February 2024

1/26-27 & 2/2-3 - 7:30 pm; 2pm & 7:30 Saturdays -  These Shining Lives; tickets : https://masterarts.ludus.com/index.php?show_id=200443939 Grace Bible Church 1000 S Canal Rd, Lansing, MI 48917 - ALI


2/1 - 3/10 - Thu-Fri-Sat 8pm; Wed-Sat-Sun 2pm - Maytag Virgin, Director Tony Caselli; Sat. matinees begin 2/10; Wednesday matinees: 2/28 & 3/6 - WT


2/1 – 4 & 8 – 11 - 7pm;  2pm Sundays -  How To Defend Yourself by Liliana Padilla, Director Sally Hecksel - PCTC


2/2-4 & 9-11 - 7pm Fri; 3pm Sat & Sun, Hannah Center - The Addams Family - AECT


2/6 - 11 - 7:30pm Tue/Wed/Thu; 8pm Fri; 2pm & 8pm Sat; 1pm & 6:30pm Sun - Funny Girl - Cobb Great Hall - WTN


2/9-15 - 8pm Fri; 2 & 8pm Sat; 2pm Sun, 7:30pm Wed-Thu - NO 2pm show Sat. 2/10. MFA Play Commission: Stevie and the Real World Written by Iraisa Ann Reilly, Director Ji Won Jeon - MSU Auditorium Fairchild main stage - MSU


2/10 & 11  at 4 pm -  Auditions for James and Lahdahlord James and the Giant Peach based on Roald Dahl’s 1961 children’s book Director Linda Widener - RWT

2/12 and 2/14 - 7 pm - Auditions for The Fantasticks, directed by Andrew Chandler West, Bethel Baptist Church, 810 Edgemont Blvd, Lansing, 48917 - STL

2/15-18 & 22-25 - 7pm Thu/8pm Fri-Sat/2pm Sun - The Exonerated by Jessica Blank & Erik Jensen, Director Alan Greenberg - Black Box stage - RWT


2/15-2/16 - 7-10 p.m. Auditions for My Emperor's New Clothes - director Paige Tufford - LCC

2/17 - 7pm -  Acts of Love 2.0 Audio Theater - Hannah Community Center - AAF


2/18 & 19  at 7 pm -  Auditions for actors other than James or Lahdahlord James and the Giant Peach based on Roald Dahl’s 1961 children’s book Director Linda Widener - RWT


2/22-23 - Wind in the Willows auditions at Hannah Center. Ages 9-18 sign up for a timeslot at https://www.cityofeastlansing.com/816/Auditions - AECT


2/23 - 3/2 - 7:30pm Fri & Sat; 2pm Sat & Sun - Anastasia, musical - LEB


2/23-25, 3/1-2 - 8pm/2pm Sun. 2/25 - The Thanksgiving Play by Larissa FastHorse, Director Blake Bowen - Black Box Theatre - LCC


2/24 - 1:30 & 4pm - The Boy Who Cried Wolf - Act One Family, ages 4-10 - Pasant Stage - WTN


2/25 & 26 at 7 pm - Auditions for Moonglow, Director Emily Clark - RWT

2/26 & 27 at 7 pm -  Auditions for Alabama Story - by Kenneth Jones, Director Heath Sartorius(auditions held at Sycamore Creek Church, 1919 S Pennsylvania Ave, Lansing). - PCTC 



Greater Lansing Ubiquitous Theatres

ALI - Alive Theatre -http://www.facebook.com/TheAliveTheatre  - Grace Bible Church, 1000 S. Canal Rd. Lansing, 48917
AECT - All-of-us Express Children’s Theatre - 
www.cityofeastlansing.com/allofus - 517-319-6957 - [email protected] - E.L. Hannah Community Center, 819 Abbot Road East Lansing, MI 48823 

AAF - Audio Air Force - “radio shows” at E.L. Hannah Center - www.audioairforce.com - Dave Downing - 517-881-9746 

IX - Ixion - ixiontheatre.com, [email protected],  517-775-4246 - Stage One, 2200 Lake Lansing Rd., Lansing, MI  48912  

LCC - Lansing Community College Arts - Shows at LCC Black Box Stage 1422 Gannon Bldg (April 2024 show at renovated Dart Auditorium) www.lcc.edu/showinfo
517-483-1122 

LEB - Lebowsky Center for Performing Arts - 122 E. Main St., Owosso, MI - LebowskyCenter.com - 989-723-4003

