There’s one more show of the free Arts in the Park festival at 3pm tomorrow (Sunday) in Adado Riverfront Park. It’s a family friendly variety show of dances and songs and stories and poems and collaborative combos of these things — with lots of cute kids and some dedicated adults offering stories of hope and renewal emerging from our COVID shutdown. Kudos to Director/Producer Tom Ferris for herding the cats necessary to bring this diverse show together.

This event is free of charge, a little over an hour hong — with donations accepted to support participating organizations — who welcome your participation as well as your applause and cash offerings. Some have info available to take home, or check them out online:

Arts in the Park Participants
About Riverwalk Theatre/Community Circle Players: http://www.riverwalktheatre.com or call our box office at 517-482-5700.
About Happendance:http://www.happendance.org
About Lansing Children’s Choir: https://www.lansingchildrenschoir.org/
About The Curtainless Theatre: https://thecurtainlesstheatre.blogspot.com/
About Habibi Dancers: http://habibidancers.net/

Arts in the Park is at the Salt Shed stage, toward the north end of Adado Riverfront park  (corner of Grand Avenue and Saginaw.) You can park along N. Grand Avenue if you get there early, and there are various LCC parking areas nearby. Bring chairs or use the nice cement “bleachers” amphitheater bench-levels that bring you closer to the action.

Thanks to the City of Lansing, and the Arts Council of Greater Lansing for supporting this event.

At LAST, the long awaited Matilda the Musical has EVOLVE-d into reality. This COVID-thwarted production has proved to be the big engine that could, revamped, and somewhat recast, it has employed many hands to overcome many obstacles making it’s way to the stage — and is well worth the journey!

Roald Dahl’s Matilda (book by Dennis Kelly; music & lyrics by Tim Minchin) is a humorously dark tale of a mistreated daughter — two mistreated daughters, as we find out when Matilda’s imagined story, told to her friend the librarian (Marie Papciak Kuntz) turns out to be true. 

In the title role, Jocelyn Snitgen offers a great voice and believable acting balance between oppressed victim and empowered avenger. Bill Henson is an entertaining uber-bully villainess, as are the also-evil parents, bumbling, belittling father Mike Kinney and mom, Kait (Katherine) Wilson, who revels in over-the-top tacky, shallow selfishness. (Kait also served as music director.) Caitlin Christenson is a beneficent Miss Honey, the fearful but nurturing teacher learning to stand up for herself as she takes Matilda under her wing. 

Small roles of note include the comically dull brother (Kat Koehn), bimbo mom’s slimy dance partner (Philip Franke) baffled obstetrician Josh Martin, and Bobby Maldonado as the avuncular Russian mob boss. We welcome back to the area and the stage, the excellent Don Greybiel as the Escapologist, who, with acrobat wife Emily Kloc, embody a parallel story that proves relevant at the end.

Kudos to director Helen Hart, and also Choreographer Lauren Mudry whose creative, precision movements brought the group numbers to life (with Kait’s music/choral management, as well.) The children were delightfully revolting (and 6-year-old Lyla Krauss, joining 11 year old sister Lorena onstage, was particularly adorable, keeping up with the chorus of bigger kids.)

Speaking of ages, this full length (2 1/2 hours) somewhat complex show is not ideal for preschoolers — who may leave with nightmares about being put in “the chokey” by that witch, Miss Trunchbull. 

NOTE: there will be no tickets available at the door. However, tickets may be purchased online or on a smartphone up until curtain time each night. All seats are reserved, with two empty seats between each group. Masks are encouraged. For details and tickets visit the website at: http://www.evolvetheatrics.com


​Lakewood High School Performing Arts Center is a 40-to-60 minute drive, depending on what side of town you’re on, but it’s a very nice auditorium and easy to find, straight out west Saginaw/M 43 past 
Grand Ledge, Mulliken, Sunfield and Woodbury — (it turns into "Brown Road" at the end) 
7223 Velte Rd, Lake Odessa, MI 48849 — on the corner of Brown and Velte. 
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