Two Muses Theatre of West Bloomfield Presents LOVE LETTERS 2/7-14

The new non-profit professional theatre "Two Muses" continues to celebrate romance in February with "Love Letters," a play by A.R. Gurney, nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Three separate casts from different generations will read and write their letters in three separate shows.

Three days only: February 7th, 12th and 14th.

And the actors are actually couples in real life.

About the show: "'Love Letters' is a tale of timeless love between two childhood friends who stay connected for more than fifty years by pouring their passion onto paper and relying on the Post Office to deliver it. Melissa Gardner and Andrew Makepeace Ladd, III begin trading letters in grammar school and continue doing so through their golden years. The timing just never seems right for them, so they remain stuck in the "friend zone." But they never lose touch."

"I think the beauty of it lies in the love that moves through the arch of a lifetime no matter what paths are taken," says the show's director Yolanda Fleischer. "I also think that everyone, even though happily married or coupled, has a memory of the 'first love' and of all of the trials, tribulations and laughter that define who we are today."

The characters do not directly relate, but each reacts while the other reads, with the actors displaying some astonishing talent. Though distance and different lifestyles keep Andrew and Melissa apart, the letters remain their "relationship lifeline," as they share their heartache and hope.

Those high profile actors were undoubtedly attracted to the play's universal truths that Fleischer is certain will captivate audiences. "Love endures, love changes, but love remains," she says. "Hearts break and are mended; a shared story connects. Ultimately, those memories of the ones we love comfort us."

"Love Letters" Performance Location:

Two Muses Theatre performs in the Barnes and Noble Booksellers Theatre Space, 6800 Orchard Lake Rd, West Bloomfield, MI 48322 (south of 15 mile in West Bloomfield. Enter the bookstore and the theatre is on the left.)

Tickets

Advance Tickets are $13/Adults; $10/Students and Senior citizens 62 years and older; Tickets are $2 more when purchased at the door.

General admission seating: House opens 30 minutes prior to performance.

Purchase tickets: ONLINE: at www.twomusestheatre.org; BY PHONE: call 248.850-9919

Dinner Deals

Dinner Packages at the No.VI Chophouse in Novi are available on February 7th and 12th for Two Muses Theatre ticketholders. For more information, see www.twomusestheatre.org or call 248.850-9919.

Cast and Staff

Third Generation Cast: Robyn Lipnicki Mewha and Rusty Mewha (both from Plymouth) will perform TUESDAY, February 7th at 8 PM

Rusty Mewha is so glad to be onstage with the love of his life, Robyn, whom he met in 1998 in Suburbia at Planet Ant Theatre. The last time they worked together onstage was in 1999. Some of Rusty's favorite roles: Caleb (The Whipping Man, JET/Plowshares), Curly (Oklahoma, Encore Musical Theatre), Jack (Kong's Night Out, Meadow Brook Theatre), Richard (The 39 Steps, Meadow Brook), and Proteus (The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Waterworks). Rusty is a proud member Actors' Equity Association and Screen Actors Guild.

Robyn Lipnicki MEWHA has been working as an actor in the Detroit area almost twice as long as she's been married to Rusty. Both roles have blessed her greatly. As a mother of four, Robyn Has had the opportunity to perform intermittently over the past ten years at Meadow Brook Theatre (Enchanted April, Shout: The Mod Musical), the Detroit Repertory Theatre (Wrongful Life), the Jewish Ensemble Theatre (I Was Just Kidding, Bug Club). Robyn is a member of the Screen Actors Guild.

Second Generation Cast: Karen Sheridan and Sam Pollak (both from Oak Park) will perform Sunday, February 12th at 6:30pm

KAREN SHERIDAN has performed roles at Meadow Brook Theatre, Jewish Ensemble Theatre, Attic Theatre, and narrated for the Warren Symphony, Pontiac Oakland Symphony and Oakland Chamber Musicians. A professor of theatre at Oakland University, Karen has acted and directed with the Classical Theatre Program during summers in Greece, and for many seasons at Peninsula Players in Wisconsin. She met Sam Pollak when she played his wife in Brighton Beach Memoirs. Enjoying his onstage partnership so much, she decided to keep him.

