Emilio Rodriguez News

This September, Planet Ant launches a new season in its original Black Box Theater with a redesign of both the physical space itself and overall production model, in which the Theatrical Season and Sketch Comedy Series operate under the Direction of Kaitlyn Bourque (Artistic Director) and Shawn Handlon (Creative Director of Sketch Program). Reflecting Planet Ant's mission to establish a self-sustaining creative arts hub that comprehensively represents the current community, a new artistic director will be appointed at the end of every season to reimagine the Black Box theatrical landscape.

Cara Mia Theatre's 24th anniversary season will be the most diverse and inclusive season in the company's history, according to Executive Artistic Director David Lozano.

Black and Brown Theatre is elated to host its first public performance of the Our Voices Project, a unique program in which students write their own short plays and direct adult professional actors in performances of the work.   The Our Voices program launched in 2018 at Mumford High School and has since expanded to GEE White Academy. This past spring, the program reached outside of schools and was brought to the Toledo Correctional Facility. This fall the program the will have a public workshop at Literati in Ann Arbor. Black and Brown Theatre will head to Toronto, Canada this month to present on the project at the Children, Youth and Performance Conference.

UnTheatre Co finishes up its second season, presenting Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind at Matrix Theatre Company in Detroit.  Performances run on Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 6pm at 2730 Bagley St, Detroit 48216.

This summer, Meadow Brook Theatre will host an assortment of theatrical works penned by some of the area's most promising playwrights when the Detroit Playwrights' Lab takes the stage for one- and two-act readings.

The MITTEN Lab (A Michigan Incubator for Theatre Talent Emerging Now), led by co-founders Katherine M. Carter and Rachel Sussman, is now accepting submissions for the 2019 MITTEN Lab residency, taking place from September 8 - 15, 2019 in Bear Lake, MI and culminating in a presentation featuring Interlochen Arts Academy students and Parallel 45 Theatre company members.

The residents of Flint and Ann Arbor, Michigan were treated to a very special event because of the University Musical Society (UMS): Yo-Yo Ma visited as part the performer's two-year journey to perform Six Suites for Solo Cello as a catalyst for social action and it marks the first time Ma extended the model beyond the Bach Project to a broader audience. Ma's visit was two-days filled of activities including a talk by him in the University of Michigan's Hill Auditorium on 'Culture, Understanding, and Survival,' as well as a Day of Action in Flint, Michigan with the theme, 'Flint Voices: Culture, Community, and Resilience.' At the Day of Action, Ma worked with community partners to transform lives and forge both a more connected world and a healthy and vibrant local community with the goal of the session to find new opportunities for collaborations across Flint's cultural communities and organizations. The strategy session was followed up by a community cultural show that was a celebration of Flint's vitality, diversity, and artistry. BroadwayWorld Detroit had a chance to speak with two of people heavily involved in brining Yo-Yo Ma and his Day of Action event to Michigan - Jim Leija (director of education & community engagement for UMS) and Natasha Thomas-Jackson (Flint-based arts advocate). Read our interview with them to see why this was an important event:

Mamacita is a new play that explores the challenges and triumphs of maintaining an intercultural relationship in America. When the charismatic, 'Barrio Boy' Ricky and shy, romantic poet, Bianca fall in love, they embark on a journey of obstacles and successes that serve as a metaphor for the too often unexplored race relations of Black and Latino communities - and when a baby is added into the mix, the two must take a closer look at their relationships and themselves. 

Theatre NOVA, Ann Arbor's professional theatre with an exclusive focus on new plays and playwrights, presents their semi-annual Michigan Playwrights Festival, now in its fourth year. Five new plays by Michigan playwrights will be given readings March 6-10, 2019.

What would you do with $50,000? Black and Brown Theatre is elated to present their next production: The Ticket. The story of a young man who believes he has won the Pick 4 and can help his long-time girlfriend's family finally have a happy holiday season. But when he discovers the ticket has the wrong date, he is forced to concoct a plan to save the spirit of the season by pretending he is indeed a lottery winner. How will everyone react when the truth is revealed? Join Black and Brown Theatre for a new stage play that asks, "What are the family traditions we value and how do we honor those we've lost during the season?"

