(credit: Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas Musical/Facebook)

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. The season ushers in beautiful, festive lights with beacons of joy amidst Michigan’s glistening, new-fallen snow. The lights burn bright on the stages of Detroit theatres, too, as production companies deck their halls with boughs of holly and mistletoe, aromatic Christmas trees and twinkling lights dancing to beloved holiday songs. 

There are dozens of holiday spectacles to attend this year. Here are some of the best.

“How The Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical”
Detroit Opera House
1526 Broadway St.
Detroit, MI 48226
(313) 872-1000
www.broadwayindetroit.com
Dates: December 18-30, 2012

If you enjoyed watching Dr. Seuss while you were a child, you will love “How The Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical.” Running throughout December, this is the most anticipated show of the season. Max the Dog spins a delightful tale while the nasty, bullying Grinch (whose heart is two sizes too small) burgles Whoville with the intent to steal Christmas. The Grinch is an icon of Christmas albeit a parody of the commercialism that usurped the spiritual meaning of the holiday.

“Seussical, the Musical”
Grosse Pointe Theatre
Performs at Fries Auditorium at the Grosse Pointe War Memorial
32 Lake Shore Drive
Grosse Pointe Farms, MI 48236
(313) 881-4004
www.gpt.org
Dates: December 1-2, 2012

For your holiday pleasure, the Grosse Pointe Theatre presents an all children version of “Seussical The Musical,” a rather complex amalgamation of all the Dr. Seuss stories we hold near and dear to our hearts. Running for a limited time, this play gives the community’s children an opportunity to share the spirit of wonder and excitement of their innocent years. From the mouths of babes, audiences will hear familiar tunes from Dr. Seuss’ classic shows.

“Forever Christmas”
Avon Players
1185 Washington Road
Rochester, MI 48306
(248) 608-9077
www.avonplayers.org
Dates: November 30 through December 15, 2012

Avon Players presents a unique show for the holidays, bringing to stage a novel twist of the variety-show format featuring Christmas carols, traditional works and contemporary works. New songs by Grammy and Dove Award-winning composer, arranger and orchestor David T Clydsdale, “Come On, It’s Christmas” and “Let’s have a Christmas Celebration” will enjoy their Michigan stage debut. “Forever Christmas” is a traditional event for the theatre troupe, directed by John (JD) Deierlein, that has been held biennially over the past decade. Each year, the show is original with new songs and new themes. The forthcoming show will feature actors in comedy skits with lots of fun, lighter moments. A new rendition of “Hark The Herald” by David Phelps is included in this not-to-miss stage show.

“A Christmas Carol”
Meadow Brook Theatre
Oakland University
207 Wilson Hall
Rochester, MI 48309
(248) 377-3300
www.mbtheatre.com
Dates: November 16 through December 23, 2012

An annual tradition for the past 31 years, “A Christmas Carol” is the flagship production for Meadow Brook Theatre’s holiday season. The stagecraft is fascinating. With amazing costumes and superb acting, this Christmas favorite never gets old. Based on the novella by English author Charles Dickens, this play offers a biting commentary on exploitation of the poor in Victorian London. If you arrive about 30 minutes prior to curtain, you will get the bonus feature of carolers in the lobby dressed in historic costumes.

“Clay Aiken: Joyful Noise”
The Fox Theatre
2211 Woodward Ave.
Detroit, MI 48201
(313) 471-6611
www.olympiaentertainment.com
Date: December 14, 2012

America’s sweetheart, Clay Aiken, comes to the Detroit stage to share selections from his ”Merry Christmas with Love” album, plus hits from his five studio CDs. His holiday show includes stories, jokes, songs and audience interaction. Since his rise to fame on “American Idol,” Aiken has become a history-breaking, award-winning singer, Broadway actor, television star and activist for disabilities and gay rights. Tickets will go fast. The last time he came to Detroit, the house was completely sold out.

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/top-lists/2012-detroit-holiday-theater-preview/

Adrien Grenier, the star of HBO's "Entourage," visited Detroit again last week -- and it wasn't to shoot a movie.

Grenier, a noted environmental supporter, took a tour of the city's Recycle Here! facility on Holden Street in New Center last Wednesday afternoon, as well as the Lincoln Street Art Park, which Recycle Here! helps support.

When Grenier isn't acting or working behind the camera, he's also the co-founder of both shft.com, an environmental lifestyle website that's hoping to change the mindset of green living through sustainable design and culture, plus a Seattle-based microbrewery, the Churchkey Can Company. He previously visited Detroit in June for an event with Ford Motor Co. SHFT is working with Ford to produce a short documentary series on sustainability and the innovators and game changers who bring about sustainable shifts.

Recycle Here! founder Matthew Naimi says Grenier is "very interested in the Detroit story and especially in the rebirth of Detroit. He is really intrigued by what we're doing in Detroit right now, and the way the green movement is really grassroots -- that it's so hands-on and so DIY."

