Midwest Guest

Who was Gloria Pressman?

Was Gloria Pressman a child star who appeared as part of the "Our Gang" comedies and in several of the most iconic films of the late 1920s and early 1930s...or not?

I often find several other interesting stories I want to write about when I research a particular post for Midwest Guest.

Other story ideas just don't pan out.

Such was the case with Gloria Pressman.

I recently wrote a story about Cleveland's Lake View Cemetery for the Discovering Ohio blog and found Pressman's name on several lists of famous folks buried there.

I'm a big fan of silent and early sound films, so stories about Pressman as an original "Our Gang" cast member, her appearance in the first talking movie (The Jazz Singer with Al Jolson), and appearances in well known films of the era like The Virginian (with Gary Cooper) and Moby Dick (with John Barrymore) caught my eye.

I found references to Pressman, her reported stage name of Mildred Jackson, and her burial place at Lake View Cemetery in the historical trail guide published by the cemetery and in the book Cemeteries of Northeast Ohio.

I recognize names of early child stars like Jackie Cooper, Jane Withers, Shirley Temple, Baby Peggy, Freddie Bartholomew, Jackie Coogan and "Our Gang" cast members like Spanky McFarlane, Darla Hood and Matthew "Stymie" Beard. I didn't recognize Gloria Pressman or Mildred Jackson, although child actress Mary Ann Jackson played a major "Our Gang" character during the very late 1920s and early 1930s.

There were entries for every other person I considered including in my Discovering Ohio article at the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History, a Web site by Case Western Reserve University and the Western Reserve Historical Society, but not a word about Pressman.

The Internet Movie Database had no entry for Pressman or for a Mildred Jackson who would have been a very young girl during the late 1920s and early 1930s. Pressman/Jackson also failed to appear on cast lists for The Jazz Singer, The Virginian, or Moby Dick.

Meanwhile, I found numerous mentions of Pressman as a child star on sites like Dead Ohio and in brochures, press releases, and newspaper articles about Lake View Cemetery or history themed events sponsored there by various civic and tourism groups.

A possible clue to the mystery of Gloria Pressman surfaced at Find A Grave, a crowd-sourced site I don't consider particularly authoritative, but often useful because of the gravestone photos submitted by readers.

Find A Grave noted that conflicting evidence exists about Pressman and said some feel someone invented her movie star biography after her death. Find A Grave was the only place I found mentioning the controversy surrounding Pressman's biography, but it failed to prove, or disprove, her background as a movie star.

Disappointed that I couldn't verify what seemed to be a fun story about an old-time movie star from Cleveland, I found another name for my list of famous burials in the cemetery for my story.

The Web makes it easy to find, and pass along, information.

It's not always easy to make sure the information you share is particularly accurate.

© Dominique King 2011 All rights reserved

Where I live: Detroit Film Theater 2011 summer season preview

Have you always wanted to catch some of the hottest flicks at one of the coolest summer film festivals?

Then check out the Detroit Film Theater's summer season with its lineup of festival-worthy premieres, forgotten gems, and films from around the world.

The short summer season offers plenty of intriguing choices and here are a few that sound especially interesting to me.

The DFT hosts Oscar-winning film editor Richard Chew for a series of four double features that pair examples of Chew's work with classic films that inspired his editing. Chew will introduce the films and take questions from the audience after the showings, which include: the classic Italian film The Bicycle Thief, paired with the Chew-edited One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (June 9); the influential French New Wave film Breathless, paired with the Chew-edited I Am Sam  (June 11); the 1967 film The Graduate, paired with Chew-edited Risky Business (June 16); and the 1969 film Medium Cool with its then-revolutionary blending of fictional and non-fictional footage, paired with the Emilio Estevez directed and Chew-edited film about the 1968 assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, Bobby (June 18).

The DFT's From England with Love series features a half-dozen premieres of edgy British films that include: Toast, the story of food writer Nigel Slater's childhood struggles,  which features Helena Bonham Carter and a soundtrack of Dusty Springfield tunes (June 11-12); Third Star, in which four friends embark on a road trip to Wales to discover adventure, dignity, courage, and what friendship truly means to them (June 24-25); and Africa United, which chronicles the story of three Rwandan children who set off to walk 3,000 miles through seven countries in hopes of attending a World Cup soccer match (July 15-16).

The Man Who Fell to Earth, a 1976 film starring David Bowie, was a daring examination of alienation in modern life, but most audiences only saw an American theatrical release which gutted almost 20 minutes of crucial scenes from the film, resulting in a version that confused viewers. Fans should appreciate the DFT's showing of the fully restored director's cut of this film (August 5-7 and August 14).

