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Curtain Calls

Review: 'The Weekend'
Gather 'round for spooky, laugh-filled night

Ask pretty much any actor in town how easy it is to make a living at their craft and you'll probably be laughed at. It's damn near impossible, they'll likely tell you – unless you enjoy working your ass off and living at near-poverty levels. So it should not be a surprise when audiences encounter the same performers time and again at multiple venues throughout Metro Detroit.
That's especially true of improvisers. These creative souls not only appear with the various improv troupes that have sprung up like wildflowers, they also create many of the original comedies that have become so popular recently.
So every time I review an original comedy or improv show these days it seems that I encounter the same three talented performers: Mike McGettigan, Tim Robinson and Lauren Bickers. And when that happens, I know exactly what to expect: Why, nothing less than one heck of a laugh-filled night of theater, of course!
That's certainly what audiences can expect at Planet Ant Theatre's 19th original comedy, "The Weekend," that opened last Friday night to an almost sold-out house.
Two couples – Terry and Marcy, and Jerimiah and Veronica – head to 12 Trees Mountain for a weekend camping trip. Nothing is how they expect it, however. And the couples aren't exactly the most compatible traveling companions: Sisters Marcy (Robbin Tenglin) and Veronica (Bickers) are total opposites and don't get along, while former Eagle Scout Jerimiah (Robinson) quickly wears on Terry's nerves (Sam Richardson).
The trip takes an eerie turn with the arrival of the spooky Caretaker (McGettigan) who tells them The Terrible Tale of 12 Trees Mountain – and who seems unusually attracted to Marcy. But when Veronica – a free spirit who enjoys long chats with rabbits – begins channeling dead people and warns that "things happen to people here," panic sets in. Will the four survive to see another day?
Under the fine direction of Nancy Hayden, the cast has crafted a tight, complex story with a nice mix of comedy, drama and mystery. (A few bits need to be trimmed rather than milked a little too excessively for laughs, however.) And the performances are spot-on, even when they flub a line or two.
Even the show's technical work deserves recognition. Why, I won't mention, but it'll grab you about midway through the show.
If I have one complaint – and it's not really; it's more of a challenge – it's this: I'd love to see McGettigan and Robinson break out of the stock characters they've developed and perform so well and play against type in a future production. The stiff, deep-voiced scary guy and the ingratiating nerd have brought us great laughs and plenty of fun, but it might be time to smash the mold and expand their repertoires to include other characters we'd also grow to love.
"The Weekend" runs Thu.-Sun. at Planet Ant Theatre, 2357 Caniff, Hamtramck, through Dec. 3. Tickets: $15. For information: call 313-365-4948 or log on to www.planetant.com.
The Bottom Line: There are laughs, twists and scary stuff galore in Planet Ant's 19th original comedy.

Preview: Curtain Calls ONLINE
A new era begins next week for BTL's theater coverage: CC ONLINE

There's good news and bad news for Curtain Calls fans this week.
The bad news is that this week's edition is the last in which there will be two pages of side-by-side theater coverage in Between The Lines. At least for the foreseeable future, that is.
The good news – no, the GREAT news, actually – is that we're not reducing the amount of theater coverage we produce each and every week. Rather, we're increasing it!
"There's no way we would ever consider cutting back on our theater coverage," explained Susan Horowitz, co-publisher and executive editor of BTL. "We're proud of the fact that we provide the most comprehensive and respected theater coverage in the state. But with the newspaper stuck at between 40 and 48 pages each week, and with so much news happening in the LGBT community, we've had to make some tough decisions each week about what would make it into print and what wouldn't. So the solution we've come up with should make everyone happy."
Beginning next week, only the main Curtain Calls page will appear in the print editions of BTL. Regular readers will notice no change to the column's content, as it will continue to feature one or two reviews, interviews, news stories or commentaries each week. The page will continue to appear on the popular online edition of BTL, as well.
Replacing Curtain Calls XTRA will be Curtain Calls ONLINE, an expanded weekly column that will feature theater-related content that is exclusive to the newspaper's Web site.
"With the print editions of Curtain Calls and Curtain Calls XTRA limited to 1,000 words per page, both Don and John Quinn are excited about producing content that fits the story rather than fits the page. Before, they were limited in how long a review or story could run, but the internet is limitless. Now, if there are five shows to review like there are next week, we won't need to cut some short to make way for others – or worse, not cover one at all. Each can run without sacrificing either the content or the quality of the work," Horowitz said.
To help direct readers to the Web site, a "teaser" will appear each week in the print edition of BTL that identifies the stories found in Curtain Calls ONLINE. "That way, our print readers and the theater community will always be informed about what stories and plays we're covering online that week," the co-publisher said. "Our commitment to theater has not lessened in any way. In fact, we're continuing to provide the best theater coverage we can – but just in a different medium."
Additional theater-related content exclusive to the Web site is also being planned. "Kevin Bryant, our webmaster and technical guru, has done a superb job building and maintaining our Web site, and we want to take that asset and build upon it," Horowitz said. "And Curtain Calls is one way we're doing that."
Plus, she concluded, "Like the newspaper, it's free. And it will stay that way."
Log on to the online edition of Between The Lines at www.pridesource.com.

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