"He loves it," Naimi adds. "He actually really did."

Grenier even posted for a picture with Detroiter Rachel Klegon, who's the director of Green Living Science, the program's educational component. Recycle Here! has worked in the Detroit Public Schools since 2007 and has reached over 25,000 students.

A HuffPost tipster later told us that Grenier came into the Detroit Beer Co. on Broadway downtown during the waning moments of the Detroit Tigers-Oakland A's game on Oct. 10 with a small "entourage" of A's-loving friends.

"He was wearing a sweater, could have been a cardigan, with a scarf around his neck and a stupid haircut. I do remember that he had no facial hair, which I found strange because most pictures of Vincent Chase are him with facial hair," says our HBO-watching reader.

While Grenier might love Detroit, he's not a Tigers fan yet -- our source says he was doing his best to play up the Oakland-Detroit rivalry until the game ended.

Grenier's management didn't respond to a request for comment from The Huffington Post.
 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/12/adrian-grenier-detroit-recycle-here_n_1961903.html?ref=topbar

Sports bars are not created equal, especially during playoff season in October.

Some watering holes seem designed for heavy drinking during the heavy hitting.. while a couple old-timer joints are suddenly chock-full of retirees remembering the glory days of the boys in blue and orange.

Are you a Detroit Tigers die-hard? A casual bandwagon fan? Or maybe you don't even like baseball. Wherever you fall in the lineup, click through the slideshow for our advice on where to park yourselves this playoff season (we even called "foul" on a few reputable venues that just aren't quite suited for your sports fan spirit). Also included are addresses and estimated walking distances from Google Maps to help pencil in your Tigers playoff plans. 

Click Here for Detroit Bar List

Photo Credit: Miranda Clark

40 works of art and two specialty hogs: that's what guests will have a chance to bid on in a silent auction Saturday to benefit a new venture in Detroit's Eastern Market neighborhood.

That inclusivity is a testament to the way food, art, job training, culture and pleasure intersect at Market Studio Kitchen, a small, experimental school founded by Leon Johnson. Johnson is an educator, artist and chef living in Eastern Market.

MSK teaches cooking and nutrition basics in a larger context that celebrates eating and examines the connectivity of our food system. In its first stage, the school has had its first three classes, three weeks each with 45 students total. MSK paired with North Oakland Vocational Association, an organization that provides skill building and job training programs to individuals with developmental disabilities.

"One of the first priorities when we started laying out the vision is that we would not prescribe a curriculum," Johnson said. "So for the last nine weeks we were learning from them, based on questions and [their existing] food narratives."

For many of them, using knives, preparing simple dishes and even buying food were new experiences.

"None of them recognized an avocado, or held a tomato," Johnson said. "One of the questions we got from [student] Cherelle Hasberry is, 'This what's on a McDonald's [sandwich]?'"

Students were exposed to the process that puts food on their plate, learning necessary skills along the way. They received budgets and went shopping at Eastern Market, where they met farmers who grew the vegetable they used when making salsa and guacamole.

At each step along the way, conversations addressed the larger role of food and its place in their lives. Rather than follow the recipe for salsa to the letter, they were encouraged to make changes with their team, take ownership over what they created and think about who they would be serving it to.

"There was a whole bunch of vegetables I've never heard of," said Marcel, a 16-year-old who was referred to NOVA by a Children's Center program that he credits for helping him deal with anger and social issues. "Learning a way to cook, it's a great opportunity. I'm going to cook for my mother, my aunt."

"A core principle of Market Studio Kitchen is how fast can we turn it around," Johnson explained. "So their application can be turned around within 24 hours."

Marcel went home after his first day and attempted to cook one of his favorite foods, french fries.

Johnson, who seeks to show the pleasure involved in food said he was surprised, and inspired by how fast students who had little experience "got it."

"The biggest a**kicker was how easy it moved into ownership," he said. "And then a kind of terror kicks in because how is this possible to sustain in the rest of flowchart that constitutes their lives. They got into a van at 3 o'clock and went into other systems that were calibrated differently."

Each three-week class ended with a pop-up restaurant, where students learned the roles of restaurant workers, designed menus and thought about decor. The immersive experience prepared students to work with food, as well as teaching them social skills and boosting confidence.

"I want to get a job [at MotorCity Casino] and show them what I can do," said 34-year-old LaToya Webster.

Clara Hasberry came to the pop-up restaurant for her 23-year-old daughter Cherrelle Hasberry's graduation.

"I was hoping she could take on some healthy skills, how to cook fresh vegetables, how to shop," Hasberry said about her daughter, who lives with her and has Asperger's syndrome. "She knows everything about a computer, but the social skills … when it come to people she can shy away."

"When she came to the table and said, 'May I take your order,' I almost hit the floor," Hasberry said.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/12/market-studio-kitchen-detroit-_n_1960278.html?utm_hp_ref=detroit