FeedsGetting into the act
New Tipping Point Theatre group plans red carpet Call to Action
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Board members of the new Tipping Point Theatre in Northville include Karin Pearson, left, an assistant principal at Northville High School, Board of Directors President Chuck Gaidica and Executive Director Christina Johnson. The group has planned March 1The curtain is rising very quickly on a new professional theater in Northville.
A local group has already obtained non-profit 501c3 status, leased a building and negotiated zoning changes with city planning officials, all since the end of October when they began to discuss the idea.
All they need now is enough money to renovate the building and mount the first season.
And after everything they’ve accomplished to date, that shouldn’t be a problem.
Led by Executive Director Christina Johnson, a graduate of Northville High School, who has produced and directed shows for both the Northville Recreation Department and her alma mater, the new Tipping Point Theatre will present a series of four productions for 7-week runs beginning in May.
Channel 4 Meteorologist Chuck Gaidica, a Northville resident, is president of the board, and a driving force behind the effort. So much so, he and a partner, local developer Chuck Lapham, purchased the building at 321 Cady, which will be renovated into a “black box” 140-seat theater and leased to the group.
“This, we hope, is the tipping point, turning Northville into a theater district,” Johnson, who has a degree in theater and communications from Albion College, said. “We named the theater after the Malcolm Gladwell book. We want this to be the one dramatic moment in an epidemic where everything changes all at once.”
Gaidica noted that every step taken so far in the project has been serendipitous. “It has been terrific. The support and help we have received have been tremendous,” Gaidica said. “I think it’s because we are doing this for the right reasons.”
Those reasons include emulating Jeff Daniels’ Purple Rose Theatre in Chelsea which has breathed new life into that area and helped attract a wider base of visitors to the town, which has helped all the local businesses.
“Chelsea became a destination with the theater there. People visit to patronize the shops and restaurants because they are going to the theater. That’s what we hope to do here,” Gaidica said.
Johnson agreed and noted that they had other important goals, too.
“There are literally hundreds of theater practitioners who live in the area who want to work. Why should they have to move to Chicago or somewhere else?” she said. “I’m talking not just about actors, but set designers, sound people, lighting people, directors, stage managers, talented people who can help us present professional contemporary theater. This will provide jobs.”
Both Johnson and Gaidica are quick to stress another of their goals. Outreach programs with area schools and parks and recreation departments to offer classes and training in all aspects of theater production, for children and adults.
“We will offer a place to take classes where students can hone their skills so that they can find professional work,” Johnson said. “We’re going to create jobs, offer classes and help the local businesses already here.”
Joined by her best friend and fellow board member, Karin Pearson, who is now an assistant principal at Northville High School, Johnson stressed the importance of bringing a diverse new segment of visitors and students to Northville.
“This can add a whole new element to the area,” she said. “Northville could become a week-end destination.”
And now the hard part: Raising the more than $100,000 needed to renovate the building and the estimated $20-$25,000 necessary to mount the first production.
That is the goal of the red carpet “A Call to Action” scheduled for 7 p.m. March 10. Tickets for the event, which is under the direction of well-known local designer David McKnight of Emerald City Designs, are priced at $100 per person.
Included will be a strolling dinner and entertainment by a talented and “hilarious” comedy improvisation group. Gaidica will emcee the event and Pearson said with a smile, “We’ll probably see some of his well-known celebrity friends.”
“And it is tax deductible,” Johnson was quick to stress.
She noted that the group is also looking for patrons—100 people to donate $1,000 who will be offered recognition in the lobby of the theater, complimentary season tickets and special invitations to each opening night, cocktail parties with the various casts and other special inducements.
Other board members of Tipping Point Theatre include Sam Walton of Plymouth, Heather Brenke of Northville, MaryJo Cuppone of Ann Arbor, Susan Gaidica of Northville and Jennifer Steger of Livonia.
Tickets for the fundraising event and more information are available at (734) 446-5843.
