Meadow Brook Theatre Announces 52nd Season

Meadow Brook Theatre is proud to announce its 2017-2018 season. The 52nd season promises to please with a Broadway preview, three joyous musicals and four Michigan premieres! The regular season gets underway in September and features a sure-to-please line-up of seven productions. The Meadow Brook Theatre box office is now open for season tickets and Flex-Tix for the 2017-2018 season.

The season opens September 6 with the Broadway preview of the musical Johnny Manhattan, book and lyrics by Tony award winner Robert Lorick (The Tap Dance Kid) and music by Dan Goggin (The Nunsense Musicals). An exciting new musical set in a New York City nightclub when places like the Copacabana, The Latin Quarter and El Morroco were filled with socialites and glamorous showgirls. It's the early 1960s and Johnny, the owner of Johnny Manhattan's has invited his closest friends to a private party for a surprise announcement. Unexpected surprises abound as relationships clash and secrets are revealed. Don't miss this preview at Meadow Brook prior to opening on Broadway!

October 4 brings the premiere of Rochester's Hilarious WhoDunIt, Shear Madness by Paul Pörtner, This unique comedy-whodunit takes place today in the "Shear Madness" hair salon and is chock full of up-to-the minute spontaneous humor. During the course of the action, a murder is committed and the audience gets to spot the clues, question the suspects, and solve the funniest mystery in the annals of crime. The outcome is never the same, which is why many audience members return again and again to the scene of the mayhem.

November marks the 36th annual holiday production of A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, adaption and original staging by Charles Nolte, running November 10 through December 24, 2017. Though not part of the season, subscribers to the MBT season receive a 20% discount for tickets to A Christmas Carol.

January 10 through February 4, 2018, MBT brings audiences Nana's Naughty Knickers by Katherine DiSavino. Bridget and her grandmother are about to become roommates. However, what Bridget saw as a unique opportunity to stay with her favorite Nana in New York for the summer quickly turns into an experience she'll never forget. It seems her sweet grandma is running an illegal boutique from her apartment, selling handmade naughty knickers to every senior citizen in the five borough area! Will Bridget be able to handle all the excitement? Will her Nana get arrested - or worse! - evicted? From the author of the 2014-15 season hit "Things my Mother Taught Me."

The fourth production of the regular 2017-2018 season is the Michigan Premiere of Tenderly: The Rosemary Clooney Musical by Janet Yates Vogt and Mark Friedman, playing February 14 through March 11, 2018. Rosemary's journey starts with her simple Maysville, Kentucky childhood and follows her rise to Hollywood stardom. With her signature songs woven throughout, we learn both the story of her successes on film, radio, and TV, as well as her struggles in her personal life - with a career fading during the advent of rock-and-roll and her battles with addiction and depression. Tenderly includes classic standards by Irving Berlin, Jerry Ross, Harold Arlen and many others - with songs such as Tenderly, Mambo Italiano, Sisters and more.

The Michigan Premiere of The Snow Geese by Sharr White is the next show in the 52nd season March 21 through April 15, 2018. With WWI raging abroad, newly widowed Elizabeth Gaesling gathers her family for their annual shooting party, to mark the opening of hunting season, in rural upstate New York. But Elizabeth is forced to confront a new reality as her carefree eldest son comes to terms with his impending deployment overseas and her younger son discovers that the father they all revered left them deeply in debt. Together, the family must let go of the life they've always known.

THE ALL NIGHT STRUT!, conceived, originally directed and choreographed by Fran Charnas will have audiences dancing in their seats and singing along April 25 through May 20, 2018. The All Night Strut! moves through the Depression, WWII and the post-war boom in a two-act musical celebration of the 1930s and '40s, filled with jazz, blues, and American songbook standards. The story moves through time and place to highlight a slick slice of yesteryear and capture a beloved American era, weaving together the work of legendary songwriters such as Hoagy Carmichel, Frank Loesser and the Gershwins. With songs such as Chattanooga Choo Choo, Minnie the Moocher, Ain't Misbehavin' and more.

The season will conclude May 30 through June 24, 2018, with the beloved songs of Burt Bacharach in Burt & Me, book by Larry McKenna, lyrics by Hal David and music by Burt Bacharach. In this romantic musical comedy, Joe and Lacey were high school sweethearts who drifted apart when they attended different colleges after graduation. Years later, their paths cross again as Joe devises a clever plan to win Lacey back... with the help of one Burt Bacharach. With songs from the Bacharach and David songbook such as Wishin' & Hopin' , Walk On By, I Say a Little Prayer and many more.

Season tickets and Flex-Tix are currently available by calling the Meadow Brook Theatre box office at 248-377-3300. Season tickets range from $161 to $234 for a seven-play season. When you subscribe to the 2017-2018 season, you may also purchase tickets for A Christmas Carol at a 20% discount before they go on sale to the general public.

Flex-Tix is a package of six tickets that can be redeemed for any matinee or Wednesday, Thursday or Sunday evening performances throughout the season, or upgraded to a Friday or Saturday evening for a fee. Flex-Tix packages can be purchased for $199. (Cannot be redeemed for A Christmas Carol or Children's Series shows or additional added shows.)

Single tickets go on sale Wednesday, August 2. Tickets range from $28 to $43.

Meadow Brook Theatre is also proud to present their 10th annual Children's Series. Saturday, February 17, the Children's Series will kick-off with Nugget & Fang. Friday, March 2 Patrick Garner will bring Lewis & Clark and The Wright Brothers (... & Sister!) to the MBT stage, followed by Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great, on March 3, The Cat in the Hat on Saturday, April 28 and Guy Louis: World of Music on Saturday, May 12. The series wraps up Saturday June 2 with Chicken Little: The Sky is Falling. Subscribers to the MBT season receive a 20% discount for tickets to the Children's Series. Visit www.mbtheatre.com for times and price information.

Information will also be coming soon about MBT's 2018 summer benefit!

For additional information on Meadow Brook Theatre, please visit www.mbtheatre.com. Meadow Brook Theatre is a non-profit, cultural institution serving southeast Michigan for over 52 years.

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