About

Ever After Productions functions because we have an amazing team of directors, staff, student volunteers, parent volunteers, and community sponsors. We would be lost without them! Please feel free to contact us if you have questions. And please support our sponsors, as they are supporting kids and the Arts!

EMILY SHERMAN: Producer & Director

KYLE KAUFMANN: Technical Director

KYLE GNAGEY: General Manager

DEBBY ASH: Choreographer

LINDA VENABLE: Music Director

PATRICK LUTZ: Stage Manager

MELANIE GROSS: Stage Manager

Ever After Productions provides outstanding dramatic opportunities for community kids throughout southeastern Michigan. In each theatrical production and workshop kids work with professional Michigan artists to build self-confidence and develop new skills. Young participants finish each production with a hunger for the Arts, desiring to continue their involvement and future their knowledge.

Show’s like Beauty and the Beast and Les Miserables: Student Edition have each featured 70+ local kids. With partnerships with the Canton Concert Band and the Canton Celebration Youth Orchestra, Ever After is honored to host community musicians to accompany it's productions as needed. With outstanding youth talent and the support of Canton Township and the Partnership for the Arts and Humanities, Ever After has inspired the community to appreciate and support children’s theater and to grow collaborations.

The partnerships between Ever After Productions and local organizations have served to strengthen culture and arts within the community. The passion for strong Arts offerings and the inclusion of educational components is a powerful statement about Canton's values and cultural impact, fostering a life long appreciation for the Arts in their residents.

When I was little (I'm not exactly sure how old, maybe 6), my mom took me to see Peter Pan at the Plymouth-Salem high school theater (now the Logan Auditorium). It was thrilling, and to this day I remember where I sat (house right, about half-way up), and that Peter did an audience flight. It left a lasting impression.

I wasn't hooked on theater at that age, but I fell back into it in high school without giving Pan a single thought. Back in the Salem theater my sophomore year, I was trained by the then technical director Charlie Packard (a master technician and true artist). Charlie helped me see that theater was more than entertainment, and because of his mentorship, I now know that it's is a part of me I could never let go.

Well... I went off to Eastern Michigan where I discovered that I love arts management too. In order to graduate, I had to do a sememster-long internship with an off-campus organization. So, I found myself at the Plymouth Community Arts Council working with the then executive director Jennifer Tobin. Jen exuded enthusiasm for the Arts, a passion that rubbed off on me.

Jen also directed the Whistle Stop Players, a kids theater production company partnered with the Arts Council. She invited me to assistant direct their last show Famous Folktales From Around the World. So here I was with two scripts and four small casts (we did double casting). I'd never worked with kids before, but I found it to be extremely rewarding. It wasn't the easiest thing I'd ever done, but I knew that I wanted to do it again once the show closed. I was hooked.

A few short months later, Jennifer left the Arts Council to assume her new role of Performing Arts Coordinator with Canton Township. Canton's dream of erecting a performing arts center were about a year from being realized, but Jen knew Canton needed to begin a youth theater. I was the first person she called, and I was eager to continue something akin to Whistle Stop.

It turned out that Canton's youth theater needed to be something quite a bit different when we had over 100 kids audition for Annie Jr. in September 2003. It was heart-wrenching for me to turn away so many kids (we could only take 60), and I knew we needed to step-up our offerings. But rehearsals were a blast, the kids were dedicated, our staff was gifted and the show was fabulous. I learned to relay on Ebay (which provided me with a 9' Christmas tree, phone, old wooded police baton, Annie locket, and Tiffany & Co. boxes), my parents (who provided furniture just for starters), and cast parents (who did everything from ticket sales to concessions, costumes to backstage help). I should mention too that Charlie Packard helped design the set from his home in Denver. He also flew in for Annie's opening night - something I'm sure I'll never forget.

Annie Jr. was followed by The Music Man Jr., both of which were presented at Discovery Middle School as the Village had not yet been built. Those first two shows were small in scale technically, but we had so many kids, so many willing parents, talented volunteers and countless donations of scenery, props, time, space and services.

Ever After Productions is now thriving. With the opening of the Village in September 2004, we added the Studio Series to our regular season, an additional summer camp, and our Summer Stock program. In September 2006, we added three more drama camps and a technical arts class.

As we wrapped up our 2006 spring production of Peter Pan, things felt as though they'd come full circle. The show that delighted me at 6 has awed a whole new generation. Perhaps there was a future producer out there who found so much joy in this magical work by J.M. Barrie, that she or he will carry youth theater into the future. That's my hope. A future that continues to offer kids a passion for the Arts and a love for the stage.