sung by the male chorus, court life is described and duly mocked;

“If you think we are worked by strings,
Like a Japanese marionette,
You don’t understand these things:
It is simply Court etiquette.”

Then there is the discussion in the beginning of Act II between Yum-Yum and her handmaids, commenting on how beautiful she is and how much MORE beautiful she is than anyone else in the world: the arrogance of the aristocracy is flayed at every opportunity from the safe removal of being set in such a far-flung foreign land. Characters are bestowed with multiple titles of authority (the Brits did love their lords and chancellors). Witty ridicule becomes outright ridiculousness when considering the entire premise of the story is based on people trying to avoid execution for outlandish reasons — clearly Gilbert and Sullivan were not fond of British imperial law. Death here — specifically unjust execution — is treated lightly, as if it could be so commonplace. The laws are absolutely absurd — flirtation is punishable by death — and the story follows minstrel Nanki-Poo (secretly the Mikado’s son) and Yum-Yum as they try to circumvent the laws requiring both of their executions so they can be together.

The fact that the opera itself is in English and there are also spoken parts make it much more accessible to a wider audience. And what really made this production exceptional was the way in which it was modernized for a contemporary audience and further targeted specifically for this Detroit audience. When Lord High Executioner Ko-Ko (Yum-Yum’s warder and fiance played by Michael Wanko who is hilariously reminiscent of Vizzini in the Princess Bride) performs his “List Aria” in Act I and the Mikado sings “A more humane Mikado” in Act II the lyrics are changed to reflect modern absurdities, everything from “the ladies from The View” to Kwame’s text scandal. At first the audience seemed hesitant to laugh, not really sure if they really just heard the contemporary jokes correctly, but as Ko-Ko continued rattling off his list of modern-day cultural, social, and political offenders (“They’ll none of ‘em be missed!”) the audience broke out in raucous laughter, drowning out half of the remaining jokes. The wink-wink tone and mannerisms Wanko used ensured that the audience knew that ALL of us, cast included, were in on the joke. From that moment on the audience seemed to relax and embrace this irreverent (yet still relevant) production, like opera by way of Monty Python.

The set was very simple, comprised primarily of large ornately-painted “oriental” screens that could be easily rolled across the stage.  The costumes were elegant yet also simple.  The actors were all talented (though I simply couldn’t help but notice that feudal Japan was certainly rather multi-cultural) without a single disappointing or lacking performance in the group, though the real standouts were Wanko and Melissa Parks as Katisha, Nanki-Poo’s mistakenly betrothed.  Parks was a comedic gale force with an equally powerful voice, demanding laughs from the audience as she commands the cast to “BOW!” in “Mi-ya Sa-ma” as easily as she demands tears in her mournful aria “Alone, and yet alive.”  It would also be easy to assume that Arthur Sullivan’s score would take a backseat to the sharp wit of W.S. Gilbert’s lyrics, but the music is also quite beautiful, and despite its satirical undertones, The Mikado is still an earnest love story with a refreshingly happy ending.

In other words, this is not, by ANY stretch of the term, a typical night at the opera.

PS, every time I hear “Three little maids from school are we” I think of the Simpsons; I can’t help it.

Afterwards the DP2A afterparty on the second floor of the Opera House featured sushi and chicken satay as well as Asahi beer, sake and live music from traditional Japanese instrumentalists.  I missed the boat on the sushi unfortunately, but space was packed and I was able to meet some of the other passport holders and chat with DP2A organizers and Opera House staff.  The entire evening was fun and light-hearted, an all-around great way to kick off a new season of arts.

My only complaint?  That it appears the overpaid and overprivileged (yes I said it and I will again: overpaid and overprivileged) DSO musicians will not have their wage disputes resolved in time for DP2A Destination #2 at Orchestral Hall, which was to include a performance of Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9 “From the New World.”  I’m sure an equally great performance will be rescheduled in its place for passport holders, but despite the fact that I’ve seen the DSO perform this piece before I’m still disappointed.  All I can say is that they BETTER get this settled by the end of November because if I don’t see Robert Schumann’s ONLY Violin Concerto performed I WILL cut a bitch.

