Detroit Repertory Theatre

Last updated

Detroit Repertory Theatre is a regional theatre located at 13103 Woodrow Wilson in Detroit, Michigan with a seating capacity of 194. It is Michigan's longest running, non-profit, professional (union) Theatre. The theatre began as a children's musical touring company in 1957 and performed throughout Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania, before it established itself on Woodrow Wilson Avenue in Detroit in 1963. [1] It survived the race riots of 1967 and has been over the nearly 60 years of its existence often the only fully professional non-profit theatre in Detroit. The theatre averages about 60,000 admissions each year.

Contents

Among the world premieres to open at Detroit Rep are Jacob M. Appel's Arborophilia in 2006 and Causa Mortis in 2009. [2] [3] [4] [5] William Roetzheim selected Appel's Causa Mortis for inclusion in Regional Best 2011 as one of the nine top plays to premiere at regional theaters during the 2009–10 season. [6]

History

Originating as a touring company that put on children's shows, the Detroit Repertory Theatre is Michigan's oldest professional theatre. Bruce Millan, former artistic director of the company, Rip (T.O. Andrus), Dee Andrus, and Barbara Busby founded the Detroit Repertory Theatre in 1957. [7] From the years 1957 to 1963, the company toured all around the Midwest, putting on shows in states like Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Settling on Woodrow Wilson in the sixties, the company became a theatre rooted in its founding ideals, standing against social issues like racism, bigotry, and vilification. [8] Enduring and surviving the 1967 race riots, the company forged ahead well into the seventies and developed an audience despite the poverty-stricken neighborhood. In the 1980s, with help from a grant from The Kresge Foundation, the theatre began renovations, upgrading the exterior and even building a new parking lot. Throughout the eighties and nineties, the company steadily increased its audience turnout, counting well over 150,000 tickets sold for a 194 seat theatre. [8] Today, the company continues to have an 85% audience turnout and is currently planning a shift in leadership. [8] Co-founder and artistic director Bruce Millan stepped down from the company in 2018 and has appointed Marketing and Development director Leah Smith as current artistic director. [8] Detroit Repertory Theatre produces four shows a season with eight-week-long runs. The theatre also currently runs as an Actors' Equity Association Small Professional Theatre and owns two additional buildings for rehearsal, design, and construction purposes. [8]

Mission and outreach

Since its founding, the Detroit Repertory Theatre has committed to being a progressive company. Located in a neighborhood of Detroit, a largely black city, the theatre aims to portray its neighbors on stage. [9] As early as their children's theatre days, the company has employed diverse casting techniques that were largely unpopular at the time. Despite disdain from some of the theatre's supporters, these techniques, including interracial casting as well as color and gender blind casting, aim to provide a more diverse and equitable experience for audiences and performers alike. The theatre has been known to produce shows with strong themes of social justice and change, such as The Living Text, a play about the Civil War and Reconstruction. [10] The company also continues to nurture the neighborhood around it, working towards building the neighborhood back up through cultural and artistic means, working with local artists and businesses native to Detroit. [9] Currently, the theatre six different outreach programs running, including a summer festival, [11] charitable group fundraisers, [12] an actor's workshop, [13] cultural fellows, [14] a new playwright's program, [15] and a lobby gallery dedicated to Gilden Snowden. [16]

Production history

The 2019/2020 Season includes:

Awards and acknowledgements

[17]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Repertory theatre</span> Theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire

A repertory theatre, also called repertory,rep, true rep or stock, which are also called producing theatres, is a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yale Repertory Theatre</span> Building

Yale Repertory Theatre at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut was founded by Robert Brustein, dean of Yale School of Drama, in 1966, with the goal of facilitating a meaningful collaboration between theatre professionals and talented students. In the process it has become one of the first distinguished regional theatres. Located at the edge of Yale's main downtown campus, it occupies the former Calvary Baptist Church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Jose Repertory Theatre</span>

The San Jose Repertory Theatre was the first resident professional theatre company in San Jose, California. It was founded in 1980 by James P. Reber. In 2008, after the demise of the American Musical Theatre of San Jose, the San Jose Rep became the largest non-profit, professional theatre company in the South Bay with an annual operating budget of $5 million. In 2006, it was saved from impending insolvency by a $2 million bailout loan from the city of San Jose; this was later restructured into a long-term loan similar to a mortgage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berkeley Repertory Theatre</span>

Berkeley Repertory Theatre is a regional theater company located in Berkeley, California. It runs seven productions each season from its two stages in Downtown Berkeley.

