Williamston Theatre Season 18!

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I’m very excited to share the shows and show info for the 2024-2025 Season at Williamston Theatre, our 18th Season. It’s a season full of laughs, love, and absolutely beautiful stories. This season focuses, in particular, on generational themes: Legacy. What came before us? What comes next? What did we inherit, and what are we leaving? This year we’ll explore these ideas through different viewpoints like Family, Society, and Community, and we’ll do it while journeying from the 1970’s up to late in the 21st century! I think the year is going to be fabulous, and full of the kind of stories we like to tell at Williamston Theatre: Stories that make you laugh, and cry, and call the people you love!

A WT Commission and World Premiere!
Directed by Tony Caselli

It is Michigan in the not-too-distant future, and thirst occupies the minds of everyone, especially those without access to fresh water, as the Great Lakes have been poisoned by a catastrophic spill. Jazz lives in Tablet Housing, so called because instead of providing water to the residents of the low-income housing systems, the government provides tablets that they claim fulfill the human body’s need for water. Jazz’s wealthy boss offers her a way to move up and out of Tablet Housing. But what he asks in return is unthinkable… almost. What moral boundaries will she be willing to push to save herself, and her community, from the fate they’ve been dealt? Contains adult content and language

A returning favorite!
Directed by John Lepard

This Hawlmark original is back by popular demand! A professional woman running in the fast lane of the big city corporate world journeys back to her smalltown on a mission for her boss. When she runs into a handsome acquaintance from high school, she’s forced to evaluate her life and priorities. Hot cocoa, light parades, and romance collide. Hilarity ensues. A Very Williamston Christmas is a holiday movie parody that will make your season complete!

A Michigan Premiere!
Directed by Jasmine Rivera

Inside an Idaho office cubicle, mortgage broker Keith and yogurt-plant worker Ryan couldn’t be more different. Then they unexpectedly discover one thing they have in common – they are single fathers of toddler daughters. Keith, a Black, gay mortgage broker, is dealing with challenges to his hopes of adopting his foster child. Ryan, white and divorced, wants to buy a plot of land that his family once owned, with dreams of making a stable life for his daughter. With humor, empathy, and deep compassion, playwright Samuel D. Hunter intertwines these two lives in an intimate story about fatherhood, family, and friendship. Contains mature language.

A Michigan Premiere.
Directed by Tony Caselli

Audience favorite Sarab Kamoo portrays both characters in a tender and touching father-daughter tale. 

1980’s, Manhattan. Trapped in the absurd circus of the office of US Passport & Immigration, Mohammed, an Egyptian immigrant, pleads his case – a passport for his little girl. 

2010’s, JFK International Airport. His daughter Layla embarks on a journey halfway across the world in hopes of reclaiming the lost pieces of her culture, her father, and herself. 

A heartwarming family reunion thirty years in the making. 

A Michigan Premiere!
Directed by Karen Sheridan

It’s 1973: Nixon is president, bellbottoms are in, and Aerosmith is releasing their first album. Nineteen-year-old Linda O’Shea has been tasked by her mother with explaining the birds and the bees to her little sister. Things quickly snowball into a hilarious crisis after the conversation is overheard by the parish priest. As secrets are unintentionally revealed, it takes every member of the modest, Irish Catholic O’Shea family — from Linda’s quirky younger sister to her sassy aunt — to keep the family’s name in good standing. This wild and tender comedy explores the foolishness of first love, the pains of Catholic guilt, and ultimately, the power of family.

More info on Season 18, like dates and casts and production teams, can all be found here on our website!

Like I said above, I’m super excited for the 18th Season at WT. We are closing the beautiful Bright Half Life by Tanya Barfield this weekend, and at the end of June we launch into our final production for season 17, Predictor by Jennifer Blackmer, directed by the fabulous Billicia Charnelle-Hines, which is going to be funny, inspirational, infuriating and a fantastic night of theatre! More info on that can be found by clicking here!

Catching up.

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Took a break from my website and blogging for a bit – life got busy. Happy to report that all is well. Some terrific stuff currently happening:

Bright Half Life by Tanya Barfield is opening at Williamston Theatre tonight. Such a beautiful script, the production directed by Megan Buckley-Ball is really gorgeous, and I’m proud to have it as part of our 17th season.

The Detroit Tigers are off to an exciting start this season. The rebuild is going well and it should be a fun season of entertaining baseball!

My youngest is graduating from college in a few weeks!! So proud of him, but also how am I old enough for that to happen?!

In related news, my oldest is getting married in October! So happy for her, and her fella, but again…. What?! Isn’t she still 10 years old and running to the front door to greet me when I get home from work?! Where do the years gooooooo?!?!

