Silly. Goofy. Fun: 'Nain Rouge' at Slipstream

After a handful of more serious fare, Ferndale's Slipstream Theatre Initiative jumps into spring with Nain Rouge, a delightfully wacky French farce (with a Detroit twist). It's the night of a popular Detroit festival, and many of Slipstream's most popular performers join in the comings and goings at a hotel owned by the lovely, yet quirky Marguerite Lamerthier (Luna Alexander), whose suitors are just as daffy as she is. The same applies to her staff and other visitors as well, all of whom cross paths on this rather unusual night of celebration, romance and intrigue.

Director Bailey Boudreau's adaptation of La Mi-Careme contains all of the usual tropes one would expect of a farce - from improbable situations to horseplay, and stereotypes to exaggeration, with a bit of naughtiness tossed in to keep things interesting - and his merry gang of mirth makers are at their finest bringing them to life.

Memorable characters and moments are a plenty - a running gag about the doorbell is especially well conceived and executed - and to highlight a few does a disservice to the entire cast. However, Alexander's very physical and sexy Marguerite, Ryan Ernst's self-absorbed Boislambert, Steve Xander Carson's two-headed Baron de Moranchet, and Jackson Abohasira's ability to play "Everyone Else" with a certain "wink-wink, nod-nod, we all know it's the same guy underneath the costume" all deserve acknowledgement.

But it's Mandy Logsdon who truly stands out. Every entrance she makes as Madame Paponnet (of the Grosse Point Park Paponnets) sucks the air out of the room, and she makes the most of it. (An improvised conversation upon her initial entrance with audience member Mary of St. Clair Shores set the tone for what became a truly wonderful performance.)

And yes, there is some audience participation in the show (Amy Cassell as Mitaine works the room quite well); and there is even a raffle, so bring a few bucks to have a chance at winning season tickets.

The Bottom Line: So while Shakespeare this ain't, Nain Rouge is a highly entertaining and very creative night at the theater that will leave a smile on your face for hours afterward.

Nain Rouge runs through April 16. Performance details can be found here.

The times they are a-changing (again): My announcement regarding EncoreMichigan.com and The Wilde Awards

My last shot at hosting The Wilde Awards!
photo by Sean Carter

This announcement was sent to the management teams of the state's professional theaters early this afternoon.

* * * * * * * * * *

For some of you, this will sound familiar, but effective October 1, I will no longer be part of the editorial and management teams of EncoreMichigan.com.

As many of you may recall, I initially retired from both EncoreMichigan.com and Pride Source Media Group in December 2014 because of health issues. But when David Kiley assumed ownership of EncoreMichigan.com in March 2015, he asked that I return in a part-time capacity to help him navigate the business and the community. It’s now 18 months later, and I think it’s time for David to fully grab the reins and take the company where he sees fit without having a personal Jiminy Critic whispering such things as “Are you sure you want to do that?” and “This is why we’ve always done it this way” in his ear.

What most people don’t understand is this: Much of the funding to keep EncoreMichigan.com going is coming from David’s personal bank account. And so I believe it’s time for him to get the kudos he deserves for the significant investment he’s making in the community without having me overshadow his accomplishments (something I was reminded of at this year’s Wilde Awards).

So does this mean I’m retreating into the darkness, never to be heard from again? Oh, heck no!

Although I plan to take some time away from the theater community to focus on long-neglected personal projects and a close friend’s campaign for political office (if you’re a Wayne County resident and honesty and integrity matter to you, I urge you to vote for Kelly Ann Ramsey for Circuit Court judge), I plan to continue working as a freelance journalist for various local outlets, and I’ve told David that once his budget can afford to add interviews and feature stories to the mix, I’ll gladly return once or twice a week with my once-popular series, “A Few Minute With…” And as time and interest allow, I’ll gladly assist with special projects that arise for which he asks for my help (or that I suggest we tackle).

Plus, there are a couple of theater-related projects I’ve been talking about for a handful of years that might finally get some traction – and I’m working on a brand NEW theater-related project that might be of interest to you, which COULD be announced sometime over the next month or so. Keep watching my blog for more information (http://crankycritic2.blogspot.com). (A few details still need to be worked out.)

