Birmingham Village Players Receives A $21K Grant From the Michigan Arts and Culture Council 

Birmingham Village Players (BVP) has been awarded a grant of $21,000 from the State of Michigan Arts and Culture Council (MACC). The grant was awarded through the MACC peer review process and was one of 639 applications to compete for MACC fiscal year 2023 funding.

"On behalf of Birmingham Village Players, I would like to thank The Michigan Arts and Culture Council (MACC) for awarding Birmingham Village Players with grant monies that will be used towards the purchase of new sound equipment for our theater," said BVP Artistic Board President Jennifer Jones. "This comes just in time to help us celebrate our 100th year anniversary. The new state of the art sound system will be able to be utilized by all productions at BVP and enjoyed by audience members for years to come."

The MACC award will provide funding for upgrading existing, aging sound equipment including wireless router to access Assistive Listening Devices. By improving the sound system all audience members will have a better experience, but the greatest impact will be on the hard of hearing community. By providing Assistive Listening Devices, the hard of hearing community will have improved access to BVP's theatrical presentations.

The MACC peer review process allows for each grant application to be competitively considered by a panel of in-state and out-of-state arts and culture professionals. This ensures the taxpayers, who support this project through legislative appropriations, and all other visitors or residents in Michigan will have access to the highest quality arts and cultural experiences.

A complete list of grant awards around the state is available by contacting MCACA at (517) 241-4011, or by visiting the MACC website at www.michigan.gov/arts.

In other Village Player news, our next production of Harold & Maude, The Musical runs January 13-29, 2023. Friday and Saturday shows begin at 8pm. Sunday matinees start at 2pm. Harold & Maude, The Musical is an adaptation of the 1971 classic cult film by Colin Higgins with book and lyrics by Tom Jones, creator of The Fantastiks, and music by Joseph Thalken.

As a special treat for our 100th anniversary season, we are recreating The Maker of Dreams. This is the first production by the Village Players and it was originally staged 100 years ago. For one night only, February 18, 2023, we will celebrate Birmingham Village Players past and welcome the next 100 years of theatre.

Join Village Players today for their exciting 100th Season. Individual reserved seat tickets are $24 each plus $1 ticketing fee. Call the box office, 248-644-2075, or click on the ticket page on the website (www.birminghamvillageplayers.com) to order yours.