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Events in March 2023
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March 30, 2023
U-M Museum of Natural History Planetarium & Dome Theater.
Mar. 27–31 (AAPS & YCS spring break). Three different audiovisual planetarium shows suitable for all ages. Did an Asteroid Really Kill the Dinosaurs? (11:30 a.m.) looks at cosmic collisions across the solar system including the 6-mile-wide asteroid that hit the earth 66 million years ago. The Sky Tonight (12:30 & 2:30 p.m.) is an exploration of the current night sky, with tips on how to find the cardinal directions, constellations, and planets on your own. Living in Balance (1:30 p.m.) explores native Anishinaabe stories of constellations and moons. Various times, MNH, 1105 North University. $8 at the door. Limited capacity. 764–0478.
“Spring Migration Walk in Nichols Arboretum”: Washtenaw Audubon Society.
“Trends in Public Education: Challenges, Potential Solutions and Future Directions”: U-M Osher Lifelong Learning Institute Thursday Lecture Series.
Every Thurs. Feb. 23–Apr. 6 (except Mar. 2). A series of talks by U-M and visiting scholars. Mar. 9: Education Trust-Midwest founder Amber Arellano on “Beyond the Pandemic: Making Michigan a Top 10 Education State.” Mar. 16: TBA. Mar. 23: Michigan health and nutrition services director Diane Golzynski on “Creating the Magic of Belonging in Schools: Health, Safety, and Wellness Strategies to Support Learning.” Mar. 30: TBA. April 6: EMU College of Education dean Ryan Evely Gildersleeve on “Education for the Anthropocene, or How Schools, Colleges, and Universities Get to Change in Service to Community.” 10–11:30 a.m., WCC Morris Lawrence Bldg. Towsley Auditorium, 4800 E. Huron River Dr. Preregistration required at olli-umich.org. $61 (members, $36) for the 6-lecture series. $10 per lecture for members. Membership, $25 a year. 998–9351.
“Larry Cat in Space”: U-M Museum of Natural History Planetarium & Dome Theater.
“Investigate Labs”: U-M Museum of Natural History.
Preschool Storytimes: AADL.
Museum Highlight Tours: U-M Museum of Natural History.
Every Sat. & Sun. (except Mar. 19) and Mar. 27–31. 30-minute tour of the museum’s exhibits and galleries, as well as an introduction to some current U-M Biological Sciences research projects. 1 p.m. (Sat. & Sun.) & noon (Mar. 27–31), U-M MNH, 1105 North University. Free. Limited capacity. Sign up at the welcome desk. 764–0478.
U-M Center for Japanese Studies Lecture Series.
Mar. 9, 23, & 30. Talks by visiting scholars. Mar. 9: University of Tokyo (Japan) economic history professor Tetsuji Okazaki on “Designing Wartime Economic Controls: Productivity and Firm Dynamics in the Japanese Cotton-Spinning Industry, 1937–1939.” Mar. 23: University of Texas Japanese studies professor Patti Maclachlan on “Betting on the Farm: Institutional Change in Japanese Agriculture.” Mar. 30: University of Pittsburgh East Asian language and literature professor Elizabeth Oyler discusses traditional Japanese theater in “Fields of Memory: Movement and Stasis in the Noh Play Ohara gokō.” Noon–1:30 p.m., rm. 1010 (Mar. 9 & 30) & rm. 110 (Mar. 23) Weiser Hall, 500 Church. For livestream URL preregister at events.umich.edu/group/1003. Free. 764–6307.
Duplicate Bridge: Ann Arbor City Club.
Every Thurs., Fri., & Tues. All invited to play ACBL-sanctioned duplicate bridge (Fri. & Tues.) or a 499er game for players with no more than 499 ACBL master points (Thurs.). 1–4 p.m. or so (arrive by 12:45 p.m.), City Club, 1830 Washtenaw Ave. $6 per person. If you plan to come without a partner, email kahanae@yahoo.net or ronmeade@comcast.net beforehand.
Wise Guys: Conversations for Men: U-M Turner Senior Wellness Program.
Salon Series: Catch Us While You Can.
Every Thurs. & Sun. A different lineup of activities each time, from readings, concerts, and show & sale of artworks to informal jam sessions and other impromptu events. This month’s highlights: Mar. 12: Informal jam session. Mar. 16: Cigar Box Guitar and Panjo Jam led by Mike Mouradian using his hand-made 3-string electric cigar box guitars, his banjos made from pans, along with dulcimer and ukulele played by gallery artists TBA. Mar. 19: Staged reading of well-known local playwright Jay Stielstra’s newest play, O’ Say Can You See, a look into the convoluted characters, politics and intrigue leading up to the Civil War. Mar 30: Live auction of selected artworks from the collection of the recently deceased & beloved local arts patron Barbara Kramer. 4–5 p.m. (Thurs.) & noon–2 p.m. (Sun.), A Makeshift Gallery, 407 E. Liberty. Free admission. Cheryldawdy.com, cldawdy@gmail.com.
