12 minute read
Tipping Point ready for Christmas
Not Something to Bah Humbug About
Even Scrooge is happy about Tipping Point’s reopening
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After a 19-month layoff, Northville’s Tipping Point Theatre prepared a reopening for the ages.
In an anticipation of its Season 14 premiere of “A Christmas Carol” Nov. 18, the nonprofit theater company gussied up its venue at the corner of Cady and Griswold with $65,000 in renovations, including new banks of seating with 4-6 inches in wider rows and better sightlines for patrons.
The group also used the more than a year-and-a-half layoff to forge a diversity, equality and inclusion policy as well as develop a new mission statement.
Those accomplishments were merely defibrillator jolts to maintain a pulse, though. The life blood in all theater circles — audience reaction — only comes from performing before individuals.
“One of the things I am most excited about is just literally being able to be in the same room as other people,” said James Kuhl, Tipping Point Theatre’s producing artistic director. “Our entire industry, as all of our programs, is based on the fundamental need for people to gather and experience things together.
“That was the fundamental thing that was taken away from us almost two years ago for us now. I think we as artists feel very, very strongly and I can’t wait to be in the same room with other people and express our art together.”
It’s coincidence a Charles Dickens’ work should herald Tipping Point’s triumphant return as a gloomy fog of uncertainty shrouded the 16-year-old theater company after its abrupt closure March 8, 2020.
Tipping Point halted during production of “The 39 Steps” (whose playwright Patrick Barlow is also behind the retelling of the latest “A Christmas Carol” on the Northville stage). Eight of 10 theater staff were laid off or left, leaving Kuhl and company manager Natalie LaCroix-Tann to helm the dormant venue.
“We shut down like every other theater and everything was very up in the air,” said LaCroix-Tann, who started with Tipping Point in 2017 as an apprentice. “We weren’t sure what the situation was going to become. When it became clear we were going to be down for a while, we said, ‘We should renovate the theater.’”
Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs supplied a $7,500 capital improvement program endowment to go along with a $15,000 operational grant to help offset the cost of the refurbishments. In October, the council awarded Tipping Point a $16,500 operational grant for 2022.
Tipping Point also relies heavily on private donations, launching a “We’re still here” campaign during the hiatus. Contributors were offered early ticket purchases, discounts and name recognition in the program or lobby.
Daylight slowly began to bleed back into the operation as Kuhl and LaCroix-Tann plotted a reopening. The company hired an associate artist, Nyah Pierson, a recent University of Michigan graduate who also co- hosts a podcast Rant Much???
“So, we’re hoping to hire for more of those associate artist positions where they are a little more involved in the selection of the plays and have a little more equity in the theater,” LaCroix-Tann said. “Right now, we have been hiring a lot of people for the box office, because luckily, we’ve been getting a lot of patrons coming back.”
Due to ongoing Covid fears, Tipping Point is requiring all theater goers to wear masks and provide proof of vaccinations. The cozy 100-seat venue is also operating at two-thirds capacity to maintain social-distancing, LaCroix-Tann said.
Tipping Point producing artistic director James Kuhl
By Larry O’Connor
Tipping Point Theatre has undergone $65,000 in renovations.
About 16,000 patrons a year visit Tipping Point, but projections have been readjusted downward. “We’re planning things on the side of the worst-case scenario,” Lacroix-Tann said.
A GREAT SCHEDULE
With the scuttled Season 13 long in the rear-view mirror, Season 14 beckons with promise.
Aside from the retelling of the Dickens classic, which closes Dec. 19, Tipping Point is the first regional theater in the area to host the highly touted “The Play That Goes Wrong.”
The comedy by Jonathan Sayer, Henry Shield and Henry Lewis opens Feb. 3 and runs through March 6. Tickets go on sale to the public Dec. 22.
The 2015 Laurence Olivier Award winner for Best New Comedy recently reopened on Broadway and was just licensed to regional theaters for production.
“That one is going to be insane,” LaCroix-Tann said. “The stage falls apart, basically, throughout the show. It’s super exciting for us to bring it into our space.”
Another eagerly anticipated production is Kim Carney’s “The Baxter Sisters,” which runs March 31-April 24. The family drama has Michigan ties as Carney — a Wayne State graduate — recounts the lives of four sisters from Ionia in the late 1930s who become traveling tap dancers.
The story is inspired by the author’s mother and aunt, The Butler Sisters, who lived in Lansing and competed in tap competitions around midMichigan before starting a dance academy. “The Baxter Sisters” then peels off into a narrative of family and selfdiscovery.
Katori Hall’s “The Mountain Top” follows May 18-June 18. The drama-comedy, which received the 2010 Olivier Award for Best Play, centers on the compelling conversation between a newly employed housekeeper and the Rev. Martin Luther King the night before the civil rights leader was assassinated outside his hotel room in Memphis, Tenn. Samuel L. Jackson and Angela Bassett starred in the 2011 Broadway production.
Season 14 closes with another drama-comedy, Stephen Kaplan’s “Tracy Jones,” which runs from June 30-July 22. The play focuses on a professional woman who faces a major life crisis and decides to throw a party for all females named Tracy Jones.