The 1948 documentary, Nuremberg, film captured story of the famous trial as it happened, showing prosecutors building the case against Nazi war criminals and recording the words of the defendants as they attempted to justify or excuse their actions from the witness stand. However, the U.S. government suppressed the film and the negative of the film reportedly went missing. American audiences can finally watch a 2009 restoration of the film, which runs at the DFT August 6-7.

The Scandinavian documentary Into Eternity deals with a different sort of devastation and explores the question of what to do with nuclear waste and how to insure that it doesn't pose a threat. The film, which the DFT calls "unexpectedly timely", runs June 17-19 and June 26.

And just to end things here on a more lighthearted note, check out the DFT showing of the 1934 It's a Gift starring W.C. Fields and Baby LeRoy. The film, added to the 2011 National Film Registry at the Library of Congress, runs July 16 at the DFT.

Check the DFT's full schedule and ticket pricing online.

Many of these flicks aren't available on DVD yet, and great movies are usually best on the big screen. But if you can't get to the DFT for a showing or want to own a film for encore viewing later, some of these films available on DVD include: The Bicycle Thief, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Breathless, I Am Sam, The Graduate, Risky Business, Medium Cool, Bobby, The Man Who Fell to Earth, and It's a Gift (as part of the W.C. Fields Comedy Collection).

© Dominique King 2011 All rights reserved

Multimedia pioneer Lowell Thomas began life's journey in Ohio

I remember seeing a couple Lowell Thomas books on my mother's shelves when I was quite young, but I never knew much about the pioneering broadcaster and world traveler until my recent visit to the Garst Museum in Greenville, Ohio.

I vaguely knew Thomas as a globe-trotting journalist, but the museum's gallery dedicated to him gave me a new appreciation for his career as a multimedia pioneer. Considering Thomas' life-long fascination with emerging media and experimenting with it, I'm thinking he would be all over today's "new media", just as he was ubiquitous across multiple media platforms throughout his long career.

Lowell Thomas was born on April 6, 1892 in nearby Woodington, Ohio. The museum moved Thomas' birthplace, a two-story Victorian house, to its campus during the late 1980s. Visitors can tour it during summer weekends, although we were there too early in the year to do so.

The museum's Lowell Thomas gallery has plenty of photos and mementos from Thomas' travels, and visitors can watch video footage of Thomas in a pocket-sized theater.

The Thomas family moved from Ohio when Lowell was 8 years old, heading to Victor, Colorado, where his father was a doctor in the gold mining community. The Victor Lowell Thomas Museum celebrates Thomas's life and time there.

Lowell started working for the Victor Daily Record as a newsboy at the age of 10, becoming an editor for the paper by the age of 19.

Thomas earned degrees from five universities, including the University of Northern Indiana at Valparaiso and Princeton.

Thomas continued working as an editor with dailies in Chicago and several other cities, but wanderlust soon kicked in and he began traveling the world in earnest by the late 1910s, filming and writing about his experiences in a nationally syndicated newspaper column.

Thomas set out for Europe in 1917 with his new bride, Frances, and cameraman Harry Chase to report on World War I. He tired of harsh conditions and drab film footage he got at the Western Front, so his wife worked with the Red Cross in Italy while Thomas and his cameraman went to the Middle East.

It was there that he met T.E. Lawrence, a young British Army officer who wore Arab robes as he helped lead Arab forces during the Arab Revolt against Ottoman Turkish rule. The colorful Lawrence captured Thomas' imagination, and the broadcaster's arguably romanticized accounts of the exploits of "Lawrence of Arabia" made Lawrence a star and made Thomas millions of dollars.

Thomas created what was, for the time, highly original multimedia presentations where he narrated his travels from a podium in sync with photo slides and film clips. Lawrence's story intrigued 1920s audiences, and Thomas' presentations played to as many as four million people throughout the world.

Thomas' 1924 book about the subject, With Lawrence of Arabia, became the first of over 50 books Thomas authored during his lifetime.

Thomas began doing daily radio newscasts for NBC in 1930. His authoritative and impartial manner was a distinct departure from other popular radio newscasters of the time. Thomas decided to end each of his newscasts with a light-hearted story, a format that nearly every newscast since that time adopted.

Movie audiences became familiar with Thomas' voice from the many short newsreels he narrated that ran in theaters to accompany feature films during the 1930s.

Over the years at NBC, and later at CBS, he became the first newscaster to report from a ship, an airplane, a submarine, and a coal mine. In 1939, he simulcast his radio broadcasts on television, becoming the first to have a televised nightly newscast.

Thomas appreciated the flexibility radio offered to broadcast from wherever he might be in the world, and he continued his nightly radio broadcasts until he was 85 years old in 1976.

He produced and starred in television series during the 1950s and 1970s and became a Cinerama (3-D movie) producer. Check out the Internet Movie Database site for a listing of Thomas' work in movies and television.

