REVIEW: Avon Players’ ‘Night of January 16th’ Delivers Courtroom Drama and a Surprise Ending

Avon Players welcomed eager theatergoers back for the opening night of Ayn Rand’s courtroom drama, Night of January 16th, running now until Saturday, October 9, 2021, in Rochester, MI. This moment is important because it marks the first live production since the shutdown in March 2020 when Lend Me a Tenor had to abruptly ends its run. And it is also a season of celebration as Avon Players commemorates 75 years of bringing creative and crowd-pleasing theatre to the area. Before the start of … [Read more...]

REVIEW: You’ve Got Mail! Avon Players’ ‘Forever Christmas: A Virtual Celebration’ is the Musical Christmas Card We All Need this Season

When I sat in the audience on March 6, 2020, for the opening night of the Avon Players’ production of Lend Me a Tenor, I, and I daresay those around me had any clue that this would be the last time we saw live theatre for the remainder of the year. Suddenly, ‘intermission’ took on a whole new meaning as the days stretched into weeks and months. Now, we find ourselves deep into December and in desperate need of holiday cheer. Avon Players chooses to close out their 2020 season with Forever … [Read more...]

REVIEW: Classical Opera Gets the Slapstick Treatment in Avon Players’ Uproarious Production of ‘Lend Me a Tenor’

Mention the word ‘opera’ and likely the first image that springs to mind is a woman in a Viking hat with blond braids, wearing a breastplate, and hitting an impossibly high note that can shatter any nearby glass objects. Or perhaps it’s the 1957 Bugs Bunny cartoon “What’s Opera, Doc?” spoofing Richard Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen. And while there is such a thing as opera comedies, I find it hard to believe that any opera attendee would ever leave a performance with their sides aching from … [Read more...]

Laugh Along with the Avon Players’ ‘Lend Me a Tenor’

An impresario’s desperation leads to comedic confusion    Metro Detroit audiences will get a humorous view of the world of opera as Avon Players presents the classic farce Lend Me a Tenor, running March 6-21 in Rochester Hills, MI. Henry Saunders (Joe Colosi), the general manager of a Midwestern opera company, is primed to welcome the world-famous Tito Morelli (Jonathan Farrell) for his one-night-only appearance as Pagliacci. The star arrives late and is accidentally given a double dose of … [Read more...]

Meadow Brook Theatre Season Opens with Agatha Christie’s ‘Murder on the Orient Express’

The New Adaptation of Classic Whodunit Runs October 2 through 27 Just after midnight, a snowdrift stops the elegant Orient Express in its tracks. There’s been a murder. Who can solve the puzzle of the American tycoon, found dead in his compartment which was locked from the inside? Only Hercule Poirot can hope to find the murderer before he or she strikes again. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie, adapted by Ken Ludwig, runs October 2 through 27 at Meadow Brook Theatre (MBT) on … [Read more...]