His first film was Following, an extremely low-budget (damn near guerrilla) film that made the festival circuit but never broke the mainstream. Then came Memento; it was unlike anything audiences had ever seen before. Insomnia, the Prestige, Batman Begins and the Dark Knight…Nolan is one of the most celebrated and accomplished contemporary filmmakers working today. His films are dark and sophisticated, complex and intense. He gets huge box office draw working with themes and structures that in any other hands would be considered too esoteric, too abstruse for the common (American) audience. His work is consistently critically and commercially successful, and yet he has succeeded in retaining his own unique voice in his films, his auteurism, despite the fact that he is now working from deeply within the Hollywood machine. Not unlike Hitchcock himself, really.

Inception is Nolan’s latest achievement, and in many ways it is almost an homage to his earlier work. Written, produced and directed by Nolan himself (as he has done with the majority of his films, save for the script for the adapted Insomnia), Inception is the latest entrant into Nolan’s spiraling world of colliding realities, multi-layered and ever-shifting. Here Nolan goes back to his basics: delving deep into the fractured minds of damaged men to explore their own delicate and imbalanced realities.

Inception is the bigger, glossier, more sci-fi oriented brother of Memento, which was more of a straightforwardly (though non-linear) psycho-drama film noir. But Inception echoes of Memento at every turn: a man whose entire sense of reality is in question, whose own memories can’t be trusted, who has lost a wife and is desperate to bring her back, even though he knows he cannot. Sci-fi action thriller or psychological mindfuck, the question Nolan is ultimately asking is this: how much do we lie to ourselves to preserve our own fragile psyches? Or, in a pedantic theoretical sense, if we construct our own realities how can we ever really know what’s real…and is there even such a thing?

It would be a mistake to compare this film to emotionally void yet visually stunning action flicks like The Matrix, though the multi-tiered layers of so-called reality make the comparison inevitable (Cronenberg’s eXistenZ also comes to mind, as does Sergei Lukyanenko’s concept of the Gloom in his Day Watch novels, in which each layer is increasingly more dangerous and unstable, threatening to claim its victims and make them forget their own realities). But what could have been just another frivolous summer blockbuster, a sci-fi companion to Ocean’s Eleven, is instead a fairly intricate character study.

Cobb – the name itself taken straight from the duplicitous main character in Nolan’s own Following – is an Extractor: he steals people’s dreams. Or, rather, he breaks into people’s dreams in order to steal information, a kind of high-stakes cerebral heist. For reasons that are revealed as the plot unfolds, Cobb (played coolly by Leonardo DiCaprio, with a hint at the inner turmoil about to bubble over) decides to take on a very risky assignment, one which promises to free him once and for all so he can return to his children: an inception, planting an idea rather than stealing one. He enlists the help of other professional thieves and scientists (including Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Cillian Murphy, Ken Watanabe, and Nolan regular Michael Caine), and together they contrive a plan for inception which ultimately requires multiple layers of dreams-within-dreams, numerous faux-realities to construct, and increased levels of danger with every dream level traversed. But during the course of the planning and implementation of the inception, Cobb’s own destructive past is slowly revealed, making him a threat to himself and his team.

And this is where Inception fails: in all of Nolan’s films, each character is given a level of depth too little seen in mainstream films. Here, the characters simply are not developed enough for the audience to feel true empathy. The lack of development could have been salvaged by strong performances, but auxiliary cast members were forgettable (except perhaps Murphy, as the inception target), and our lead actor Leonardo DiCaprio – a fierce talent in certain roles – lacked the intensity necessary to carry the film. The audience does not feel the same self-deluding desperation that Guy Pearce gave us in Memento, or the same torturous obsession Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale exhibited in The Prestige, or even just the internal conflict of Bale as Batman. Nolan’s films are by trademark psychologically probing character studies, regardless of what kind of genre they’re packaged in; here it felt as if Inception tried to be both fully a mind-bending sci-fi thriller AND a quiet descent into the darkest depths of men’s minds…without ever really succeeding at being either.

