Will spring be sprung by the end of this month? If you can’t wait to get out and are feeling a little cooped up by the long winter, here are a few suggestions to get you and your family out of the house. Go to a cooking class, go see a comedy, listen to an artist at the Ark, anything just get out and experience all that our wonderful community has to offer. Below, find highlights for a few of the events that I found interesting for the month of March. Try something new and exciting, then let me know how it was!
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3/3/2010
Cooking Class: Indian Cuisine: Just Say No to Curry
Discover the distinct flavors of individual spices and ingredients in these three authentic Indian dishes: Stir-fried Beans with Cumin, Cauliflower and Peas with Ginger, and Potatoes with Coriander. If you think that all Indian food tastes the same, try this class.
Hours: 12 p.m.
Cost: $15
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3/3/2010
Stout Release Party at Arbor Brewing Company
Join Arbor Brewing Company for a special release party featuring several of the stouts they’ll be serving up for St Patrick’s Day. This is a casual meet and greet with owners Rene and Matt Greff and the Brew Team.
Hours: 6 p.m.
Cost: $10 includes beer samples and light appetizers. 21+
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3/3/2010
Comedy Held Hostage
Three friends/stand up comedians, all with their own unique sense of humor, style, and brand of comedy band together against what you typically expect comedy to be. Many don’t realize that as a comedian, there are certain things some comedy clubs will ask you not to do or say in order to perform there. This can distort the views and images the comedian is trying to portray. That’s why in this show we are taking the typical idea of comedy…and holding it hostage!
Come join these three friends in the beginning stages of their tour as they go from show to show, bonding, making audiences laugh, and being filmed and documented every step of the way; all the while, trying to reach their true goal of a college tour.
If you’re looking for a politically correct, la la comedy show, then stay at home because on this night Comedy will be Held Hostage!
8 p.m.
Cost: All tickets $5
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3/3/2010 – 3/4/2010
Bil Dwyer
Bil Dwyer is an accomplished standup comic whose resume also includes acting, hosting and writing. His hip, sardonic takes on marriage, kids and family have been showcased in the half-hour comedy special “Comedy Central Presents: Bil Dwyer,” as well as on “The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn,” “The Martin Short Show,” NBC’s “Late Friday,” “Evening at the Improv” and “Caroline’s Comedy Hour.” He describes his comedy as “a cross between gentle sarcasm and bewilderment and barely-contained rage and a ‘very special episode’ of Mr. Ed.” Dwyer guest-starred on “The Larry Sanders Show” and “Ally McBeal,” and currently hosts GSN’s “I’ve Got a Secret.” He has hosted “Extreme Dodgeball,” “That ’70s House,” “Battlebots” and “Dirty Rotten Cheaters,” and has been a regular comedy commentator on VH1’s series “I Love the ’70s,” “I Love the ’80s” and “I Love the ’90s.” Additional credits include “The Test,” VH1’s “The List,” E!’s “Rank” and AMC’s “Movies at Our House.” On the big screen, Dwyer appeared in the films “Ski School 2,” “The Bogus Witch Project” and “What Planet Are You From?” Working with sitcom star/television writer Christopher Titus, Dwyer recently co-created a show based on his stand-up comedy called “Back After This,” which is in development. As for why he wanted to be on “Last Comic Standing,” Dwyer says, “Who doesn’t like to be judged? You ever see how happy those dogs are at the Westminster Kennel Club show? That’s me – the grinning Pomeranian.
Hours: Thursday at 8:00 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. & 10:30 p.m.
Cost: $11 in advance or $13 at the door
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3/5/2010
Howie Day with Serena Ryder at The Ark
Citing the likes of Jeff Buckley, Radiohead, and Dave Matthews among his influences, Howie Day used their music as a basis for his own original direction. Howie emerged from the quiet environs of Bangor, Maine, into Boston’s coffeehouse scene. He released his first album, “Australia,” in 2000.
A lot has happened since then. Howie’s music went in a rock direction, and he got the attention of industry heavyweight Chris Blackwell and was signed to the major Epic label. He got a gold record for his album “Stop the World Now,” and he’s been romantically linked to Britney Spears. What hasn’t changed is that he writes songs imbued with a wide-eyed sense of boundless emotion, and clothes them in gorgeous arrangements. Howie Day comes to Michigan with a new album, “Sound the Alarm.”
Special guest is Atlantic-label Canadian songwriter Serena Ryder, the daughter of a Trinidadian folk musician and a go-go dancer from Millbrook, Ontario. Serena won the Juno award for Best New Artist in 2008.
Hours: 8 p.m.
Cost: $20
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3/6/2010 – 3/28/2010
Free Dinosaur Tours!
