Two Muses Theatre's 'Next to Normal' Production Benefits Common Ground

The West Bloomfield-based company takes on the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical, which tells the story of a family affected by mental illness.

Two Muses Theatre will raise funds to help youth, adults and families in crisis during the run of the female-based performing arts company's next production, Next to Normal.  The Broadway hit premieres June 7 and will be on stage through June 30, at the Two Muses Theatre inside Barnes & Noble Booksellers in West Bloomfield. With music by Tom Kitt and book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey, the local production is directed by Royal Oak resident Frannie Shepherd-Bates. Two Muses Theatre will donate $1 from each ticket purchase to Common Ground, a non-profit agency that has been helping those in need for more than 40 years. Common Ground provides crisis intervention and other services to more than 50,000 people each year, with a majority of the …

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Two Muses Presents Children's Play 'Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?'

The theatre company's latest production opens in West Bloomfield on Feb. 9

Two Muses Theatre's latest family theatre production, Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf by Tom McCabe, opens Feb. 9 in West Bloomfield. The show combines The Three Little Pigs and Little Red Riding Hood, with the big bad wolf stuck between the two stories, and each performance will be accompanied with other child-friendly activities including a raffle drawing. In post-performance autograph sessions, parents will have the opportunity to take their children’s pictures with the characters: Little Red Riding Hood (Meredith Deighton), Oink, Porky and Bacon Bits (Lillian Bishop, Atran Raikany and Emilio Rodriguez), Granny (Paige Vanzo), the brave Huntsman (Dick Ward) and of course, the BIG BAD WOLF (Benjamin Deman). Director Nancy Cooper has a …

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This Week in West Bloomfield: 5 Things to Know

This week, Patch will be watching "Good Neighbor Day" at Wesley Berry Flowers, the Leonard Slatkin book signing, and a host of city government meetings.

Five local stories to keep an eye on Sept. 3-8: 1. Wesley Berry Flowers will be giving away 12,000 roses in bunches of a dozen, for free, to any adult who visits their florist shops on Wednesday, Sept. 5 between 10 a.m.-3 p.m. as part of the twelfth annual "Good Neighbor Day" event. After visiting locations in either West Bloomfield or Commerce, customers are asked to give 11 roses away to different people. 2. Leonard Slatkin, the Music Director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, will be signing his new book, "Conducting Business" at Barnes & Noble Saturday, Sept. 8 at 2 p.m. Slatkin recounts his controversial appearance at the Metropolitan Opera, his creation and direction of summer music festivals, and a shattering concert experience …

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Two Muses Theatre Presents World Premiere Sept. 7 in West Bloomfield

'A Little Work' authors Anita Diamant and Stephen McCauley fine-tuned the play after a workshop production directed by Farmington Hills resident Diane Hill last spring, Diamant said.

Two Muses Theatre's latest production, the world premiere of "A Little Work", opens Sept. 7 and explores the world of friendships and plastic surgery. Director and Two Muses co-founder Diane Hill of Farmington Hills has been working with best-selling authors Anita Diamant and Stephen McCauley to fine-tune the play ever since Diamant came to see a workshop production at SRO Productions last spring. “It was fun seeing our work brought to life on stage,” Diamant said. “It prompted Stephen and me to streamline the story. And Diane’s attention to shorter scene changes has also helped to transform this former two act show into a sleek one act play.” “This nip/tuck is fitting with the theme of the play,” added Hill. “Much like the pressure the …

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Two Muses Helps Humane Society; 'Sylvia' to Open

Contributions will be accepted beginning tonight at the Barnes & Noble theatre in West Bloomfield.

Weekend Countdown: 'The Odd Couple' by Two Muses

Patch tells you what's happening this weekend around West Bloomfield.

Happy Tuesday. You made it through Monday only to find yourself one day closer to the weekend. It's always fun to look ahead at what's going on in and around town for the next weekend. We are going to pick some of the fun events daily to help you plan and count down until it's the weekend again. Our pick: 'The Odd Couple' by Two Muses Theater Where: Barnes & Noble Booksellers When: Friday or Saturday 8 p.m., Sunday 2 p.m. Why go: Two Muses Theater make their debut in West Bloomfield with a Neil Simon hit playing through November.  The original The Odd Couple was created in 1965, and Neil Simon wrote the female version in 1976. You can go see the female version, which doesn't star Oscar and Felix but rather Olive and Florence. It's a …

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Farmington Hills Women Create Drama in West Bloomfield

The newly-launched Two Muses Theatre will take the stage in November.

A new professional theatre will debut locally this fall, thanks to Farmington Hills residents Diane Hill and Barbie Amann Weisserman. The duo is in the process of preparing theater space inside the West Bloomfield Barnes & Noble Booksellers. Two Muses Theatre will open its first season with The Odd Couple in November.  "It's funny that we're doing The Odd Couple as our first show, because in some ways, Barbie and I are like two peas in a pod, and yet we're very different," Hill said.  The two met in 2007 while working together at Oakland Community College (OCC) Orchard Ridge, also in Farmington Hills. Hill, who was teaching at OCC and overseeing its theatre degree program at the time, brought Weisserman in to create the costumes for the …

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