This Week on One Detroit:
Worker-owned Pingree Detroit creates equity, shares success with employees
Pingree Detroit, a design and manufacturing cooperative near the city’s Fitzgerald neighborhood, is making the city a better place one recycled good at a time, and they’re doing it all while giving employees stock in the business. The worker-owned business takes recycled materials — leather, seatbelts and airbags for example — and turns them into consumer products like shoes, backpacks, purses, wallets, dog leases and more.
And if you’d hadn’t heard of them already, there’s a chance you might see them around the city this year. Co-Founder Jarret Schlaff says the company wants to host pop-ups frequently at Eastern Market and at events like the Detroit Auto Show.
Future of Work host and One Detroit producer Will Glover met with Schlaff at Pingree Detroit’s manufacturing space to talk about the company’s worker-owned business model and how it’s creating new opportunities for residents and veterans to learn valuable skills and share in the company’s success. They also talk about the challenges of being an entrepreneur and the benefits of building a company in Detroit.
‘The Peculiar Patriot’ play takes a powerful look at the injustices of America’s prison system
The systemic injustices of mass incarceration and the prison industrial complex have been put on display through a powerful one-woman play, “The Peculiar Patriot,” now playing at the Detroit Public Theatre through March 5. The show follows ‘Betsy’ LaQuanda Ross played by playwright and performer Liza Jessie Peterson, whose character is no stranger to the New York State Penitentiary system.
In her personal and professional life, Peterson has also become closely familiar with America’s prison system. The play was inspired by Peterson’s years of research and personal experiences, teaching and working with incarcerated people, and seeing the effects of the prison system on loved ones.
One Detroit’s Chris Jordan sat down with Peterson at the Detroit Public Theatre’s new theater to learn more about the inspiration behind the play and the impact it had on incarcerated people who’ve seen it performed. Plus, he talks with Detroit Public Theater Co-Founder and Producing Artistic Director Sarah Clare Corporandy about the theater’s Shakespeare in Prison program and how “The Peculiar Patriot” aligns with the program’s mission.
The Detroit Opera puts a contemporary spin on Handel’s ‘Xerxes’
It’s a comedy with undertones of seriousness and suffering, not like most of Handel’s other operas. “Xerxes” is now playing at the Detroit Opera on select dates March 4-12, with a contemporary spin on the classic 1738 masterpiece about love and the limits of power.
American countertenor on the rise Key’Mon Murrah, plays Xerxes, the most powerful man in Persia. Soprano Lauren Snouffer plays his love interest Romilda. One Detroit producer Sarah Zientarski-Smith got a behind-the-scenes look at the Detroit Opera’s “Xerxes.”
She talks with Murrah and Snouffer about their role as the leads in the opera, and what it means specifically for Murrah to play his dream role as Xerxes. Plus, she talks with “Xerxes” conductor Dame Jane Glover and Detroit Opera President Wayne Brown about the strength of the cast and the exciting performances audiences can look forward to.
One Detroit Weekend: March 3, 2023
Are you looking for some arts, culture, music and family-friendly fun to experience in Southeast Michigan this weekend? “Detroit Performs: Live from Marygrove” host and One Detroit contributor Satori Shakoor shares what Detroit and other metro cities have on tap for the March 3 weekend and into next week on “One Detroit Weekend.”
List of Upcoming Events:
- “The Jungle Book” takes center stage at the Baldwin Theatre in Royal Oak March 2-5, put on by the Stagecrafters Youth Theatre.
- Enjoy the chamber music concert “Black Angels” at the American Romanian Festival March 3 at the War Memorial in Grosse Pointe Farms. The performance starts at 7:30 p.m.
- Renowned jazz drummer Gayelynn McKinney performs at the Dirty Dog Jazz Café March 8-11.
- The Detroit Institute of Arts invites people to come draw ancient Greek and Roman sculptures for its “Drawing in the Galleries” series from 6-8:30 p.m. March 3.
- Choir! Choir! Choir! Comes to The Ark at 7:30 p.m. March 5 for a George Harrison singalong to celebrate the late Beatles’ 80th birthday.
- The Scarab Club presents “The Power of Color” exhibit through March 11. The exhibit features artists Jide Aje, M. Saffell Gardner, Carole Harris, Kristyn McKinney, Senghor Reid, and Shirley Woodson.
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