| Arts
& Humanities
Dr. P honored with new theatre
After months of planning and years of filling out paperwork, the James A. Panowski Black Box Theatre is a reality—a labor of love fulfilled for a man who has done so much to promote the arts at Northern Michigan university, the Marquette Community and especially for the students of Forest Roberts Theatre.
At its September 25, 2009 meeting, The Northern Michigan University Board of Trustees voted to permanently name The Black Box, The James A. Panowski Black Box Theatre, effective October 1, 2009. The space is located in the McClintock Building attached to Russell Fine Arts building on the NMU campus.
Panowski served as artistic director of the Forest Roberts Theatre at NMU for thirty-two years; he retired last August. During his tenure at NMU, theatre students used Rooms 105 and 102 in Jamrich Hall to direct and participate in lab shows and studio productions.
It was a scheduling nightmare, and caused an additional struggle for students to get technical equipment such as building supplies and tools, large set pieces, costumes, lighting instruments and sound systems across campus. All Forest Roberts Theatre students are required to direct a one-act play before they graduate. Panowski was adviser for several student directors and aware of these challenges.
Before Panowski, another familiar face to NMU and FRT, Dr. James “Daddy Bear” Rapport, took initial steps to guarantee that if space became available the Theatre would be given the first opportunity to take it over.
Several years later, when McClintock 105 and the surrounding space was vacated by Graphic Arts, Panowski worked diligently for the students and eventually secured the space.
In time, student-directed productions were moved permanently to the McClintock Building Room 105. Shortly after establishing the Black Box as a performance space, the Forest Roberts Theatre scene shop permanently moved in next door, and there was costume storage down the hall as well. Panowski established the Black Box in 2000 for all theatre students.
Since then, several groups and organizations have used the space for a variety of theatrical and nontheatrical events. The Mildred & Albert Panowski playwrighting competition uses the space in summer to workshop the winning play with the director, actors and the winning playwright.
The newly established Vertigo Theatre Company held several productions in the space, the First Nighters Club Advisory Board monthly meetings and holds special events there, and the late NMU professor Louise Bourgault brought World AIDS Day events and the AIDS Quilt to the NMU campus via the Panowski Black Box Theatre.
The location has gone through many changes to make it a first-rate theatre space. Curtains were hung, risers and seating installed, sound equipment added, and a raised stage makes the space a fun experiment where students and community members can create and perform.
Another major function for its use is as a classroom for a variety of theatre classes held daily. It also is used as an alternate rehearsal space when the FRT stage is not available.
A public dedication ceremony was held on December 2 in conjunction with the opening night of Forest Roberts Theatre’s production of Doubt and a reception was held in Panowksi honor.
NMU President Les Wong presented the plaque that is placed for public viewing in the hallway outside the James A. Panowski Black Box Theatre.
—Bobby Glenn Brown
Library plans storytelling festival
Storytelling is a very old and beautiful art. Ancient sagas, epic poems, heroic tales, legends and histories, myths and folklore were handed down orally from generation to generation. Storytelling entertained kings and queens, warriors and servants. It kept slaves alive in their hopes for a better world.
Culture, religion and history still are transmitted through storytelling. Puppets and drama have been important aspects of storytelling in various cultures for millennia while modern media such as television, film, sound recordings and computer games act as new ways of telling stories.
Throughout February and March, Peter White Public Library and the Marquette Arts and Culture Center will present the annual Midwinter Storytelling Festival. The festival consists of a variety of programs that will appeal to people of all ages. Most events are free of charge, thanks to funding by the Friends and the Carroll Paul Memorial Trust Fund of Peter White Public Library, and the Michigan Humanities Council, an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
“Shots and Stories,” a juried show open to photographers with a story about their photo or storytellers with photographs illustrating their stories, will be exhibited in the Marquette Arts and Culture Center in February and March.
The top three winning combinations will be published in next month’s Marquette Monthly. An opening reception for “Shots and Stories” will be held from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. on February 4 in the Marquette Arts and Culture Center on the lower level of the library.
Scott Stobbelaar of NMU’s Seaborg Center will bring Star Lab, a portable planetarium, to the Marquette Arts and Culture Center on February 8. The Day and Night Sky program at 3:00 p.m. is geared to students in kindergarten through Grade 2 who are accompanied by an adult.
This program would be great for homeschooling families. Students in Grades 1 through 6 will hear Ojibwe Star Stories at 4:30 p.m. Greek Mythology Star Stories will be offered at 6:30 p.m. for a general audience.
