Spring Theater in Michigan Celebrates Queer Stories and Bold Premieres
'Cock' and 'Prom,' coming soon to a theater near you
In a world that feels increasingly uncertain, one thing remains in high demand: joy.
This spring, Michigan’s theater scene is offering just that — especially for the LGBTQ+ community. With a range of inspiring performances, heartwarming stories and plenty of belly laughs, local theater artists are creating spaces where audiences can find both solace and celebration.
‘Cock,’ Ringwald Theatre
When a slot in their season unexpectedly opened, Ringwald Theatre’s founding artistic director Joe Bailey determined the time was right for “Cock.”.
“Cock,” by Mike Bartlett, tells the story of John, who — despite having a long-term boyfriend — falls in love with a woman. The three try to figure things out with a bit of interference from the boyfriend’s father.
“The universe was saying, ‘Here you are. Now is the time for ‘Cock,’” Bailey told Pride Source. “It has a reputation amongst gay theater folks. It really deals a lot with identity and sexuality.”
Written in 2009, this British play challenges the notion that sexuality is fixed and unchanging.
“There’s a certain section of the gay community that doesn’t really believe in bisexuality,” Bailey said. “It’s interesting nowadays that so many people are able to discard the binary when it comes to gender but still hang on to it when it comes to sexuality.”
While “Cock” is a comedy, it promises an exploration of intimacy without nudity and conflict without violence, telling the story of a man who is uncomfortable with rigid definitions and labels.
“Cock,” March 7–March 31, 8 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays, 3 p.m. Sundays. Ringwald Theatre at Affirmations, 280 W. 9 Mile, Ferndale, theringwald.com.
‘Prom,’ Hilberry Gateway at Wayne State University
Political events have made Wayne State’s next musical more relevant than they were expecting when they first programmed it. They’re staging “The Prom” from March 28 to April 6.
For Eric Van Tielen, “The Prom” marks his musical directing debut at the Hilberry. Van Tielen joined the Wayne State theater faculty last year, moving to Detroit from New York with his husband.
“My biggest goal with the production is to deliver big laughs and then a story that has a real, true beating heart,” Van Tielen said. “While it is a big comedy and it has a lot of broad characters, because of the climate that we’re in, I want to make sure people remember that the center of the story is a character based on a real person.”
Van Tielen said he has been very conscious that the production has gone from entertainment to a form of protest, growing more purpose-driven as the students in his cast struggle with current events.
“In my casting process, I was making sure that the show is packed with students who represent the LGBTQ+ experience,” Van Tielen said. “We’ve got trans kids, gay kids, bisexual kids, kids who identify as queer both in the show and on the creative team. All of a sudden it feels like we have a duty to present this message of acceptance.”
Local queer couples are included in the musical’s finale. Throughout the show’s run, the theater department will conduct a prom attire donation drive, and on March 29, there will be a queer prom featuring a local drag performer.
“We want to give people a chance to come laugh and to feel good,” Van Tielen said. “There’s an open invitation for everyone in the queer community to show up — maybe specifically to show up for the kids who are going through a bit of a harder or more confusing time. Older people in the LGBTQ+ community are no strangers to fighting. They’ve lived through a lot of what it feels like to face the fight. Maybe these younger kids don’t understand that.”
“The Prom,” March 28–April 6, 8 p.m. Fridays, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 3 p.m. Sundays and 7 p.m. Thursdays. Hilberry Gateway, 4715 Cass Ave., Detroit. https://theatreanddance.wayne.edu/season/2024-2025/the-prom.
Celebrating 10 years at Detroit Public Theatre
Ten years ago, Courtney Burkett, Sarah Clare Corporandy and Sarah Winkler launched what has quickly become a Detroit theatrical institution. This spring, they’ll wrap up their anniversary season with a work by their executive artistic producer, Dominique Morisseau, and a world premiere of a show about school gun violence.
“It’s been a really exciting 10 years,” Burkett told Pride Source. “The beginning was a test of [whether] this would even work. Now we’ve entered a new phase where we’re grown ups and it’s exciting to see how the community has grown and the response we’ve gotten both from the artistic community and the audience.”