The one exception here is Marion Cotillard, who plays Cobb’s deceased wife Mal (“evil”) who remains very much alive in his subconscious. Cotillard (whose delightfully wicked turn in Love Me If You Dare should not be missed) is exactly what she needs to be, playing the haunted memory of a troubled wife whose death Cobb is somehow responsible for. She is not a fully-developed character, nor is she supposed to be. Instead, she is a fully-developed obsession, a culmination of all of Cobb’s desires and regrets. She is angry, vengeful, and destructive. She is love and revenge. Her eyes are wild, a feral foil to Cobb’s attempted placidity, betraying his own turmoil roiling beneath the quiet surface. DiCaprio plays Cobb’s secrets discreetly, losing control only when at his most vulnerable – in his dreams, with Mal.

Another issue lies with the development of the Cobb character: his motivations are never really clear – or just don’t entirely make sense. By the end of Memento, it was clear that Leonard Shelby had actively made the decision to continue believing the story he himself created – that his wife had been killed when he was attacked and lost his short-term memory and he was trying to avenge her death – when it reality it was HE who killed her, he was Sammy Jankis, and he conscious mind could not accept what he had done so he continued perpetuating his own false reality in which he plays the avenging hero with a conveniently unreliable memory, leaving himself planted clues to the “killer’s” identity. Inception unravels here (SPOILER ALERT: SKIP TO NEXT PARAGRAPH): if Cobb were indeed still in a dream at the end, what is his motivation for staying there? In this dream world Mal is dead and his children are lost to him; if he could make the decision to descend to another dream level in which they were all together why wouldn’t he do so, if he were already choosing to stay in a dream as it was? A true Memento-era Nolan twist would have been that Cobb became convinced their world wasn’t real, killed his wife to prove it only to find out he was wrong, and decided to escape to a dream world in which she committed suicide instead. This begs the question: has Hollywood softened Nolan?

Nolan’s trademark devices are all in place: an eerily epic score that conveys as much emotion as the actors’ faces; softly-lit flashbacks of tender moments tinged with longing and regret; repeated refrains and images which seem innocuous enough at first until they gain a heavy significance as the plot progresses. But with his newly developed skills as an action film director, Nolan pulls out a gorgeously orchestrated piece of cinematic choreography as characters in a second-tier dream fight inside a rolling hallway, where all sense of orientation is lost and they leap from ceiling to floor to wall. Visuals such as the city of Paris rolling over onto itself are stunning, yet also oddly deemphasized. This visceral film is less about manipulating dream cities and walking on walls and more about navigating the realms of subconscious desires.

Though not quite as non-linear as its precursor Memento, Inception’s resolution is less clear, and less satisfying. No doubt this will benefit from a second viewing, but despite its flaws Inception is another solid example of Nolan’s quiet character studies delving into the darkest natures of man packaged in all the pretty Hollywood glitz to get popcorn audiences in the door and keep academics referencing it in film journals for years to come. A weak film from an auteur of this caliber is still a towering achievement over most others, and even if Hollywood has softened Nolan (or, more likely, forced him to soften himself), a film like Inception is still more daring than most other big-budget blockbusters. You may not get the emotional investment you’ve come to expect from Nolan, but he still does not disappoint the intellect.

Now playing in theatres everywhere.

In that time, the buzz caught on. Now it seems that every private group and public organization tries to follow the same successful formula BravoBravo! put into place so many years ago: let’s get a bunch of restaurants and some bands and voila!, instant hot party. True, for a time, but the formula has gotten a bit stale with so many others copying it, and BravoBravo! has a reputation to uphold, after all.

This year ushered in a whole new era for BravoBravo! The event has indeed evolved, and the 2010 fête was certainly a departure from previous bashes. The loose “fashion” theme was a bit incohesive in concept—after all, isn’t this event always about being fashionable?—but seeing some of Detroit’s top designers standing with their models in the red carpet entryway was a nice introduction to the theme.

From there the theme became less about “fashion” and more about vibe: new this year, individual rooms within the Opera House were all done up in their own themes and sponsored by different metro Detroit entities. The food, drink and music within each room was carefully paired with the room’s theme, and providing the artistic work in each room were our local designers (from such recognizable names as Wound Menswear, Femilia Couture, and Joe Faris) as well as work from local artists such as Camilo Pardo and Shawn Lee.

