Planet Ant Launches Year-End Fundraiser

Planet Ant Theatre celebrates their twenty-fifth birthday with a $25,000 fundraising goal, happening now through December 18, 2018. The funds raised will go directly toward the day-to-day upkeep and maintenance of their venues, supporting the creative pursuits of hundreds, if not thousands of local artists year-round. Tax-deductible donations can be made at patronicity.com/planetant2018 and come with rewards for donations over $10; including but not limited to stickers and show tickets, as well as private coaching for improv troupes and all-access passes to Planet Ant productions for larger contributions.

The fundraiser will officially conclude on December 18th at the end of the annual Planet Ant Holiday Blowout. Before the fundraiser concludes, Planet Ant will also host their Second Annual 25-Hour-Improv-a-Thon in support of the 2018 campaign. The event will take place over a twenty-five hour period from December 15th through 16th. The event is open to the public and will be live-streamed through the Planet Ant Facebook page. Individuals and troupes interested in playing during the Improv-a-thon can inquire further by emailing darren@planetant.com.

Throughout Planet Ant's 25-year-history as a fixture on Caniff Street, the non-profit has evolved into a thriving epicenter for the arts in Southeast Michigan. From inception, Planet Ant's mission has been to cultivate and showcase local artists. Opening originally as a coffeehouse in 1993, Planet Ant quickly became known for its open mic nights and poetry readings. Today, the Planet Ant vision spans four venues:

• The Black Box- original storefront space on a now resurgent Caniff Street in rapidly-developing Hamtramck, MI.
• Ant Hall- situated across the street; hosts large scale performances and special events.
• Ghost Light- adjacent to Ant Hall; offers live music of every style, stand-up comedy and improv.
• Planet Ant Studio- on Joseph Campau, where the non-profit just launched a new podcast network, and where it anticipates producing significantly more video web content.

For the 25th Anniversary Season, Planet Ant will stage 25 productions in the original, newly remodeled, black box performance space. This aggressive schedule triples the number of performances our recently remodeled Black Box normally produces in a single season, thus tripling the number of opportunities for local artists. Planet Ant is proud to offer itself and its venues as a haven for the artistic expression of hundreds of established and aspiring Michigan artists.

In the last year, Planet Ant has continued to be a natural home for live theatre, comedy and music... up to and including, live musical comedy theatre. In that time, it has also hosted film screenings, improv competitions, record release parties, a space opera, art exhibitions, burlesque shows, staged readings, live podcasts, talk shows, game shows and community meetings. In the last two years, Planet Ant has become a main venue for the Hamtramck Music Festival, The FREEP Film Festival, & the Motor City Comedy Festival. Annually, in August, it hosts the BoxFest Theatre Festival, which showcases female directors in Detroit. Planet Ant also created and hosted the first annual Detroit Women of Comedy Festival and the inaugural Live Out Fest, Hamtramck's first ever LGBTQ-centered arts festival.

Planet Ant Theatre is one of the few performing arts spaces in Michigan that offers opportunities for a variety of artists from a diverse cross-section of disciplines to interact, collaborate and entertain.

The Planet Ant Training Center offers improv training to aspiring improvisors that is on par with programs at the best known improv theaters in the the best known improv cities in the country. The training center also offers programs in screenwriting, sketch writing, acting, video production and music. A local arts scene provides a community for aspiring artists to discover their creative voices, a training program for growing artists to hone their craft, and a proving ground for artists that have potential for national and international acclaim. Several artists who are currently entertaining global audiences started along their road to fame in obscurity at this small performance space in the two-square-mile working class city of Hamtramck. The best known examples of this include, but are not limited to:

• Keegan Michael-Key (Key and Peele, Toy Story 4)
• Sam Richardson (Veep, Detroiters)
• Tim Robinson (Detroiters, SNL)
• Maribeth Monroe (Workaholics, The Second City)
• Marc Evan Jackson (The Good Place, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Parks & Rec)
• Joshua Funk (Wabbit, Composer)
• Larry Joe Campbell (According to Jim)
• Phred Brown (Bruno Mars Band, Music Director)
• Jack White (The White Stripes)

Planet Ant's commitment to supporting and nurturing local artists is evidenced by their open-door policy and zealous programming at all three performance venues; a full calendar of events and more info about the Planet Ant Training Center can be found at planetant.com.

"We never have an 'off-season'," said Planet Ant Executive Director, Darren Shelton. "As long as there are people with new ideas who want to take risks, our doors will stay open."

Help Planet Ant reach their annual fundraising goal by making a tax-deductible donation to the non-profit organization at patronicity.com/planetant2018.

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