May 18, 2013
Theater, Dance, & Opera
The Ann Arbor area plays host to several community and semi-professional theater companies, with new shows going up every month. Ballet, modern, and traditional dance concerts abound, along with musical theater productions from Broadway to grand opera.
Wednesday
May 2012
“White Buffalo”: Purple Rose Theatre Company.
Every Wed.-Sat. (except Easter), Mar. 29-June 2. Guy Sanville directs the world premiere of Don Zolidis’s award-winning drama about a white buffalo born on a small farm in southern Wisconsin. The owner thinks nothing of it until she learns that the birth is the fulfillment of an ancient Sioux prophecy of peace on earth, and her little farm is quickly overwhelmed with religious pilgrims, bringing her into contact with a culture and faith wholly unfamiliar to her. Cast: David Daoust, Matthew David, Rainbow Dickerson, Stacie Hadgikosti, Alex Leydenfrost, Nate Mitchell, Michelle Mountain, Michael Brian Ogden, Meghan Thompson.
8 p.m. (Wed.-Sat.), 3 p.m. (Wed. & Sat.), & 2 p.m. (Sun.), Purple Rose Theatre, 137 Park St., Chelsea. Mar. 29-Apr. 5: $20 (Wed. & Thurs.), $25 (Fri. eves. & weekend matinees), & 40 (Sat. eve.). After Apr. 5: Tickets $25 (Wed. & Thurs.), $35 (Fri. eves. & weekend matinees), & $40 (Sat. eves.) in advance at purplerosetheatre.org , and by phone. 433-7673. [map
Thursday
May 2012
12:10 p.m.
Gifts of Art: U-M Hospitals.
Every Thurs. Performances by area musicians and dancers. Choral Connection. Cellist Suzanne Smith. Modern Dance by People Dancing & Friends. June 7: High-energy blues by The Bluescasters. June 14: Western swing, classic country, boogie-woogie, and rock ’n’ roll by the Cadillac Cowboys. June 21: Calypso and other island music by the Gratitude Steel Band. June 28: Jazz by Dave Sharp & Friends. 12:10 p.m., U-M Hospital lobby, 1500 E. Medical Center Dr. (off Fuller). Free. 936–ARTS. [map
“Nunsense”: Encore Musical Theatre Company.
Every Thurs.-Sun, May 20-June 10. This Dexter-based professional company presents Dan Goggin’s wacky musical about a convent in crisis. A cadre of bingo-playing nuns returns to the convent to find that 52 of their sisters have been killed by tainted soup. After burying only 48, the sisters run out of money and decide to whip up a talent show to raise cash and finish the job. Hidden talent emerges as the nuns show off some soft shoe, storytelling, and singing of such songs as “Just a Coupl'a Sisters,” “Holier than Thou,” “So You Want to Be a Nun,” and others. Cast TBA.
7 p.m. (Thurs.), 8 p.m. (Fri. & Sat.), & 3 p.m. (Sat., Sun., & June 7), Encore, 3126 Broad St., Dexter. $18 on Thurs., $32 (members & seniors, $29; groups of 10 or more, $26) on Fri. & Sat. eve., & $28 (members & seniors, $25; groups of 10 or more, $22) for matinees. Tickets available at theencoretheatre.org and at the door. 268-6200. [map
“Red”: Performance Network Professional Season.
Every Thurs.-Sun., Apr. 19-June 3. Carla Milarch directs the Michigan premiere of John Logan’s Tony-winning drama about the great American abstract expressionist painter Mark Rothko. Over the course of 2 years working on his famous commission to provide a series of murals for the Four Seasons restaurant, Rothko is challenged by his apprentice in a way that causes him to question what he has become. “Red may be all talk and no action--but what talk!” says Variety reviewer Marilyn Stasio. “John Logan sends American abstract impressionist painter Mark Rothko into battle with his demons in this electrifying play of ideas, and the artist's howls are pure music.” Stars Mark Rademacher and Kevin Young.