The “Miami Room,” sponsored by Ambassador Magazine, had Bacardi mojitos, food from Vicente’s Cuban Cuisine, a DJ spinning salsa and timba music, paper palm trees and bongos. The “New York Room,” sponsored by Motor City Casino, featured Technicolor cupcakes and a wild Studio 54 theme complete with fuzzy white couches and disco balls. The “Tokyo Room,” a crowd favorite, was sponsored by the Metro Times and featured auto-tune karaoke in between sets from Detroit’s own prog-fuzz-indie rockers Silverghost. Beverages were from TY KU and food from Birmingham’s ultra-trendy new Asian-fusion spot 7 Restaurant & Ultra Lounge. These room themes for BravoBravo 2010: Destination Fashion were destinations unto themselves, and signify a whole new direction for this event. The “London Room” (sponsored by 944 Magazine) even featured charity gaming tables, a first for BravoBravo (paired well with Gentleman Jack and Woodford Reserve and roasted tenderloin from the Capital Grille—how perfectly proper!).

Another new element to this year that we haven’t really seen before is the emphasis on local musicians and artists. As an event designed to promote and support the arts, there has previously been a noticeable lack of local artists (particularly in the musicians). This year it was ALL about Detroit: from the designers to the photography on display to the bands who played. Detroit’s hottest band of the moment Will Sessions Funk Big Band with Monica Blaire headlined the main stage with a prime 9:30-11:00pm spot. Other noteworthy local acts included Detroit techno godfather Kevin Saunderson and Paxahau residents John Johr and Chuck Flask playing outside in the extended “Detroit Room,” sponsored by Metromix and Real Detroit Weekly and featuring food from Detroit favorites Slows Bar-BQ, Detroit Beer Company, Jacoby’s German Biergarten, Majestic Café, and Sanders with Hard Luck Liquor serving drinks (pun intended?).

With all of this new focus on different themes and promoting local artists, the one thing that made BravoBravo! in the past became almost entirely deemphasized: the food. Where before it was the main focus of the event, it kind of took a backseat this year—nowhere on the website or in promotional print was there an easily accessible list of participating restaurants, there seemed to be far fewer than in previous years (somewhere around 40 compared to 65+ in previous years, if memory serves), and in turn it seemed a lot of places sort of phoned it in, so to speak. While it is certainly a difficult task to balance all of these different (and many new) elements, I’d like to see the food once again become part of the focus and not get so downplayed in favor of the fashion—we’re not ALL starving models here, after all. Plus, McDonald’s? Really??? Surely Detroit can do better than that.

But that aside, BravoBravo! has finally become a true celebration of Detroit, and after over a decade still continues to be the hottest destination of the year.

For pictures from this year’s event, check out Metromix’s gallery and Picture This City’s gallery.

Is it the swankiest gala event of the year? Absolutely. Is the hands-down most see-and-be-seen scene in Detroit? You bet. Is the crowd full of the area’s hottest and brightest young professionals all dressed to impress? Without a doubt. Does the plethora of food and alcohol make the $105 ticket price totally worth the money? No question. But all these things seem to have, over the years, become the defining factor of this event, and attendees have lost sight of what it’s really about: BravoBravo! is a benefit for the Opera House and the Michigan Opera Theatre, paying for the continued restoration and maintenance of this historic building as well as supporting the MOT’s artistic and educational programs.

Since its inception, BravoBravo! has raised more than $833,000 and continuously attracts sold-out crowds with some of the biggest names in young metro Detroit, drawing in the very people who will soon come to run the city and preserve the historic and artistic endeavors such as Opera House and MOT with their own patronage, sponsorship, and fundraising. This event is vital to expose these young jet-setters to the Opera House and its programs, creating a culture of awareness and respect which will ideally last long after the last cocktails are consumed.

This year’s theme of fashion is glossier than ever, with a flashy website and photography to go along with it. The fashion theme will be carried throughout the complex, with separate rooms dedicated to Detroit, Miami, London, New York, Paris, Tokyo and Milan. The usual formula of several dozen of the best restaurants in Detroit will be used, and there will also be a showcase of some of Detroit’s top music talent, including Will Sessions Funk Big Band with Monica Blaire, techno from Kevin Saunderson and Paxahau resident DJs, jazz-pop singer Ben Sharkey, and progressive indie rockers Silverghost. As far as showcasing some of the finest talent in Detroit and exemplifying all of the things that make this city great, BravoBravo! has finally nailed it with a music lineup that is Detroit-centric for this first time in its history. (Also, don’t miss the auto-tune karaoke in the Tokyo room, presented by the Metro Times.)

