The curtain is going up on a season full of variety

From ‘Jersey Boys’ and ‘God of Carnage’ to Neil Simon and Shakespeare, local theaters aim to please

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The vacation is over. Sigh.

But just as summer makes its exit, fall brings a diverse crop of offerings to local stages as a host of Lansing area theaters get back to work.

From a curly-haired singing orphan to a famed-fanged Romanian count to an odd and mismatched pair of roomies, there will be many familiar types popping up this year when the curtains rise — and plenty of new faces as well.

Theater fans will be challenged by questions of race, politics and law, have their hearts warmed by family-friendly fables and find their funny bones tickled by comedies both light and dark, high and lowbrow.

So get your ticket and take your seat because the lights are dimming.


Stormfield Theatre 

Stormfield Theatre founder Kristine Thatcher has high-minded ideas on the power of theater.

 “For us, with the production and for the audience, the reason we’re all there is to figure out what kind of people we want to be,” she said.  “That’s the bottom line of why theater exists.”

It’s a philosophy that extends to Stormfield’s upcoming season, which finds the company again tackling the work of living playwrights and showcasing topics relevant to current times.

Thatcher points to a pair of fall shows,  “Heroes,” a dark comedy, and “Race,” a thought-provoking legal thriller, as prime examples of what Stormfield can be.

 “(‘Heroes’) is about the effect so war on the wounded psyche. With all these veterans returning home, it’s really pertinent,” she said.

The play depicts a trio of World War I veterans (played by Gary Houston, Richard Marlatt and Richard Henzel) plotting to escape the confines of a military hospital. It was written by French playwright Gerald Sibleyras and has been translated and adapted by Tom Stoppard, one of Thatcher’s personal favorites.

 “It’s a comedy,” Thatcher said, “but with very dark gallows humor.  It’s got that Stoppard wit and depth.”

 “Race” concerns a group of lawyers investigating a racially charged rape case and comes from the pen of David Mamet, not a writer known for backing away from hot-button issues.

 “It is controversial: With Mamet it always is,” Thatcher said. “It contains some very wry jokes.  It’s provocative — a topical detective story.”


Peppermint Creek Theatre Co.

According to Chad Badgero, the folks at Peppermint Creek Theatre Co. have never been content with just entertaining audiences — they want to get those audiences thinking as well, by showcasing productions that address vital social issues. 

“Lansing audiences have proven to be exceedingly brave and eager to answer the types of questions raised here,” said Badgero, Peppermint Creek’s founder and artistic director.

The theme for the season is “Two-Sided,”  and Badgero promises the crop of shows will illustrate the ambiguity and complexities of a variety of topics, beginning with the season opener, “Blackbird.”

Written by David Harrower, “Blackbird” is the harrowing account of the reunion between a middle-aged man (played by Doak Bloss) and a young woman (Angela Mishler) years after the end of their sexual relationship.  What gives the story a complicated dramatic heft is the fact that the relationship occurred when the now-adult woman was only 12 years old.

 “The play deals with how we fall in love, who we fall in love with and what we deem appropriate when it comes to love,” he said. “It’s really compelling theater.”

Badgero admits that the subject matter may prove uncomfortable for some, but he relishes the chance to produce such controversial work.

 “I always hope that the material will elicit some sort of dialogue as we are so often producing plays that are never wrapped up neatly in a bow at the end.”


Williamston Theatre

Artistic director Tony Caselli offers up one word to sum up the underlying theme behind the new season at Williamston Theatre: redemption.

And sometimes redemption comes under the most unusual of circumstances.

Case in point:  Eric Coble’s “The Dead Guy,” a dark satire of American reality television that kicks off the fall season.

 “Some of the behavior in reality TV is just so appalling,” Caselli said. “This show asks ‘Is there a boundary of taste?’ and ‘is there a boundary of common sense?’”

The titular character is both the subject of and the title of an unscripted documentary series that follows its star as he is given $1 million to spend over the course of one week.  The catch is that at the week’s end the lead must die in a manner voted on by the audience. 

 “It’s very funny, but a really dark look at the fame-obsessed side of our culture,”  Caselli said.