7:30 p.m. (Thurs.) 8 p.m. (Fri. & Sat.) 2 p.m. (Sun.), & 3 p.m. (May 5 & 19), Performance Network, 120 E. Huron. Preview tickets: whatever you can afford to pay (Apr. 19), $22 (Apr. 20, 22, & 26), and $30 (Apr. 21). Apr. 27 opening night tickets: $39 & $41 includes reception. After Apr. 27: $27 & $29 (Thurs.), $32 & $34 (Fri. & Sun.), $25 & $27 (Sat. matinee), $39 & $41 (Sat. eve.). $3 discount for seniors age 60 & over. Tickets available in advance at performancenetwork.org & by phone, and at the door. $10 student discount in advance, half-price student tickets at the door only. For reservations, call 663-0681; to charge by phone, call 663-0696. [map
“Proof”: Redbud Productions.
May 31-June 3. Loretta Grimes directs local actors in David Auburn’s knowing, compassionate Pulitzer Prize-winning drama about a young woman whose life is brought to a crisis by the death of her father, a brilliant mathematician who had crossed the thin line from genius to insanity several years earlier. His daughter must come to grips with her fear that his mathematical genius, which she has inherited, comes with a dreadful price.
8 p.m. (May 31-June 2) & 2 p.m. (June 2 & 3), Riverside Arts Center, 76 N. Huron, Ypsilanti. Tickets $18 (students & seniors, $15). 663-7167. [map
“White Buffalo”: Purple Rose Theatre Company.
Every Wed.-Sat. (except Easter), Mar. 29-June 2. Guy Sanville directs the world premiere of Don Zolidis’s award-winning drama about a white buffalo born on a small farm in southern Wisconsin. The owner thinks nothing of it until she learns that the birth is the fulfillment of an ancient Sioux prophecy of peace on earth, and her little farm is quickly overwhelmed with religious pilgrims, bringing her into contact with a culture and faith wholly unfamiliar to her. Cast: David Daoust, Matthew David, Rainbow Dickerson, Stacie Hadgikosti, Alex Leydenfrost, Nate Mitchell, Michelle Mountain, Michael Brian Ogden, Meghan Thompson.
8 p.m. (Wed.-Sat.), 3 p.m. (Wed. & Sat.), & 2 p.m. (Sun.), Purple Rose Theatre, 137 Park St., Chelsea. Mar. 29-Apr. 5: $20 (Wed. & Thurs.), $25 (Fri. eves. & weekend matinees), & 40 (Sat. eve.). After Apr. 5: Tickets $25 (Wed. & Thurs.), $35 (Fri. eves. & weekend matinees), & $40 (Sat. eves.) in advance at purplerosetheatre.org , and by phone. 433-7673. [map
Friday
June 2012
“The 39 Steps”: EMU Theatre Department.
June 1-3 & 7-9. EMU drama professor Ken Stevens directs EMU drama students in Patrick Barlow’s farce, a spoof of Hitchcock’s 1935 mistaken-identity thriller, set in interwar London, feautring a bored-with-life playboy who unexpectedly finds himself involved in risky espionage. The action is an almost continuous series of quick-changes, as 4 actors play a multitude of parts.
7 p.m. (Thurs.-Sat.) & 2 p.m. (Sun.), EMU Sponberg Theater, Ford St. (off Lowell at Jarvis), Ypsilanti. Tickets $15 (students, $12; kids 12 & under, $6) in advance and at the door. 487-1221.
“Finale! 2012”: Huron High School.
June 1 & 2. Huron students perform 1-act plays that they’ve written and directed.
7:30 p.m., HHS Little Theatre, 2727 Fuller Rd. Tickets $6 (students, seniors, & AAPS staff, $4). Reservations recommended. 994-2095. [map
8 p.m.
“Brilliant Traces”: Carriage House Theatre.
