ESR 2024 Season Tickets - Winter 2024 deals!
SUPPORT ESR FOR ALL OF 2024!
Enjoy savings through December 28th!
Purchase a season pass for 4 shows and pick your seats before the general public!
Purchase a season pass for 8 shows and not only do you get to pick your seats before the general public, you get a 5% discount!
Purchase a season pass for all 11 shows and not only do you get to pick your seats before the general public, you get a 10% discount!
Scroll to the bottom of the page for a short summary of each amazing production!
Enjoy savings through December 28th!
Purchase a season pass for 4 shows and pick your seats before the general public!
Purchase a season pass for 8 shows and not only do you get to pick your seats before the general public, you get a 5% discount!
Purchase a season pass for all 11 shows and not only do you get to pick your seats before the general public, you get a 10% discount!
Scroll to the bottom of the page for a short summary of each amazing production!
What are the shows? We're glad you asked!
FEBRUARY
Wait Until Dark
by Jeffrey Hatcher, adapted from Frederick Knott
Director: Scott Joseph
Thriller: February 2-18
Description: In 1944 Greenwich Village, Susan Hendrix, a blind yet capable woman, is imperiled by a trio of men in her own apartment. As the climax builds, Susan discovers that her blindness just might be the key to her escape, but she and her tormentors must wait until dark to play out this classic thriller's chilling conclusion.
MARCH
Lysistrata
Adapted by Ellen McLaughlin, from Aristophanes
Director: Kaylee Loxton;
Greek Comedy: March 1-17
Description: This fresh, fast-paced comedy, inspired by the Aristophanes play, follows Lysistrata, an Athenian housewife, who calls for the women of Greece to help end the Peloponnesian War. She proposes a radical plan: all Greek women must refuse to engage in love making until the men see reason, lay down their arms and come home to lay down with their wives in peace. The women agree to make the sacrifice and all hell breaks loose as men wander the country in an agony of unsatisfied lust. Will Lysistrata and her crew accomplish what the politicians could not?
Lysistrata
Adapted by Ellen McLaughlin, from Aristophanes
Director: Kaylee Loxton;
Greek Comedy: March 1-17
Description: This fresh, fast-paced comedy, inspired by the Aristophanes play, follows Lysistrata, an Athenian housewife, who calls for the women of Greece to help end the Peloponnesian War. She proposes a radical plan: all Greek women must refuse to engage in love making until the men see reason, lay down their arms and come home to lay down with their wives in peace. The women agree to make the sacrifice and all hell breaks loose as men wander the country in an agony of unsatisfied lust. Will Lysistrata and her crew accomplish what the politicians could not?
APRIL
Arcadia
by Tom Stoppard
Director: Kelli Rademacher;
Drama: April 5-21
Description: Arcadia moves back and forth between 1809 and the present at the elegant estate owned by the Coverly family. The 1809 scenes reveal a household in transition. As the Arcadian landscape is being transformed into picturesque Gothic gardens, complete with a hermitage, thirteen year-old Lady Thomasina and her tutor delve into intellectual and romantic issues. Present day scenes depict the Coverly descendants and two competing scholars who are researching a possible scandal at the estate in 1809 involving Lord Byron. This brilliant play moves smoothly between the centuries and explores the nature of truth and time, the difference between classical and romantic temperaments, and the disruptive influence of sex on our life orbits- the attraction Newton left out.
APRIL
Arcadia
by Tom Stoppard
Director: Kelli Rademacher;
Drama: April 5-21
Description: Arcadia moves back and forth between 1809 and the present at the elegant estate owned by the Coverly family. The 1809 scenes reveal a household in transition. As the Arcadian landscape is being transformed into picturesque Gothic gardens, complete with a hermitage, thirteen year-old Lady Thomasina and her tutor delve into intellectual and romantic issues. Present day scenes depict the Coverly descendants and two competing scholars who are researching a possible scandal at the estate in 1809 involving Lord Byron. This brilliant play moves smoothly between the centuries and explores the nature of truth and time, the difference between classical and romantic temperaments, and the disruptive influence of sex on our life orbits- the attraction Newton left out.
MAY
Murder on the Orient Express
by Agatha Christie, Ken Ludwig
Director: Lisa Arnett; Mentor: Regina Spain
Murder Mystery: May 3-19
Description: Just after midnight, a snowdrift stops the Orient Express in its tracks. The luxurious train is surprisingly full for the time of the year, but by the morning it is one passenger fewer. An American tycoon lies dead in his compartment, stabbed eight times, his door locked from the inside. Isolated and with a killer in their midst, the passengers rely on detective Hercule Poirot to identify the murderer – in case he or she decides to strike again.
