Michigan Travel · Petoskey
Petoskey November events at Great Lakes Center for the Arts: Saving Private Ryan on Veterans Day, Interlochen and a free mbira show
PETOSKEY — November at Great Lakes Center for the Arts, the 525-seat theater in Bay Harbor just west of Petoskey, mixes a free afternoon concert, two pay-what-you-choose movie nights and student orchestras from across northern Michigan.
The calendar starts Tuesday, Nov. 3, and runs into the holidays. Several of the shows are cheap or free.
Here is the November lineup, with times and prices from the center’s own event pages.
Movie nights: pay what you choose
The Great Lakes Cinema Series shows Never Let Me Go, the 2010 film of Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel, on Tuesday, Nov. 3, at 7 p.m. That is Election Day, so plan to vote before the show. It is rated R and runs 1 hour, 43 minutes.
On Veterans Day, Wednesday, Nov. 11, the center screens Saving Private Ryan at 7 p.m. Steven Spielberg’s 1998 World War II drama stars Tom Hanks and Matt Damon. It is rated R, runs 2 hours, 49 minutes, and is known for its unflinching battle scenes. Both films are pay what you choose, and doors open at 6:30 p.m.
Interlochen, then a free mbira show
On Saturday, Nov. 7, at 2 p.m., the Interlochen Arts Academy Orchestra and Wind Symphony share the stage in “Symphonic Horizons.” Alex Amsel leads the orchestra in Verdi, Sibelius and Rimsky-Korsakov. Chris Moorhouse leads the wind symphony in four pieces, including Frank Ticheli’s setting of Amazing Grace. Tickets are $25 or $20, and $10 for youth.
The next afternoon, Sunday, Nov. 8, at 1:30 p.m., Zimbabwean American composer Hannah Mufuka plays traditional and contemporary mbira music, the thumb piano of Zimbabwe. The audience sits on the stage floor with her, so bring a blanket or cushion, though chairs are available. The show lasts under 30 minutes and is suggested for ages 7 and up. It is free, but you need a ticket.
The concert is a partnership with the Good Hart Artist Residency, where Mufuka is composer in residence Nov. 2 to 20. She will ask the audience to share stories about water and the Great Lakes, then turn them into a new soundscape installation during her stay.
Youth orchestra, chorale and a December Christmas Carol
The Dorothy Gerber Youth Orchestra plays “A Night of Virtuosity” on Monday, Nov. 9, at 7 p.m. The Northern Michigan Chorale sings its fall concert, “Simple Gifts: Sacred and Stage,” on Saturday, Nov. 14, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 15, at 3 p.m. Chorale tickets are $15 for adults and $12 for seniors and students, and children 10 and under get in free.
Out of My Mind is on the calendar for Tuesday, Nov. 17. Looking ahead, Broadway veteran Allen Fitzpatrick brings his one-man A Christmas Carol, in which he plays 26 characters on a nearly bare stage, to Bay Harbor on Saturday, Dec. 5, at 4 p.m. Tickets start at $32. He performs it the next day at Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie.
The center is at 800 Bay Harbor Drive. Its box office takes calls daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at (231) 439-2610. Electronic tickets arrive by email link 48 hours before each show.
Sources:
Great Lakes Center for the Arts, upcoming events list (November calendar, address, 525 seats, box office, ticket delivery), https://www.greatlakescfa.org/events
Great Lakes Center for the Arts, “Never Let Me Go,” Nov. 3, https://www.greatlakescfa.org/events/detail/never-let-me-go
Great Lakes Center for the Arts, “Saving Private Ryan,” Nov. 11, https://www.greatlakescfa.org/events/detail/saving-private-ryan
Great Lakes Center for the Arts, “Symphonic Horizons” (Interlochen Arts Academy Orchestra and Wind Symphony), Nov. 7, https://www.greatlakescfa.org/events/detail/interlochen-youth-orchestra
Great Lakes Center for the Arts, “Stories of Lake Michigan” (Hannah Mufuka), Nov. 8, https://www.greatlakescfa.org/events/detail/hannah-mufuka
Great Lakes Center for the Arts, “Simple Gifts: Sacred and Stage” (Northern Michigan Chorale), Nov. 14–15, https://www.greatlakescfa.org/events/detail/simple-gifts-sacred-and-stage
Great Lakes Center for the Arts, “A Christmas Carol,” Dec. 5, 4 p.m., from $32, https://www.greatlakescfa.org/events/detail/a-christmas-carol-2026
Hannah Mufuka, “Happenings” (Good Hart residency Nov. 2–20), https://www.hannahmufuka.com/happenings
Photo: rboed, “Early evening on Little Traverse Bay, Petoskey, Michigan.jpg,” Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Early_evening_on_Little_Traverse_Bay,_Petoskey,_Michigan.jpg
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