American musical runs April 24 – May 19, 2024, on the campus of Oakland University Ring in spring with a musical road trip from Chicago to California with 34 songs from the 50s and 60s. From “King of the Road” to “The Little Old Lady from Pasadena” and, of course, “Route 66," it’s a great time to get your kicks. The musical revue Route 66, by Roger Bean, runs April 24 through May 19, 2024, at Meadow Brook Theatre (MBT) on the campus of Oakland University in Rochester. “People are … [Read more...]
REVIEW: Memory and Hope are the Emotional Crux of ‘The Laramie Project’ at Oakland University
Do not miss your chance to see the power presentation of The Laramie Project running now until Sunday, April 7, 2024, in Varner Studio Theatre on the campus of Oakland University (OU) in Rochester, Mich. Staged by the Oakland University School of Music, Theatre and Dance and directed by OU faculty member Kelli Crump, The Laramie Project is written by Moisés Kaufman, along with members of the Tectonic Theatre Project, and chronicles the aftermath of the 1998 hate crime murder of University of … [Read more...]
Rochester University Presents ‘And Then There Were None’
Rochester University’s Department of Theatre and Music presents And Then There Were None, by Agatha Christie, directed by Hannah Niece. Ten strangers arrive on an isolated island, invited by a mysterious host. All the guests have in common is a wicked past they're unwilling to reveal and a secret that will seal their fate. As the weather turns, they begin to be killed one by one, in accordance with the lines of a sinister nursery rhyme. Cut off from the mainland, the group quickly realizes … [Read more...]
Oakland University Presents ‘The Laramie Project’
Aaron Kreifels (Pietro Cataldo) recounts his bike ride in The Laramie Project at Oakland University. Photo credit: Crystal Orser Oakland University’s Department of Theatre in the School of Music, Theatre and Dance is presenting The Laramie Project which opens Thursday, March 28, 2024, and closes Sunday, April 7, 2024, in Varner Studio Theatre in Rochester, Mich. The Laramie Project by Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project chronicles the reaction to the 1998 hate crime … [Read more...]
REVIEW: ‘Love Thy Neighbor’ Gets Tested in the Meadow Brook Theatre Comedy, ‘Native Gardens’
Motivational speaker Wayne Dyer is credited with saying, “The only difference between a flower and a weed is judgment,” which perfectly sums up the premise of the comedy Native Gardens, by Karen Zacarías, running now through April 14, 2024, at Meadow Brook Theatre (MBT) on the campus of Oakland University in Rochester, Mich. Set in a stately and affluent Washington D.C. neighborhood, young, idealistic Latinx couple Tania (Stefania Gonzalez) and Pablo (Michael De Souza) Del Valle have bought … [Read more...]
REVIEW: Misery Loves Company in Avon Players’ Clever Comedy ‘Drinking Alone’
Drinking Alone centers around a family reunion no one wants to attend, but you should snag a seat for this must-see production running at Avon Players in Rochester Hills, Mich., now through March 23, 2024. Written by Canadian playwright Norman Foster, Drinking Alone combines hilarity and insight into the tribulations of everyday life. Similar to the style American playwright Neil Simon is known for. The plot centers on the Todd family whose dysfunctional dynamics offer up plenty of humor and … [Read more...]
Avon Players Presents Romantic Comedy ‘Drinking Alone’
Regret and family resentments ignite in this play with humor and heart Adult siblings reckon with their complicated past with their father as well as their unsatisfying life paths to comic effect as Avon Players presents Drinking Alone, running March 8-23. Joe Todd (Luigi Murri) leads a lonely, dull life dutifully maintaining the family dry-cleaning business. His sister Carrie (Hosanna Phillips) is a local television star whose career is thriving while her marriage falls apart. When their … [Read more...]
Michigan premiere of ‘A Little More Alive’ at Meadow Brook Theatre
Folk-pop musical runs February 14 – March 10 on the campus of Oakland University In this heartfelt and original folk-pop musical, two estranged brothers reunite at theirchildhood home after their mother’s funeral. An unexpected revelation distorts everymemory they have, and as they uncover secrets that had been hiding in plain sighttheir whole lives, Nate and Jeremy find that no one is exempt from the gray areabetween right and wrong. A Little More Alive runs February 14 through March 10, … [Read more...]
REVIEW: Get Inside the Beautiful Mind of Avon Players’ ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’
Wellington is dead and Christopher’s ordered life becomes forever flipped upside down in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time running now through Saturday, February 3, 2024, at Avon Players Theatre in Rochester, Mich. Originally a 2003 mystery novel by British author Mark Haddon, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is largely narrated from the first-person perspective of 15-year-old Christopher John Francis Boone (Robert Carrigan) who lives in Swindon, England. … [Read more...]