Stay healthy y’all!

Home

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Ran across this quote, and really loved it:

Let home be that place where you

never notice the bad lighting,

let it be a wall whose cracks keep growing

until one day you take them for doors.

– Iman Mersal

Thinking a lot about “Home” lately. Maybe it’s because we’re approaching the holiday season, or maybe because it’s been just Jeanne and I in the house for a few months now, with one kid in college and one moved into their own place. Who knows. I’m looking forward to Stuffing Day Thanksgiving this year, we’ll have a lot of family at our home this holiday, which we haven’t done much – in the past we’ve almost always celebrated Thanksgiving at a parent’s house, or sibling’s, but this year life has brought the family gathering to our little house, and I’m excited. (I mean, the excitement is partly about the stuffing… turkey and gravy and potatoes are great… but the STUFFING! Can I make two kinds? I’m gonna make two kinds.)

Even MORE than the stuffing, though, is having family there. We won’t have enough room for everyone, so it’ll be crowded and loud… and wonderful.

And it’ll be home.

(and there will be 2 kinds of stuffing.)

Beautiful Reminders About Why We Do It

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I have to say, sometimes it’s nice to be reminded.

I mean, anyone who does theatre KNOWS why you do it – you love the power of storytelling, you BELIEVE in the transformative magic that happens when you gather a group of people together to experience an event, a moment together. (And there are lots of other reasons – it’s moving, it’s challenging, it’s fun, it helps us grow as people, it creates and nurtures community and spreads joy and fosters empathy discussion and change, and so much more….)

But, even though we know why we do it, it really is nice to SEE that happen, and be told it’s working by the people we gather with.

I’ve been so pleased with the impact that our production of On The Market at Williamston Theatre has had on audiences. This very funny, charming and heartfelt piece by Jason Odell Williams was a blast to work on with the entire company. The thing that’s blown me away though, after 3 weeks of doing this production for people, is how many audience members have come to us to open up and talk about their feelings, their own lives – to be a little vulnerable with us.

The piece is a sweet, funny, romantic “Rom Com” type of story – it’s about a widow in her 40’s who lost her husband early, and her friends are trying to get her back “on the market” and dating again. So it’s a piece about friendship, loss, grief, moving forward and having the courage to embrace our Second Acts in life.

With all of that happening in the play, we’ve had so many patrons stop us or write us and say a whole lot of variations on “Thank you for this piece. I lost my spouse xxx years ago, and this piece made me laugh out loud, and cry, in the very best way. I’m still processing that part of my life, and you guys tackled the topic in a way so funny and so sweet and thoughtful, I can’t thank you enough for the laughs and the tears and the hope!”

It’s so gratifying to get these messages. To be reminded that, yes, we move people. We make them laugh together, and cry together, and process this whole frigging journey that we all get to spend – if we’re lucky – 70 or 80 years trying to make sense of. It means so much that people feel comfortable enough to come up and open themselves up to us, to share their hearts and say “This moved me. This meant something to me.”

I’m really savoring this show, and the responses to it. Holding on to the warmth and love from people and storing it in the tank so that later, when things get hard and frustrating and discouraging, I can look back at these and remember…. Because sometimes we all need a little reminder…. And Everything Will Be Okay.

Dani Cochrane and Brian Sage in On The Market by Jason Odell Williams. Scenery by Kirk Domer, Props/Set Dressing by Michelle Raymond. Lights by Eric Van Tassell, Costumes by Karen Kangas-Preston. Sound by Brian Cole.

A busy time at the theatre!

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Wow, so much stuff going on! We have just opened the first show of Season 17 at Williamston Theatre, On The Market by Jason Odell Williams. It’s a ton of fun, and very sweet. Getting terrific audience responses, with lots of laughs but also some beautiful emotional responses and people coming out very moved.

Pictured: Yolanda Davis, Patrick Loos, Brian Sage, Dani Cochrane. Costumes by Karen Kangas-Preston, Set by Kirk Domer, Props and Set Dressing by Michelle Raymond, Lighting by Eric Van Tassell, Sound by Brian Cole. Stage Management by Stefanie Din, Adam Kruger and Rylan Houle.

Coming up on Sunday October 2nd we have a play reading of a terrific piece called The Mouth of the South by Allison Gregory. A funny and fascinating play about the real life Martha Mitchell, famous Watergate whistleblower!

On October 16th we have a great collaboration with Michigan State University: an MFA Grad Student Showcase Performance! This beautiful musical called Love, Linda; The Life of Mrs. Cole Porter tells the story of Linda Lee Thomas, whose marriage to Cole Porter, who was gay, inspired some of the greatest songs of all time.