June 1-3 & 7-9. This new local theater company opens its second season with Cindy Lou Johnson’s drama about a lost runaway bride who shows up at the door of an Alaskan hermit. Snowbound, the two slowly find common ground. Joseph Fournier directs.
8 p.m. (except June 3, 2 p.m.), CHT, 541 Third St. Free, but donations ($10 suggested) accepted. Carriagehousetheatre.weebly.com , 546-6441. [map
“Nunsense”: Encore Musical Theatre Company.
Every Thurs.-Sun, May 20-June 10. This Dexter-based professional company presents Dan Goggin’s wacky musical about a convent in crisis. A cadre of bingo-playing nuns returns to the convent to find that 52 of their sisters have been killed by tainted soup. After burying only 48, the sisters run out of money and decide to whip up a talent show to raise cash and finish the job. Hidden talent emerges as the nuns show off some soft shoe, storytelling, and singing of such songs as “Just a Coupl'a Sisters,” “Holier than Thou,” “So You Want to Be a Nun,” and others. Cast TBA.
7 p.m. (Thurs.), 8 p.m. (Fri. & Sat.), & 3 p.m. (Sat., Sun., & June 7), Encore, 3126 Broad St., Dexter. $18 on Thurs., $32 (members & seniors, $29; groups of 10 or more, $26) on Fri. & Sat. eve., & $28 (members & seniors, $25; groups of 10 or more, $22) for matinees. Tickets available at theencoretheatre.org and at the door. 268-6200. [map
“Proof”: Redbud Productions.
May 31-June 3. Loretta Grimes directs local actors in David Auburn’s knowing, compassionate Pulitzer Prize-winning drama about a young woman whose life is brought to a crisis by the death of her father, a brilliant mathematician who had crossed the thin line from genius to insanity several years earlier. His daughter must come to grips with her fear that his mathematical genius, which she has inherited, comes with a dreadful price.
8 p.m. (May 31-June 2) & 2 p.m. (June 2 & 3), Riverside Arts Center, 76 N. Huron, Ypsilanti. Tickets $18 (students & seniors, $15). 663-7167. [map
“Red”: Performance Network Professional Season.
Every Thurs.-Sun., Apr. 19-June 3. Carla Milarch directs the Michigan premiere of John Logan’s Tony-winning drama about the great American abstract expressionist painter Mark Rothko. Over the course of 2 years working on his famous commission to provide a series of murals for the Four Seasons restaurant, Rothko is challenged by his apprentice in a way that causes him to question what he has become. “Red may be all talk and no action--but what talk!” says Variety reviewer Marilyn Stasio. “John Logan sends American abstract impressionist painter Mark Rothko into battle with his demons in this electrifying play of ideas, and the artist's howls are pure music.” Stars Mark Rademacher and Kevin Young.
7:30 p.m. (Thurs.) 8 p.m. (Fri. & Sat.) 2 p.m. (Sun.), & 3 p.m. (May 5 & 19), Performance Network, 120 E. Huron. Preview tickets: whatever you can afford to pay (Apr. 19), $22 (Apr. 20, 22, & 26), and $30 (Apr. 21). Apr. 27 opening night tickets: $39 & $41 includes reception. After Apr. 27: $27 & $29 (Thurs.), $32 & $34 (Fri. & Sun.), $25 & $27 (Sat. matinee), $39 & $41 (Sat. eve.). $3 discount for seniors age 60 & over. Tickets available in advance at performancenetwork.org & by phone, and at the door. $10 student discount in advance, half-price student tickets at the door only. For reservations, call 663-0681; to charge by phone, call 663-0696. [map
“White Buffalo”: Purple Rose Theatre Company.
