Purple Rose Associate Artistic Director Rhiannon Ragland is in the director’s chair for the theatre’s upcoming production of Fourteen Funerals – which runs through March 9 and is already creating plenty of buzz.
Ragland says she hopes people get “whatever they need to” out of this play.
“The most magical thing about theater is you sit in a dark room with a bunch of strangers and all listen to the same story but each person takes something different from it,” she says.
And that also goes for the actors on stage, who are trying to tell a story that at the very least is entertaining, funny and a great night out. They also hope some people take something meaningful home with them.
“What I love about the Purple Rose is they do a lot of new plays and that leads to a lot of discovery and gives the actors some freedom to how we interrupt these characters,” says Ashley Wickett, who plays Millie in Fourteen Funerals. “It feels so new and you get a chance to almost mold the character and play with it a bit.”
In the play, Sienna (played by Shonita Joshi) is a city girl who gets a cryptic phone call about the untimely deaths of some distant family members in small-town Blissfield, Indiana. She is asked to deliver eulogies for relatives she’s never met but decides to go – maybe she’s hoping for a big inheritance or maybe she just really needs to get away from her dead-end life in Chicago.
What she never expected was the tumultuous and rewarding relationship that she develops with Millie, the peculiarly sunny employee of the Blissfield funeral home.
Wickett connected to Millie right away.
“What I love about her is that she has such a positive outlook on life,” says Wickett, who certainly shares that trait with her character. “She lives in this small town and really has never been outside of this box she lives in. But she is always looking for the best in people and always trying to lift people up.
“You watch her realize that maybe life offers more outside her little town and there are more opportunities beyond the borders she’s always known. It’s exciting and scary for her. It’s such a character driven show with just the two people and it’s interesting how they are both different and similar from one another.”
This is Wickett’s second time on the Purple Rose stage. She played Fiona in The Antichrist Cometh at the Purple Rose last Spring. Ragland also directed that play, written by David McGregor. “It was such a great experience so I came back for more,” she said.
Wickett, who grew up in Beverly Hills, Mich. and went to Birmingham Groves HS, began her creative journey for theater at the University of Evansville and grad school for acting in San Francisco where she earned her MFA in Acting at The American Conservatory Theater before heading for the bright lights of New York and Chicago.
“Theater got a hold of me at a very young age and never let go,” she said. “I’m the youngest of four girls in our family and no one else was into the arts growing up. I was born ready to perform. I can’t even remember a day where I didn’t love movies or performing.”
Wickett now lives in Bloomfield Hills with her husband and two daughters. “I came back home about eight years ago so it’s kind of been a full circle,” she says. “I spent a lot of time doing regional work all over the country (including with California Shakespeare Theatre, Pioneer Theatre Company and Indiana Repertory Theatre). When we had our first daughter, Grace, we moved back home to Michigan.”
Wickett, a proud member of Actor’s Equity Association, recently added “professor” to her resume, working at Next Step Broadway (nextstepbroadway.com) in Birmingham. She has taught students of all ages (3 years-18+) in the concentrations of acting, acting for the camera, Shakespeare and other classical texts as well as improv and imagination and audition prep.
“Acting has always been first and foremost for me but now I also teach acting to children and I love it,” she says. “I run their musical theater program and also do a lot of private audition coaching.”
While at the University of Evansville, Wickett met Patrick Lane, who himself has become an established and highly respected actor – and also Ashley’s husband.
“Sometimes having two actors in the house can be annoying but most of the time it’s nice and a great help to have each other to rehearse with and bounce ideas off of,” she says. “We both understand what we are going through and I really trust his opinions and welcome his feedback.”
Ticket Information
Performances are Wednesday – Sunday at The Purple Rose Theatre Company, 137 Park Street, Chelsea, Michigan 48118. The performance calendar can be found HERE. Ticket prices start at $30 with special discounts for seniors, patrons 30 years or younger, members of the military, teachers, and groups (12+). For more information or to make reservations call (734) 433-7673 or go to www.purplerosetheatre.org.