Thomas became rich working as an independent contractor with his own sponsors, buying his own time on networks, and retaining ownership of his material.

Thomas' first wife, Frances, died in 1975, and the widowed Thomas married Marianna Munn of Darke County in 1977.

In 1980, Thomas visited Ohio for the last time, to speak to the local Business and Professional Women's Club.

He died in 1981 at his New York home at the age of 89. His widow Marianna returned to live in Dayton, Ohio, until her death at the age of 82 in 2010.

Many of Thomas' books are out-of-print, but you can still readily find his first book, With Lawrence of Arabia, online.

Want to learn more about Lawrence of Arabia? Check out Hero: The Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia by Michael Korda.

© Dominique King 2011 All rights reserved

Things To Do
Greenville

Pioneering Aviatrix Harriet Quimby flies into history from Michigan

Amelia Earhart and Sally Ride often come to mind when people think of female pioneers in flight, but few seem to remember Harriet Quimby.

I remember hearing that Harriet was an early aviatrix, but I didn't know that the first woman in the country to earn her pilot's license and the first female to pilot an airplane across the English Channel was born in northern Michigan.

We turned off of the main highway after spotting a small sign that said "historical marker" and drove for a couple of miles before finding this one in the middle of nowhere along a dirt road.

Arcadia marker

The sinking of the Titanic in April of 1912 blew news of Harriet's historic flight from England to France that same week off of the newspapers' front pages, plus there are few records of Harriet's years in Michigan. It's no surprise then that few people know of her today, let alone know of her Michigan background.

Two Michigan historical markers, 240 miles apart, claim to mark Harriet's birthplace.

Many believed that Kinderhook Township, in southern Michigan near Coldwater and just a few miles north of the Indiana border, was Harriet's birthplace.

Bonnie Hughes of Arcadia found evidence like census records, land abstracts, and financial papers placing Harriet's family in northern Michigan before her birth and during her childhood.

Michigan erected the marker near Arcadia in 2000.

Arcadia marker

The Coldwater marker, erected in 1988, still stands near Branch County Memorial Airport according a Michigan marker list.

Harriet's parents, William and Ursula, married at Ovid in 1859. Ursula also gave birth to the couple's first two children (a boy and a girl) in Branch County.

The Quimbys left Ovid in 1867 when William, a Civil War veteran, applied for 160 acres near Arcadia under the Homestead Act. Life was difficult in the sparsely settled area, and two of the couple's young children, Willie and Kate, died during the family's first years there.

Quimby farm near Arcadia, Michigan, as it appears today

Harriet was born in May of 1875. She had no birth certificate because an 1871 fire in Manistee destroyed the lighthouse, county courthouse, and much of the town. No one kept regular records of vital stats like births from then until Manistee County's rebuilt courthouse opened in 1880.

The Quimbys took out two mortgages on the farm: one for $300 that they paid off and one for $2,000 in 1887 that led to losing the farm to foreclosure and public auction.

The family moved to Arroyo Grande, California, in the late 1880s, then to San Francisco in 1893.

Harriet tried acting in San Francisco, meeting legendary silent film director D.W. Griffith, who later hired her to write screenplays for the Biograph movie company.

Harriet's journalism career began in San Francisco. She moved to New York City in 1903 to write for Leslie's Illustrated Weekly about subjects including theater, travel, household tips, and aviation.

In 1910, Harriet attended an aviation show on Long Island. Aviator John Moisant's performance there and a friendship with his sister Matilde inspired Harriet's ambition to fly.

Moisant and other aviators owned one of two flight schools in the country. The other school, run by Wilbur and Orville Wright, did not admit females. John Moisant died in a plane accident before the end of 1910, but Harriet and Matilde convinced his flight school to admit them.

Harriet became the first woman in the United States to earn her pilot's license on August 1, 1911. Matilde Moisant became the second licensed female pilot in United States on August 13, 1911.

Both women performed at shows in the United States and Mexico with the Moisant International Aviators.

Harriet, who had a dramatic flair, designed a hooded, purple-satin flight suit that became her trademark.

Matilde Moisant, born in 1878 in Indiana, soon announced her retirement from flying and scheduled her last flight for April 14, 1912, in Wichita Falls, Texas. A fuel leak caused her plane to catch fire upon landing. Rescuers pulled her from the wreck, and she recovered from her injuries. She died in 1964, and her grave is in North Hollywood, California.

Harriet, meanwhile, wanted to become the first woman to fly across the English Channel. The 59-minute, cross-channel flight on April 16, 1912 was a great moment for her, but her accomplishment got little attention from the press.

Harriet recorded one last first, becoming the first woman to die in an aviation meet.

