Arts and Culture

Northern Michigan University Theatre & Dance will present the musical comedy “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” winner of a Tony Award for Best Book, at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 14-15 and 19-22 in Forest Roberts Theatre.

Northern Michigan University's English Department will host visiting writer Caroline Hovanec, who will give a presentation on “Vermin Theory: Parasitic Life from Kafka's Metamorphosis to Rawi Hage's Cockroaches.” Hovin will explore the usage of vermin in stories and how literature uses it to think differently about hospitality, debt and the re-assigned potential of the parasite. The presentation will take place at 3 p.m. Friday, Oct. 14, in 1313 Jamrich Hall.

To honor Indigenous Peoples' Day, Northern Michigan University's Center for Native American Studies (CNAS) and the Native American Student Association (NASA) are planning an event that begins at 10 a.m. Monday, Oct. 10, at the Land Acknowledgment Sign on the academic mall. The public is invited.

Northern Michigan University's Lydia M. Olson Library is one of 50 U.S. libraries selected from more than 250 applicants to host the “Americans and the Holocaust” traveling exhibition from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. The exhibition examines the motives, pressures and fears that shaped Americans' responses to Nazism, war and genocide in Europe during the 1930s and 1940s.

Jimmy Ludwig's 30-year acting career in New York City—from Broadway productions and performance art to film and television—taught him a valuable lesson: “Grit and a willingness to outwork everybody else” are far more important for sustained success than either talent, which is pervasive in such entertainment epicenters, or connections. He plans to share that sage advice with students in the new Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in acting program he is heading for Northern Michigan University Theatre and Dance.

Pendziwol will give a presentation on October 11 at 7 pm at the Northern Center, on the campus of Northern Michigan University in Marquette and on October 12 at 6 pm at Munising School Public Library. In conjunction with the lighthouse theme, there is also a special presentation by Dianna Stampfler on Death and Lighthouses on the Great Lakes on September 8 at 6 pm at Munising School Public Library. 

Northern Michigan University graduate assistant Benjamin Fidler won first place in the most recent international 3-Day Novel Contest. Elijah Sparkman, an MFA graduate of NMU, also participated and advanced to the final selection. Instead of relaxing during Labor Day weekend 2021, both wrote tirelessly to create a novel or novella in 72 hours, competing against other writers worldwide. The judges take nearly a year to read hundreds of submissions and recently released the results. 

The Finnish folk group Kardemimmit will perform at Northern Michigan University on Saturday, Sept. 17, as part of the Beaumier Heritage Concert Series. The performance is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and will take place at Reynolds Recital Hall. Tickets cost $10 for the general public and $5 for NMU students and those under 18.

Northern Michigan University alumna Karen Saari was commissioned to co-write a musical titled Ten Days in a Madhouse, about journalist Nellie Bly's experience infiltrating a notorious insane asylum to report on the abhorrent conditions. The show had its world premiere Aug. 19-27 through Music Theatre of Madison in Wisconsin. The Upper Peninsula native said it was research for an NMU class assignment that sparked her lifelong fascination with Bly.  

A new website dedicated to the symbiotic relationship between the Upper Peninsula and Northern Michigan University will be launched with a free public event at 4 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 18, in Ballroom I of the Northern Center at NMU. The website was created by the Beamier U.P. Heritage Center and funded by a donation from NMU History Professor Emeritus Jon Saari.