Meadow Brook Theatre Sets 2016-17 Season - ALTAR BOYZ, I LOVE A PIANO & More

Meadow Brook Theatre's 2016-2017 season kicks-off with a benefit concert then takes to the stage with Michigan Premieres including a Ken Ludwig comedy, a comedy with a heart, a poignant drama AND a 1960s musical! The season also features the music of Irving Berlin and a musical comedy sure to please with Boy-Band-esque song and dance numbers! "We're looking forward to another great season," said Cheryl Marshall, Managing Director. "We're so excited to kick things off with another great summer benefit and a wonderful line-up of shows!"

The benefit Marshall is referring to is Concert and Cuisine, which will take place July 16, 2016 and feature strolling dinner, cocktails, silent and live auctions and a one-night-only concert by Herman's Hermits starring Peter Noone. Tickets are on sale now!

The regular season gets underway in October and features a sure-to-please line-up of seven productions¾four of which are Michigan Premieres!

The season opens October 5 with Ken Ludwig's Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery, which will run through October 30. Get your deerstalker cap on-the play's afoot! Comedic genius Ken Ludwig transforms Arthur Conan Doyle's classic The Hound of the Baskervilles into a murderously funny adventure. Sherlock Holmes is on the case. The male heirs of the Baskerville line are being dispatched one by one. To find their ingenious killer, Holmes and Watson must brave the desolate moors before a family curse dooms its newest heir. Watch as our intrepid investigators try to escape a dizzying web of clues, silly accents, disguises, and deceit as five actors deftly portray more than 40 characters. This Holmesian comedy is a Michigan Premiere.

The regular season then breaks for the special 35th Anniversary holiday production of A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, adapted by Charles Nolte, running November 11 - December 23, 2016. Subscribers to the MBT season receive a 20% discount for tickets to A Christmas Carol.

January 4 - January 29, 2017 MBT brings audiences Mom's Gift by Phil Olson. In this Michigan Premiere comedy with a heart, Mom has been dead for 11 months and shows up at her husband's birthday party as a ghost with a mission. Like Clarence in "It's A Wonderful Life," she has to accomplish a task to earn her wings. Only what the task actually is, is a mystery. There are so many things to fix. The problem is complicated by the fact that the only person who can hear or see Mom is her daughter who has been ordered by the court to spend Dad's birthday with him as part of her Anger Management Program. One by one the family's secrets are peeled away revealing a shocking truth that surprises even our ghost.

The third production of the regular season is the rafter raising ALTAR BOYZ, with book by Kevin Del Aguila, Music and Lyrics by Gary Adler and Michael Patrick Walker and Conceived By Marc Kessler and Ken Davenport. A foot-stomping musical comedy about a fictitious Christian boy-band on the last night of their national "Raise the Praise" tour. The Boyz are five all-singing, all-dancing heartthrobs from Ohio: Matthew, Mark, Luke, Juan and Abraham. As they perform their signature hits such as "Rhythm In Me," "The Calling," and "I Believe," the Boyz question their loyalty to each other and ask whether or not faith is really holding them together. They finally deliver a message of unity, that "there is no star as bright as its constellation, no harmony in a single voice." This show goes up February 8 - March 5, 2017.

The Unavoidable Disappearance of Tom Durnin by Steven Levenson is the third Michigan Premiere of the season. Tom Durnin did the time for his white-collar crime. Now, he's determined to win back the respect he believes he deserves-even if that means ripping apart the new life his family has so carefully put together in his absence. Tom's son warily allows his father to camp out on his couch, hoping the man who let everyone down has finally turned a new page. After a lifetime of empty promises, can Tom find a place in a family that has worked so hard to move on without him? This show runs March 15 - April 9, 2017.

Irving Berlin's music hits the stage in I LOVE A PIANO music and Lyrics by Irving Berlin, conceived by Ray Roderick and Michael Berkeley. This celebration of the music of Irving Berlin, follows the journey of a piano as it moves in and out of American lives. Along the way, the story comes to life with over sixty of Irving Berlin's most beloved songs, including the classics "Blue Skies," "There's No Business Like Show Business," "Puttin' on the Ritz," "Cheek to Cheek," "Always,""God Bless America," and, of course, "I Love a Piano." Alternately heartbreaking and hilarious, rousing and reflective, and a fitting tribute to the man Jerome Kern famously said had "no place in American music - he is American music." On stage April 19 - May 14, 2017.

The season will conclude May 24 - June 18, 2017, with the 1960s musical and Michigan Premiere of

Why Do Fools Fall In Love? Millie's getting married! At her impromptu bachelorette party, Millie and her best friends dive into age-old questions about love, marriage, and the overwhelming dating game. As the celebration picks up steam and the drinks flow, the girls reveal scintillating secrets about their love lives as they poke fun and challenge each other to take control of their lives. Featuring smash pop-hits from the 1960s such as "My Boy Lollipop," "I Will Follow Him," "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me," and "Hey There Lonely Boy," this uplifting show reaffirms that during life's struggles, true friendship will unveil its everlasting strength-and often with a real rockin' beat!

Season tickets are currently available by calling the Meadow Brook Theatre box office at 248-377-3300. They range from $138 - $211 per seat for the six-play season. When you subscribe to the 2016-2017 season, you may also purchase tickets for the 35th Anniversary of A Christmas Carol at a 20% discount before they go on sale to the general public. Single tickets go on sale Monday, September 5, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. Tickets range from $27 - $42 for individual plays.

Meadow Brook Theatre is also proud to present their annual Children's Series. Details will be announced soon. These shows are often presented with two performances per day. So don't miss out on this wonderful chance to share live theatre with the ones you love. Subscribers to the MBT season receive a 20% discount for tickets to the Children's Series.

For additional information on Meadow Brook Theatre, please visit www.mbtheatre.com. Meadow Brook Theatre is a non-profit, cultural institution serving southeast Michigan for 50 years.