MCC Theater Season Opens with ‘Big Love’ Oct. 14-18

MCC Overbrook Theater's production of Big Love

(left to right) Amber Parker, Allison Gilde and Adrianne Lewis are cast members in MCC's production of "Big Love" in Overbrook Theater on Oct. 14-18, 2015.

It has been said that true love never runs smooth, and marriage can be murder. Audiences at Muskegon Community College’s Overbrook Theater are about to find out. Some big issues, laughs and perhaps a bloodletting will come into play with MCC’s production of “Big Love.”

Opening the MCC Center for Theater’s 2015-2016 season, “Big Love” by Charles L. Mee will run for five performances, Oct. 14-18. “Big Love” is the playwright’s loose, updated adaptation of the tragedy “The Suppliant Women” by the ancient Greek playwright Aeschylus.

In the show, 50 sisters are being forced by their fathers into arranged marriages. While the prospective grooms struggle to hang on to whom they hope to have, the brides-to-be have other plans. Because they don’t want to marry someone they don’t love, their resolves might reach the level of homicide. As the conflicts and resolutions unfold, “Big Love” addresses such themes as justice, revenge and the enduring power of love.

The cast includes: Allison Gilde, Adrianne Lewis, Amber Parker, Aidan Smith, Kristopher Arnold, Tim Hegedus, D’marco Hughes, Korbin S. Mulder, Claire Beaman, Hannah Erdman, Dakotah Salazar, AJ Ayala, Angela Cudney, Cecelia Gorman, Donna Harrison, Shayne Miller, Tre Perry and Marcus Tumblin.

“Big Love” is being directed by Sheila Kulp Wahamaki, MCC’s Director of the Center for Theater. Her assistant director is MCC student Dee Runions. MCC student Hannah Uthoven is the stage manager. Set, lighting, and sound are designed by MCC Theater Instructor Tom Harryman. Costumes are designed by Susan Eyler and scenic paint and construction lead by Brian Goodman. MCC Dance Instructor Melissa Brunsting is assisting with choreography.

Tickets are $10 for the general public and $5 for MCC students. For reservations, call (231) 777-0324. Show times are 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday-Saturday, Oct. 14-17, and at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 18. For tickets or more information, contact (231) 777-0324.

“Big Love” is an offering of the 2015 Muskegon Area Arts and Humanities Festival, known colloquially as AhFest. AhFest is a month-long event that through October will feature a variety of events, all of which fall under the umbrella of the AhFest theme, “Myth & Reality.”

In addition to productions by the MCC Center for Theater and art exhibits at MCC’s Overbrook Gallery, AhFest 2015 will include a film series. Other local organizations participating in AhFest are The Collins Foundation, Frauenthal Center for the Performing Arts, Lakeshore Museum Center, Muskegon Area Intermediate School District, Muskegon Civic Theatre, Muskegon Lakeshore Chamber of Commerce, Muskegon Museum of Art, Muskegon Writers’ Center, and West Michigan Symphony.