Then there’s The Wilde Awards. Although it wasn’t publicly announced, I decided last year to step away as producer and host of the annual ceremony because I believe it’s time for others to step in and reinvigorate the show. And so David took on the full producing responsibilities this year, while this was my last as writer and host.

However, since I feel it’s important that consistent management should be maintained to ensure the integrity of the process that determines each year’s nominations and winners, David has appointed me executive director of The Wilde Awards. My sole functions will be to manage the nominations process (a year-long responsibility), oversee the event’s media relations, and maintain the awards’ history, which we’ll begin posting on EncoreMichigan.com and my blog over the next several weeks.

And although I don’t plan to review shows for EncoreMichigan.com in the near future (except to help out when schedule conflicts occur), I’ve also agreed to serve as a “second set of eyes” on shows the critics or others believe may deserve a potential Wilde Awards nomination. (You’ll hear more about that soon.)

Obviously, then, my departure from the media company side of the business doesn’t mean you’ll finally be rid of me. (No such luck!) However, I do want to publicly acknowledge at this time the fact that I’ve enjoyed working with all of you in my editorial capacity. Although our community can at times be a fractious one, our theaters are managed and staffed by amazing individuals who all have one common goal – and that’s to produce great theater. And they do. Consistently.

And so it’s been my pleasure to work with you to help spread the good news as far and wide as I possibly could. And I look forward to continuing our relationship as my future endeavors (and second eye visits) cause us to cross paths yet again down the road.

Don

A Look Back in Time (Part 2): Review Stats - 2001 through August 2016

"Red, White and Tuna" at Augusta's Barn Theatre
was the final review included in this study.

Although I retired from Between The Lines and EncoreMichigan.com in December 2014, reviews continued to appear courtesy of a handful of others who took over managing the process for EncoreMichigan.com. Then, three months later I returned to semi-active duty to help the new owner of the company become familiar with the community and his team of critics.

Although I'm not totally convinced some of the 2015 data is 100-percent correct (since data collection wasn't a primary concern to folks trying to learn the various systems and making sure everything that needed to be covered got covered), I've been able to update the information from Part 1 to reflect our review activity through August 2016 with a fairly high degree of accuracy.

And so for you data and theater history lovers out there, here we go!

Review Statistics: October 2001 through August 2016

Once again, let's start with the total number of reviews during the above-identified period. And as you might expect, the data is the same through 2014. But notice the growth in 2015, which was a record-breaking year for the company. And 2016 will likely break yet another record.

		Year	Reviews
1		2001	10
2		2002	54
3		2003	72
4		2004	97
5		2005	99
6		2006	90
7		2007	119
8		2008	103
9		2009	116
10		2010	164
11		2011	210
12		2012	187
13		2013	178
14		2014	201
15		2015	229
16		2016	180
			2109

Now let's take a look at the data broken down by critic, ranked by number of reviews per critic. As you'll see, the number of critics expanded greatly in order to cover the increased number of reviews throughout the state. And once again, please note the totals don't match, as a handful of reviews of BoxFest Detroit over the years required the services of multiple critics.

You'll also see I slowed down a bit as a critic.

		Critic	#	%
1		Calamia	625	29.59%
2		Quinn	389	18.42%
3		Redman	254	12.03%
4		Blackburn	124	5.87%
5		Kohn	115	5.45%
6		Hayes-Harmer	82	3.88%
7		Kiley	78	3.69%
8		McKee	70	3.31%
9		Bethune	69	3.27%
10		Casadei	45	2.13%
11		Margolin	45	2.13%
12		Heinritz	44	2.08%
13		Merrell	42	1.99%
14		Rubens	41	1.94%
15		Polito	26	1.23%
16		Gazdik	22	1.04%
17		Parrent	21	0.99%
18		Bradley	11	0.52%
19		Emmott	5	0.24%
20		Kennedy	2	0.09%
21		Knightstep	1	0.05%
22		Nolan	1	0.05%
			2112	100.00%

Next is the list of theaters we reviewed during this period and the number of times we visited each. You'll notice the total number of theaters grew by 22, which reflects a significant growth in the number of new professional theaters across the state (primarily in Southeast Michigan).

