Tempo

  Fisher sets the stage for a January reopening While Broadway in Detroit hopes to light up the stage at the Fisher Theater and the Detroit Opera House next January as it reschedules Broadway tours, local theaters are opening on a limited basis with outdoor performances. SCP HOSTS OUTSIDE COMEDY SHOW Southgate Community Players have scheduled the “Lighten Up! Comedy Show” for 8 p.m. Aug. 15 at Market Center Park, 13631 Eureka Road in Southgate. The show, which features the talent of comedians Billy Reno, Steve … [Read more...] about Local theaters stage outdoor shows

Audiences love to laugh, and two comedies, Edsel Ford High School’s “Noises Off” and Crestwood High School’s musical, “Avenue Q,” were adjudicator favorites as well, with each play receiving seven 2020 Dearborn Area Theatre Association Awards. Divine Child High School received four awards for its production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” while EFHS earned two awards for its production of the musical “Mary Poppins.” DATA also inducted two new members into the Dearborn Theater Hall of Fame: choreographer Jennifer McPherson and … [Read more...] about Crestwood’s ‘Avenue Q,’ Edsel Ford’s ‘Noises Off’ earn laughter and DATA Awards

With stages dark and actors idle, even the annual awards ceremony for the Dearborn Area Theatre Association will move online this year. The annual event honors high school thespians and their adult support staff from Dearborn Heights Crestwood, and Dearborn, Divine Child and Edsel Ford high schools in Dearborn, whose performances and productions were adjudicated by DATA members. The adult entries, from the Random Acts of Theater group, were judged separately from the youth productions. The DATA awards ceremony, typically held … [Read more...] about DATA announces theater award nominees for a COVID-shortened season

As theater doors remain closed due to the pandemic, actors are creating new ways to articulate their art, from broadcasting past shows to exploring non-traditional ways to tread the boards. At Trenton’s Open Book Theatre Company, Artistic Director Krista Schafer Ewbank and the theater’s board have continued to look for safe ways to offer a live theater experience, with “Driveway Theatre” being the result. “Driveway Theatre,” which will offer 30 minutes of entertainment on personal pavement, allows the hosts to invite their … [Read more...] about Open Book Theatre Company launches ‘Driveway Theatre’

  As theaters scramble to survive amid a pandemic, the need to honor inclusion within an art form that often casts roles based on stereotypes offers thespians an additional challenge. The Players Guild of Dearborn, which is developing options to downsize its season and expenses during a time of uncertain opening nights is taking on an additional challenge: How to end the marginalization of minority actors who may not mirror the traditional ethnicity with which roles were cast. The Guild, which is contemplating a … [Read more...] about Planning for pandemic and inclusion: The Player Guild of Dearborn acts extemporaneously

  As the pandemic shutters theaters and people protest against the violence directed at black people, actors across the country are re-examining the role racism plays in theatrical productions. The Slipstream Theatre Initiative has committed to being a part of the change needed to promote diversity and inclusion. (See https://www.downriversundaytimes.com/2020/06/04/players-guild-presents-online-sunday-night-cabarets.) Opera MODO, a non-profit opera company in Detroit, has also committed to change. In a recent … [Read more...] about Setting the stage: Providing change for black actors goes beyond color-conscious casting

  Following its successful online “Miscast Cabaret,” in which performers sang songs they could never play on stage, the Players Guild of Dearborn is launching an online Sunday Night Cabaret series. From Tony Award-winning show tunes, to character parts, both singers and actors, whether or not they are Guild members, are encouraged to go to the theater’s website to check out the guidelines to select and prepare a submission entry, at playersguildofdearborn.org/sunday-night-cabaret. A Tony Winner Cabaret, which will air … [Read more...] about Players Guild presents online Sunday Night Cabarets

  From its founding as the St. Pius Players in 1957 to its current status as the Southgate Community Players, the Downriver thespians have been promoting community theater and encouraging local talent. The group’s website, scponstage.com, explains that the group was formed following a minstrel show, “Cotton Pickin’ Paradise,” put on by two members of St. Pius Parish in Southgate. Board member Chris Rollet, whose parents were among SCP’s founding members, said a small group of parishioners formed a group, The St. Pius … [Read more...] about From a passion play to musical theater, Southgate Community Players light up the stage

  The stage lights have temporarily dimmed, but the creativity of its members continues to spark the Players Guild of Dearborn, as it has throughout its 93-year history of creating onstage magic. The non-profit community theater, founded in 1927, which has survived the challenges of the Great Depression, World War II and the post-war quest of building its own theater, remains resolute, if not entirely patient, in its quest to wait out the pandemic and return to its passion of creating theatrical enchantment. The … [Read more...] about Players Guild of Dearborn: 93 years of community theater magic

  From his teens until his death at age 74, Bob Jones was immersed in local community theater, whether onstage or off, and greeted everyone with a genuine smile. Whether directing, producing, acting, running the ticket booth, or scurrying behind the scenes, Jones, who died April 24 of a massive heart attack, sparked enthusiasm in others, encouraged involvement and always made thespians and audience members feel welcome. His widow, Bette Jo Jones, said Bob knew and cared about everyone. “I have always been convinced … [Read more...] about From the box office to the stage, Bob Jones welcomed others to community theater