The summer is winding down, which means another season of mid-Michigan theater is firing up. From professional productions to community musicals — and from student plays to Broadway tours — the Lansing theater scene has an array of offerings starting this month.
Beginning this weekend, Peppermint Creek Theatre Co. will stage “The Minutes,” directed by Mary Job and written by Tracy Letts, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “August: Osage County.” It’s a tightly focused black comedy about small-town politics and American memory — or lack thereof. When newcomer Mr. Peel attends a city council meeting in the fictional every-town of Big Cherry, he’s surprised to find that the previous week’s meeting minutes are missing. According to Job, “Things get increasingly funny and bizarre as people try to figure out what happened at the last meeting.”
“The Minutes” is the last show of the season that Peppermint Creek plans to stage at Sycamore Creek Church on South Pennsylvania Avenue.
“Our old space is perfect for this. It’s going to be really intimate, like sitting in a small city hall,” Job said.
After the show wraps up, Peppermint Creek plans to move to a new venue, Stage One Performing Arts Center at Sycamore Creek Church’s Eastwood Towne Center branch. Sycamore Creek adopted the former Asbury United Methodist Church in early 2022 and has been renovating it since late last year, and the updated space will include a 3,676-square-foot performing arts center with seating capacity for up to 200 people. Renovations are expected to be completed later this fall, and both Peppermint Creek and Ixion Theatre Ensemble plan to utilize the space for their upcoming seasons.
Job brought an insider’s eye to her direction of “The Minutes.” Before retirement, she was an attorney for the Michigan Education Association, and she said the concepts of “committees, and committees about the committees,” were familiar to her. She has directed otherworldly and sprawling shows like “Eurydice,” “Indecent” and “Fun Home,” but she said this show is all about the actors.
“It’s been an intense and contained way of working,” she said. “Well, not intense in some ways because I’m not focused so much on the technical aspects. I let the designers do that. I’m focused on working with the wonderful group of actors.”
Starting as a comedy and “ending up in the twilight zone,” Job said that ultimately this play has “something very serious to say about how Americans reckon with their own history.”
“Come and laugh,” she said, “but buckle up. The play is going to take some turns.”
Also opening this weekend is “The Wizard of Oz” at the Lebowsky Center for Performing Arts in Owosso. The classic musical runs Friday (Sept. 8) through Sunday (Sept. 10) and Sept. 15 through 17. The Lebowsky Center is about 45 minutes from downtown Lansing, but theater lovers in DeWitt, Okemos and Laingsburg will find the drive to be an easier 30-ish minutes. This community space offers a mix of programming throughout the year, heavy on comedians and tribute bands, plus a few family musicals, including “Anastasia” and “Next to Normal” in 2024.
Next weekend, Riverwalk Theatre opens its season with “Admissions,” by Joshua Harmon. Perfect for the back-to-school season, this play promises to give viewers a “no-holds-barred look at privilege, power and the perils of hypocrisy.” Riverwalk is located in downtown Lansing near Impression 5 Science Center, with plenty of free parking available. In its upcoming season, the 35-year-old community company is also offering musicals; intimate, relationship-driven black-box productions; a Christmas farce; a play about Mozart based on a Pushkin novel; and a parody of “The Oregon Trail” video game, complete with audience participation.
Opening the second-to-last week in September is Williamston Theatre’s production of “On the Market,” a play about later-in-life online dating. Williamston Theatre is Greater Lansing’s professional theater, meaning those involved are typically represented by theater unions. Expect higher ticket prices, but you’ll be rewarded with high-level execution from actors, directors and designers, often with decades of professional experience.
LCC Black Box Theatre
411 N. Grand Ave., Lansing
lcc.edu/showinfo
“Isaac’s Eye”
Oct. 6-8 and 13-14
“Sense and Sensibility”
Nov. 10-12 and 17-19
“The Thanksgiving Play”
Feb. 23-25 and March 1-2, 2024
“My Emperor’s New Clothes”
April 5-6 and 12-13, 2024
Dart Auditorium
500 N. Capitol Ave., Lansing
“Rocky Mountain High”
Sept. 15 and 17
Pasant Theatre
750 E. Shaw Lane, East Lansing
“Love is the Greater Labyrinth”
Sept. 28-Oct. 1
Arena Theatre
542 Auditorium Road, East Lansing
“Clue”
Oct. 6-8 and 11-15
Pasant Theatre
“Much Ado About Nothing”
Nov. 10-12 and 15-19
Arena Theatre
“MSU UnScripted”
Nov. 30-Dec. 3
Studio 60 Theatre
542 Auditorium Road, East Lansing
“Stevie and the Real World”
Feb. 9-11 and 14-18, 2024
Fairchild Theatre
542 Auditorium Road, East Lansing
“What If Wilhelmina”
March 8-10 and 15-17, 2024
Arena Theatre
“Waiting for Lefty”
March 26-30, 2024
Studio 60 Theatre
“Spring Awakening”
April 5-7 and 10-14, 2024
Studio 60 Theatre
Lebowsky Center for Performing Arts
“The Wizard of Oz”
Sept. 8-10 and 15-17
“Anastasia”
Feb. 23-25 and March 1-3, 2024
“Murder on the Orient Express”
April 19-21 and 26-28, 2024
“Next to Normal”
June 14-16 and 21-23, 2024
Stage One Performing Arts Center
2200 Lake Lansing Road, Lansing
peppermintcreek.org
“The Minutes”
Sept. 7-10 and 14-17
1919 S. Pennsylvania Ave., Lansing
“The Prom”
Nov. 2-5 and 9-12
“All Is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914”
Dec. 8
Pasant Theatre
“How To Defend Yourself”
Feb. 1-4 and 8-11, 2024
“Alabama Story”
April 18-21 & 25-28, 2024
228 Museum Drive, Lansing
riverwalktheatre.com
“Admissions”
Sept. 14-17 and 21-24
“The Rocky Horror Picture Show”
Oct. 19-21 and 26-28
“The Trail to Oregon”
Nov. 9-12 and 16-19
“Christmas Belles”
Dec. 7-10 and 14-17
“The Exonerated”
Feb. 15-18 and 22-25, 2024
“Amadeus”
March 14-17 and 21-24, 2024
“Moonglow”
April 11-14 and 18-21, 2024
“James and the Giant Peach”
May 16-19 and 23-26, 2024
122 S. Putnam St., Williamston
williamstontheatre.org
“On the Market”
Sept. 14-Oct. 22
“Murder for Two: Holiday Edition”
Nov. 16-Dec. 23
“Maytag Virgin”
Feb. 1-March 10, 2024
“Bright Half Life”
April 11-May 19, 2024
“Predictor”
June 27-Aug. 4, 2024
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