P45 Friends,

We have made the extremely difficult decision to cancel our summer 2020 season. If you’ve already purchased tickets, you will have the opportunity for a full refund or to make a much-appreciated donation.

We will continue to find innovative and intimate ways to stay connected with you until we can gather again for life-affirming theatre under the northern Michigan stars. We believe theatre recognizes new realities, takes a deep breath, and responds with vision and compassion, imagining a future where we all want to live—where we’ll all gather together again, just as soon as we can.

Please click here to learn more about ticketing procedures, our decision, and our future.

The Sound of Music

THE SOUND OF MUSIC

July 2 - August 1

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

Directed by Kit McKay
Music Direction: Emma Weiss
Choreographed by Jennifer Lott and Brent Whitney

More than 60 years after The Sound of Music blazed onto the American stage, this intimate production offers the opportunity to experience Rodgers and Hammerstein’s unabashedly romantic masterpiece like it’s the first time. P45’s vibrant, boiled-down unearthing of this 1958 classic asks that we watch with fresh eyes as a broken family heals itself in order to stand as a unified front against the forces of evil. Accompanied by an eight-piece orchestra, McKay’s production goes beyond the sunny romance and gently asks the audience to hear the words:

Strength doesn't lie in numbers.
Strength doesn't lie in wealth,
Strength lies in nights of peaceful slumbers,
When you wake up, WAKE UP!

Hedwig and the Angry Inch

HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH

July 22 - August 1

By John Cameron Mitchell

Music and Lyrics by Stephen Trask

Directed by Katherine M. Carter

Music Direction: Emma Weiss

In honor of our 10th anniversary, Parallel 45 will revisit and refresh one of our most popular shows, the cult-classic musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Originally presented at the Jane Street Theatre in 1998, Hedwig was dubbed the “best rock musical ever” by Rolling Stone Magazine. Parallel 45 will bring this “shamelessly enjoyable,” “sublimely trashy and surprisingly powerful” production to Traverse City with a kick-ass rock band and bright, snazzy spectacle.
The Crucible

THE CRUCIBLE

July 16 -  July 25

By Arthur Miller
Directed by Michael Burditt Norton

A disobedient take on Arthur Miller’s revered classic, director Michael Burditt Norton probes this central work of the American canon with an international irreverence, penetrating its distinct brand of American Populist Hysteria. Featuring a lean ensemble of 8 professional actors playing all 22 characters, P45’s production considers who decides the truth, and what boundaries we’re willing to cross to turn our beliefs into action.

YouthQuake

YOUTHQUAKE

July 18 -  Aug 2 @ 11am

Directed by Jesse Jou

Parallel 45 continues its dedication to our youngest theatre goers by launching our newest program: YouthQuake. Each year, Parallel 45 invites a nationally-recognized director to devise and direct an entirely new piece of theatre for young audiences in collaboration with the talented members of our apprentice company.

This year, our program will be heralded by director, Jesse Jou. Jou is from NYC and Texas and works primarily on new and contemporary plays. He has developed new work at the Lark Play Development Center; the New York International Fringe Festival; The Kitchen Theatre Co. (Ithaca, NY); and the Yale Cabaret. He was the Artistic Director of the 2010 Yale Summer Cabaret and served as the Staff Repertory Director of The Acting Company. He is an alumnus of the Cherry Lane Mentor Project, where he conceived and directed a four-person adaptation of King Lear; the Drama League’s Directors Project; the Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab; and the Civilians R&D Group. Jesse received his MFA in directing from the Yale School of Drama.

MICHIGAN COUNCIL FOR ARTS AND CULTURAL AFFAIRS and the NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS.Parallel 45 is generously supported by the MICHIGAN COUNCIL FOR ARTS AND CULTURAL AFFAIRS and the NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS.

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