Then for the first time ever, we are having a night of Stand Up Comedy at Williamston Theatre! Hosted by popular Lansing-based comedian Louis D. Michael, this evening with 5 different Michigan comics will be a fun time! Come have some beer, some wine, and some laughs!

So, life is busy, but good. I’m super grateful to be able to do what I do with some terrific people. I hope you’re all doing well, and you can join us for some fun in Williamston this fall!

Random Nice Things on a Sunday

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Happy Sunday!

Life is super busy lately, seems that way for a lot of folks I know too. I hope everyone is doing okay. Still, there are a lot of things to celebrate, so I’m listing them to remind myself!

Yesterday the Detroit Tigers pitched the 9th no-hitter in team history!! Yes, they’re still in third place in the worst division in the league, but they’ve at least been playing entertaining baseball a lot of the season and yesterday was a very cool special thing!

We start preview performances for the beautiful, funny Be Here Now by Deborah Zoe Laufer at Williamston Theatre next week. The tech weekend has been terrific: director Rob Roznowski and the entire cast and production team are knocking it out of the park – it’s a terrifically entertaining piece! Get your tickets soon, this one is fun and will sell quick: https://www.williamstontheatre.org/shows/2022-2023/be-here-now

In other news, I’m directing a play in Ann Arbor, for the Penny Seats Theatre Company. Return To The Forbidden Planet is a fabulously silly musical, a combo of science fiction, Shakespeare and pop hits from the 50’s and 60’s! (I mean, if YOUR spaceship was hit by an asteroid storm, wouldn’t YOU sing Great Balls Of Fire?!). Opening August 3rd, it’s performed outdoors in Burns Park and it’s a perfect piece of outdoor summer theatre! I’m having a great time working with the team putting together this bit of toe-tapping ridiculousness – come out and have fun with us, and see how many sci-fi ”Easter eggs” you can spot!

WOW!

I got to visit the Grand Canyon!! Holy cow. My first time, some friends and I went for a couple days. Amazing. Humbling. Terrifying, because that’s a long way down and no railings!

Have a good Sunday everyone! Celebrate something!

Making Plays!

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At Williamston Theatre we closed Mrs. Harrison, the riveting piece by R. Eric Thomas, and now we are in rehearsals for Alabaster by Audrey Cefaly! I love this play! I’ve been waiting since before the pandemic to produce it, it’s part of the National New Play Network’s Rolling World Premiere, but COVID delayed our show and I’m thrilled that we finally get to do it.

I’m also directing, and having a blast collaborating with our amazing cast and production team! Click here to learn more about the show!

Fun rehearsal shots on our in-progress set, designed by Moníka Essen:

Katie Banks and Kristina Riegle
Katie Banks, Kristina Riegle and Hallie Bard.
Zoom in, you can see me doing my finest directing work in the background.
Gloria Vivalda, Hallie Bard, Kristina Riegle and Katie Banks.

This piece is funny, thoughtful, heartbreaking and inspiring. And how many plays do you get to see that have talking goats? It’s a small number, so don’t miss this one! 😂

ANNOUNCING WILLIAMSTON THEATRE SEASON 17!

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We still have 2 shows to go in Season 16 at Williamston Theatre, but I’m thrilled to share what is coming up next year! It’s a season of Perseverance, Love, Second Chances and having the Courage to embrace what comes next!

The 2023-2024 Season at Williamston Theatre

On The Market by Jason Odell Williams

Directed by Tony Caselli

September 14 – October 22, 2023

Charlotte is a 50-something widow who still struggles with losing the Love of her Life. Her supportive co-workers push her to enter the modern dating scene with disastrous, and comedic, results. After she discovers a mysterious note from her dead husband, she begins to realize that she still has dreams to pursue… maybe even love. A charming, romantic comedy about love, loss, and finding your Forever Home.

Murder for Two: Holiday Edition

Book and Music by Joe Kinosian, Book and Lyrics by Kellen Blair

Directed by Rob Roznowski

November 16 – December 23, 2023

Back by popular demand! Murder for Two is Williamston Theatre’s most successful show ever, featuring dynamic actor/singer/virtuoso piano players Mark Schenfisch and Andrea Wollenberg. This time, it’s the Holiday Edition! This comic, musical murder mystery who-dun-it is set at a Christmas Eve party where Great American Novelist Arthur Whitney is discovered murdered. Every wacky guest is a suspect, and detective-wannabe Marcus Moscowicz is determined to examine all the clues and find the killer. Murder for Two is the perfect blend of music, mayhem and murder – for the holidays!

