The Rundown | Oct. 31 2025- Now Playing!
- John Sloan III
- Oct 31
- 13 min read
Updated: Nov 6
Welcome to THE RUNDOWN, a quick hit highlight of the shows now playing on stage in Michigan. It's been a long time; we shouldn't have left you. But don't worry, The Rundown is back, and this Halloween issue is PACKED with new shows, concerts, and holiday cheer. So, grab your apple cider and doughnuts, zip up that bubble vest, and head on out to a stage near you.
Get On Up and Go See A Show!
It's Been Three Hundred Years
Right Down to the Day
Now the Witch Is Back
And There's Hell to Pay
I Put a Spell on You
And Now You're Mine
PLACES PLEASE, THIS IS YOUR PLACES CALL!
Here's THE RUNDOWN for Friday, October 31, 2025.
CLOSING THIS WEEKEND
HERE THERE AE BLUEBERRIES | Detroit Public Theatre | Runs Oct 1 - Nov 2
Detroit Public Theatre (DPT) is thrilled to announce the cast for HERE THERE ARE BLUEBERRIES, conceived by Moisés Kaufman and written by Moisés Kaufman and Amanda Gronich. Directed by Amy Marie Seidel, this production marks the first licensed production in the United States even as the celebrated Tectonic Theater Project continues its acclaimed national tour.
In 2007, a mysterious album of never-before-seen World War II-era photographs arrives at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. As curators unravel the truth behind the images, the album makes headlines around the world. Based on real events, HERE THERE ARE BLUEBERRIES examines what the photographs reveal about the perpetrators of the Holocaust—and, ultimately, our own humanity.
Written by: Moises Kaufman and Amanda Gronich
Directed by: Amy Marie Seidel
DOG MAN: THE MUSICAL | The Wharton Center | Sat., Nov 1
The New York Times Critics’ Pick Dog Man: The Musical, based on the best-selling book series by Dav Pilkey, returns to Wharton Center on Saturday, November 1, 2025.
Dog Man: The Musical is a hilarious and heartwarming production following the chronicles of Dog Man. With the head of a dog and the body of a policeman, Dog Man loves to fight crime and chew on the furniture. But while trying his best to be a good boy, can he save the city from Flippy the cyborg fish and his army of Beasty Buildings?
DRY SUMMER | Theatre Nova | Runs through Nov 2
Theatre NOVA, presents the World Premiere of Dry Summer by Robert Axelrod, running
October 10 - November 2. Depressed and longing to get his life back on track, gay, Jewish, twenty-something Ethan returns to his Ann Arbor family home. When he takes a job as a “sober companion” to his recovering alcoholic neighbor, an unconventional friendship ensues. Full of Ann Arbor references, this charming and nostalgic play takes us all home. Producing Artistic Director Briana O’Neal says: “When you engage with a world premiere play like Dry Summer, you are providing a space for new voices to bring their stories to the stage. We're very lucky to have an Ann Arbor playwright bring this very Ann Arbor story to our stage."
Written by: Robert Axelrod
Directed by: Brittany Connors
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OPENING THIS WEEKEND
SEVEN GUITARS | Wanye State University | Runs Oct 31 - Nov 9
The Maggie Allesee Department of Theatre and Dance at Wayne State University continues its 2025–26 season with August Wilson’s Seven Guitars.
Set in Pittsburgh’s Hill District in 1948, Seven Guitars begins just after the funeral of blues musician Floyd “Schoolboy” Barton. As friends gather to remember him, their stories unfold in a world shaped by hardship, resilience, and the rhythms of the blues. The play is the fifth in Wilson’s monumental American Century Cycle, chronicling the African American experience decade by decade.
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Written by: August Wilson
Directed by: Billicia Charnelle Hines
SCREENINGS & STREAMING
TI'MON | The Obsidian Theatre Festival
The Obsidian Theatre Festival, the flagship program of the GhostLight Arts Initiative (GLAI), is proud to announce the streaming release of Season 4 Feature content. Having gained national recognition as a platform for emerging Black voices, OTF continues to break new ground through the streaming of original plays, musicals, music, and conversation.
