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.
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.
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.
What a joy Silent Sky has been. Some shows just have such an affect on people – audience, cast, designers, crew – that you don’t want them to end. Watching this beautiful script by Lauren Gunderson do that to people over the last 5 weeks has been wonderful and, now that we have reached the closing performance, I find myself feeling the same way.
The sense of wonder, of exploration and perseverance from this show is beautiful and inspiring. The sheer joy it evokes, that sense that “Anything Is Possible”, is just so beautifully interwoven with the loving bittersweet reminder “But… we don’t have forever… so Savor Everything.”
Working with the entire production team on this show has been an amazing journey. Telling the story of Henrietta Leavitt, Annie Cannon and Williamina Fleming – true pioneers in their field who persevered and changed the world around them despite incredible resistance – has been an absolute gift, and one of the highlights of my career so far. I offer a giant THANK YOU to the many wonderful people who helped to make it happen!
Because the real point… is seeing something bigger. And knowing we’re a part of it, if we’re lucky. In the end that is a life well-lived. Because thank God there’s a lot out there bigger than me.
-Henrietta Leavitt, SILENT SKY by Lauren Gunderson
Every time this shows up in the mail, I think of my Dad.
I think back to when I was in high school, and told him I wanted to go to college for theatre. I was ready to be told I should find something more stable, I was ready to be lectured about responsibility and the future.
Instead, all he asked was “Do you think you can make a living at it?” When I said I thought I could, he just nodded, and said “Okay. Great. Your mom and I will help any way we can.” And that was it.
So when my membership card from SDC arrives I, naturally, get a sense of pride that I’m following my dream and making it work, and I’m thrilled that I’m contributing to the world the way I’d hoped to… but I also feel like I’m keeping a promise to my Dad. I know he was proud of me, of all his kids, but putting this card in my wallet every year makes me feel worthy of the trust and faith he had in me on that afternoon, sitting together in our kitchen, over 30 years ago.
On Tuesday I start rehearsal for Doublewide, a play about a guy who spends his life working in a factory and doing everything he can to provide a good future for his family.
I had a wonderful quick getaway with my amazing wife Jeanne earlier this week. We stole a couple days from the schedule and visited Saugatuck, Michigan. We stayed in the fabulous Hidden Gardens bed-and-breakfast, where I now want to live year-round.
We spent a lot of time on Lake Michigan, at Oval Beach. Just beautiful. Here’s the only pic I took at the beach!
To get to the beach, you have to take a short walk from downtown Saugatuck, across the Kalamazoo River. This chain ferry is the way to cross and, according to the operator, it’s one of only a handful still in operation across the country!
Here is the guy cranking us across the river. Yes, when offered the chance, I did some cranking! Life is short, try stuff, celebrate everything! 😁
Jeanne and I had a great time, it was a wonderful relaxing couple of days. Downtown Saugatuck is adorable with lots of parks and little shops and great food. (If you go, don’t miss The Southerner, or Phil’s!)
This flower shop has the best name ever.
We also enjoyed some relaxing and great wine at a cool place called Borrowed Time…
With life being crazy, and politics driving everyone nuts, and work being always busy, and Jeanne and the kids going back to school in a week…. a little breathing room with the most important person in my world was just perfect.
I hope you’re all able to carve out some hammock time, whatever your version is, before long. These are the moments all the hard stuff should lead to. Don’t forget to take them.
Watching family open gifts, especially the kids pulling out all the stocking stuffers, is the best! Much hugging and love, lots of laughs, sitting on the couch, or the floor between the couch and Christmas Tree, everyone gradually donning new hats, or pajamas, or scarves or jackets, so that by the time we’re done no one looks the way they did when we started!
Coffee being enjoyed by Jeanne and I, Maggie immediately begins brewing water for tea in her super-nifty new electric tea kettle. (“It GLOWS!!”, she yells from the kitchen.) Max is trying to decide which side of his reversible Star Wars jacket he wants to show off first, the Light or the Dark. Jeanne rises, starts preparing our traditional Christmas Day breakfast: eggs, sausage, cinnamon rolls, and pomegranates!
Best laugh of the morning: My wife (because she a: knows me, b: loves me and c: is awesome), got me Superman cologne. Max got Batman cologne. I sprayed some on, and declared “I smell like Truth And Justice!” Max, in his spot-on Christian-Bale-as-Batman impression, whisper-growled “And I smell like THE NIGHT!!”
Ah, I love these mornings together. Grateful to be here for them.
I’ve made a habit of making a fruit and vegetable smoothie as one or two of my meals per day over the last couple of weeks, trying to get a little healthier and slimmer. I need to go grocery shopping, so we’re out of fruit and veggies. I have, therefore, decided that Captain Crunch is a totally acceptable substitute. I glanced briefly at the back of the box, it seemed pretty full of ingredients and stuff.
Today is our first real snowfall this season. It’s beautiful. Here’s the view out our front window. Of course, we’re still in the honeymoon stage. Another few weeks of the slush and shoveling and cold and I’ll be ready to drop you, Winter and move on – don’t take it personally, Winter, it’s me, not you. Well, it’s actually you.
This last month has been so full of fun. A chance to see a bunch of theatre – the tour of Antigone, with Juliette Binoche. I liked it, but I’ll be honest, it felt a little heavy-handed. The first time we took a long pause to watch someone sit, or walk across the stage for 60 seconds, was interesting. The next couple times just felt indulgent and staged. That said, I liked the scenic, lighting and most of the multimedia designs, and the acting was terrific. Every time I go to the Power Center in Ann Arbor I’m reminded of what a cool space it is – I should go more often.
Saw American Hero in Detroit, at the newly minted Detroit Public Theatre. A nice inaugural production for this new company, hoping to see great things from them in the future!
I also got to see the wonderful production of Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf at the Performance Network. Man, what a beautiful, moving production. Just clicking on all cylinders – it’s fun to see a big ol’ classic brought to life in a wonderful way.
We’ve just started previews of Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol at Williamston Theatre. It’s a great piece, full of magic and redemption, fun and theatrical storytelling.
And, most importantly, my kids were in a terrific High School production Beauty And The Beast, and I am incredibly proud of them. Maggie was Belle, Max was Lumiere, and they were just terrific. I’m a big softie, obviously, and watching them together onstage in these fun roles that they just crushed, well… I’m an emotional guy, what can I say. Maybe it was dusty in the theatre, or someone was cutting onions nearby, who can say… (Warning: Proud Parent Photo Post Imminent…)
Happy Winter, everyone! Be safe out there… and Celebrate Your Lives!
Tony Caselli 