LOS ANGELES (AP) - Jan 20, 11:54 AM (ET) Etta James’ performance of the enduring classic “At Last” was the embodiment of refined soul: Angelic-sounding strings harkened the arrival of her passionate yet measured vocals as she sang tenderly about a love finally realized after a long and patient wait.

In real life, little about James was as genteel as that song. The platinum blonde’s first hit was a saucy R&B number about sex, and she was known as a hell-raiser who had tempestuous relationships with her family, her men and the music industry. Then she spent years battling a drug addiction that she admitted sapped away at her great talents.

Just because I am in California covering the Palm Springs International Film Festival and the Oscars doesn’t mean I haven’t gotten a full report on what is going in the Great Lakes State. Several folks have said what a wonderful night it was as the Lansing Symphony welcomed Okemos native and world-renowned cellist Felix Wang. If you missed my interview with Felix, it is still posted at www.MIentertainmentReport.com.

This week, Okemos High School is presenting a classic by Shakespeare, “Much Ado about Nothing,” on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, while Riverwalk Theatre in Lansing is also in a Shakespearian mode with “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.” It runs this weekend and next.

Rehearsals continue as The Purple Rose Theatre Company presents its first show of the 2012 Season. “A Stone Carver” begins an eight-week engagement Thursday, January 19, 2012. We will be talking to one of the stars next week.

Details of all of these shows can be found at www.MIentertainmentReport.com. Be sure to stop back during the week for the latest on the next show at Lansing Community College.

When you are at the website, please click and listen to our weekly business show. While not officially under the category of entertainment news; “Business Next” from the Small Business Association of Michigan is a very important way for all of us to stay informed. MIentertaintment is a small business and most of our theaters fall under that category, as do many of our MIentertainment sponsors. Please give a listen. For more information about this fine organization and how you can join, go to www.sbam.org.

P.S. If you want to see pics I took from the red carpet at the Film Festival Gala in Palm Springs, head to our sister website www.Coachellafun.com.

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“A Stone Carver” is the story about the rekindling of a father-son relationship. It begins an eight-week engagement from Thursday, January 19, to Saturday, March 10, 2012.

In “A Stone Carver” we meet Agostino, a seventh-generation stone carver who is evicted from his home to make space for a highway. He barricades himself in his house, determined to outlast the bulldozers.

2012 began with a “Devil” of a weekend at the box office. “The Devil Inside” opened with a take just shy of 35 million dollars. Not bad when you consider Paramount picked up the flick about a murdering mom whose daughter brings in exorcists to help cure mommy  for only $1 million bucks. Also helping out was the fact that it was the only new movie in wide release for the first weekend of 2012. Its take was enough to knock Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol out of the top spot and slide the other holiday blockbusters down the top ten list.

The List:

At 8 pm on Saturday, Jan. 7, at Wharton Center, guest artist Felix Wang and Conductor Timothy Muffitt will ring in 2012 with Saint-Saëns’ Cello Concerto No. 1 in A Minor.