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: Feel the Magic of the Season with ‘A Christmas Carol’ at Meadow Brook Theatre
December 6, 2024 by Leave a Comment
Meadow Brook Theatre celebrates the season with ‘A Christmas Carol’
December 4, 2024 by Leave a Comment
Running Nov. 22 through Dec. 22, 2024, on the campus of Oakland University in Rochester, Mich One of southeast Michigan’s favorite holiday traditions returns for its 42nd year when Ebenezer, Tiny Tim, and a handful of ghosts raise your spirits in A Christmas Carol at Meadow Brook Theatre (MBT) this November and December. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, original adaptation and staging by Charles Nolte, runs at Meadow Brook Theatre on the campus of Oakland University in Rochester from … [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...]
Sisterly Bonds Make for Laughter and Tears in Avon Players’ ‘Crimes of the Heart’
October 22, 2024 by Leave a Comment
Pulitzer Prize-winning play proves you can indeed go home again From left to right: Kelly Miller as “Chick,” Lisa “Dee” Denomme as “Lenny,” and Maia Fetter as “Babe.” Photo Credit: Bryan Clifford. Avon Players’ season continues with a bittersweet story of three women coming home and reconciling the trajectory of their messy lives with their small-town upbringing in Crimes of the Heart, running November 8-23. In Hazelhurst, Mississippi, the three Magrath sisters have gathered to await news … [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...]
Chilling Mystery ‘Strangers On a Train’ at Meadow Brook Theatre
September 23, 2024 by Leave a Comment
Michigan premiere runs October 9 – November 3, 2024, on the campus of Oakland University L to R: Stephen Blackwell as Charles Bruno and Ron Williams as Guy Haines in MBT's Strangers on a Train production. Photo courtesy of Sean Carter Photography You can chat with a stranger about anything. That’s what happens when Guy Haines and Charles Bruno meet on a train. They begin to open up about how dissatisfied they are with their lives. Eventually, Bruno suggests that they could get away with … [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...]
Rochester Christian University Theatre Company Presents ‘The Yellow Boat’ by David Saar
September 3, 2024 by Leave a Comment
Rochester Christian University Theatre Company presents The Yellow Boat, a play written by David Saar and directed by Robert Arbaugh, MFA. The Yellow Boat is based on the true story of David and Sonja Saar's son, Benjamin, who was born with congenital hemophilia and died in 1987 at the age of 8 of AIDS-related complications. A uniquely gifted visual artist, Benjamin's buoyant imagination transformed his physical and emotional pain into a blaze of colors and shapes in his fanciful drawings and … [Read more...]
Attend the Dark, Witty Tale of Avon Players’ ‘Sweeney Todd’
August 19, 2024 by Leave a Comment
Desperate deeds lead to dramatic ends in this iconic Stephen Sondheim musical Avon Players’ season begins with love, murder, and revenge set against the backdrop of 19th-century London in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street running September 6-21. From L to R: Mario Simone as “Sweeney Todd” and Joy Oetjens as “Mrs. Lovett.” Photo Credit: Bryan Clifford. In this haunting tale, Sweeney Todd (Mario Simone), an unjustly exiled barber, returns to Victorian London seeking … [Read more...]
Tickets on Sale for ‘Britain’s Finest – The Complete Beatles Experience’
June 26, 2024 by Leave a Comment
Performing live at Meadow Brook Theatre’s Annual Concert & Cuisine Meadow Brook Theatre (MBT) presents Britain’s Finest – The Complete Beatles Experience on Friday, July 12, 2024, for the theatre’s annual fundraising event Concert & Cuisine. The event includes a pre-glow reception, a strolling dinner, and a one-night-only concert with the band. All proceeds benefit Meadow Brook Theatre, a nonprofit organization and Michigan’s largest-producing professional theatre. Britain’s Finest … [Read more...]
