Cassandra Sandros

The hottest ticket in West Michigan right now is indisputably Mary Poppins. Selling out even their final dress rehearsal, Grand Rapids Civic Theatre has brought together a technical powerhouse that will thrill the most seasoned audiences.

The Grand Rapids Grand Awards are West Michigan's theatre awards ceremonies, which celebrate local theatre and present special recognition to the outstanding artists in Grand Rapids' community and college theatres.

The Grand Rapids Grand Awards are West Michigan's theatre awards ceremonies, which celebrate local theatre and present special recognition to the outstanding artists in Grand Rapids' community and college theatres. The awards raise money and awareness for the Combined Theatre Scholarship Fund.

The Boatwright tells the story of Ben Calloway, a retired state trooper, struggling to come to terms with the changes brought to his life by his wife's death and his resulting emptiness, and of Jaime Watson, the next-door-neighbor's son, who is coping with mental illness and a loneliness of his own.

After being fired from a skiffle band, Francis Henshall struggles to make ends meet by taking on the employ of two different bosses, neither of whom is aware of the other. Ruled by his baser natures, his struggles to fulfill his need for food, for sexy bookkeeper Dolly, and just to save his own skin, rule this hilarious and chaotic comedy.

Based upon the legendary Roman general, Caius Martius Coriolanus, William Shakespeare's play, Coriolanus, tells the story of a man whose excessive hubris leads to banishment from his country, and a bloody downfall.

Dennis Henry is a visiting director, working with the Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company. Their production of Shakespeare's tragedy Coriolanus opens on June 19 at the Dog Story Theater in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

In Don't Dress for Dinner, Circle Theatre of Grand Rapids has created an entertaining, well-crafted bedroom farce featuring brilliant physical comedy and a whirlwind of action that keeps the audience on the edge of their seat from start to finish.

based upon the 1976 documentary of the same name, by Albert and David Maysles, the offbeat and somewhat perplexing musical Grey Gardens acts as a pseudo-documentary of the rise and fall of the reclusive mother/daughter duo of 'Big' Edith Bouvier Beale and 'Little' Edith Bouvier Beale. Aunt and cousin, respectively, of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, the story follows their lives from high society to abject poverty, living in a decomposing mansion overrun with flea-infested cats.

9 to 5 is the musical comedy based upon the 1980 film of the same name, with music and lyrics penned by Dolly Parton. It is Dolly herself who opens the show via video, taking the audience back to 1979 and all its glass-ceilinged, technologically-impaired glory, setting the scene for the opening number, the rollicking title song, "9 to 5".

With so much to choose from in Michigan theatre this summer, BWW's Cassandra Sandros lists her top picks

Although outside it still feels like winter in West Michigan, inside the Dog Story Theatre, it is midsummer! The Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company has created a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream that is sparkling with vitality and physical energy.

Circle Theatre has opened its 2014 season with a bold and beautiful production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's classic rock opera, Jesus Christ Superstar, to remarkable success.

The story is about a prince and princess from two different kingdoms who were wed at infancy. While the prince anxiously anticipates meeting his now 21 year old bride, she has started a women's university, preaching the virtues of woman over man, and that 'man is nature's sole mistake'. When Princess Ida does not show up as agreed upon, Prince Hilarion and a couple of friends infiltrate the university as new students, and hilarity ensues. The two kings threaten war to solve the problem, the prince offers love. Ida must decide whether she can continue her noble experiment.

A Gilbert and Sullivan classic, first produced at the Savoy Theatre in 1884, Princess Ida is a humorous medieval-themed romp that addresses the topsy-turvy philosophies of gender roles, relationships, women's liberation, and of course, love.

By re-creating performance and rehearsal conditions experienced by actors in the 17th century, creates a exceptional theatrical environment where the sets are sparse, the costumes minimal, and performances electric. Energy and spontaneity reign supreme as tempers and tension build until the inevitable violent conclusion, where love and revenge stab one in the heart.

'Jackson' is the bloody bloody brilliant musical rendition of one of America's most historically controversial figures.