Good friends,
We owe Meredith Deighton a huge thank you. Since we’ve been here she’s gotten us into two performances, introduced us to loads of people and blasted Facebook with our blog — she’s been our unofficial publicist. Thanks, Meredith!
Most recently, she got us in to see Romeo and Juliet at Clarkston Junior High staged by the Michigan Shakespeare Festival Touring Company and performed at schools in the surrounding area. It was wonderful to see her play Juliet, showing a very different part of her range than her performance in Bad Jews at the Jewish Ensemble Theater.
We walked in on their fight call as Meredith led us into the theater. This gave us a chance to talk to Stefanie Din, Festival Stage Manager for the Michigan Shakespeare Festival (both touring and regular season), as well as stage manager for the Williamston Theatre. Stefanie answered “yes” to “Should a young artist move to Detroit over New York, Chicago or Los Angeles?” “I love it here” she said, elaborating that she pays her way only working in the theater.
The show itself was barebones and quick-paced — like most good Shakespeare productions. They went above and beyond, though, having already performed the play at 8 am that morning to a nearby high school. The middle school kids were pretty engaged (especially during the more bawdy dialogue — which I’m very glad the director/actors were privy to and capitalized on). The actors stayed to give a talkback after the performance, and they got at least five thought-out questions. Very cool to see middle schoolers interested in discussing Will’s most famous play.
Boxing Monsters
Our other appointment for the day was with Lylanne Mussleman at the Monster Box Theatre in Waterford, MI; Lylanne had invited us to watch a rehearsal for a ten-minute play she wrote and is also directing. We met Lylanne at the playwriting group during Day 8.
The play is called Frida Kahlo: Heartbreaker, a piece she wrote exploring Frida Kahlo’s complex relationship with Diego Rivera and something they had in common: affairs with women. The play is timely, coinciding with the Detroit Institute of the Art’s special exhibit called Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo in Detroit.
Lylanne greeted us at the door, then introduced us to Angel Walsh who volunteers full-time at the theater; just then she was working in the small coffee shop right inside the door.
However, that’s not her primary job: “I guess I’d be the facilities manager, but we try to stay away from titles. Everybody belongs here and we want to feel that…Everyone is volunteer. It’s a non-profit organization; Paul, the theater’s manager, is still paying out of pocket and the money from ticket sales goes toward the next production.”
We spoke to Paul via email about Monster Box’s expenses: “The difficulty of having a facility of any size (and Monster Box is 10,000 square feet) is figuring out how to cover the costs. Putting up a production that pays for itself, even without paying rent and utilities is challenging. Rights alone, especially for musicals can run into thousands of dollars. Theatre groups in the area use various means to offset the cost of creativity. Some do fundraising, seek contributors, sell advertising, apply for grants, charge fees, sell concessions, etc. Monster Box is trying to offset expenses with our coffee shop, Monster Box Bistro.”
We were quite intrigued by their coffee shop after chilling at Trinosophes. “Our shop is open whenever there’s something happening,” Angel said. “We cater mostly to actors and directors, but we’re hoping to expand.” Hard to do in a low-traffic area, especially in the back of a strip mall. The theater does not let any external food or drink into the space; if you are working, you’ll have to buy their snacks and drinks.
Apparently their strip mall location doesn’t hurt their audience turnout much: their recent production of the musical Bare “sold out Friday and Saturday (in a 150 seat house), standing ovation, tears in eyes, it was amazing”. Also, audience members would drive up to an hour and a half to see the show. Pretty great.
Angel is finishing her degree in vocal performance next year and, like us, is looking for a place to land. When we asked her about Detroit, she gave a noncommittal but honest answer. “I want to sing anywhere I can get paid for it. I don’t ever see myself not being involved here. The dream is to get paid for singing.”
This is every artist’s dream as well as ours. Is Detroit the place to facilitate that dream? We still don’t know; and it doesn’t seems like Angel knows either.
The Monster Box is hosting the Metro Detroit Fringe Festival (after having been in their space for less than year!); Lylanne’s play will be featured in it. 60 actors showed up to audition as well as 20 directors to their various plays. No one is getting paid but it is good to see so much enthusiasm.
Check out the Monster Box’s summer camps as well.
The theater used to be a bowling alley, then it was a gym, so it was all one large room; the gym added mirrors along the wall (“great for acoustics”). Then a computer school got ahold of it and sectioned off that large room into smaller rooms; Monster Box now uses those rooms to hold multiple rehearsals simultaneously. Only thing is the walls are not entirely floor-to-ceiling (not so great for acoustics). We sat in on Lylanne’s rehearsal, one of three happening simultaneously (and could hear all three).