This year's streaming schedule kicked off with the debut of TI’MON, a bold new musical by Ashlee and Ziyan, centered on the immigrant experience, family, and imagination. What makes this piece truly unique is the accompanying behind-the-scenes documentary following the development process with dramaturg Kanoa Sims. TI’MON premiered on Tuesday, July 22nd on the GhostLight YouTube channel . The full feature piece is now available to stream on obsidianfest.org.
THE GOLDEN LOC | The Obsidian Theatre Festival | Premiering August 19
Prentiss Matthew III's award-winning play for young audiences, The Golden Loc, is set to premiere on August 19th. The piece, which was presented as part of The Obsidian Theatre Festival's 4th Season, was directed by Asia Mark and starred local actors Khalia Damali, Jarquita Evans, DeNitria Gibson, Tayler Jones, Princess Beyonce Jones, Chelsea King, and QueenMakeeda Taylor as "Zia".
The show received the "Best Play" award in 2024 from BroadwayWorld Michigan and recently became available for production through Plays For New Audiences.
Written by: Prentiss Matthews III
Directed by: Asia Mark
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NOW PLAYING
CATCH ME IF YOU CAN | Meadow Brook Theatre | Runs through Nov 2
Mystery awaits you at a mountain lodge as
Catch Me If You Can kicks off the season at
Meadow Brook Theatre.
Daniel Corban is excited he and his wife get to spend their honeymoon at his boss’ cabin in the mountains. But when the newlyweds squabble, his wife takes a walk to clear her head. When she finally returns, Daniel claims the woman is not his wife, but with a priest backing up her story, who’s telling the truth? "I love kicking off a season with a thriller,” says Travis W. Walter, MBT artistic director. "Catch Me If You Can is a mystery that will keep people guessing and gasping right up to the end.”
Written by: Jack Weinstock and Willie Gilbert
Directed by: Travis W. Walter
THE MUSIC OF HER LIFE | Lulu Fall & The Carr Center | Oct 2, Nov 6, Dec 17
Lulu Fall’s 3-Concert Series kicks off with Broadway Night with Lulu Fall.
The Carr Center presents a 3-concert series, featuring singer, award-winning songwriter and Broadway actor Lulu Fall. Each concert represents Lulu’s poignant life pillars, marked by major chapters and life changes, all from the lens of a first-generation African-American girl.
Lulu has graced Broadway productions such as the iconic HAIR and the groundbreaking Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812.
In Detroit theatre, she was featured in the world premiere musical, Hastings Street, and earned a Wilde Award for Best Supporting Actress in Detroit Public Theatre’s production of Passing Strange.
All concerts begin at 7:30pm, and will last 60-70 minutes. The Carr Center is located at 15 East Kirby, inside the Park Shelton.
THE STRATFORD FESTIVAL | www.stratfordfestival.ca
MACBETH | Runs through Nov 22
Robert Lepage returns to the Stratford Festival with a bold new production of Macbeth, Shakespeare’s compelling tale of unchecked ambition. Created in collaboration with Lepage’s company Ex Machina, the show features Tom McCamus in the title role and Lucy Peacock as Lady Macbeth.
Six years in the making, this fast-paced production will grab you with its startling opening scene and keep you in its grip through the thrilling final moments. It sees the clan loyalties and blood feuds of medieval Scotland come to vivid life in a biker gang war setting. In this story of a ruthless warrior empowered by prophecy, Shakespeare dramatizes the consequences of psychopathic ambition with a stark clarity that continues to shock audiences centuries later.
“Macbeth is always timely,” says Lepage, “because whatever the political system or the moment in history, there is always a Macbeth somewhere – an ambitious person who transforms a society into a dictatorship.”
Directed by: Robert Lepage
ANNIE | Runs May 27 - Dec. 14
The sun will come out tomorrow when the Stratford Festival begins its 2025 season with the fabulous musical Annie.
