Thinking of opera, one might imagine a knight in shining armor, a damsel in distress or Brunnhilde — a woman with a viking helmet and blonde braids belting out some massive vocal power. And, in many ways, opera is still representative of those traditional characters, but it's also an ever-changing medium that is growing with the times.
Although the audience never sees it, a scene change in a musical performance is the product of a well-engineered and well-oiled machine. Many crew members must seamlessly perform dozens of specific actions to set scenery [...]
"Dog Act" is a capstone thesis production by Liz Duffy Adams which features the 2018 Masters of Fine Arts acting candidates. The production, which will be presented on March 16 and 17, follows the traveling [...]
DETROIT, Mich. – Lauded by the Huffington Post as “Broadway’s fastest-rising soprano," Birmingham-native Alexandra Silber returns to her hometown in a performance called "Coming Home: Alexandra Silber in Concert." She will make her return to [...]
WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. – The Michigan Five, featuring some of the most outstanding and creative dance talent from colleges and universities throughout the state, will take center stage at The Berman Center for the Performing [...]
In 1981 George Furth and Stephen Sondheim collaborated to refresh a classic 1934 play "Merrily We Roll Along" by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. The '80s reboot has themes of "friendship, compromise and the high price of success," according to its press release, and will be playing at Ferndale's Ringwald Theatre now through March 19.
Birmingham, Mich. - The Village Players of Birmingham opens its fourth production of its 95th season with James Lapine’s tribute to a life in the theater: “Act One.” The play is based on playwright Moss Hart’s autobiography of the same title.
KALAMAZOO, Mich. - After nearly a decade of bringing dancers together from across the world, the Wellspring/Cori Terry & Dancers presents the ninth annual Midwest Regional Alternative Dance Festival or RAD Fest. The Festival will be held at the Epic Center and the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts on March 9 through 11.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Theatre NOVA is Ann Arbor’s professional theatre with an exclusive focus on new plays and playwrights. Now, coming to its stage is “The Devil’s Music: The Life and Blues of Bessie Smith” by Angelo Parra and Miche Braden.
EAST LANSING, Mich. — A night of jazz comes full circle onto the Pasant Theatre stage when the renowned Birdland All-Stars featuring Tommy Igoe come to the Wharton Center on Saturday, Feb. 24.
FERNDALE — The Ringwald Theatre’s Sondheim Spring begins with a five-week run of “Merrily We Roll Along” on Feb. 16, playing through March 19.
DETROIT—The Theatre Company at UDM will present A Bright New Boise by Samuel D. Hunter, from Feb. 9 through 25 at The Marlene Boll Theatre.
FERNDALE — The Ringwald Theatre’s Sondheim Spring begins with a five-week run of Merrily We Roll Along on Feb. 16, playing through March 19. Merrily—aka the show they were doing in Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird [...]
DETROIT—The Theatre Company at UDM will present A Bright New Boise by Samuel D. Hunter, from Feb. 9 through 25 at The Marlene Boll Theatre. A Bright New Boise will be performed at 7:30 p.m. [...]
BY ENCORE MICHIGAN STAFF WILLIAMSTON—Williamston Theatre starts 2018 with the world premiere of "Our Lady of Poison" by Joseph Zettelmaier. Performances begin Thursday, Jan. 25 and run through Sunday, Feb. 25. It is Rome in [...]
By EncoreMichigan.com ROCHESTER — Nana’s Naughty Knickers runs January 10 through February 4 at Meadow Brook Theatre on the campus of Oakland University in Rochester. Tickets range from $28 to $43 and are available by [...]
by Patrice Nolan, Encore Michigan FERNDALE – Slipstream Theatre Initiative has created an original, home-grown theatrical experience that explores the unique aspects of pursuing an acting career in the Pure Michigan manner. Tales from the [...]
Usually horror and romance don't mix, but they blend perfectly in the classic Swedish story, "Let the Right One In." Originally a novel, the story has been adapted into two films, a television show and [...]
FERNDALE – Assembly Line Theatre Company is kicking off the new year with a staged reading of the musical, “The Seven Castaways” by Sean Paraventi. The performance is a fundraising effort to help the 501(c)(3) [...]
NORTHVILLE, Mich.–In the program notes for Tipping Point Theatre's "Office Hours," one of the actors mentions being proud to help “you escape into genuine laughter” during these stressful times. And sheer silly escapism is exactly [...]
BY TANYA GAZDIK, ENCORE MICHIGAN FERNDALE - It's hard to go wrong with a classic like The Rocky Horror Show and The Ringwald's treatment does not disappoint. If you've seen the movie at a theatre [...]
BY DONALD V. CALAMIA For an actor whose recent credits include such seemingly diverse characters as John Wilkes Booth in "Assassins," Ash in "Evil Dead: The Musical," Ted Bundy in "Date 16" and now the [...]
By Patrice Nolan, Encore Michigan FERNDALE - At long last, it's Hannibal Lecter as you've never seen him! He sings! He dances! He chews the fat with Clarice Starling, darling of the FBI Academy. Yes, [...]
In "The Harassment of Iris Malloy," a single mother places a bet on a new life after an intimate encounter with a decorated senator, and the media fallout will change them both forever. A compelling [...]
