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Nancy Kammer and James Bowen star in "Driving Miss Daisy" at Performance Network Theatre.

(Photo by Sean Carter)

It’s dueling university productions this week, with two of Michigan’s top-notch theater programs presenting three season openers. The three offerings couldn’t be more different, with the issue-driven “Good Kids” tackling the difficult topic of consent, as part of the Big 10 New Play Initative, a brand new adaptation of “Dr. Faustus” by Eastern Michigan University’s own Lee Stille plumbing the depths of desire and destiny, and Kander and Ebb’s smash musical “Cabaret” bringing the decadence of the Kit Kat Klub to life once again.

Add to that some major cause for celebration with the opening of the 35th season of beloved children’s company Wild Swan Theater. With its unique approach to accessibility, ASL interpreters for every show incorporated into the action in ingenious ways, and the high-octane performances of co-founders and ensemble members Hilary Cohen, Sandy Ryder and Michele Trame Lanzi, this community gem is a must-see theater experience for the whole family.

Show: “Frog and Toad” through Oct. 11

Company: Wild Swan Theater

Type of Company: Professional Family Friendly Theater

Venue/location: Towsley Auditorium, Morris Lawrence Building, Washtenaw Community College, Ann Arbor

Recommended ages: 4+

Description: Two of Arnold Lobel's most beloved characters, Frog and Toad, show how good friends help each other through thick and thin, cheering each other through the hard times, and celebrating life's joys. Join Frog and Toad as they greet spring, plant a garden, and share a basket of cookies.

Fun fact: Saturday, Oct. 11, the performance will be followed by a brief "Meet a Real Frog and Toad" experience provided by the Leslie Science & Nature Center. LSNC staff are passionate about the natural world and experts in how wild things live, grow, adapt, and survive. There will also be a related craft activity for young theatergoers.

For tickets and information: 734-995-0530, www.wildswantheater.org

Show Title: "Good Kids" by Naomi Iizuka, through Oct. 12

Company: University of Michigan University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance, Department of Theatre & Drama

Type of Company: Higher Education

Venue/location: Arthur Miller Theatre, 1226 Murfin, Ann Arbor

Recommended ages: 14+

Description: Loosely based on the Steubenville rape case, "Good Kids" explores a sexual crime and its very public aftermath at a Midwest high school. Discussions led by experts in sexual assault prevention will follow each performance.

Fun fact: Naomi Iizuka is a playwright, whose works often have a nonlinear storyline and are influenced by her multicultural background. Iizuka has a bachelor's degree in classics from Yale University. She is a University of California, San Diego Alumna and has a master's of fine arts from the University of California, San Diego, has taught playwriting at the University of Iowa and the University of Texas, Austin, and was a professor of dramatic arts and director of the Playwriting Program at UC Santa Barbara. She is currently the head of M.F.A playwriting at UCSD.

For tickets and information: League Ticket Office 734-764-2538 tickets.music.umich.edu

Show: "Spamalot" by Eric Idle and John Du Prez, through Oct. 12

Company: Encore Musical Theatre Company

Type of Company: Professional Equity, Professional Non-Equity

Venue/location: 3126 Broad St., Dexter

Recommended ages: Teens and up

Description: A bawdy, rip-roaring musical comedy based on Monty Python and The Holy Grail. Read review.

Fun fact: Spam is a brand of several canned precooked meat products made by the Hormel Foods Corp. It was first introduced in 1937 and gained popularity worldwide after its use during World War II. The labeled ingredients in the classic variety of Spam are chopped pork shoulder meat, with ham meat added, salt, water, modified potato starch as a binder, sugar, and sodium nitrite as a preservative.

For tickets and information: www.theencoretheatre.org, 734-268-6200

Show: "Cabaret" by John Kander and Fred Ebb, through Oct. 19

Company: U-M SMTD Department of Musical Theatre

Type of Company: Higher Education

Venue/location: Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre, 911 N. University Ave., Ann Arbor

Recommended ages: 14+

Description: Kander and Ebb's Tony-Awarding winning musical "Cabaret" became a landmark at its 1966 Broadway opening and continues to entrance audiences today. Set in the midst of the decadent and flourishing creative culture of Weimar Berlin, the musical opens in the sordid, yet enticing cabaret, the Kit Kat Klub, presided over by a mysterious and seductive master of ceremonies. A traveling American writer, Cliff Bradshaw, finds inspiration at the Klub in the beguiling headliner Sally Boules. An avidly ambitious chanteuse, Sally seduces her way into Cliff's bed and, ultimately, his heart. Yet not even Sally's distraction can obliterate the looming threat of the Third Reich. As their world begins to crumble, Cliff, Sally, and those around them must choose between living with oblivious optimism or facing a stark reality.

