Don Calamia
Morals, morals, who's got the morals?
According to the Oxford American Dictionary, an altruist is one who has an "unselfish concern for the needs and well-being of other people." In Nicky Silver's razor-sharp satire "The Altruists," a passionate band of idealistic, young protesters are [...]
Little Voice,' big dreams at the Ant
Back in the 1990s, one of Metro Detroit's most highly regarded directors had a dream – a dream to stage "The Rise and Fall of Little Voice" by Jim Cartwright. Life-altering experiences, however, caused Annette Madias to change directions, thus [...]
No dummies, just smart comedy at Go Comedy!
Who among us doesn't remember Montag the Magnificent and Marbles, the amazing ventriloquist act that entertained millions from the silent screen years through much of the 20th century? They delighted audiences young and old until that infamous [...]
Mystery solved at Go Comedy!
When last we saw the boy band Menllenium, the once-famous recording stars had just reunited after internal squabbles and over-inflated egos had broken them apart. Now they've returned as mystery solvers a la Scooby Doo in "Menllenium Saves the [...]
Habit-forming fun at Broadway Onstage
There's always one in every crowd – the smart aleck, the know-it-all, the rebel, the tough cookie, the one who challenges authorities. That pretty much describes Peggy Lou Caccetti, graduate of St. Minervanooks School for Girls and Others, who [...]
Curtain Calls
Review: 'Period of Adjustment' Little-known Tennessee Williams comedy gets lively staging at Blackbird Theatre Mention to the average theatergoer that Tennessee Williams wrote a comedy, and the response you get is either hysterical laughter or a [...]
Curtain Calls XTRA
Review: 'Detour of Duty' The battle continues: Summer comedies couldn't be timelier Is it my imagination, or are improvisational and sketch comedy shows rejuvenating Metro Detroit's theater scene? Every day, it seems, a new improv troupe springs [...]
Curtain Calls
Profile: Planet Ant Theatre It's a brave and expanded new season ahead for Planet Ant One sign that a city is "cool" is the existence of a thriving theater industry. Such a community includes not only large "road houses" that bring in national [...]
Cranbrook centennial celebration continues
BLOOMFIELD HILLS – Cranbrook Educational Community continues the celebration of the centennial of its founding throughout 2004. In 1904, Cranbrook founders George Booth and Ellen Scripps Booth purchased a run-down farm in Bloomfield Hills that [...]
Prepare Ye' for a delightful 'Godspell' at The Encore
If I had kept a log of every show I've attended over the past 40-plus years, I suspect the production I've seen more than any other would be "Godspell." The 1971 musical brings to life the Gospel according to Saint Matthew and was produced by [...]
Drama 'drives' its point home at The Box
Young people today might find it hard to believe, but life in America in the 1940s and '50s wasn't quite the way it was depicted in the legendary television comedies "Leave It To Beaver" and "Father Knows Best." That's especially true if you lived [...]
A dog-gone good time at Go Comedy!
Back when The Second City was the 800-pound gorilla in Detroit's improv community, many of the area's up-and-coming improvisers studied their craft at its renowned training center. As part of their education, the students would create and perform [...]