About Us
Meet
Angela
and
Jonathan
Talmadge
We are arts educators like you, making theatre in a small corner of Southwest Michigan - just outside of Kalamazoo. We have been teaching, directing, choreographing, producing, and performing throughout the U.S. for over thirty years.
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When we moved from Santa Ana, CA to Lawton, MI in July of 2012, we noticed that many of the experiences readily available to kids in Southern California were harder to come by in our new home. We wished for our own son, then a first grader, and students like him to be able to sing and dance and act - to explore their own creativity and develop the skills to express it. That led to our first musical with students from Mattawan Early and Later Elementary schools in Mattawan, Michigan and the creation of Opening Act Theatre Company.
With the decision to put on that first musical came the next challenge, finding the perfect production. We needed a script that: told a good story, was appropriate for children, had flexible casting, could be done on a limited budget, and would be engaging for the audience. We simply couldn't find it, so we decided to write it. That first show was A Little Bit of Kindness, a children's musical based on Aesop's fable, The Lion and the Mouse.
Since then, Opening Act has produced 13 original musicals. Four of those original musicals are available now for licensing. You can take these fun, fresh, engaging musicals and produce them with your theatre group! More of those 13 original musicals will be available soon as Opening Act continues to work to expand performing arts opportunities in their community and beyond. We look forward to partnering with you to make your next musical performance the best it can be.