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Dear Friends, 

 

It is with a heavy heart that we announce the cancellation of the Michigan Shakespeare Festival 2025 season. 

 

It has been a perfect storm of events – grants disappearing, donors pulling back due to the current economic uncertainty, and lower-than-expected ticket sales as our patrons look to their wallets and know they need to save. We completely understand. 

 

While the MSF carries no debt, we also do not have the reserves to put up a season without ticket sales and donations. The majority of our funds go directly to our season payroll. Without the ability to pay our artists, and with the first rehearsal being slated for Tuesday, we made the only decision available to us. 

 

We were very excited by the burgeoning relationship with Wayne State. Had it occurred two or three years earlier, it might have already blossomed into the true partnership we were hoping to build. Wayne State has been incredibly helpful, but it was never their role to fund the Festival. Their contributions were in facilities and technology, and we are grateful to them.

 

At the moment, we are considering if there is a future for the Festival. Over the last thirty years, it has grown from the typical festival in a park to a professional union house with Broadway talent. With that growth has come increased costs that have proven unsustainable. 

 

Our greatest regrets are for our artists, who were expecting both employment and creative outlet this summer, and for our audiences, who were expecting another stellar season of great Shakespeare. It is impossible not to feel we’ve let them – you – down. 

 

Yet we will try to remember that it is impermanence that makes theatre unique. While other art forms are captured, live performance simply is, then is not. It vanishes into the air, and exists only in memory. It is the ephemeral nature of the art that makes it beautiful. 

 

So we are sad. Yet we know we did all we could, and there are others this summer who will be doing the great work, conspiring with audiences to bring these plays to life. 

 

To our audiences, we’ll do our best to make certain in the upcoming weeks your tickets are refunded. To our donors, your contributions were in no way in vain – mainly making sure the artists involved in pre-production were compensated for the work they’ve already done.

 

To all of the supporters out there who have been rooting for us – please keep us in your hearts as we determine next steps.

 

Thank you for caring about classical theatre, for caring about us.

The MSF Board of Directors

Shawn Pfautsch as HAMLET, 2014, director Janice L Blixt
Brandon St. Clair Saunders as Ariel
Diana Coates, Destiny Dunn, & Clair Jolliffe in The Rover
RICHARD III, 2012, director Janice L Blixt
Ian Geers (Proteus) & Martel Manning (Valentine) THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA, 2019, director Robert
Richard II, 2016, director Janice L Blixt
Brandon St. Clair Saunders as Lucio & Lawrence Stepney as Claudio, MEASURE FOR MEASURE, 2018, direct
Paul Riopelle (Malvolio) & Alan Ball (Feste), TWELFTH NIGHT, 2013, director Janice L Blixt
Larissa Marten (Rosalind), Anu Bhatt (Celia), Brandon A Wright (Orlando), Janet Haley (Jacques), AS
Dan Wilson (Capt. Absolute) & Laurel Schroeder (Lydia Languish), THE RIVALS, 2015, director Robert K
Alan Ball (Tartuffe) & Susaan Jamshidi (Elmire), TARTUFFE, 2011, director Robert Kauzlaric
SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER, 2014, director Robert Kauzlaric
Dwight Tolar (Col. Chamberlain) & Alan Ball (Kilrain), THE KILLER ANGELS, 2016, director Janice L Bl
David Turrentine as RICHARD III, 2012, director Janice L Blixt
Annie Keris (Julia) & Edmund Alyn Jones (Falkland), THE RIVALS, 2015, director Robert Kauzlaric
David Turrentine (Col. Pickering), Joseph Wycoff (Higgins), Stacy Stoltz (Eliza), PYGMALION, 2012, d
THE KILLER ANGELS, 2016, director Janice L Blixt
Janet Haley as Ms. Quickly and Kevin Tre'Von Patterson as Pompey, Measure For Measure, 2018
Brandon St. Clair Saunders (Maj. Taylor), Tobin Hissong (Lee), THE KILLER ANGELS, 2016, director Jan
THE KILLER ANGELS, 2016, director Janice L Blixt
Paul Riopelle (Malvolio), Alan Ball (Feste), John Byrnes (Toby), Amy Lewis Montgomery (Maria), TWELF
Melanie Keller (Viola) & David Blixt (Orsino), TWELFTH NIGHT, 2013, director Janice L Blixt
TWELFTH NIGHT, 2013, director Janice L Blixt
TWELFTH NIGHT, 2013, director Janice L Blixt
Rick Eva (Captain) & Melanie Keller (Viola), TWELFTH NIGHT, 2013, director Janice L Blixt
Alan Ball (Old Shepard) & Wesley Scott (Autolycus), THE WINTER'S TALE, 2011, director Janice L Blixt
Janet Haley (Paulina) & David Blixt (Leontes), THE WINTER'S TALE, 2011, director Janice L Blixt
Joseph Wycoff as Henry Higgins, PYGMALION, 2012, director Janice L Blixt
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Alan Ball (Sir Anthony Absolute) & Dan Wilson (Capt. Absolute), THE RIVALS, 2015, director Robert Ka
Ian Geers (Bagot), Michael Phillip Thomas (Green), Eric Eilersen (Bushy), Matt Daniels (Mowbray), RI
Rick Eva (Ratcliffe), Alan Ball (Clarence), Jared Paul Cole (Catesby), RICHARD III, 2012, director J
Wendy Katz Hiller as Mrs. Malaprop, THE RIVALS, 2015, director Robert Kauzlaric
Buz Davis (Orgon) & Alan Ball (Tartuffe), TARTUFFE, 2011, director Robert Kauzlaric
Tartuffe, 2011, director Robert Kauzlaric
Janet Haley (M. Pernelle) & Tory Hood (maid), TARTUFFE, 2011, director Robert Kauzlaric
Brandon St. Clair Saunders (Fabian), John Byrnes (Toby), Caleb Probst (Andrew), Paul Riopelle (Malvo
Vanessa Sawson (Roxanne), CYRANO DE BERGERAC, 2019, director Janice L Blixt
Claire Jolliffe (Crab) & Alan Ball (Launce), THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA, 2019, director Robert Kauz
Sam Hubbard as HENRY V, 2022, director Janice L Blixt
Joseph Wycoff (Longaville), William Irwin (King), Brandon St. Clair Saunders (Dumaine), David Blixt
Alan Ball (Mr. Hardcastle) & Melanie Keller (Kate), SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER, 2014, D. Robert Kauzlaric
Sally Pesetsky (Duchesse), Janet Haley (Q. Elizabeth), Elsa Harchick (P. Elizabeth), RICHARD III, 20
Robert Kauzlaric as RICHARD II, 2016, D. Janice L Blixt
THE WINTER'S TALE, 2012, D. Janice L Blixt
Joseph Wycoff (Higgins) & Stacy Stoltz (Eliza), PYGMALION, 2013, D. Janice L Blixt
RICHARD III, 2012, D. Janice L Blixt
Diana Coates (Isabella) & Robert Mclean (Angelo), MEASURE FOR MEASURE, 2018, D. Janice L Blixt
Joe Foust (Falstaff) & Lauren Grace Thompson, THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR, 2022, D. Robert Kauzlaric
Lydia Hiller (Ms. Ford) & Demetria Thomas (Ms. Page), THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR, 2022, D. Robert Ka
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