Les Misérables at the Civic

If you haven't had a chance to see the Grand Rapids Civic Theatre's production of Les Misérables, you're missing a real treat.
Our family always goes to see the Civic's children's musical at Christmas, but my mother, sister, and I went to see Les Miz this weekend, and I was very impressed at what a fantastic production our local talent put on. While obviously there are more constraints in a small theater with a volunteer cast, I felt just as moved by the performance as I did when I saw it at DeVos in the 1990s. Part of this is the music itself, how lovely it is, and part of it is that the play's themes of income inequality, misuse of government resources to pursue innocent (or at least less guilty) parties, the plight of single mothers, and widespread suffering resonate especially well now, although Americans haven't experienced suffering in the same way that the 19th-century French citizens Victor Hugo described did.

The Civic Theatre was the first community theater that Music Theatre International approached with the opportunity of producing  the musical. There is a short window of time - 18 months - that it can be staged by regional theaters as Les Misérables is currently not playing on Broadway, nor it is touring the country.

Those familiar with the story know that it revolves around Jean Valjean, a man sentenced to five years' hard labor for stealing a loaf of bread to save his nephew from starvation. He ends up serving nineteen years in total as a result of an escape attempt, and the play opens with his release from prison. Inspector Javert informs him that he will always be watching him and expects the worst. This sets up the first conflict: how Valjean will survive when he is even less likely to have opportunities as a known convict. The audience observes him falter and right himself, fail and then come to the aid of a fallen woman with a child, adopt an orphaned girl, and, eventually, become embroiled in the Paris Uprising of 1832. At its heart, this is a redemption story.

In our local production, Valjean is played by Jeremiah Postma, who is well suited to Valjean physically and musically. Unbelievably, this is Postma's first performance at the Civic - the role requires enormous vocal range and endurance, as well as strong acting skills. Postma frankly owned the stage and was particularly adept at conveying Valjean's slow aging process and loss of vitality.

David Duiven plays Javert. I last saw Duiven as Captain Von Trapp at Christmas time. He did a creditable job conveying Javert's utter inflexibility, but sounded a bit hoarse on Sunday.

The show's three female leads, Fantine, Cosette, and Eponine, were played by Kelsey Kohlenberger, Audrey Filson, and Molly Jones, respectively. All of their voices were fantastic, Filson's being especially clear, although Kohlenberger's suited very well the tragedy of Fantine. Eponine's parts are frequently of the outsider/third wheel kind, and she blended well with Cosette's, Marius's, and Valjean's parts. Her solo pieces were some of the show's most touching.

Marius was played by Michael Peneycad, who looked very 19th-century swoony poet radical and had a strong, passionate voice. The comic relief, necessary in a story this grim, was provided by John Girdlestone and Sarah Lacroix, as Thenardier and Madame Thenardier. It was obvious that Girdlestone had professional experience - he expertly worked the crowd and was very enjoyable to watch. Lacroix complemented his talents well.

Of course, a large part of the story involves the average French citizenry's suffering, so a great chorus is necessary and was more than provided by our local Grand Rapidians. The set decoration was well done, and costuming was suitably bleak and evocative.

All in all, I heartily recommend this production. I personally cried buckets at the end.  I enjoyed it far better than the 2012 film with Hugh Jackman and don't mind doing a little informal online marketing on its behalf.  Take the opportunity to see it before its run ends on March 30.

Winter hits Grand Rapids a little early

You just never know what you're going to get with weather in Michigan.  Last year winter didn't hit until halfway through January, and this year we have snow on the ground - with actual school delays and closings -  before Thanksgiving.  It's been a number of years since that last time that happened.  The city hadn't yet swept the gutters of leaves, many of them only fallen in the last week, so now there are frozen clumps of them at the ends of driveways, pushed up by the plow.  Be careful backing out!  Here's hoping we get a spate of warmer temperatures so that last clean up can get done before snow is here to stay.

The Farmer's Almanac is predicting a "biting cold & snowy" winter for the Great Lakes.  Bill Steffen also thinks we're in for some real winter weather, and early.  None of that is written in stone, of course, but if you haven't hired your snow removal contractor or checked your snow blower to make sure it still runs and you have both gas and oil for it, now is the time.  Small engine repair shops in Grand Rapids usually have a couple of weeks' wait time for service, so procrastinating until that first big blizzard and then pulling the cord and praying - it's not such a great plan.  It's also worth picking up a sack of salt or kitty litter to cover those icy spots on your driveway and sidewalks.  Round up the snow shovels, too, and put them where they are close to hand, and make sure your car is ready to drive in snow.

