ArtPrize, Art Fair Coming Soon: The First Art Installation in DeVos Place is Up!

The first art installation at DeVos Place for ArtPrize 2010 happened yesterday! Helen Gotlib is the first of 53 artists to showcase their art at DeVos Place. Good luck, Helen!

Click here to visit our Facebook Fan Page for a brief bio on Helen and her work.

ArtPrize 2010, an international art contest decided solely by public vote, officially begins Wednesday, September 22 and runs to Sunday, October 10.

Don't miss Art Fair 2010!
During ArtPrize, thousands of people will be in Grand Rapids for one reason: to see, experience and discuss art. And thanks to Art Fair, every one of them can browse or buy artwork* from over 50 registered ArtPrize artists. Held in centrally-located DeVos Place, at the heart of the ArtPrize district, Art Fair 2010 provides another exciting way for artists and the public to connect. Wander through our booths at DeVos Place to find a one-of-a-kind piece of art that speaks to you.

*Artwork entered in ArtPrize is not available for purchase.

"Lottery Ticket"- In Theatres Tomorrow

Comedian Mike Epps’ highly anticipated new movie, “Lottery Ticket,” is coming to the big screens this Friday, August 20, 2010.

The film follows Kevin Carson (Bow Wow), an ordinary, young man, whose luck quickly changes after winning $370 million in the lottery. Epps plays ‘Reverend Taylor,’ a loan-shark that tries fervently, among Carson’s other neighbors, to take possession of the winning ticket.

The comic/actor can also currently be seen starring in his own one-hour standup special, “Mike Epps: Under-rated and Never Faded” airing on Comedy Central and Showtime.

Epps earned a large portion of his fame from his appearances in numerous feature films, including “Next Friday,” “Guess Who,” and “The Fighting Temptations,” as well as his hilarious cameo appearance in the 2009 mega-hit, “The Hangover.”

Epps can be seen live in Grand Rapids on Saturday, September 25th at 8:00 P.M for his on-stage performance at DeVos Performance Hall. Ticket prices for this event are $42 and $50. Tickets are available at the Van Andel Arena box office, by calling Ticketmaster at 1.800.745.3000 or order online at http://www.ticketmaster.com/. Tickets are also available at all Ticketmaster outlets.

For more information about Epps' Grand Rapids appearance, visit http://www.devosperformancehall.com/. To learn more about "Lottery Ticket", visit the movie website at http://www.lotteryticketmovie.com/#/home.

Food Network Celebrity Chef Coming to Grand Rapids!!

Celebrity chef Duff Goldman will be visiting Grand Rapids this fall!! The expert cake-creator will appear at DeVos Performance Hall on Wednesday, September 15 at 7PM to share stories about his rise to fame and his hit show.

Those in attendance will be served cake, baked by Duff and his team, in celebration of Hospice of Michigan's 30th Birthday.The cake design will be kept secret until the night of the event. You can, however, check out Charm City Cakes' website to see some other designs Duff has come up with in the past!

For more information about the event, please visit the DeVos Performance Hall website or Hospice of Michigan's website. Tickets can be purchased at the Van Andel Arena box office, through Ticketmaster at www.ticketmaster.com or by calling 1.800.745.3000.

Tickets On Sale NOW for "The Best of the Best" MMA at DeVos Place

Tickets for "The Best of the Best" went on sale this morning (August 18) at 10:00 AM! Get yours now by calling Ticketmaster at 1.800.745.3000, visiting www.ticketmaster.com, or by stopping in to the Van Andel Arena box office. Tickets will also be on sale at the DeVos Place box office when it re-opens on August 23rd.

Broadway GR presents Mannheim Steamroller

This holiday season, Mannheim Steamroller will celebrate a quarter-century of being America’s favorite Christmas music artist with a 25^th Christmas Anniversary Tour of their spectacular and beloved holiday show.

The show will feature the favorite Christmas music of Mannheim Steamroller along with state of the art multimedia effects in an intimate setting.

The group will perform live, for one performance only, at DeVos Performance Hall on Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2010 at 7:30 PM.

Ticket prices start at just $27.50 and can be purchased at the Van Andel Arena box office, www.ticketmaster.com, or by calling 1.800.745.3000.