Murder on the Orient Express
by Agatha Christie, Ken Ludwig
Director: Lisa Arnett; Mentor: Regina Spain
Murder Mystery: May 3-19
Description: Just after midnight, a snowdrift stops the Orient Express in its tracks. The luxurious train is surprisingly full for the time of the year, but by the morning it is one passenger fewer. An American tycoon lies dead in his compartment, stabbed eight times, his door locked from the inside. Isolated and with a killer in their midst, the passengers rely on detective Hercule Poirot to identify the murderer – in case he or she decides to strike again.
JUNE
Escape To Margaritaville
by Jimmy Buffet, Greg Garcia, & Mike O’Malley
Director: Regina Spain;
Music Director: Cullen Williard; Choreographer: Emilee Caughel
Musical Adventure: June 7-23
Description: Jimmy Buffett’s Escape to Margaritaville is a musical comedy featuring the most-loved Jimmy Buffett classics, including “Cheeseburger in Paradise”, “Margaritaville,” “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere,” “Fins,” “Volcano,” and many more. With a book by Emmy Award winner Greg Garcia (“My Name is Earl,” “Raising Hope”) and Emmy nominee Mike O’Malley (“Survivor’s Remorse,” “Shameless”), this hilarious, heartwarming musical is the party you’ve been waiting for!
JUNE
Escape To Margaritaville
by Jimmy Buffet, Greg Garcia, & Mike O’Malley
Director: Regina Spain;
Music Director: Cullen Williard; Choreographer: Emilee Caughel
Musical Adventure: June 7-23
Description: Jimmy Buffett’s Escape to Margaritaville is a musical comedy featuring the most-loved Jimmy Buffett classics, including “Cheeseburger in Paradise”, “Margaritaville,” “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere,” “Fins,” “Volcano,” and many more. With a book by Emmy Award winner Greg Garcia (“My Name is Earl,” “Raising Hope”) and Emmy nominee Mike O’Malley (“Survivor’s Remorse,” “Shameless”), this hilarious, heartwarming musical is the party you’ve been waiting for!
JULY
New Leaders Production TBD
Director: TBD- New Leaders
July 5-21
Description: Our New Leaders Council is funded in part by a grant from the Michigan Arts and Culture Council. Our new leaders (age 14 to 30) will choose the title they want to produce and pull together to learn the ropes of how a show goes from idea all the way to the stage! The key tenant of the grant, the new leaders need to make all of the important decisions that shape the show. Last year's new leaders council set a high bar with their amazing production of Little Shop of Horrors. We can't wait to see what our 22024 group does next!
New Leaders Production TBD
Director: TBD- New Leaders
July 5-21
Description: Our New Leaders Council is funded in part by a grant from the Michigan Arts and Culture Council. Our new leaders (age 14 to 30) will choose the title they want to produce and pull together to learn the ropes of how a show goes from idea all the way to the stage! The key tenant of the grant, the new leaders need to make all of the important decisions that shape the show. Last year's new leaders council set a high bar with their amazing production of Little Shop of Horrors. We can't wait to see what our 22024 group does next!
AUGUST
Will On the Water: Much Ado About Nothing
by William Shakespeare
Director: Regina Spain;
Comedy: August 2-18
Description: “Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more” goes a line in Much Ado, and in a good production, you will find yourself sighing—as well as laughing plenty, too. People have been asking us to do this one and it has it all: sexual tension, flirtation, verbal zingers and amusing clowns. The beautifully drawn love-hate relationship between tart-tongued Beatrice and blustery, confirmed bachelor Benedick plus another plot, which hinges on an elaborate scheme of deception and vicious shaming. Much Ado inspires belly laughs and romantic sparks—often at the same time.
Will On the Water: Much Ado About Nothing
by William Shakespeare
Director: Regina Spain;
Comedy: August 2-18
Description: “Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more” goes a line in Much Ado, and in a good production, you will find yourself sighing—as well as laughing plenty, too. People have been asking us to do this one and it has it all: sexual tension, flirtation, verbal zingers and amusing clowns. The beautifully drawn love-hate relationship between tart-tongued Beatrice and blustery, confirmed bachelor Benedick plus another plot, which hinges on an elaborate scheme of deception and vicious shaming. Much Ado inspires belly laughs and romantic sparks—often at the same time.
