Upcoming: The Birds at the Redford Theatre wsg Tippi Hedren

A rare opportunity upcoming on September 28th and 29th to see Hitchcock's masterpiece, The Birds, at the historic Redford Theatre. All 3 shows (8 pm on the 28th, and 2 pm and 8 pm on the 29th) will include a special appearance by Tippi Hedren, the film's iconic star. She will have items for sale and will be available for autographs and photographs. Ms. Hedren has made news recently regarding her challenging working relationship with Alfred Hitchcock, so it certainly seems like a unique opportunity to meet the famous actress in person and hear about her experiences making this extraordinary movie. Tickets are only $5.

The Redford Theatre, opened in 1928, has a Japanese style motif inside, and has very clearly been lovingly restored and maintained over the years by the volunteers. The theatre is own and run by the non-profit Motor City Theatre Organ Society, and houses the theatre's original pipe organ (one of the only in the area). All shows feature organ music prior to the film. If you're a fan of old Hollywood classics that you can't see anywhere else, this is a goregeous, unique place to do it. There are even some great horror classics coming up in time for Halloween - c'mon Halloween silent films accompanied by the organ? Too good to be true!

Detroit Music: A Photographic Retrospective

Currently ongoing, the Whitdel Arts Gallery presents "Detroit Music. A Photographic Retrospective", featuring photography by Trever Long, Doug Coombe, and Marvin Shouuni. All 3 photographers capture a unique perspective of the Detroit music scene, and the musicians and performers that make it as dynamic and venerable as it is. Whether in portraiture or performance, the images are stunning and give a lovely perspective of the art that each performer brings to his or her craft.

The Whitdel Arts Gallery is located at 1250 Hubbard in Detroit, and the exhibition runs through April 28th.

Upcoming: Fight for Air Climb, March 4th

I had heard of these being a big deal in other cities (you know, the ones with sprawling skylines and tons of skyscrapers?) but I never even realized that Detroit had one of its own and apparently, it has been an annual event for the past few years. On March 4th, you can become either a hard core stair-climbing competitor, ready to elbow people out of the way as you round the corners, or just a casual climber out to support a great cause in the 'Fight for Air' Stair Climb at the GM Renaissance Center. The event is a fund-raiser for the American Lung Association, with money raised going towards education, research, and advocacy for pulmonary diseases and conditions such as asthma, COPD, and lung cancer.

The full climb is 70 flights, for a total of 1035 steps (and an elevator ride back down, which I imagine will smell really awesome); a half event is also available. They even have a Firefighter Full Gear Challenge, where participants are timed during their climb to the top in full firefighter personal protective equipment. You can join either as an individual or as a team, but each participant is responsible for the registration fee and raising a minimum of $100 in donations.

Kind of a nice change-up for runners or athletes looking for a slightly different type of event to participate in rather than your typical 5K. And to give you something to work towards and feel inadequate about, apparently the fastest time logged is less than 6 minutes. I don't know about you, but my quads and lungs are buring just thinking about that.

Upcoming: Dance Film Series: Gene Kelly at the Opera House

Disclaimer: Somewhere inside of me lives an 80-year old lady who adores old movie musicals and has an enormous, fan-crazy crush on Gene Kelly. He pulls out that million-watt smile that oozes charm, and I melt.

Which makes me even more delighted to know that as part of their Dance Film Series (side note: seriously, that smile in the picture at the previous link? Tell me that smile doesn't just evoke the definition of ubridled charm), the Detroit Opera House will be presenting a special evening with Kerry Kelly Novick, Gene Kelly's daughter. It will be a unique opportunity to see film selections and hear stories about her iconic father, and her experiences at home and on set when some of his greatest films and dance sequences were being created. I have a mental short-list of ones I would LOVE to hear her talk about, least of all would be, without question, the most amazing dance scene you will ever see on roller skates, from 'It's Always Fair Weather' (I disqualify any dance roller skating scenes from 'Xanadu' from being included in that category, by the way).

Cost is $10 at the door at the Opera House, Thursday February 9th, at 7pm. I don't know about you, but this crazy Gene Kelly fan will be there.

Upcoming: Ann Arbor Folk Festival, Friday Jan 27 and Saturday Jan 28

The 35^th Annual Ann Arbor Folk Festival arrives at Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor on Friday and Saturday, January 27^th and 28^th (doors at 6:30pm each night). And there will definitely be pretty wide variety of folk styles on display, ranging from Mexo-Americana, to blue grass chanteuses, to alt country.

The Friday night line-up boasts headliner Ryan Adams, who is currently touring in support of his new album, Ashes & Fire. Adams returns after a 2-year break from music, where previously, he had churned out albums like an assembly line, for example, releasing 3 albums in 2005 alone (Cold Roses and Jacksonville City Nights with his previous band The Cardinals, and 29, a solo effort). He says he’s clean now, which will hopefully lend itself to a more controlled, sober performance – I saw him perform at the Opera House in 2002, and he proceeding to polish off a bottle of wine before even being halfway through the set, leading to some amusing antics and him singing Sylvia Plath twice (in his defense, when taking suggestions from the crowd for what to sing, someone shouted it out even though he had already played it). Ashes & Fire is a very mellow album in the same vein as Love is Hell, so it should pair well with an acoustic-style performance. But here’s hoping he at least pulls out some old school stuff (a little Come Pick Me Up would make a girl happy).

Also joining the Friday line-up are Denver-based, Russian gypsy -sounding, DeVotchKa (by the way, did you know that they used to be a back-up band for burlesque shows and even toured with Dita Von Teese? Learn somethin’ new every day), probably best known for their contributions to the score and soundtrack for Little Miss Sunshine. Also on the docket are, Dawes, Carbon Leaf, Elephant Revival, Sunny War, and David Wax Museum.

The Saturday night line-up is a pretty venerable who’s-who of folk rock legends, including Nanci Griffith, Glen Campbell, and headliner, Emmylou Harris (making white hair hotter than any other woman possible). Glen Campbell announced last summer that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease 6 months earlier, so the Ann Arbor stop with the folk fest is included as part of his farewell tour, most likely the last time he’ll ever perform in the Detroit area. Not a performance to be missed. Also performing Saturday line-up are Michigan local Joe Henry (did you know that he’s married to Madonna’s sister? Again, sharing all kinds of interesting tidbits today), Sarah Jarosz, Caravan of Thieves, and Grammy-nominated Seth Glier.

As a warning, tickets may be a bit hard to come by at this point. Tickets are still available for Friday night ($35 to $47.50) but it appears as though Saturday is sold out. Or else I'm really technologically impaired and can't figure out how to purchase tickets through the Michigan Union Ticket Office’s website. But your best bet might be trolling the web to find someone looking to sell tickets. Based on the solid line-ups, I'm going to wager a bet that it would be worth every penny.