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ENCORE MICHIGAN


Middle Earth Comes to Stratford This Season with THE HOBBIT
The curtain rises on the 2026 season with a thrilling tale of magic, adventure and discovery as Kim Selody’s stage adaptation of The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien arrives at the Stratford Festival. Directed by Pablo Felices-Luna and featuring Richard Lee, Tim Campbell, Sara-Jeanne Hosie and Aaron Krohn, this beloved tale of quiet bravery began performances at the Avon Theatre this May.
Jun 262 min read


Disco Dances into Pontiac's Little Art Theatre
This fall, Pontiac audiences will step into the heart of disco history as Hallelujah Disco, starring legendary DJ and cultural icon Nicky Siano, comes to the stage for a limited engagement at The PLAT this November 6 &7, 2026.
Jun 202 min read


A Senator Grapples With His Soul at The Obsidian Theatre Festival
The Obsidian Theatre Festival returns for its sixth season with a powerful new mainstage drama, Soul of the Senator, written by Michael Hagins. As part of this summer’s slate of work, GhostLight presents a politically charged play with a timely, all-too-familiar theme: what happens when a Black Republican senator’s ambition collides with the reality of race, power, and party loyalty.
Jun 192 min read


GhostLight Arts Initiative Announces Bold Summer Season Spotlighting Michigan's Creative Future
Rooted Here. Reaching Everywhere. GhostLight's Summer Season Launches June 25 - June 28 CROOKED PARTS, from OTF 2024. Photo by Danan Thomas The Detroit based GhostLight Arts Initiative returns this summer with a three-part season that highlights new work, artist development, and community connection. Centered in Detroit but drawing artists and audiences from across the state, the lineup includes the GhostLight Gala, the Detroit IMPACT Conference, and the 6th Annual Obsidian
Jun 123 min read


“Dear Evan Hansen” at Tibbits Opera House
Dear Evan Hansen, a heartfelt coming-of-age musical, begins at Tibbits Opera House on June 19. This production is generously sponsored by Parrish Excavating. Evan Hansen is 17 and is just trying to find his place in the world. He’s shy, he’s struggling and he’s nursing a broken arm. But when a misunderstanding following a classmate’s tragic death mistakenly casts Evan in a new light, he’s given a chance to connect to new friends, new family and most importantly, himself. As h
Jun 102 min read


The wait is over: GODOT takes the Festival Stage at Stratford
Tom McCamus as Estragon and Paul Gross as Vladimir, Waiting for Godot. Stratford Festival 2026. Photo: Dariane Sanche. One of the most influential plays of the 20th century, Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot arrives at the Festival Theatre in a highly anticipated production directed by Molly Atkinson. Taking the Festival stage for the first time in history, this strictly limited engagement stars acclaimed Canadian actors Paul Gross and Tom McCamus as Vladimir and Estragon, a
Jun 92 min read


Desire and Deception Ignite as OTHELLO Takes the Stage at the Stratford Festival
André Sills (centre-left) as Othello and Krystin Pellerin (centre-right) as Desdemona with members of the company, Othello. Stratford Festival 2026. Photo: David Hou. Jealousy, ambition and manipulation collide in a gripping new production of Othello at the Stratford Festival. Under the direction of Haysam Kadri, Shakespeare’s devastating tragedy arrives on the Tom Patterson stage in a production charged with urgency, passion and emotional intensity. Led by Evan Buliung as th
Jun 42 min read


Always a Bridesmaid rounds out Meadow Brook Theatre’s 59 th season
Laugh-out-loud comedy from the writers of The Golden Girls runs May 27 through June 21, 2026 Front Row (L to R): Kennedy Vernengo as Understudy and Cheryl Turski as Libby Ruth Ames. Second Row (L to R): Stephanie Wahl as Sedalia Ellicott, Kasie Buono Roberts as Kari Ames-Bissette, Dani Cochrane as Charlie Collins, Leslie Ann Handelman as Deedra Wingate, Milika Chereé as Monette Gentry, and Princess Beyoncé Jones as Understudy A promise made at a senior prom leads to a lifet
Jun 22 min read


Spectacular musical comedy "Something Rotten!" returns to the Festival stage
Members of the company, Something Rotten! Stratford Festival 2024. Photo: David Hou. “Nothing’s as amazing as a musical!” Following overwhelming audience demand, the Stratford Festival brings the wildly popular musical Something Rotten! back to the Festival stage. Directed and choreographed by Donna Feore and led by a beloved cast including Starr Domingue as Bea Bottom, Henry Firmston as Nigel Bottom, Jeff Lillico as Shakespeare and Mark Uhre as Nick Bottom, this exuberant mu
Jun 12 min read