Once again, this list is sorted alphabetically so that the reader can easily find their favorite theaters.

		Presenter / Producer	#
1		1515 Broadway	5
2		4Theatre Sake	1
3		7th Heaven	1
4		8th Wonder Theatre	1
5		A Host of People	1
6		About Face Theatre	1
7		African Renaissance Theater of Detroit	5
8		AM Productions	1
9		Andiamo Novi Theatre	15
10		Arbor Opera Theater	2
11		Bailiwick Repertory Theatre	1
12		Barn Theatre	32
13		Blackbird Theatre	32
14		BMA Inc	1
15		BoarsHead Theater	38
16		BoxFest Detroit	6
17		Breathe Art Theatre Project	19
18		Broadway Grand Rapids	9
19		Broadway in Detroit: Detroit Opera House	12
20		Broadway in Detroit: Fisher Theatre	84
21		Broadway in Detroit: Masonic Temple	8
22		Broadway Onstage Live Theatre	28
23		Capital TheaterWorks	3
24		Center Stage Entertainment	1
25		Cornwell's Dinner Theatre	10
26		Detroit Actors Guild Productions	1
27		Detroit Ensemble Theatre	17
28		Detroit Public Theatre	4
29		Detroit Repertory Theatre	49
30		Ellipsis Theatre	1
31		Epicenter Theatre Group	3
32		Evelyn Orbach Productions	1
33		Face Off Theatre	1
34		Farmers Alley Theatre	45
35		Five Cents Short	1
36		Flanders Theater Company	4
37		Flint Youth Theatre	11
38		Fratellanza	1
39		Front Row Productions	1
40		Gem & Century Theatres	30
41		GEM Theatrics	1
42		George Productions	1
43		Go Comedy! Improv Theater	57
44		Great Escape Stage Company	13
45		Henry Ford College's Virtual Theatricality Lab	1
46		Hilberry Theatre	97
47		Hole in the Wall Theatre Company	1
48		Hope Summer Repertory Theatre	37
49		Improv Inferno	8
50		Interlochen Shakespeare Festival	2
51		Ixion	9
52		Khoros, Inc.	1
53		Kickshaw Theatre	1
54		Lakeside Shakespeare Theatre	2
55		LCC Theatre	1
56		Macomb Center for the Performing Arts	1
57		Magenta Giraffe Theatre Company	16
58		Mason Street Warehouse	23
59		Matrix Theatre Company	25
60		Meadow Brook Theatre	89
61		Michigan Actors Studio	3
62		Michigan Opera Theatre	28
63		Michigan Shakespeare Festival	32
64		Miller Auditorium	4
65		Mind the Gap Productions	1
66		Mixed Company Troupe	1
67		Monster Box Theatre	3
68		Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit	1
69		Motoprism	1
70		Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts	2
71		Nerve	2
72		New York Dinner Theater	1
73		Nieto Productions	3
74		NoSuch Group	1
75		Olympia Entertainment & The Ringwald	1
76		Olympia Entertainment: City Theatre	28
77		Olympia Entertainment: Fox Theatre	16
78		Olympia Entertainment: Joe Louis Arena	2
79		Open Book Theatre Company	9
80		Opera Grand Rapids	1
81		Outvisible Theatre Company	2
82		Palace of Auburn Hills	1
83		PAPA Weeze	1
84		Parallel 45 Theatre	1
85		Performance Network Theatre	85
86		Phases Theatre Company	2
87		Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company	20
88		Planet Ant Theatre	128
89		Play with Your Food Dinner Theatre	1
90		Plowshares Theatre Company	21
91		PuppetART	7
92		Puzzle Piece Theatre	8
93		Riverbank Theatre	10
94		Shakespeare in Detroit	5
95		Shop Floor Theatre Company	1
96		Slipstream Theatre Initiative	15
97		Spinning Dot Theatre	2
98		StarBrite Theatrical Productions	20
99		Stark Turn Players	2
100		Stormfield Theatre	8
101		Stratford Shakespeare Festival	12
102		Summer Circle Theatre	15
103		The Abreact	43
104		The Acorn Theater	1
105		The Actors' Company	3
106		The AKT Theatre Project	6
107		The American Shakespeare Collective Theatre Project	1
108		The Bach Dor Shakespeare Company	1
109		The Box Theater	26
110		The Detroit Actor's Theatre Company	2
111		The Dio - Dining & Entertainment / Dionysus Theatre	19
112		The Elizabeth Theater Company / Park Bar Theater	6
113		The Encore Musical Theatre Company	42
114		The Hinterlands	2
115		The Jewish Ensemble Theatre Company	70
116		The Last Word LLC	1
117		The Music Box at The Max / Detroit Symphony Orchestra	1
118		The New Theatre Project	8
119		The Penny Seats Theatre Company	6
120		The Phoenix Players	1
121		The Purple Rose Theatre Company	56
122		The Ringwald Theatre / Who Wants Cake? Theatre	92
123		The Second City - Detroit	24
124		The Snug Theatre	20
125		Theatre 1	1
126		Theatre Nova	10
127		Thick Knot Rhythm Ensemble	3
128		Threefold Productions	3
129		Thunder Bay Theatre	2
130		Tibbits Opera House / Tibbits Summer Theatre	35
131		Tipping Point Theatre	45
132		TNT Productions	3
133		Torch With a Twist	1
134		Two Muses Theatre	18
135		UDM Theatre Company	40
136		Uncovered Theatre Company	1
137		University Musical Society	7
138		Van Buren Street Theatre	1
139		Walk & Squawk Performance Project	3
140		Water Works Theatre Company	12
141		West End Productions	1
142		Wharton Center for the Performing Arts	20
143		What A Do  Theatre	21
144		Wild Swan Theater	8
145		Williamston Theatre	56
146		Y-Arts Detroit	1
147		Zeitgeist Theatre	6
			2109

