Review: Hot Friday the 13th downtown ARTWALK a feast of stellar art and music
By Patsy Isenberg A lot of people came to downtown Flint on Friday the 13th for ARTWALK, which takes place the second Friday of every month. ARTWALK is sponsored by The Greater Flint Arts Council (GFAC) and includes many galleries, bars and restaurants along and near Saginaw Street. It was hot that night. But at least it wasn’t raining or windy. It was actually a perfect night for the event and it did not disappoint the festival...
Review: Connor Coyne’s “Urbantasm: The Dying City” original, dark, magical, and infused with Flint
Urbantasm Book One: The Dying City by Connor Coyne Review by Robert R. Thomas Connor Coyne’s Urbantasm is the most original take on Flint I have read to date. Set in the fictional Rust Belt city of Akawe, Michigan, “an hour’s drive north of Detroit,” Coyne’s allegorical tale is a serial novel of four volumes the author says has taken 22 years to create. Book One: The Dying City will be published in September. The jacket of my...
Review: Flint welcomes “The Moth” in celebratory night downtown
By Patsy Isenberg and Jan Worth-Nelson Perhaps the biggest stories of all about last Thursday’s performances of “The Moth” storytelling show at the Capitol Theater weren’t about “The Moth” at all. There are at least four other options: That the performance was in the Capitol Theater, spectacularly renovated and gleaming since its $37 million facelift and December opening. That the performance sold out—all 1,600 seats filled. That...
Review: Extraordinary NatGeo issue upends what we think we know about race
By Robert R. Thomas Marcia and Millie Biggs grace the cover of National Geographic’s April 2018 special issue titled “Black and White.” They are fraternal twin sisters, daughters of a bi-racial couple. As the subtitle indicates, “These twin sisters make us rethink everything we know about race.” The key factor, Marcia points out, is “People are made how they are.” Her mother adds, “It’s genes.” The real story in black and white is not...
Review: Jazz song stylist mellows crowd at Totem Books
By Patsy Isenberg Local singer Jymi Dill performed jazz and pop standards on a recent Saturday to an appreciative crowd of about 40 at Totem Books, 620 W. Court St. His refreshingly smooth and mellow voice and selection of “torch songs” and jazzy touches got some couples up and dancing. Dill, a lifelong Flint resident, has been sharing his love of music from artists ranging from Sinatra to Etta James, and even singers...
Review: Flint Youth Theater’s “Geranium” is superlative, runs through May 6
By Patsy Isenberg The Flint Youth Theatre (FYT) has staged a superlative premier production of “The Geranium on the Windowsill Just Died But Teacher You Went Right On.” The musical is based on the book of the same name by Albert Cullum, published in 2003 by Harlin Quist. It was adapted into a musical by Michigan playwright Michael Lluberes (also director of the production) with music by Jared M. Dembowski. The final product was a...
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