LOVE SONG |
By John Kolvenbach |
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LOVE SONG, John Kolvenbach's offbeat comedy, is the second offering of the season at Eastpointe's Broadway Onstage Live Theatre when it opens on Friday, September 9. Running Friday and Saturday evenings at 8pm and Select Sundays at 2pm through Saturday, October 8, this charming comedy is a rhapsody to the power of love in all its forms.
Select Sunday Matinees are only performed at Broadway Onstage when a prearranged group of 30 or more is scheduled to attend. Broadway Onstage Live Theatre is located at 21517 Kelly Rd. at Toepfer (8 ˝ Mile Rd.) in Eastpointe. The theatre is the home of the patented TeeVeeStage™ Presentation system, which employs cameras above the audience and monitors above the stage to provide audience members with different viewing perspectives of the live stage performance. Broadway Onstage Live Theatre is also the home of Dennis Wickline Productions, Inc., which began producing Non-Equity professional live theatre on the Eastside of Detroit in February of 1980.  LOVE SONG introduces us to Beane, a toll-booth operator. Beane is an exile from life. He is an oddball. His well-meaning sister, Joan, and brother-in-law, Harry, try and make time for him in their busy lives, but no one can get through. Following a burglary on Beane's apartment, Joan is baffled to find her brother blissfully happy and tries to unravel the story behind his mysterious new love, Molly. Molly, it seems, has unlocked the key to Beane's soul. He is happy. He is talkative. He is in love. The slight hangup to the whole situation is that Molly may not really exist. Funny, enchanting and wonderfully touching, LOVE SONG is a unique play that shouldn't be missed.The cast of LOVE SONG at Broadway Onstage is a pleasure to watch. Portraying Beane is longtime Broadway Onstage performer John Arden McClure. Mr. McClure was last seen in A MUSICAL SALUTE TO VAUDEVILLE AND BURLESQUE at the Eastpointe Theatre, as well as authoring and starring in THE PROBLEM OF CELL 13 there in January and February. Sharron Nelson takes on the role of Molly. Ms. Nelson has appeared at Broadway Onstage on numerous occasions, including A MUSICAL SALUTE TO VAUDEVILLE AND BURLESQUE, as Madame Siegfried, to close out last season. Beth Duey and Ed Schneider portray Beane's sister, Joan, and brother-in-law Harry. Ms. Duey and Mr. Schneider both appeared in THE BROADWAY ONSTAGE MURDERS last spring, and Mr. Schneider was seen as Larry Smile, the top banana, in A MUSICAL SALUTE TO VAUDEVILLE AND BURLESQUE. Elizabeth Rager completes the cast as the waitress, Liz. Ms. Rager was just seen as Madge Hudzinga in THE SEX MANIAC at Broadway Onstage and also acts as Stage Manager for the production. LOVE SONG is being directed by Dennis Wickline, Producer of all shows at the Eastpointe Theatre. Tickets for Opening Night, Friday, September 9 are $14. Tickets for all other performances are $16. Again, Broadway Onstage is located at 21517 Kelly Rd. at Toepfer (8 1/2 Mile Rd.) in Eastpointe, Michigan. Ticket Reservations are strongly recommended by calling (586) 771-6333. |
JOHN ARDEN MCCLURE (Beane) - John just stage managed THE SEX MANIAC and last spring's THE BROADWAY ONSTAGE MURDERS. He appeared as R.A.P. Blotkin in A MUSICAL SALUTE TO VAUDEVILLE AND BURLESQUE to close last season. He was seen as Professor S.F.X. Van Dusen in THE PROBLEM OF CELL 13 (which he also wrote), Sherlock Holmes in SHERLOCK HOLMES IS COMING TO DINNER, Sam in THE LAST GREAT BRITISH SEX FARCE EVER!, Warren in THE SOCIAL SECURITY MURDERS and Jeff in THE SCOTTISH PLAY here. He also portrayed Dirk in THE CRAZY TIME in the spring of 2010. John was seen as Richie in LOVERS AND OTHER STRANGERS and Mitch in MURDER AT THE HOWARD JOHNSON'S in 2009. He followed that by portraying Dr. Emrich in THE WEREWOLF OF THE FULL MOON. He