On July 1, 1912, organizer of the Boston show William Willard joined Harriet in her two-passenger plane for a short flight before a crowd of 5,000 spectators. The plane suddenly dipped forward during the flight, and Willard fell out. Harriet appeared to be regaining control when the plane tipped again, and she also plummeted to her death.

Harriet Quimby's grave is in Valhalla, New York.

Want to learn more? Check out Harriet Quimby: America's First Lady of the Air by Anita P. Davis and Ed Y. Hall, The Magnificent Moisants: Champions of Early Flight by Doris L. Rich, or The Harriet Quimby Scrapbook: The Life of America's First Birdwoman by Giacinta Bradley Koontz, which includes samples of Harriet's writing and vintage newspaper stories about Harriet's flights.

© Dominique King 2011 All rights reserved

Things To Do
Manistee

Where I live: Detroit Film Theater winter season starts January 14

I love films, and I especially love the Detroit Film Theater's varied schedule of new and classic films screened in the beautiful 1920s Art Deco-style movie theater at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Fans of big-screen showings will find even more to love these days at the DFT as the theater recently replaced its 30-year-old screen with a new, high-gain screen that is forty percent larger than the older screen.

I checked out my winter film guide when it showed up in the mail from the DFT and, as always, found plenty of films I'd love to see over the next few months. The season's crop of docs, in particular, looks like it includes more than a few gems.

Here are a few DFT showings that sound especially interesting:

• This season's special events include the area premiere of The Hungry Ghosts, the directorial debut of Detroit 1-8-7 actor Michael Imperioli (January 30). Be sure to stick around after the film when Imperioli appears onstage to discuss his film.

• We saw The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg about ten years ago when the DFT screened that documentary about the Detroit Tiger legendary first baseman and his encounters with anti-Semitism during the 1930s. The DFT's showing of Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story, which includes archival footage and contemporary interviews with players, family, and fans about Greenberg and other Jewish major league baseball players throughout the years promises to be similarly fascinating (January 29 and 30).

• Music fans should enjoy Soundtrack for a Revolution, which tells the story of the American civil rights movement with archival footage and an emphasis on importance of the movement's freedom songs, including new performances of the classic songs by contemporary artists like John Legend, Wyclef Jean, and Joss Stone (February 12).

• Detroit-area residents working to revitalize the city will want to check out successful Hollywood screenwriter Carl Kurlander's story of moving back to his hometown of Pittsburgh and his examination of how that industrial city might reinvent itself in the face of a troubled economy in My Tale of Two Cities (February 26).

• Actor James Franco is receiving plenty of Oscar-related buzz these days with his performance as trapped mountain climber Aron Ralston in 127 Hours, and the DFT, with its knack for picking particularly of-the-moment films, performances, and personalities, presents Franco as poet Alan Ginsberg in a dramatization of the 1957 obscenity trail aimed at his work in the film Howl (January 28-29 and February 4-6).

• Speaking of the Oscars, the DFT presents all of the 2011 Academy Award Nominated Short Films from the animated and live-action categories, offering film fans a chance to see these abbreviated gems that they may never get to see otherwise (February 11-13 and February 18-20).

• I'm not normally a fan of French films, but Queen to Play, a dramatic comedy starring Kevin Kline in his first French-speaking role, sounds like it could be interesting (April 22-24 and April 29-May 1).

• Some of the best bargains of the season can be found in the DFT 101 matinee series schedule, like screenings of silent classics like Buster Keaton's The Cameraman (March 19) and a newly restored version of Russian directing great Sergei Eisenstein's visually and emotionally stunning Battleship Potemkin (March 26). The series also includes the 1957 Oscar Award-winning Lust for Life which features Kirk Douglas in his Oscar Award winning portrayal of the tortured artist Vincent Van Gogh (February 19) and F for Fake, a 1973 quasi-documentary about fakery from director Orson Welles, which reportedly has a bit of a surprise ending (January 15).

The special DFT 101 showings are free with paid Detroit Institute of Arts admission or for DIA members, or for a discount matinee price of $5 otherwise.

The rest of the DFT films generally cost $7.50 ($6.50 for Detroit Institute of Arts members, full-time students), or you can purchase discount pass cards for $30, which are good for five admissions.  Some special screenings may cost a bit more.

Check the DFT's full schedule and ticket pricing online.

 

Most of these flicks aren't available on DVD yet, and great movies are usually best on the big screen. But if you can't get to the DFT for a showing or want to own a film for encore viewing later, some of these films available on DVD include: The Hungry Ghosts, Soundtrack for a Revolution, Howl, Queen to Play, The Cameraman, Battleship Potemkin, Lust for Life, and F for Fake.

