Written by Tanya Terry
Rodney Lontine, president and CEO of the Flint Institute of Music, recently talked to the Courier about the abundance and variety of arts and entertainment available, right in the city of Flint.
For example, the original production of “Ragtime” is playing at the Repertory Theatre.
According to the FIM website, the musical brings the tension-filled streets of twentieth-century New York to life through the timeless stories of three Americans: a white female socialite, a determined Jewish immigrant artist and a daring Black musician. Each story reveals the joys and perils of navigating social class, freedom, prejudice, hope and despair, and we come to see the stories of today’s Americans in a new way.
Genesee County residents save 30% on the show.
Final performances take place at 8 p.m., Friday, June 23 and Saturday, June 24 and at 2 p.m. Sunday, June 25.
Tickets are available at the in-person box office. FIM Ticket Center is open two hours prior to each performance. Tickets can also be purchased online at : https://tickets.thefim.org.
FSPA & FSO Chamber Series – Music on the Lawn, features musicians from the Flint School of Performing Arts and the Flint Symphony Orchestra every Friday in June at 6:30 on the FIM Dort Music Center, MacArthur Lawn.
In addition, over the summer, An Evening with Joe and J. Howell takes place at 8 p.m. July 7, at the Capitol Theatre.
Mike Epps will also present a comedy show at 7 p.m. September 1, at the Capitol Theatre.
Also, the FIM Presents the Gazillion Bubbles Show, from 2-7 p.m. on September 9 at the Whiting Auditorium.
“We had it last year, and it was well attended,” said Lontine. “It’s a family show. There’s a kid in all of us. Everybody gets excited. It literally is a sight and sound that there is a gazillion bubble bubbles.”
The summer will wind down with the Mott, Motown & More: Celebrity Lip Sync Reunion Tour at 7 p.m. September 22, at the Capitol.
“It’s the annual event Mott Community College puts on where there is lip-syncing and stakeholders in the community dress up and do their favorite songs,” said Lontine. “It’s a fundraiser for Mott Community College.”
The theme of the Flint Institute of Music’s upcoming 2023-2024 season is “Journey.”
“Journey is a journey through different genres of music, different theatres,” said Lontine. “Music is transformative in a positive way. It’s enriched civilization throughout. But it’s also transportive. So, it’s a journey is that when you listen to some music sometimes it takes you right back to a time and place. So, it’s very magical in that sense.”
The season kicks off August 5 with Grammy award-winning, multi-platinum singer, songwriter and guitarist Boz Scaggs at the FIM Capitol Theatre.
The FIM operates five performance venues: FIM Whiting Auditorium, FIM Elgood Theatre, FIM Bower Theatre, MacArthur Recital Hall at Dort Music Center and the Capitol Theatre, which has been recently renovated.
“You can see Broadway,” Lontine stated. “You can see Symphony Orchestra. You can see live-to-picture. A live-to-picture is when you have a full symphony orchestra playing music to a first-right film. We’re going to do ‘Batman’ this season, the original ‘Batman,’ with a full symphony. You also have dance. You can go right across the street to the Repertory Theatre. So, it’s a journey to the theatre!”
Lontine pointed out free and discounted entertainment and arts enrichment events held locally are often available through Genesee County Arts Education and Cultural Enrichment Millage funds for county residents.
For more information about the FIM, visit https://thefim.org/.
