Hot Club jazz, LEGO skyscrapers and Addams Family musical: Shows to see in metro Detroit

Mid-September means fall arts season in metro Detroit has swung into full-throttle mode, abounding with options for every age and type. Here are just a few of the possibilities awaiting you during this fair-weather weekend.

Honoring a jazz legend

Ann Arbor’s first Django Reinhardt Festival will be held Saturday, Sept. 16 at The Ark. Hosted by Andrew Brown, of the award-winning Djangophonique ensemble, it will feature some of Michigan’s premiere players in the Hot Club style. They’ll pay tribute to legendary guitar innovator Django Reinhardt in a concert that will bring toe-tapping smiles to both longtime lovers and the newly curious.

The Ark, 316 S. Main St., Ann Arbor. 734-761-1818. TheArk.org. Tickets $20.

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Narratives in color

Interdisciplinary visual artist Scheherazade Washington Parris will debut her “Tools of Redaction: Form” exhibition at Ferndale’s M Contemporary Art with an opening reception Friday, Sept. 15 from 6-9 p.m. Parrish’s sprawling work history places Black women at its core, intertwining poetry, visual art and performance. A 2023 Modern Ancient Brown fellow, the Detroiter has been acclaimed for years throughout the metro region.

M Contemporary Art, 205 E. 9 Mile Rd., Ferndale. 347-665-7011. Mcontemporaryart.com.

Celebrating the best in photojournalism

The Michigan Press Photographers Association (MPPA) winners exhibition will take place on Sunday, Sept. 17, from 1-4 p.m. and honor highlights from the last year in Michigan photojournalism. The show will include work from Free Press photographers Sarabeth Maney, Mandi Wright, Junfu Han, David Rodríguez Muñoz and Ryan Garza, recipient of MPPA’s Photographer of the Year award.

Image Works, 13306 Michigan Ave., Dearborn.

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Quality time with The Family

Grosse Pointe Theatre presents “The Addams Family: A New Musical Comedy,” a delightful graveyard romp with beloved characters, closing this weekend. Marvel and laugh as the familiar relatives meet Wednesday’s new boyfriend, Gomez and Morticia struggle with their long and blissful relationship and Fester … well, let’s just say it involves the moon. The charming and sidesplitting musical experience runs through Sunday, Sept. 17.

Christian A. Fenton Performing Arts Center, 707 Vernier Rd., Grosse Pointe Woods. www.gpt.org/addams. Tickets $30.

Historic repercussions

The U.S. premiere of playwright Phillip McMahon’s “Come On Home,” first performed in 2018 in Dublin, Ireland, wraps this weekend as presented by The Michigan Irish Repertory Theatre. A scathing indictment of the Catholic Church’s sexual assault scandal, Michigan Irish Rep founder David Kiley said the play is the first to deal “squarely and directly with the impact on families of this great tragedy, but with a distinct ray of hope for victims that makes it a must-see.”

Marlene Boll Theatre, 1401 Broadway St., Detroit. 734-276-7183. www.michiganirishrep.org. Reserved tickets $20.

LEGO cities of the future

On Saturday, Sept. 16, the Michigan Science Center will open an all-new LEGO exhibition, “Towers of Tomorrow with LEGO Bricks,” featuring 20 LEGO versions of skyscrapers from North America, Asia and Australia constructed in breathtaking architectural detail. Visitors of all ages will be able to create their own “towers of tomorrow” with over 200,000 loose LEGO bricks available in hands-on construction areas.

Michigan Science Center, 5020 John R St., Detroit. 313-577-8400. www.mi-sci.org.

Detroit through the eyes of an expert

The work of Cyrus Tetteh, one of two official photographers for the office of Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, has captured the soul of the city in ways few have had the privileged access to do. Highlights from his catalogue are on display in “Only in Detroit,” an exhibition exclusive to Detroit’s Carr Center, on display through Sept. 29.

The Carr Center, 15 E. Kirby St., Detroit. 313-437-9244.

Homegrown jazz trumpet

Acclaimed Detroit trumpeter Dwight Adams will play a weekend residency at Cliff Bell’s jazz club from Friday, Sept. 15 through Sunday, Sept. 17. The soul-inspired wunderkind has played and recorded with such local legends as Marcus Belgrave, Rodney Whitaker, Shawn Wallace and Donald Walden, and has toured with Stevie Wonder.

Cliff Bell’s, 2030 Park Ave., Detroit. 313-961-2543. www.cliffbells.com

Contact Free Press arts and culture reporter Duante Beddingfield at dbeddingfield@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: LEGO skyscrapers, jazz, Addams Family musical: Shows to see in Detroit