Morisseau's “Confederates,” a play that spans time to explore racism and gender biases in U.S. institutions, runs through March 16. It follows two Black American women, living 160 years apart, each fighting their own battles — sometimes of a literal nature.
Morisseau has been involved with DPT from the start, originally serving as a founding advisory board member. According to Burkett, Morisseau has played a key role in helping develop the audience and shaping the messages within the show.
“Her rules of engagement are on the wall in the theater as you walk into the space as an invitation on how to interact with the work,” Burkett said. “Everywhere you look you see Dominique and hopefully feel her energy, her spirit and her leadership.”
Ultimately, “Confederates” is a play the founders feel promotes the meaningful conversations they want their audiences to have.
“Even when the world is obviously changing all the time — and it’s changed even since we decided to produce it — the conversation is very powerful,” Corporandy said. “It has a lot to say about women, Black women in particular.”
Closing out DPT’s anniversary season is “Soft Target,” a new work by Emily Kaczmarek that runs from April 30 to June 7. In it, 9-year-old Amanda and her stuffed toys, including penguin Jonah and emotional support bunny Ugly, have been thrown into chaos because of a school shooting.
“It’s a tender spot for society and our culture, a painful thing to talk about,” Corporandy said. “Whole communities get shook and rocked when there are school shootings. Theater can uniquely create an environment where you can have a conversation and it not be about you or me, but about these characters. This play invites us to sit with this subject matter in a framework of healing and imagination and comfort, centering on how these instances in our country and world are affecting the day-to-day lives of the victims.”
“Confederates”: Through March 16. “Soft Target”: April 30–June 7. Detroit Public Theatre, 3960 3rd Ave., Detroit. https://www.detroitpublictheatre.org.
And more!
- Broadway in Detroit brings the Tony Award-winning “Kimberly Akimbo” to the Fisher Theatre from March 11-23. The musical features a girl with a rare genetic condition that causes her to age rapidly. From April 1-6, “The Book of Mormon” moves in. The hilarious, irreverent musical follows two Mormon missionaries to Uganda.
- Williamston Theatre wraps up its run of “A Case for the Existence of God” on March 16. The Michigan premiere follows two single fathers with toddler daughters. One is white and divorced, the other is Black and gay.
- The Tipping Point Theatre explores the lives of Iranian immigrants in the Michigan premiere of the Pulitzer Prize-winning “English,” which runs from March 12 to April 6.
- Flint Repertory Theatre hosts the world premiere of “A Driving Beat,” from March 14-30. A 14-year-old boy and his adoptive mother make a road trip across the country in which they tackle their different identities and the meaning of family.
Read More
Meet Sen. McMorrow, Cheer the Pistons and Hot Daddies, Join the Lesbians to Socialize, Celebrate Mutual Aid
If March is coming in with that lion energy (and we're not talking about the weather so much) — and you're feeling like the ideal hangout involves you, [...]
Recovering Forgotten Trans History: Storyteller S. Bear Bergman Brings ‘The First Jew in Canada’ to Ann Arbor Church
S. Bear Bergman has been a self-described "queer pain in the ass" since adolescence, when he helped found the first gay-straight alliance in the country in 1990 [...]
When Arabic Lyrics Become American Refuge: A Queer Veteran's Relationship with Mashrou' Leila
Recently they’ve returned to my mix for reasons too obvious to state.
Margaret Cho Talks New Anthem for Trans Youth, Gay Pop Worship and Her Republican ‘Bottom’ Muse
Margaret Cho’s new album, her first in eight years, might take some people by surprise — especially those who don’t know that her talents [...]
University of Michigan's 'Our Oz' Reimagines a Classic with a Trans Lion and a Queer Cast
Actors are often asked to leave behind their own identities and lose themselves in a character of someone else’s creation.But at the University of [...]
Support Pride, Commune With LGBT Seniors, Take A Classy Roadtrip, Uplift Your Spirits
Feet sore from marching? Thumbs aching from texting your elected representatives? Throat raw from screaming into the void? Maybe it's time to make space in your [...]
