DISNEYS FROZEN COMING TO DETROIT OPERA HOUSE

Frozen, the Tony-nominated Best Musical, is coming to the Motor City for a 3-week premiere engagement at The Detroit Opera House beginning Wednesday, November 29, 2023 with performances playing through Sunday, December 17. The stage adaption of the Disney animated film Frozen completed its Broadway run in March 2020 after breaking four house records at The St. James Theatre. Now it is on tour across America. 

This touring stage show features the songs you know and love from the original Oscar-winning film, plus an expanded score with a dozen new numbers by the movie’s songwriters, Oscar-winner Kristen Anderson-Lopez and EGOT-winner Robert Lopez. Joining them on a creative team that has won a cumulative 16 Tony Awards are Oscar-winner Jennifer Lee (book), Tony and Olivier Award winner Michael Grandage (director), and Tony-winner Rob Ashford (choreographer). The creative team for Frozen also includes scenic and costume design by two-time Tony and Olivier Award winner Christopher Oram, lighting design by six-time Tony Award winner Natasha Katz, sound design by seven-time Tony nominee Peter Hylenski, video design by Tony winner Finn Ross, puppet design by Michael Curry, hair design by David Brian Brown, makeup design by Anne Ford-Coates, special effects design by Jeremy Chernick and casting by The Telsey Office/Rachel Hoffman, CSA and Laura Wade, CSA. Lisa Dawn Cave serves as Production Supervisor and Randy Meyer is the General Manager.

Individual tickets for Disney’s Frozen will be available to purchase online beginning at 10:00 a.m. on August 25 and start at $35. VIP Ticket Packages, which include prime seat locations and a VIP Fan Pack, are also available. Tickets can be purchased online at BroadwayInDeroit.com, Ticketmaster.com; and two hours later will also be available to buy in person at the Detroit Opera House box office & Fisher Theatre box office starting at noon.

Performance times for Disney’s Frozen appearing November 29 – December 17 at the Detroit Opera House located at 1526 Broadway St., Detroit MI are: 

• Tuesday through Saturday evening performances at 7:30 p.m. 
• Saturday matinees at 2:00 p.m. 
• Sunday matinees at 1:00 p.m. Sunday evening performances at 6:30 p.m. 
• Additional matinee performance on Thursday, November 30 at 1:00 p.m. 
• Special Open Caption performance on Sunday, December 3 at 6:30 p.m.
•  Special American Sign Language performance on December 10 at 6:30 p.m.

Which character are you most geeked to see on stage? Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, Olaf or Sven? I'm actually intrigued to see how they incorporate Marshmallow the giant snow monster into the show. For more information about the show, visit frozenthemusical.com/tour

ANNIE IS COMING TO DETROIT

Just thinkin' about Tomorrow, clears away the cobwebs, and the sorrow,'Til there's none because there is the theatrical production of ANNIE coming to Detroit's Fisher Theatre this Spring to providing a count down to the last dreary remaining days of Winter as the City awaits for the show's arrival. Leapin’ Lizards! Broadway In Detroit has announced that an all-new tour of the iconic Tony Award®-winning musical ANNIE will play at the Fisher Theatre from April 25-30. Tickets for the Detroit engagement go on sale Friday, February 10 at 10:00 a.m. and will be available online at Ticketmaster.com, BroadwayinDetroit.com, and in person at the Fisher Theatre Box Office.

ANNIE is directed by Jenn Thompson, who at the age of 10 stepped into the role of “Pepper” in the Original Broadway production, choreographed by Patricia Wilcox (Motown, A Night with Janis Joplin), with orchestrations by Dan DeLange. The lovable mutt “Sandy” is once again trained by Tony Award®Honoree William Berloni (ANNIE, A Christmas Story, Legally Blonde). Addison, a stray mutt rescued by William Berloni through the Humane Society in 2017, stars as Sandy. Joining Addison are a tremendous supporting cast of humans, will be Ellie Pulsifer, a 12-year-old actress from South Florida, making her tour debut in the title role of Annie. Ok, maybe Addison is supporting them because she can't sing the songs that the show is known for! 

