Katie Laban - Page 8

Cirque Dreams Holidaze is the amazing holiday show of what looks like ordinary people doing extraordinary things on stage. The audience is dazzled with astonishing acts on the floor and in the air with holiday music and costumes that will put them in a festive mood. Cirque Dreams Holidaze is a spectacle that is perfect for a family night out or a date night to be amazed this holiday season!

ELF the Musical opens the Fox Theatre's holiday season with a very "sparkle, jolly, twinkle, jingley" way if Buddy the Elf had his way to describe it. The show is the perfect way to start the season full of love and Christmas cheer with lots of laughter from the silly antics of everyone's favorite human who thinks he is an elf!

The Best Man comes to life at Stagecrafters at the perfect time of year. Gore Vidal's play about the 1960 race for the Democratic presidential nomination is performed effortlessly by the cast and while it takes the audience back to a specific era, themes ring true that allows them to think and relate to what we as a nation have been observing this past election season.

Gabe Gibbs is returning is back to his home state with the Book of Mormon tour and could not be more excited to be performing where he grew up and learned his love of theatre. The fan-favorite, Tony Award winning show returns to Detroit for a limited engagement at the Fisher Theatre from November 1st to 13th where Gibbs plays the lead role of Elder Price. 'I never want to assume that people know the Broadway scene,' said Gibbs, 'but it's so funny because I when say I'm part of the show that the South Park dudes wrote, people usually get mad at me and are like 'of course we know what Book of Mormon is!'

Eerily set in the streets of Victorian London, the fantastic cast of the Hilberry Theatre's Dracula company keeps the audience on edge through their exceptional story telling of Bram Stoker's well-known tale in this newly revised adaptation that is unlike any other. It is a version faithful to the original Gothic thriller filled with terror, intrigue, romance, and the struggle between Good and Evil, which leaves no doubt in the mind of the audience that they have witnessed an exceptional piece of Michigan theatre.

St. Dunstan's Theatre Guild of Cranbrook kicked off their 2016-2017 season with the musical comedy Dirty Rotten Scoundrels about two con men trying swindle a beautiful heiress in the French Rivera. From beginning to end, the company has the audience laughing and entertained with fun dance numbers, hilarious songs, and crazy antics that the two con men will go to any length in order to get what they want, which may not end up going exactly as planned.

A staged concert reading of Temple is happening at the Wharton Center on Michigan State University's campus this weekend and there is going be a very special sensory-friendly performance included. '1 in 68 people are born on the spectrum, which is astounding,' said Diane Wilcox, Director of Marketing and Communications. 'It's a huge population of people who often don't feel welcome in our environment of live theatre and we are looking to change that. Our sensory-friendly performance is specially geared toward audiences who are on the spectrum and others who have sensory sensitivities and needs.'

Stagecrafter's 2nd Stage Theatre presented the Michigan premiere of the dark comedy Trevor about a faded television actor relegated to a quiet, domestic life, but longing to return to his illustrious career. Only the actor this show is about is a chimpanzee, which inhibits the communication between his owner and himself. This production is a show filled with many emotions as the audience watches they will laugh, they will feel, and they will struggle right along with Trevor and his owner, Sandra.

A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder opened the Broadway in Detroit season at the Fisher Theatre on October 4th keeping the audience laughing the whole the performance. The Tony Award winner for Best Musical did not disappoint with hilarious songs, beautiful staging, and a talented cast pulling it off with brilliant comedic timing. A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder is a must see for theatre-lovers or anyone that just wants to laugh and forget their troubles for a few hours.

An Evening with Gloria Steinem will take place on October 8th at the Wharton Center in East Lansing. Pioneering feminist and Ms. Magazine founder, Gloria Steinem, will join Michigan Radio host, Cynthia Canty, for an engaging conversation about critical issues affecting women and girls including: gender equality, pay equity, access to women's healthcare, and gender violence.

Broadway in Detroit starts the new theatre season with A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder, Tony Award winner for Best Musical, on October 4th at the Fisher Theatre in Detroit. "I know you are going to have a spectacularly good time because everybody in every city always has," said Mary VanArsdel. "I think we live in times where people really need to laugh right now. This show will do it, more than just about anything because it's funny - really, really funny."

The Matrix Theatre Company opened their 2016-2017 season with Sizwe Bansi is Dead, an incredibly thought provoking play, by Athol Fugard, John Kani, and Winston Ntshona. The three-man play directed by Oliver Pookrum is a powerful story about man living under apartheid rule in South Africa whose only hope for financially supporting his family means he must relinquish his very name.

The Matrix Theatre Company opens its 2016-2017 season with Sizwi Bansi is Dead by Athol Fugard on September 23rd in Detroit. It is a powerful play that weaves the story of a man living under apartheid rule in South Africa whose only hope for financially supporting his family means he must relinquish his very name. Director Oliver Pookrum explains the play as 'it's an important life affirming experience about the power of perseverance, belief, and having a positive attitude about your future.'

The Bay City Players will debut Unraveling Magicians, an original musical by native Ryan Sequin, in a staged reading on September 23rd and 24th in Bay City. Adapted from medieval Welsh folktale, Unraveling Magicians tells the story of a magical and royal family thrown into turmoil when a curse is cast upon one of their own. In an attempt to lift the curse, the family must resurface old wounds and finally acknowledge how deeply dysfunctional they have become. Despite distraction of power, the revelation of secrets, and a little wayward magic, is it possible for the family to remain intact?

The Village Players of Birmingham start their 94th season by checking into the Plaza Suite by Neil Simon directed by Eileen Sinclair White. The delightful comedy takes place in one suite over three acts although the individual characters are unrelated to one another. It is a charming show and a wonderful way for The Village Players to kick off their season!

Lube: An Unauthorized Grease'd-Up Parody is a hilarious time from start to finish at the Ringwald Theatre in Ferndale. From the moment the characters of Danny and Mandy step on stage, the audience is laughing as they realize this may not be exactly the beloved Grease movie they remember from 1978 - it is a whole lot funnier and dirtier.

Michigan native Teri Hansen loves performing in The Sound of Music because the audiences are just as emotionally involved in the show as she is. "When the curtain goes up, there is an audible gasp because of this gorgeous set and beautiful start," she said. "Then we really start to tell this tale; this dangerous and urgent story, yet a love story as well. You can feel the audience right at the beginning of the show and during it they are edging forward on their seats until the end when they are on their feet going right over the mountain with the Von Trapp family."

Love Letters starring Ali MacGraw and Ryan O'Neal is coming to the Fisher Theatre in Detroit and promises to be an emotional show. "In one way or another, the show will move you," said O'Neal. "You will be touched and that's important thing."

Matilda the Musical is an absolute joy to experience at the Fisher Theatre. The magic, the music, and the extremely talented cast - both children and adults alike - make it one of the most fun and unique shows that has come around to Detroit.

"I saw Matilda on Broadway for the first time after I had been cast in the show. At intermission, I said to my wife, 'this could be my favorite show I've ever seen.' I'm not a musical theatre person, yet it is one of the most unique things I have ever witnessed on stage,' said Quinn Mattfeld, who plays Mr. Wormood, in Matilda the Musical, which arrives this Thursday, March 9th at the Fisher Theatre in Detroit.