Floral Living Jewelry with Designer Susan McLeary

Join floral designer Susan McLeary as she leads us in a step by step workshop creating floral art jewelry. Using live succulents you can create a one-of-a-kind floral ring!

Susan’s work has been featured on the cover of Fusion Flowers Magazine and in leading industry publications and websites including Modern Wedding Flowers, Style Me Pretty, and The Knot.

Healthy Transitions Through Menopause

This session will empower women with tips for making a healthy and smooth transition through menopause and is cosponsored by The University of Michigan Health System’s Women’s Health Program.

Physician experts from the fields of obstetrics and gynecology, psychiatry, and female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery will discuss their approaches to the menopausal transition.

The event will begin with a keynote presentation by Helen Kang Morgan, MD. Dr. Morgan is a life-long Ann Arbor native and a faculty member of the Division of Women’s Health at the University of Michigan. She is very involved in undergraduate and medical student education, and has an interest in professional identity formation for future health care providers. Dr. Morgan is a life-long Ann Arbor native and a faculty member of the Division of Women’s Health at the University of Michigan. She sees patients at East Ann Arbor Health Center, and has had a long interest in the peri-menopausal and menopausal transition.

Panelists include:
o Maria Muzik MD, MS, faculty member at the University of Michigan Department of Psychiatry and director of the U-M Psychiatry Women and Infants Mental Health Clinic

o Megan O’Brien Schimpf, MD, Associate Professor at the University of Michigan Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology specializing in surgical outcomes, impact of obstetrics on the pelvic floor, vaginal and robotic surgery for prolapse along with urinary incontinence treatments

o Erin Martinez, LMSW, Founder and Director of Dream Catchers Well-Being Therapy Practice in Dearborn, Michigan, and Assistant Director of the University of Michigan Sexual Health Certificate Program

Siusan O'Rourke And Zig Zeitler: Traditional Irish Music And Folklore

Enjoy an evening of delightful Irish music and folklore with an acclaimed duo that NPR has called “one of the strongest Irish American duos out there! Great vocals & great instrumentals!”

Siusan O’Rourke & Zig Zeitler are an exceptional Celtic and World Music duo. Siusan plays guitar and is a true alto and a second generation Irish American from Brooklyn. She chooses songs in both English and Gaelic, performing songs over 250 years old and following it with a contemporary song arranged in flavors of the past. O’Rourke’s own original compositions also reflect the traditional music that she loves. In Gaelic or English, Siusan O'Rourke's dark alto voice is as enveloping as the Irish mist and as warm as a peat fire.

The instrumental landscape of the duo is accomplished by the remarkably versatile musician Zig Zeitler. Zig’s background is Blues and World Music. He toured extensively, had a successful run with his Zydeco Cajun Band for many years and has released 18 CDs. Zeitler brings crisp leads on the harp, mandolin, fiddle, octave violin, an occasional harmonica and especially the Irish bouzouki.

Together Zig and Siusan bring years of craft and performing savvy to the stage, 21st-century artists embodying the best that Irish seeds have produced from American soil.

An Evening with John Latini

Do not miss award-winning Michigan musician John Latini!

Commanding the stage alone, Latini personifies the best the heartland, and especially Michigan's righteous rock history, have to offer: an honest, straight-ahead, no-nonsense commitment to real songs about real people.

In addition to being a serious crafter of clever, literate songs, Latini is the purveyor of a slick, blues-soaked, economically hard-driving guitar style.

Ukulele Party!

Bring the whole family to clap and sing along with this band featuring way too many ukuleles, a fiddle, a double banjo bass, and other musical instruments. The songs will be eclectic, some familiar, some funny with lots of audience participation.

Women Traveling Solo: Travel Tips With Margaret Flannery of Hostelling International USA

Traveling alone as a woman can be a powerful, exciting growth experience. However, safety is always a consideration and some prep work before you go will help you make the most out of your journey. Margaret Flannery of Hostelling International USA will provide tips on traveling alone safely and enjoyably. Information about budgeting, accommodations, safety, language, and cultural customs will be covered.

Award-Winning Mystery Author Allison Leotta Discusses Her Detroit-Based New Novel "A Good Killing"

Allison Leotta is a former federal sex-crimes prosecutor who creates compelling and thrilling fiction based on her real-life experience. She served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Washington DC, where she handled sex crimes, domestic violence, and crimes against children.

In her latest novel, A Good Killing, Leotta turns her eye toward small-town secrets hidden in a big football program. Drawing inspiration from the Steubenville rape case and the Jerry Sandusky trial, this novel features a strong female protagonist, a gripping premise, and heart-wrenching suspense that will keep you hooked until the last page.

A graduate of Michigan State University and Harvard Law School Allison Leotta has provided legal commentary for outlets such as CNN, PBS, Reuters TV, and MSNBC. Other novels include Law of Attraction, Discretion, and Speak of the Devil. Allison also runs an award-winning blog called The Prime-Time Crime Review, where she reality-checks TV crime dramas.

This event is cosponsored by Aunt Agatha's Mystery Bookstore.

"Why Shakespeare?" With Janice L Blixt, Producing Artistic Director of the Michigan Shakespeare Festival

Join Jan for a delightful evening as she answers that frequent question in a format combining history, literary criticism, and pop culture. She will also discuss the 21st Anniversary Season of the Michigan Shakespeare Festival, featuring productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Henry IV, and Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s The Rivals.

Jan Blixt has been a professional director and classical actor in Chicago and Michigan for nearly 20 years, having played most of the great female roles from Lady Macbeth to Twelfth Night’s Olivia. Entering her fifth year as the MSF's Artistic Director, Blixt will direct A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Henry IV.

In 2014, she directed the acclaimed Hamlet, Prince of Denmark and the Wilde Award for Best Comedy, winning for The Importance of Being Earnest. In 2013 she directed Twelfth Night, and in 2012, she directed both Richard III & George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion. She has also directed Romeo & Juliet, Much Ado About Nothing and won the Wilde-Award for her Production of The Winter's Tale. She also adapted and directs the ongoing MSF touring productions of Romeo & Juliet and Macbeth.

As the Official Shakespeare Festival of the State of Michigan, the Michigan Shakespeare Festival is a professional Equity theatre company (LOA/LORT) dedicated to producing world-class classical plays. Now in preparation for their 21st year, the Festival performs in Jackson's lovely Baughman Theatre, and for the first time this year, they are expanding to Canton's beautiful Village Theatre of Cherry Hill. The Michigan Shakespeare Festival inspires and entertains a diverse audience while further developing an appreciation for professional performances of Shakespeare's works and other classical plays.