“This show, with its iconic title character, continues to delight generations of theatre-lovers old and new by joyfully singing directly into the face of great adversity with perseverance, guts and guile,” director Jenn Thompson remarked to ageekdaddy.com. “For decades, ANNIE has continued to shine brightly, not only as an appeal to our better angels, but also as an example of the thrill of hope, hard-won: promising a better ‘Tomorrow’ not only for Annie herself, but for all who need her message now more than ever.”

By permission of Tribune Content Agency, LLC, ANNIE is based on Harold Gray's popular comic strip “Little Orphan Annie” which premiered in the 1920s in the New York Daily News and became one of the most widely read strips in the 30s and 40s. Lyricist Martin Charnin bought a coffee table book called “The Life and Hard Times of Little Orphan Annie” as a Christmas gift for a friend in 1970. The clerk at the bookstore was too busy to wrap the book, so Charnin took the book home to wrap it. Instead, he read it and fell in love with the strip and set out to secure the rights. The friend never got the book.

Charnin's adaption of the comic strip had its world premiere on Aug 10, 1976 at the Goodspeed Opera House and opened on Broadway on April 21, 1977 at the Alvin Theatre. It went on to win the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Musical, seven Drama Desk Awards including Best Musical, the Grammy for Best Cast Show Album and seven Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Book (Thomas Meehan) and Best Score (Charles Strouse, Martin Charnin). It closed on Broadway after playing 2,377 performances. ANNIE was revived on Broadway in 1997 and again in 2014. It has been made into a film three times (1982, 1999, 2014) and was most recently featured as a live television production on NBC. The show remains one of the biggest Broadway musical hits ever; it has been performed in 28 languages and has been running somewhere around the world for 45 years.

Holding onto hope when times are tough can take an awful lot of determination, and sometimes, an awful lot of determination comes in a surprisingly small package. Little Orphan Annie has reminded generations of theatergoers that sunshine is always right around the corner, and now the best-loved musical of all time is set to return in this new production – just as you remember it and just when we need it most. This celebration of family, optimism and the American spirit remains the ultimate cure for all the hard knocks life throws your way. The beloved score for ANNIE includes “Maybe,” “It’s the Hard Knock Life,” “You’re Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile,” “Easy Street,” “I Don’t Need Anything But You” and the eternal anthem of optimism, “Tomorrow.”

Performance times for ANNIE appearing April 25-30 at the Fisher Theatre located 3011 W Grand Blvd., Detroit MI 48202 are: 

• Tuesday through Saturday evening performances at 7:30 p.m. 
• Thursday matinee performance at 12:00 p.m. 
• Saturday & Sunday matinee performance at 2:00 p.m. 
• Special Open Caption performance on Friday, April 28 at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets for ANNIE at the Fisher Theatre start at $35. Photographs courtesy of Broadway in Detroit.

PADDINGTON GETS IN A JAM

My family loves Paddington Bear, a kindhearted magnet for trouble with a passion for marmalade. I read all of the Michael Bond books about this mischievous bear in elementary school after my aunt gave me the whole collection as a birthday gift one year. I've been a Paddington Bear fan ever since! My wife and kids discovered him when the Paddington films came out which are two of our favorite selections for a family movie night.

So, we were all geeked to learn that Paddington is making his way from darkest Peru, then London, England, and after a stint in New York City, will be arriving in Detroit, Michigan. PADDINGTON GETS IN A JAM is currently on tour after its theatrical debut in New York and will be stopping in Detroit for a one day performance on January 28, 2023 at the Music Hall. The accident-prone bear takes the stage in a 2:00 pm performance that is a fun filled slapstick comedy. Tickets will go on sale Friday, October 21 at 10:00 a.m. and can be purchased online at Ticketmaster.com, BroadwayinDetroit.com, charge by phone (800) 982-2787, and in person at the Fisher Theatre Box Office.

In this live stage performance, Paddington is making his favorite marmalade jam with the help of the Brown’s housekeeper Mrs. Bird, but they run out of sugar, so Paddington heads next door to borrow some from Mr. Curry. The usually grumpy Mr. Curry is even more short tempered than ever as he prepares for a visit from his great aunt who is a stickler for tidiness. Paddington, feeling sorry for Mr. Curry, volunteers to help him with his chores. Unfortunately for Paddington, his good intentions end up leading to chaos, as one by one each of his jobs starts to have an unexpected outcome! Will Paddington be able to fix everything before Mr. Curry and his great aunt arrive home?

