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News & Previews
Children's Theatre Network closes season with 'Jamie and Jordan'
The Children's Theatre Network of Performance Network Theatre invites audiences to gather on Saturday, May 25 at 1 p.m. for the perfect family summer kickoff, "Jamie and Jordan," a baseball-themed musical about health and friendships with book and lyrics by Kim Carney and music by Gene Gaunt. This hilarious musical tale teaches children about the importance of a healthy lifestyle and healthy friendships. Continue..
Blackbird celebrates 15th year with swank soiree
After 15 years of bold works for the stage, the Blackbird Theatre could use a drink. The innovative company is inviting the public to Frenchie's in Ypsilanti, in beautiful Depot Town, for a night of celebration. The event gets underway Friday, May 24 at 6 p.m. "It's a great way to kick off our 15th season," says founder Barton Bund. "Ypsilanti is where we started this company, and it's only fitting." The evening will be informal, a chance to catch up, and hear about plans for the new season. Continue..
Farmers Alley announces 2013-14 season
After five seasons of success, Farmers Alley Theatre's new sixth season looks to be the most exciting and music-filled season in its history! With four outstanding musicals, two Pulitzer Prize-winning playwrights, and an exciting partnership with the Gilmore Festival, Farmers Alley Theatre looks to continue its excellence as West Michigan's only year-round professional Equity theater. Continue..
BoxFest Detroit announces 2013 festival
The producers of BoxFest Detroit are pleased to announce "BoxFest Detroit 2013," an annual theater festival that showcases and creates opportunities for women directors. The festival will run the first two weekends in August. More information regarding location, dates and times will be announced shortly. BoxFest Detroit is an annual theater festival that showcases and creates opportunities for women directors. Continue..
The Wiggles are 'Taking Off' to the Fox Theatre
The times are a changin' and so are The Wiggles. After 21 years of entertaining children around the globe, The Wiggles will introduce three new cast members, including the first-ever female member, Emma Watkins. These vibrant new Wiggles will bring the "Taking Off!" worldwide tour to the Fox Theatre on Sunday, Sept. 22 in support their new album of the same name (now available on Razor & Tie). Continue..
Through the fourth wall: A critic's adventures in actor-land
By Carolyn Hayes
PART 5: Opening weekend has come and gone, and with it the seismic shift from top-secret preparation to public dissemination and discussion. This is where things get unpredictable. For the past several weeks, I've been largely able to guide the dialogue about my experience with "Brimstone and Treacle." But as of Friday night, people have seen this critic perform. And that by rights sets off a larger conversation ... in which I won't have my customary say. Continue..
Magenta Giraffe presents fifth annual Staged Reading Festival featuring Michigan playwrights
As part of its mission to reestablish and expand Detroit's theater district, Magenta Giraffe Theatre Company has chosen plays by Michigan natives and current Michigan residents to stage as part of a festival to take place May 24-26 at The Abreact Performance Space. Continue..
UPCOMING AUDITIONS, JOB OPPORTUNITIES & CLASSES:
Click the link below for a list of Equity, non-Equity, film & video auditions, industry job openings and industry-related classes and workshops throughout the state. Updated 5/14/13 Continue..
Follow us - and 'like us' - on Facebook!
Did you know that EncoreMichigan.com is on Facebook? So if you're a Facebook user, why not find us and follow us on Facebook? By clicking the "like" button at the top of the page, you'll become one of the hundreds of our friends who receive instantaneous notification when our reviews (and those of the New Monitor) are posted online, or when there's breaking professional theater news you need to know! Continue..
Subscribe to our e-newsletter and take advantage of special ticket offers
Are you a subscriber of EncoreMichigan.com's FREE, twice-weekly e-newsletter, Curtain's Up? If not, you don't know what you're missing – including special discount ticket offers from many of the state's professional theaters made only to readers of Curtain's Up! So how can you subscribe? Click "continue" for full details! Continue..
MORE STORIES, NEWS BRIEFS & PREVIEWS:
Other Voices - News & Previews (posted 5/16/13)
Other Voices - News & Previews (posted 5/12/13)
Other Voices - News & Previews (posted 5/9/13)
Reviews
A family in crisis, a family divided
By John Quinn
"Life is very long" – T. S. Eliot. "August: Osage County" is also very long and worth every minute. Winner of the 2008 Pulitzer Prize and the Tony Award for Best Play, it demonstrates that sometimes they do make things like they used to. Playwright Tracy Letts, a regular at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre, takes hints from the playbooks of masters Eugene O'Neill and Edward Albee as he writes on one of the great classic motifs of tragedy, the dysfunctional family. Continue..
'Aida' trumps an already-great season at MOT
By Michael H. Margolin
"Julius Caesar" brought brilliant singing to MOT's first Baroque opera production; "Fidelio's" musicianship and the great Christine Goerke upped the ante. Last night the final hand was dealt, and it was a winner. In a fine season, "Aida" triumphed with moments of greatness, the debuts of three gorgeous voices, sets of taste and grandeur, and the fine playing of the MOT orchestra under the baton of Steven Mercurio. Continue..
What A Do performance soars in portrayal of cruelty
By Bridgette M. Redman
Few stories on stage have characters that are irredeemably evil. Most drama is about exploring why people do the things they do, building connections and empathy. In "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," that rule is broken in the character of Nurse Ratched who is sadistic, cruel, power-hungry and, yes, evil. Continue..
Modern morality play challenges cast and audience alike
By John Quinn
It is the nature of the job that theater critics work odd hours. At Encore Michigan, we also work an arbitrary "year," which ends today. I am experiencing a Zen-like completion, as my Metro Detroit wanderings bring me full circle to where my season began – Planet Ant Theatre in Hamtramck. But "The Do Over," Margaret Edwartowski's little comedy of love's labor lost, is a polar opposite from Dennis Potter's "Brimstone & Treacle." But that's the Ant for you: a black box full of surprises. Continue..
Mission impostor: Faker's tale brings genuine enjoyment
By Martin F. Kohn
The actors bring their A game, the writers bring their B game; if we were dispensing grades this would work out to a B+ for "Catch Me If You Can," the movie-inspired musical about real-life great impostor Frank Abagnale Jr. Abagnale may have been a phony – with little education but maximum moxie he successfully passed himself off as an airline pilot, a doctor and a lawyer – but the performers are the real deal. Continue..
OTHER VOICES - REVIEWS:
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest – What A Do Theatre (posted 5/16/13)
August: Osage County – The Ringwald Theatre (updated 5/17/13)
Brimstone and Treacle – Planet Ant Theatre (updated 5/16/13)
Aida – Michigan Opera Theatre (updated 5/17/13)
Catch Me If You Can – Fisher Theatre (updated 5/16/13)
The Mountaintop – Performance Network Theatre (updated 5/10/13)
Life Could Be a Dream – Meadow Brook Theatre (updated 5/10/13)
The Maids – Magenta Giraffe Theatre Company (updated 5/2/13)
33 Variations – The Purple Rose Theater Company (updated 4/18/13)
