Smile.
That is the buzzword for this season at Old Town Playhouse. We specifically curated each show to keep the smiles going in hopes of bringing joy and counterbalance to a stressful world. One of our big smiles is the hiring of our new Artistic Director, Wes Curry. Hiring an Artistic Director was born from two goals — ensuring the quality that our patrons have come to expect from OTP across all shows and supporting our incredible volunteers who bring passion and talent to our stage. Wes joins us from Dilworth Players in North Carolina, which he founded. He has a lifelong passion and experience in live theater (if you’d like to see the playbill from his fifth-grade production, stop by the office). Adding this key position is an important next step for OTP.
Sometimes the best smiles are the ones that come with tears, and that was certainly true of our opening show of the season, “Waitress.” This hit Broadway musical, with book by Jessie Nelson and music and lyrics by Sara Bareilles, saw a sold-out run. We were honored to be the Michigan Community Theatre premiere of this show. Thank you to everyone who attended and gave us feedback. So many patrons exclaimed about how great the show was and some even compared it to the Broadway rendition! If you were lucky enough to be at the closing performance of the run, you had to smile when the real-life marriage proposal happened after the final bows between the two lead characters. Congratulations to Andrew and Katelyn!
Our November show is Ken Ludwig’s “Lend Me a Soprano.” Ken Ludwig is the playwright who brought us the “Murder on the Orient Express” and “Lend Me a Tenor,” which won two Tony Awards and was called one of the classic comedies of the 20th century. For those who loved “Lend Me a Tenor,” “Lend Me a Soprano” is the reimagining for female opera singers. Ludwig may be one of the most performed playwrights of his generation. His plays are full of farce, unexpected turns, laughter and fun. While the play is not a musical, it does have some amazing music in it, with not one, but two of our actors actually singing the opera parts. This play has slamming doors, mistaken identities and men taking off their shirts — in short, it’s everything audiences love!
Then, pencil us in for your holiday plans in December. No matter if you love Holiday movies or hate them, you will smile and laugh through the play, “The Holiday Channel Christmas Movie Wonderthon.” It is a play that spoofs six holiday romance stories all at once. Love the one about the prince in disguise? We’ve got two princes. How about the one where a high-powered businesswoman discovers a lumberjack with a heart of gold? We’ve got that too — and they ice skate. And in the spirit of Christmas, you can help us out! OTP is doing a red-and-green sweater drive to find the perfect looks for the actors. Just drop any adult red and/or green Christmas sweaters off in the lower level – you can stuff them down Santa’s chimney, anytime between now and Thanksgiving. We’ll use the most adorable onstage. So, make a date with your family, your spouse or your friends for an evening of holiday happiness. This show would even make a great office holiday party, we offer group discounts when purchasing eight or more tickets.
Each season, three of the five mainstage shows are musicals. This requires many musicians each year. Fortunately, this region has abundant talent. We are working on updating and expanding our database of musicians, music directors, conductors and vocal directors. If you’d like us to stay in touch for any of these, please reach out to us!
To quote the song from “Waitress,” if you want to know “What’s Inside?” we invite you to come visit us at the corner of Eighth and Cass. From our youngest actors in the Young Company to our seniors in Aged to Perfection, we have hundreds of performers and volunteers that make the magic happen. Whether you’re looking for an evening of escaping into the thrill of theatre, or ready to join in, we welcome you. As a community theatre our volunteers are the people that help raise the curtain for each show. They are a great group of people and are sure to make you smile — join us.