ABOUT P45

P45 Summer Theatre Festival

Every summer, Parallel 45 produces a festival of plays in the relaxed setting of the Civic Center Park in Traverse City. Artists from across the country and around the world convene on P45’s new, state-of-the-art stage to perform adventurous, boundary-pushing musicals, plays, and devised works for all ages--rotating daily. Local food vendors, a well-stocked bar, and live music allow our community to gather in celebration of the theatre and the beauty of northwest Michigan. During the shoulder seasons, Parallel 45 operates a theatre education program and produces a free-to-the-public contemporary play reading series.

WHY

With play, joy, and intellectual rigor, we attack the notion that there is one correct way to look at the world. P45 complements an industry of theatre artists desperate for new voices, new material, and new stories by taking a strong look at our canon, breaking toxic values embedded within, and imagining a new path forward. We believe that a flourishing and fulfilling cultural experience, to which people from every walk of life are invited—and within which they can see themselves reflected—is essential to our democracy and our quality of life in small-town America. For this reason, we look to the theatre as our public forum, our town square, a place where ideas can be exchanged with more dignity, respect, and efficacy than in other areas of our society. Our greatest asset is our joyful, open, intellectually curious audience, always ready to explore.

See our Mission Statement for more details!

History

Since 2010, Parallel 45 Theatre has brought more than 150 artists — from as far away as Berlin and as close as Traverse City—to create groundbreaking shows for our community. For ten seasons, we have offered the kind of adventurous professional work you might see in New York, Chicago, or Los Angeles—right here in northwest Michigan. In 2017, Parallel 45 Theatre’s production of Alice in Wonderland was nominated for a Wilde Award, which honors the best productions, performances, and technical work produced or presented by professional theaters across the state.

Parallel 45 Theatre
Looking Back: a celebration of P45's 2019 season

A Theatre Under the Stars by Traverse Connect | P45’s Origin Story

THE SOUND OF MUSIC

Music by Richard Rodgers
Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
Book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse
Summer 2021

YOU'RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN

BASED ON THE COMIC STRIP PEANUTS  BY CHARLES M. SCHULZ

Book, Music, and Lyrics by Clark Gesner
Summer 2021

UGLY: A NEW POP MUSICAL

PRESENTED BY YOUTHQUAKE COMPANY

Directed and Conceived by Daniel Lendzian
Summer 2021

Stupid F**king Bird

STUPID F**KING BIRD

Sort of adapted from Chekhov’s The Seagull
By Aaron Posner
Summer 2019

Little Bunny Foo Foo

LITTLE BUNNY FOO FOO

a play for small people
By Anne Washburn
Summer 2019

Hair

HAIR

THE AMERICAN TRIBAL LOVE-ROCK MUSICAL
Book and Lyrics by Gerome Ragni & James Rado
Music by Galt MacDermot
Summer 2019

INSIGNIFICANT

Developed by Michael Burditt Norton
Written by and featuring Alex Coggin, Mary Holland and Katharine Mangold
Summer 2018

GO, DOG. GO!

Based on the book by P.D. Eastman
Adapted for the stage by Steven Dietz and Allison Gregory
March 2018

Complete Works of William Shakespeare

THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM
SHAKESPEARE, A FUNDRAISER

Written by The Reduced Shakespeare Company
Featuring Noah Durham Fried, Shelby Lewis, and Ben Whiting
December 2017

MR. BURNS, A POST-ELECTRIC PLAY

by Anne Washburn
May-June 2017

ALICE IN WONDERLAND

Written by Andre Gregory
and the Manhattan Project
Adapted with special permission from the playwright by P45
March 2017

A CHRISTMAS CAROL IN PROSE

Adapted by Ben Whiting
Featuring Bill Church as Scrooge
and Noah Durham Fried, Shelby Lewis, Katharine Mangold,
Justin Perez and Kendra Williams
December 2016

THE MITTEN LAB

In partnership with
Interlochen Center for the Arts
September 2016-2019

HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH

Text by John Cameron Mitchell
Music & lyrics by Stephen Trask
November 2015

MEDEA

by Kristina Corcoran Williams
January 2016

A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE

by Tennessee Williams
April 2016

THE OZ PROJECT

by Justin Perez & Kristina Corcoran Williams
November 2014

30 NEO-FUTURIST PLAYS FROM
“TOO MUCH LIGHTS MAKES THE BABY GO BLIND”

(30 PLAYS IN 60 MINUTES)

Created by Greg Allen
Written by The Neo-Futurists
July 2014

CYRANO

by Jo Roets
Featuring Katherine Mazer, Laura Middelstaedt and Ben Whiting
April 2015

THE SHREW

Adapted by Charles Marowitz
November 2013

SHAKESPEARE’S R&J

Adapted by Joe Calarco
August 2013

A CHRISTMAS CAROL IN PROSE

by Magic Mouth Theatre
December 2012

THE TERRIBLE TRAGEDY OF PETER PAN

by Philip Klapperich
August 2012

METAMORPHOSES

by Mary Zimmerman
August 2011

OUR TOWN

by Thornton Wilder
August 2010

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