Fun fact: Through its original Broadway run and four revivals, "Cabaret" has won 12 Tony Awards.

For tickets and information: League Ticket Office at 734-764-2538 or tickets.music.umich.edu

Show: "Dr. Faustus" by Christopher Marlowe, through Oct. 19

Company: Eastern Michigan University Theatre

Type of Company: Higher Education

Venue/location: Quirk Theatre, EMU, Ypsilanti

Recommended ages: 13+

Description: EMU Theatre is excited to open it's 2014-2015 Mainstage season with a spectacle of magic and demons, Christopher Marlowe's "Dr. Faustus", adapted and directed by Lee Stille. Be careful what you wish for is the rule in this tragic morality tale, where a soul's deepest desire may not survive its starkest reality. Considered one of the great works of Elizabethan drama, "Dr. Faustus" bears witness to the war waged between good and evil in the hearts of men.

Fun fact: Arrive early for pre-show treats -- presented by special guests, available in the Quirk lobby.

For tickets and information: 734-487-2282, www.emutix.com.

Show: "Tomfoolery" by Tom Lehrer, Cameron McIntosh, and Robin Ray, featuring the opening short "Volcanoes!!" by Zach London, through Oct. 23

Company: The Penny Seats Theatre Company

Type of Company: Pre-professional

Venue/location: Conor O'Neill's Irish Pub and Restaurant, Ann Arbor, in The Celtic Room

Recommended ages: 12+

Description: Tomfoolery celebrates the words and music of satirist, musician, mathematician, and cult favorite, Tom Lehrer. Lehrer is known for his biting, yet lighthearted, songs on a broad range of topics including war, love, friendship, math, science, college life, and (er,) pigeons. The show also includes an opening short—a 5-minute mini-musical called Volcanoes!!—composed by Ann Arbor's own Zach London, who cites Lehrer as an early inspiration.

Fun fact: Lehrer's musical career was brief; he performed only 109 shows and wrote only 37 songs over 20 years. But he still managed to develop a strong following in the U.S. and overseas. There is an urban legend that he gave up political satire when Henry Kissinger won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973. Although he liked to comment that awarding the prize to Kissinger made political satire obsolete, Lehrer denied that he stopped creating satire as a form of protest, asserting that he had actually stopped several years before.

For tickets and information: www.pennyseats.org, 734-926-5346

Special ticket offer: The show is being performed dinner theater-style, with dinner seating starting at 6:30 p.m., and curtain at 8 p.m.. Dinner-and-show combo tickets are available for $20 each; show-only tickets are available for $10 each.

Show: "Driving Miss Daisy" by Alfred Uhry, through Oct. 24

Company: Performance Network

Type of Company: Equity SPT

Venue/location: 120 E. Huron, Ann Arbor

Recommended Ages: 16+

Description: In 1948, the son of an elderly Southern matron hires a chauffeur for his mother. And over the next 25 years, the relationship between the matron and the chauffeur blossoms into one of respect and friendship as the civil-rights movement brings changes to the old South. Read review.

Fun Fact: The 1989 film starred Morgan Freeman and the late Jessica Tandy.

For tickets and information: performancenetwork.org, 734-663-0681

Show: "Annapurna" by Sharr White, through Dec. 20

Company: The Purple Rose Theatre Company

Type of Company: Professional Equity

Venue/location: The Purple Rose Theatre Company, 137 Park St., Chelsea

Recommended ages: 14+

Description: What if you had experienced the defining moment of your life – but couldn't remember it? Sharr White's heartfelt and remarkable play deals with that dilemma and the unpredictable eccentricities of love. Join us for the Michigan premiere of this bittersweet play by one of America's most vibrant and lyrical new playwrights. *Contains partial nudity, adult language and themes. Read review.

Fun fact: "Annapurna" had its World Premiere at The Magic Theatre in San Francisco, one of the founding members of the National New Play Network.

For tickets and information: 734-433-7673, www.purplerosetheatre.org.

Carla Milarch writes about theater for MLive.com/The Ann Arbor News. Email her at carlamilarch@gmail.com or follow her at https://www.facebook.com/carla.milarch.