From the Barn to the Black Box

Over the Ledges’ website describes the show as following the four actors playing “characters while navigating college life, dating and adulthood: with song titles and topics from “Psycho Roommate” to “Stupid Day Job.””

A look ahead: July theater

“Songs about Stuff: the music of Wally Pleasant” performed by Over the Ledge Theater at Riverwalk Theater’s Black Box space, 228 Museum Dr., Lansing. Thurs. July 7-9, 8 p.m. July 10, 2 p.m. and Thurs. 14-16, 8 p.m. July 17, 2 p.m. overtheledge.org

“Something Rotten” performed by the Owosso Community Players at the Lebowsky Center, 122 E. Main St., Owosso. July 8 and 9, 8 p.m. July 10, 3 p.m. NOTE: This three-day production is a continuation of the show from June, when it was canceled due to a COVID outbreak in the cast. lebowskycenter.com

“Hat Box” performed by Williamston Theater Co. 122 South Putnam St., Williamston. Preview performances: July 14-16, and July 21. Performances: July 22 - Aug. 5. Performance times vary. williamstontheatre.org

“The Realistic Joneses” performed by Over the Ledge at Riverwalk Theater’s Black Box Theater, 228 Museum Dr., Lansing. Thurs. July 28-30, 8 p.m. July 31, 2 p.m. and Aug. 4-6, 8 p.m. Aug. 7, 2 p.m. overtheledge.org

Joe Dickson was a week away from opening Over the Ledges Theater company’s 2022 season when he was told by the Grand Ledge city manager that the Barn Theater, located in Fitzgerald Park was condemned. At the moment, he was standing inside Riverwalk Theater.  

Within a half an hour, discussions to salvage the shows were underway with Riverwalk President Jeff Magnuson and within 10 days a deal was struck to let Over the Ledge perform two of its four scheduled productions in the downtown theater’s black box.  

“It might seem like community theaters are in competition in Lansing,” said Dickson, Over the Ledge executive director. “But we’re not. We’re always helping each out with sharing lights or flats or props. It’s a very cooperative community in that way, so it’s not a surprise Riverwalk was willing to help us find space.” 

The two companies will share the proceeds from the shows as part of the deal struck.  

The Black Box is a smaller venue than the old Spiritualist Pavilion turned barn that has played host to live theater since 1956, but Dickson knows his way around the space and is convinced it will work for his productions of “Songs about Stuff: The music of Wally Pleasant” and “The Realistic Joneses.” Both will be performed this month in the Black Box. 

The change in venue also caused the company to flip the order of shows. Instead of opening with “The Realistic Joneses,” the company is opening with Pleasant’s “Songs about Stuff.” (Wally Pleasant is a long-time fixture in Lansing’s music scene). 

“I figured it was easier that way because the musicians had already committed to those dates,” Dickson said of the decision. While technical staff and actors generally do not receive compensation for their work, musicians in local productions are always paid. 

The set for “Songs about Stuff” also had to be redesigned for the smaller theater space.  

All right, enough about the weird shuffle and schedule. Let’s talk about things Pleasant — Wally Pleasant that is. The ’90s remedy to grunge music, Pleasant’s career has grown out of performing in intimate spaces like coffee houses. It also meant self-producing his own string of acclaimed albums. His off kilter, weird story-songs have near cult status in the Lansing area and for many were the soundtrack of their lives in the ’90s.  

“I just wanted to tell stories,” Pleasant said. “Stories that rhyme.”  

And while those songs often skewer daily life, Pleasant said they were really a way for him to tell stories about interesting people or events he had encountered. It also became an outlet for his own social observations about life.  

Friend Michael Lluberes said he had desperately wanted to create a musical with Pleasant’s songs. For years it was one of those things that friends say to each other, with neither having any certainty how they would go about tackling such a project. Just as life takes strange twists in many of Pleasant’s songs, the muses conspired to land Lluberes as the producing artistic director of the Flint Repertory Theater, a professional company. So, he conceived the show in collaboration with Pleasant. In 2019, the Flint company debuted the show. The production garnered a Wilde Award nomination. Over the Ledge’s production is the second time the show has been produced.  

So how does one turn the off kilter musical world of Wally Pleasant into a musical adventure for the stage? It requires four actors playing different characters sharing Pleasant’s music. In Over the Ledges production, Courtlandt Lyons, Storm Kopitsch, Anasti Her and Jeff Kennedy will tackle those roles, under the directing hand of Adam Carlson.  

Over the Ledges’ website describes the show as following the four actors playing “characters while navigating college life, dating and adulthood: with song titles and topics from “Psycho Roommate” to “Stupid Day Job.” 

In the smaller space, the show is more likely to have the feeling of seeing Pleasant perform live, generating those nostalgic feelings of watching him strum his guitar, tease the audience and sing in such long-forgotten venues as Cafe Venezia (a coffee shop formerly located in downtown East Lansing across from Pinball Pete’s). 

Pleasant said he will attend the show “at least a couple of times” and he is very excited to see what Over the Ledge brings to the production.  

The show opens Thursday (July 7). It runs two weekends, with curtain times on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Being a significantly smaller venue than the Barn in Grand Ledge, seating is limited. Dickson encourages audience members to reserve tickets in advance to make sure they get a seat. Tickets will be $15 for adults, $12 for youth and students. Tickets can purchase online at OvertheLedge.org, or by calling 517-819-0579.