Tickets for this year’s BravoBravo! are $95 through May, $105 in June. You can purchase your tickets online at www.MichiganOpera.org but hurry—this event will sell out. Come in your finest suits and dresses, hair and makeup perfectly prepped for your close-up on the red carpet, enjoy great local food and music, and remember: at the end of the night, it has all been for a good cause, for the preservation of our city’s arts, culture and history. For all those who support it, bravo to you.

The accomplishment is impressive, considering that the story for CATS is culled entirely from the poems of T.S. Eliot whose work, in terms of mainstream accessibility, tends to be a bit obtuse. Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats (1939) provided the majority of content, and most of the poems were set to music in their original published form. Others had an occasional tweak to tense or pronoun, eight lines were added to “The Song of the Jellicles,” some lyrics were taken from unpublished works, and “Memory” (probably the most famous and recognizable song from a musical ever) was taken from and inspired by “Rhapsody on a Windy Night.”

Enter the world of the Jellicle cats, where each cat has three different names and their “true” names are things like Jennyanydots, Old Deuteronomy, Bombalurina, and Munkustrap. (The cast is huge and they’re all dressed like cats—it can be hard to keep them straight but, luckily, it’s not all that necessary to do so.)

There really isn’t a storyline, per se…the performance more or less runs as a series of vignettes (separated into songs) that add up to an overall image. What HAPPENS is the cats get together for their annual ball and await the arrival of their patriarch to choose which among them gets to be “reborn” into another cat life (I think I’m already stating the obvious when I say that it is the tattered and taunted Grizabella, she who sings the infamous “Memory,” who receives this honor). The rest is just a lot of singing and acrobatics.

Part of it feels like a fantastical romp through a land of childhood make-believe; another part of it feels like a big gay disco rock opera, with all the spandex and fur and feathered hair and pelvic thrusts (particularly from the Rum Tum Tugger, who looks like one of the Bee Gees as seen through an acid trip). But for the most part, it’s fun and frivolous, and however incomprehensible the plot and lyrics might be it more than makes up for in stellar performances by an extremely talented touring cast.

This cast of cats is full of seasoned vets, many of them having been with the CATS National Touring Company (the only production in North America sanctioned by Andrew Lloyd Webber) for several years. They prowl amongst the audience, crawl across the stage, and sing with great gusto while performing feats of physical prowess. What makes CATS so popular is not its inaccessible literary references, but in its visual spectacle. The staging is set full of platforms and cubbies for the cats to curl up in and disappear inside; they leap and backflip and cartwheel across the stage. The actors display all the energy of cats at play, and that’s what makes it so very fun.

But the true moment of grandeur, the one the audience waits for with anxious anticipation, is when the grisled Grizabella (here played by Anastasia Lange) sings her mournful rendition of “Memory” solo, belting out the final chords with power and triumph, her voice without hesitation. Love it or hate it, there is no denying that this song packs quite an emotional wallop…even if you’re not fully sure why.

For the launch Discover Detroit Dining/3D Tours outing, it’s a “Brew-Ha-Ha!”  Michigan is home to some of the most top-rated craft breweries in the world, raking in medals from top competitions such as the World Beer Cup and the Great American Beer Festival.  There are currently over 70 craft breweries in the state of Michigan, with many producing some truly astounding brews.

For 3D’s first-ever culinary tour event, we will be heading to three of our favorite local breweries to sample selections of their current brews, as well as tasting some of their signature foods.

On Sunday, February 21, 2010 beginning at 4:00PM, our first stop will be Bastone Brewery & Restaurant in Royal Oak, where guests will receive a flight of four current brews of their choice.  Bastone was awarded a Bronze in the Great American Beer Festival for their Saison du Bastone in 2009 and a Silver for their Bastone Müncher Dunkel in 2008.  In between chatting with head brewer Rockne about his award-winning creations, we’ll also sample some of their warm soft pretzels with cheese fondue dip.  Nothing goes better with beer than cheese and pretzels!

