Announcing Williamston Theatre’s 2025-2026 Season!

We’re thrilled to announce this terrific lineup of shows for our 19th season, starting in October of 2025! This collection of stories is full of adventure, mystery, heart, hope, laughter and love!

When Mom’s in the hospital and Dad says she’s ‘done something stupid’, there’s not much a seven-year-old can do. Her childlike way of dealing with this is to write a list of every brilliant thing in the world – ice cream, staying up too late, roller coasters – and to share it with her mother. As our narrator moves through life, the list grows, changes, and is created in collaboration with each night’s audience in this sweet-salty comic work. Based on true and untrue stories, Every Brilliant Thing is a life-affirming story of how to achieve hope through focusing on the smallest miracles of life. Directed by Tony Caselli. Starring Katherine Banks.

Two beloved classic tales. One thrilling new mystery! When a grown-up Tiny Tim asks Sherlock Holmes to investigate the peculiar death of Ebenezer Scrooge, the Great Detective must use his tools of deduction to get to the bottom of the crime. But it is a dark and treacherous Christmas Eve, and once again the holiday is haunted by the spirits of the past, present, and future. Reunite with the characters you love from Charles Dickens and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, brought together in a story of intrigue and suspense, with a holiday helping of Christmas cheer. Directed by Rob Roznowski.

Do you believe in the perfect murder? When Tony Wendice finds a love letter to his wife, he vows to get revenge and keep her fortune. He reaches out to an old friend to do the dirty work. But as their elaborate plan falls short, chaos ensues. Jeffrey Hatcher’s adaptation of the classic suspense thriller is a smart, tight, compelling update of Knott’s tale of jealousy, deception and homicide. Contains mature content. Directed by Jasmine Rivera.

A worried mother comes to the library for what she thinks will be a reasonable, polite discussion about which books are appropriate for her teenage son. But her confrontation with the town librarian, a woman who cares deeply about her job and her community, sparks a chain reaction of consequences no one expected. Equal parts sharply funny and heartbreakingly poignant, Bad Books leaves audiences wondering what it truly means to care for our children. A raucous and brash debate in the quietest place in America… the library. Contains mature content and language. Directed by Tony Caselli.

Bad Books is produced at Williamston Theatre as part of a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere. Other Partner Theaters include Round House Theatre (Bethesda, MD), Florida Studio Theatre (Sarasota, FL), and Curious Theatre (Denver, CO).

London, 1935. Dull Richard Hannay encounters a woman who claims to be a spy. When she is suddenly murdered, Richard finds himself the focus of a nationwide manhunt led by a mysterious organization called “The 39 Steps.” This beloved mystery is a hilarious theatrical comedy full of dazzling stagecraft and virtuoso performances that will have you rolling in the aisles until the death-defying, climactic finale. The 39 Steps is a fast-paced whodunit with four versatile actors portraying more than 50 roles. Contains mature content. Directed by John Lepard.

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Along with the 5 full MainStage productions, we have our Dark Nights in Billtown series of alternate programming, which is expanded next season into a series of play readings, a series of standup comedy nights, and a couple of musical events! Check out this link for more info!

We have auditions coming up soon, and then we’ll be able to announce casts for everything! Of course we still have the rest of the performances of the beatiful Baba, that runs through May 25th, and one more production, the hilarious Incident at Our Lady of Perpetual Help this summer.

Round up of fun things

The weather is turning warm, and thank goodness! But that’s just one of the fun things going on right now, so let’s do a quick roundup of some of them!

Right now, at 8pm on Monday April 28, the Detroit Tigers have the best record in the American League! Whaaaaaaaat?! They’ve been super fun to watch so far this year. I mean, we’re not even 30 games into the season, but I’m going to enjoy it!

We are opening the beautiful play Baba by Denmo Ibrahim this week, and I am really excited and proud of this show. Sarab Kamoo is doing beautiful work as the solo performer, the design team crushed it, and I think it’s a really wonderful night of theatre.

Pictured: Sarab Kamoo as Layla in Baba by Denmo Ibrahim, at Williamston Theatre. Set by Ranae Selmeyer, Costumes by Camille Charara, Lights by Sam Schikora, Media by Sarah Webb, Props by Michelle Raymond. (and you can’t hear it here, but the Sound is by Julia Garlotte!)

Haven’t seen many movies lately, but today I had the day off and I went to see the Ryan Coogler film Sinners, and it’s excellent! I really, really enjoyed it – such excellent storytelling. Confident, creative and full of surprises. I loved the whole thing. Go see it!

At Williamston Theatre we are holding our general auditions for the 2025/2026 season, our 19th, in early May! That means our season lineup is coming very soon, and I’m getting excited to release it to the world!

The world is crazy right now, there’s a lot going on that’s less than wonderful, but I hope you’re having a week where you can still list some good things going on in your part of the planet!

WOW July went fast!

August 1st?! When and how did that happen?!