Group discounts for 10 or more are available by calling 616.742.6185, e-mail groupsales@smggr.com

IQ Sports and Harley Davison of Grand Rapids Present "The Best of the Best" Amateur MMA at DeVos Place®

IQ Sports and Harley Davidson of Grand Rapids have collaborated to present “The Best of the Best,” a showcase of premier mixed martial artists at DeVos Place® on Saturday, August 28th at 7:30PM.

Thirty fighters, five from each of the top six gyms in the country, will compete in 15 featured fights. The gym with the best record at the end of the night will be crowned “The Best of the Best.” Additionally, the winning gym will receive a title belt and five percent of the night’s ticket sales. Emphasizing the quality of the participants, only fighters holding five-plus wins and one-or-less losses are scheduled to participate.

Professional scouts from several Pro Camps will be in attendance to watch these premier fighters as they prepare to enter professional mixed martial arts leagues. Time Bomb Production will be streaming a live feed of the event over the internet.

“Izzy” Quintanilla, General Manager of IQ Entertainment, will be announcing “The Best of the Best” to the press at 3PM on Saturday, August 14th at Harley Davidson in Hudsonville, MI.

Tickets go on sale on Wednesday, August 18th at 10AM and will be available at the Van Andel Arena® box office Ticketmaster ticket centers including D&W Stores and select Family Fare locations, charge by phone: 1.800.745.3000 or on-line: ticketmaster.com. Tickets will also be available at the DeVos Place box office when it re-opens on August 23rd.

Television Premiere of Lincoln Center Theater’s Production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific

Live From Lincoln Center will present the television premiere of Lincoln Center Theater's Tony Award-winning production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific on Wednesday, August 18 at 8:00 p.m. on WGVU-TV, live from the Vivian Beaumont Theater.

Lincoln Center Theater's new production of the musical classic won seven Tony Awards including Best Musical Revival as well as the Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Drama League Award for Best Musical Revival. South Pacific, directed by Bartlett Sher, began performances Saturday, March 1, 2008 and opened Thursday, April 3, 2008 at the Vivian Beaumont Theater, and will end its record breaking run on Sunday, August 22, 2010, making it the longest running Broadway revival of a Rodgers & Hammerstein musical.

The Lincoln Center Theater Production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific will kick off the 2010-2011 Fifth Third Bank Broadway Grand Rapids Series at DeVos Performance Hall for performances September 7-12, 2010. The performance schedule is Tuesday-Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8:00 p.m., Saturday at 2:00 p.m. & 8:00 p.m., and Sunday at 1:00 p.m. & 6:30 p.m. Tickets are available at the Van Andel Arena box office, all Ticketmaster locations, http://www.ticketmaster.com/ or via phone at 1.800.745.3000. Group discounts for 15 or more are available by calling 616.235.6285.

Based on James Michener’s Pulitzer Prize winning book Tales of the South Pacific, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific has music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and a book by Oscar Hammerstein II and Joshua Logan. Set on a tropical island during World War II, the musical tells the sweeping romantic story of two couples―US Navy nurse Nellie Forbush (Kelli O'Hara) and French plantation owner Emile de Becque (Tony Award winner Paulo Szot), and Navy Airman Joe Cable and a young local native girl, Liat―and how their happiness is threatened by the realities of the war and by their own prejudices.

Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific premiered at the Majestic Theatre on April 7, 1949 and went on to enjoy a five year Broadway run, winning countless awards including nine Tony Awards (including Best Musical) and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Considered by many the finest musical ever written, the score’s songs include such musical theater classics as Some Enchanted Evening, Younger Than Springtime, Bali Ha’i, There is Nothin’ Like A Dame, and A Wonderful Guy.

Live From Lincoln Center is in its 34th broadcast season. The series has received 13 Emmy Awards, most recently for the broadcast of New York City Opera's Madama Butterfly. Produced by Lincoln Center's John Goberman, this series has made the world's greatest artists on Lincoln Center's renowned stages accessible to home viewers in virtually every corner of the United States. It is the only series of live performing arts telecasts on American television today.

For more information on the Fifth Third Bank Broadway Grand Rapids series visit http://www.broadwaygrandrapids.com/