Attention dinosaur fans! Enjoy a 30 minute docent-led tour of the dinosaur exhibits. Sign up on the day of the tour. Limit of15 people. Made possible with support from the University of Michigan Credit Union.
Hours: 2 p.m.
Cost: This is a free event.
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3/6/2010
Stephen Stills at The Michigan Theater
Legendary guitarist/singer-songwriter Stephen Stills is one of the most influential and enduring figures in rock and roll. The only artist ever to be inducted twice in the same night into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – for The Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills & Nash – Stills’ work spans five decades, four iconic groups (Manassas and CSN&Y in addition to the two already mentioned), two era-defining anthems – “For What It’s Worth” and “Love The One You’re With” – and a rich canon of solo material. Ranked #28 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time, Stills also has a trio of album masterpieces on their compendium of The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time: Buffalo Springfield Again, Crosby, Stills & Nash and Deja Vu.
Hours: 8 p.m.
Cost: $35-45
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3/7/2010
Cooking Class: German Soft Pretzels with John Savanna
This class shows you how to make the dough, twist, shape and create pretzels with a salty crust. John, owner of Millpond Bread, uses Plugra in his recipe, a European style butter that is becoming more popular as a baking ingredient.
Hours: 1 p.m.
Cost: $15
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3/7/2010
Murder Mystery Dinner at The Melting Pot
Join The Melting Pot in Downtown Ann Arbor for a night of Fun, Fondue, and Foul-Play. There’s been a chilling murder at The White Elephant Ski Lodge, and your help is needed to find the culprit. Interrogate each of the suspects to unravel the crime. Can you reveal the killer?
Hours: 6 p.m.
Cost: $55 per person includes 4-course fondue-style meal and Murder Mystery Show.
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3/9/2010
Avett Brothers at The Michigan Theater
North Carolina’s Avett Brothers, says the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, are “a band that exploits the tensions between the rustic Old South and the cosmopolitan New South, between rootsy bluegrass and rowdy punk rock, between reverence and irreverence.” They love and are immersed in the traditions of country and bluegrass, yet they attack their instruments with rock energy and once broke 32 strings during a single gig. The brothers shift from folkish reflections like “The Ballad of Love and Hate” to rock power chords not as a gimmick or novelty, but out of a deep-seated drive to encompass all the impulses of Southern music and American music — sentiment, tradition, transgression, transcendent intensity.
Hours: 7:30 p.m.
Cost: $26-$50
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3/10/2010
The Pardon of Richard Nixon: Gerald Ford’s First 100 Days
Attorney Benton Becker was a key advisor to President Ford in the pardon of Richard Nixon and the disposition of Nixon’s papers and the famous tapes. Join us to hear Professor Becker upon the 35th anniversary of one of our most dramatic presidential transitions.
Although not a member of Gerald Ford’s congressional or White House staff, Benton L. Becker played an integral role in some of the most important events of the US President’s career, including the investigation of Associate Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, Ford’s confirmation as Vice President, the Nixon pardon, and the disposition of Nixon’s papers. Mr. Becker served as an Adjunct Professor of constitutional law at University of Miami for many years. Professor Becker has a law practice in Florida.
Hours: 7:30 p.m.
Cost: This is a free event.
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3/10/2010
DOJO Graduation at Ann Arbor Comedy Showcase
See the comics of tomorrow today! It’s Chili’s Comedy Dojo Graduation Show! They’ve worked hard for five weeks learning the trials and tribulations of standup comedy and on this night they’ll storm the stage with the fruits of their efforts. The class is also the first installment of “Selling Laughs” a documentary/reality show that features all the students and their ups and downs learning the comedy biz. “Selling Laughs” is the brainchild of Chili Challis, the “sensei” or “professor” of the comedy class. It’s a documentary/reality show he is putting together and plans to present the show to the “powers that be” in TV. You never know, this could be the start of another “Last Comic Standing” type of show and you could be in the first audience to be a part of it. Don’t miss the comics of tomorrow – today!!
Hours: 8 p.m.
Cost: $5
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3/14/2010
Cooking Class: St. Paddy’s Day Madness
Learn all things Irish at this class: colcannon, (a potato and cabbage dish) served with traditional Irish bacon; soda bread; and buttermilk scones.
Hours: 1 p.m.
Cost: $15
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3/17/2010
St. Patrick’s Day Party at Arbor Brewing Company
Come join us at Arbor Brewing Company for a wee bit of fun on St. Patrick’s Day, starting with the Top of the Morning Party at 7 a.m., featuring a full breakfast buffet, five stouts on tap, and happy hour beer pricing until 11 a.m. Lunch and dinner specials served from 11:30 a.m. to 12 a.m with another happy hour from 4-7 p.m., plus live Celtic music from Killarney Broadcast from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Hours: 7 a.m. 12 a.m.