The Detroit premier of the National Theatre production of "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" will play the Fisher Theatre now through May 14. The Tony Award-winning new play by Simon Stephens [...]
Now in its 20th season, "Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!" is National Public Radio's Peabody Award-winning quiz show. The show is set to take the Fox Theatre stage at 7:30 p.m. June 15. Host Peter Sagal [...]
It is with heavy hearts that the Michigan Opera Theatre shared the news that their beloved founder and artistic director David DiChiera has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. The theatre website reads: "David is and [...]
By Tanya Gazdik, EncoreMichigan.com FERNDALE -- It is said that art imitates life. That phrase couldn't hold truer than for a play like Bird, which is inspired, and partially based, on true events. Playwright Kristin [...]
By Patrice Nolan, EncoreMichigan.com DETROIT - By the Way, Meet Vera Stark, by two-time Pulitzer-prize winning dramatist Lynn Nottage, is the final show of the Hilberry Theatre season, and it is simply mesmerizing. The play [...]
BY Patrice Nolan DETROIT - Michigan Opera Theatre has staged many favorites by Giacomo Puccini, but this spring season brings us a first - The Girl of the Golden West (la Fanciulla del West). Puccini [...]
DETROIT--The 46th season of The Theatre Company of University of Detroit Mercy concludes with Avenue Q, running March 23 - April 9, 2017. With music and lyrics by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx and based [...]
WILLIAMSTON -- Williamston Theatre takes a turn at classic literature with the Michigan premiere of 1984 by George Orwell, adapted by Michael Gene Sullivan. Based on the iconic novel by George Orwell, 1984 brings us [...]
ANN ARBOR--In 1969, Loren McIntyre, a National Geographic photographer, found himself lost among the people of the remote Javari Valley in Brazil. It was an encounter that was to change his life: bringing the limits [...]
Media Director Brandy Joe Plambeck and Artistic Director Joe Bailey of The Ringwald Theatre in Ferndale are sounding a call for new, original one-act plays (with the subject matter of furthering along the storyline to [...]
by Patrice Nolan WATERFORD- In what feels to many like the winter of our discontent, small rays of sunshine are evident throughout the theater community via productions that lend perspective, optimistic or otherwise, on the [...]
ANN ARBOR - Children, adults and families are invited to celebrate Wild Swan Theater's 37th season and their annual benefit concert, An Afternoon of Ann Arbor's Best. The concert will be held at The Ark [...]
By Encore Michigan Staff Druid, the famed theater company from Galway, Ireland, which made its acclaimed UMS debut in 2011 with The Cripple of Inishmaan, returns with a new production of Martin McDonagh's dark comedy [...]
By Jenn McKee ANN ARBOR - When an economically depressed town is at its breaking point, and residents are scrambling for solutions, you wouldn't expect the fiscal-strategy-of-choice to involve opening a theater. But in the [...]
ANN ARBOR - Wild Swan Theater continues its 37th season with Drum Me a Story in celebration of Black History Month. This collection of African tales was selected and developed for children ages 3 through [...]
"A Painted Window" begins with five preview performances starting Jan. 26. During the first four previews audience members will have the opportunity to take part in the process of creating a show by participating in [...]
By Tanya Gazdik From left; T.C. (Jonathan West), the gay son of George Montgomery (David Luther Glover) with Neil (Dan Johnson), T.C's longtime partner, who pushes T.C. to come out to his politically conservative father. [...]
By Tanya Gazdik The Ringwald presents the Michigan premiere of The Legend of Georgia McBride by Matthew Lopez runs through Jan. 30. The Ringwald Theatre is located at 22742 Woodward Ave. in Ferndale. Call 248-545-5545 [...]
By Jenn McKee Kate Shindle - star of the touring production of "Fun Home," which plays from Nov. 29 to Dec. 11 at Detroit's Fisher Theatre - has always been a bit of an overachiever. [...]
By EncoreMichigan.com Kaitlyn Valor Bourque as Charlotte For one weekend only, Slipstream will produce its annual Penny Dreadful Halloween experience. They explore themes of madness, art and terror in Penny Dreadful 2016: Under the [...]
By Amy J. Parrent It's Pride Month, and time to celebrate with - what else - some theater. Lucky for everyone, The Ringwald Theatre has rolled a seven - the seventh annual installment of the [...]
Two couples walk into a bar. Yes, that's a familiar opening to many a tale, but when the couples are Hermia and Lysander and Helena and Demetrius, and the bar is a gay nightclub with [...]
FERNDALE -- The Ringwald Theatre continues its Season of Classics with the Detroit premiere of "Heathers the Musical" by Kevin Murphy and Laurence O'Keefe. Based on the classic 1989 film, Westerberg High is ruled by [...]
Actor Brennan Hattaway has makeup applied. Photo courtesy of Riverwalk. Inhabited by heroin users, drag queens, the homeless and performance artists -- welcome to the world of Jonathan Larson's 1996 musical vision of the [...]
By Jenn McKee DEXTER - A "Saturday Night Live" writer once said that the show could leaven a risky sketch simply by putting Amy Poehler in it, calling the comedienne "a charm machine." But Dexter's [...]
The Theatre Company of the University of Detroit Mercy and Matrix Theatre Company recently announced their first joint production, Robin Bradford's "Low Hanging Fruit." The production is the Midwest premiere of the work. San Francisco [...]
