Tracy Letts' Superior Donuts, Starring Randolph Mantooth, Kicks Off Purple Rose's 2012-13 Season Sept. 20

By Michael Gioia
20 Sep 2012

Randolph Mantooth
Randolph Mantooth

The Purple Rose Theatre Company kicks off its 2012-13 season with Superior Donuts, by Pulitzer Prize winner Tracy Letts, Sept. 20 in Michigan.

Directed by Guy Sanville, the limited engagement continues through Dec. 15 at the company's home in Chelsea. Opening night is set for Sept. 28.

Randolph Mantooth (NBC's "Emergency!") stars as donut shop owner Arthur Przybyszewski. The cast also includes Ryan Carlson, David Daoust, Alex Leydenfrost, Brian Marable, Michelle Mountain, Michael Brian Ogden, Sandy Ryder and Lynch R. Travis.

This comedy-drama, according to Purple Rose, is "set in one of Chicago's most diverse neighborhoods explores the unlikely friendship between a burned-out donut shop owner and his idealistic new employee. Arthur Przybyszewski has just about given up on everything: a social life, the chance of romance, and most of all, his family's dilapidated donut shop. But when youthful dreamer Franco Wicks walks through the door with plans to reinvent the vandalized storefront, Arthur realizes that life still has more to offer him."

Superior Donuts by Chicago playwright Letts premiered at Steppenwolf Theatre Company in 2008, following his Pulitzer Prize-winning August: Osage County. It then moved to Broadway for a run in the fall of 2009.

Founded in 1991 by actor and Chelsea native Jeff Daniels, The Purple Rose Theatre Company is dedicated to "producing the new American play and creating opportunities for Midwest theatre professionals."

Read more about the company's 2012-13 season, which includes the world premiere of Purple Rose founder Daniels' new play The Meaning of Almost Everything.

The Purple Rose Theatre Company is located at 137 Park Street in Chelsea, MI. For more information and tickets, call (734) 433-7673 or visit PurpleRoseTheatre.org.