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Posted on Wed, Jul 17, 2013 : 6:51 a.m.

'Little Me' at West Park Band Shell, Fireside New Play Festival at Performance Network

By Carla Milarch

If there was any doubt that Washtenaw County is the center of the theater universe (at least here in Michigan), this week’s listings should erase all uncertainty. Consider:

• The July installment of the Fireside New Play Festival will bring in playwright Brooke Berman for a reading of her new play “1300 Lafayette East” set in the Detroit building circa 1967. Brooke's “Hunting and Gathering” was named one of the Top Ten Plays of 2008 by New York Magazine.

• This week’s shows are staged in venues such as a band shell, a converted carriage house, and the back of an antique store, among others. The place is literally bursting with theater!

• The upcoming show “My Name is Asher Lev” is being produced at Performance Network concurrently with its successful New York run.

• Hollywood and Broadway regulars Jeff Daniels and Dan Cooney both have theaters here. Alongside Michigan performers like Naz Edwards, and Madison Deadman, it’s a county of a thousand stars!

• Washtenaw County received a whopping 20 nominations in Michigan’s statewide “Wilde Awards” for theater, with Ann Arbor’s professional theatre, Performance Network, as this year’s top nominee. (for a full listing: www.annarbor.com/entertainment/local-theater-artists-and-shows-earn-20-wilde-award-nominations/)

Show: Fireside Festival of New Works: “Petty Harbour” by Martyna Majok, one-time event, July 21, 7 p.m.
Company: Performance Network Theatre
Type of Company: Professional Equity (SPT)
Venue/location: Performance Network Theatre, 120 East Huron, Ann Arbor
Recommended ages: 16+
Description: On the rocky shores of Petty Harbour, Newfoundland, a house stands against an approaching storm. One by one, three banished sons return home to discover their fisherman father has turned the house into a church. With the roads flooding, the men are sealed in and the subtle war of sermons, songs, and drinking games begins. Two living ghosts from their past arrive, and salvation takes an unlikely form.
Fun fact: “Petty Harbour” was a finalist for the 2012 Princess Grace Award in Playwriting, and will also be workshopped at New York Stage and Film’s Powerhouse Festival.
For tickets and information: 734-663-0696, www.performancenetwork.org/

Show: Fireside Festival of New Works: “The Bold Blend” by Kirsten Knisely, one-time event, July 22, 7 p.m.
Company: Performance Network Theatre
Type of Company: Professional Equity (SPT)
Venue/location: Performance Network Theatre, 120 East Huron, Ann Arbor
Recommended ages: 12+
Description: This delightful blend of kookiness is brightened by fruity topnotes and balanced with a hint of sweetness. Best friends Madeline and Alice are trapped in the undergraduate’s nightmare. Their day jobs as barista’s come complete with the control-freak boss from hell, leering regulars, and a never-ending line of demanding customers. When their plot to escape goes terribly awry, it threatens both their sanity and their friendship.
Fun fact: Performance Network Theatre is a member of The National New Play Network, an alliance of not-for-profit professional theaters that champions the development, production and continued life of new plays for the American theater. PNT has been a member since 2001 and is Michigan’s only constituent member.
For tickets and information: 734-663-0696, www.performancenetwork.org/

Show: Fireside Festival of New Works: “Sis” by Sean Christopher Lewis, one-time event, July 23, 7 p.m.
Company: Performance Network Theatre
Type of Company: Professional Equity
Venue/location: Performance Network Theatre, 120 East Huron, Ann Arbor
Recommended ages: 16+
Description: A sister is your first friend in life... or your first enemy! When two wildly different sisters, Maia - a staunch conservative, and Church - a zealous feminist, reunite for Maia's wedding, the fur flies as they use each other's disparate values for target practice. From Feminazis to family values, everything is fair game, as old hostilities bubble to the surface in this hilarious battle of the sisters.
Fun fact: The Fireside Festival is generously underwritten by Joseph C. Walters and Linda Sprankle
For tickets and information: 734-663-0696, www.performancenetwork.org/

Show: Fireside Festival of New Works: “1300 Lafayette East” by Brooke Berman, one-time event, July 24, 7 p.m.
Company: Performance Network Theatre
Type of Company: Professional Equity (SPT)
Venue/location: Performance Network Theatre, 120 East Huron, Ann Arbor
Recommended ages: 16+
Description: Detroit, 1967: In the gleaming lobby of the Lafayette Towers, The Supremes are fighting, a young housewife is pining for something new, and Reena Walker - an aspiring Motown singer - is locked out of her apartment in a peignoir set paid for by a married man. As the Motor City streets rumble with pre-riot tension, the two women struggle to understand their individual differences and forge a lasting friendship.
Fun fact: Playwright Brooke Berman is an award-winning playwright, screenwriter and memoirist whose work has been produced and published across the US. Her play “Hunting and Gathering,” which premiered at Primary Stages, directed by Leigh Silverman, was named one of the Ten Best of 2008 by New York Magazine.
For tickets and information: 734-663-0696, www.performancenetwork.org/

Show: “Andronicus Bound” by John Vesbit, through July 28
Company: Threefold Productions
Type of Company: Pre-professional
Venue/location: MIX Studio Theatre, 8 N. Washington, Ypsilanti
Recommended ages: 16+
Description: William Shakespeare’s bloodiest and most violent work, “Titus Andronicus” is set during the latter days of the Roman Empire and tells the fictional story of Titus, a general in the Roman army, who is engaged in a cycle of revenge with Tamora, Queen of the Goths. In this unique reimagining, Threefold Productions redirects the focus of the play away from the rampant corruption of Rome and instead, to the deterioration of the Andronicus family.
Fun fact: Although it was extremely popular in its day, “Titus Andronicus” fell out of favor during the Victorian era, primarily because of what was considered to be a distasteful use of graphic violence. From around the middle of the twentieth century, its reputation began to improve.
For tickets and information: www.threefoldproductions.org, 734-968-8717

