Rock 'n' Roll Theater: John Cameron Mitchell took listeners on a journey at Hill Auditorium

Tue, 11/05/2019 - 3:45pm by christopherporter

Saturday night’s Hill Auditorium performance by John Cameron Mitchell drew a crowd that likely skewed a bit younger and edgier than many University Musical Society audiences.

Joseph Zettelmaier's "Dr. Seward’s Dracula" is a creepy, clever prequel to Bram Stokers' vampire legend

Tue, 10/29/2019 - 9:45am by christopherporter

Near the end of Joseph Zettelmaier’s play Dr. Seward’s Dracula -- now being staged by The Penny Seats Theatre Company, at Ann Arbor’s Stone Chalet Inn -- a character observes, “People need their monsters.”

The Purple Rose Theatre's "Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Fallen Soufflé" rises to the occasion

Thu, 10/03/2019 - 9:45am by christopherporter

Local Baker Street Irregulars who enjoyed David MacGregor’s 2018 world premiere production of Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Elusive Ear at Chelsea’s Purple Rose Theatre may now revisit the world’s most famous detective in his London flat for yet another all-new case.

Encore Theatre's production of the Tony-winning "Fun Home" passes the test

Tue, 09/17/2019 - 4:00pm by christopherporter

When I first read Alison Bechdel’s 2006 graphic memoir Fun Home -- the basis for a Tony Award-winning musical of the same name, now on stage at Dexter’s Encore Theatre -- I immediately sent copies of the book out to my three closest girlfriends.

Theatre Nova’s "The How and the Why" explores radical and exciting ideas

Tue, 02/05/2019 - 10:30am by christopherporter

It’s a beautiful thing when a play not only passes the Bechdel test with flying colors but offers an intellectually satisfying evening of theater, too.

Chamber of Secrets: Purple Rose Theatre's "Never Not Once" pulls no punches as it explores a family's difficult history

Tue, 01/29/2019 - 12:00pm by christopherporter

We often hear that people shouldn’t be permanently defined by their worst decision or act. But on the other end of that equation, all too often, are men and women who are irrevocably shaped by the violence committed against them.

Ann Arbor Civic Theatre's "Arsenic and Old Lace" revels in horror and humor

Thu, 10/25/2018 - 1:15pm by christopherporter

Arsenic and Old Lace, Joseph Kesselring’s classic dark comedy now being staged by Ann Arbor Civic Theatre, provided director Alexandra Duncan with her first-ever stage role in high school -- though it wasn’t a particularly lively or demanding part.

Dear U-M Grads: Broadway and TV stars Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, and Darren Criss returned to campus

Mon, 10/15/2018 - 11:15am by christopherporter

At one point during Thursday night’s sold out, joyous on-stage conversation with Grammy, Tony, and Oscar award-winning songwriting team Benj Pasek and Justin Paul -- who met and started writing songs together when they were U-M musical theater students (’06) -- surprise guest moderator Darren Criss (Glee) stated what many of us were thinking: “Collectively, we’re a Michigan EGOT.”

U-M's "Night and Day" recasts ancient Roman and Greek stories with a modern multi-media production

Thu, 10/04/2018 - 2:45pm by christopherporter

Though the title Night and Day initially calls to mind a famous Cole Porter tune, U-M’s new production of the same name -- consisting of a pair of playwright Charles Mee’s myth-inspired “dance/theatre works” -- bears absolutely no relation to the song.

Well, unless director Malcolm Tulip and his artistic collaborators decide it does, that is.

PTD Productions' "Humble Boy" evokes "Hamlet" while also being funny

Wed, 08/22/2018 - 3:30pm by christopherporter

This my not seem an obvious time for a play titled Humble Boy -- ahem -- but Ypsilanti-based community theater company PTD Productions will be presenting Charlotte Jones’ award-winning 2001 comic drama at the Riverside Arts Center nonetheless.

“I love plays that are both funny and poignant at the same time, and this certainly qualifies,” said director Laura Bird. “The main character is grieving the loss of his father, but he’s also getting grief from other people about how he’s grieving. And this is a subject I’m passionate about -- that there’s no wrong way to grieve. ... Plus [the play] has these great characters, and flirts with Hamlet in a lighthearted way.”