'Midsummer Nights in Midtown' Turn Wayne State's Cultural District Into a SOHO-Style...

'Midsummer Nights in Midtown' Turn Wayne State's Cultural District Into a
SOHO-Style Entertainment Destination Featuring Name Acts Performing Free,
Open-Air Weekend Concerts in June

DETROIT, May 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- New York City'sEast Village Opera
Company, a rock group that transforms traditional operatic pieces into modern
musical arrangements, should feel right at home performing in Wayne State's
Midtown Detroit cultural district, in the epicenter of an artistic fringe
community not unlike the one associated with New York University. EVOC will
join former Ann Arbor rock sensation Tally Hall, popular local R&B crooner
Thornetta Davis, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and Wayne State's
world-acclaimed professor Chris Collins and the Detroit Jazz Collective as one
of many eclectic performances headlining Midsummer Nights in Midtown.

"There is a growing appetite for social, cultural and intellectual stimulation
within the university's burgeoning campus community and surrounding areas of
metropolitan Detroit," said Sue Mosey, executive director of the University
Cultural Center Association (UCCA), and leader of Detroit's Midtown
redevelopment efforts. "'Midsummer Nights in Midtown' is an unprecedented
opportunity to expose locals, tourists and suburbanites to the richness of
Midtown's museums, galleries and performance venues."

Co-created by Wayne State University and the University Cultural Center
Association (UCCA) in lieu of the Detroit Festival of the Arts, "Midsummer
Nights" is an open-air summertime festival and concert series that spotlights
a different Midtown venue every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evening in
June. The series features an admission-free performance by international,
national and local guest artists ranging from acclaimed musicians to
award-winning poets and authors, and a large-puppet theater for children. In
total there will be more than a dozen participating venues and over 25
performances amid the state's premier arts and cultural institutions,
neighborhood galleries, and entertainment facilities.

Highlights

Thursday, June 4th -- The N'Namdi Arts Center featuring Malcolm-Jamal
Warner'sMiles Long, and the Detroit Artists Market presenting Tally Hall, Ann
Arbor's upbeat rock band favorite returns triumphantly from New York City. The
once-Cosby Show youngster, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, now a celebrated musician in
his own right, appears with his Los Angeles band.

Saturday, June 6th -- American poet and 2008 National Book Award winner, Mark
Doty, headlines the "Midsummer LitFest" at the Scarab Club. Considered "a star
of contemporary American poetry," Doty is the author of seven books of poems
and three memoirs. Coordinated with Springfed Arts and WSU English professor,
M.L. Liebler, this progressive literary festival will also include readings by
national and regional poets and authors, and music by noted jazz musicians.

Saturday, June 13th-- The Detroit Science Center will host the "Midsummer
Children's Fair" featuring the Hudson Vagabond Puppets' latest production,
"Butterfly: The Story of a Life Cycle." This evening of non-stop, hands-on fun
includes 24 young creatives in the Youth Artists Market and more than a dozen
imaginative children's make-and-take crafts for all ages -- as well as the
Detroit Science Center's huge variety of novel installations and educational
experiences.

Thursday, June 18th-- Detroit vocalist and perennial favorite, Thornetta
Davis, opens for the London-based, Jamaican-born poet, Linton Kwesi Johnson,
who is credited as creator of the hybrid genre of reggae poetry. A book
signing will start the evening at the Detroit Public Library Main Branch,
Thursday, June 18th.

Saturday, June 20th -- The Detroit Symphony Orchestra will perform selections
from "A Midsummer Night's Dream" on Saturday, June 20th, in a late-night
outdoor concert held on the lawn adjacent to The Ellington parking structure,
across from Orchestra Hall. San Francisco's extraordinary aerial dance troupe,
Project Bandaloop, will add their beautiful, gravity-defying vertical
choreography, performing to the dulcet sounds of the celebrated hometown
orchestra. Opening the evening's open-air music and dance festivities is NYC's
East Village Opera Company, a rock group -- composed of two guitarists, a
bassist, a percussionist, a string quartet and a vocalist -- that has toured
the world.

Wednesday, June 24th -- Spectators can also watch as the sidewalks of Wayne
State's campus come to life during a street painting exhibition on Wednesday,
June 24 and Thursday, June 25. A mix of high school, college and professional
artists will be recreating well-known works of art in chalk along Wayne
State's Reuther Mall from noon to 8 p.m.

Thursday, June 25th -- Wayne State University's Community Arts Auditorium
hosts a special evening of jazz, Thursday, June 25th, featuring special guests
The Bad Plus. This Minneapolis acoustic jazz trio performs modern avant-garde
jazz with influences of rock and pop. Professor Chris Collins leads the WSU
Detroit Jazz Collective bringing together Jazz Department faculty, Detroit
Jazz artists and outstanding WSU jazz students presenting new music arranged
and composed by the members.

Presented by the Detroit International Jazz Festival, this evening's screening
of A Great Day In Harlem will include introduction of the jazz fest's own "A
Great Day In Detroit" photo. This Academy Award nominated documentary tells
the story behind the legendary August 1958 photograph of 57 of the world's
greatest jazz stars who snapped a picture that day that would live forever.

Saturday, June 27th-- The "Canfield St. Street Party," Saturday, June 27th
will close the month-long celebration with an evening of special guests,
featuring the Lovell Sisters and the internationally known Orishas. Orishas,
a two-time Grammy Award winning trio, combines hip hop with classic Cuban
beats, will be a "can't miss" event to conclude this summer series. Food and
drink stations supplied by the Traffic Jam & Snug Restaurant, and a retail
booth area showcasing some of Midtown's finest boutique businesses.

Midsummer Nights in Midtown is co-produced by the University Cultural Center
Association and Wayne State University with sponsorship from MASCO, Michigan
Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs, and Wayne State University. Valet
parking will be available for all events at designated locations.

For more information and a complete listing of all the venues and
performances, parking locations, and food & drink options, visit
www.midsummernightsinmidtown.com or call 313.577.5088.

Wayne State University is a premier institution of higher education offering
more than 350 academic programs through 13 schools and colleges to more than
31,000 students.

The University Cultural Center Association (UCCA) is a nonprofit planning and
development organization that supports the physical maintenance and
revitalization of Midtown Detroit, while working to enhance public awareness,
appreciation and use of the district. Founded in 1976, the organization has
been working to encourage new housing development, increased visitorship to
area attractions, and new commercial activity within the neighborhood. Since
2005, UCCA has raised over $20 million for a variety of initiatives such as
the streetscaping of Woodward Avenue, the Midtown Loop Greenway, and
commercial facade improvements. In addition, UCCA has facilitated funding for
over 30 residential developments, resulting in over 700 new units of housing.
Other projects undertaken include the installation of a comprehensive
wayfinding signage system for the district, the development of the Inn on
Ferry Street, public park and median improvements, and the production of
special events like Noel Night.

SOURCE Wayne State University

Francine Wunder of Wayne State University, +1-313-577-2150,
fwunder@dmac.wayne.edu