Williamston Theatre Announces its 2008-2009 season!
The Williamston Theatre is excited to announce the plays for its 2008-2009 season. This mix of new plays, classics and returning favorites is sure to provide our audiences with an entire year’s worth of things to think, and laugh, about.

Leaving Iowa
By Tim Clue and Spike Manton
October 2 – November 9, 2008
A warm, nostalgic and moving comedy about a man who returns to his childhood home in the Midwest following the death of his father. On his quest for the perfect place to scatter his father’s ashes, he relives the family vacations he spent trapped in the backseat of their station wagon.

Every Christmas Story Ever Told!!
By Michael Carlton, Jim Fitzgerald and John Alvarez
Original Music by Will Knapp
November 28 – December 21, 2008
The boys of Christmas are back! But this year they’re here for four whole weeks of holiday hilarity. Don’t miss the newest edition of everyone’s favorite holiday spectacular spectacle!

The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-In-The-Moon-Marigolds
By Paul Zindel
February 5 – March 1, 2009
The 1971 Pulitzer Prize winner for Drama. This American classic is a stirring story of perseverance and hope. One of Off-Broadway’s greatest successes, this powerful and moving study of an embittered, vindictive widow and her two young daughters has been hailed as one of the most significant and affecting plays of our time.

Panache
By Don Gordon
March 26 – April 19, 2009
Midwest premiere! The story of two lost souls who find their future in each other. This unpredictable, charmingly comic story seems to start out simply: Kathleen wants a license plate with the word “Panache” on it – but Harry has it. Nothing is as simple as it seems, however, and what begins as a ridiculous squabble over the seemingly unimportant turns into a desperate quest to salvage two lives.

Flyover Country, U.S.A.: Voices From Men of the Midwest
By Dennis North and Joe Zettelmaier
May 21 – June 14, 2009
The second installment of our groundbreaking series Voices From The Midwest. Built around submissions from men all over this part of our country, this production is an exploration of what it is to be a man in the 21st Century Midwest.

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)
By Adam Long, Daniel Singer and Jess Winfield
A Co-Production with Tipping Point Theatre
July 2 – August 9, 2009
Think you know Shakespeare? See this production and find out what Shakespeare is really talking about! Three talented actors take the audience on a laugh-a-minute romp through all of Shakespeare’s work – yes, ALL of it!

WORK
GOOD – Great houses for Maidens, Mothers and Crones this past weekend, and the upcoming final week is looking very full! Folks are loving this show – that’s good!

BAD – We have to close the show this weekend, even though it’s been a nice seller for us! 🙂

SOME MORE GOOD – We start rehearsals next week for our next show, Talley’s Folly, which has an amazing cast and gorgeous script!

UGLY: My To-Do List! You know those weeks where you get a ton of stuff scratched off your to-do list, but add so many more things to the list that it looks like you went backwards? That was last week for me. So this week will be fun! 🙂

HOME
GOOD – A great weekend filled with family, fun, and too much food!

BAD – The radiator on my car is no longer working.

SOME MORE GOOD – Our yard is looking nice after this weekend, and the kids have a new swing to play on!

UGLY – The transmission on my wife’s van stopped working this weekend. Yep, that’s right: BOTH vehicles in the shop. This makes scheduling and living lives both challenging and costly! 🙂

THE WORLD
GOOD – The new Mars Lander, Phoenix, landed safely on the Red Planet and is donig cool things for science!

BAD – Award winning film director Sydney Pollack passed away, as did Dick Martin, the wonderfully funny man responsible for (among others) “Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In”.

SOME MORE GOOD – The New Indiana Jones movie is fun! Perfect? No. Fun? You bet your over-the-top Russian accent!

UGLY – This story that CNN held a discussion about whether or not calling Hillary Clinton “a white bitch” is an okay thing. They did WHAT?! THEY DID WHAT?!?! Oh, CNN…

The Lansing City Pulse has given Maidens, Mothers and Crones a wonderful review. Check it out right here!

Now if we can just get folks to come over this holiday weekend!

My son and daughter have a pair of these.

I was in need of a new pair of sneakers, because mine have fallen apart after 3 years.

Guess what I got?

I am pretty sure I’m going to hurt myself while wearing these. It’s not really a matter of “if”, it’s just “when”.

Monday was an exciting day of staying home with my 10 year old, who woke up with a massive case of Strep Throat. Poor kid felt horrible all day.

So it was a day of making soup, and ibuprofen every 6 hours, and lots of making sure she was comfortable as she slept on the couch.

Now I’m just hoping I don’t get it. And I have to make sure NOT to carry it into the actors at work!!

And hopefully no one else in the house will get it, so we can have a nice Memorial Day Weekend! 🙂

Maidens, Mothers and Crones got a pretty great review from D.A. Blackburn at Encore Michigan.

He had some wonderful things to say and, although he had a couple of quibbles with the show, it’s a very positive review. (And although I disagree with his quibbles, they’re things that the Director and Playwright and I discussed and knew that some folks would love, and some wouldn’t, and that’s okay!) 🙂

Some highlights include:
At times, the dialogue is so good, and so pure, that it feels less a theatrical experience than a conversation with a group of wise and thoughtful women.

and

The honesty of the material provides both some tremendous humor, and a number of firm tugs at the heartstrings.

and

The cast is, in all respects, a delight.

and my favorite,

Martin and Regan (the latter also serves as director) have created a striking work with a true relevance for women all over our nation, and also for the men in their lives.

I particularly like the last two because Annie Martin and Suzi Regan have, along with the cast and designers, truly done some spectacular work on this production.