took on the title roles in our closer in 2009 DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE to great acclaim. John was seen as Remnar in our 2007-2008 closer ESCANABA IN DA MOONLIGHT and was seen in our fall 2008 production of HARVEY as Mr. Wilson. He portrayed CHUCK, one of the moving men, in MIXED EMOTIONS here three seasons ago. John was also seen as Inspector Davies in SOMETHING TO HIDE, and also in A THOUSAND CLOWNS in the fall of 2007. John's first appearance on our stage was in 2005 as Charley in THE BOOK OF MURDER. Since then he has been in numerous productions here, including Charles Wellington York in 2007's SHERLOCK'S VEILED SECRET and Dr. Zubritsky in FOOLS. He has also appeared as Benny in EPIC PROPORTIONS, Reverend Chasuble in THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST, Donnie in THE FOURSOME, Charlie Dugan in APRIL, MAE AND JUNE, and Mellersh Wilton in ENCHANTED APRIL. John is a theatrical veteran, having portrayed Ranger Tom in ESCANABA IN DA MOONLIGHT, Bozidar in DEAR SANTA, and Trent in THE LAST RESORT for Starbrite Dinner Theatre. He is also a member of Grosse Pointe Theatre, having portrayed Anthony Marston in TEN LITTLE INDIANS and Kenny Norman in PROPOSALS. We welcome him back to our stage. |  |
SHARRON NELSON (Molly) - Just having appeared as Estelle in THE SEX MANIAC, Sharron also choreographed and appeared as Madame Ziegfried in A MUSICAL SALUTE TO VAUDEVILLE AND BURLESQUE to close last season. She is a theatrical veteran. She appeared as Felicia in our fall 2009 production THE WEREWOLF OF THE FULL MOON. She appeared here as Nurse Kelly in HARVEY and Miss Poppenghul in MOONLIGHT AND MAGNOLIAS in the fall of 2008. She was also seen here in the spring of 2008 in WEEKEND COMEDY (as Jill) and in the summer of 2007 as Abby in our hit comedy RED HOT MAMAS. She portrayed Sophia for us in the spring of 2007 in NEIL SIMON'S FOOLS. Sharron has appeared in a number of theatrical venues on a professional and community level. She has appeared in a number of roles for the Heidelberg Dinner Theatre, and interactive theatre on the Michigan Star Clipper and Detroit Princess. She is also quite active with Grosse Pointe Theatre, and portrayed Louise in their version of EPIC PROPORTIONS in January 2007, and was seen in their 2008 production of JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT. She was just seen in their Purdon Studio Theatre production of THE EXONERATED and has also has served on their Board of Directors. She was seen here in the spring of 2010 as Susan in THE CRAZY TIME. Sharron teaches power skating at University Liggett School and runs clinics in power skating at other arenas. She also has appeared in two independent films that are premiering soon. It's a pleasure to have her with us. Welcome back, Sharron! |  |
BETH DUEY (Joan) - Beth is a very talented lady. She appeared as Jill Joseph in last season's THE BROADWAY ONSTAGE MURDERS. She was also seen as Mrs. Bosch in our fall 2009 production THE WEREWOLF OF THE FULL MOON. Beth appeared as Elizabeth, the wife, in MURDERER to begin 2010. Beth graduated with a B.A. in Drama from the University of Michigan (Go Blue!). She is very active with professional theatre and film. Her favorite past roles include Annie Wilkes in MISERY with Barefoot Productions, Mae in REEFER MADNESS at the Ringwald Theatre, and Emilia in Paula Vogel's DESDEMONA with ReActive Productions. She also traveled to Moscow, Russia, to perform at the Chekhov International Theatre Festival. She was seen recently in MURDER ABOARD for Aboard and Abroad Productions on the Murder Mystery Train in Charlotte, Michigan. Look for her in the online sitcom, ?The LoveNest?. Additionally, Beth has worked behind the scenes as prop designer for ORPHEUS DESCENDING at the Blackbird Theatre. She is also an accomplished playwright and painter. Somehow, she even manages to find the time to run a successful business as an Avon Representative. She's been a pleasure to work with again and we hope she will perform with us many times in the future. Thanks, Beth! |  |
