COVID-19

Farmers Alley Theatre will present its season with the streaming platform Broadway On Demand to stay connected to theater-lovers in west Michigan during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a conversation with Cara Lieurance, deputy director Rob Weiner and artistic director Jeremy Koch offer a behind-the-scenes perspective on how they regrouped after the pandemic began, and they preview this month's event, The Conviction of Lady Lorraine, a one-woman show by Dwandra Nickole Lampkin about a writer who encounters a homeless woman. It has been transformed into a tele-play for its debut on Oct 29. Ticket-holders can stream the play at any time for a 7-day period once it's released.

(MPRN-Lansing) State and federal authorities have charged a group of 13 suspected terrorists in an alleged plot to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer and recruit militia members to storm the state Capitol. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and the FBI announced the charges Thursday. They say the men wanted to overthrow the state government and incite a civil war. 

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer fears the appointment of Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court could spell the end of the Affordable Care Act, she said in a wide-ranging, live intervew today with WMUK Local Morning Edition Host Earlene McMichael.

Q: How do you honor a 100-year-old beloved institution during a global pandemic? A: With creative planning, and lots of it. Executive director Jessica Mallow Gulley, musical director Julian Kuerti, and the staff of the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra have been working non-stop to navigate the possibilities and the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hear how the season will begin, and how it may transform into live concerts, in our interview with Gulley and Kuerti. 

In a near-miraculous resurrection, a production of Steven Sondheim's Sunday in the Park with George will be staged from Sep 18 - Oct 4, with three of the four leads maintaining their roles. 

Western Michigan University Theatre Department students Marcus Jackson and Aaron Czarnecki, double-cast in the title role of George, and Miranda Vandenberg as Dot, were closing in on opening night last April when the show was cancelled by the COVID-19 pandemic. This month, as seniors, they're able to pick up where they left off. Ally Taylor, who had another role originally, is newly double-cast as Dot. Jackson, Czarnecki, Vandenberg and Taylor, joined by director Jay Berkow, professor of music theatre performance, join Cara Lieurance to talk about their second chance to perform a classic work.