The Ringwald presents “Small Mouth Sounds” Feb. 25 through March 14, with Joel Mitchel (left), Rashna “Rashi” Sarwar, Jeffrey McMahon, Suzan M. Jacokes, Melissa Beckwith and Jeremy St. Martin. For more information, go to theRingwald.com.
From a Michigan comedic premier to a tempting Broadway touring season, theatergoers have a season full of shows to anticipate.
“Small Mouth Sounds,” an adult comedy by Tony Award-nominated playwright Bess Wohl, makes its Michigan debut through March 14 at the Ringwald Theatre at Affirmations in Ferndale.
Six people, escaping from city life, find themselves on a silent retreat in the woods, where their vows of silence conflict with their need to interact with other people. As each of them confront their inner demons, the play explores how people connect when words fail them.
Directed by Joe Bailey, the cast includes Melissa Beckwith as Judy, Phoenix Eldridge as the teacher, Suzan M. Jacokes as Joan, Jeffrey McMahon as Rodney, Joel Mitchell as Jan, Rashna “Rashi” Sarwar as Alicia and Jeremy St. Martin as Ned.
The show contains simulated drug use and full-frontal nudity.
Masks and proof of vaccination are required for entry.
Tickets are $25 for Friday, Saturday and Sunday shows, and $15 for Monday shows. Performance times are 8 p.m. Feb. 25, 26 and 28, and March 4, 5, 7, 11, 12 and 14, and 3 p.m. Feb. 27 and March 6 and 13 at the Ringwald Theatre at Affirmations, 290 W. Nine Mile Road in Ferndale.
BROADWAY IN DETROIT CELEBRATES 60th SEASON WITH BLOCKBUSTERS
From traditional favorites like “My Fair Lady” to the modern musical hit “Hamilton,” Broadway in Detroit season ticket holders will have many reasons to celebrate the new season offerings.
Broadway in Detroit Executive Director Alan Lichtenstein said the 60th season is spectacular.
“Six of our seven shows are making their Detroit premiere,” he said. “This amazing lineup of blockbuster shows is one you will never forget.”
Among the shows coming to Detroit next season is “My Fair Lady,” which will run July 2022 at the Detroit Opera House. For more information, go to BroadwayInDetroit.com.
“Mean Girls” starts off the 2022-23 season in June at the Fisher Theater, followed by a July run of “My Fair Lady” at the Detroit Opera House.
“Ain’t Too Proud” is at the Detroit Opera House in August, followed by “Dear Evan Hansen” at the Fisher Theater in September and October.
“Tina: The Tina Turner Musical” arrives at the Detroit Opera House in December, with “Beetlejuice” ringing in the new year at the Detroit Opera House in January and February, followed by a February run of “Jagged Little Pill” at the Fisher Theatre.
“Hamilton” is not a part of the season subscription, but subscribers will have an opportunity to purchase tickets for its November and December run ahead of the general public.
The musical season begins with “Mean Girls,” a coming-of-age story in which a girl must learn to navigate the treacherous cliques and conformities of high school, learning some hard lessons before she learns to be true to herself.
Lerner and Loewe’s beloved “My Fair Lady” offers a trip down memory lane with its much-loved songs and lavish costumes and production numbers, as a Cockney flower seller learns to speak like a lady at the hands of a renowned linguistic, changing her life and his along the way.
Favorite songs include, “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly,” “I Could Have Danced All Night,” “Just You Wait,” “The Rain in Spain,” “Get Me to the Church on Time” and “On the Street Where She Lives.”
Another story of change, “Ain’t Too Proud – The Life and Times of the Temptations” brings the Tony Award-winning musical about a Motown sound that made its way from Detroit to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame back to town.
Favorite songs include “My Girl,” “Just My Imagination,” “Get Ready” and “Papa was a Rolling Stone.”
Tony Award-winner for Best Musical and Best Musical Theater Album “Dear Evan Hansen” follows a lonely teen who gets caught up in a web of lies when a classmate who signed his cast commits suicide. A letter Evan had written to himself as a therapeutic exercise is found in the late teen’s possession, and is thought to be a suicide note directed at Evan, whom his parents think was a friend of their late son.
Award-winning music is the basis of “Tina: The Tina Turner Musical,” which follows both the musical and life ups and downs of Tina Turner, who defied racism, sexism and ageism with her resilient rock ’n’ roll and her Grammy Award-winning music.
The show’s songs include “We Don’t Need Another Hero,” “Proud Mary,” “Shake a Tailfeather,” “Nutbush City Limits,” “Private Dancer,” “Disco Inferno,” “What’s Love Got to do with It?” and “The Best.”
Lesser known, but none-the-less entertaining, are the musical “Beetlejuice,” based on the movie by the same name, which follows a ghost couple, a lonely teen girl and a devious bio-exorcist, and “Jagged Little Pill,” a jukebox musical based on the music of Alanis Morissette.
Current Broadway in Detroit subscribers who wish to retain their seats must renew by April 15, either online, at BroadwayInDetroit.com/MyBID or by calling the Fisher Theater box office at 313-872-1000, Ext. 0. Beginning March 21, new subscribers will be able to purchase season tickets.