SEPTEMBER
The Mad Ones
by Kait Kerrington & Bree Lowdermilk
Director: Samantha Jex; Music Director: TBA
Musical: September 6-22
Description: Mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved... 18-year-old Samantha Brown sits in a hand-me-down car with the keys clutched in her hand. Caught between a yearning for the unknown and feeling bound by expectation, she telescopes back to a time before her world had fallen apart. As she relives her senior year, we meet Sam’s well-intentioned helicopter mother Bev and her high school sweetheart of a boyfriend Adam, but it’s her painfully alive best friend Kelly that haunts her. Kelly was everything Sam is not – impetuous and daring. She pushed Sam to break rules and do the unexpected. When Kelly is killed in a car wreck, Sam loses not only her best friend but also the part of herself that was learning to be brave. Now, Sam has to make a decision: Will she follow her mother’s dreams for her, or will she summon the courage to drive away from her friends and family into a future she can’t imagine?
The Mad Ones
by Kait Kerrington & Bree Lowdermilk
Director: Samantha Jex; Music Director: TBA
Musical: September 6-22
Description: Mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved... 18-year-old Samantha Brown sits in a hand-me-down car with the keys clutched in her hand. Caught between a yearning for the unknown and feeling bound by expectation, she telescopes back to a time before her world had fallen apart. As she relives her senior year, we meet Sam’s well-intentioned helicopter mother Bev and her high school sweetheart of a boyfriend Adam, but it’s her painfully alive best friend Kelly that haunts her. Kelly was everything Sam is not – impetuous and daring. She pushed Sam to break rules and do the unexpected. When Kelly is killed in a car wreck, Sam loses not only her best friend but also the part of herself that was learning to be brave. Now, Sam has to make a decision: Will she follow her mother’s dreams for her, or will she summon the courage to drive away from her friends and family into a future she can’t imagine?
OCTOBER
Legends of the Hollow
by Erilee Lowe, Local Playwright
Director: Erilee Lowe
Thriller: October 4-20
Description: Ichabod Crane is a Yankee schoolteacher who lives in Sleepy Hollow, a Dutch enclave on the Hudson River. A suggestible man, Crane listens to the ghost stories and tales of witchcraft he has heard and read. He is particularly impressed by the tale of a spectral headless horseman said to haunt the area. Crane also wishes to court Katrina Van Tassel, mostly because she is the daughter of a rich farmer and is expected to receive a large inheritance. Abraham Van Brunt is Crane’s jealous rival, a local favorite and a rash horseman who often plays tricks on the schoolmaster. Late one night as Ichabod Crane rides home from a party at Katrina’s home, he is suddenly frightened by a ghostlike headless horseman. The ghost pursues him and well… You’ll have to see the show to find out the rest!
Legends of the Hollow
by Erilee Lowe, Local Playwright
Director: Erilee Lowe
Thriller: October 4-20
Description: Ichabod Crane is a Yankee schoolteacher who lives in Sleepy Hollow, a Dutch enclave on the Hudson River. A suggestible man, Crane listens to the ghost stories and tales of witchcraft he has heard and read. He is particularly impressed by the tale of a spectral headless horseman said to haunt the area. Crane also wishes to court Katrina Van Tassel, mostly because she is the daughter of a rich farmer and is expected to receive a large inheritance. Abraham Van Brunt is Crane’s jealous rival, a local favorite and a rash horseman who often plays tricks on the schoolmaster. Late one night as Ichabod Crane rides home from a party at Katrina’s home, he is suddenly frightened by a ghostlike headless horseman. The ghost pursues him and well… You’ll have to see the show to find out the rest!
NOVEMBER
Traveler in the Dark
by Marsha Dorman
Director: Stewart Reed
Drama: November 1-10
Description: A brilliant surgeon and cancer researcher, Sam basks in the aura of success and adulation that his career has brought him. But suddenly his world is shattered when his longtime nurse and confidant, Mavis, dies on the operating table because he failed to detect the seriousness of her condition in time.
DECEMBER
A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas
by Michael Wilson, Adapted from Charles Dickens
Director: Regina Spain
Holiday Drama: December 6-22
Description: Great for ALL AGES! This theatrical and spirited version of A Christmas Carol puts the phantasmagoric qualities of Charles Dickens’ classic tale center stage. A swirling chorus of ghost that weave through this uplifting holiday story of redemption, magic and hope. The play has been performed for almost a million people over the years on stages across the nation.
DECEMBER
A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas
by Michael Wilson, Adapted from Charles Dickens
Director: Regina Spain
Holiday Drama: December 6-22
Description: Great for ALL AGES! This theatrical and spirited version of A Christmas Carol puts the phantasmagoric qualities of Charles Dickens’ classic tale center stage. A swirling chorus of ghost that weave through this uplifting holiday story of redemption, magic and hope. The play has been performed for almost a million people over the years on stages across the nation.