Purple Rose Theatre
Learn Self-Defense, See 'Fourteen Funerals,' Support Mr. Liberty Leather, Get Tickets for Stand with Trans Gala
January doesn’t have to be frumpy, babes! But when faced with the bitter bite of Michigan winter — and the second inauguration of Trump — I know releasing [...]Read more about Learn Self-Defense, See 'Fourteen Funerals,' Support Mr. Liberty Leather, Get Tickets for Stand with Trans Gala
The State of Local Theater Amidst COVID-19
While it will be impossible to tell the full impacts of the novel coronavirus pandemic on the arts until it is over, it has been almost a year since most [...]Read more about The State of Local Theater Amidst COVID-19
The Madness of Martha Wash: Disco Queen Talks New Album, Snatching Gays & Sylvester Memories
On her new album, "Love & Conflict," Martha Wash is far removed from her disco days, when she became known as half of The Weather Girls. With the late Izora [...]Read more about The Madness of Martha Wash: Disco Queen Talks New Album, Snatching Gays & Sylvester Memories
Review: Carey Crim's 'Never Not Once' at Purple Rose Powerful and Poignant
BY MARIN HEINRITZ CHELSEA — It is a rare experience, indeed, to witness live theater so moving it renders faces wet with tears both on stage and throughout [...]Read more about Review: Carey Crim's 'Never Not Once' at Purple Rose Powerful and Poignant
It'll Be a Gay Ol' Time in Theaters Across Metro Detroit
If you're a longtime theater fan – especially an LGBTQ theater fan – one thing you may have noticed over the years is that what's popular one season may not be [...]Read more about It'll Be a Gay Ol' Time in Theaters Across Metro Detroit
No fooling: just silly fun in Chelsea
A good farce is hard to find these days, but that's exactly what playwright/director Matt Letscher delivers with his wickedly funny and slickly staged "Sea of [...]Read more about No fooling: just silly fun in Chelsea
Curtain Calls ONLINE
'American Idol' meets 'Saturday Night Live': 'Auditions Tonight' MANISTEE – Manistee's Little River Casino Resort is gearing up for Valentine's Day with [...]Read more about Curtain Calls ONLINE
Plenty to be thankful for in 2006
Happy New Year, and welcome to our annual look at some of last year's highlights in the always-exciting world of Michigan theater. The biggest news – given our [...]Read more about Plenty to be thankful for in 2006
Curtain Calls ONLINE
CCO Honus_PowersSmithCoven.jpg: A "Fan Appreciation" performance of "Honus and Me" has been scheduled Aug.29 by the Purple Rose Theatre Company in Chelsea. [...]Read more about Curtain Calls ONLINE
Curtain Calls
Review: 'Bus Stop' 'That Old Black Magic' works its spell at the Purple Rose "Somehow, deep inside me, I got a funny feeling I'm gonna end up in Montana," a [...]Read more about Curtain Calls
Curtain Calls
Review: 'Byrd's Boy' Platitudes on ice: Lost souls seek answers at the Detroit Rep It was an interesting question playwright Bruce J. Robinson once asked [...]Read more about Curtain Calls
Curtain Calls
Review: 'Duck Hunter Shoots Angel' Good heavens: World premiere comedy closes Purple Rose season on celestial note It's probably safe to assume that one sure [...]Read more about Curtain Calls
Sigourney Weaver and Jeff Daniels share 'Love Letters' July 26
CHELSEA – If going to the theater and watching a man and a woman read a lifetime of their correspondence sounds like a snooze-fest, you could be correct. But [...]Read more about Sigourney Weaver and Jeff Daniels share 'Love Letters' July 26
Equity Theatre Group Gives Back to HIV/AIDS Organizations
caption: Back Row Left to Right: Jewish Ensemble Theatre Production Stage Manager Harold Jurkiewicz, HELP-Corktown Health Center Chief Development Officer [...]Read more about Equity Theatre Group Gives Back to HIV/AIDS Organizations
Wilde Awards Honor Best Productions, Performances of 2015-16 Professional Theater Season
Planet Ant Theatre's original comedy "Antenna" was honored with three 2016 Wilde Awards, including a Best Performance nod to Lauren Bickers (center). Photo: [...]Read more about Wilde Awards Honor Best Productions, Performances of 2015-16 Professional Theater Season