We found out that Emilio Rodriguez (from Day 10) connected Lylanne with the Canton One-Act Play Festival, as well connecting Lylanne with most of the actors in Frida. We then gushed for a couple of minutes about how well-connected he is: he’s been here three years and knows everyone; and two of those years he was a full-time teacher.
We need to get on his level.
On that note, we should level with you.
We love you for reading the whole post. You’re a champ!
All the best,
R&R
Should a Young Artist Move to Detroit? 
As a member of Monster Box since its inception, and someone who has been active in other surrounding theater groups, it has been my observation that the members here show support to other groups. This community of actors and directors are friends that we have shared the stage with, socialized with and gotten to know over the years. Many Monster Box members still perform with these other theater groups and I, like many others, enjoy going to their shows! Friends or not, it doesn’t matter…we all love good theater, and that can easily be found in Oakland County!
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I’m fairly new to Monster Box Theatre, but I had previously owned a theatre company in the area. We were called Great Lakes Community Players and had a short, but successful run of shows.
After the dissolution of my group, I had felt very displaced.
I was lucky enough to come into Monster Box for a reading of a play as a favour to a friend.
Upon setting foot in the building, I felt immediately welcomed and supported by everyone there. That feeling of support and acceptance that is so free at Monster Box is openly extended to the other groups in the area and all other artists searching for a platform for their voices.
The thing that is so special to me about Monster Box is the palpable drive by all parties to get everyone involved with each production, which aids in deeper understanding that art is the endeavor to communicate.
I have also never felt so accepted and supported in my life and have networked with many people at Monster Box who feel the same.
Dramatic art and community are two things that intrinsically cannot happen without the participation of many working together towards a common goal.
It is my firm belief that the quality of work in this area often surpasses that in many more “recognized” metropolitan cities. This is because we all work together to be larger than the sum of our parts.
The Fringe Festival is going to be an outstanding showcase of the drive this community has; a drive that is so especially resilient in Detroit and the surrounding areas. I am thankful to be a part of Monster Box and, more importantly, the artistic community in our area.
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I would like to make it very clear that these are not my words. These are not my quotes. What other theatre companies do or do not charge their actors has nothing to do with me. I never consented to an interview, nor did the authors of this article ever ask for one. I am not the representative or the voice of Monster Box Theatre. I had a friendly conversation with these two gentlemen when they stepped into the theatre to sit in on a rehearsal and then directed them to the person they should interview; a call that was never made. These misquotes have affected my personal reputation and the reputation of Monster Box Theatre. I do not have any negative feelings about any other companies. I have been a member of other companies since I was a child and have many cherished memories from the shows that we’ve all done together. The “quotes” in this article do not reflect the conversation that was had, nor do they represent my personal feelings. My name is attached to no fewer than six “quotes” that were manufactured by someone other than me.
To address Bonnie specifically:
I do not represent Monster Box Theatre. I speak only for myself, but these words are not what was spoken. I have no ill feelings toward any theatre companies and I wish nothing but success for all. I was not interviewed, so I ask you to not believe everything you read.
“…we ALL support our fellow community theaters. We all act in a spirit of good citizenship, we all share resources, creative talent and work to promote and support one another.” These are your words, Bonnie, and you had it exactly right. We share these views. ALL of us. Myself being no exception.
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THE ACTUAL QUOTES OF MONSTER BOX THEATRE:
It seems that ALL of the theaters that have been mentioned in this article have been somewhat misrepresented. I was approached by Angel Walsh that some people had stopped into the theatre and were going to contact me to interview me about Monster Box. I have not yet been contacted and am very disappointed that this is the case as they went ahead and wrote the article without contacting me.
After seeing the article, I immediately contacted Angel Walsh to find out what happened and she informed me that she had some casual conversation with some people that would be contacting me, but she was never asked if she would submit to an interview and was never informed that she would be involved or quoted. She thought that she was having a casual conversation and trying to be helpful with people learning about the area. She felt that she was grossly misquoted about the money for fees to participate in shows and is very disappointed about the fact that she is represented as being interviewed, which is not the case.
Representing Monster Box Theatre, I wish to make everyone aware that it is one of our main and most important policies to NEVER discourage or give a negative impression of any theatre group anywhere. Our mission is to encourage theatre in the Detroit area in every way possible, not just at our own venue, but at all of the surrounding venues. We have always had a wonderful relationship with the Starlight Theater and hope that there were no negative implications based on the misquoting in this article. We founded our theatre on the idea of bringing arts to the area and supporting everyone who does so in every possible way. Oakland county is a fantastic area for theatre; there are many high quality groups and you can find several performances going on in the area every single weekend of the year and we only hope that it grows.
This is not a competitive area and the more theatre that happens around here, the more it benefits us all. This article implied that we compete with each other for members and actors, which is simply not the case. We share so much in this community and so many of us, including myself, are members and contribute to multiple theatre groups in the area.