ED SCHNEIDER (Harry) -Ed was just seen as Larry Smile, the top banana, in our season closer A MUSICAL SALUTE TO VAUDEVILLE AND BURLESQUE as well as Jack Reed in our production of THE BROADWAY ONSTAGE MURDERS last spring. Ed is no stranger to theatre. He has been very active with theatrical companies throughout the area on a community and professional level. He was also active in theatre in school. He has been seen in a number of varied and exciting roles which all display his versatility and talent. Ed also writes and produces murder mysteries which he also appears in. He was seen as the Italian Father in THE ITALIAN WEDDING and as John Paul Ringo in THE ITALIAN WAKE. He also appeared recently as Fred in a SKOOBY DOO Murder Mystery Spoof. Welcome back, Ed! |  |
ELIZABETH RAGER (Liz, Stage Manager) - Elizabeth was just seen as Madge here in THE SEX MANIAC. She gave a memorable performance as Dorothy in last season's opener THE SOCIAL SECURITY MURDERS, and as Mrs. Hudson in SHERLOCK HOLMES IS COMING TO DINNER. She was our Stage Manager for MURDERER to begin 2010 and stage managed our 10th NUTCRACKER'S NUTS last December. She appeared as Alberta in THE NUTCRACKER'S NUTS and as Susan in our summer show LOVERS AND OTHER STRANGERS last season. She was seen in our closer two seasons ago DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE as Pauline. She was seen as Leah in our summer 2008 production of LADIES OF HARMONY. She was also seen in the 2007-2008 season closer, ESCANABA IN DA MOONLIGHT, as "Wolf Moon Dance." Elizabeth also portrayed Mrs. McGee in CORPSE! in January 2008 here at Broadway Onstage. She was also Stage Manager for ESCANABA IN DA MOONLIGHT and our fall 2007 production of A THOUSAND CLOWNS. She made her acting debut with her performance as Stella in our September/October 2007 production of SOMETHING TO HIDE. She is no stranger to the stage, peforming parody songs as part of a singing group as well as performing skits in theatre-in-the-round. She is also an able pianist, playing in a variety of venues including accompaniment for soloists and musicals. She believes her occupation as a trainer helped prepare her for the stage: "In training others, you design and present everything for learning with a little entertainment spread throughout; with theatre, you design and present everything for entertainment with a little learning spread throughout." We welcome you back, Elizabeth. |  |
DENNIS WICKLINE (Director) - Dennis portrayed Hector in THE NUTCRACKER'S NUTS here in December of 2010. He portrayed Miles in our spring 2010 comedy THE CRAZY TIME as well as appearing as Ty in THE SCOTTISH PLAY to close our 2009-2010 Season. He portrayed David O Selznick in MOONLIGHT AND MAGNOLIAS and Elwood P. Dowd in HARVEY in the fall of 2008. He was seen as Major Powell in CORPSE and Frank in WEEKEND COMEDY here in 2008. Dennis was also seen as Bradley in THE COCKTAIL HOUR in the fall of 2004, among other productions. He is the producer of all shows at Broadway Onstage. He began producing theatre in February of 1980 at Stouffer's Eastland. This season is his thirtieth of producing non-Equity professional theatre in the Detroit Metropolitan area. He is the author of a number of plays and musicals, including THE NUTCRACKER'S NUTS. He also appeared as Fagin in Grosse Pointe Theatre's 2001 production of OLIVER! and was seen as Joe Keller in their production of ALL MY SONS in March of 2005. Dennis was also seen here in the thriller THE WOMAN IN BLACK in the fall of 2002, portraying 5 separate characters. He also directed GPT's 2005 SHOWBOAT and 2008's JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT. |  |