Cost: No Cover
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3/19/2010
Alzheimer’s Association Presents: Summer Somewhere: Play Ball!
The Alzheimer’s Association, Michigan Great Lakes Chapter will be celebrating summer early again this year by hosting the fourth annual “Summer Somewhere” grand fundraising event. This event will take you out to the ball game – away from the cold of winter to the warmth of a baseball park complete with great summer food, festivities, and entertainment.
Summer Somewhere: Play Ball! will be held in Washtenaw Community College’s beautiful Morris Lawrence Building Atrium in Ann Arbor. This innovative, fun, relaxed, and casual fundraiser will showcase fabulous food prepared by some of the best professional chefs in the area. It will also feature great entertainment including the best blend of great dance music performed by the Lazy River Band.
All proceeds from this event will help the thousands of area individuals and families affected by Alzheimer’s disease.
If you would like to learn more about this winter’s hottest summer party (including sponsorship opportunities and how to buy your tickets), please visit www.alz.org/mglc, call 734.475.7043, or email lori.ezrow@alz.org.
Hours: 6:00 – 10:00 pm
Cost: $35 per person or 30 tickets for $300
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3/23/2010 – 3/28/2010
The 48th Ann Arbor Film Festival
The 48th Ann Arbor Film Festival will take place March 23th-28th, 2010 at the historic Michigan and State Theaters in downtown Ann Arbor, Michigan.
The Ann Arbor Film Festival is the original North American independent film festival. Founded in 1963, the AAFF was independent before “independent film,” serving as a critical forum for filmmakers to show their creative work outside of the studio film industry. Today the festival continues its strongly independent spirit as a premier showcase for bold, visionary, experimental and high-caliber films.
Cost: Tickets available for screenings, passes available for single days or entire festival. Cost TBA.
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1/2/2010 – 5/29/2010 – Saturdays Only
Mozzarella Class at Zingerman’s Creamery
Zingerman’s Creamery invites the public to learn how to make fresh, handmade mozzarella from milk and from curd. Space is limited, so call early to reserve your spot!
Hours: 12:00pm
Cost: $45
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1/3/2010 – 5/30/2010 – Sundays Only
Zingerman’s Creamery Tours
Cheesemaker and managing partner John Loomis leads the whey and gives the inside scoop on how they make artisan cheeses and old-fashioned gelato (that’s Italian ice cream)!
Admission is $5 per person. You will receive a $5 coupon to spend in The Cheese Shop. Call 73-929-0500 for reservations.
Hours:2 p.m.
Cost: $5
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1/16/2010 – 4/11/2010 Tuesdays – Sundays
UMMA Projects: Cory Arcangel
Cory Arcangel (b. 1977, New York) is often described as a “digital media” artist, although he is more fully understood as an artist concerned with the forms and processes of digital and media culture. Having first gained widespread recognition for his reworking of obsolete video game systems, his practice has grown to encompass imagery and sound drawn from across popular culture, ranging from Guns and Roses’ iconic Sweet Child of Mine music video to Glenn Gould’s landmark recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations.
Arcangel, who studied classical performance and electronic music composition (under tape-music pioneer Pauline Oliveros) at the Oberlin Conservatory, approaches these familiar sources—and the technology by which they are delivered—with the unusual but effective combination of compositional rigor and pitch-perfect deadpan humor. Arcangel’s work has appeared in numerous important group exhibitions and has attracted international attention in recent years. This will be Arcangel’s first solo exhibition in a North American museum. His installation at UMMA is a newly commissioned work.
On display Jan. 16-April 11, 2010.
Hours: Tues., Wed., Sat. 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Thurs. and Fri. 10 a.m.-10 p.m., Sun. 12-5 p.m. Closed on Monday and Holidays
Cost: This is a free event
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1/25/2010 – 3/7/2010
A History of the Bible from Ancient Papyri to King James
From ancient Egyptian manuscripts on papyrus to Medieval manuscripts to the printed book, you can follow a path of documents that led to the creation of the 1611 King James Version of the Bible. These direct ancestors and related works were spread across nations, peoples, and languages.
The earliest documents on display are Egyptian papyri, including examples of a census record from the year 119 and the oldest known copy of part of the New Testament. Medieval manuscripts document the preservation of the text until the invention of movable type printing by Gutenberg around 1450. The early printed Bibles include versions in Latin and Greek, and several that show the struggles among various political factions and church reformers to control the translating of the Scriptures into the language of the people. See the King James Bible of 1611 that became the accepted standard.
If you have seen this fascinating exhibit before, look for it this time in the Audubon Room, on the first floor of the University of Michigan Hatcher Graduate Library.