Season passes start at $120 while those under age 30 can see five shows for $55.
“As far as our programming goes, we have a lot of things coming up here in the season that everyone can find something that interests them,” Kuhl said. “Per usual, we do a lot of it with a quirky sense of humor and I know our audiences love comedy.
“The things that we do that are more drama based are always done with a great deal of humor.”
Kuhl sought laughs, if not reassurance, from a loose network of regional theater operators who faced dire situations during the lockdown. They communicate on Facebook. “It’s very supportive and understanding because we’re all going through the exact same thing to get everything back up and running,” he said, “and make the changes that we want to be better prepared for something like this again in the future because none of us want to shut down.
“We want to open and stay open, but in order to do that we have to be very safe about things.”
The cast of “A Christmas Carol” includes (clockwise from top left) Ryan Bernier, John Seibert, Katie Tye and Alexis Primus.
Moníka Essen, a nationally recognized artist and designer, sketched out her design for the set of “A Christmas Carol”.
TIPPING POINT THEATRE
SEASON 14 “A Christmas Carol” Nov. 18-Dec. 19 “The Play That Goes Wrong” Feb. 3-March 6 “The Baxter Sisters” March 31-April 24 “The Mountaintop” May 19-June 18 “Tracy Jones” June 30-July 24 Tipping Point is located at 361 E. Cady St., Northville. For ticket information, call (248) 347-0003 or visit www.tippingpointtheatre.com.
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Senior Chaand Chaudhary (from left), sophomore Maddie Solomon and junior Bhakti Trivedi in Yearbook class.
Lessons Learned
NHS students, staff reflect on overcoming pandemic challenges
Things look a little different at Northville High School this fall. All the new staff members, furniture, and renovations only scratch the surface. The past two years have been full of constant twists and turns, making every day a new adventure. And, as we continue to inch closer to normalcy, time should be dedicated to looking back at the good that has come during these uncertain times.
While most NHS students are starting the school year normally, freshmen entering the school have an entirely new experience to adjust to. Jacob Degner, who said he was “a little nervous” beginning the new school year, summed up how many of his fellow incoming freshmen feel. Others, like Elliot Hanish, see this new adventure as an opportunity to “personally improve myself.”
With the return of in-person instruction,
Many NHS teachers are also adjusting to the new school year, and, with having in-person instruction from the opening bell this year, are enjoying the peer-to-peer interactions with their students, an experience that was hindered over the past year-plus.
“I was most excited to get back in-person to be able to gauge people’s emotions,” foreign language teacher Mrs. Shui Cheng said. “When teachers are teaching, they have to oversee the dynamics in class. The interactions and students’ reactions are important for teachers to modify their teaching strategies and approaches.”
And, in fact, teachers have already noticed positive changes in student behavior in just the first couple months of school. “I think the fact that we instructors had to organize, update and revise our curriculum for online learning has made it more robust in some ways,” physics teacher Kim Garber said. “[Everything is] more accessible [and] organized [with] easier-tofollow learning goals, embedded multimedia, virtual labs, everything in one place.”
The inability to interact with others, even extended family members, could be draining over the course of the pandemic. During that time, some students developed a further appreciation for family members. “I’m definitely grateful for my family, and I spent a lot more quality time with them,” senior Sudeepti Rao said.
Foreign language teacher Sabrina LaRocca said the pandemic has forced many of us to see more clearly the value in the people who are in our daily lives.
“[The pandemic] made us really appreciate the time we do have with people, think of our friendships as more important, and not take advantage of them,” LaRocca said.
Both students and staff here at Northville value time spent connecting with one another in-person.
Connecting with others was not always easy during the pandemic. Hanish admits he relied on the virtual world.
“I am grateful that I was pushed to make connections with people,” he said. “I gained a presence on social media with others, and that led me to not
feel as lonely as the average person during the pandemic.” Feeling a deeper appreciation for the company of others is a beneficial outcome of the pandemic for many. This time period also left us with lots of spare time, during which many students developed new talents. “I learned how to skateboard, ... how to make ice cream, and how to do a backflip into a swimming pool,” said NHS freshman Sam Cassin shares. “I feel like I was able to learn these things and practice them better because of the time I had on my hands.” Senior Randa Khanafer also tried out a new hobby during this time, saying, “I randomly decided to take up embroidery during lockdown, and found that I really enjoyed it. I’ve never been too interested in art, but embroidery was more fun than I imagined it to be.” Though the school looks very different from its preNHS freshman Sam Cassin learned how to skateboard during the pandemic. COVID-19 state, some aspects remain the same. “The addition of masks and vaccinations may seem like a huge change, but in reality interpersonal relationships function in similar ways,” junior Eli Jackson says. “We as a community were able to organize in the throes of COVID-19.”
EDITOR'S NOTE: High School Confidential is a collaborative effort by the Stringers Journalism Club made up of Northville High School students Audrey Zhang, Lauren Sprow, Navya Meka, Maria Cowden, Tamsin Boyd, Wesley Paradowski, Alyssa Bachert, and Brian Zhang.
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