The resident professional theatre on the campus of Oakland University (but now separate from the university) will have a six-show 2004-05 season under the direction of artistic director David Regal and managing director John M. Manfredi.

The slate includes Yasmina Reza's Art Oct. 13 Nov. 7; Charles Nolte's durable adaptation of A Christmas Carol Nov. 26-Dec. 26; Alfred Uhry's three-act Driving Miss Daisy Jan. 5-30, 2005; Noel Coward's four-actor Private Lives Feb. 9 March 6, 2005; James Still's multimedia play And Then They Came for Me: Remembering the World of Anne Frank March 16-April 10, 2005; and the Kander & Ebb musical revue, The World Goes 'Round April 20-May 15, 2005.

The company is staging the Michigan premiere of Golf: The Musical Aug. 25-Sept. 19.

The Equity troupe was founded on Oakland University's campus in 1967 and grew into Michigan's largest nonprofit producing professional theatre.

Due to massive state arts funding cuts and a mounting debt, the University's Board of Trustees mulled closing the theatre or leasing it (and its subscription list) to a commercial producer in spring 2003. Members of the resident theatre community, fearing the loss of a major workplace, stepped in with a plan to continue Meadow Brook as a resident professional theatre, staging (as it had for decades) classics and contemporary shows in the 600 seat auditorium in Wilson Hall on OU's Rochester, MI, campus. "Meadow Brook Theatre Ensemble" was born, though the website for the troupe largely sticks to the brand name known there for 37 years: Meadow Brook Theatre. The University's Board of Trustees approved the formation of this new non-profit organization to take over the management of the theatre in June of 2003. Its inaugural season began in October 2003.

For information about Meadow Brook Theatre, call (248) 377-3300 or visit www.mbtheatre.com.