a World Premiere by Jeff Daniels
SEPTEMBER 26, 2002 – DECEMBER 21, 2002
While delivering meals to a lonely old man, a woman searching for peace receives help from people out of her present… and her past. “Across the Way” is an unforgettable story about loss and love that transcends time.
Directed by Guy Sanville
CAST:
PRESS QUOTES
“… an emotionally resonant, intriguing play dealing with weighty themes in fluid fashion. The writing feels smart, lyrical and complex. Its evocation of mourning has integrity and wisdom and there’s an interesting understanding of pain and memory.”
– Variety
“… this miraculous play bears the power, wisdom and soul to profoundly affect anyone lucky enough to see it … a surreal, lyrical masterpiece.”
– The Ann Arbor News
“Daniels’ characters glow with joy, wit, and tenderness…”
– Ann Arbor Observer
“… a fascinating meditation on love and time and loss, which sounds artsy and boring, but isn’t at all in Daniels’ hands… Many moments when the irrepressible Daniels wit crackles to the surface…”
– Jackson Citizen Patriot
a World Premiere by Toni Press-Coffman
JANUARY 23, 2003 – MARCH 15, 2003
When a chatty female sports radio DJ takes a call from a kidnapper who wants to talk about football but not about the teenage girl he abducted, the DJ and her producer find themselves on a high wire of tension where they must choose their words with care.
Directed by Anthony Caselli
CAST:
PRESS QUOTES
“Director Anthony Caselli draws fine performances from his six-member cast, particularly from Albright and Birch, a non-sports fan incapable of not giving her all to a role.”
– Christopher Potter, The Ann Arbor News
“Anthony Caselli provides tight direction, and the whole case, including Brigit Mikusko as the abducted girl, delivers the high-gloss sheen that has become the hallmark of Purple Rose productions.”
-Terry Pow, Jackson Citizen Patriot
“Direction by Caselli and the acting, especially by Birch, holds the audience and moves the play through to its dramatic ending.”
– Kent Ashton Walton, The Chelsea Standard/The Dexter Leader
a World Premiere by Randall Godwin
APRIL 3, 2003 – MAY 31, 2003
Brian Blessing is a Milford radio celebrity with a fame disproportionate to his salary. He specializes in heartwarming human interest stories in his hometown. When the play opens, he has the entire town in thrall over the fate of Corky, a dog who, it is rumored, tried to save a girl from drowning. As the story progresses, Blessing discovers that he has a terminal brain tumor and is forced to devise a plan in order to pay for a potentially life saving medical procedure.
Directed by Michelle Mountain
CAST:
PRESS QUOTES
“In a field of fine performers, extra credit goes to actor Jim Porterfield, who in various roles, including a marvelous turn as a bent evangelist, proves that he has funny bones. Definitely worth the trip to Chelsea.”
– Sue Dise, Current Magazine
“The play succeeds because of its fast-paced comedy routines and excellent character portrayals. It also succeeds in contrasting Blessing’s health insurance dilemma with the sentimentality of the radio audience’s obsession with Corky.”
– Kent Ashton Walton, The Chelsea Standard/The Dexter Leader
“Carlson and Peckham seem to feed off each other’s energy, creating a compelling camaraderie fraught with underlying tension while the scenes between Carlson and Porterfield (who also plays a maddeningly unsympathetic brain surgeon) showcase two masters of comic timing at their best.”
– John Sousanis, The Oakland Press
“Whether Brian’s waving an unloaded revolver in cracked criminality, dressing down a hanging judge with the eloquent rage of a dispossessed everyman, or stridently declaring his love for Audrey, Carlson is an elemental force…”
– Christopher Potter, The Ann Arbor News
by Noel Coward
JUNE 19, 2003 – AUGUST 30, 2003
Blithe Spirit, the smash comedy hit of the London and Broadway stages, offers up fussy, cantankerous novelist Charles Condomine, re-married but haunted (literally) by the ghost of his late first wife, the clever and insistent Elvira who is called up by a visiting “happy medium,” one Madame Arcati. As the (worldly and un-) personalities clash, Charles’ current wife Ruth is accidentally killed, “passes over,” joins Elvira and the two “blithe spirits” haunt the hapless Charles into perpetuity.
Directed by Guy Sanville & Anthony Caselli
CAST:
PRESS QUOTES
“… Blithe Spirit is served up in Grand PRTC style. From the beautiful period set design by Bartley H. Bauer to the stellar cast and delightful direction by Sanville, the production is impeccable… This is a fun, funny, professional production of the highest caliber.”
– Steve Daut, The Commerce Report
“Set designer Bartley H. Bauer’s drawing room is a remarkable spectacle that makes no concessions to the Rose’s small stage, and the technical team, including Reid G. Johnson (lights), Danna Segrest (props) and Quintessa Duffield (sound) complete the show’s picture-perfect design.”
– John Sousanis, The Oakland Press
“The acting is among the best that I’ve seen at the Purple Rose. The pacing is perfect, and the delivery does justice to Coward’s complex verbal character interplay… Although this play is not in the usual Purple Rose category of first-time local playwright talent, it surely gives the actors a chance to flex their funny muscles and gives the audience a great belly-laugh experience.”
– Kent Ashton Walton, The Chelsea Standard/The Dexter Leader