 “We like to explore serious topics in a way that isn’t pounding your head against a wall. We want you to be able to laugh at the same time.”

All-of-us Express Children’s Theatre

Even children’s theater has to grow up sometime.

At least that’s the philosophy behind the All-Of-Us Express Children’s Theatre upcoming season, especially its youth adaptation of Bram Stoker’s iconic “Dracula.”

The curtain rises on Tim Kelly’s “Dracula: The Vampire Play” just in time for Halloween and, according to artistic director Mary Hartmann, it’s a prime example of the troupe’s effort to appeal to a slightly older audience.

 “We’re trying to better engage our older youth participants,” she said. “We were noticing that as they got a bit older — into their teens — we were starting to lose them. We’re also trying to shoot outside our normal box a bit and get away from the fairy tales we’ve done so often.”

Hartmann describes upcoming shows as being more “content-heavy” while retaining the youth appeal All-of-us is known for.

“Our ‘Dracula’ is not quite as dark as what you’d usually see in the typical production at an adult community theater.  (Kelly) is really good at adapting typically adult fare for younger audiences.”

Starlight Dinner Theatre

As Starlight Dinner Theatre artistic director Linda Granger explains it, giving the audience what it wants is the top priority. So when audience survey results pointed overwhelmingly to a favorite choice for Starlight’s next show, Granger paid attention.

You voted, Starlight listened and Neil Simon’s “The Odd Couple” will bicker its way back to the stage this fall.

 “There’s a real nostalgia aspect to it.  It’s something people are familiar with and remember fondly,” she said.  “And it’s Neil Simon; it’s very well written.”

Simon’s classic comedy about a pair of extremely mismatched roommates has been adapted for both the big and small screens since its 1965 debut, and Granger thinks it’s the perfect lighthearted entertainment for audiences.

 “I’m hoping (audiences) will go home feeling a lot better than they came in,” she said. “For two hours, they won’t have to think about whatever issues they’re dealing with — and they’ll get a really good meal, too.”


Riverwalk Theatre

From classic musicals to historical dramas to eclectic comedy, Riverwalk aims to represent as wide a range of theater as possible. There is, in the words of artistic director Mike Siracuse, “a little bit of everything for everyone.”

 “We have such a variety from beginning to end that I hope we see someone from every household in Lansing at some point,” Siracuse said. “Of all the shows we’ve chosen, there’s not a weak one in the bunch.”

He is particularly excited about October’s “Conspiracy,” an adaptation of the acclaimed HBO movie that dramatizes the Nazis’ planning for the implementation of Adolf Hitler’s “Final Solution” during World War II.

 “They’re talking about all these people like they’re just animals, just units to be dealt with,” he said.

It’s the first time the work has been adapted for the stage, and the theater has been able to work directly with the show’s writer, Loring Mandel, to develop the production, something Siracuse calls “a unique and exciting opportunity.”

 “What (the play) depicts is so chillingly evil. Aside from the subject matter, the fact that the author will be here working with us makes this a media event. It’s a show people will be talking about.”


Mid Michigan Family Theatre

Youth theater doesn’t have to be child’s play — not as Bill Gordon sees it, anyway.

That’s why Gordon, director of Mid Michigan Family Theatre has chosen to open the fall season with a self-penned historical drama.

Gordon’s “The Man With the Camera” tells the true story of Lewis Hine, a photographer whose work depicting child labor in the early 20th century was instrumental in the reform of child labor laws.

“It’s an important story to tell,” Gordon said. “There’s such a stark contrast between where we are now as opposed to then.  This really sheds light on how long it took to get from one point to the other.”

This season also includes the lighter fare the group is known for, including Christmas fables and classic titles such as “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” when Halloween rolls around.

 “The scary stories will give kids something else to occupy them beyond thinking just about what kind of candy they’re going to get in their bags,” Gordon said.


Lansing Community College

Although there will be many questions raised onstage this season at Lansing Community College, there will be no easy answers.

Melissa Kaplan, production coordinator for the LCC Performing Arts Department, points to a pair of shows, “The Gingerbread House” and “The Shrike,” as illustrations of that philosophy.

 “Gingerbread” is the darkly comic story of two unsatisfied yet ambitious parents who decide to sell their children in order to advance their careers.