Really, though—it’s true!  Next on our journey to discover Detroit’s breweries, we’ll head over to Kuhnhenn Brewing Co. in Warren, where the brothers Kuhnhenn will be setting out eight different samples of their highly-regarded brews, including their Fourth Dementia Old Ale which took home a Bronze in this year’s Great American Beer Festival.  Notes of toffee and caramel mask the 9.5% ABV content.  Consider yourself warned!  They’ll also be serving a selection of seven different artisanal cheeses, including Danish Bleu Cheese and Tillamook White Cheddar.  Beer + cheese= win.

Last on our brew tour is the happiest place on earth: Sherwood Brewing Co.  In addition to brewing great beers (like the ultra-hoppy Green River Wheat IPA), owners Ray and Lisa Sherwood are incredibly welcoming and make every guest feel like a family member.  They’ve also made the commitment to the Slow Food ethos, incorporating fresh, seasonal, and locally-sourced products in their kitchen, and even hosting regular dinners for Slow Food Detroit.  All of their menu items are made from scratch in-house, including their sauces and dressings which they make with their own beer and wine.  As both a brewery and a restaurant, Sherwood is top-notch—which is probably why they’ve been voted WDIV’s “Best Brewpub in metro Detroit” for three years in a row.  They take great pride in their kitchen, and are eager to share with us some of their specialties, listed below:

~Fresh Fried Chips with housemade hummus and feta spinach dips
~BBQ Chicken Pizza with bold and spicy beer sauce
~Hand-Battered Mozzarella Triangles with garlic wine sauce
~Homemade Beer Ice Cream

The tour starts promptly at 4:00PM.  We will meet inside Bastone, located at 419 S. Main St.  From there the Night Move shuttle will take us to Kuhnhenn then Sherwood, and will drop us back off in Royal Oak at the parking garage located on the northwest corner of 6^th & Lafayette, which is where we suggest all guests park for the event.  Parking in Royal Oak is free on Sundays.  The tour will last approximately four (4) hours.

All-inclusive tickets for this event are $50.00 which includes beer flights, food, tax, gratuity, and transportation during the tour.  Tickets are available on the Discover Detroit Dining website at www.DiscoverDetroitDining.com and are subject to availability.  Tickets must be paid for in advance in order to participate.  Seating is VERY limited—once we have reached capacity no exceptions can be made.  This event is open to guests 21 & older only.  For more information about this or other events, please contact Nicole Rupersburg at Nicole@DiscoverDetroitDining.com.

Never underestimate the power of blonde ambition. The charming Elle Woods from the 2001 cinematic confection Legally Blonde is back in her own imperturbably perky musical, fresh from a successful Tony Award-winning Broadway run and an unprecedented partnership with MTV (which aired the musical uncut last October to 12.5 million viewers as well as a reality show talent search to cast a new Elle) to tackle a national tour.

Elle Woods is a Delta Nu sorority sister most interested in party planning and her boyfriend Warner. Her ambitions of a future life as Warner’s wife are shattered when he dumps her on the night she thought he was going to propose, so in order to become the “serious” girlfriend Warner seeks she hits the books and gets admitted to Harvard Law. She must overcome a great deal of adversity along the way, much of it coming from people who assume that because she’s blonde and bubbly she must also be an idiot. The ultimate message is the classic “To thine own self be true,” and despite the far-fetched plotline it’s hard not to fall for this unflappable go-getter by the end.

I loved the film Legally Blonde. Reese Witherspoon as Elle Woods had an innocent and infectious charm, and while the film certainly didn’t break any new dramaturgical ground, its message was positive and though frivolous, it was also fun. This was also the film that really first allowed Witherspoon’s high energy leading lady capabilities shine, catapulting her career into the mega-watt star she is today.

Becky Gulsvig captures much of the infectious charm and undeterred energy that Witherspoon gave to the role, even bearing a striking resemblance (particularly in the slightly scrunched face) and a freakishly similar voice. At times her facial expressions seemed a bit too wooden and her dancing too robotic, but her voice was strong and she was able to carry off the bubble gum pop princess role in a way that was sweet without being sickly.

