The Rundown | Feb. 6, 2025
- Encore Staff Writer
- Feb 6
- 4 min read
Updated: Feb 8
Welcome to THE RUNDOWN, a quick-hit highlight of what's on stage in Michigan. This is a big weekend for Michigan Theatre with several new shows making their debut while others continue successful runs. With plays, musicals, concerts, and operas February 2025 promises to be keep lights up across the state.
So, Curtain Up! Light The Lights! Here's THE RUNDOWN for Thursday, February 6, 2025.
NOW PLAYING
MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM | The Detroit Reparatory Theatre | Runs Jan 10-March 2
The Detroit Repertory Theatre continues its 68th season and the August Wilson American Century Cycle with its production of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Running now through March 2, 2025. Performances are four times a week, Fridays at 8PM, Saturdays at 3PM & 8PM, and Sundays at 2PM.
Written by: August Wilson
Directed by: Casaundra Freeman
TARTUFFE | Wayne State University | Runs Jan31-Feb 9
The Maggie Allesee Department of Theatre and Dance at Wayne State University is starting the winter 2025 semester strong with the opening of “Tartuffe.”
Molière’s timeless comedy runs through Feb. 9 on the STAGE at the Hilberry Gateway. This production also marks the much-anticipated return of the M.F.A. in Acting program, following a year-long hiatus.
Translated by: Richard Wilbur
Directed by: Janice L. Blixt
HALFTIME WITH DON | Tipping Point Theatre | Runs Jan 22-Feb 16
Tipping Point continues a run of this Michigan Premiere, running through Feb 16. Retired NFL player Don Devers experiences violent outbursts as a result of his traumatic brain injury. While Ed Ryan, a desperate longtime fan, shows up on his doorstep.
Written by: Ken Weitzman
Directed by: Bill Simmons
OPENING THIS WEEKEND
FOURTEEN FUNERALS | The Purple Rose | Runs Feb 6-March 9
The Purple Rose continues its 2024-25 season with this Michigan Premiere, Opening Tonight and running through March 9.
Written by: Eric Pfeffinger
Directed by: Rhiannon Ragland
THE GLASS MENAGERIE | University of Detroit Mercy | Runs Feb 7-16
Detroit Mercy Theatre Company presents The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, directed by Joe Bailey and featuring alumna Karen Kron Dickson as Amanda Wingfield, and running through Feb 16. The play follows the struggles of the Wingfield family as they navigate dreams, desires, and the delicate balance between reality and illusion.
Written by: Tennessee Williams
Directed by: Joe Bailey
CONFEDERATES | The Detroit Public Theatre | Runs Feb 8-March 16
Detroit Public Theatre (DPT) is thrilled to announce the cast for CONFEDERATES, by DPT Executive Artistic Producer, MacArthur Genius award-winning, Tony nominated, Dominique Morisseau. This searing and acclaimed play leaps back and forth in time to hold an unyielding lens to the racism and gender biases that plague America's institutions to this day. Performances begin with two Pick Your Price Previews on Thursday, February 6 at 7pm and Friday, February 7 at 8pm, and run through Sunday, March 16.
Written by: Dominique Morisseau
Directed by: Goldie E. Patrick
AVENUE Q | ThumbCoast Theatres | Runs Feb 8-March 9
ThumbCoast Theatres production of the Broadway hit, "Avenue Q" opens this weekend and runs through March 9th. Filled with gut-busting adult humor and a delightfully catchy score…not to mention puppets, this unique show addresses adult issues while spoofing the memory of educational television shows like “Sesame Street” and “The Electric Company.”
Music and Lyrics by: Robert Lopez, Jeff Marx
Book by: Jeff Whitty
Directed by: Joel Frazee
Music Direction by: Stephanie Graham
Choreography by: Lauren Riggs
COMING SOON
SENSE & SENSIBILITY | The Encore Musical Theatre Co. | Runs Feb 27-March 16
The Encore Musical Theatre Company is proud to present the Michigan premiere of Sense & Sensibility, a romantic new chamber musical based on the novel by Jane Austen.
Book, music, and lyrics by: Paul Gordon
Directed by: Matt Bogart
RINALDO | Detroit Opera | Feb 22 - March 2
Handel’s Baroque blockbuster is viewed through the lens of a child’s fantasy in a contemporary pediatric ward. The young patients venture on a heroic journey, where knights, sorcerers, monsters, and magic are used as a salve for unimaginable challenges.
Conducted by: Detroit Opera Music Director Roberto Kalb.
DETROIT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra continues its 2024-25 season with a jam-packed February.
DSO at St. Hedwig Church | Feb 12. | Free family-friendly performance in Southwest Detroit with Principal Pops Conductor Enrico Lopez-Yañez.
BIZET'S CARMEN | Feb 21 & 23 | Don’t miss this exclusive, two-night-only performance of Bizet’s Carmen, brought to life with fiery passion and gripping drama by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Jader Bignamini conducts the DSO, Audivi, the Ann Arbor Youth Chorale, and an all star cast of vocal soloists in a thrilling celebration of the music behind one of opera's most iconic masterpieces. Featuring mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges.
CLASSICAL ROOTS | Feb 28-March 1 | Acclaimed composer Jessie Montgomery is one of today’s “most distinctive and communicative voices” (BBC). Experience two of her recent masterpieces. Co-commissioned by the DSO, Snapshots brims with “glowing washes and surges of sound,” (Dallas Morning News). Her GRAMMY® Award-winning Rounds, played by virtuoso Awadagin Pratt, evokes imagery and themes from T. S. Eliot’s Four Quartets. The program also includes a performance by the Brazeal Dennard Chorale and The Oak by Florence Price, plus a world premiere by award-winning Detroit trumpeter, composer, and educator Kris Johnson entitled Marlowe's Wings: Detroit's Champion of Change, which honors the memory of late community leader Marlowe Stoudamire.
AND THAT'S THE RUNDOWN! We know this isn't a comprehensive list, so if you think there's something we missed, please reach out.
Until Next Time. Break Legs!
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