Ring-a-Ding, baby! Join all the cool cats and see The Rat Pack Lounge, by James Hindman and Ray Roderick, with musical arrangements by John Glaudini, running through May 18, 2025, at Meadow Brook Theatre (MBT) on the campus of Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. This melodious trip down memory lane begins in heaven, where God has summoned the three most well-known members of The Rat Pack – Sammy Davis, Jr. (Malik Jordan), Dean Martin (Javier Alfonso Castellanos, in his MBT debut), and … [Read more...]
REVIEW: ‘The Rat Pack Lounge’ at Meadow Brook Theatre is the Cat’s Pajamas
May 4, 2025 by Leave a Comment
REVIEW: Meadow Brook Theatre’s ‘Vanities: The Musical’ is an Honest and Humorous Coming-of-Age Chronicle of Friendship
March 23, 2025 by Leave a Comment
Celebrating the power of friendship, the Michigan premiere of Vanities: The Musical, runs through April 13, at Meadow Brook Theatre (MBT) on the campus of Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. With book by Jack Heifner and music and lyrics by David Kirshenbaum, Vanities: The Musical focuses on the lives of three best friends from a small Texas town. At first blush, a production with ‘vanity’ in the title might seem superficial. However, this musical has depth, which is uncovered … [Read more...]
REVIEW: Calamity and Comedy Collide in Avon Players’ ‘Laughter on the 23rd Floor’
March 15, 2025 by Leave a Comment
A full house on opening night at Avon Players Theatre was treated to an evening of playwright Neil Simon’s wise-cracking comedy Laughter on the 23rd Floor, running until March 29, 2025, in Rochester Hills, Michigan. With more than 30 plays to his name, Neil Simon racked up many awards over his illustrious career, including Tony Awards for writing The Odd Couple and Biloxi Blues and a Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Lost in Yonkers. In 1983, Simon was the first living playwright to have a … [Read more...]
REVIEW: Have You Heard? ‘The Angel Next Door’ at Meadow Brook Theatre is Comedy Gold
February 16, 2025 by Leave a Comment
The Angel Next Door is a love letter to the theatre where lovers are reunited, misunderstandings are untangled, and a happy ending is (mostly) guaranteed. Now at Meadow Brook Theatre (MBT) on the campus of Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan through March 9, 2025 Written by Paul Slade Smith, The Angel Next Door is adapted from Ferenc Molnar’s three-act farce, The Play at the Castle (1924) and MBT is one of the first theatres to produce Smith’s version of the show. All the … [Read more...]
REVIEW: Shake Off Your Winter Blues and Get ‘Footloose’ at Meadow Brook Theatre
January 12, 2025 by Leave a Comment
Opening night, the house was packed and rocking as Footloose the Musical debuted at Meadow Brook Theatre (MBT) on the campus of Oakland University in Rochester, Mich. And it’s tearing up the town now through February 2, 2025. If you are a certain age, you are acquainted with Footloose, the 1984 classic movie starring Kevin Bacon. In 2011 there was a remake, but as artistic director Travis W. Walter told the audience, ‘We’re going to pretend that version doesn’t exist.’ Amen to … [Read more...]
REVIEW: Murder and Merry Misunderstandings are the Catch of the Day in Avon Players’ ‘Farce of Habit’
January 11, 2025 by Leave a Comment
A full house traded in the bitter and snowy Michigan cold for the sunshine and slapstick of the Ozarks in Avon Players’ Farce of Habit, running until January 25, 2025, in Rochester Hills, Michigan. Farce of Habit was written by Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope, and Jamie Wooten. As the title implies, this play includes many absurd situations and zany characters whose quirks propel the action and humor. Director Jeff Stillman believes the humor is based on familiar patterns of human behavior: … [Read more...]
REVIEW: Feel the Magic of the Season with ‘A Christmas Carol’ at Meadow Brook Theatre
December 6, 2024 by Leave a Comment
As the temperatures drop to bone-chilling numbers, wrap yourself up in the warmth of the season with A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, now at Meadow Brook Theatre (MBT) on the campus of Oakland University in Rochester, Mich. through December 22, 2024. Those who have been coming to see this perennial classic will notice the absence of Thomas D. Mahard, who embodied Ebenezer Scrooge for over 35 years. But not to worry. The part is in excellent hands. Fred (Antonio Vettraino) does his … [Read more...]
REVIEW: Sisterly Bonds are Put to the Test in Avon Players’ Heartwarming ‘Crimes of the Heart’
November 9, 2024 by Leave a Comment
Family trauma brings three sisters together to face their messy past and present in the emotional Crimes of the Heart, which runs through November 23, 2024, at Avon Players Theatre in Rochester Hills, MI. After opening their season with the devilishly fun musical Sweeney Todd, Avon Players’ second production, is smaller in scale, but equally rich in material. Crimes of the Heart is a 1979 play written by Beth Henley and is the first play to win the Pulitzer Prize before being produced on … [Read more...]
REVIEW: ‘Strangers on a Train’ at Meadow Brook Theatre Takes the Audience on a Chilling Ride of Murder and Intrigue
October 13, 2024 by Leave a Comment
Meadow Brook Theatre (MBT) kicked off its 58th season with the Michigan premiere of the thrilling psychological classic Strangers on a Train, which will run through November 3, 2024, on the campus of Oakland University in Rochester, MI. Originally, a novel by Patricia Highsmith (1950), then a film by the master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock (1951), and finally a play by Craig Warner (2013), Strangers on a Train asks, is there such a thing as the ‘perfect’ murder? Would you be tempted to … [Read more...]
REVIEW: Avon Players’ ‘Sweeney Todd’ is a Wicked Fun Mix of Murder and Merriment
September 7, 2024 by Leave a Comment
Avon Players opens their 78th season with a powerful production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street running through September 21, 2024, in Rochester Hills, MI. We all know the old proverb, ‘Revenge is a dish best-served cold.’ Well, in Sweeney Todd, it’s the house special. This musical originated in 1979, with music and lyrics by the legendary Stephen Sondheim (Company, Into the Woods) and book by Hugh Wheeler. Set in Victorian London, the opening number “The Ballad of … [Read more...]