Every Wed.-Sat. (except Easter), Mar. 29-June 2. Guy Sanville directs the world premiere of Don Zolidis’s award-winning drama about a white buffalo born on a small farm in southern Wisconsin. The owner thinks nothing of it until she learns that the birth is the fulfillment of an ancient Sioux prophecy of peace on earth, and her little farm is quickly overwhelmed with religious pilgrims, bringing her into contact with a culture and faith wholly unfamiliar to her. Cast: David Daoust, Matthew David, Rainbow Dickerson, Stacie Hadgikosti, Alex Leydenfrost, Nate Mitchell, Michelle Mountain, Michael Brian Ogden, Meghan Thompson.
8 p.m. (Wed.-Sat.), 3 p.m. (Wed. & Sat.), & 2 p.m. (Sun.), Purple Rose Theatre, 137 Park St., Chelsea. Mar. 29-Apr. 5: $20 (Wed. & Thurs.), $25 (Fri. eves. & weekend matinees), & 40 (Sat. eve.). After Apr. 5: Tickets $25 (Wed. & Thurs.), $35 (Fri. eves. & weekend matinees), & $40 (Sat. eves.) in advance at purplerosetheatre.org , and by phone. 433-7673. [map
Saturday
June 2012
“Proof”: Redbud Productions.
May 31-June 3. Loretta Grimes directs local actors in David Auburn’s knowing, compassionate Pulitzer Prize-winning drama about a young woman whose life is brought to a crisis by the death of her father, a brilliant mathematician who had crossed the thin line from genius to insanity several years earlier. His daughter must come to grips with her fear that his mathematical genius, which she has inherited, comes with a dreadful price.
8 p.m. (May 31-June 2) & 2 p.m. (June 2 & 3), Riverside Arts Center, 76 N. Huron, Ypsilanti. Tickets $18 (students & seniors, $15). 663-7167. [map
“White Buffalo”: Purple Rose Theatre Company.
Every Wed.-Sat. (except Easter), Mar. 29-June 2. Guy Sanville directs the world premiere of Don Zolidis’s award-winning drama about a white buffalo born on a small farm in southern Wisconsin. The owner thinks nothing of it until she learns that the birth is the fulfillment of an ancient Sioux prophecy of peace on earth, and her little farm is quickly overwhelmed with religious pilgrims, bringing her into contact with a culture and faith wholly unfamiliar to her. Cast: David Daoust, Matthew David, Rainbow Dickerson, Stacie Hadgikosti, Alex Leydenfrost, Nate Mitchell, Michelle Mountain, Michael Brian Ogden, Meghan Thompson.
8 p.m. (Wed.-Sat.), 3 p.m. (Wed. & Sat.), & 2 p.m. (Sun.), Purple Rose Theatre, 137 Park St., Chelsea. Mar. 29-Apr. 5: $20 (Wed. & Thurs.), $25 (Fri. eves. & weekend matinees), & 40 (Sat. eve.). After Apr. 5: Tickets $25 (Wed. & Thurs.), $35 (Fri. eves. & weekend matinees), & $40 (Sat. eves.) in advance at purplerosetheatre.org , and by phone. 433-7673. [map
“The 39 Steps”: EMU Theatre Department.
June 1-3 & 7-9. EMU drama professor Ken Stevens directs EMU drama students in Patrick Barlow’s farce, a spoof of Hitchcock’s 1935 mistaken-identity thriller, set in interwar London, feautring a bored-with-life playboy who unexpectedly finds himself involved in risky espionage. The action is an almost continuous series of quick-changes, as 4 actors play a multitude of parts.
7 p.m. (Thurs.-Sat.) & 2 p.m. (Sun.), EMU Sponberg Theater, Ford St. (off Lowell at Jarvis), Ypsilanti. Tickets $15 (students, $12; kids 12 & under, $6) in advance and at the door. 487-1221.
“Finale! 2012”: Huron High School.
June 1 & 2. Huron students perform 1-act plays that they’ve written and directed.
7:30 p.m., HHS Little Theatre, 2727 Fuller Rd. Tickets $6 (students, seniors, & AAPS staff, $4). Reservations recommended. 994-2095. [map
8 p.m.