Curtain Calls XTRA
Tidbits from here and there Stratford Festival's 2004 season announced STRATFORD, ONT – Six Shakespeare plays, along with seven other productions, will be [...]Read more about Curtain Calls XTRA
Curtain Calls
By John Quinn 'Review: 'The Good Doctor' Purple Rose hits one out of the ballpark with Simon comedy Neil Simon is to the American theater what Babe Ruth is [...]Read more about Curtain Calls
Start The New Year Laughing With Production Of 'The Odd Couple'
CHELSEA, Mich. – The Purple Rose Theatre Company will ring in the new year with the second play of its 25th anniversary season, Neil Simon's "The Odd [...]Read more about Start The New Year Laughing With Production Of 'The Odd Couple'
The Stars Align At Wilde Awards
WEST BLOOMFIELD – Theater professionals from across Michigan gathered Aug. 31 for The 2015 Wilde Awards ceremony at The Berman Center for the Performing Arts. [...]Read more about The Stars Align At Wilde Awards
Annual Theater Fundraiser Features Ann Arbor Vendors, Serves Up Fun
The Purple Rose Theatre Company is proud to announce its fourth annual Backyard BBQ Fundraiser beginning at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 2. The BBQ will feature [...]Read more about Annual Theater Fundraiser Features Ann Arbor Vendors, Serves Up Fun
A Journey Ends, A Door Opens, The Past Enters
By Martin F. Kohn Michelle Mountain and Richard McWilliams in "Annapurna" at The Purple Rose Theatre. Photo: Sean Carter Name a main character Ulysses and [...]Read more about A Journey Ends, A Door Opens, The Past Enters
It's Curtain Time For Theaters & Theatergoers Alike
Krisha Marcano (Florence Ballard), Allison Semmes (Diana Ross) and Trisha Jeffrey (Mary Wilson) in "Motown The Musical," coming to Detroit's Fisher Theatre [...]Read more about It's Curtain Time For Theaters & Theatergoers Alike
Strong Characters, Big Secrets In Appealing 'Last Romance'
By Martin F. Kohn Will David Young and Franette Liebow in "The Last Romance." Photo: Sean Carter Photography) Much of "The Last Romance" takes place in a dog [...]Read more about Strong Characters, Big Secrets In Appealing 'Last Romance'
A Spring Breeze Of Comedy Blows Through Chelsea
By John Quinn "Lovers, Liars & Lunatics" continues at The Purple Rose Theatre Company through May 24. Photo: Sean Carter Photography The arrival of spring [...]Read more about A Spring Breeze Of Comedy Blows Through Chelsea
Simple People, Simple Story, Simply Splendid
By John Quinn The contrast could not be sharper. Outside, near-zero temps and howling winds reduced traffic on I-94 to a bumper-to-bumper crawl. Inside, [...]Read more about Simple People, Simple Story, Simply Splendid
Comic Meditation On Gawky First Love
By Carolyn Hayes The central character of playwright Don Zolidis' newest work would have you believe, "This is not a love story." But from the joint [...]Read more about Comic Meditation On Gawky First Love
The 2013 Wilde Award Nominations
Professional theaters from across Michigan will share the spotlight Aug. 19 when The 2013 Wilde Awards are presented at The Berman Center for the Performing [...]Read more about The 2013 Wilde Award Nominations
Cheers And Tears And Baseball Years
By Michael H. Margolin After the new-fangled route into the Foxtown parking structure (under renovation) and settling down on the sprung spring in the City [...]Read more about Cheers And Tears And Baseball Years
Homophobia On The Force
By Bridgette M. Redman FERNDALE – Not all actors are gay, but it doesn't stop some people from thinking so. Playwright and actor Patrick Moug has spent 25 [...]Read more about Homophobia On The Force
Roll Over, Diabelli; Beethoven Has Something To Say
By John Quinn Thanks to the miracle that is the Internet, I'm listening to Ludwig van Beethoven's "33 Variations on a Waltz by Anton Diabelli," Op. 120, while [...]Read more about Roll Over, Diabelli; Beethoven Has Something To Say
In Order To Begin, One First Must Start'
By John Quinn Michael Brian Ogden and Matthew Gwynn in Jeff Daniels' "The Meaning of Almost Everything" at The Purple Rose Theatre. Photo: Sean Carter But [...]Read more about In Order To Begin, One First Must Start'