© Dominique King 2011 All rights reserved

Midwest travel links for October 2010

Check out some of these great Midwest-related stories I read online in this past month:

• World's Largest Toilet, Columbus, IN-The term "go big or go home" takes on a whole new meaning with Julie's post about this, um, pit stop at the Kids' Commons Columbus' Community Children's Museum in Columbus, Indiana on the aptly named Go Big or Go Home blog.
• 20 Things to Do in Grand Rapids Before You're Dead-Great Lakes Guru Tim shares some great ideas for visiting this west Michigan city, including some of my favorites like ArtPrize, the Grand Rapids Art Museum (a.k.a. the GRAM), and the public art-filled campus at Grand Valley State University.
• Art at the Indianapolis International Airport-Stuck at the Indianapolis airport while waiting for a flight? Nicole suggests checking out the airport's great collection of public art and sleek modern architecture in her recent Indiana Insider blog post.
• Rock and Roll of Fame and Museum-Check out this story about the Cleveland, Ohio, museum at What Locals Like About Cleveland Plus. The short video tour gives you a sneak peek inside of the museum, including a quick look at my favorite part of the museum--its collection of performers' stage costumes (something I haven't been able to do on Midwest Guest because of the museum's photography restrictions for visitors).
  
  
• A little trip up north...and Thomas Story Kirkbride-We've enjoyed several photowalks with Photowalks Detroit. I enjoyed seeing Carolyn's story on Michigan in Pictures about a photowalk at the Village at Grand Traverse Commons in Traverse City, a former mental hospital in and ongoing residential/commercial development. Be sure to check out the links in this story to see some great pictures in the Flickr streams from individual photographers involved in this photowalk.
• Drinking and Drawing in Chicago-These informal, after-hours art sessions in several Chicago studios and galleries sound like great fun. Join Rosalind at Uptake as she checks out several events that involve creativity and cocktails!
• Schlitz Fest-Read Designslinger to find out how German-born Milwaukee brewer Joseph Schiltz sent thousands of barrels of beer to thirsty folks in Chicago in the wake of the big 1871 fire. German expats there, grateful for the free beer, probably helped the company's expansion into Chicago and the establishment of these architecturally beautiful Schlitz taverns during the late 1800s/early 1900s.
• A Road Trip to...Brandywine Falls-Anthony of Ohio's Stark County News & Views takes us to Brandywine Falls at the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. This story brought back fond memories of our visit to this beautiful spot.
  
  
• Road Trip: Finding Oz in South Dakota-Kristen shares the story of author L. Frank Baum's beloved book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and its surprising connection to Aberdeen, South Dakota. This is one in a series of Midwest Road Trip posts at Vera's A Traveler's Library blog involving books and movies with Midwestern connections (including A Road Trip to an Ordinary State: Kansas, where Vera shares the story of Truman Capote's book In Cold Blood, the movie based on the book, and the lurid crime that inspired both of them). Be sure to check out companion posts to this series at Music Road where Kerry suggests musical selections to accompany the Road Trip posts. Here's a link to Kerry's suggestions for tunes to accompany the Nebraska and Kansas leg of the trip.
• It's Buster's Birthday-Classic comedy fans will want to visit Muskegon, Michigan, where the incomparable Buster Keaton and his family called home during summers while preparing to travel the vaudeville circuit the rest of the year. Check out the Great Lakes Gazette where Kath shares the story of the Keaton family, the area's early 1900s Actors' Colony, and an annual festival dedicated to the great silent movie actor and filmmaker.

© Dominique King 2010 All rights reserved

Where I live: Alloy Orchestra returns to the Detroit Film Theater September 24-26

Fans of classic films are in for a treat as the Alloy Orchestra returns to the Detroit Film Theater September 24, 25, and 26 to accompany silent classics that include an experimental Russian feature, the complete version of the masterpiece "Metropolis", and a rarely seen silent film from Alfred Hitchcock.

The Boston-based Alloy Orchestra is a trio that composes and performs soundtracks for an eclectic selection of silent films. Performances feature traditional percussion instruments, electronic synthesizers and keyboards, as well as banjo, accordion, a musical saw, and a variety of found objects.

The Alloy Orchestra describes their sound as "the Berlin Philharmonic meets Godzilla" or "the sound of water dripping into a sink". Both descriptions may be accurate at least in part, but the music produced by this trio on their amazing "rack of junk" and assorted instruments defies easy categorization. Maybe this is one of the reasons Alloy Orchestra gigs continue to surprise and delight me after hearing them perform many times at the DFT.

Although we'd heard Alloy Orchestra perform in a darkened movie theater many times, we never saw them perform until a special pre-movie performance in the Detroit Institute of Arts' Rivera Court last year (where I took the photos accompanying this article).

The original group line-up of Caleb Sampson, Terry Donahue, and Ken Winokur first performed together as the Alloy Orchestra at a First Night event in Boston on New Year's Eve in 1990.

