
“A Christmas Story” fell into the latter category. Parker unpacks the "major award" he won in a crossword puzzle contest while Reed Schwieterman, Kyrie Crist and Garrett Ensign look on in a scene from "A Christmas Story" at the Croswell Opera House.ĪDRIAN - Last Christmas season, as the pandemic left me with time I wouldn’t have had otherwise, I decided to watch some of those holiday movies I’d either never seen or hadn’t in a long time.
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HOW TO ORDER: Online at croswell.Steven Kiss as Mr. Thursday, July 21, and Friday, July 22 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 15, and Saturday, July 16 2:30 p.m. You can just laugh and be entertained.” If you go “It’s one of those absurd, campy, fun shows … and the songs are so great,” he said.Īnd to him, “this is one of those shows where, no matter what’s happening out there (in the world), just leave it at the door and enjoy the show. So why has “Little Shop of Horrors” been such a hit with audiences over the years? Hoffert thinks there are several reasons. What’s more, he said, the cast is clearly having a lot of fun with what they’re doing, which he thinks is something audiences can pick up on and which adds to a viewer’s enjoyment of a show. “I love this group, and they work well together,” he said. He’s extremely pleased with what his cast, some of whom are brand-new to the Croswell, is bringing to the stage. “There are so many layers to the music now,” Hoffert said. The added instruments add a texture to the score that it didn’t have before. And if they’ve seen the stage production, but it’s been a while since they did, they’ll find that the version the Croswell is producing has a new orchestration that adds instruments, including giving a klezmer clarinet its moment in the spotlight, so to speak.
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People who only know the 1986 movie version of the story will find that the stage version has several differences, including some new songs and, most importantly, a completely different ending from the theatrical cut. Julia’s most recent appearance on the Croswell stage before “Little Shop of Horrors” was in “Company,” while Sarah has been in several shows including “Ragtime” alongside her father and for “Little Shop of Horrors” is working behind the scenes. After the birth of their daughter, Sarah, the family moved to Ann Arbor and continued their theatrical involvement including in Croswell shows. He stayed there for 17 years, had some “moderate success” as an actor, and met and married his wife, Julia, who’s a longtime performer as well. A Southfield native, he moved to New York after graduating from U-M, intending to pursue an acting career.

He brings a lengthy theatrical resume to the task. So when it became part of the Croswell’s 2022 schedule, for him the only question was did he want to be in it, or did he want to direct it? He chose the latter, talked with Jere Righter, the Croswell’s artistic director, and soon enough the job was his. “Just the absurdity of it.”Īnd even as a youngster, he was drawn to Audrey II as a favorite movie monster.


In fact, he’s been a part of three other productions of it: in high school, at Oakland Community College while he was a BFA student at the University of Michigan, and at the Ann Arbor Civic Theater.
