It's not difficult to find a play to attend in Detroit. We have quite a few professional theaters-showing Broadway imports as well as local productions. There are theaters at most of the colleges. We also have many local community groups. Saturday night I was lucky enough to see the Rosedale Community Players put on a version of TWELVE ANGRY MEN that would do any acting group proud.
They staged it a little Lutheran Church, with music supplied by the church's minister. Dinner was served and a sterling production followed. The production was followed by a very interesting discussion of both the play and how the production came together. Actors discussed how they found the moment when their character went from voting guilty to not guilty. How they came to believe in their character's conversion. It was just a lot of fun. Most of the actors had been part of the group for many years, playing many parts. I doubt that I got more out of the movie with Henry Fonda and other fine actors of that era.
Do you support community theater in your hometown? You might be surprised at how good it is. I sure was.
9 comments:
Raven Theatre, the theater I work at here in Chicago, just opened TWELVE ANGRY MEN tonight.
What a small, theatrical world!
Theater is such a moving experience. It's a shame so many people will go their whole lives without going.
John-Was your version all male? I'd be interested to see if it played differently with a few women on the jury.
We generally go to Broadway and off-Broadway, but we have occasionally been to local theater too. We saw one of our favorite musicals, COMPANY, done by a local theater company, for example.
Jeff M.
I will take theater almost anywhere I can get it. There is something infinitely better about sharing the experience with actors on a stage than on a screen.
When we lived in Massachusetts, we were very active in the Merrimack Repertory Theater, a professional Equity theater, and often served as House Managers. I can't count the number of professional plays we saw, many with Tony and Emmy award-winning actors.
Our daughters grew up in the theater and it gave them a confidence, assertiveness and grace beyond their years. From dealing with difficult patrons, medical emergencies and overblown egos from some (a very few) of the actors, they made us proud. Many of the actors spent their minutes off-stage helping them with their homework and coloring in their timelines. Sunday dinners were with the cast and crew. My youngest daughter was on cloud nine when one film actress first saw her from a distance and thought she was Jacqueline Bisset.
Since leaving New England, we have not been as active as we would like to be in theater. The theater experience, whether as patron or participant, is one I whole-heartedly recommend.
It all sounds wonderful. Love the theatre. Vegas has plenty of shows but few Broadway shows, although Mamma Mia! was here for a long time, replaced now by The Lion King. I also plan to see the new Elvis Cirque show. But your intimate venue in a Lutheran Church with dinner after sounds fabulous!
I discovered a long time ago that an equity card doesn't necessarily mean a professional performance. Some of the best theatre I've ever seen was at a community theatre level. Talent is talent - some people choose to pursue theatre as a career, some not.
Yes, our version is all male, but it's racially diverse which gives it some interesting twists.
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