BTL Editorial: Support local theater, because it supports you

Between The Lines loves Michigan's theater community. Don't believe it? You obviously haven't been to the Wilde Awards.
This year, for the eighth year in a row, BTL put on the Wilde Awards program celebrating and honoring local theater with over 20 awards given out to production companies, writers, actors, directors and theaters. The mood was pure excitement. As the only major theater awards show in the state, BTL delights in seeing the smiles, laughter and tears – all genuine, no acting – of the theater community as they are recognized for all the hard work they do. It's a beautiful thing.
But the connection and support between the two goes way beyond one night a year.
The publishers of Pride Source Media Group and BTL are also the proud co-owners of Encore Michigan. Launched officially last year, the Web site previews and reviews local shows, keeps an up-to-date calendar of upcoming theater events, auditions and workshops and provides an online space for Michigan's theater community to connect and speak out about the issues that affect them and the things they're passionate about.
We at BTL always wanted to continue to build our partnership with the theater community, but we never dreamed it would be this big and this successful. We embrace theater; it embraces LGBTs.
We continue to support Michigan theater and it supports us, by touching on our themes in plays, by giving us countless advocates for our causes and by providing a space of unconditional acceptance for those in our community who choose to act, to direct, or to be a part of theater in any way.
In the LGBT community, we are always talking about allies. How do they fit into our movement? How do we utilize them? How do we thank them? How do we get more?
Michigan theater is an ally we often take for granted here in our state. The people who are a part of it, who support it, who love it – are some of the fiercest, most unwavering allies we could ever ask for, and we should be extremely thankful that we have them as our friends.
Between The Lines isn't an enterprise overflowing with money. We don't get paid to work with the theater community, to support their shows or to award them every year for the work they do. We do it because it needs to be done.
We do it because we think it's amazing that in the bleakest of economies, not one Michigan theater has shut down recently. It's not because times haven't been tough or because they're raising their ticket prices. It's because they know that as much as they need us, we – the entire state of Michigan – need them.
Support local theater. Go to a show this week, this month, this year. Go whenever the mood strikes you. Go whenever you have the extra cash. Go whenever you're sitting at home and can't think of a thing to do. Go when you're down and need a laugh. Go because Michigan theater deserves our thanks, and our support.