The Circle Repertory Company, originally named the Circle Theater Company, was a theatre company in New York City that ran from 1969 to 1996. It was founded on July 14, 1969, in Manhattan, in a second floor loft at Broadway and 83rd Street by director Marshall W. Mason, playwright Lanford Wilson, director Rob Thirkield, and actress Tanya Berezin, all of whom were veterans of the Caffe Cino. The plan was to establish a pool of artists — actors, directors, playwrights and designers — who would work together in the creation of plays. In 1974, The New York Times critic Mel Gussow acclaimed Circle Rep as the "chief provider of new American plays."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dundee Repertory Theatre</span>

Dundee Repertory Theatre, better known simply as the Dundee Rep, is a theatre and arts company in Dundee, Scotland. It operates as both a producing house - staging at least six of its own productions each year, and a receiving house - hosting work from visiting companies throughout Scotland and the United Kingdom including drama, musicals, contemporary & classical dance, children's theatre, comedy, jazz and opera. It is home to the Dundee Rep Ensemble, Scotland's only full-time company of actors, as well as Scotland's principal contemporary dance company, Scottish Dance Theatre. ‘’'The Rep'’’ building is located in Tay Square at the centre of the city’s "cultural quarter" in the West End.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chay Yew</span> American dramatist

Chay Yew is a playwright and stage director who was born in Singapore. He was artistic director of the Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago from 2011 to 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pacific Repertory Theatre</span>

The Pacific Repertory Theatre is a non-profit California corporation, based in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, that produces theatrical productions and events, including the annual Carmel Shakespeare Festival. It is one of eight major arts institutions in Monterey County, as designated by the Community Foundation of Monterey County, and is supported in part by grants from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, the Berkshire Foundation and the Monterey Peninsula Foundation.

Seattle Rep is a major regional theater located in Seattle, Washington, at the Seattle Center. It is a member of Theatre Puget Sound and Theatre Communications Group. Founded in 1963, it is led by Artistic Director Dámaso Rodríguez and Managing Director Jeffrey Herrmann. It received the 1990 Regional Theatre Tony Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soho Repertory Theatre</span>

The Soho Repertory Theatre, known as Soho Rep, is an American Off-Broadway theater company based in New York City which is notable for producing avant-garde plays by contemporary writers. The company, described as a "cultural pillar", is currently located in a 65-seat theatre in the TriBeCa section of lower Manhattan. The company, and the projects it has produced, have won multiple prizes and earned critical acclaim, including numerous Obie Awards, Drama Desk Awards, Drama Critics' Circle Awards, and a Pulitzer Prize. A recent highlight was winning the Drama Desk Award for Sustained Achievement for "nearly four decades of artistic distinction, innovative production, and provocative play selection."

Causa Mortis is a satiric play by Jacob M. Appel that lampoons the modern medical establishment. The plot focuses on a woman, Eleanor, whose brain surgeon has accidentally left his watch in her skull. Her daughters urge her to have the timepiece extracted before it harms her, but every surgeon who attempts to remove it dies during the process. Critic Donald Calamia described the play as "a needle in the eyes of an industry that far-too often refuses to admit its human failings."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kansas City Repertory Theatre</span>

Kansas City Repertory Theatre is a professional resident theater company serving the Kansas City metropolitan area, and is the professional theater in residence at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC).

The St. Louis Repertory Theater is a repertory theater, based in Webster Groves, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. It is often referred to locally simply as "The Rep". Hana S. Sharif is the Artistic Director and Danny Williams is the Managing Director.

Arborophilia is a play by Jacob M. Appel, about a woman whose daughters have both vexed her in love: one is dating a Republican and the other has fallen in love with a poplar tree.