MSU - Michigan State University Department of Theatre - show locations see website: www.theatre.msu.edu
517-432-2000

PCTC - Peppermint Creek Theatre Co. - Stage One, 2200 Lake Lansing Rd., Lansing, MI  48912 (September, The Minutes only at Sycamore Creek Church 1919 S. Pennsylvania) - www.peppermintcreek.org - 517-927-3016

RWT - Community Circle Players at Riverwalk Theatre, www.RiverwalkTheatre.com, 228 Museum Drive 517-482-5700

STL - Starlight Dinner Theatre - 517-243-6040  www.starlightdinnertheatre.com Wonderful Life only: Delta Presbyterian Church, 6100 W Michigan Ave 48917

WT - Williamston Theatre - 122 S. Putnam St. Williamston 48895 - 517-655-SHOW (7469) www.williamstontheatre.org 

WTN - Wharton Center for Performing Arts at MSU - 517-432-2000 or 1-800-Wharton or www.whartoncenter.com


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Starlight Theatre update: New Shows; Directors Needed

Starlight is disappointed to have been denied access to Waverly East for the rest of the school year and the fall is not guaranteed and so are canceling their last two shows: "Over the River and Through the Woods" and "Willow Run”. 

Linda Granger has talked to Delta Presbyterian Church on W. Michigan Avenue (where they performed "It's a Wonderful Life") to work out performing two small scale musicals at their church: "The Fantasticks" and "Beehive". Linda will be looking for directors for these shows and if interested, please email her at [email protected]. 
She does not know the dates of the shows yet because dates will need to be coordinated with the new directors and the church. She is open to running a show in early June, if need be.
If you have already purchased your tickets for "Over the River" or "Willow Run" and would like a refund, please contact our reservations coordinator:  Sherin Grossi at (517) 599-2779 or email at [email protected] and she will take care of it for you. 

Peppermint Creek Theatre produces Michigan premiere of play addressing rape culture and self-defense:  “How To Defend Yourself”

Acclaimed playwright Liliana Padilla is set to captivate audiences with their latest work, How To Defend Yourself. This thought-provoking and timely play promises to delve into the complexities of self-defense, empowerment, and navigating the challenges of the modern world, in Peppermint Creek Theatre (PCT) Company’s fourth production of their 20th season. How To Defend Yourself opens February 1.  

I wish girls fought more. Like beat the shit out of each other for fun. I wish that was like a socially acceptable thing to do. Fight club, you know? If it was me and you, I think I’d win.
- from How To Defend Yourself

In a DIY self-defense class, college students learn to use their bodies as weapons. They learn to fend off attackers. They learn “not to be a victim.” Self-defense becomes a channel for their rage, anxiety, confusion, trauma and desire—lots of desire. With sharp humor and brutal honesty, Liliana Padilla’s How to Defend Yourself explores what we want, how to ask for it, and the violator and violated inside us all. 

“I truly believe the only way to start disrupting rape culture is by addressing it head on and as openly as this play,” said Sally Hecksel, award-winning Lansing actor and first-time PCTC director. “This play offers audiences a lens to better examine the complexities of rape culture and the attitudes that foster it.”

Among these complexities include learning to be comfortable talking about such a sensitive topic.

“I think, for a lot of folks, there are hidden parts of themselves that feel confused or maybe contradictory when addressing this topic, or they believe that to explore it aloud would paint themselves in a bad light,” said Hecksel. “It’s a subject people prefer to look at as black and white because that's a more comfortable way to handle and explore an uncomfortable topic, when it’s a gradient of grays. We believe this is an important aspect of our culture worth exploring and talking about, and hope our audiences will too.” 

The cast of How To Defend Yourself features a talented ensemble of seven local Lansing actors.

The production will take place at Stage One Performing Arts Center, 2200 Lake Lansing Road, Lansing MI 48912.  The show will run Thursday, February 1 – Sunday, February 4, and Thursday, February 8 – Sunday, February 11, 2024.  Show times are Thursday – Saturday at 7pm, and Sunday at 2pm.  Tickets can be ordered online at http://www.peppermintcreek.org, and are $15 general admission, and $10 for students/seniors 65+/veterans. 

This production of How To Defend Yourself is generously underwritten by Joan and Jerry Mattson. 

CONTENT ADVISORY: How to Defend Yourself takes place after a sexual assault. It discusses, but does not depict sexual violence and contains other mature themes.