“Brilliant Traces”: Carriage House Theatre.
June 1-3 & 7-9. This new local theater company opens its second season with Cindy Lou Johnson’s drama about a lost runaway bride who shows up at the door of an Alaskan hermit. Snowbound, the two slowly find common ground. Joseph Fournier directs.
8 p.m. (except June 3, 2 p.m.), CHT, 541 Third St. Free, but donations ($10 suggested) accepted. Carriagehousetheatre.weebly.com , 546-6441. [map
“Nunsense”: Encore Musical Theatre Company.
Every Thurs.-Sun, May 20-June 10. This Dexter-based professional company presents Dan Goggin’s wacky musical about a convent in crisis. A cadre of bingo-playing nuns returns to the convent to find that 52 of their sisters have been killed by tainted soup. After burying only 48, the sisters run out of money and decide to whip up a talent show to raise cash and finish the job. Hidden talent emerges as the nuns show off some soft shoe, storytelling, and singing of such songs as “Just a Coupl'a Sisters,” “Holier than Thou,” “So You Want to Be a Nun,” and others. Cast TBA.
7 p.m. (Thurs.), 8 p.m. (Fri. & Sat.), & 3 p.m. (Sat., Sun., & June 7), Encore, 3126 Broad St., Dexter. $18 on Thurs., $32 (members & seniors, $29; groups of 10 or more, $26) on Fri. & Sat. eve., & $28 (members & seniors, $25; groups of 10 or more, $22) for matinees. Tickets available at theencoretheatre.org and at the door. 268-6200. [map
“Red”: Performance Network Professional Season.
Every Thurs.-Sun., Apr. 19-June 3. Carla Milarch directs the Michigan premiere of John Logan’s Tony-winning drama about the great American abstract expressionist painter Mark Rothko. Over the course of 2 years working on his famous commission to provide a series of murals for the Four Seasons restaurant, Rothko is challenged by his apprentice in a way that causes him to question what he has become. “Red may be all talk and no action--but what talk!” says Variety reviewer Marilyn Stasio. “John Logan sends American abstract impressionist painter Mark Rothko into battle with his demons in this electrifying play of ideas, and the artist's howls are pure music.” Stars Mark Rademacher and Kevin Young.
7:30 p.m. (Thurs.) 8 p.m. (Fri. & Sat.) 2 p.m. (Sun.), & 3 p.m. (May 5 & 19), Performance Network, 120 E. Huron. Preview tickets: whatever you can afford to pay (Apr. 19), $22 (Apr. 20, 22, & 26), and $30 (Apr. 21). Apr. 27 opening night tickets: $39 & $41 includes reception. After Apr. 27: $27 & $29 (Thurs.), $32 & $34 (Fri. & Sun.), $25 & $27 (Sat. matinee), $39 & $41 (Sat. eve.). $3 discount for seniors age 60 & over. Tickets available in advance at performancenetwork.org & by phone, and at the door. $10 student discount in advance, half-price student tickets at the door only. For reservations, call 663-0681; to charge by phone, call 663-0696. [map
Sunday
June 2012
2 p.m.
Annual Dance Concert: Community School of Ballet.
CSB students perform excerpts from the syllabus of London’s Royal Academy of Dancing.
2 p.m., Ypsilanti High School, 2095 Packard. Free. 996-8515. [map
2 p.m.
“Brilliant Traces”: Carriage House Theatre.
June 1-3 & 7-9. This new local theater company opens its second season with Cindy Lou Johnson’s drama about a lost runaway bride who shows up at the door of an Alaskan hermit. Snowbound, the two slowly find common ground. Joseph Fournier directs.
8 p.m. (except June 3, 2 p.m.), CHT, 541 Third St. Free, but donations ($10 suggested) accepted. Carriagehousetheatre.weebly.com , 546-6441. [map
“Proof”: Redbud Productions.
