6-7 FRI-SAT • THEATER Seussical, the Musical — It bombed on Broadway, but it’s been revamped and resuscitated into a tour-circuit success for the Cat in the Hat, Horton the Elephant, Mayzie LaBird, Gertrude McFuzz and a whole bunch of Whos. Created by the Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, the lyricist-composer team behind Once on This Island and the Tony Award-winner Ragtime, it’s a romp through a world of sing-song fantasy that celebrates the imagination for coo1 kiddies of all ages. At the Macomb Center for the Performing Arts (44575 Garfield Road, Clinton Twp.). Call 586-286-2141 for ticket information.
7 SAT • MUSIC Nathaniel Mayer & the Shanks — You know an underground soul legend by the garage rockers in his wake. And when it comes to Detroit’s own Nathaniel “Nay Dog” Mayer, he’s a legend for the über-serious rock ’n’ roll revelers. Beloved by old-school-philes for his “force of nature” stage presence, it turns out that Mayer is a lot more than a one-hit wonder who made the Billboard charts back in 1962 with “Village of Love.” Now backed by local rockers, the Shanks — featuring Jeff Meier (of Rocket 455 and the Detroit Cobras), Dale Beavers, Mike Murphy and Betty Brownlee — Mayer is poised to record a new album on Fat Possum Records out of Oxford, Miss. Come celebrate this local troubadour’s birthday at the Attic Bar (11667 Joseph Campau, Hamtramck) with the Avatars and Troy Gregory & the Stepsisters. Call 313-365-4194 for further info.
7 SAT • MUSIC Josh Bramhall — From somewhere in the blues estate of the Doobie Brothers, Bonnie Raitt, Gram Parsons and the Vaughan brothers — a guy like Josh Bramhall emerges. With the pedigree of a bona fide bluesman (his uncle and cousin are Doyle Bramhall and Doyle Bramhall Jr., respectively, heavies of the Texas blues scene), this proud kid doesn’t need the buoyancy of a last name to float to the top. His chops do it for him. His latest record, Dawn of Remembrance, is a testament to his down-home blues sensibilities. Songs like “Sinking Sands” (which, by the way, includes the workmanship of local musicians Kenny Tudric, Chris Codish and Johnny Evans) and “Another Death & Resurrection Show” are good stuff, y’all. If you dig heady rock ’n’ blues, you gotta catch this kid. At the Music Menu (511 Monroe, Detroit) with the Brakemen. Call 313-964-MENU.
5 THU • LITERATURE Melba Joyce Boyd — As publisher of African-American poets from Gwendolyn Brooks to Don L. Lee (now Haki Madhubuti), Dudley Randall and his Broadside Press were integral to the black arts explosion of the ’60s. As his one-time assistant editor and literary executor, poet and professor Melba Joyce Boyd is uniquely qualified to tell the story of Detroit’s late poet laureate. Boyd reads from and discusses her new book Wrestling with the Muse: Dudley Randall and the Broadside Press (Columbia University Press) in a free program Thursday, 7:30 p.m., at Marygrove College (8425 W. McNichols, Detroit, in Alumnae Hall). For information, call 313-927-1291.
Ongoing • ART Modest to Mansion: Frank Lloyd Wright in Detroit — Who understood the concept of “less is more” better than Frank Lloyd Wright? A master builder and lover of nature, Wright developed the very first truly American style of architecture and left behind some of the most beautiful constructions known to man. Cranbrook Art Museum’s latest exhibition, Modest to Mansion: Frank Lloyd Wright in Detroit, focuses on a variety of Frank Lloyd Wright’s houses in the Detroit area, including: the Wall, the Snowflake House, the Goddard House and the Turkel House. At the Cranbrook Art Museum (39221 N. Woodward Ave., Bloomfield Hills). Call 877-462-7262 for further information. Runs until April 4.
