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Posted on Fri, Aug 5, 2011 : 5:16 a.m.

Mix expands again, welcomes The New Theatre Project to downtown Ypsilanti

By Tom Perkins

Mix_Production_Theater_1.jpg

Mix Production Theater

Tom Perkins | For AnnArbor.com

For the second time in as many months, downtown Ypsilanti’s Mix is expanding.

This time, however, the clothing and accessory shop is cementing its role as a performance venue by opening the Mix Production Studio.

While just a small, one-room shop at 130 W. Michigan Ave., Mix owners Bonnie Penet and Leslie Leland regularly hosted live music, opera nights and readings. But their ideas were bigger than what their shop, which was cramped until they nearly doubled in size last month, would allow.

During an ongoing discussion about what to do with the a small space they acquired on Washington Street connected to Mix, Keith Paul Medelis from The New Theatre Project called the store and inquired about the possibility of housing his company there.

“We didn’t even think about it for 45 minutes before we said “yes,’” Penet said. “We welcomed them with open arms and we love having them here.”

The space is 500 square feet and The New Theatre Project and ThreeFold Productions, a new theater company in the process of launching that will share the space, quickly transformed it into a theater.

Mix_Production_Theater.jpg

Mix Production Studio

Tom Perkins | For AnnArbor.com

After clearing what was left of artist David Austin’s former studio, the crew painted the walls, laid a floor, created portable risers, redid the bathroom, hung velvet drapes, brought in chairs and put up posters outside to advertise the show, which opens this Saturday.

A sound booth was created inside a window that looks out into the space from Mix.

“When we saw the place vacant and then fixed up we were all amazed at how big 500 square feet could be,” Penet said. “We were pretty much blown away by what they did.”

Medelis is also excited about the new space, especially after the company was temporarily homeless. The New Theater Project started in April 2010 and was partway through its season in an Ann Arbor warehouse space when they decided to upgrade to a larger space in the same building that allowed more freedom at the same price.

But soon after moving in, they received notification from the city that the space wasn’t properly zoned for a theater.

After “freaking out for about a week,” Medelis spoke with Penet, who told him about the Mix space.

So what will the change from Ann Arbor to Ypsilanti mean for The New Theatre Project?

“It’s not a bad change, but it’s different in Ypsilanti,” Medelis said. “It’s actually better in a lot of ways. We’ve gotten a lot of community support that we never experienced in Ann Arbor.”

Medelis said he doesn’t expect a smaller audience, but a different audience. With that in mind, he said, they tweaked ‘Posing,’ which opens on Saturday, to make it “more palatable” for a different audience.

He described the show as sexually charged and said it contains nudity, which isn’t necessarily what the company regularly does. Since it is their first show in Ypsilanti, Medelis said, they wanted to tone it down slightly to avoid a controversial introduction to the neighborhood.

“We’re intrigued to find out what’s going to happen,” he said.

Medelis said he expects the company’s Ann Arbor fans will follow the theater, and, as part of a scene of small, independent theaters in southeast Michigan, fans from places like Ferndale and Detroit will also follow the company to Ypsilanti.

The show opens at 8 p.m. followed by a post part in Mix at 9 p.m. For tickets call 734-645-9776.

Comments

LA

Fri, Aug 5, 2011 : 2:19 p.m.

Mix is my favorite store! And it's run by two amazing woman. This is such a wonderful idea. I wish them great success and look forward to more stories about this new venture.

HappySenior

Fri, Aug 5, 2011 : 11:08 a.m.

This sounds like a great new venue. And Mix is a fun place to shop. Glad to see that Bonnie Penet and Leslie Leland are supporting business in Ypsilanti.