THE SCOTTISH PLAY, a world premiere comedy production by local author Edward J. Thomas, is the closing production of the 16th Season at Eastpointe's Broadway Onstage Live Theatre. Opening on Friday, April 16 and running Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm and Select Sundays at 2pm through Saturday, May 15, the bright comedy tells the story of an obscure community theatre that hires a has-been professional director to stage a production of MACBETH.
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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. It 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. |  |
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THE SCOTTISH PLAY tells the story of Ty Berangham, a has-been professional theatrical director, who has been hired to stage a production of MACBETH for an out-of-the-way community theatre. Kevin, an old friend of Ty's from Julliard, has recommended Ty to the group and Kevin is cast as Macbeth. Unfortunately, there are not very many active actors in this theatre company and the group is attempting to stage MACBETH with the five actors who auditioned. Ty's drinking; the lack of talent in the production company, and Kevin's penchant for breaking into ROMEO AND JULIET at every possible moment and THE SCOTTISH PLAY becomes a hilarious view of what it's like to be a part of a struggling theatrical production. Add to that the superstitious nature of Lydia, portraying Lady Macbeth, who is afraid for anyone to even mention the word "MACBETH" because of disasters that have befallen productions in the past, Collette who is jealous of Lydia and tries to hit on every man in the cast, and the rest of the rag tag group that is assembled to attempt the production and THE SCOTTISH PLAY is a jewel of comic story telling. |
The cast of THE SCOTTISH PLAY at Broadway Onstage is exceptional. Portraying Ty is Broadway Onstage producer Dennis Wickline. Mr. Wickline is the producer of all productions at Broadway Onstage and was last seen there as Miles in the just completed production of THE CRAZY TIME. Rick Mason, a veteran of many productions on a professional and community level, takes on the role of Kevin. Maureen Cook, very active with Birmingham Village Players, will be seen as Lydia, the actress chosen to portray Lady Macbeth. Christy Cannon will be seen as Collette, the coquette. The cast is completed with Don Couture as Al, Charley "Chip" Davis as Stu, and Broadway Onstage favorite John Arden McClure as the Stage Manager, Jeff. Dennis Wickline also acts as Director of the production.
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Tickets for Opening Night Friday, April 16 are $14. Tickets for all other performances are $16. Group Rates and Performances are available. Again, Broadway Onstage is located at 21517 Kelly Rd. at
Toepfer (8 1/2 Mile Rd.) in Eastpointe, Michigan. Ticket Reservations are recommended by calling (586) 771-6333.
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RICK MASON (Kevin) - This is Rick's first performance for our company, but he has a list of credits as extensive as his talents. He was very active with Kalamazoo Civic Players before moving to the Detroit area. He is now very involved with Grosse Pointe Theatre and Fine Arts Society of Detroit. Rick was seen as Jack Jerome in Grosse Pointe Theatre's production of BRIGHTON BEACH MEMOIRS several seasons ago. He was also seen as John Smith in GPT's recent production of RUN FOR YOUR WIFE, as well as appearing as Greg in their recently completed production of SYLVIA. In addition, Rick portrayed Kris Kringle in Fine Arts' production of MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET in 2008 among many other roles he has performed to great acclaim. He has also been seen in a number of commercials and industrial films. We're very happy to have him with us and hope that this is the first of many productions for our company. Welcome, Rick! |  |
DENNIS WICKLINE (Ty, Director) - Dennis just portrayed Miles in our just completed comedy THE CRAZY TIME. 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 portrayed Marc in ART and Weller Martin in THE GIN GAME here at Broadway Onstage three seasons ago. He was seen as Henry in THE BOOK OF MURDER in the winter of 2005, as Bradley in THE COCKTAIL HOUR in the fall of 2004. 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 twenty-eighth 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. Dennis portrayed Vernon in THEY'RE PLAYING OUR SONG in the spring of 2000 here, and portrayed Herbert Bracewell in THE RETURN OF HERBERT BRACEWELL in 2001. 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. |  |
