Category: Reviews
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Review: “All the Pieces Matter: The Inside Story of The Wire”
Review by Robert R. Thomas Aptly titled, Jonathan Abrams’ book demonstrates his premise via an oral history that focuses on the creation of The Wire, a critically acclaimed HBO television series that ran from 2002 to 2008. Abrams’ book is an engaging dialogue script. But this script is a well-edited transcription of recorded interviews rather…
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Book review: “The Impossible Presidency” and its sobering path to an “impossible president”
By Robert R. Thomas In 2008 American mythology got a sobering lesson delivered by profligate banksters who caused a near-collapse of the global economy. They then explained to the political class the economic alt-reality of BIG. How big? Too big to fail. Even bigger than our government and the rule of law. No banksters went…
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Two Black History Month plays at McCree a great choice, delivering telling clout from a ’60s view
By Patsy Isenberg The African American playwright/director/actor, Douglas Turner Ward, wrote two award winning plays in 1965, “Happy Ending” and “Day of Absence.” Those two one-act plays, biting satires with timely themes, were offered by The New McCree Theatre on Feb. 22-24. The plays, always performed as a pair, according to McCree executive director Charles…
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Review: Sloan exhibit captures persistent intertwining threads of race and housing in Flint history
By Dylan Doherty “An Equal Opportunity Lie,” a new exhibit highlighting the intertwining influences of race and housing in the history of Flint, opened at the Sloan Museum on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Jan. 15 and runs until May 28. The title is a quote from Floyd McCree, Flint’s first black mayor, who resigned…
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Review: Flint welcomes Lakisha home in joyful combo with Flint Symphony, Michigan Men’s Glee Club
By Patsy Isenberg On a frigid Saturday night at The Whiting Auditorium, Flint’s own Lakisha Jones, a 2007 fourth place finalist on American Idol, came home for a love-fest performance with the Flint Symphony Orchestra. It was Jan. 13 and Jones’s 38th birthday. Eugene Rogers conducted and the Michigan Men’s Glee Club added their voices…
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Review: Christmas favorites, talented performers highlight “A Merry, Merry McCree Christmas”
By Patsy Isenberg The dress rehearsal for “A Merry, Merry McCree Christmas” Wednesday promised a worthwhile way to spend some holiday time this weekend. The production, which opened Thursday evening, features 27 numbers performed by a big group of enthusiastic local thespians. One standout in particular is the artistic director of the production, Chris Young.…
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Review: “Voices from Heaven” brings a joyful noise to The New McCree Theatre
By Sherrema Bower When 23-year-old Albertina Walker helped form the gospel singing group in 1952, The Caravans, she had no way of knowing then that their group would span six decades, launch numerous careers, and would see her as its most steadfast member throughout. Now playing until Saturday, Oct. 28 at The New McCree Theatre is…
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Review: Excellent FYT “Wrinkle in Time” honors classic tale, offers relevant themes
By Sherrema Bower When Madeleine L’Engle first wrote her timeless children’s classic, “A Wrinkle in Time,” in 1960, the book was rejected nearly 30 times before being accepted by Farrar, Straus & Giroux, who published it to acclaim in 1962. “Wrinkle” won L’Engle a Newberry Medal and is the first of her “Time Quintet,” a…
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Blues Festival draws jubilant crowd, features “Who’s Who” of local blues
By Sherrema Bower For the performers of the eighth annual Flint Blues Festival on the lawn of the Flint Public Library Aug. 26, having a sense of connectedness to others and home was a common theme. The performance line-up, organized and headlined by Flint blues guitarist and singer Maurice Davis, brought out a “Who’s Who”…
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Detroit 1967: a movie, a book, and a searing memory of when the riots hit Flint
by Harold C. Ford “A riot is the language of the unheard.” —Martin Luther King “The officer hit him and said, ‘We’re going to kill all of you black-ass nigger pimps and throw you in the river. We’re going to fill up the Detroit River with all you pimps and whores’” –from The Algiers Motel…
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