Maytag Virgin by Audrey Cefaly

Directed by Brian Marable

February 1 – March 10, 2024

A classic second-chance love story featuring WT co-founders and real-life husband and wife John Lepard and Emily Sutton-Smith. When the unflappable Jack Key moves in next door to the endearingly neurotic Lizzy Nash, sparks fly. Over time, neighborly nagging softens, and a deeper connection emerges between the two high school teachers. As the months march on, deep secrets shake loose, and the pair finds themselves in untested waters. A timely romantic comedy about moving forward with courage and a ready heart.

Bright Half Life by Tanya Barfield

Directed by Megan Buckley-Ball

April 11 – May 19, 2024

Bright Half Life shares the four-and-a-half-decade story of Vicky and Erica, who meet, fall in love, and go through all the trials and tribulations of marriage and building a family. It’s a conventional love story told in an unconventional way – it unfolds through yesterday, today, and tomorrow… just not in that order. Pulitzer Prize finalist Tanya Barfield has created a theatrical, time-bending play about love, heartbreak, and the infinite moments that make a relationship. Contains mature content and language.

Predictor by Jennifer Blackmer

Directed by Billicia Hines

June 27 – August 4, 2024

Predictor follows the real-life story of Margaret Crane who, in 1967, defied all odds and expectations to become the inventor of the first home pregnancy test. This energetic, theatrical story sets the historical record straight as we journey with this innovative inventor through the challenges she overcame. An inspirational comedy about the tenacity it takes to change the world. Contains mild mature language and content.

For more info check out the season page on our website here!

Friday Morning…

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The last few months have just been rough, from a “I don’t feel like writing, or doing much, or like I have much to contribute” place. It’s been frustrating. Lots of great things have been happening, I’ve just been out of it energy and focus-wise. Finally starting to feel like I’m coming out of that a bit. Reminding myself that there’s stuff to do, that taking breaks is okay. Like Julia Cameron says, sometimes you have to fill the well before you can draw more from it.

And I have recently been reminded of this quote:

INSTRUCTIONS FOR LIVING A LIFE:

1. PAY ATTENTION

2. BE ASTONISHED

3. TELL ABOUT IT

– Mary Oliver

So, if you find yourself in one of those slumps like me, maybe start with Mary Oliver’s advice and see if it helps.

Good Things, and a MILESTONE!

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Lots of good things going on now!

SEASON 16 begins! We start rehearsal for The Magnolia Ballet by Terry Guest at Williamston Theatre tonight. I love this play, and can’t wait to see what the director Gary Anderson, and the production team and cast do with it. This beautiful, intense and thought-provoking piece follows a young Queer Black man coming of age in the American South. In a wonderfully theatrical storytelling style we explore sexuality, racism, toxic masculinity, homophobia, love, and the incredibly complicated relationship between fathers and sons and the legacy passed through them from generation to generation.

This week we also have our first production meeting for our holiday show, A Very Williamston Christmas. I’m really looking forward to directing this fun, sweet, ridiculously silly Christmas piece. Everyone loves (or loves to HATE) those Hallmark Christmas movies, right? Well we’ve got our own over-the-top parody of those stories coming to Williamston this November! If you’ve been jonesing for schmaltzy, smoldering “Will they Won’t they” looks over giant mugs of hot cocoa between flirty new friends as one of their Small Town businesses is under threat by an evil developer from the Big City RIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS EVE….. then we’ve got the show for you!

As I type this in my office, it’s quieted down in the building. And by “quieted down” I mean that now I can hear the normal buzz of people getting ready for first rehearsal. An hour ago I couldn’t hear that, because the sound of banging and sawing and drilling and construction workers yelling back and forth filled the air, and I loved it! We are just DAYS away from the renovations to our space being done and I am SO EXCITED. For 15 years we’ve hoped to get rid of the structural support poles in our theatre space, and this week it becomes a reality. Can’t wait to share the newly renovated space with our artists and patrons.

OH! And one other thing that I’ll probably write more about soon: I realized that I’ve hit a milestone. This Fall marks my 30th anniversary of making a living as a professional in the American Theatre Industry. I’m pretty proud of that. I remember many years ago, when discussing what I wanted to study at college with my parents, I said “theatre” and my father took a breath and said “Do you think you can make a living at it?” I responded with “I really think I can.” He nodded, and said, “Okay then, let’s figure it out. Your mom and I will help however we can.” And that was that. Now, all these years later, I can look at the last 30 years and say “Okay. Done. 30 years. I did it. I made a living at that.” And it feels good, like I lived up to my promise. And to their faith.

So, I’m having a good week. I hope you are too!

And now….. off to 1st rehearsal!