About Liliana Padilla
Liliana Padilla makes plays about sex, intersectional communities, and what it means to heal in a violent world. Their play, How to Defend Yourself won the 2019 Yale Drama Prize and is a 2018-19 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize Finalist. It was produced in the 2019 Humana Festival and will be at Victory Gardens in 2020. Liliana's work has been developed with OSF, Ojai Playwrights Conference, Victory Gardens, INTAR, Hedgebrook, Seattle Rep, the Playwrights' Center and San Diego REP. MFA, UC San Diego, BFA, NYU Tisch. Liliana is currently commissioned to make new plays with NNPN, Colt Coeur, and South Coast Rep. They are also a director, actor and community builder who looks at theatre as a laboratory for how we might be together. www.lilypadilla.com

How To Defend Yourself Peppermint Creek Theatre Company CAST LIST

Mojdeh – Brittany Renee Bell
Diana – Carmen Zavala-Kelly
Brandi – Storm Kopitsch
Kara – Elena Billard
Nikki – Racheal Steffens
Andy – Adrian Wiseman-Rose
Eggo – TJ Kelly Jr.
 
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Preview Performances of MAYTAG VIRGIN at Williamston Theatre

The first four performances of any production are previews. That means that we are technically still in rehearsals. Performances are fully fledged, but the tickets are less expensive and each is followed by a talk-back with the director.  

Maytag Virgin is 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. A timely romantic comedy about moving forward with courage and a ready heart.

Maytag Virgin

By Audrey Cefaly
Directed by Tony Caselli
February 1 - March 10, 2024
Preview performances:
Thurs 2/1 at 8pm: Pay-What-You-Wish
Fri 2/2 at 8pm: $22
Sat 2/3 at 8pm: $22
Sun 2/4 at 2pm: $22
https://tickets.williamstontheatre.org/TheatreManager/1/online?event=0

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January 2024

1/16 - 21 - 7:30pm Tue/Wed/Thu; 8pm Fri; 2pm & 8pm Sat; 1pm & 6:30pm Sun - Mamma Mia! - Cobb Great Hall - WTN


1/19, 20, 21, 26 & 27 - 8pm; 3:30 pm Sun. 1/21 only - Chicago - First Christian Church 1001 Chester Rd., Lansing, MI 48912 - EVO


February 2024


2/1 - 3/10 - Thu-Fri-Sat 8pm; Wed-Sat-Sun 2pm - Maytag Virgin, Director Tony Caselli; Sat. matinees begin 2/10; Wednesday matinees: 2/28 & 3/6 - WT


2/1 – 4 & 8 – 11 - 7pm;  2pm Sundays -  How To Defend Yourself by Liliana Padilla, Director Sally Hecksel - PCTC


2/2-4 & 9-11 - 7pm Fri; 3pm Sat & Sun, Hannah Center - The Addams Family - AECT


2/6 - 11 - 7:30pm Tue/Wed/Thu; 8pm Fri; 2pm & 8pm Sat; 1pm & 6:30pm Sun - Funny Girl - Cobb Great Hall - WTN


2/9-15 - 8pm Fri; 2 & 8pm Sat; 2pm Sun, 7:30pm Wed-Thu - NO 2pm show Sat. 2/10. MFA Play Commission: Stevie and the Real World Written by Iraisa Ann Reilly, Director Ji Won Jeon - MSU Auditorium Fairchild main stage - MSU


2/15-18 & 22-25 - 7pm Thu/8pm Fri-Sat/2pm Sun - The Exonerated by Jessica Blank & Erik Jensen, Director Alan Greenberg - Black Box stage - RWT

2/16-17 - 7:00 p.m. LCC Jazz Band and Happendance concert  - Dart Auditorium - LCC 

2/17 - 7pm -  Acts of Love, radio show one-acts - Hannah Community Center - AAF


2/10 & 11  at 4 pm -  Auditions for James and the Giant Peach - James and Landlord only - music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul and book by Timothy Allen McDonald based on Roald Dahl’s 1961 children’s book Director Linda Widener - RWT


2/18 & 19  at 7 pm -  Auditions for James and the Giant Peach - remaining roles - music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul and book by Timothy Allen McDonald based on Roald Dahl’s 1961 children’s book Director Linda Widener - RWT

2/22-23 - Auditions for Wind in the Willows at Hannah Center. Ages 9-18 sign up for a time slot at https://www.cityofeastlansing.com/816/Auditions - AECT