The manager of a local art movie house caught the show and approached the trio about accompanying a showing "Metropolis". This particular version of "Metropolis" was a 1984 reissue with a soundtrack by music producer Giorgio Moroder (a version featuring 1980s pop/rock that I described here as "somewhat bizarre" when I previewed the DFT's summer season, featuring the newest restoration of the film).

The trio, by now named the Alloy Orchestra for their collection of weird musical instruments and found objects, had only two weeks to produce a suitable soundtrack for the film. Their soundtrack was a hit, and the group looked for other chances to accompany silent films.

This year Winokur and Donahue, along with keyboardist Roger Miller (who joined the group after Sampson's 1999 death), celebrate the Alloy Orchestra's twentieth anniversary with a tour of "The Best of Alloy Orchestra".

Over the years, Alloy Orchestra created scores for nearly 30 feature-length films and many silent shorts. They usually premiere new scores at the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado (playing there every year since 1993) and perform in theaters, museums, cultural events and other venues around the world.

This weekend with the Alloy Orchestra at the DFT kicks off on Friday, September 24, with "Man with a Movie Camera". This 1929 film directed by Dziga Vertov, originally intended as a Russian propaganda flick, offers an impressionist view of life through a photographer's eye. We saw this film with its Alloy Orchestra accompaniment last year. The stunning cinematography and editing in this film make it surprisingly cutting-edge, and it's a must-see with the always inventive Alloy Orchestra soundtrack.

The Alloy Orchestra accompanies the newly restored "Metropolis" on Saturday, September 25. I saw this particular version this summer, without the Alloy accompaniment, and it should be a highlight of this weekend's Alloy Orchestra gig at the DFT.

Families may enjoy a special Alloy Orchestra program called "Masters of Slapstick" on Sunday afternoon (September 26). This hour-long show features a selection of short comedies featuring Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton.

Catch the Alloy Orchestra's accompaniment to the 1929 Alfred Hitchcock film, "Blackmail" on Sunday evening (September 26). Hitchcock made two versions of this film, a sound version considered to be the first talking picture made in England, and the seldom-shown silent version featured in this showing.

The DFT's Autumn 2010 schedule continues through November 2010. Check out the DFT online for a complete film schedule, times and ticket prices.

Want to listen to the Alloy Orchestra in your own home theater? Check out the DVD of "Man with the Movie Camera" with the Alloy Orchestra soundtrack, or hear samples of the group's music for several different films on the album New Music for Silent Films in CD or MP3 format.

 

Note: "Where I live" posts are part of a series of periodic stories about special events and people in, and around, metro Detroit. "Where I live" posts are stories I'll post in addition to my regular schedule of stories about attractions around the larger Midwestern region. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy writing them.

© Dominique King 2010 All rights reserved

Where I live: Detroit Symphony Orchestra's summer season strikes the right note for summer fun

The Detroit Symphony Orchestra kicked off their summer season this past weekend with showings of the Hitchcock thriller "Psycho" and the family fantasy film "The Wizard of Oz". Sure, you might catch these flicks on cable, but that simply can't compare to seeing them in a classic theater with a score played live by the DSO.

You don't always think about a film's scoring, but seeing "The Wizard of Oz" with the DSO and conductor Constantine Kitsopoulos reminded me how a good score enhances a film's story. I've seen this movie many times, often at home on television, but watching this classic became a whole new experience on the big screen with a live score. Just as the film's shift from black and white emphasized the vibrant colors of Dorothy's odyssey in Oz, the live score emphasized the experiences Dorothy and her friends encountered along the way.

The audience included many families with young children, and the program held the rapt attention of the youngest audience members until an enthusiastic ovation at the program's conclusion.

Missed it? The symphony's summer season includes several other programs that are great ways to introduce your family to the symphony or a great way to spend a date.

• See the DSO for free (with vehicle admission fee) at the park with a trio of concerts this coming weekend. The DSO performs at 8 p.m. Friday at Kensington Metropark, at 8 p.m. Saturday at Metro Beach Metropark, and at 8 p.m. on Sunday at Stony Creek Metropark.

  The personable Thomas Wilkins, who we always enjoy seeing, conducts these "Harmony in the Park" concerts, which offer a selection of classical and popular pieces. You can bring lawn chairs and score a seat near the concert stage, but it's possible to hear the concert from many areas within the park. One year, we enjoyed hearing the DSO at Stony Creek from afar as we barbecued dinner in an outlaying picnic area.

• Celebrate the holiday weekend (July 1-4) with the DSO at The Henry Ford in Greenfield Village. Steven Reincke conducts the 18th annual "Salute to America" concert, which features Michael Runyan on harmonica and pre-concert entertainment by the River Raisin Ragtime Revue, a Michigan-based theater orchestra. The concert includes patriotic and popular music, capped by a fireworks finale.