The Encore Musical Theatre Company Announces "Fiddler on the Roof"
The Encore Musical Theatre Company closes its 2025/26 Main Stage season with one of the most enduring and beloved musicals ever written, Fiddler on the Roof, running June 4 through July 19 in The Maas Theatre in Dexter. Sponsored by Marci & Stephen Feinberg, with onstage orchestra sponsorship by JoAnn R. Socha, this new production is directed by Dan Cooney and features a cast led by Broadway veteran and renowned Cantor, Daniel Eli Friedman, as Tevye. Set in the small village
May 303 min read


“The Marvelous Wonderettes” Opens at Tibbits Opera House
Put on your poodle skirt and lace up your saddle shoes as Tibbits Opera House presents "The Marvelous Wonderettes", a non-stop retro musical ride, starting June 5! This production is generously sponsored by Coldwater Board of Public Utilities.
May 282 min read


World Premiere Hits the Stage at Detroit Repertory Theatre
SPIT IN YOUR FACE Opens Friday, May 8 The Detroit Repertory Theatre closes out its 69th Season with the World Premiere of Spit in Your Face by Paul Heller and Alberto Lomnitz. The production opens on Friday, May 29, 2026 at 8pm, with a Champagne Afterglow, and runs through June 28, 2026, with four shows weekly on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Spit in Your Face is a bombastic new work that is a hilarious look at modern politics and absurd theatre. When an idealistic America
May 262 min read


An Arthur Miller's Classic at the Stratford Festival This Summer
Death of a Salesman Opens May 28 Arthur Miller’s Pulitzer Prize–winning classic Death of a Salesman takes the stage at the Stratford Festival, immersing audiences into the fragile, deeply human world of Willy Loman. Directed by Dean Gabourie and starring Tom McCamus as Willy alongside Lucy Peacock as Linda Loman, the production remains one of theatre’s most piercing explorations of ambition, identity and the cost of the American dream. In this searing portrait, an aging sa
May 142 min read


Fairy tales told. Lessons learned. Magic and music at Farmers Alley
(Kalamazoo, MI) Farmers Alley Theatre is set to produce an enchanting small-cast version of INTO THE WOODS by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine, running May 28th-June 14th. It’s the stories you know, with the music you love, told in magical and inventive ways.
May 134 min read


Satire Takes Center Stage at Planet Ant with FRAT RAT
Planet Ant invites audiences to experience an immersive and silly theatrical event with FRAT RAT, an original satirical one act, written and directed by Helen Rose Consiglio III. Running May 29th–June 13th at the Planet Ant Black Box, the show explores what happens when a poorly behaved co-ed fraternity has to successfully elect their next chapter president and avoid being banned from campus…forever!
May 122 min read


A Juneteenth Presentation of the Opera TANGLED ROOTS at the Festival Playhouse
Kalamazoo, Michigan — The Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership, Face Off Theatre Company and Authentic Opera Company announce the Juneteenth performance of Tangled Roots, an opera in one act with music composed and arranged by Rufus Ferguson, Jordan Hamilton and Carmen Bell. This marks the first time the work will be presented at The Festival Playhouse. Tangled Roots draws from Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers Project, 1936 to 1938, using first
May 72 min read


A Tom Petty Tribute at Tibbits Opera House
Tibbits Opera House welcomes The Insiders: A Tribute to Tom Petty for a concert on Thursday, July 2 at 7:30 pm. COLDWATER – Get ready to run down the dream! Experience the sound, the soul and the songs that shaped a generation when The Insiders: A Tribute to Tom Petty come to Tibbits Opera House on Thursday, July 2 at 7:30 pm! Close your eyes and you won’t know the difference. Open them and you still might be fooled! The Insiders bring the ultimate Heartbreakers tribute to li
May 62 min read


A Storm Unleashed: THE TEMPEST at the Stratford Festival
Ashley Dingwell as Miranda, Marissa Orjalo as Ariel, Dakota Jamal Wellman as Ferdinand and Geraint Wyn Davies as Prospero, The Tempest. Stratford Festival 2026. Photo: Dariane Sanche. A theatrical event of rare scale and emotional resonance has arrived. The Tempest, directed by Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino in his final Shakespeare production before concluding his tenure at the end of the 2026 season, is now on stage at the Stratford Festival, captivating audiences with i
May 52 min read


Laugh Along with the Homicidal Hilarity of A GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER at Avon Players
Avon Players’ 79 th season ends with the knock-‘em-dead, uproarious hit musical A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, running May 22-June 6.
May 52 min read


Broad British Comedy Bounds into Open Book Theatre
Lettice and Lovage Opens May 8 at The Open Book Theatre Company Kez Settle (left) as Lotte Schoen and Wendy Katz Hiller (Right) as Lettice Douffet. Photo by Jan Cartwright All Photos by Jan Cartwright TRENTON, MI – History is about to get a dramatic makeover at Open Book Theatre Company (OBTC). From May 8 to 31, 2026, OBTC presents Lettice and Lovage, the witty and heartwarming comedy by Peter Shaffer, the legendary playwright behind Amadeus and Equus. Lettice and Lovage fo
Apr 293 min read
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