U-M Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies Lecture Series.
Mar. 16 & 30. Talks by U-M and visiting scholars. Mar. 16: U-M history professor Raevin Jimenez on “Speak Politely to the Ancestors: Gender and Moral Community in Southeastern Africa's 2nd-Millennium CE.” Mar. 30: Johns Hopkins University history professor Sasha Turner discusses the life of an enslaved woman who appears multiple times in the diary of an 18th-century Jamaican slaveholder in “Writing Enslaved Women’s Histories from the Crevices of the Archive.” 4–6 p.m., 1014 Tisch Hall, 435 State. Free. 615–7400.
Amanda Alexander: U-M School of Art & Design Penny Stamps Speaker Series.
This racial justice lawyer and historian discusses her collaborations with community-based movements to end mass incarceration and build thriving and inclusive cities. The founding director of Detroit Justice Center, Alexander also helped facilitate an Inside-Out Prison Exchange program between U-M students and local prisons, and launched the Family Justice Project at U-M Law School to provide legal representation to incarcerated parents. 5:30 p.m., Michigan Theater. Free. 936–0671.
“Chasing Dark Skies”: Ann Arbor District Library.
“D & D Adventures”: Sylvan Factory.
“Repairsday Thursday”: All Hands Active.
Every Thurs. All invited to drop in with broken electronics, furniture, toys, and any other item for AHA members to try to repair and offer advice. Repairs not guaranteed. 6–8 p.m., All Hands Active, basement of 255 E. Liberty, ste. 225. Mask recommended. Online participation available at MeetUp.com/AllHandsActive/events. Free; donations welcome. info@AllHandsActive.org.
“Parent Like a Pediatrician: All the Facts, None of the Fear”: Literati Bookstore.
NYC pediatrician Rebekah Diamond discusses her new book, a fresh, no-nonsense guide for new parents, from safe-sleep guidelines, breast feeding, and binky addiction to sensory developmental activities, baby products, and vaccination. 6:30 p.m., Literati, 124 E. Washington. Mask required. Free. 585–5567.
Kimmie Horne Quartet : Blue LLama Jazz Club
A Detroit native, KIMMIE HORNE developed her own unique style of performing and singing. She is recognized internationally as a Jazz Singer, weaving blends of pop and rhythm and Blues, as well as classic jazz with her rich, alto voice and sultry performances.
314 S. Main St. ,Ann Arbor. Pre-Pay Cover at opentable.com $15. hello@bluellamaclub.com bluellamaclub.com 734-372-3200.“How to Resist Amazon and Why”: Schuler Books (formerly Nicola’s).
Raven Book Store (Lawrence, KS) owner Danny Caine, an outspoken Amazon critic, discusses his new book that makes the case for shifting resources away from global corporate behemoths and to local independent businesses. Signing. 7 p.m. Schuler Books, 2513 Jackson Rd., Westgate shopping center. Free. Preregistration required at howtoresistamazon-schulerbooks.eventbrite.com. Free. 662–0600.
Comhaltas.
Every Thurs. All invited to join members of this local chapter of the Detroit Irish Music Association for an informal evening playing traditional Irish music on various instruments. Lessons offered. 7–9 p.m., FUMC Green Wood Church, 1001 Green Rd. at Glazier Way. Free. facebook.com/DetroitIMA, contact@detroitirishmusic.org.
Piano Bar Thursday with Mr. B & Pete Siers: North Star Lounge
Blues and boogie-woogie pianist Mark Lincoln Braun has become one of the premiere purveyors of a vanishing art. Having learned his craft first-hand from the early masters, he is a rare living link to the first generation of blues and boogie pianists.
Like Clark Kent, jazz percussionist Pete Siers is soft-spoken and unassuming–but put him behind a drum set, and a hard-swinging, intensely physical, dynamically sensitive drummer emerges. $10 Cover.
North Star Lounge, 301 N. Fifth Ave. ,Ann Arbor. $10. nstarlounge.comWeekly Trivia: Bløm Meadworks
Free live trivia every Thursday with Sporcle Live! Two one-hour-long games, every Thursday (7pm & 8pm) with a $15 gift card for first place and a $10 gift card for second place. No limit to group size - come by yourself or with a team! Great tunes, awesome host + lots of seasonal meads, ciders and beers.
Bløm, 100 S. Fourth Ave. ,Ann Arbor. Free admission. 734-548-9729.Josh Adams: Ann Arbor Comedy Showcase
Mar. 30, 31, & Apr. 1. Nationally touring Detroit comedian known for his clever observational humor who won the prestigious Showtime at the Apollo competition. “There are not too many people who can take a scary, embarrassing, or awkward moment in their lives and make it funny quite like Josh Adams,” says comic Paolo Busignani. Preceded by 2 opening acts TBA. Alcohol is served. 7:15 p.m. (Thurs.–Sat.) & 9:45 p.m. (Sat.), 212 S. Fourth Ave. $18 (Thurs., $13) reserved seating in advance at etix.com before 6 p.m. the night of the show; $20 (Thurs., $15) general admission at the door. 996–9080.
