Photo Flash: First Look at Emergent Arts' YANKEE TAVERN

The Emergent Arts production of Yankee Tavern runs at the Riverside Arts Center (76 North Hurton Street, Ypsilanti, Michigan) from June 28 to July 1. The show will feature popular local award winning actors Larry Rusinsky, Tom Underwood, David Widmayer, and Maggie Tibus and is directed by Debra Reichard. Get a first look at the production below!

A man walks into a bar…in the soon to be demolished Yankee Tavern, the owner, Adam, is a grad student (thesis on conspiracy theories) whose father died the day after 9/11. His father’s best friend Ray is a Teller of Tall Tales, every bar has one, an habitual weaver of the most intoxicating of conspiracy theories: JFK; the moon landing; most of all, 9/11. The owner’s fiancé Janet spars with both men, almost comically revealing layers of deception all around her. Then a mysterious stranger walks in, revealing inexplicable connections between this young couple’s future and shadowy events surrounding the national tragedy. He is a Master Teller of Tales. He tempts us with the ennobling status of secret knowledge, straight from the Master’s mouth, plus a little bonus: the thrill of further danger to come. And we listen.

Some conspiracy theories, despite our rational firewall, hold our attention if only for a minute. Was Building 7 the first steel frame skyscraper in history to collapse due to fire? Why did Larry Silverstein take out $3.5 billion in insurance on the Towers only 2 months before 9/11? Does jet fuel burn at a temperature high enough to melt steel?

The Emergent Arts Theatre Company (2009's The Mousetrap, 2011’s Arsenic and Old Lace, this year’s The Odd Couple, all at The Arthur Miller Theatre, and 2009’s Waiting For Godot at Riverside Arts Center) presents Yankee Tavern by Steven Dietz on June 28 through July 1 at The Riverside Arts Center. Shows are at 8 pm Thursday June 28 and Friday June 29, then at 2 pm and 8 pm on Saturday June 30 and at 2pm on Sunday July 1. Tickets at the door are $20 General Admission, $16 Seniors and Students with ID, or just $15 all seats if bought at www.emergentarts.com.

Tickets are $20 General Admission, $16 Seniors and Students with ID at the door, cash or check only. All seats bought by credit card at www.emergentarts.com are just $15 each. Call (734) 985-0875, for pay-at-the-door reservations. Reservations will be held until 10 minutes before the show. Cash or check only.