Studio 246 unveils new look and upcoming season

Ask Studio 246 what they are up to for the upcoming season and they will tell you they are going to make a ruckus.

Using what Carol Zombro calls their guerilla tactics, the two theater groups who now call Studio 246 home promise programming not found elsewhere in Kalamazoo.

Fancy Pants Theater and Kinetic Affect staff and volunteers have been slaving away over the summer to refurbish the space at 246 North Kalamazoo Mall. They have remodeled the lobby with a neo-art deco look they expect will be something different for theater goers the moment they walk in the door.

“We are truly excited to bring to Kalamazoo a performance venue that has been previously unmatched in style and urban panache,” says Kirk Latimer, one-half of the spoken word duo Kinetic Affect. Kinetic Affect’s role largely will be as producers for the space as it helps turn Studio 246 into a haven for contemporary and classy art in the downtown.

The new look is nice, but Latimer emphasizes the “real substance will be in the new plays and musicals, the unique and never-before-seen collaborations with a level of community outreach not currently pursued by any other performance venue in the area. We’re about entertainment and changing lives.”

The season opens with “Canabal: The Musical” written by Trey Parker of South Park fame and adapted for stage by local writer Trevor Stenanick. Other shows coming up include “Sick Day” by literary manager G. William Zorn, “Pancakes, the Musical,” by local writer Ryan McKernan. A Steve Feffer piece, “Marylin & Mark,” also will be staged. Its a Mae West play that was pulled and shelved before its Broadway debut. “And, of course, a second Gay-lah,” says Zombro.

“Canabals” opens Oct. 22 and runs weekends through Nov. 7.

Writer: Kathy Jennings
Sources: Carol Zombro, Kirt Latimer, Studio 246