48 January 24 • 2019
jn
B
roadway producer
Kevin McCollum
believes everyone needs
to indulge in captivating
laughter as a distraction from
stress, and he is confident
about currently offering that
opportunity to audiences
around the country.
The source of the diversion
is the touring production of
The Play That Goes Wrong,
which has cheered New York
playgoers for nearly two years.
McCollum, whose late
mother (nee Susan Goldberg)
attended the University of Michigan, recalls
the Ann Arbor area and celebrates his moth-
er’
s ethnic identity as he brings the comedy
to Detroit and showcases humor styles long
communicated through Jewish stagecraft
traditions.
“I love the belly laughs that I hear from
audiences,” says McCollum, who travels to
watch the production in different cities and
may be among the Fisher Theatre crowds
sometime between Feb. 12 and 24.
“It’
s not intellectual, cynical humor. The
secret ingredient is Yiddish theater [origins],
where it’
s man against his environment and
the issues that have people struggling to get
through each day. When they do get through,
it’
s even more delicious.”
In The Play That Goes Wrong,
an amateur stage group tries very
hard and very heartily to put on a
successful play — a play within a
play — and encounters all kinds of
bumbling with props falling apart,
lines forgotten and movement slip-
ups. The play within, The Murder
at Haversham Manor, gives an off-
beat take on 1920s mysteries.
“It’
s all just stagecraft delight,”
says McCollum, who has brought
Motown the Musical and Rent to
the city. “The guys who wrote this
— Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer
and Henry Shields of the Mischief
Theatre — just turned 30 and they’
ve writ-
ten five different plays. I want to support
them because I love bringing new voices to
Broadway.”
THE BUSINESS SIDE
Part of bringing new voices to the stage has
been important to a business partnership
and longtime friendship with Jeffrey Seller,
a producer who grew up in the Michigan
Jewish community and maintains a loyalty
to the area. Seller recently donated $1 mil-
lion to support the Mosaic Youth Theatre of
Detroit, which gives young people perform-
ing arts experiences and has trained a num-
ber of participants able to achieve theatrical
stardom.
SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
for the Business
theater
arts&life
Award-winning producer’
s
The Play That Goes Wrong
promises hearty laughter.
Kevin McCollum
Passion
Angela Grovey and
Scott Cote in a scene
from The Play That
Goes Wrong, produced
by Kevin McCollum,
who won a Tony
Award for the play’
s
set design.
JEREMY DANIEL
details
The Play That Goes Wrong
runs Feb. 12-24 at the Fisher
Theatre in Detroit. Tickets start
at $44. (313) 872-1000, ext. 0.
broadwayindetroit.com.