Are you a Paddington Bear fan? Don't miss out on getting tickets to his Detroit appearance before they sell out. Tickets go on sale October 21 for the one day performance on January 28 at Detroit's Music Hall. 

HAMILTON RETURNS TO BROADWAY IN DETROIT

The national tour of the theatrical hit HAMILTON is returning to Detroit this year for a run at the Fisher Theatre from November 15 - December 4 after a series of sold out shows in 2021. Tickets will be available to purchase starting August 18 at 10:00 a.m. at Ticketmaster.com, BroadwayinDetroit.com, in person at the Fisher Theatre Box Office or by calling (800) 982-2787.  The show's runtime is 2 Hours 45 Minutes including one 15-minute intermission. All ticket purchasers will receive a Broadway in Detroit Health & Safety Guide via email in the days prior to their performance.

Performance times for HAMILTON appearing November 15 – December 4, 2022 at the Fisher Theatre located at 3011 W. Grand Blvd., in Detroit are: 

• Tuesday through Sunday evening performances at 8:00 p.m. 
• Saturday & Sunday matinees at 2:00 p.m. 
• No performance on Thursday, November 24, in observance of Thanksgiving 
• Additional performance on Monday, November 21 at 8:00 p.m. 
• Special Open Caption performance on Sunday, November 20 at 8:00 p.m. 
• ASL performance on Sunday, November 27 at 8:00 p.m.

Children under the age of five will not be permitted in the theatre. Visit BroadwayinDetroit.com for more show details.

HAMILTON is the story of America then, told by America now. Featuring a score that blends hip-hop, jazz, R&B and Broadway, HAMILTON has taken the story of American founding father Alexander Hamilton and created a revolutionary moment in theatre—a musical that has had a profound impact on culture, politics, and education. With book, music, and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, direction by Thomas Kail, choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler, and musical supervision and orchestrations by Alex Lacamoire, HAMILTON is based on Ron Chernow’s acclaimed biography. It has won Tony®, Grammy®, and Olivier Awards, the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and an unprecedented special citation from the Kennedy Center Honors.

AIN'T TOO PROUD OPEN CASTING CALL

The producers of Ain't Too Proud, a nationally touring theatrical stage show based upon Motown singers The Temptations have announced an open casting call for black male and female actors, singers and dancers in their 20s/30s. They are seeking individuals to play The Classic Temptations: Otis Williams, David Ruffin, Eddie Kendricks, Paul Williams, Melvin Franklin and other characters from the Motown Era: Berry Gordy, Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross, Florence Ballard, Tammi Terrell and more! Selected individuals will join the cast following its August 9 - 28, 2022 run at the Detroit Opera House as the show moves on for performances in other markets across North America.

Auditions are on Wednesday, August 10 at the Motown Museum in Detroit. Sign in is from 9am - 1pm with auditions from 10am - 2:30pm. All actors will be required to present proof of COVID-19 vaccination upon entrance to the Motown Museum. Masks will be required once entering the building and can be removed once in the audition room.

Please prepare a short cut of a Motown-era song. Please chose one of the following to prepare: 

• Bring sheet music in the correct key – an accompanist will be provided; 
• Bring your own accompaniment track; 
• You may sing A Capella.

For more information: tararubincasting.info@gmail.com 

Ain’t Too Proud - The Life and Times of The Temptations will be at Detroit Opera House, August 9 – 28, 2022. Tickets are available online at Ticketmaster.com, charge by phone (800) 982-2787, and in person at the Fisher Theatre Box Office. 

Performance times for Ain’t Too Proud are: 

Tuesday through Saturday evening performances at 8:00 p.m. 

Saturday & Sunday matinees at 2:00 p.m. Sunday evening performances at 7:30 p.m. 

Special Open Caption performance on Sunday, August 14 at 7:30 p.m. 

For more information about Ain’t Too Proud, visit: ainttooproudmusical.com/