Northville’s Tipping Point Theatre Brings Comedy and Riveting Emotion in NewSummer Lineup
- Encore Staff Writer
- Jun 4
- 4 min read
Tickets just $30; on sale NOW
NORTHVILLE, MI – Tipping Point Theatre (TPT) announces a brand-new collection of summer performances beginning on July 17, 2025. “You can count on Detroit talent to bring the fun”
states TPT Artistic Director Julia Glander. “We are excited to kick back with the Planet Ant Home Team led by Tipping Point Theatre favorite, Dave Davies, for three nights of improv comedy to lead off our Summer Sessions. Then, returning Detroiter Michelle Murphy transports audiences back to her 13-year-old self at summer camp in her critically-acclaimed one person show, Keeper. Plus, audiences can enjoy our outdoor patio and courtyard with a beer or a glass of wine before each show—a true Michigan summer treat!”
Summer Sessions launches on July 17th with The Planet Ant Home Team, the beloved improv troupefrom Planet Ant Theater! The Planet Ant Home Team, made up of the Detroit Metro area’s mostseasoned and hilarious improvisers—Dave Davies, Lauren Bickers, Quintin Hicks, Nuverre Naami, Scott Sanford and Josh Silver (musical accompaniment)— has been entertaining audiences since the turn of the century. This July they bring some of their most popular members to Tipping Point Theatre for three nights of improv games in the style of television’s Whose Line Is It Anyway, led by TPT favorite Dave Davies.
“I started as an improviser at Planet Ant in the late 1990’s,” Davies said. “I was later blessed to have been part of the first Tipping Point show in 2007, Don’t Dress for Dinner. Scripted acting was quite a change for me from improvising. It utilizes a whole different set of tools and a very dissimilar mind-set.”
“It’s a tremendous thrill for me to get to show Tipping Point audiences what we’ve been doing at our little black-box theater in Hamtramck, MI for so many years” states Davies. “The laughs are spontaneous and can just as easily surprise the cast as much as the audience! I know some people areafraid to attend an improv show for fear of getting singled out or heckled by the cast. That never happens here. While audience members may be called upon to give a suggestion to start a scene (only if they’re willing), they’re always the much-appreciated guest.”
The summer season continues on July 31st with Michelle Murphy’s award-winning one-woman journey of growth. “Michelle is like a tornado, swirling and steaming with emotions, you want to see every move, every moment …the performance is brilliant, strong, and totally fulfilling” states Discover Hollywood Magazine. Get on the bus—we’re going to summer camp! During this emotional and energetic solo show, the audience is transported back to a simpler time of trust-falls, chow time and visits to the medical tent…but some wounds are too deep for a camp nurse to heal. Michelle Murphy embodies her younger self with exuberance and a wide-eyed innocence to reveal how an early rejection from a loved one left her fraught with questions of self-worth. From being hunted by the most vicious predator (other 13-year-old girls) to coping with (and without) food, Murphy shares how she broke through to discover why she is, in fact, a keeper.
Keeper has a powerful message for everyone. Once the past is truly in the past, once the wounds are no longer fresh, without the shame and the lies...who are you? Are you willing to find out? Murphy holds nothing back in this riveting and raw journey.
“There is nothing like a Pure Michigan summer,” states Murphy, “and mine were spent at Camp Dearborn Youth Camp. I am thrilled to bring my solo show Keeper back home—a painful yet beautiful journey of my childhood in the 80’s. The intimacy of the space is perfect. Get on the bus, we’re going to summer camp at Tipping Point Theatre!”
Keeper is written and performed by Michelle Murphy, directed by Juliette Jeffers. This production contains strong language and mature themes. This production is a winner of the Hollywood Encore Producers’ Award, among others!
TIPPING POINT THEATRE’S 2025 SUMMER SEASON AT A GLANCE
Visit www.tippingpointtheatre.com for exact performance dates and times.
The Planet Ant Home Team: Thursday through Saturday, July 17-19, 2025, at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets now available.
Keeper: Thursday, July 31, 2025, at 3 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, August 1-2, 2025, at 7:30
p.m. Tickets now available.
TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets for each production are $30 and are available for purchase by visiting
www.tippingpointtheatre.com, calling the Ticket Office at 248.347.0003, or by visiting the Ticket Office window located inside Tipping Point Theatre at 361 East Cady Street, Northville, MI 48167. The Ticket Office is open Wednesday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., and 90 minutes prior to every performance.
ABOUT TIPPING POINT THEATRE
Tipping Point Theatre (TPT) celebrates live theatre by producing a wide range of vibrant, diverse,
thought-provoking programming, promoting local and upcoming artists, and providing arts educational outreach to the Northville community and southeast Michigan. Incorporated as a professional, non-profit 501(c)3 organization in the state of Michigan, TPT opened its doors in 2007 and operates under the direction of local artist Julia Glander, and is led by Board Presidents Nannette Ret and Heather Bell.
TPT produces five main stage productions in a typical season in addition to special events and
community education and outreach efforts, and operates out of its own 140-seat theatre in the heart of downtown Northville, MI. TPT is the recipient of over 35 regional theatre award nominations (with twelve wins), and is a regular recipient of support from the Michigan Arts and Culture Council, National Endowment for the Arts, and the Shubert Foundation.