Julie Yolles - Page 2

Mark Twain once said, "There are five kinds of actresses: bad actresses, fair actresses, good actresses, great actresses-and then there is Sarah Bernhardt." So, it is very fitting, then, that Williamston Theatre Director Mary Job cast the masterful Karen Sheridan as the "Divine Sarah" in Memoir by John Murrell.

This weekend, an intrepid cast of five will present the staged reading of Rapture, Blister, Burn for two performances only at 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 4 and at 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 5 on the Second Stage at Stagecrafters in Royal Oak. Rapture, Blister, Burn was a 2013 Pulitzer Prize finalist for playwright and screenwriter Gina Gionfriddo.  Gionfriddo was also a 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Drama finalist for her play Becky Shaw. Broadwayworld.com (BBW) caught up with Director Dale Feldpausch before the final tech rehearsal to talk about this staged reading.  Here's what he had to say:

Tipping Point Theatre in Northville closes out its 11th Season with Y York's romantic comedy The Impossibility of Now running through Aug. 19. The show stars real-life marrieds Julia Glander and Alex Leydenfrost who, onstage, are having an affair. BroadwayWorld Detroit (BWW Detroit) caught up with the two prior to opening night, July 21. Here's what they had to say:

If you've seen and enjoyed the musical 42nd Street, you'll undoubtedly love Thoroughly Modern Millie, now playing at the Riverbank Theatre in Marine City through July 22. 

In a savvy marketing move and perfect way to kick off the summer theatre season, Mason Street Warehouse (MSW) at the Saugatuck Center for the Arts opened with the get-happy, ABBA-tribute musical Mamma Mia! now playing at MSW through July 15.  Once you've enjoyed it live-and-in-person at Mason Street Warehouse you can head to the movie theatre on July 20 for the Mamma Mia! movie sequel, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.

Theatre-goers sure love a good ol' Southern female-bonding story y'all. Think Steel Magnolias, Crimes of the Heart and plays by the dynamic trio Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope and Jamie Wooten. The Dio knows a good one when it reads it which is why it has presented Jones, Hope and Wooten's The Dixie Swim Club, Always a Bridesmaid and now, through July 22, The Savannah Sipping Society (SSS).

On Saturday, June 9, an entire theatre community will come together to memorialize, embrace and celebrate the life of everyone's favorite person: Terry Heck Seibert. That same community has been mourning the unimaginable, heartbreaking loss of Heck Seibert since April 13 when she died after being struck by a car while walking her dog in her Ann Arbor neighborhood. She would have been 62 on May 5.

Do you want to be all dressed up with some place to go on Sunday, June 10, for theatre lovers' most sacred night?  The Maple Theater invites you to walk the red carpet, have your picture taken, enjoy live music, dine on a sumptuous five-course dinner and then have unlimited popcorn and soda while watching the 72nd Annual Tony Awards live broadcast.

For Broadway actor and playwright James Hindman, eight is not enough. The Michigan native, who grew up in Mt. Clemens and was in all the plays at L'Anse Creuse High School and Eastern Michigan University, has been back home from NYC this week tweaking and perfecting his ninth play, Popcorn Falls.  Hindman's newest work, a crazy, fast-paced comedy, a la Waiting for Guffman meets Greater Tuna, makes a return visit to the Snug Theatre in Marine City.

Allee Willis loves Detroit.  So much so that the Detroit native named her one-woman show, ALLEE WILLIS LOVES DETROIT!  And fans are invited to party and sing along with her at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, May 18-19 at Detroit's City Theatre. The Grammy, Tony, Emmy and Webby award-winning-and-nominated songstress--writer of many mega-hits including Earth, Wind & Fire's 'September' and 'Boogie Wonderland;' 'Neutron Dance,' the theme from television's 'Friends' and Broadway's Oprah-produced musical The Color Purple has been defending 'The D' from her kitschy Pepto-Bismol-pink house in North Hollywood, Calif. for over 40 years.

Fore-tunately for audiences, Ken Ludwig's The Fox on the Fairway is being performed at Ridgedale Players in Troy and is not to be missed. While most comedy-loving theatre-goers are familiar with Ludwig's often-performed madcap romps including Lend Me a Tenor, Leading Ladies and Moon Over Buffalo, The Fox on the Fairway is a refreshing change and crazy-delightful two-hour escape from life's many downers these days.

Truth be told, you'd think that a Princeton and Juilliard grad who's had 15 plays professionally produced, wrote a film that starred Al Pacino, Christopher Walken and Alan Arkin; has TV series lined up with HBO and one already in production for Showtime starring Jim Carrey would have had a solid career destiny since the get-go.  Not so says Noah Haidle.

Mother's Day could be extra-special this year for the moms of the University of Michigan Department of Musical Theatre (UMSMTD) 2018 graduating class.  Most likely, many of them will accompany their just-graduated seniors to New York City and celebrate Mother's Day on the Great White Way.  Then, on Monday, May 14, 19 of the 20 UMSMTD grads will be having their first professional auditions in their chosen career of theatre.