West Bloomfield

‘Tis the season for ‘Greetings!’

By Eric Czarnik
C & G Staff Writer

WEST BLOOMFIELD — A local theatrical group hopes its upcoming comedy gets audiences into the spirit and spirituality of the holidays.

Two Muses Theatre will stage the interfaith holiday show “Greetings!” weekends Nov. 23-Dec. 16 inside Barnes & Noble Booksellers in West Bloomfield.

Two Muses co-founder and show director Barbie Amann Weisserman said she learned about the play from one of the group’s board members. Upon reading the script once, people at the production company fell in love with it, she said.

“We decided we wanted to put a holiday play up there for our audiences,” she said. “It’s been successful at other theaters, so we thought we’d give it a shot.”

While Two Muses is in its second season, this is the first time it has scheduled a holiday-themed show. Weisserman acknowledged that “Greetings!” is more obscure than other Christmas stories, but she said that’s what makes it a different experience.

“It’s less known, as far as ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ or ‘A Christmas Carol,’” she said. “It has more to do with the spiritual side of all holidays — the spirit that is invoked of the holiday season.”

Without giving away spoilers, Weisserman defined the plot as being about a miracle and how it can touch a family. In the play, Phil and Emily Gorski are a Catholic married couple who host a contentious Christmas gathering with their son, Andy, and his non-practicing Jewish fiancée. A plot twist adds an element of New Age philosophy to the mix, she said.

Richard Payton of Ferndale plays the role of Mickey Gorski, the couple’s 30-year-old mentally challenged son. He called “Greetings!” an interesting family story.

“It deals with a lot of ethical, moral and religious issues … in a sensitive and familiar sort of way,” he said.

Weisserman described “Greetings!” as a comedy that is sometimes intense but will leave audiences laughing, crying and “with a chill up their spine, in a good way.” Two Muses co-founder Diane Hill, who is the show’s producer and sound designer, also complimented the script.

“It’s got all the great one-liners of a hilarious comedy. It’s got the warmth of a Frank Capra family movie, and it’s got a twist that the audience won’t see coming, but they will definitely leave the theater talking about,” she said in a statement.  

Two Muses Theatre’s production of “Greetings!” will run Nov. 23-25 and 30, and Dec. 1, 2, 7-9 and 14-16 at Barnes & Noble Booksellers, 6800 Orchard Lake Road, in West Bloomfield.

Advance tickets cost $18 for adults, and $15 for students and senior citizens. Tickets cost $2 extra at the door. Learn more about the show or buy tickets by visiting www.twomusestheatre.org or calling (248) 850-9919.

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Eric Czarnik at eczarnik@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1058.