Hours: Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m – 7:00 p.m. Saturday 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. Sunday 1:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Cost: TBA
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2/1/2010 – 3/31/2010
Their Journey: Vietnamese in Michigan
Imagine chaotically and permanently leaving your homeland for another country and a completely different life! This exhibit includes photos from Vietnam and Grand Rapids, MI, along with political, cultural, and personal perspectives of the journey of Vietnamese immigrants to Michigan following the Vietnam War. It augments the Great Michigan Read, the Michigan Humanities Council’s statewide reading program, and provides additional historical context to its book selection, Stealing Buddha’s Dinner.
Stealing Buddha’s Dinner is a memoir chronicling author Bich Minh Nguyen’s migration from Vietnam in 1975 and her coming of age in Grand Rapids in the 1980s. Along the way, she struggles to construct her own cultural identity from a menagerie of uniquely American influences.
The University of Michigan Library is one of only six sites chosen to host this exhibit.
The exhibit is located in the Hatcher Graduate Library Gallery.
Hours: Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m – 7:00 p.m. Saturday 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. Sunday 1:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Cost: This is a free event
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2/18/2010 – 3/21/2010 Tuesday-Sundays
Performance Network Theater Presents: It Came From Mars
It Came From Mars is an off-the-wall story about a group of radio actors terrified by Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds broadcast. Passions ignite and secret identities are revealed when a washed-up director, his diva ex-wife, a wanna-be war hero and a German sound effects wiz think they are about to be annihilated by men from Mars.
A co-production with Williamston Theatre. Sponsored by Ann Arbor’s 107 One. This production is the recipient of an Edgerton Foundation New American Play Award!
Hours: Thursdays at 8 p.m., Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m.
Cost: $27-$41
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2/23/2010 – 4/4/2010 Tuesday- Sundays
The Healing Garden – Savor Nature’s Restorative Powers
Lift your spirits and take a break from winter during “The Healing Garden,” the interactive spring display in the conservatory at Matthaei. Enjoy the regenerative qualities of nature’s many scents, colors, textures, and forms in a warm, plant-filled setting, and learn about the benefits of exercise, meditation, and close contact with nature—indoors or out.
Interactive activities during the exhibit include self-guided meditation; an aromatherapy station where visitors will directly experience how scents can make them feel better; color and mood interpretation display that reveals how color affects how we feel; and meditative outdoor hikes. Also, displays of bulbs and fresh-air plants.
$5 fee includes admission to conservatory and above activities during the exhibit. Conservatory open late Wednesdays, with free admission Wednesdays noon-8 p.m.
Hours: Tues. 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Thurs.-Sun. 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Wednesdays 10-a.m.-8 p.m.
Cost: Adults $5, children 5-18 $2, under 5 free
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2/24/2010 – 3/28/2010
Gallery Project Presents: Mind
Gallery Project presents Mind, a multimedia exhibit in which 33 artists seek depictions and interpretations of what we commonly call mind. It brings together artists who speak of mind, whether recalling and interpreting, depicting and conveying, questioning and questing or dreaming and fantasizing. The Opeing reception will be Friday 2/26 from 6:00p.m.-9:00p.m.
Cost: This is a free event.
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2/24/2010 – 6/23/2010
Open Mic Wednesdays at The Blue Tractor
Join The Blue Tractor Brewery and Cafe in Downtown Ann Arbor for Open Mic Night every Wednesday. Watch or participate! Sign up is open to all singers, musicians, poets, and comedians.
Hours: 9:30 p.m.
Cost: This is a free event.
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2/25/2010 – 4/29/2010 Thursdays Only
Thursday Night Music at eve – The Restaurant
Complimentary appetizers and great music every Thursday night at eve – The Restaurant from 9:30 – 11 p.m. The restaurant is owned by former Top Chef contestant Eve Aronoff.
Hours: 9:30 p.m.
Cost: This is a free event.
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3/1/2010 – 4/30/2010
The Ghost Army Exhibit
The Ghost Army is here! In June of 1944, an exceptional U.S. Army unit went into action in Normandy. Its weapons included hundreds of inflatable tanks and a one-of-a-kind collection of sound effects records, and it carried out its battlefield mission without firing a shot. The unit was officially called the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops, but it was known to its men as The Ghost Army.
Members of The Ghost Army adhered to a decades-long gag order; many never told their families about their extraordinary military service. Sixty-five years after this top-secret group went into action, the University of Michigan’s Hatcher Library will unveil the first public exhibit of this captivating group of materials documenting The Ghost Army. This exhibit is available during library hours. See http://www.lib.umich.edu/hatcher-graduate-library.
Hours: Sundays 1pm -2am Mon-Thurs 8am-2am Fri 8am-7pm Sat 10am-6pm
Cost: This is a free event.
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Above was a sampling of the activities occurring in our community during the month of March. Please be sure to check out one of the many events being held during the month and have good time.
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