I cannot express how frustrating it is to have the wrong impression get out there like this. Since I have not spoken to the people writing this article, I am not sure what the goal of their organization is, but it seems to me that everyone involved here should be promoting each other to make this a great theatre community. If their mission is to add to that, by all means, I am all for it. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if our area was known as the “Broadway of Michigan” with many fantastic theaters and companies to choose from?
I hope my adding to this discussion helped turn things for everyone in a positive direction instead of keeping a negative impression alive. The very nature of what we are trying to do with the Metro Detroit Fringe Festival is bring as many people together to do as many original theatrical performances as possible at the lowest cost to the general public that we can possibly make happen. There are many directors and many actors from various theatre groups all performing at this festival with the goal of it being a large networking event for everyone, directors, performers, crew, and audience included, to meet each other and possibly continue to work together in the future. The venue happens to be Monster Box, but the festival belongs to the directors, actors, crew, and attendees.
I wish to close by reiterating that this is a fantastic theatre community; we all work together, speaking for EVERYONE at Monster Box Theatre, we have nothing but the highest praise and admiration for The Starlight Theater, Lakeland Players, and all of our fellow theaters in the area. I encourage everyone reading this to attend a fantastic play at any one of the theaters in Oakland county. Please come out and judge these things for yourself.
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Adult shows are free. No Yearly memberships.
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Hey R&R! Remember that “Cool Jeep Woman” who let you take her brand new Jeep Wrangler for a test drive while seeing “Hamlet” at Slipstream Theatre Initiative last week? Well, guess who I was attending that performance with? The owner of the above incorrectly sited “Starlight Theater”. Yes, we ALL support our fellow community theaters. We all act in a spirit of good citizenship, we all share resources, creative talent and work to promote and support one another. Well, almost all of us.
Since we didn’t have much time to talk last week, let me tell you a little about myself. Besides letting complete strangers take my brand new Jeeps for test drives, you may not be surprised to learn that I am a very generous and kind person. And, I love theater. I am on the Board of Directors for Lakeland Players (coincidently the very same theater that many from Monster Box left), I am also a Director for their overnight Youth Theatre Arts Camp, Assistant Director for Acting Out Kids Community Theater in Clawson and wouldn’t you know it, I am ALSO a part of Marketing and Promotions for Starlight Theater. The very theater that was misrepresented by Monster Box.
I would like to clarify or correct some of the information from your interview with Angel from Monster Box. First of all, Monster Box and Starlight are both community theaters. I understand that you are planning to open a professional theater, much like Slipstream, correct? Additionally, the yearly and lifetime “membership fees” at Monster Box are higher than any other community theater in the area. Maybe that is why their community theater does shows without fees. (Starlight does NOT require ANY yearly membership fees, btw). Perhaps you weren’t told Monster Box was a community theater.
If you don’t mind, I would greatly appreciate your removing the incorrect information about Starlight charging $200 to be in a show, or in the least take out their name (and link to their website). That was hurtful and I am saddened that was the direction Monster Box chose to take in their interview. I have been a part of every show at Starlight for over 3 years now and not ONCE was $200 EVER charged. In fact, the adult performances at Starlight are FREE for ALL actors. The only shows that have any fees whatsoever are the youth performances, which cover the cost of costumes, scripts, music CDs, include 2 free tickets to the show and a free show tee shirt for each actor as a keepsake. This is completely inline with every youth theater or sanctioned youth sport, dance or instructional class in the area.
Thank you in advance for correcting this information, and please, be our guest at ANY time at the Starlight Theater to see for yourself. Tom would love to talk with you, and my Jeep will be waiting for a REAL test drive!
Love your blog!
“Detroit’s Cool Jeep Woman”
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Thank you very much for the correction. We’ll make sure that Starlight is represented accurately.
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Hello,
I’m afraid you should have confirmed your information before sharing it. Starlight Theater only charges for their youth performances and it doesn’t cost $200. They have never charged for an adult performance.
Starlight Theater has been a stepping stone in the community for many great young artists including my daughter who, without Starlight Theater, wouldn’t be headed to Northwestern in the fall on a scholarship to be a theater major.
I love your blog and hope you end up in Detroit, we really would love more quality theater in the area, but please check your facts about this last one.
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Thanks for the info. We were directly quoting Angel from her experience, so we’ll make that a bit more explicit with a quick edit. How much do they charge, by the way?
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In addition to it only being a charge for youth theater which again is fairly standard in the area, it was misleading because Angel didn’t mention the “youth theater” part. There is NO cost for an adult to do a show at Starlight not even a membership. Oh and if you are a youth in an adult production there is no cost not even a membership.
Most of the area groups , including Monster Box, make you become a member.
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