• Enjoy music under the stars by Lake St. Clair July 9 and 10 at the Edsel and Eleanor Ford House. Arrive as early as 6 p.m. to enjoy the home's architecture and grounds. The program begins at 8:30 p.m. and concludes with a fireworks finale.





• I 'm a real fan of silent films, and regular Midwest Guest readers may remember me mentioning the July 15 showing of the 1926 Mary Pickford film "Sparrows" when I previewed the Detroit Film Theater's summer season. The DSO partners with the DFT for a showing of this film with live accompaniment by the orchestra at The Max, making this free program a great opportunity to hear the DSO in their home venue.

• Next up is one of my favorite summer festivals, the Concert of Colors. This free diversity and world music fest kicks off July 16 at the Detroit Institute of Arts with performances by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra before moving to The Max July 17 and 18. The DSO again performs on Sunday with a program of Western and Arabic classical music conducted by Tito Muñoz featuring Simon Shaheen on the oud, an Arabic stringed instrument. Check my Concert of Colors story article for a preview of the entire three-day fest.

• The DSO presents "Summer Nights" shows featuring classical and popular music at the Meadow Brook Music Festival July 22-23, July 30-31, and August 1. The DSO premiere of composer Kenji Bunch's piece commissioned by the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Committee in 2009 happens July 30.

• Fans of world music mark your calendars for August 15, when the orchestra cedes the stage to Silk Road Ensemble and Yo-Yo Ma with multi-cultural music and instrumentation at The Max. The program includes arrangements of traditional music from countries like India, China, and Persia, and extending to Europe and the Americas.





• We've always enjoyed jazz shows at The Max, seeing trumpeters Bryon Stripling and Irvin Mayfield perform in recent years. Given my love of jazz and silent flicks, I'm pretty jazzed about the August 26 program with trumpeter Wynton Marsalis. Marsalis and his septet perform a live soundtrack accompaniment to the new silent film "Louis", the story of trumpeter Louis Armstrong's life and music. Marsalis executive produced the film and composed much of the music for it. This show is one of a six-city U.S. launch for the film.

Check the DSO Web site  for complete information about the summer schedule, repertoire, pricing, and purchasing tickets.

I received tickets to "The Wizard of Oz" program from the DSO. I've also attended numerous DSO programs at my own expense, and knowledge gained from those prior experiences informs the content of this article as well.

 

Note: "Where I live" posts are part of a series of periodic stories about special events and people in, and around, metro Detroit. "Where I live" posts are stories I'll post in addition to my regular schedule of stories about attractions around the larger Midwestern region. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy writing them.

© Dominique King 2010 All rights reserved

Where I live: Detroit Film Theater launches summer 2010 season June 11

Beat the heat by taking in some great films during this summer season at the Detroit Film Theater, starting with the a showing of the newly discovered and restored complete version of the 1927 German masterpiece, "Metropolis", from director Fritz Lang on June 11.

This version of the visually stunning sci-fi classic includes almost 30 minutes of footage found tucked away with a film collector in Argentina who had the only known full two-and-one-half-hour version of this film pretty much as originally envisioned by the legendary Lang. The extra footage includes additional scenes, and even some additional subplots.

I've seen horribly butchered video versions of "Metropolis" over the years, as well as what I consider a somewhat bizarre 1984 version edited by music producer Giorgio Moroder with a soundtrack consisting of  1980s songs from artists like Queen, Bonnie Tyler, Pat Benatar, Billy Squire, Loverboy, and Adam Ant.

So the opportunity to finally see this film as the director intended it to be seen in 1927, especially in the DFT's classic 1920s Art Deco-style movie house, promises to be a real treat.

The remainder of the DFT's summer schedule looks every bit as intriguing and engaging.

Here are some other films that look especially interesting to me this time around:

• "An American Journey" is a companion piece to the Detroit Institute of Arts' exhibition of Robert Frank's photographs of small-town and rural America during the mid-twentieth century from his classic book, "The Americans". This particular matinee showing (June 12) is free with museum admission.

• I love silent films, but grew up watching a lot of them in herky-jerky versions shown at the wrong speed on television or in college film classes, so I especially appreciate DFT showings of silent classics like this season's "Metropolis" or the 1926 Mary Pickford flick "Sparrows" (July 15). This is a free showing at the Orchestra Hall with a live accompaniment by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

• Music fans are in for a real treat when the DFT shows Bruce Springsteen's "London Calling: Live in Hyde Park" (June 16). This is a special one-time-only preview showing of Springsteen's 2009 London concert with 100 percent of the proceeds going to benefit the DFT. Tickets cost $10, and you can buy them in advance.

