Richard Payton News

Slipstream Theatre Initiative has done it yet again. Since their run of On The Exhale finished last month, you can now see their next production until June 30th, a play entitled Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde.

The iconic playwright that brought us gems like The Importance of Being Earnest and The Picture of Dorian Gray has a tragic story of his own. This summer, Slipstream Theatre Initiative proudly delves into Oscar Wilde's history with Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde by Moises Kaufman, sponsored by Muhammad Choudhry.

The Ringwald Theatre is always throwing surprising twists at their audiences and this holiday season is no different. Taking a break from their usual SantaLand Diaries, they are ready to bring on the laughs with Merry Christmas to Everyone! (Except Christina), a brand-new play - think of it as a Mommie Dearest Christmas - the perfect Christmas spoof we never knew we needed until now! It weaves together Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, A Christmas Carol, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Mommie Dearest, and your other gay and/or Christmas favorites. It's a big gay Christmas gift from your favorite Ferndale theatre that is directed by Dyan Bailey and stars Joe Bailey as Joan Crawford, Richard Payton as The Ghosts, Brandy Joe Plambeck as Christina Crawford, and Kevin Kaminski as Christopher Crawford. BroadwayWorld Detroit had a chance to speak with founders and married couple of The Ringwald Theatre, Joe Bailey and Brandy Joe Plambeck, to discuss the theatre, the show, and campy twists that everyone always expects from The Ringwald - the best part about the interview, BWW Detroit spoke with them each separately, so it was really fun to see where they think alike and differ!

Slipstream Theatre Initiative has become known for its gutsy adaptations of classics like Hamlet, A Doll's House, and Hedda Gabler. As season five approaches, the company is excited to explore new avenues. Starting in January, Slipstream will present cabaret nights, Mondays at 8:00 PM. Performers can come with sheet music, ready to sing, or they can just come hang out.

A wet, wild and wacky comedy is just the thing for these cold, dreary months. Wonder of the World, on stage at Open Book Theatre Company from January 11 to Feb 9, will take audiences on an adventure as they follow Cass to one of the seven wonders of the world: Niagara Falls.

Taking a break from the usual SantaLand Diaries performances, this year The Ringwald will stuff your stockings with Merry Christmas to Everyone! (Except Christina), a sort-of Mommie Dearest Christmas!

Slipstream Theatre Initiative has become known for its gutsy adaptations of classics like Hamlet, A Doll's House, and Hedda Gabler. As season five approaches, the company is excited to explore new avenues. Starting in January, Slipstream will present cabaret nights, Mondays at 8:00 PM. Performers can come with sheet music, ready to sing, or they can just come hang out.

To make a long story short (too late!), Clue-the classic board-game-turned-movie-now turns into a crowd-pleasing on-stage farce at The Ringwald Theatre, from October 5th through November 5th.

Slipstream Theatre Initiative introduces a company first: a partnership with Theatre Nova as a Guest Artist, presenting the award-winning remount of A Night of Stars with Tennessee Williams. Join us for a tour of famous and infamous stars, led by a man admired by more stars than any other: the one and only Tennessee Williams! Appearances on the tour include Elizabeth Taylor, Marlon Brando, Bette Davis, Truman Capote, Katharine Hepburn, and many more along the way. As in all good tours, the history becomes almost more realistic than the present as the ghosts from the past materialize as flesh and blood. Written by Wilde Award-winner Maxim Vinogradov, this script recently won the Hopwood Award in Drama as well as the Dennis McIntyre Prize. It also garnered five Wilde Award Nominations, including Best Original Play, Best Play, and Best Script.

Slipstream continues its exploration into the human experience with the Michigan premiere of St. Sebastian by award-winning playwright Andrew Kramer. Set in current day Detroit, a gay white couple moves into a historically African-American neighborhood. It's full of history and culture, and the couple thinks it's the perfect place to flip a house and make some money. Ben is a former priest, and his partner, Gideon, is a political justice junkie. Gideon fears that he and Ben are becoming 'those people' - the ones who gentrify and destroy historic neighborhoods to make a buck. As Gideon slips deeper and deeper down the path of fearing becoming what he hates the most, Ben strikes up a friendship with a neighbor boy, who happens to be black. Fear and ignorance drive the show to an inevitable tragedy.

Phone rings, door chimes, in comes Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's musical Company, which closes out The Ringwald Theatre's 11th season exactly on the theatre's 11th birthday-May 11. Winner of 6 Tony Awards in 1971, Company also happens to celebrate a birthday. Bobby is 35 and single. His friends are married and nosy. Bobby isn't getting any younger. And his friends won't let him forget it. Many of Sondheim's most celebrated songs (The Ladies Who Lunch, Being Alive, Getting Married Today, Another Hundred People) come from this impressionistic concept musical.

Phone rings, door chimes, in comes Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's musical Company, which closes out The Ringwald Theatre's 11th season exactly on the theatre's 11th birthday-May 11. Winner of 6 Tony Awards in 1971, Company also happens to celebrate a birthday. Bobby is 35 and single. His friends are married and nosy. Bobby isn't getting any younger. And his friends won't let him forget it. Many of Sondheim's most celebrated songs (The Ladies Who Lunch, Being Alive, Getting Married Today, Another Hundred People) come from this impressionistic concept musical.

Slipstream Theatre Initiative has some exciting news! As many people know, this has been a season of stepping outside of the company's comfort zone and embracing new challenges; they did their first devised piece (Tales from the Mitten) and will be doing their first musical (Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill). Because of some very fortunate events, the not-so-young company has been able to expand its ventures even further and they are thrilled to announce the new line-up for the rest of the season.

Imagine that your favorite prince and princess are real people, and they're not living under the sea or in an enchanted castle, but rather in your own town. They're meeting at the local bar, and they're struggling to find their happily ever after, just like you.  The bartender is slinging drinks, the songs you know and love aren't being sung by animated people with large eyes and animal sidekicks, and the happy ending is anything but a foregone conclusion.

David Sedaris' delightful anti-holiday double feature The SantaLand Diaries & Season's Greetings makes its annual return to the Ringwald stage for another round of twisted Christmas fun. This year our 11th annual production Richard Payton takes over both roles for a limited five- show run.

Looking for something to do around Detroit this holiday season? Don't worry, the city is filled with a show for everyone! BroadwayWorld Detroit has you covered with some of the amazing theatre and art events that this holiday season has to offer!

David Sedaris' delightful anti-holiday double feature The SantaLand Diaries & Season's Greetings makes its annual return to the Ringwald stage for another round of twisted Christmas fun. This year our 11th annual production Richard Payton takes over both roles for a limited five- show run.

It's astounding that this is the first time The Ringwald Theatre has tackled The Rocky Horror Show because they do it so masterfully, yet audiences expect nothing less from the Ferndale theatre known for pushing boundaries. Their take on Rocky Horror is quite the experience that transports the audience on a fun and wild ride.

Get ready to give yourself over to absolute pleasure, as The Rocky Horror Show finally gets the Ringwald treatment.

Theater professionals from across Michigan will gather Aug. 28 when The 2017 Wilde Awards are presented at The Berman Center for the Performing Arts in the Detroit suburb of West Bloomfield.