The production celebrates all the camp that made the film so great in the first place: Elle’s bubble-headed Delta Nu sisters with bottle-blonde brains but sincere intentions, the over-the-top PINKNESS of the stage and Elle’s various ensembles (LOVE the boots she first enters Harvard with, btw). The stage often looks like a candy shoppe (that’s with an extra “p” and “e”) decked out for Breast Cancer Awareness month (which just so happens to be the month of October), but it suits the production well. The sets are not elaborate but change quickly and rather seamlessly from glossy California locales to stately Massachusetts courthouses and classrooms, and they all work quite well, save for the backdrop of a generic sky at sunset that is sometimes used when the characters are supposed to be indoors.

While it would be easy to attribute some of the notable hiccups to opening night jitters, this cast has been touring on this production for over a year and that hardly seems a fair assessment. The choreography leaves something to be desired, which is probably for the best anyway since a majority of the dancers didn’t seem very sure-footed. The singers vary in talent, though Megan Lewis as Vivienne Kensington proves to be the show’s sleeper when she belts out in a powerful voice that eclipses all the others towards the end.

The first act fumbles along with musical numbers that run minutes past the point they should have ended if they knew what was best for them and jokes that fall horribly, embarrassingly flat. The signature line from the film, when Warner asks Elle (his voice full of disbelief) “You got into Harvard Law?” and Elle replies with a cheerfully snappy, “What, like it’s hard?” doesn’t garner so much as a giggle from the audience. “Daughter of Delta Nu” and “What You Want”—which act as the replacement for the film’s montage of Elle studying and finally being accepted into the school—is a mess; chaotic, disorderly, and ultimately distracting. Particularly when the reason for her finally being accepted is “for love,” as opposed to for her merit as in the film which gave the story more integrity. Paulette’s romantic diversion “Ireland” goes on WAAAAAAY too long, and honestly could probably be cut out entirely. And the addition of Elle’s gaggle of sorority sisters as a “Greek Chorus” is wholly unnecessary and confusing.

But thankfully the production really comes into its own in the second act. The musical numbers are tighter, the jokes funnier, and the addition of a few key scene-stealing characters (Brooke Wyndham, as played by Courtney Wolfson; Nikos Argitakos the poolboy, as played by Constantine Rousouli; and Kyle the UPS delivery man, as played hysterically by Ven Daniel) completes what was missing from the first act. This is when the production finally plays up the savvy side of the story’s campiness, and injects some much-needed gay appeal. The number “There! Right There!” in which the cast questions “Is he gay or is he European?” injects smart cultural humor into the show and immediately becomes a raucous good time. From there it is all smiles for the “Legally Blonde Remix” and “Ohmigod You Guys” (Reprise), which had everyone cheering by the end. Ultimately it is fun, frivolous, and heart-warming, much like the film.

Oh, and I should probably also note: Elle’s chiuahua Bruiser and Paulette’s English bulldog Rufus, both trained by animal trainer to the stars William Berloni, will just simply melt your little hearts.

For fans of the film, some liberties are taken with the plot but most is plucked straight from the script. The spirit and message of the film is very much the same, though presented a bit differently. One adjustment I found particularly enjoyable was the deeper development of the relationship between Elle and Emmett, which is drawn out longer and includes more of them spending time together and falling in love. Though I think the biggest downfall of this musical is that it takes a 90-minute movie and turns it into a two and a half hour piece of musical theatre…damn near as long as Les Miserables. A tighter script and shortened (or outright deleted) musical numbers would serve this play very, very, like omigod totally well.

Legally Blonde the Musical can’t hold itself against severe critiquing but as a simple pink powder puff of musical theatre, it works just fine. It had me singing “Ohmigod, ohmigod you guys” for hours afterwards, and as they say in showbiz, that’s entertainment!

Legally Blonde the Musical plays at Detroit’s historic Fisher Theatre through November 1, 2009. Performances are Tuesday-Sunday at 8:00PM, Saturday matinee 2:00PM, Sunday matinee 1:00PM, with one Thursday matinee October 29 at 1:00PM and Sunday evening October 25 at 6:30PM. Tickets are $30-80 and are available at the Fisher Theatre box office or online at www.broadwayindetroit.com. Find out more about this national touring production at http://tour.legallyblondethemusical.com.