Admission is free for all shows, but preregistration is required due to space limitations. For reservations, call 226-4323.
The seventh annual Bollywood Night, an evening for adults celebrating Indian film with the screening of Love Aaj Kal, begins at 6:30 p.m. on February 12, in the Community Room.
Tasty South Asian snacks and music enhance the cinematic experience. The Beladinas, Marquette’s own belly dancing troupe, will return for another special performance. Due to the overwhelming popularity of this evening, advance purchase of tickets is required by February 5. Tickets cost $5 and are available at the library’s circulation desk.
“Love, India Style,” in the library’s Community Room from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. on February 13 is a Valentine’s Day celebration for all ages that explores the culture of India. Participants may sample South Asian snacks, get a henna tattoo, learn how to wrap a sari and wear a bindi, play Indian games, listen to Indian folk tales and music, and make South Asian crafts.
Those who love extreme weather will enjoy “U.P. Weather Stories with Karl Bohnak” at 2:00 p.m. February 14, in the Community Room. The local meteorologist and author will explore links between weather and U.P. history. Books will be available for purchase and autographing following the presentation.
A Shakespeare puppet show? This is Shakespeare like you’ve never seen it performed . . .
For details, visit www.pwpl.info or call 226-4318.
—Cathy Sullivan Seblonka and Margaret Boyle
U.P. novels invoke controversy, confusion
Money in the Ground
by Brian Cabell
Brian Cabell’s Money in the Ground is the story of a proposed mine in present day Upper Michigan and the resulting controversy.
The effective opening scene sets the tone when a house is burned down, the third in the neighborhood of the small fictional town of Peebles, Michigan. The homeowners are insistent that Maxo Mining caused the fire to keep them quiet for being opponents of the proposed mine.
The majority of the local residents are in favor of the mine as a good source of jobs in their economically depressed region, but many people fear Maxo Mining is not giving them full details about the mine, and they do not want to see pollution, the destruction of the region’s natural beauty or a disruption to the river that flows through their properties.
Patricia Connauer, the local representative for Maxo Mining, soon becomes embroiled in the controversy as she denies allegations against Maxo Mining, tries to promote the mine to the community’s prominent members, and deals with the local news station to make sure her company is represented accurately. Patricia finds herself in an interesting situation, since she is a former Yooper who left Upper Michigan at age sixteen because of a secret in her past. She prefers the finer things Chicago has to offer, yet she cannot deny that some of the people are intriguing, including the local news director.
When one leading mine opponent’s home burns with an elderly man inside, followed shortly by another mine opponent mysteriously falling off a cliff, Patricia begins to have her own doubts about her company’s position. Is Maxo’s upper management being truthful with Patricia in stating these are merely coincidences?
Alex Stark, the news director at the local Channel 8 . . .
U.P.
by R.A. Riekki
Far from what we’ve come to expect of U.P. novels with descriptions of the U.P.’s beauty or exaggerated comical characters is this dark tale of four teenage boys growing up in Negaunee and Ishpeming in the late 1980s. In place of Yooperese, we have language that shocks, stuns and suggests Detroit gangster and even rap with James Joyce stream-of-consciousness thrown in.
U.P. is difficult to describe—readers will have to read it for themselves. Be forewarned there is much graphic language and sexuality throughout the book. But that said, the language is both loud and lyrical, practically poetry at times and other times a jumble of words that is almost—but never actually—too difficult to follow.
Riekki, a Marquette native, knows the U.P. well. Those who grew up in Negaunee and Ishpeming will appreciate references to the Barf-n-Chew, comments about the high schools and adventures in the caving grounds when they still were off limits.
The four main characters are not exactly likeable and at first I had difficulty keeping track of their voices, which became more distinctive as the book went on. The chapters are divided up unequally as first-person narratives by Hollow, Craig, J and “antony.” His section reads like e.e. cummings with little punctuation, no capitalization and grammatical errors. He has a grudge against Matt Cort, which is the focus of the plot, if one actually can say the book has a plot. J suffers from cerebral palsy. Hollow is dealing with the death of his older brother and dreams of escaping Ishpeming for college. Craig is interested in two things—how much he can bench press and how many girls he has slept with.
While I like a book with a strong plot, U.P. is the rare exception . . .
—Tyler Tichelaar
Editor’s Note: Tichelaar is the author of The Marquette Trilogy. All books reviewed in this column are available in local and online bookstores.
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