Show: “Rounding Third” by Richard Dresser, through July 27
Company: Carriage House Theatre
Type of Company: Pre-professional
Venue/location: Carriage House Theatre, 541 Third St, Ann Arbor
Recommended ages: 12+
Description: In a small town, coaching little league is no walk in the park. Michael joins on as assistant coach to Don, who's been coaching baseball for years, and whose philosophy is simple: Win. Don’s son is the star pitcher on the team, while Michael’s son, like Michael himself, is new in town and very inexperienced in baseball. The two coaches struggle to employ their differing philosophies on winning the game and enjoying the game. Can the two philosophies coexist? And what changes when the men's personal lives are drawn into the game?
More information
Fun fact: Richard Dresser's most popular play, "Rounding Third" was produced by Williamston Theatre in 2006.
For tickets and information: carriagehousetheatre.org

Show: “Little Me,” book by Neil Simon, music by Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh, through July 27
Company: The Penny Seats
Type of Company: Professional Non-Equity
Venue/location: The West Park Band Shell
Recommended ages: All ages, though please note, there is some burlesque-type humor and innuendo
Description: The Penny Seats’ third annual West Park Summer offering is the farcical autobiography of Belle Poitrine, supposed star of stage, screen, and sinking ship. From her humble origins as Belle Schlumpfert on Drifter's Row, to her adventures (and misadventures) in achieving wealth, culture, and social position, to her many mates and her one true love, all are here. Neil Simon's script is a scream and the music sparkles. Better still, the Penny Seats’ Roy Sexton will attempt a comic tour de force originated by Sid Caesar and designed just for this show: he will play no fewer than 7 characters.
More information
Fun fact: Quick-fire costume changes are essential to this show. One character has no fewer than 15 costume changes, and another changes costumes multiple times during a single scene, each change lasting only about five seconds.
For tickets and information: www.pennyseats.org, 800-838-3006.

Show: “Becky Shaw” by Gina Gionfriddo, through July 28
Company: Performance Network Theatre
Type of Company: Professional Equity SPT
Venue/location: Performance Network Theatre, 120 E. Huron, Ann Arbor
Recommended ages: 16+ (contains adult language and content)
Description: The New York Times called it “a tangled tale of love, sex and ethics…as engrossing as it is ferociously funny, like a big box of fireworks fizzing and crackling across the stage.” Step-siblings Suzanna and Max couldn’t be more different. When the shy sister fixes the cocky brother up with her husband’s sexy and sweet co-worker, the blind date takes a dark turn and crisis and comedy ensue. Mixing sharp wit and humor with the taut suspense of a psychological thriller, this comedy of romantic errors keeps audiences on the edge of their seats.
Fun fact: “Becky Shaw” marks PNT Artistic Director David Wolber’s return to the stage, after a seven-year hiatus. Wolber is not slated to perform in PNT’s 2013-2014 season, so this may be viewers last chance to catch him on the boards for a while!
For tickets and information: 734-663-0681, www.performancenetwork.org

Show: “Les Miserables,” based on the novel by Victor Hugo, music by Claude-Michel Schonberg, and English libretto by Herbert Kretzmer, through August 18th
Company: The Encore Musical Theatre Company
Type of Company: Professional Equity Special Appearance Contract
Venue/location: The Encore Musical Theatre Company, 3126 Broad Street, Dexter
Recommended ages: 12 +
Description: Set in early 19th-century France, it is the story of Jean Valjean and his quest for redemption after serving nineteen years in jail for having stolen a loaf of bread for his starving sister's child. Valjean decides to break his parole and start his life anew after a kindly bishop inspires him to, but is relentlessly tracked down by a police inspector named Javert. Along the way, Valjean and a slew of characters are swept into a revolutionary period in France, where a group of young idealists make their last stand at a street barricade. Songs include "I Dreamed a Dream", "On My Own", "Bring Him Home", "Master of the House", "Castle on a Cloud", and many more!
Review from AnnArbor.com
Fun fact: The Encore's Artistic Director, Dan Cooney, was a part of the Broadway production of Les Miserables over 20 years ago!
For tickets and information: 734-268-6200, www.theencoretheatre.org.

Show: “Miles and Ellie” by Don Zolidis, through August 31
Company: The Purple Rose Theatre Company
Type of Company: Professional Equity SPT
Venue/location: The Purple Rose Theatre Company, 137 Park Street, Chelsea
Recommended ages: 17+ (contains adult language and content)
Description: Miles and Ellie are two teenagers in love when a youthful misunderstanding breaks them apart. Flash forward 20 years and a disenchanted Ellie has come home for what she expects to be a typical dysfunctional family Thanksgiving. Not long into the family shenanigans, however, Ellie learns that Miles is still in town and carrying a torch for her. Is it possible to get a second chance at your first love? This charming romantic comedy will make you wonder “what if?”
Fun fact: The highest grossing movie for 1991, the year the play is set, was “Terminator 2: Judgement Day”
For tickets and information: purplerosetheatre.org, 734-433-7673.

Comments

djm12652

Wed, Jul 17, 2013 : 5:52 p.m.

hmmmm....the center of the theater universe in Michigan? whoa...perhaps in the author's mind but seriously? there is some good theater in the area...but other areas may feel they are better...oh wait, it's Ann Arbor...everything is superior to the rest of the state...