Dear Kathy,

While the days are shortening, there's still much to do and see at the Opera House. Our fall season starts with two terrific theater productions that you won't want to miss: Jay Stielstra's folk musical "North Country Opera" on Monday, October 10, 7:30pm and the Northland Players' production of Stephen Sondheim's "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum", with performances October 28-30 and November 4-5.

Read below for more details on these performances and more!

Forty years after its first performance, North Country Opera returns with a five-date tour of Northern Michigan, including a performance at the historic Cheboygan Opera House on Monday, October 10. With a few twists on the original script, even long-time fans (they are legion) will get a fresh take on the much-loved production. 

North Country Opera is a folk musical by renowned Michigan playwright and song writer, Jay Stielstra. Set in the Buckhorn Bar in Northern Michigan, it is the north country’s own version of a timeless love story: a young man falls in love with the beauty of the northern woods and rivers – and the woman he meets there. After leaving for the big city to pursue bigger and better things, he realizes how much he misses the two loves he left behind. 

North Country Opera has been produced more than any other of Stielstra’s plays. It premiered in 1982 as the second play ever produced at the original Performance Network in Ann Arbor. Since then, it has been revived in 1992, 1993, and 2003 in Ann Arbor, and has toured across Northern Michigan: Petoskey, Mackinac Island, Escanaba, Frankfurt, and Cheboygan. A sequel, North Country Opera Continued, premiered at the Ark in Ann Arbor in 2003 to rave reviews. 

The play is a loving tribute to the people and culture of northern Michigan: fishing for trout in the cold rivers, hunting for birds in the autumn woods, snowmobiling in the winter. And of course, the comradery and wit of local characters found in a favorite tavern. 

Ron Miller, who directed several of the earlier productions of both North Country Opera and North Country Opera Continued, returns to direct the 40th anniversary North Country Opera 2022 revival. Along with the classic North Country Opera storyline, North Country Opera 2022 includes a collection of Jay Stielstra’s most memorable folk songs – including I Love Two Rivers, Heaven for Me, The Boats Came in to Ludington and more – all performed by a cast of Michigan musical and theater luminaries: starring Rochelle Clark and Brad Phillips with Chris Buhalis, Kristi Davis, Peter Knox, Christina McMullen, David Menefee, and Italy-based artist Aaron Stielstra. The Buckhorn Bar Band features Music Director Judy Banker with Michigan music favorites David Roof, Grant Flick and Ben Willis.

Photo courtesy of North Country Opera. Pictured above in rehearsal are, left to right, David Menefee, Rochelle Clark, Brad Phillips.

Watch the video below to hear an interview with Ron Miller, NCO's director and David Menefee, one of the cast members from the original production. It includes live performances of two well-known songs from the musical: "Hey Buddy" and "Rambling Man", by Jay Stielstra.

Directed by Academy Award®-winner Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire), Frankenstein features Benedict Cumberbatch (Hamlet, BBC’s Sherlock) and Jonny Lee Miller (Elementary, Trainspotting) alternating between the roles of Victor Frankenstein and his creation.

Childlike in his innocence but grotesque in form, Frankenstein’s bewildered creature is cast out into a hostile universe by his horror-struck maker. Meeting with cruelty wherever he goes, the increasingly desperate and vengeful Creature determines to track down his creator and strike a terrifying deal.

Scientific responsibility, parental neglect, cognitive development and the nature of good and evil, are embedded within this thrilling and deeply disturbing classic tale.

Captured live on stage in 2011, this thrilling, sold-out production became an international sensation, experienced by almost half a million people in cinemas around the world.

Cheboygan's own Northland Players bring this classic, comic musical to the stage of the Cheboygan Opera House! 

Sondheim’s joyous, musical romp through Rome has desperate lovers, scheming neighbors and secrets behind every toga.

Tickets are $18 Adults / $13 Students. A special Senior rate of $13 is available for the 2:00pm Sunday matinee on October 30.

Michigan Arts and Culture Council awards $16,250 in operational support to the Cheboygan Area Arts Council

The Cheboygan Area Arts Council (CAAC) has been awarded a grant of $16,250 from the State of Michigan Arts and Culture Council (MACC). The grant was awarded through the MACC peer review process and was one of 639 applications to compete for MACC fiscal year 2023 funding.

Organizations receiving a MACC grant award are required to match those funds with other public and private dollars. Local support of CAAC programs includes the City of Cheboygan and many individual members of the community. The Cheboygan Area Arts Council also receives significant volunteer support from the community.

The MACC peer review process allows for each grant application to be competitively considered by a panel of in-state and out-of-state arts and culture professionals. This ensures the taxpayers, who support this project through legislative appropriations, and all other visitors or residents in Michigan will have access to the highest quality arts and cultural experiences.

“We are so thankful for the support of the Michigan Arts and Culture Council, especially with all of the challenges that the pandemic has posed to the performing arts,” said CAAC Executive Director Owen Goslin. “This state grant provides critical support for our mission, which includes offering educational classes, performances at the Cheboygan Opera House by visiting artists and local talent, and new initiatives to bring public art into the Cheboygan community through our volunteer committee Art Vision Cheboygan. We thank the Governor and our state legislators for funding the arts in the state budget. The arts are an important contributor to our local economy, but more importantly they enrich the lives of our community members.”

A complete list of grant awards around the state is available by contacting MCACA at (517) 241-4011, or by visiting the MACC website at www.michigan.gov/arts.

CAAC Dance Receives New Vinyl Dance Floor!

Thanks to a grant of $1,700 from the Communities First Fund of Presque Isle Electric & Gas Co-op, the Cheboygan Area Arts Council will upgrade its flooring in the dance studio. Specialized vinyl Marley flooring will replace the existing floor surface that is in poor condition with areas of some buckling. This new flooring is thicker and more durable, and will enhance protection against slips and falls and offers greater shock-absorption and cushioning. It will provide a safe and professional surface for participants in the growing local dance program, as well as visiting dance performers at the Opera House.

Thank You PIE & G for your support!

Take a Look Back at our 2021-22 Season

Our Annual Newsletter for the 2021-22 year is about to be printed and mailed, but you can read it here first! It will give you an overview of all the incredible performances and activities we presented this year, thanks to the support of community members like you.

THANK YOU!

As we reach the 50th anniversary of the Cheboygan Area Arts Council and complete our first full year of programming since the pandemic, there is much to celebrate!