Ever-optimistic Annie makes it her job to improve the lives of everyone around her – except maybe Miss Hannigan, who has made life a misery for all the little girls in her care at the New York Municipal Orphanage.
Annieofficially opens on May 27 and runs until November 2 at the Festival Theatre.
“Where we came from and where we want to go define who and what we aspire to be – our vision shapes us,” says director Donna Feore.
“Annie... embodies the best of every human reaction to adversity and she speaks to us in a language so simple and clear that it’s hard to deny her power.”
Directed & Choreographed by: Donna Feore
Musical Direction by: Laura Burton
DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS | Runs May 29 - Nov 23
Prepare for the Avon Theatre to be transformed into the glamorous French Riviera as Dirty Rotten Scoundrels hits the stage tomorrow, offering huge laughs and high energy. It showcases exhilarating performances by Shakura Dickson as Christine Colgate, Jonathan Goad as Lawrence Jameson, Liam Tobin as Freddy Benson, Sara-Jeanne Hosie as Muriel Eubanks, Derek Kwan as Andre Thibault, and Michele Shuster as Jolene Oakes.
Shakura Dickson ("Christine") sat down recently for an interview with Encore's John Sloan III. Stay tuned for the piece dropping soon!
ANNE OF GREEN GABLES | Runs through Nov 16
Grab a glass of raspberry cordial and join us for a story of love, family and friendship as Kat Sandler’s adaptation of Anne of Green Gables makes its world première at the Stratford Festival. Directed by Sandler and led by Caroline Toal, Tim Campbell and Sarah Dodd, the east-coast charmer plays at the Avon Theatre.
Generations of readers have fallen in love with Lucy Maud Montgomery’s timeless tale about the red-headed orphan longing for a forever home.
Written & Directed by: Kat Sandler
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COMING SOON
THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK | Avon Players | Runs Nov. 7-22
One girl’s true account of a growing up in extraordinary circumstances makes for a harrowing and hopeful play as Avon Players Theatre presents The Diary of Anne Frank,
running November 7-22. In her secret attic, Anne comes of age: she laughs, plays, fights with her mother, and falls in love for the first time. “It was hard to imagine such events happening, and yet, they did happen,” Director Angel Maclean said. “I learned that the promise of a better future, even joy, can be found in the worst of conditions."
Written and Adapted by: Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett
1997 version adapted by Wendy Kesselman
Directed by: Angel Maclean
TWELFTH NIGHT | Detroit Mercy Theatre Company | Runs Nov 7-16
A fresh adaptation of a Shakespearian classic opens Detroit Mercy Theatre Company’s
55th season and celebrates the company’s return to the University of Detroit Mercy’s McNichols Campus with the opening of the new Detroit Mercy Black Box Theatre.
Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare and adapted by Marc Palmieri follows twins Viola and Sebastian, separated by a shipwreck and stranded on the peculiar land of Illyria. Disguising herself as a young man, Viola finds employment in the service of the noble Duke Orsino, only to fall hopelessly in love with him.
Adapted by: Marc Palmieri
Directed by: Sarah Hawkins Rusk
LOST IN YONKERS | Birmingham Village Players | Runs Nov 7-23
Rapid-fire jokes and crazy characters are a staple in Playwright Neil Simon’s
comedies. Lost in Yonkers, his coming-of-age story set in 1942, is no exception. Birmingham Village Players is delighted to give the community something to laugh about November 7-23, 2025.
Winning the Tony award for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Neil Simon’s
Lost in Yonkers centers around the themes of love, responsibility and the importance of family.
“Arty is a sassy 13-year-old that the audience will grow to love,” said 12-year-old Brooklyn Brown of Huntington Woods, who is stretching her acting chops by playing the part of a young boy. “I am still working on posture and mannerisms, but it is a fun process.”
Written by: Neil Simon
Directed by: Eileen White
PRIMARY TRUST | Detroit Repertory Theatre | Runs Nov 7 - Dec 28
The Detroit Repertory Theatre begins its 69th Season with the Detroit Premiere of Pulitzer Prize-winning Primary Trust by Eboni Booth. The production opens on Friday, November 7, 2025 at 8pm, with a Champagne Afterglow, and runs through December 28, 2025, with four shows a week on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Primary Trust is an achingly beautiful tale that celebrates friendship, connection, and small acts of kindness that can change a person’s life—and an entire community.