May 31-June 3. Loretta Grimes directs local actors in David Auburn’s knowing, compassionate Pulitzer Prize-winning drama about a young woman whose life is brought to a crisis by the death of her father, a brilliant mathematician who had crossed the thin line from genius to insanity several years earlier. His daughter must come to grips with her fear that his mathematical genius, which she has inherited, comes with a dreadful price.
8 p.m. (May 31-June 2) & 2 p.m. (June 2 & 3), Riverside Arts Center, 76 N. Huron, Ypsilanti. Tickets $18 (students & seniors, $15). 663-7167. [map
“Red”: Performance Network Professional Season.
Every Thurs.-Sun., Apr. 19-June 3. Carla Milarch directs the Michigan premiere of John Logan’s Tony-winning drama about the great American abstract expressionist painter Mark Rothko. Over the course of 2 years working on his famous commission to provide a series of murals for the Four Seasons restaurant, Rothko is challenged by his apprentice in a way that causes him to question what he has become. “Red may be all talk and no action--but what talk!” says Variety reviewer Marilyn Stasio. “John Logan sends American abstract impressionist painter Mark Rothko into battle with his demons in this electrifying play of ideas, and the artist's howls are pure music.” Stars Mark Rademacher and Kevin Young.
7:30 p.m. (Thurs.) 8 p.m. (Fri. & Sat.) 2 p.m. (Sun.), & 3 p.m. (May 5 & 19), Performance Network, 120 E. Huron. Preview tickets: whatever you can afford to pay (Apr. 19), $22 (Apr. 20, 22, & 26), and $30 (Apr. 21). Apr. 27 opening night tickets: $39 & $41 includes reception. After Apr. 27: $27 & $29 (Thurs.), $32 & $34 (Fri. & Sun.), $25 & $27 (Sat. matinee), $39 & $41 (Sat. eve.). $3 discount for seniors age 60 & over. Tickets available in advance at performancenetwork.org & by phone, and at the door. $10 student discount in advance, half-price student tickets at the door only. For reservations, call 663-0681; to charge by phone, call 663-0696. [map
“Nunsense”: Encore Musical Theatre Company.
Every Thurs.-Sun, May 20-June 10. This Dexter-based professional company presents Dan Goggin’s wacky musical about a convent in crisis. A cadre of bingo-playing nuns returns to the convent to find that 52 of their sisters have been killed by tainted soup. After burying only 48, the sisters run out of money and decide to whip up a talent show to raise cash and finish the job. Hidden talent emerges as the nuns show off some soft shoe, storytelling, and singing of such songs as “Just a Coupl'a Sisters,” “Holier than Thou,” “So You Want to Be a Nun,” and others. Cast TBA.
7 p.m. (Thurs.), 8 p.m. (Fri. & Sat.), & 3 p.m. (Sat., Sun., & June 7), Encore, 3126 Broad St., Dexter. $18 on Thurs., $32 (members & seniors, $29; groups of 10 or more, $26) on Fri. & Sat. eve., & $28 (members & seniors, $25; groups of 10 or more, $22) for matinees. Tickets available at theencoretheatre.org and at the door. 268-6200. [map
“The 39 Steps”: EMU Theatre Department.
June 1-3 & 7-9. EMU drama professor Ken Stevens directs EMU drama students in Patrick Barlow’s farce, a spoof of Hitchcock’s 1935 mistaken-identity thriller, set in interwar London, feautring a bored-with-life playboy who unexpectedly finds himself involved in risky espionage. The action is an almost continuous series of quick-changes, as 4 actors play a multitude of parts.
7 p.m. (Thurs.-Sat.) & 2 p.m. (Sun.), EMU Sponberg Theater, Ford St. (off Lowell at Jarvis), Ypsilanti. Tickets $15 (students, $12; kids 12 & under, $6) in advance and at the door. 487-1221.
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