Today's final chart is the same as the one directly above, except it's sorted by the number of times we reviewed each theater. Notice any differences in the Top 5 theaters from last time? The Top 10?

		Presenter / Producer	#
1		Planet Ant Theatre	128
2		Hilberry Theatre	97
3		The Ringwald Theatre / Who Wants Cake? Theatre	92
4		Meadow Brook Theatre	89
5		Performance Network Theatre	85
6		Broadway in Detroit: Fisher Theatre	84
7		The Jewish Ensemble Theatre Company	70
8		Go Comedy! Improv Theater	57
9		The Purple Rose Theatre Company	56
10		Williamston Theatre	56
11		Detroit Repertory Theatre	49
12		Farmers Alley Theatre	45
13		Tipping Point Theatre	45
14		The Abreact	43
15		The Encore Musical Theatre Company	42
16		UDM Theatre Company	40
17		BoarsHead Theater	38
18		Hope Summer Repertory Theatre	37
19		Tibbits Opera House / Tibbits Summer Theatre	35
20		Barn Theatre	32
21		Blackbird Theatre	32
22		Michigan Shakespeare Festival	32
23		Gem & Century Theatres	30
24		Broadway Onstage Live Theatre	28
25		Michigan Opera Theatre	28
26		Olympia Entertainment: City Theatre	28
27		The Box Theater	26
28		Matrix Theatre Company	25
29		The Second City - Detroit	24
30		Mason Street Warehouse	23
31		Plowshares Theatre Company	21
32		What A Do  Theatre	21
33		Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company	20
34		StarBrite Theatrical Productions	20
35		The Snug Theatre	20
36		Wharton Center for the Performing Arts	20
37		Breathe Art Theatre Project	19
38		The Dio - Dining & Entertainment / Dionysus Theatre	19
39		Two Muses Theatre	18
40		Detroit Ensemble Theatre	17
41		Magenta Giraffe Theatre Company	16
42		Olympia Entertainment: Fox Theatre	16
43		Andiamo Novi Theatre	15
44		Slipstream Theatre Initiative	15
45		Summer Circle Theatre	15
46		Great Escape Stage Company	13
47		Broadway in Detroit: Detroit Opera House	12
48		Stratford Shakespeare Festival	12
49		Water Works Theatre Company	12
50		Flint Youth Theatre	11
51		Cornwell's Dinner Theatre	10
52		Riverbank Theatre	10
53		Theatre Nova	10
54		Broadway Grand Rapids	9
55		Ixion	9
56		Open Book Theatre Company	9
57		Broadway in Detroit: Masonic Temple	8
58		Improv Inferno	8
59		Puzzle Piece Theatre	8
60		Stormfield Theatre	8
61		The New Theatre Project	8
62		Wild Swan Theater	8
63		PuppetART	7
64		University Musical Society	7
65		BoxFest Detroit	6
66		The AKT Theatre Project	6
67		The Elizabeth Theater Company / Park Bar Theater	6
