The Gilmore Keyboard Festival’s Rising Stars series continued on Sunday evening with a stellar performance by Zhang Zuo, also known as “Zee Zee,” at the Wellspring Theater in Kalamazoo. Rising Stars seeks to offer a chance to see promising performers before their international breakthroughs, and if the audience learned anything from Zuo’s performance, it’s that she’s definitely one to keep an eye on.

With house lights up, white feathers float, twirl, glide, dive, and crash onto the black floor during the intermission. So begins the invitation into the hypnotic movement of Grand Rapids Ballet’s “Extremely Close,” the titular and closing piece of their current production, an elegant mixed bill of classical and contemporary dramatic ballet that draws inspiration from literature, Americana and inventive forms.

The term “gaslighting” has gotten a lot of play lately, with regard to personal relationships as well as the behavior of public figures. It’s used to describe a form of psychological manipulation or abuse in which a narcissist or sociopath plants seeds of doubt to destabilize the victim, causing them to question themselves, perhaps even their sanity.

Gone are the days of scanning TV Guide for something worth watching, or standing in silence in a line at the grocery store. 

Closing out the season, Holland Symphony Orchestra and three local musicians are taking on works by three of classical music’s most well-known composers: Mozart, Beethoven and Tchaikovsky.

In 1883, a group of nine exceptional women founded the St. Cecilia Music Society — today known as the St. Cecilia Music Center — and 135 years later, the organization is ready to party.

Zoom in on a suburban girls indoor soccer team, navigating difficult conversations through the lens of being a teenage girl. The Wolves is a modern take on the adolescent coming-of-age experience, showing just how much young people care about world issues and the obstacles they face day to day. 

The new hit musical Waitress is coming to West Michigan through Broadway Grand Rapids this month. The musical is based on the movie by Adrienne Shelly and has original music and lyrics by singer Sara Bareilles. On top of that, it was created by an all-female creative team. 

When the building housing What A Do Theatre was no longer an option for the organization, its executive director didn’t have to wonder what to do.

“Sometimes when life doesn’t go the way you want, you find something beautiful,” declares Sarah Bockel as Carole King, singer and songwriter extraordinaire, from behind a grand piano.