Maika Van Oosterhout

The Dio a?" Dining & Entertainment, Livingston County's professional, award winning dinner theatre, is excited to continue their 6th season with the Tony Award winning musical comedy, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, book and lyrics by Robert L. Freedman, music and lyrics by Steven Lutvak, directed at The Dio by Steve DeBruyne with music direction by Marlene Inman.

Now on stage at the Encore Theatre is the musical '9 to 5.' I'd love to invite you to enjoy seeing this show, but due to its overwhelming popularity, it's completely sold out. The only possible way to get tickets is if there are cancellations. This is a smash hit for Encore Theatre, and of course, everything they do is performed to perfection. You are best off buying a season ticket so you can always see their shows.

Theater professionals from across Michigan will gather Aug. 29 when The 2016 Wilde Awards are presented at The Berman Center for the Performing Arts in the Detroit suburb of West Bloomfield. Presented by EncoreMichigan.com, the most comprehensive resource for news and information about the state's professional theater industry, The Wilde Awards were established in 2002 to honor the excellent work produced by Michigan's professional theaters.

A local collaboration between Ann Arbor's Penny Seats Theatre Company and the University of Michigan's Environmental Biotechnology Group will feature the musical Urinetown: The Musical! and water conservation research in a creative way during the next three weekends starting July 30.

Urinetown: The Musical! The Tony-award-winning hit from 2001, will be performed by The Penny Seats Theatre Company July 30, 31, Aug 1, 6, 7, 8, 13, 14, and 15 (all shows at 7 pm). Set in an admittedly absurd dystopian future where one must pay to pee, the show lampoons corporate bureaucracy, pie-in-the-sky optimism, revolution without a plan, and the musical theatre genre itself. With a full pit orchestra (led by Richard Alder) on the band shell stage, the action takes place around the audience in the park. Featured performers include Brendan August Kelly (Ypsilanti), Roy Sexton (Saline), David Francis Kiley (Ann Arbor), John DeMerell (Walled Lake), Sarah Ann Leahy (Ann Arbor), Paige Martin (Ann Arbor), Cathy McDonald (Plymouth), Christina McKim (Albion), Jenna Kellie Pittman (Waterford/West Bloomfield), Linda Rabin Hammell (Detroit), Jeff Stringer (Jackson), Maika Van Oosterhout (Ann Arbor), and Daniel Bachelis (Howell). Production photos taken by Scarlett London.

'Urinetown: The Musical!,' the Tony-award-winning hit from 2001, will be performed by Ann Arbor's Penny Seats Theatre Company July 30, 31, Aug 1, 6, 7, 8, 13, 14, and 15. Set in an admittedly absurd dystopian future where one must pay to pee, the show lampoons corporate bureaucracy, pie-in-the-sky optimism, revolution without a plan, and the musical theatre genre itself. With a full pit orchestra (led by Richard Alder) on the band shell stage, the action takes place around the audience in the park. Featured performers include Brendan Kelly (Ypsilanti), Roy Sexton (Saline), David Kiley (Ann Arbor), John DeMerell (Walled Lake), Sarah Leahy (Ann Arbor), Paige Martin (Ann Arbor), Cathy McDonald (Plymouth), Christina McKim (Albion), Jenna Pittman (Royal Oak), Linda Rabin Hammell (Detroit), Jeff Stringer (Jackson), Maika Van Oosterhout (Ann Arbor), and Daniel Bachelis (Howell).

Ann Arbor's Penny Seats Theatre Company significantly expands summer offerings Ann Arbor's Penny Seats Theatre Company is set to open its fifth--and biggest--summer season at West Park, performing outdoor professional theatre for just $10 (or less) per ticket, on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays (and one Sunday) throughout July and August. This year, the group takes up residence at the park for six weeks, performing two blockbuster comedies: The Complete Works of William Shakespeare [Abridged], by Adam Long, Daniel Singer, and Jess Winfield, and Urinetown: The Musical! by Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis.