For many of us in Southwest Michigan, it’s simply not summer until The Barn Theatre in Augusta kicks off its season. And Michigan’s oldest resident summer stock theater’s 72nd season was shot out of a canon Tuesday with “The Civil War,” a wonderfully well-chosen and poignant vehicle for the talent in this year’s company that’s surprisingly relevant.

Broadway Grand Rapids presented opening night of “The King and I” at Devos Performance Hall Tuesday night. The full crowd was laughing and smiling all night at this hilarious musical with an exceptionally talented cast.

Southwest Michigan is host to a variety of wonderful theater — professional light-hearted summer fare, often of the musical variety, and edgy, boundary-pushing new work from small, pop-up new companies abounds. However, it’s rare to find new, deeply relevant work of a professional quality, and to come upon such a production is to realize one’s hunger for it.

Actors’ Theatre’s Living on the Edge playwriting festival is wrapping up this month with a final showcase of the top five scripts, written by local playwrights here in West Michigan. Each play, once fully staged, will last 8-15 minutes and they’re all written under one theme: (un)breakable.

Golden Girls, Mary Tyler Moore, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Cheers, The Jeffersons — if you’re suddenly feeling nostalgic, Olive and the Bitter Herbs is the show for you.

A new performing arts company has manifested in Grand Rapids, with a mission to bring entertainment as well as empowerment to the people and performers of West Michigan.

At first glance, the large-scale wall installations and sculptures look like succulents and flowers, multi-colored woven rugs, moths and butterflies.

Half a century later, the contemporary glass movement continues to gain momentum with competitions, exhibits and college programs. With Global Glass: A Survey of Form & Function, the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts is diving into this unique art movement.

Every summer, set along boardwalks, in waterfront parks and on closed-off city blocks, art fairs take over the lakeshore with handcrafted jewelry, paintings, pottery, photography, sculpture and much more.