The Dearborn High School Women’s Ensemble earned the highest rating of 31 choirs competing at the Michigan School Vocal Music Association State Choir Festival, which was held at Holt High School April 24.
The group received a superior rating, and was just two points shy of a perfect score. DHS choirs have received superior ratings at the competition for the past eight years.
“Judges kept commenting on how sophisticated and professional these women looked and performed,” said Carmelle Siciliano Atkins, DHS choir director. “They have raised the bar in choral performance by not only functioning as individuals, but as a tightly knit group.”
AP’s Marke Sobolewski performs in ‘Love and Other Urban Legends’
Go Comedy in Ferndale features Allen Park’s Marke Sobolewski in its new show, “Love and Other Urban Legends.” The show is a revue-style comedy that tackles how dating, love and relationships affect our lives in the funniest of ways. The show is scheduled for an open-ended run.
Sobolewski trained and performed at The Second City Detroit, Planet Ant, Improv Inferno in Ann Arbor, and at Eastern Michigan University. He has been involved in the Detroit area comedy scene for 10 years. His local theater credits include: The Second City Detroit (“Deface the Nation,” “The Second City’s Got Balls,” “The Best of the Second City”), Planet Ant (“Deceptions to the Rule,” “Everything Is Not Okay,”), Improv Inferno (The Damnation Game), Gem & Century Theatre (“Deceptions to the Rule”), and The Matrix Theatre (Motoprism’s Reality Buffet).
Sobolewski can be seen improvising every Monday night with the Planet Ant Improv Colony, with whom he has been associated for the last four years. In addition to his work on stage, last summer Sobolewski made his feature film debut in the comedy “Beyond the Pale,” and has collaborated with local filmmaker Mike Eshaq on numerous comedic shorts. Sobolewski has also been teaching performing arts, creative writing, and video production in the Ann Arbor Public Schools for 12 years.
The newest comedy theater in metro Detroit, Go Comedy is at 261 E. Nine Mile in downtown Ferndale in the building formerly occupied by the Secretary of State office. It offers unpredictable improv shows five nights a week, with a full bar and free parking.
The improv action at Go Comedy is not stand-up or mean. Audience members are only part of the show if they volunteer. The live comedy is not scripted: It’s all made up, based on audience suggestions. Tickets ($10) are available by calling (248) 327-0575 or at the Web site www.gocomedy.net. Go Comedy also offers improv classes and corporate workshops.
Mosaic Remounts Acclaimed ‘Crossing Eight Mile’
The Mosaic Youth Theatre’s “Crossing 8 Mile” runs for one more weekend, Friday throught Sunday. The production is a remounting of one of Mosaic’s most popular comedic plays. A modern musical adaptation of Shakespeare’s “A Comedy of Errors,” “Crossing 8 Mile” satirizes metropolitan Detroit’s urban-versus-suburban settings, and mixes traditional theatrical style with hip-hop culture. This high-energy farce tells the story of two sets of twins, separated as infants, who are comically reunited when they “cross Eight Mile.”
For tickets, call (313) 833-4005 or order online at www.mosaicdetroit.org. General admission is $20, with $12 discounted rates for students and seniors. The show is performed at the Detroit Film Theatre (inside the Detroit Institute of Arts), 5200 Woodward in Detroit.