Our production of Predictor at Williamston Theatre has been going wonderfully. Audiences are loving it, we got three rave reviews from critics and have been getting a TON of wonderful feedback from patrons. The show runs until this Sunday, August 4th, if you’re in the area join us this weekend! Get Tickets Here!

My wife Jeanne and her sister Jackie went hiking on the Appalachian Trail for the month of July, just got back a couple days ago! There are fun videos on YouTube if you want to see them! Here’s one, if I can get it to embed into the WordPress properly! 178 miles, I think, is what they did, on crazy Appalachian Trail terrain!

Sadly the Detroit Tigers have proven to not be much improved this season, although some of the younger guys are proving they could be core members of a solid squad, but the pieces still aren’t all there, so we’ll be lucky to finish at .500 this season. Still, a lot of fun games have been close and entertaining to watch this season, so that’s been fun.

We’re deep into planning for season 18 at Williamston Theatre. The webpage for the season can be found here, check it out! There’s so much fun stuff coming up – a season launch party on August 22nd, 5 great plays, 4 standup comedy nights, our “Dark Nights in Billtown” series of staged readings, a Giving Tuesday Play-a-Thon where we read 3 plays onstage in the same day, free to the public! Coming up in October is a fun series of readings that will be all political plays: Animal Farm adapted by Ian Wooldridge from the book by George Orwell, Bad Books by Sharyn Rothstein, and The Election by Don Zolidis. A great blend of thoughtful comedy and satire to take us into our national election.

So much going on in the world… hang in there, people! 🙂

Random Thursday Stuff

Today: Random thoughts on things that have been clogging up my brain the last couple weeks.

The Detroit Tigers have had a disappointingly sad first half of the season. Yeeesh.

We are about to start previews for the final production of our 17th season at Williamston Theatre! It’s amazing that we’ve done that many, this makes production number 98! Season 18 is around the corner, and I can’t wait. Until then though, I hope people come see Predictor, it’s SUCH a great script – I love the story, and our entire production team is killing it!

Speaking of theatre: Dependability is a trait that employers look for. Do they still teach this in theatre schools? It gets rewarded.

I’m so grateful for my many doctors. And as messed up as the American medical system/Health Insurance world is, I’m also grateful to have the coverage we have.

I finally left Twitter, or X, or whatever it’s devolved into. Just not an Elon Musk fan, and honestly I’m getting a little tired of social media in general. Working through how to manage that.

We celebrated my mother’s birthday the other day with her. My wife Jeanne and I, and both our kids and their fiancées had a great afternoon out together. Everyone’s been so busy and with the kids moved out of the house now it was really great to have everyone together. I’m a lucky guy.

Random TV stuff: House of Dragons is back, it’s been fun so far. The new season of Doctor Who was a mixed bag, but largely delightful – Ncuti Gatwa is a terrific Doctor, and I’m looking forward to seeing more! Apple TV’s show Dark Matter is a fun sci-fi show that’s right up my alley, did anyone else watch the first season? I’m excited that the new season of The Bear is out, looking forward to watching that.

The Presidential Debate is on tonight. I’ll miss it, because we start previews tonight, but I’m looking forward to catching highlights online later. At least, I think I am. I’ll be honest, maybe I’m trepidatious. I still can’t fathom voting for Trump, he’s such a human trash bag, I just can’t wrap my head around people seeing the guy and thinking “Yeah, that’s a leader I’d follow”. Biden has his challenges and downside, for sure, but at least I believe he’s trying to do things for the people of the country – Trump is in it for himself and that’s it, and the extremists using him and his quest for power to push their theocratic agendas are scary.

Speaking of politics, I’m excited for an upcoming event at Williamston Theatre. In honor of the upcoming election, we’ll be doing a series of readings of fun, engaging political plays in October. 3 shows over 3 days, should be a fun time! Keep your eyes peeled for our announcement of show titles and details!

That’s enough Thursday Thoughts. Gotta go! Just for fun, I’ll leave you with an image from our show: here’s a picture from our Photo Shoot for Predictor. First Preview is in a couple of hours, I’m very excited!
(I shot this with my phone, sorry if it’s not the best quality!)

Featured in the photo are the cast, from Left to Right: Kamara Miller Drane, Mona Eldashoury, Caitlin Cavannaugh, Tobin Hissong, Chris Purchis, James Kuhl, Ryan Patrick Welsh. Directed by Billicia Charnelle Hines. The work you’re seeing in this picture is: Scenery by Thalia Lara, Projections by Jeromy Hopgood, Costumes by Mona Jahani and Lighting by Shannon Schweitzer. Props are by Michelle Raymond, Sound is by Brian Cole and Intimacy Direction is by Alexis Black. Adam Kruger leads the SM team and Aaron Delnay is our Technical Director!

Williamston Theatre Season 18!

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!

Home

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

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.

Random Nice Things on a Sunday

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!

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!

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!