• The DFT's showing of a 1931 Spanish-language version of "Dracula" (July 16) happens in conjunction with this year's Concert of Colors, a world music and diversity festival previewed here at Midwest Guest earlier this week. This is a free showing of the flick with an all-Mexican cast filmed with the same sets, lighting and costumes as the classic Bela Lugosi version of "Dracula".

The DFT's summer schedule also includes a diverse selection of films from around the world, including a series of Mexican cinema classics, a quartet of films by African novelist and filmmaker Ousmane Sembène, and several filmed operatic performances from European venues.

Films generally cost $7.50 ($6.50 for Detroit Institute of Arts members, full-time students, senior citizens). You can also purchase discount pass cards for $30, which are good for five admissions to regularly priced shows. The summer season includes a lot of free matinee showings.  Check out the full DFT schedule online for times and prices.

 

Note: "Where I live" posts are part of a series of periodic stories about special events and people in, and around, metro Detroit. "Where I live" posts are stories I'll post in addition to my regular schedule of stories about attractions around the larger Midwestern region. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy writing them.

© Dominique King 2010 All rights reserved

Midwest travel links for April 2010

It's time again to share some links to some of the interesting Midwest blog posts I've read online in the past month!

 

• Alexander Calder's 'Flamingo'-I've written about Alexander Calder's stabiles in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Toledo, Ohio, so it was especially interesting to read Lee Bey's story about Calder's "Flamingo" stabile in Chicago, Illinois.



Calder's 'Stegosaurus' in front of the Toldeo Museum of Art


• Gulo Gulo: The Wolverine and Why Michigan is the Wolverine State-I always wondered about Michigan's designation as "the wolverine state", especially with the recent death of Michigan's only known wolverine existing in the wild. Andrea shares a bit of information about this animal and shares some possible reasons for our state's nickname at Michigan in Pictures.

• Highland Park's Craftsman Bungalows-I love reading about Charlie's two-wheeled explorations of the Detroit area at his Bikes, Books & A Little Music blog. I enjoyed reading about his bicycle ride around Highland Park, Michigan. That city was home to Ford Motor Company's manufacturing plant, the factory where Henry Ford first offered the then-generous $5-a-day wage in 1914 that drew scores of workers seeking a better life for their families to metro Detroit. Charlie tells us that Highland Park is home to one of the largest concentrations of Craftsman Bungalows outside of California, and he includes photos of some these beautiful Highland Park homes with this story.

• Ruins, Revitalization and Rust on the Riverfront-Regular readers of Midwest Guest know of my fascination with bridges in general, and the Cincinnati, Ohio, Roebling Bridge in particular, so it should come as no surprise that this post by Gordon (a.k.a. Ronny) of Queen City Discovery intrigued me. Did I ever mention that I also dig alliteration?



John Roebling Bridge


• COSI: The hands-on museum for kids-Join this Kentucky family of five as they enjoy a great day at Columbus, Ohio's COSI (Center of Science and Industry) Museum on their Backseat Traveler site.

• Background!-Visit Cindy LaFerle's Home Office as Cindy throws the spotlight behind the scenes of Michigan's now-starring role in the movie industry. Cindy tells us about her experience as a background extra in feature films and the hard work required to score that "15 seconds of fame" on the big screen.

• Fighting Crime, One Doughnut at a Time-Check out Kath's story at Great Lakes Gazette about a group of cops in Clare, Michigan, who saved a bakery that served the northern Michigan community since 1896 by purchasing the business to keep it from closing down. The cops obviously have a sense of humor, judging from the T-shirts they offer for sale in a shop next to the bakery.

• Visiting the beauty of Traverse City & its wine-I always try to keep a bottle of Michigan wine in the house, especially my favorite Late Harvest Riesling from Chateau Grand Traverse. I've visited many of the wineries along Michigan's Old Mission and Leelanau Peninsulas over the years, so I enjoyed Marcia's story about some of these Michigan wineries at Wine and Spirits Travel.

• Hiking Trails of Northwest Indiana-Join Jonathan at the Indiana Insider Blog as he shares five of the most-loved, and possibly least-known, nature walks in northeast Indiana.

• Hormel's SPAM Museum-So, "spam" often gets a bad rap online these days, but readers should enjoy joining The Vacation Gals' Beth as she visits Hormel's homage to the real deal at the SPAM Museum in Austin, Minnesota.

• Fargo-Moorhead's Unusual "Celebrity Walk of Fame"-I love quirky roadside attractions like this "walk of fame" just outside of the Fargo-Moorhead Convention & Visitors Bureau building. Join Brian for a quick video tour of the walk, which features hand prints and signatures from luminaries visiting the area that include Bill Gates, Weird Al, the guys from Metallica, and Bert & Ernie (What? No Grover?)

© Dominique King 2010 All rights reserved