Written by: Eboni Booth
Directed by: Antoine McKay
SUNSET: A CYBER LAMENT | The Hinterlands | Runs Nov 14-16
Detroit-based experimental theatre company and 2018 Kresge Arts Fellows The Hinterlands presents their newest work - Sunset: A Cyber Lament - November
14-16, and 20-22 at 7:30pm hosted by Andy Arts (3000 Fenkell St Detroit, MI 48238).
Down into the Digital Otherworld journeys a virtuosic singer in search of his lost soul,
which was spirited away by an enchanting and mischievous technological force. Inspired by medieval retellings of the Orpheus myth and our collective internet-driven
madness, Sunset weaves technologies old and new - mask performance, live video
mixing, AI chatbots, electronic music, lamentations, spirit talking, Victorian illusion and
more - into a music-driven terrifying and embodied work that mythologizes our
relationship with technology, and how it has changed and shaped our imagination.
Created and performed by: Liza Bielby, Jenna Kirk, Richard Newman, and Renee Willoughby, with Jessica Annunziata.
THE COMPLETE WORKS OF JAYNE AUSTEN | Open Book Theatre Company |
Runs Nov 14 - Dec 7 | www.openbooktheatrecompany.net
This November, Open Book Theatre Company (OBTC) invites audiences into a fast-paced, funny, and frenzied world of bonnets and balls with its production of The Complete Works of Jane Austen, Abridged. The comedy is a dizzying, delightful ride through the entire cannon of the celebrated
British author, condensing six major novels and her early juvenilia into 90 minutes or less.
This fast-paced show relies on the sheer, passionate energy of its cast. Actors Lisa Michaels, Kryssy Becker-Krenitsky, and Jeffrey Miller juggle dozens of characters, dialects, and quick-change props, maintaining a "frenzied, passionate energy" that Michaels says is one of the project’s central challenges.
Written by: Jessica Bedford, Kathryn MacMillan, Charlotte Northeast, and Meghan Winch
Directed by: Hannah Niece
DANCE THEATRE OF HARLEM | Detroit Opera | Nov 15, 16
Dance Theatre of Harlem, a leading dance institution of unparalleled global acclaim, will return to the Detroit Opera House on November 15 and 16, 2025 as the third stop of the company’s 2025–26 season performances. Led by Artistic Director Robert Garland, the company will present a dynamic program showcasing beloved classics and bold contemporary works, along with the highly anticipated remount of Firebird, a ballet the company has not performed in more than 20 years.
In addition to Firebird, Dance Theatre of Harlem will perform works choreographed by Garland, Jodie Gates, and Robert Bondara, including Nyman String Quartet No. 2, Passage of Being, and Take Me With You. Set to music by Michael Nyman, Garland’s Nyman String Quartet No. 2 continues his signature exploration of the intersection of cultures that is contemporary America.
THE MASTERWORKS SERIES feat. Charlie Albright | West Michigan Symphony | Nov. 14
At 7:30pm Friday, November 14, maverick pianist Charlie Albright returns to open the 2025-26 Masterworks Series. The program led by Music Direct Scott Speck, and selected by "Audience Choice" vote last season, opens with Rossini’s William Tell Overture (the “Lone Ranger” theme) and closes with Dvořák’s “New World” Symphony. In between, Albright will captivate audiences with Rachmaninoff’s lush Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, featured in the 1980 fantasy movie Somewhere in Time (filmed on Michigan’s Mackinaw Island). The concert will take place at the Frauenthal Center, 425 W. Western Avenue in Muskegon and is sponsored by the WMS Past Chairs Committee.
A SHERLOCK CAROL | Williamston Theatre | Runs Nov 13 - Dec 21
Williamston celebrates the holiday season with A Sherlock Carol by Mark
Shanahan. Performances for this heartwarming tale begin Thursday, November 13 and run through Sunday, December 21. Tickets are now on sale.