The 2012 Wilde Awards: Another Season of Excellence Honored
By Carolyn Hayes Changes took front and center at last night's 11th annual Wilde Awards, EncoreMichigan.com's celebration of the best of Michigan professional [...]Read more about The 2012 Wilde Awards: Another Season of Excellence Honored
Burn This' Casts Heat and Light
By Michael H. Margolin Lanford Wilson, who died just last year, wrote some two dozen plays, encapsulated the fever of off- Broadway in the 1960s, then [...]Read more about Burn This' Casts Heat and Light
2012 Wilde Awards Nominations
Best Musical or Opera Chicago the Musical, Mason Street Warehouse; Kurt Stamm, director From My Hometown, Meadow Brook Theatre; Travis W. Walter, director I [...]Read more about 2012 Wilde Awards Nominations
Summertime blues? 'Resort' to 'On Golden Pond'
By John Quinn According to Ecclesiastes, "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun." This [...]Read more about Summertime blues? 'Resort' to 'On Golden Pond'
A stunning exploration of primal themes
By John Quinn As the Lakota tell the tale, during a time of drought and famine, White Buffalo Calf Woman came among them. She brought them the buffalo, and [...]Read more about A stunning exploration of primal themes
Curtain Calls
Review: 'Period of Adjustment' Little-known Tennessee Williams comedy gets lively staging at Blackbird Theatre Mention to the average theatergoer that [...]Read more about Curtain Calls
Lovers tango and tangle in 'Fiction'
By Michael H. Margolin Shakespeare invented the convention that unites two lovers who carp and growl and insult one another, yet we know are in love. Think of [...]Read more about Lovers tango and tangle in 'Fiction'
PRTC pulls no punches with 'A Stone Carver'
As we grow to adulthood, we begin to see our parents through the eyes of an adult rather than through the fantasies of a child. At some point during that [...]Read more about PRTC pulls no punches with 'A Stone Carver'
Escanaba in da Moonlight' comes home
By John Quinn I approached this assignment with some trepidation, since I knew the actors would all be armed and it's always open season on theater critics. [...]Read more about Escanaba in da Moonlight' comes home
Wilde Awards celebrates decade of wild adventures
By Zach Childree 123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233 DETROIT- As a thunderstorm loomed outside, members [...]Read more about Wilde Awards celebrates decade of wild adventures
Mother of pearl! 'Oyster' shines!
By John Quinn The world premiere of "Consider the Oyster" continues at The Purple Rose Theatre through Sept. 3. Photo: Danna Segrest "Consider the Oyster," a [...]Read more about Mother of pearl! 'Oyster' shines!
The Wilde Awards get even wilder (and wider) for 2011
By BTL Staff Although Michigan's 2010-11 professional theater season opened amidst a still-sputtering economy, thespians statewide didn't let skyrocketing [...]Read more about The Wilde Awards get even wilder (and wider) for 2011
The Purple Rose gives birth to ' Some Couples May...'
By Michael H. Margolin Somewhere in the middle of Act II, Emily (Rhiannon Ragland) says to her husband, David (Bill Simmons), "I feel that I've forgotten how [...]Read more about The Purple Rose gives birth to ' Some Couples May...'
A bloody-good time at The Purple Rose
Romulus Linney's stage adaptation of "A Lesson Before Dying" is now playing at the Detroit Repertory Theatre. Photo: Bruce Millan That pretty much summarizes [...]Read more about A bloody-good time at The Purple Rose
With friends like these...
By Martin F. Kohn The Purple Rose Theatre presents its 39th world premiere, "Best of Friends," through Dec. 18. Photo: Danna Segrest The first bit of drama [...]Read more about With friends like these...
Coming Sept 1: The 2010 Wilde Awards
By BTL Staff Professional theaters from throughout Southeast and Mid Michigan will share the spotlight September 1 when the 2010 Wilde Awards are presented at [...]Read more about Coming Sept 1: The 2010 Wilde Awards
