"Snazzy is as Snazzy Does!"
Gwen Joy is an artist who specializes in colorful folk art paintings.
Life experience is her subject matter which is translated in a lyrical/mythical fashion.
Follow Gwen's snazzy street reviews weekly here on
Motorcityblog Reach her directly at www.GwenJoy.com
Fall is a delightful time of year in metro detroit. There are plenty of halloween themed events and excellent plays and musical events to appreciate. This weekend Bolero is at the DSO. This program is aided by pianist Gabriela Montero's inventive improvisational skills. For the last piece she asked the audience to pick her theme. Take me out to the ballgame was an idea she accepted and excelled at. This delighted the audience. Her piece was airy and optimistic much like the feeling many have about the Detroit Tigers lately. El Salon, Danzon Cubano, and Bolero were seductive in their masterful simplicity and dramatic intervals.
Saturday I attended Halloween in Greenfield Village which is a one of kind old time fall and halloween event with several outdoor stops. I highly recommend this to adults, history and literature buffs, kids, and anyone with a fondness for halloween. The silent film classic Nosferatu, and The Legend of Sleepy Hallow, Hansel & Gretal, and The Tell Tale-Heart plays were featured stops. Many festive costumes and surprises! I am a bit miffed I didn't know about this absolute gem of an event previously. Poe's riveting The Tell Tale-Heart ( the actor was utterly possessed! )and the foggy and charming stroll around Greenfield Village are delights not to be missed. Earlier in the evening at the Eagle Tavern a turn of the century Hallowe'en Dinner was enjoyed by many costumed attendees. Many turn of the century dishes are heavily carnivorous but this event readily accommodated vegetarians. Walnut catchup, potato and garlic sausage with herb gravy, roasted chicken roast with apricot thyme glaze, apple cake with pumpkin glaze, and mushroom strudel were culinary highlights. Attendees were also treated to a fiddler. Please visit http://www.thehenryford.org/village/events/index.aspx for more info.
The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams is at The Performance Network Theatre in Ann Arbor until October 28th. There are three versions of the work by Mr. Williams and the version performed is the author's favorite. This is a powerful work about the fragility of human connection and spirit. The main character is a painfully shy young woman who is fixated on her glass figurines and her old records. I was taken with the stage direction, musical direction, and the set design. Carla Milarch and Kevin Young give particularly noteworthy performances.
Please visit http://www.performancenetwork.org/ for more info.