MAUREEN COOK (Lydia) - Maureen is a woman with a wealth of talent and experience. She portrayed Miss Cunningham for us two seasons ago in SOMETHING TO HIDE. She is a theatrical veteran with a wealth of experience. She has portrayed a number of varied and exciting roles, including Miss Tweed in SOMETHING'S AFOOT, Miss Marple in MURDER AT THE VICARAGE and Madame Armfeldt in A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC,among many others. She has also been seen as Matron Mama Morton in CHICAGO and as Madame De Rosemonde in LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSE. Very active with Birmingham Village Players, she just completed producing ASSASSINS there. It is a great pleasure to have her back on our stage. Welcome back, Maureen! |  |
DONALD COUTURE (Al) - Don portrayed Mr. Utterson in last season's closer DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE. It was his first role after a twenty-six year absence from performing. It was a great performance. He comes to us with a true love for the theatre as his talents can attest. He performed a number of varied roles in his younger days. Don is also a skilled woodworker, and created our "Welcome to Broadway Onstage" greeting sign at the entrance of our theatre. It's always a pleaure to work with him and we hope to do so again in the very near future. Thanks and welcome back, Don! |  |
CHRISTY CANNON (Collette) - Christy was trained at UCLA where she also performed in a number of productions. She was seen as Milky White in INTO THE WOODS and Sarah Good in THE CRUCIBLE there. Christy also actually portrayed the First Witch in the Ethos Theatre Company's production of MACBETH. You will understand why this is mentioned when you see tonight's performance. She has also done Voice Over work and has appeared in a number of Motion Pictures and Videos. Christy is also an accomplished Stage Manager and has performed that role for the Ark Theatre Company. We're very happy to have her lend her considerable talents to THE SCOTTISH PLAY. Thanks for everything, Christy! |  |
CHARLEY "CHIP" DAVIS (Stu) - Another newcomer to our stage, Chip has a wealth of experience in other venues. He is a longtime member of both Fine Arts Society of Detroit and Grosse Pointe Theatre and is a Past President of Fine Arts 2007-2008. He has been seen in a number of exciting and varied roles. He was Brutus in JULIUS CAESER at Wabash College in 1990. He was recently seen as George Noonan in Jeff Daniels' THE VAST DIFFERENCE for Fine Arts. Chip has also been seen on a number of occasions at Grosse Pointe Theatre. He was Frank Lubey in their production of ALL MY SONS in 2005, and portrayed Albert Kramer in their 2005 production of DEAR RUTH. He has also been see in local films, including one of the InZero episodes for When Thoughts Collide Productions. It is great to have Chip with us and we hope he'll be back again. Thanks, Chip! |  |
JOHN ARDEN MCCLURE (Jeff) - John was just seen as Jeff in THE CRAZY TIME here. He was seen as Richie in LOVERS AND OTHER STRANGERS and Mitch in MURDER AT THE HOWARD JOHNSON'S earlier this season. He followed that by portraying Dr. Emrich in THE WEREWOLF OF THE FULL MOON. He took on the title roles in last season's closer 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 last spring. 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. |  |
ED THOMAS (Author) - Ed has written three productions that have been premiered here at Broadway Onstage, including tonight's. He authored ALL'S WELL IN 804 that was presented here in 2003, as well as APRIL MAE, AND JUNE which was premiered here in 2006. Ed also appeared as Harry Lambert in that production and Ted in THE FOURSOME that same season. Ed was seen here in MY DAUGHTER'S RATED "X"(as Cliff) in the summer of 2005. He was also seen in the spring of 2005 in EPIC PROPORTIONS (as Phil)and THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST (as Algernon). Ed appeared in 2003's summer production UNDER THE YUM YUM TREE. Ed was also seen as Captain Faragut in our world premiere musical 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA in the spring of 2003. He was seen as Ron, the biker in our production CANDY AND SHELLY GO TO THE DESERT, also in 2003. He appeared on a number of occasions at Dave and Buster's Mystery Theatre. Ed is very active with Grosse Pointe Theatre and appeared as Jack in their CHARLEY'S AUNT several seasons ago, and portrayed Ray in Neil Simon's PROPOSALS for GPT in the spring of 2003. He has created a number of memorable theatrical scripts and is an award winner of the Community Theatre Association of Michigan's annual playwrighting contest, and several national contests. His WORKING STIFFS was premiered by Stagecrafters in 2007. Congratulations, Ed! |  |
