IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS
Except for the lack of snow, that is - which is perfectly fine with me! But Christmas is indeed busting out all over, as plenty of theaters are opening their holiday shows this weekend, and the BIG question will be this: Will they sell?For as long as I can remember, common wisdom prevailed that to open a show on Thanksgiving weekend was the kiss of death: Few people wandered into the theaters, and the result was a bloodbath of red ink.But last year, a theater or two had some pretty good houses over the Turkey Day weekend, so now numerous theaters have jumped on the bandwagon.With the economy in the middle of its meltdown last year, it's easy to explain wh

BOYS, GIRLS AND DOGS
Once upon a time, Detroit was a major player in the national theater scene. Shows opened here, or began their trials here - and major stars LOVED to perform here. But as the years passed, we saw fewer and fewer of such events coming to Detroit. And if they did, no one seemed to notice. Or care.Until last night, that is. Although The 101 Dalmatians Musical wasn't on our schedule to review this week, there I was last night at the fabulous Fox Theatre in downtown Detroit for its opening. The spotlight was out front, crowds of people were making their way to the theater, and tons of kids were bubbling with excitement. The air was filled with electricity.The show

WHITHER BOARSHEAD
I've had quite a few people ask me the following questions recently - or variations thereof:What do I think of the BoarsHead's hiatus?Do I think the BoarsHead will open again in January as promised?How bad IS the BoarsHead's financial situation?Who's to blame for the BoarsHead's situation?My answers, of course, almost always begin with a disclaimer: Because the BoarsHead's staff has been told NOT to talk to the media, I know about as much about the situation as everyone else - except for what's found its way into my hands or what I've been told off the record by individuals with inside information. Therefore, much of what I write w

TO PREVIEW OR NOT TO PREVIEW, THAT IS THE QUESTION
I've had probably a half-dozen or more conversations this past week and a half (or so) with area theater executives and theatergoers regarding whether or not theaters should schedule one or more previews of their shows before they officially open and invite the critics in to review their work. On top of that, I also responded to a couple of e-mails I received this week from Encore Michigan readers who were commenting on reviews that are currently on the site, and in particular, why the performances they saw didn't match the reviews.In case you haven't guessed, the two go hand in hand with each other.Most of the state's larger producing theaters&

WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?
Every time I think I've seen (or heard) it all, something happens to prove me wrong. And that's what happened last Friday night when I was at The Box Theatre in Mt. Clemens to review "I Ought to be in Pictures."The Box is a new, really cool black box theater in the city's downtown entertainment district. It's a great location, and the second floor space can be configured in all sorts of ways. So for its sophomore production, they've placed the action on the floor, with seating on three sides of the "stage."When I walked into the theater, I chose a seat in the middle section, on the end of one of the rows. People wandered in and took