Two beloved classic tales. One thrilling new mystery! When a grown-up Tiny Tim asks Sherlock Holmes to investigate the peculiar death of Ebenezer Scrooge, the Great Detective must use his tools of
deduction to get to the bottom of the crime. Reunite with the characters you love from Charles Dickens and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, brought together in a story of intrigue and suspense, with a holiday helping of Christmas cheer.
Written by: Mark Shanahan
Directed by: Rob Rosnowski
A VERY KALAMAZOO CHRISTMAS | Farmers Alley Theatre | Runs Nov 20 - Dec 14
Fresh off the heels of their box-office smashing hit production of Come From Away, Farmers Alley Theatre rings in the holiday season with a satirical love letter to holiday rom-coms in A Very Kalamazoo Christmas by Robert Hawlmark, opening November 20th and the show has already been so popular Farmers Alley Theatre has added six additional performances to the original run.
This hysterical comedy is written by a Michigan playwright and allows the actors the ability to fill the whip-smart script with fun local references and jokes about the Wolverine State and Kalamazoo.
Filled with snappy one-liners, quick costume changes, cheesy montages and a dash of Christmas spirit (plus a surprise cameo or two), this rollicking 90-minute comedy is like Love Actually and The Holiday morphed with the craziest episode of Saturday Night Live - performed on stage!
Written by: Robert Hawlmark
Directed by: Kevin Theis
A VERY NORTHVILLE CHRISTMAS | Tipping Point Theatre | Runs Nov 19 - Dec 21
Opening on November 19th, Tipping Point
Theatre (TPT) continues its 18th Season by presenting the return of a Southeast
Michigan favorite, A Very Northville Christmas by Robert Hawlmark.
A Very Northville Christmas is a play that parodies the concept of the “Hallmark Holiday” movie – a genre that features a handful of premieres centered around a busy career-focused woman who temporarily finds herself in her small hometown, where she reconnects with her simpler hometown ways and is caught in the conflict between her career ambitions and her growing love towards a local man.
Written by: Robert Hawlmark
Directed by: Julia Glander
BIRTH OF A HO' ASS NATION | Planet Ant Theatre | Runst Nov 14 - 29
A hilarious journey through the history of the American black experience, Birth of a Ho’ Ass Nation returns to the stage with both chapters in one night Nov 14-29 at Planet Ant Theatre, in Hamtramck.
Co-written and performed by Detroit comedian Jacob Russell, Birth of a Ho' Ass Nation - Part I & II is a fast-paced, one-man stage show that takes you through the 300+ year history of American history, and shines a light on the sometimes egregious, sometimes inspiring, American black experience.
In this one-man stage comedy, Jake travels through history and confronts many of the figures of the post-Civil War period. From meeting Abraham Lincoln to Frederick Douglass, Susan B. Anthony, and D.W. Griffith, this sequel will dig a little deeper into how America birthed a ho' ass nation.
Written by: Jacob Russell
Directed by: Rico Bruce Wade
AMERICAN HERO | Planet Ant Theatre | Runs Nov 21 - Dec 7
Planet Ant announces the opening of AMERICAN HERO by Bess Wohl at their historic Black Box theatre.
At a toasted subs franchise in a struggling mall, three “sandwich artists”—a teen, a single mom, and a downsized banker—try to build better lives one sub at a time. When their pursuit of the American Dream collides with corporate neglect and absurd misfortune, they must band together to survive in a post-recession world.
Bess Wohl’s darkly funny and compassionate comedy exposes the fragile optimism of workers clinging to the lowest rungs of the economic ladder while celebrating their resilience and humor. AMERICAN HERO is a supersized dark comedy about life, liberty, and the pursuit of sandwiches.
Written by: Bess Wohl
Directed by: Kymberli Skye
AND THAT'S THE RUNDOWN! There is so much going on across the state, and WE KNOW this isn't a comprehensive list. So, if you think there's something we missed, please reach out.
Until Next Time. Break Legs!
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