Don Calamia
One strange plant, one slick show at Performance Network
I love surprises. Yet after personally reviewing close to 600 shows over the past nine seasons – and attending at least 100 more – I can honestly say that it's becoming increasingly rare to be truly surprised by anything I see on stage these days. [...]
Superstar' at The Encore: a mixed blessing
In 1970, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice released upon an unsuspecting world their third collaboration, a "rock opera" that depicts the passion of Jesus Christ based on the Gospel of St. John. Although the album "Jesus Christ Superstar" launched a [...]
Curtain Calls
Review: 'Seven Guitars' Michigan premiere of August Wilson drama gets robust staging by Plowshares Theatre There's some beautiful music coming from the stage of the General Motors Theater at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American [...]
Curtain Calls XTRA
MOT's Learning at the Opera House 2004 set to begin July 6 DETROIT – Now in its eighth year, Michigan Opera Theatre's acclaimed Learning at the Opera House (LATOH) returns with exciting new educational opportunities for young and old alike. LATOH's [...]
A delightful habit at Andiamo Novi Theatre
I'll be honest: The last place I wanted to be on Saturday night was reviewing yet another production of the original "Late Night Catechism." It's not that I dislike the show. In fact, I've probably seen it more than any other production over the [...]
Big dreams, funny show at The Ringwald
I suspect this scenario has been played out hundreds of thousands – if not millions – of times throughout history: A couple of friends are sitting around the house, the bar or backstage when an idea – often fueled by alcohol – strikes. "Let's write [...]
Welles' of laughter at Performance Network
Neither snow nor ice nor cars in freeway ditches were going to keep me from my appointed rounds Friday night, or rather, from Performance Network Theatre where I was scheduled to review the opening night performance of "It Came From Mars" by Joseph [...]
We should talk: Albee sizzles at The Abreact
In 1958, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Edward Albee wrote his first play, "The Zoo Story," which to this day is still considered one of his signature pieces. The story of two strangers who meet and chat on a park bench in New York's Central Park, [...]
[title of show]' co-creator talks
Ferndale's Ringwald Theatre knows a thing or two about making one's dreams come true. So it's not surprising that the hit Broadway musical "[title of show]" should make its Michigan premiere at the relatively young, but increasingly popular [...]
A cheap night, but never cheap laughs
One of the funniest places in Metro Detroit is Ferndale's Go Comedy! Improv Theater. Open five nights a week, Go Comedy! started life not long ago as a new home for the area's ever-blossoming improv community, but the founders have since branched [...]
Caveman' celebrates gender differences
Battles of the sexes have probably been fodder for storytellers and thespians alike since the beginning of human history, so it makes total sense that author Rob Becker takes audiences back that far in time to explore the male perspective of the [...]
A funny habit returns to The Gem Theatre
Having survived and prospered after 15 years of Catholic school education both prior to and after the changes wrought by Vatican II – I was a "public" my first year of college – I've come to love the "Late Night Catechism" shows. For me, they're a [...]