68		The Penny Seats Theatre Company	6
69		Zeitgeist Theatre	6
70		1515 Broadway	5
71		African Renaissance Theater of Detroit	5
72		Shakespeare in Detroit	5
73		Detroit Public Theatre	4
74		Flanders Theater Company	4
75		Miller Auditorium	4
76		Capital TheaterWorks	3
77		Epicenter Theatre Group	3
78		Michigan Actors Studio	3
79		Monster Box Theatre	3
80		Nieto Productions	3
81		The Actors' Company	3
82		Thick Knot Rhythm Ensemble	3
83		Threefold Productions	3
84		TNT Productions	3
85		Walk & Squawk Performance Project	3
86		Arbor Opera Theater	2
87		Interlochen Shakespeare Festival	2
88		Lakeside Shakespeare Theatre	2
89		Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts	2
90		Nerve	2
91		Olympia Entertainment: Joe Louis Arena	2
92		Outvisible Theatre Company	2
93		Phases Theatre Company	2
94		Spinning Dot Theatre	2
95		Stark Turn Players	2
96		The Detroit Actor's Theatre Company	2
97		The Hinterlands	2
98		Thunder Bay Theatre	2
99		4Theatre Sake	1
100		7th Heaven	1
101		8th Wonder Theatre	1
102		A Host of People	1
103		About Face Theatre	1
104		AM Productions	1
105		Bailiwick Repertory Theatre	1
106		BMA Inc	1
107		Center Stage Entertainment	1
108		Detroit Actors Guild Productions	1
109		Ellipsis Theatre	1
110		Evelyn Orbach Productions	1
111		Face Off Theatre	1
112		Five Cents Short	1
113		Fratellanza	1
114		Front Row Productions	1
115		GEM Theatrics	1
116		George Productions	1
117		Henry Ford College's Virtual Theatricality Lab	1
118		Hole in the Wall Theatre Company	1
119		Khoros, Inc.	1
120		Kickshaw Theatre	1
121		LCC Theatre	1
122		Macomb Center for the Performing Arts	1
123		Mind the Gap Productions	1
124		Mixed Company Troupe	1
125		Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit	1
126		Motoprism	1
127		New York Dinner Theater	1
128		NoSuch Group	1
129		Olympia Entertainment & The Ringwald	1
130		Opera Grand Rapids	1
131		Palace of Auburn Hills	1
132		PAPA Weeze	1
133		Parallel 45 Theatre	1
134		Play with Your Food Dinner Theatre	1
135		Shop Floor Theatre Company	1
136		The Acorn Theater	1
137		The American Shakespeare Collective Theatre Project	1
138		The Bach Dor Shakespeare Company	1
139		The Last Word LLC	1
140		The Music Box at The Max / Detroit Symphony Orchestra	1
141		The Phoenix Players	1
142		Theatre 1	1
143		Torch With a Twist	1
144		Uncovered Theatre Company	1
145		Van Buren Street Theatre	1
146		West End Productions	1
147		Y-Arts Detroit	1
			2109

There's more to come soon!