There are generations of families in metro Detroit who have grown up together going to
Meadow Brook Theatre shows.
"We have a lady who comes who is 103 and she brings her 70-year-old daughter and she brings her 40-year-old daughter," says artistic director Travis W. Walter.
For 50 seasons, Meadow Brook has been producing professional theater on the campus of Oakland University.
Walter has been with the group 10 of those years — working his way up from intern to artistic director. He says it is inspiring to know there are audience members who have been with the theater company even longer.
"We have some people who have been there since day one," Walter says. "There are people in our audience whose grandparents used to come, their parents used to come, and now they come. They have passed down the seats."
Meadow Brook's 2015-16 season will be a celebration of its 50th anniversary, as well as an opportunity to look to the theater company's future, Walter says.
Walter says Meadow Brook's stage has seen an incredible array of talented actors, including the likes of William Hurt, Robert England, Deana Dunagan, Jane Houdyshell, Jane Badler, and many, many more. Meadow Brook has a long history of staging the classics, but in the past few years, the company also has been cultivating new playwriting talent, as well, hosting Michigan and world premieres.
"The canon of American theater is shrinking because everyone does the same four plays and no one does new work," he says. "That's not the case at Meadow Brook.
At least once a year we've been able to get one of those new artists to see their work, along with still reaching in the past to do some oldies and goodies." But how does an organization last for five decades? Walter credits the audience, saying Michiganders really embrace theater.
"Michigan has a large number of community theaters — Avon Players, Ridgedale Players, Farmington Players, just in this area — which means everyone's dentist is playing Willy Lohman at night. But it also means a lot of people love theater."
To celebrate 50 years of love for the theater company, "there's going to be a lot celebrations," he says.
The details: Meadow Brook will host a Black Tie on the Blacktop Benefit Concert , featuring a strolling dinner, cocktails, raffle and concert by Tommy James & The Shondells on July 18, 2015.
The 2015-16 schedule includes:
The Explorers Club by Nell Benjamin, Michigan premiere, Oct. 7-Nov. 1
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, adapted by Charles Nolte – Nov. 15-Dec. 24, 2015
Legends! by Janes Kirkwood, Jan. 6-31, 2016
ATOMIC, Book and Lyrics by Danny Ginges & Gregory Bonsignore, Feb. 16-March 6, 2016
Calendar Girls by Tom Firth, Michigan premiere, March 16 – April 10, 2016
Sistas the Musical, by Dorothy Marcic, Michigan premiere, April 20 – May 15, 2016
Forever Plaid by Stuart Ross, May 25-June 19, 2016
Season tickets are on sale. Individual tickets are available Sept. 7, 2015. Go to
www.mbtheatre.org.
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This story originally appeared on IXITI.com, the Experience Engine for Southeast Michigan.
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