 “We all have our idea of the American dream,” Kaplan said. “But you never really know what you’re going to get when you go after it. Things don’t always work out how you want them to. It is disturbing — it’s hard to believe it’s a comedy, but we laughed out loud reading it.”

 Set in the 1950s, “The Shrike” tells a less humorous but no less disturbing story of a man trapped in an asylum by his wife and at the mercy of institutional laws of the era.

 “It’s an opportunity to talk about mental health and the laws pertaining to it,” Kaplan said. “It’s not a high-action play, but it is high drama.”


Lansing Civic Players

Having canceled most of last season due to financial difficulties, the venerable Lansing Civic Players returns to the theater fold with a new artistic director and a definite mission: to win audiences back.

 “This is our comeback, definitely,” said Mike Stewart, who stepped into the lead role earlier this year. “The challenge has been to get the word out that we’re back.”

To accomplish that feat, LCP has scheduled a slate balancing theatrical favorites with edgier less familiar fare.

Stewart said the choice of Charles Busch’s “The Divine Sister” as the season opener was a conscious decision to let audiences know that LCP is, despite recent setbacks, still willing to take chances.

 “I wanted to do something new and bright and fresh that no one else has seen unless they saw it off-Broadway,” he said.  “We were very lucky to get this.”

 “The Divine Sister” is a raucous comic tribute to Hollywood’s portrayal of nuns that tackles issues of religion and sexual hysteria head on. “It’s a very adult show,” Stewart said. “Not for the faint of heart, but a really fun show.”

Stewart admits LCP faces something of an uphill battle following its reorganization, but expresses confidence in this year’s offerings.

 “We’re hoping to entice everyone into giving us another try. (LCP) has been around a long time and I think we have the lineup that’s going to lure people back.”

Michigan State University 

The name of the game at Michigan State University this season is “Re-Invention.”  According to MSU Theatre Department chairman Kirk Domer, depicting the many ways in which the members of American society have reinvented themselves in the face of extraordinary circumstances has been the crux of its lineup.

 “The idea was to take the mirror of liberal arts and use it to see what we look like now compared to what we looked like yesterday,” he said.

It’s a philosophy illustrated by “Two 9/11 Plays,” a double bill debuting just after the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, Domer said. “I think it’s going to be pretty telling.  It’s a lot more about the human experience than it is about the devastation and destruction.”

The show’s two parts include “Return to the Upright Position,” a collaborative performance poem, and “What Happened: The September 11th Testimony Project,” which utilizes actual reports from emergency personnel and bystanders at the World Trade Center the day of the attack.

 “It’s a real teaching opportunity,” Doner said. “We have a campus filled with students who probably saw it all happen but were too young to understand it at the time. What makes this so special is its timing and its message. It’s a far more positive take as it looks at how far we’ve come since it happened.” 


Wharton Center

Wharton Center began beating the drum for the Tony-winning musical “Jersey Boys” almost a year ago, which makes sense since it was technically part of the 2010-2011 season. The show, which looks at the hit-laden career of  Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, opens Sept. 28 and runs through Oct. 16. 

According to public relations manager Bob Hoffman, the “Jersey” campaign is typical of how Wharton has handled other top attractions, like “Wicked,” “The Lion King” and “Phantom of the Opera”: “It’s a big mega-musical, like those shows,” Hoffman said.

Also on the Wharton schedule are the partially revamped “West Side Story,” with some lyrics translated into Spanish, and the 1980s extravaganza “Rock of Ages,” which weaves such radio staples as “Sister Christian,” “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” and “We Built This City” into a story of love, lust, success and failure in Hollywood.

Wharton Center also has “really good things for kids and families” this fall, Hoffman said. “They all have an educational aspect to them, as well as being fun.”

Secrets of the ocean are revealed in a stylish black-light puppet show called “Imaginocean” on Oct. 23, while the evolution of a monarch butterfly is detailed in “Butterfly: The Story of a Life Cycle,” presented in the Japanese puppetry style known as bunraku (Nov. 6).  

Individual tickets to most of the Wharton Center presentations went on sale Monday. Call (800) WHARTON, or visit www.www.whartoncenter.com.

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