Arts events to look forward to in 2024

Last week, Lawrence Cosentino offered an eloquent look back at all the Greater Lansing arts scene had to offer in 2023, but there’s much more to come in 2024. While I can’t list every theater production, concert, festival and art exhibition in store for this year, I’ve compiled some highlights that should help fill freshly unwrapped calendars while we wait for more announcements to come.

Literature

Farmington Hills novelist, poet and playwright Stephen Mack Jones will deliver the keynote speech at this year’s Night for Notables, which is scheduled for April 20 at the Library of Michigan. The event will celebrate the winners of this year’s Michigan Notable Book awards, which are yet to be announced. Jones has won two Michigan Notable Book awards for his novels “August Snow” and “Dead of Winter” and is a recipient of the prestigious Kresge Arts in Detroit Literary Fellowship, among other accolades. The event will also include an afterglow reception, where the winning authors will be available to chat and sign books.

Also of interest is the annual A Rally of Writers conference, which is scheduled for April 13 at Lansing Community College’s West Campus. The daylong event will include plenty of writing workshops and speeches by notable Michigan authors, including Michigan Poet Laureate Nandi Comer, this year’s keynote. For more information, see Bill Castanier’s book story on page 20.

Film

The Capital City Film Festival returns April 10 through 20, featuring “an eclectic mix of independent films, live music, interactive media and more.” Festivals in the past have included a mix of films, from animation to drama to documentaries, as well as poetry readings, dance parties, a global art exhibition and beyond. The festival is looking for people to join its board or planning team for the upcoming season. Interested parties can apply via the Google Form on the festival’s Facebook page, facebook.com/capcityfilmfest, by Jan. 8.

In addition, the Lake Michigan Film Festival, showcasing independent films from Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin and Illinois, runs Feb. 29 through March 3 at the Studio C! theater in the Meridian Mall. The list of films hasn’t been announced yet, but those interested can stay up to date at www.elff.com .

Theater

The Wharton Center’s 2023-2024 Broadway season continues with “Mamma Mia!” Jan. 16 through 21, followed by “Funny Girl” Feb. 6 through 11, “Moulin Rouge!” April 2 through 14 and “Six,” a modern retelling of the lives of the six wives of England’s Henry VIII, May 14 through 19. 

The Michigan State University Department of Theatre’s post-winter-break season begins Feb. 9 through 18 at the Fairchild Theatre with the world premiere of playwright Iraisa Ann Reilly’s “Stevie and the Real World,” performed by master of fine arts acting and design candidates. According to the Wharton Center website, “Through a series of interviews and exercises, Reilly creates a play full of humor, wonder, and ... puppets.”

Peppermint Creek Theatre Co. will produce the off-Broadway play “How to Defend Yourself,” about a group of sorority sisters who form a DIY self-defense class after one of them is raped, Feb. 1 through 4 and 8 through 11 at the Stage One Performing Arts Center in Sycamore Creek Church’s Eastwood campus. Chelsea Lake Roberts offers a behind-the-scenes look at the show on page 19.

Also at Stage One, Ixion Theatre Ensemble kicks off its season March 1, 2, 8 and 9 with “Pipeline,” by Dominique Morisseau, about an inner-city teacher’s fight to secure a good future for her son without turning her back on the community that made him who he is.

The Williamston Theatre, Riverwalk Theatre, Starlight Dinner Theatre, Lebowsky Center for Performing Arts and Lansing Community College also have shows coming up in the first few months of 2024, so make sure to check their websites for more information.

Visual art

The Lansing Art Gallery’s annual ArtPath exhibition returns for its seventh year this summer to bring an eclectic mix of art by Michigan artists to more than 2-and-a-half miles of the Lansing River Trail, from the historic arts district of Old Town through the Capitol complex. The gallery is taking applications for artwork, which may be of any medium, including murals, paintings, sculptures and fiber installations. Interested parties can apply by Feb. 15 at lansingartgallery.org/artpath-2024.

The MSU Broad Art Museum has four new exhibitions planned for 2024, including the Faculty Triennial, which opens Jan. 20 and features recent works produced by faculty in the school’s Art, Art History, and Design Department; “DOOMSCROLLING,” by Los Angeles tapestry artist Kayla Mattes, which opens Feb. 3 and explores society’s addictive relationship with digital culture; the 2024 Master of Fine Arts Exhibition, which opens March 9; and “Eye Witness,” by Palestinian-born abstract painter and MSU alumna Samia Halaby, which opens June 29 and features a range of paintings that were shaped by the artist’s nomadic career across the Midwest, East Coast and the Arab world. 

Music

Just to name a few musical events coming up at the Wharton Center, famed cellist Yo-Yo Ma, Grammy-winning pianist Emanuel Ax and violinist Leonidas Kavakos will perform a selection of works by Beethoven on Jan. 31; the Lansing Symphony Orchestra will perform alongside Classical Mystery Tour, a Beatles tribute show, on Feb. 16; Grammy-winning composer Maria Schneider will show off her 18-person orchestra’s jazz chops on Feb. 23; and Rock and Americana icon John Mellencamp will perform hits both old and new on March 19.

The Mid-Winter Singing Festival will celebrate its 20th anniversary Feb. 2 and 3 at University United Methodist Church in East Lansing, offering a chance to belt out classic and beloved songs alongside other music-loving community members. Festival veterans Rachael Davis, Joel Mabus, Robert B. Jones and Frank Youngman will lead the Friday evening community sing at 7:30 p.m., followed by a children’s concert 11 a.m. Saturday with the Lake Effect Family Band, a roots group from Cadillac, and a final community sing 12:30 p.m. Saturday.

Finally, the inaugural Rock Lansing music festival is set for May 18 at Adado Riverfront Park, featuring performances by Michigan rockers like Patty PerShayla & the Mayhaps, Taproot, JP & the Energy and Of Virtue as well as national acts like Nonpoint and Any Given Sin. The festival features two stages as well as vendors and food trucks. For a complete list of performers, visit
rocklansing.live.