Sharon Langston Ott is a director, producer and educator who worked in regional theaters and opera throughout the United States. Two plays she directed, A Fierce Longing and Amlin Gray's How I Got That Story, each won an Obie award after their New York runs.

The New Repertory Theatre is a Boston-area regional theater company founded in 1984, it has produced more than 70 East Coast, US, or World premieres. Since 2005 New Rep has been the resident company at the Mosesian Center for the Arts in Watertown, MA. It creates productions for the 340-seat Main Stage Theater, the 90-seat Black Box Theater, and its outreach program, New Rep Classic Repertory Company, performs for over 14,000 students, many from underserved communities, each year. In 2019, Michael J. Bobbitt was appointed as executive artistic director. In April 2021, New Rep named M. Bevin O’Gara its interim executive artistic director, as Bobbitt moved to the position of executive director for the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Birmingham Repertory Theatre</span> Theatre in Birmingham, England

Birmingham Repertory Theatre, commonly called Birmingham Rep or just The Rep, is a producing theatre based on Centenary Square in Birmingham, England. Founded by Billie Lester , it is the longest-established of Britain's building-based theatre companies and one of its most consistently innovative.

Gilda Snowden was an African-American artist, educator and mentor from Detroit, Michigan.

Bruce Miller (theater director) is a stage director and producer living and working in Richmond, Virginia. In 2017 he received a lifetime achievement award from the Virginia Theatre Association for his work with the Barksdale Theatre, Theatre IV, and Virginia Repertory Theatre.

Michael J. Bobbitt is an American playwright, director, choreographer, and performing arts leader based in Boston. He will become executive director of the Massachusetts Cultural Council on February 1, 2021. Bobbitt was the artistic director of Adventure Theatre-MTC, the longest-running children's theater in the Washington metropolitan area, for 12 years before becoming artistic director of the New Repertory Theatre in greater Boston on August 1, 2019. Bobbitt's work has been recognized frequently as both a nominee and a recipient of the annual Helen Hayes Awards for excellence in theater.

References

  1. ↑ "Detroit will get resident theatre". The New York Times , March 4, 1967
  2. ↑ "Daughters in Love Fuel Mom's Dismay," Detroit Free Press, November 14, 2006.
  3. ↑ "Sappy Satire Takes Root at Detroit Rep" Detroit Pride Source, November 15, 2006.
  4. ↑ "Tale of Tree Love Receives Top Honors," Detroit Metro Times, January 2007.
  5. ↑ Monaghan, John. Satire's talented cast shines light on health care reform. Detroit Free Press, Nov. 12, 2009
  6. ↑ Roetzheim, William. Regional Best, 2011. San Diego: Level 4 Press, 2010
  7. ↑ "A tribute to Detroit Rep co-founder Dee Andrus". Encore Michigan. 2017-05-26. Retrieved 2020-11-30.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 "Mission & History". Detroit Repertory Theatre. Retrieved 2020-11-30.
  9. 1 2 BWW News Desk. "Bruce Millan Steps Down as Director of Detroit Repertory Theatre". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2020-11-30.
  10. ↑ Hodges, Michael H. "Winds of change at Detroit Repertory Theatre as Bruce Millan retires". The Detroit News. Retrieved 2020-11-30.
  11. ↑ "Summer Festival". Detroit Repertory Theatre. Retrieved 2020-11-30.
  12. ↑ "Charitable Group Fundraisers". Detroit Repertory Theatre. Retrieved 2020-11-30.
  13. ↑ "Actors Workshop". Detroit Repertory Theatre. Retrieved 2020-11-30.
  14. ↑ "Cultural Fellows". Detroit Repertory Theatre. Retrieved 2020-11-30.
  15. ↑ "New Playwrights Program". Detroit Repertory Theatre. Retrieved 2020-11-30.
  16. ↑ "Gilda Snowden Lobby Gallery". Detroit Repertory Theatre. Retrieved 2020-11-30.
  17. ↑ "Awards". Detroit Repertory Theatre. Retrieved 2020-11-30.

42°23′43″N83°06′35″W / 42.39514°N 83.10985°W / 42.39514; -83.10985

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.