Our Mission is to provide a season of innovative, Broadway quality theatre productions that make audiences smile, laugh and cry, enriching the cultural experience of the community in southeast Michigan. School Matinees available.

Student field trips to the Detroit Opera House are a rewarding learning experience! Tour the magnificently restored Detroit Opera House, including backstage areas not accessible to the public.

With the largest stage in Michigan, the Detroit Opera House is equipped to handle grand opera, classical dance, pop concerts, Broadway shows and even ice shows. You will be amazed to learn the techniques used to restore this historic venue!

Your students will learn about many careers in the arts, such as Stage Management, Costume Design, Lighting Design, Ticketing, Marketing, Public Relations and House Management.

THE PURPOSES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE ARE:

To offer undergraduate and graduate programs of recognizable excellence

To promote drama and theatre as civilizing agents within society

To provide the auspices for enhanced understanding of current issues through theatrical expression

To serve as a source and contributing partner for the enhancement and expansion of theatrical expertise

To preserve and perpetuate theatrical traditions

To educate and train future practitioners of performing arts

To provoke and sustain interest in the theatre as a source of truth and insight into the human condition

To present new plays which reflect the present condition of society

To encourage and promote the exchange of ideas, research, and creative production in all aspects of theatre including related fields; and,

To address the redefinitions of dramatic and theatrical styles, forms, and structures as they emerge as artistic responses to the changing world.

The Michigan Theater proudly presents amazing live family-friendly shows! The theater also partners with the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra for wholesome live shows perfect for the entire family. Season packages are also available.

The Michigan Theatre, the last and largest theatre built in downtown Jackson, opened April 30, 1930. It was built for the mainstream popular entertainment of the day — vaudeville and movies. For just pennies, the public was treated like royalty as it passed under a glittering marquee into a Hollywood Fantasyland. The building’s exotic Spanish style, lavish interior plasterwork, ornate polychrome terra cotta facade, carved walnut furniture, plush wool carpeting, heavy damask draperies, stained glass light fixtures, and oil paintings entertained the patrons as much as the attractions on the stage and screen. It was the first air conditioned building in downtown Jackson and offered a place to escape the summer heat.

At Miller Auditorium, we are committed to assisting local, 501(c)3 non-profit, agencies who are meeting the needs of our valued community. Our community voucher program is designed to put ticket vouchers toward Miller Auditorium shows into the hands of organizations within Kalamazoo County that serve children and youth who normally would not have access to them. This program also provides vouchers for fund-raisers to organizations who are trying to meet the needs of underserved segments of the community. Your requests mean a great deal to us, so all are reviewed and given serious consideration.

Reduced-price student matinee performances are offered for each of the three major theatre productions. Students can participate in optional "talkbacks" following the shows to discuss the issues presented.

What began in 1960 as a gathering of a small group of friends determined to produce live theatre in Northern Michigan has now grown into one of the area’s leading attractions. Each year, we bring entertainment and education to nearly 20,000 participants, with over 125 Old Town Playhouse and Young Company performances and numerous special events and community appearances.

The youth education arm of Old Town Playhouse, the OTP Young Company, provides performance and educational activities for youth age preschool through secondary school, including mainstage performances during December, June and August as well as classes and workshops for youth throughout the year. Over 100 youth age preschool through high school will participate in a variety of six-week educational classes in winter, spring and summer. Old Town Playhouse also serves as a resource for stagecraft, scripts, costumes and related advice for regional schools, community groups and businesses, other theatres and area arts organizations.

The PIX Theatre was built by George Smith, who began his “show business” life in a production of Uncle Tom’s Cabin at the White Opera House. When the show went on the road, 18 year-old George went with it. Before long the troupe ended up broke in Chicago and George returned to Lapeer. Next, George began playing in theater orchestras in Flint and Saginaw where he met and married Vera, the band’s pianist. In 1914, the Smith’s opened a small movie theater next door to what would become the PIX Theatre. Business was good, with tickets selling for five and ten cents. By 1921, the Smith’s were ready to expand their business, so they built the Lyric Theatre, “the fanciest show house around.” Silent movies reigned supreme, accompanied by Vera on the piano until 1928, when the “talkies” came to town.

Early in 1940, with movies at the peak of popularity, it was rumored that Harry Holboth, owner of the Deluxe Theater in neighboring Imlay City, was planning to build a new theater in Lapeer. George Smith, not to be outdone by the competition, quickly set to work locating a site for a new, modern movie house that he would name The PIX Theatre.

George bought the Wattles Bank property and set to work building a theater that would serve the community for decades to come. The PIX opened one year later on April 9, 1941. Its flashing marquee and porcelain enamel panels were the pride of the community. Prior to the Grand Opening presentation of The Bad Man, starring Wallace Beery, Lionel Barrymore and Ronald Reagan, George Smith declared that the policy at The PIX would be “strict adherence to just one aim … the finest of entertainment,” and promised never to inflict upon his audiences “such parasitical annoyances as BUNKO NIGHT, BANGO, SCREAMO and – most important of all – never a double bill!”

From 1941 to the mid 1950’s, Smith operated both The PIX and The Lyric theaters, but rarely at the same time. The Lyric was a larger and grander theater, but The PIX had a state-of-the-art cooling system (which in 1941 meant cold water dumped from a well through a series of coils to chill the air before it was blown into the theater). In the 1950’s, with the advent of television, Smith closed the Lyric theatre for good. After years of private ownership, The PIX closed in 1996 and was purchased by the City of Lapeer Downtown Development Authority.

Today, the PIX Theatre still retains its original art deco façade and marquee. Many of the interior elements remain as well following a $325,000 renovation made possible by funds from the Downtown Development Authority, the City of Lapeer and a capital improvement grant from the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs.

Renovation of the Theatre included the installation of a stage and stage lighting system. The PIX reopened as a live performance venue in 1997 with an inaugural performance by the popular Michigan vocal trio, Three Men and a Tenor. The private non-profit PIX Arts Council now manages the Theatre on behalf of the Downtown Development Authority offering approximately fifty live performances per season.

The Potter Center at Jackson College is comprised of the most versatile and complete performing arts complex in the area. Viewed separately, each of the three theatres is well designed, constructed and equipped. Viewed as an entire arts complex, the educational and entertainment possibilities are limitless.