Stages Repertory Theatre presents the regional premiere of Emilio Rodriguez's powerful new play Swimming While Drowning, October 3-21, 2018. A poetic coming-of-age story centered in a homeless LGBTQ shelter, the play originally premiered in 2017 at Milagro Theatre in Portland, OR, to rave reviews and was a finalist for Best Original Script at the 2017 Drammy Awards.

The MITTEN Lab (A Michigan Incubator for Theatre Talent Emerging Now), led by co-founders Katherine M. Carter and Rachel Sussman, is proud to announce this year's artists for its third annual residency program in Northern Michigan, taking place September 9th through 16th.

Theatre NOVA, Ann Arbor's professional theatre with an exclusive focus on new plays and playwrights, presents their semi-annual Michigan Playwrights Festival, now in its third year. Five new plays by Michigan playwrights will be given readings July 25-29, 2018.

UnTheatre Co makes Hamtramck its home for the last run of their first season, presenting Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind at Planet Ant, June 8th-23rd. Performances will run todays and Saturdays at 8pm and will take place at Planet Ant Black Box, located at 2357 Caniff St. in Hamtramck. There will be one late-night performance of crowd favorite the Durrty 30 on Saturday, June 16th at 11pm. Tickets can be purchased at the door for $15 plus the resulting number of the roll of a 6-sided die, or online for $21 with the resulting number of the roll of a 6-sided die being returned to you at the door. For further information or to purchase tickets in advance, visit www.untheatreco.org or call 313-444-0652.

UnTheatre Co makes Hamtramck its home for the last run of their first season, presenting Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind at Planet Ant, June 8th-23rd. Performances will run on Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm and will take place at Planet Ant Black Box, located at 2357 Caniff St. in Hamtramck. There will be one late-night performance of crowd favorite the Durrty 30 on Saturday, June 16th at 11pm. Tickets can be purchased at the door for $15 plus the resulting number of the roll of a 6-sided die, or online for $21 with the resulting number of the roll of a 6-sided die being returned to you at the door. For further information or to purchase tickets in advance, visit www.untheatreco.org or call 313-444-0652.

Black and Brown Theatre, a local professional theatre for artists of color, is excited to celebrate their second season theme: Classics in Color. On Saturday April 28th, 2018, Black and Brown Theatre will present the world premiere of their adaptation of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. The live stage play features local Metro-Detroit actors Tiffany Baxi, Jonathan Curry, Amy Choudhury-Martin, Maurizio Dominguez, Hugh Duneghy, Zariah Hunter, Carmel Inez, Marie Muhammed, Justino Solis, Ryan Stephens, and Dinah Tutien.

The MITTEN Lab (A Michigan Incubator for Theatre Talent Emerging Now), led by co-founders Katherine M. Carter and Rachel Sussman, is now accepting submissions for the 2018 MITTEN Lab residency, taking place from September 9 - 16, 2018 in Bear Lake, MI and culminating in a presentation featuring Interlochen Arts Academy students and Parallel 45 Theatre company members.

Stages Repertory Theatre's 2018-2019 Season, the final full season to be performed at the theatre's current Allen Parkway facility, offers a dynamic mix of new work, fan favorites and stories reflecting Houston's diverse communities. With Stages' signature breadth of programming, the season runs the gamut from beloved musicals to daring new dramas, youth and family programs to adults-only hilarity, with a focus on nurturing emerging artists and welcoming a wide range of audiences.

Members of the Matrix Theatre Teen Company will perform with Black and Brown Theatre in Wonderland: La Ni a Perdida, a bilingual adaptation of the story of Alice in Wonderland running Thursday, October 26 through Sunday, October 29. Friday performance is8 pm; Saturday performances are 5 and 8 pm; and Sunday performance is at 5 pm. Doors open 30 minutes before each show, and there is no late seating.

The Latinx Theatre Commons (LTC), an active initiative of HowlRound Theatre Commons, based at Emerson College, celebrates the completion of a successful first year of the El Fuego initiative during the 2016-17 season and has announced its continuation for two more seasons through 2018-2019.