“Everybody”: U-M Theater Department.
Every Thurs.–Sun., Mar. 30–Apr. 9. Andrew White directs drama students in award-winning African American playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ 2017 modern adaptation of the 15th-century English morality play The Summoning of Everyman. The highly allegorical plot hews close to the original, following a complacent everyman who, informed by Death of his coming end, seeks friends to accompany him on his final journey. Jacobs-Jenkins’ version moves the moral of the play away from Christian salvation and towards a more humanist conclusion. The adaptation also features a unique casting quirk where each actor must memorize multiple parts with their roles being determined by lottery before each performance. 7:30 p.m. (Thurs.), 8 p.m. (Fri. & Sat.), & 2 p.m. (Sun.), Arthur Miller Theatre, 1226 Murfin, North Campus. Tickets $33 in advance at tickets.smtd.umich.edu & and at the door. 764–0583.
“Once on This Island”: The Encore Musical Theatre Company.
Every Thurs.–Sun., Feb. 23–Mar. 12. Natalie Kaye Clater directs this local professional theater company in a production of Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty’s 1990 calypso-flavored coming-of-age 1-act pop-rock musical about a rich boy and the peasant girl who rescues him from peril. Adapted from Rosa Guy’s 1985 novel My Love, My Love; or, The Peasant Girl, a retelling of the Hans Christian Andersen fairytale The Little Mermaid. 7:30 p.m. (Thurs.–Sat.) & 3 p.m. (Sat. & Sun.), Encore Maas Main Stage, 7714 Ann Arbor St., Dexter. Tickets $54 (seniors & youth under 18, $52) in advance at theencoretheatre.org and at the door. $20 student rush tickets (if available) an hour before showtime. 268–6200.
Autophysiopsychic Millennium: U-M Center for World Performance Studies.
This collective of Black musicians, mostly from Detroit and Chicago, performs a self-described “Sonic Convocation” that channels the improvisational methodology developed by world-renowned composer Yusef Abdul Lateef, a Detroit native who coined the Afro-futurist neologism “autophysiopsychic” to describe jazz, blues, gospel, and hip-hop as a way to push back against the over-commercialization of Black music. The group’s meditative, trance-inducing sound is a blend of spiritual-inflected multi-part harmonies accompanied by bass, guitar, drums, keyboards, and woodwinds. Also, at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 28 (location TBA), the ensemble participates in a panel discussion on the legacy of Lateef’s music, and, on Wednesday, March 29 at 6:30 p.m., in the Michigan Union Ballroom, it leads an open workshop on their creative method. 7:30 p.m., Residential College Keene Theater, 701 E. University. Free. lsa.umich.edu/world-performance. 678–0427.
Delta 88 and the Crossed Lines: Funky Rivertown Fest
The Funky Rivertown Fest is a new, five-day festival in downtown Ypsilanti dedicated to original music. The carefully curated program includes many Detroit Music Award winners and nominees playing across a wide variety of genres.
Indie folk rock band Delta 88 creates their own unique sound like haunted mountain spirituals played through a distortion pedal. From dark ballads to anthemic battle cries, their music is that of an American hymn.
The Crossed Lines is a recording project and a story. Think the B-side of Abbey Road meets the Red-Headed Stranger by Willie Nelson. Their music tells a story of hope, violence and lost love.
Riverside Arts Center, 76 N Huron ,Ypsilanti. https://www.eventbrite.com/o/roof-top-arts-inc-60918876863 20. funkyrivertownfest@gmail.com https://www.eventbrite.com/o/roof-top-arts-inc-60918876863 48-217-4165.General Meeting: Ann Arbor Ski Club.
Chamber Choir, Orpheus Singers, & University Choir: U-M Music School.
Eugene Rogers & Mark Stover lead these music student vocal ensembles in a performance of Bach’s Magnificat, as well as the premiere of up-and-coming Latvian composer Jēkabs Jančevskis’s White Birds, a celebration of youth and love with lyrics drawn from the poetry of William Butler Yeats. 8 p.m., Hill Auditorium. Free. 764–0583.
German Conversation.
Every Thurs. and 2nd & 4th Tues. All German speakers, native or non-native, invited for conversation with either or both of 2 long-running groups, the A2 Stammtisch (8 p.m. Thurs.) and the German Speakers Round Table (7:30 p.m. Tues., Mar. 7 & 21). Various times, Grizzly Peak Brewing Company, 120 W. Washington. Free admission. Preregistration for Thurs. A2 Stammtisch requested at heerdeolind@yahoo.com. 812–6375 (Tues.).
