The organizers of THE DROP, the Motor City New Year’s Eve event that’s highlighted by a large ball drop at midnight, say they’ve outgrown their Campus Martius home, so they’re packing up and moving a few blocks north to Beacon Park, Detroit’s new outdoor hot spot at Grand River and First Street. As in years past, the festivities will start early with kiddie activities at 4 p.m. Sunday and a ball drop for kids at 6:30. Parties at two heated and carpeted pavilions get under way at 8 p.m. ($99 and up for the dressy Motown Countdown, $60 and up for a more casual event called simply the Celebration). Admission includes eight drink tickets, dancing and late-night pizza. The main event outdoors will include performances by Danielle Bahoora from “The Voice,” the Motown Memories Band, the Detroit Funk Band and the Motor City All Stars Band. As the midnight hour approaches, Motown legend Martha Reeves will take the stage to perform “Dancing in the Street.” She’ll be joined by hometown favorite Angela Davis for “Light Up Detroit.”
Activities start at 4 p.m. Sunday, Beacon Park, downtown Detroit. motorcitynye.com.
From “I Want You Back” to “Thriller” and “I’ll Be There” to “Beat It,” the music of King of Pop Michael Jackson is coming to life on New Year’s Eve in Detroit. The DETROIT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, conductor Brent Havens and vocalist James Delisco are collaborating to deliver an evening of hits drawn from each stage of Jackson’s career, including his early years with the Jackson 5. The music starts at 10 p.m. and continues until midnight, but if you want to make an evening of it, party packages are available that include pre-concert activities (8-10 p.m.) and an afterglow with a buffet breakfast (midnight-2 a.m.) The packages come with various amenities and are priced from $125 to $5,000. If you’re staying home on New Year’s Eve but a part of you feels as if you’ve got to be there, you can watch the concert live at 10 p.m. on Detroit Public TV or catch the live webcast at dso.org/live.
10 p.m. Sunday, Orchestra Hall, Max M. and Marjorie S. Music Center, Detroit. 313-576-5111. dso.org. Tickets for concert only: $58-$88.
Tea and a movie. That’s what the Detroit Film Theatre is offering on three afternoons this weekend for restless kids on holiday break from school and harried parents who are eager to keep them entertained. The free TEA TIME THEATRE offerings from Japan and France screen at 2 p.m. Friday-Sunday and will be preceded by an all-ages tea party at 1 p.m. each day. Friday’s film, “Napping Princess,” is a 2016 anime adventure about a sleepy Japanese girl who discovers that her dreams are actually revelations. Saturday’s “April and the Extraordinary World” (France, 2015) is a sci-fi adventure set in an alternate steampunk universe that features the voices of Paul Giamatti, Marion Cotillard and J.K. Simmons. Japan’s 1995 “Whisper of the Heart,” screening Sunday, is about a creative boy and girl who are brought together through a series of magical incidents.
1 p.m. (tea party) and 2 p.m. (film screenings) Friday-Sunday, Detroit Film Theatre at the Detroit Institute of Arts. 313-833-7900. dia.org/dft. Free.
HANDS-ON HOLIDAYS, 13 days of fun and educational activities for children on break from school, continues through Jan. 7 at the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum. Among the activities: Drummunity, an interactive program featuring drums, percussion and drum circle games (1 and 3 p.m. Thursday-Friday); Ron Loyd the Bubble Man and his popular soap bubble shows (1 and 3 p.m. Saturday-Sunday), and Professor Ray and his mind-over-matter science show, which sets out to answer some intriguing questions: How can gas be solid? What is the coldest matter can get? What happens when liquid expands 700 times its previous size? (1 and 3 p.m. Jan. 6-7).
Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum hours this week: 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Thursday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday-Sunday, noon-5 p.m. New Year’s Day, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday. 734-995-5439. aahom.org. $12.50, $5 after 5 p.m. on Thursdays, free to ages 23 months and younger.
It’s billed as an evening of “Celtic music and dance to chase the winter away.” MICK GAVIN’S CROSSROADS CEILI, held every December at the Ark in Ann Arbor, celebrates the winter solstice as well as all things green and Irish. Fiddler and accordionist Mick Gavin will welcome family members Michael Gavin (fiddle, banjo and so forth) and Shawn Gavin (flute, pipes and whistle) along with fiddlers Kelsey Lutz and Holland Raper; Colleen Shanks (flute, pipes and whistle) and Rachel Pearson (bass, songs). Special guests will be Devin Shepherd (fiddle) and Marta Cook (Irish harp). Keeping things lively and fluid will be dancers from the Quinn School of Irish Dance in Kalamazoo.
7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, the Ark, Ann Arbor. 734-761-1451. theark.org. $20-$37 (some tickets include a dinner option).
Comic KEITH ALBERSTADT, who has been making the rounds of comedy clubs and late-night talk shows for a decade or so, lands at Mark Ridley’s Comedy Castle this weekend for four pre-New Year’s shows. The Nashville native’s brand of humor is wry, dry and understated, and though he’s fond of sarcasm, he somehow manages to avoid sounding mean-spirited or condescending when he weighs in on green tea, vegetarians and his 78-year-old father-in-law’s mistaken case of chlamydia. Fans of cerebral comedy appreciate the Vanderbilt grad’s less-is more delivery of jokes that often invite a second or two of reflection before they make a full landing.
7:30 p.m. Thursday, 7:15 p.m. Friday, 7 & 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Mark Ridley’s Comedy Castle, Royal Oak. 248-542-9900. comedycastle.com. $10, $18.
You’ll find plenty of advice this week about where to eat, drink and be merry on New Year’s Eve, but what’s a party-weary soul to do on the afternoon of New Year’s Day? Eat-and-play destination PUNCH BOWL SOCIAL in Detroit suggests brunch, specifically its popular plate featuring buttermilk biscuits, mushroom gravy, potatoes, avocado and eggs any style. Too much food for the day after, you say? Well, you can ensure good fortune for the coming year with a simple and healthful serving of Punch Bowl’s black-eyed-pea hummus. Wash everything down (and do some detoxing) with a housemade juice blend like the Ginger Rogers (a mix of cucumbers, pears, lemon and ginger shrub).
Punch Bowl Social opens at 11 a.m. New Year’s Day. 313-749-9738. punchbowlsocial.com/location/detroit.
It’s a New Year’s celebration in motion! Kiddies can ring in 2018 a full 12 hours ahead of the rest of metro Detroit at the Skateland Family Fun Center in Westland. The roller rink is hosting the family-friendly NOON YEAR’S EVE complete with a ball drop and toast at high noon Sunday.
11 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday, Skateland Family Fun Center, Westland. 734-326-2800. skatelandwestmi.com. $8 admission, $3 rental fee for skates or blades.
— Greg Crawford, Detroit Free Press
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