2/23 - 3/2 - 7:30pm Fri & Sat; 2pm Sat & Sun - Anastasia, musical - LEB


2/23-25, 3/1-2 - 8pm/2pm Sun. 2/25 - The Thanksgiving Play by Larissa FastHorse, Director Blake Bowen - Black Box Theatre - LCC

2/24 - 1:30 & 4pm - The Boy Who Cried Wolf - Act One Family, ages 4-10 - Pasant Stage - WTN


2/25 & 26 at 7 pm - Auditions for Moonglow, Director Emily Clark - RWT


2/26 & 27 at 7 pm -  Auditions for Alabama Story - by Kenneth Jones, Director Heath Sartorius - PCTC (auditions held at Sycamore Creek Church, 1919 S Pennsylvania Ave, Lansing) - PCTC



AECT - All-of-us Express Children’s Theatre - www.cityofeastlansing.com/allofus - 517-319-6957 - [email protected] - E.L. Hannah Community Center, 819 Abbot Road East Lansing, MI 48823 

AAF - Audio Air Force - “radio shows” at E.L. Hannah Center - www.audioairforce.com - Dave Downing - 517-881-9746 

EVO - Evolve Theatrics - First Christian Church 1001 Chester Rd., Lansing, MI 48912 - evolvetheatrics.com, [email protected], 517-490-4567 

LCC - Lansing Community College Arts - Shows at LCC Black Box Stage 1422 Gannon Bldg (April 2024 show at renovated Dart Auditorium) www.lcc.edu/showinfo
517-483-1122 

LEB - Lebowsky Center for Performing Arts - 122 E. Main St., Owosso, MI - LebowskyCenter.com - 989-723-4003

MSU - Michigan State University Department of Theatre - show locations see website: www.theatre.msu.edu 517-432-2000

PCTC - Peppermint Creek Theatre Co. - Stage One, 2200 Lake Lansing Rd., Lansing, MI  48912  - www.peppermintcreek.org - 517-927-3016

RWT - Community Circle Players at Riverwalk Theatre,  www.RiverwalkTheatre.com, 228 Museum Drive 517-482-5700

WT - Williamston Theatre - 122 S. Putnam St. Williamston 48895 - 517-655-SHOW (7469) www.williamstontheatre.org 

WTN - Wharton Center for Performing Arts at MSU - 517-432-2000 or 1-800-Wharton or www.whartoncenter.com

Evolve Theatrics is looking for USHERS to work at their upcoming production of Chicago, The Musical. 


Performances take place at First Christian Church, 1001 Chester Rd, Lansing, MI 48912 at 8pm on January 19, 20, 26, 27 and at 3:30pm on January 21. Ushering is great way to see the show for free! We would need you to arrive 45 minutes before the start of the show and your duties would consist of passing out programs and possibly helping people select their general seating. If you are interested in ushering at one of the performances, please send an email to: mailto:[email protected]

Evolve Theatrics' production of Chicago, The Musical opens in 2 weeks and TICKETS are selling quickly!

As Broadway’s longest-running American musical, Chicago is a dazzling and satirical look at fame, justice, and the media machine. Based on real-life 1920's murders and trials, Chicago follows Roxie Hart (Ember Stokes), a wannabe vaudeville performer who murders her lover and is arrested, despite her attempts to convince her pushover husband, Amos (Marty Snitgen), to cover for her. 

In the Cook County Jail, Roxie meets her hero, the famed double-murderess and nightclub performer Velma Kelly (Meghan Malusek). With the help of Matron Mama Morton (Joyce Kramer-Cox) both hire the same lawyer, the greedy and lustful superstar, Billy Flynn (Ian Whipp). Tensions come to a head as they vie for the spotlight and proclaim their innocence. 

They are joined behind bars with other inmates who also committed murders that weren't a crime (Michelle Harvey-Hill, Kallie Marrison, Makayla Marrison, Nicole Martin, Lucille Sears, Leah Thelen, and Abbie Tykocki). With the captivating, sexy music and timeless lyrics of John Kander and Fred Ebb, and a funny, intelligent, and utterly engaging book by Kander and Bob Fosse, Chicago is a musical spectacular that is as addictive as daily gossip rags.

Performances will take place on January 19, 20, 21, 26 and 27 at First Christian Church, 1001 Chester Rd, Lansing, MI 48912. 

Seating is limited and advanced ticket purchase is strongly recommended. Ticketing information is available at: https://www.evolvetheatrics.com/tickets.html
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