SAM POLLAK has been part of many reader's theater projects with Lonnie Fleischer, including Love Letters at U of D's The Theatre Company. He has performed at Jewish Ensemble Theatre, Detroit Repertory Theatre, Attic Theatre, with the Warren Symphony and with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra on tour at Carnegie Hall. In real life, he's the Managing Director of Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit and is husband-designate to the lovely Karen Sheridan.
First Generation Cast: Mary Bremer Beer and Arthur J. Beer (Warren) will perform Valentine's Day, February 14th at 8 PM

MARY BREMER BEER received her BFA and MA degrees from University of Detroit, and has acted, directed, and taught with the Theatre Company for more than 30 years. For 20 years, she was Associate Director of the UDM Classic Theatre Study Abroad program in Greece. Mary has directed award-winning plays for many professional theatres as well, and is the longtime artistic director of the Dearborn Youth Theatre. A member of Actors' Equity, and a winner of the National Irene Ryan award, Mary has won both Best Director and Best Actress awards from the Detroit News, Detroit Monthly Magazine, and the Free Press, which also awarded her their Distinguished Career Service Award. She is currently teaching at HFCC. Her most recent film credit is the pilot for the series "The Road to Hell." She was most recently seen onstage as Tiny in Anatomy of Gray at UDM. She is married to her co-star.

DR. ARTHUR J. BEER is a full professor, teacher, director, actor and playwright in residence with the UDMercy Theatre Company. He has directed more than 200 plays and acted in a few more, winning all of Detroit's major acting and directing awards for his work at Meadow Brook, the Attic Theatre, and the Jewish Ensemble Theatre, as well as UDM. A member of Actors' Equity, Screen Actors Guild and AFTRA, Dr. Beer was artistic director of the Classic Theatre in Greece study abroad program for more than 20 years. He is married to his lovely co-star.

YOLANDA FLEISCHER, Director (West Bloomfield) is a retired Associate Professor of Theatre and a co-founder of the Women's Studies Program at the University of Detroit Mercy, as well as an adjunct instructor at Wayne State University and Oakland Community College. Yolanda has been directing in the professional Detroit theatre community since l980, focusing much of her work on plays that deals with issues of women and social justice. Most recently at JET, she directed Imagining Madoff and Palmer Park, a production the Detroit Free Press named one of the ten best plays for 2010.

SHOW DATES & TIMES

February 7th, 8 PM

February 12th, 6:30pm

February 14th, 8 PM

ABOUT TWO MUSES

Two Muses: noun 1. Any goddess presiding over a particular art. In this case, there are two.

The Two Muses Theatre in West Bloomfield began simply with two women musing; two accomplished theatre mavens and friends on a journey to create their own professional company of actors performing powerful productions.

Diane Hill and Barbie Amann Weisserman, both of Farmington Hills, are now making their dream come true, providing opportunities for women in theatre while promoting female artists and artisans.

Why Two Muses? "We were brainstorming names for the company and one of our board members came up with "Two Muses," says Hill. "We liked the sound of it and when we looked up Muses in the dictionary we read: 'any goddess presiding over a particular art.' So the two of us thought: Goddesses? OK!"

Hill and Weisserman began working together on a production at Oakland Community College Orchard Ridge. They quickly discovered they shared similar aesthetic values, and could speak in shorthand when it came to making artistic decisions. At Two Muses Theatre, they balance each others' strengths, with Hill directing and acting, and Weisserman designing and acting. They collaboratively produce the shows.

The Theatre Space: Hill calls the Barnes & Noble stage a "hidden gem." It's located at 6800 Orchard Lake Road in West Bloomfield in an internal theatre that holds approximately 140 seats. It's located behind those black "emergency" doors next to the Starbucks Cafe. Hill says: "In the lobby of the theatre, we display the work of local artists, and theatre patrons can browse the bookstore before the show and during the intermission. It's a very pleasant theatre experience here."