Walking on icy sidewalks can be a challenge.  Owners on the northeast side of the city, at least, are pretty good at shoveling, particularly early on in the winter.  But after that first major storm, the number of icy encrusted sidewalks build.  That's when you want to start wearing Yaktrax, or at least boots with thicker tread, and stepping carefully, choosing grass or snow over icy surfaces.

If you're new to the area, the bad news is Grand Rapids is cloudy in winter.  We do not get the bitter cold temperatures that sweep over the Dakotas, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, but the trade off is overcast days and lake effect snow.  If you have Seasonal Affective Disorder or get the "winter blues," investing in a sun light might not be a bad idea.  Also, even though you might want to stay inside and burrow under your covers, exercise is great for shaking off a gloomy mood.

Fortunately, there are a lot of fun things to do in Grand Rapids in the winter.  There's local skiing and snowboarding, ice skating in or outdoors, and plenty of sledding hills.  Horse drawn carriages tour the downtown.  The Civic Theater does a family production every year at this time.  This year is The Sound of Music.  Then there are the holiday traditions: the Grand Rapids Symphony is doing Holiday Pops, the Grand Rapids Ballet will perform The Nutcracker, and the Calvin Oratorio Society will perform Handel's Messiah.  Before and after the holidays, there are a number of cultural opportunities for music, drama, and art enthusiasts.

In short, winter is coming: prepare, but do not despair!

People in Detroit Are Still Alive, Know That Grand Rapids Exists

I was in Detroit this weekend and guess what: The city was still in the same shape that it was when I left so many months ago, bankruptcy withstanding. Growing up just north in Roseville, I had a friend whose father would bring us downtown in a beat-up van with car parts flying this way and that. We'd go to that oh-so-scary city south of 8 Mile to see bands and, eventually, to see himself and my close friends play together. Years have gone by and he's still playing; instead of the family band he once fronted, he's now representing his own id through a primeval state of Neanderthalic garage rock (Caveman Woodman). Another one of my close childhood friends is part of a band (Phantom Cats) that just dropped their first album, with every bit of their complex, crisp instrumentals in tow. While they played music, the consensus for most of the rest of us was to move away, one as far as Washington, D.C. So when the nation's capital let him come back to Michigan, I decided I would revisit the cities that helped make me who I am today.

Besides affirming my hunch that the news media was lambasting the city once again with its coverage of the bankruptcy, my weekend let me realize something astonishing: People in southeast Michigan actually know that Grand Rapids exists! Before I moved to the west side of the state, I had no idea what was going on over here. I'd never been out to the region--which I often refer to as "a different state entirely"--but after coming here, I fell in love (obviously). We all have our reasons for being here and for staying. What's glued me here is a hodgepodge of ingredients, loosely summed up in the following, unordered categoricals: friends, food, beer, community, the woods, and the water.

So, while I was in Detroit, people asked me where I was from. My answer left me kind of amazed because I said Grand Rapids without a second thought. This was quickly followed by the fact that I was both born and raised just north of Detroit, largely because I'm loyal to my past, but also because of the considerable amount of street cred such a claim provides. But more surprising than my immediate response of Grand Rapids--to me at least--was the general regard people had for GR and the allure it possesses for those individuals. For instance, a couple who randomly sat with us at a bar said that they had just been here to see Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers play at Frederick Meijer Gardens and they said that it wasn't their first time out here, that they'd been downtown before and loved every bit of it.

Another person--the guitarist for the Phantom Cats--said that he'd lived out here for a bit when he went to GVSU. First of all, I had no idea he had gone to the same school as me. The only difference was that he moved back to the east side because little in the way of music was going on here circa 2009. But now, with bands ramping up their efforts (the ubiquitous Crane Wives as well as psyched-out acts like Stepdad), we've got something legitimate going on. And the musicians of Detroit have recognized this--some are even considering coming out to our fair city to take a peak over the fence, to have a conversation, and to see exactly what is going on here: We are Wilson and Detroit is, fittingly, Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor. But neighbors we'll likely remain because, just like Grand Rapids, Detroit has its own string of mysterious enchantments that it has cast on so many of my generation.

And this photo only represents some of those attractions.