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Michigan Tech Theatre “Men on Boats”

Name: Michigan Tech Theatre “Men on Boats”
Start: 2025-11-18T00:00:00+00:00
End: 2025-11-21T23:59:59+00:00
Location: McArdle Theatre

November 18 – November 21

Men on Boats, Michigan Tech Theatre’s first play of the 2025/26 Season

Michigan Tech Theatre is thrilled to announce the cast for Men on Boats, a play by Jacklyn Backhaus, directed by Nich Radcliffe.

What: Men on Boats, a play by Jacklyn Backhaus

When: 7:30 p.m. | Thurs-Sat, November 18-21, 2025

Where: McArdle Theatre Tickets

Pay As You’re Able Tickets for this event are available online or in person at the Rozsa Box Office. This event is eligible for free Michigan Tech Student Rush Tickets.

How to Reserve Free Michigan Tech Student Rush Tickets.

Men On Boats tells the ‘mostly’ true story of ten explorers who set off in 1869 to chart the Green and Colorado Rivers under the guidance of John Wesley Powell, a one-armed Civil War Veteran.

This satirical retelling of historical events is made even more interesting by the author’s insistence that all characters are to be played by anyone except white males, who made up the entirety of the actual expedition. This casting twist puts the words and actions of the characters into a different context, providing plenty of laughs as well as extremely touching moments.

“It’s a really funny show, there’ll be no shortage of laughter I can promise you that,” says Paige Harsevoort, who plays the expedition’s leader John Wesley Powell. “But it’s also kinda hitting on some important topics that I think sometimes people don’t like to talk about. So I think it’s definitely an interesting story and it’s kind of eye opening.”

Sebastian Dash, who plays O. G. Howland in the production promises, “It was really fun for us to do, so I know it’s going to be fun for the audience too.”

This is Director Nich Radcliffe’s fourth production at Michigan Tech and after the previous success of last season’s “Glass Menagerie” and “Sweeny Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street”, expectations are high. “I hope the audience leaves the theatre laughing,” says Radcliffe, “And I hope that laughter makes it easier to be honest with themselves, about the world, and about the place and the voice everyone deserves in it.”

The production features a talented cast of Michigan Tech students:

John Wesley Powell – played by Paige Harsevoort

William Dunn – played by Celia Peters

John Colton Sumner – played by Zoe Oetjens

Old Shady – played by Leona Lins

Bradley – played by Ysa Cerbo

O. G. Howland – played by Sebastian Dash

Seneca Howland – played by Drew Karimi

Frank Goodman – played by Lexi Meyer Hall – played by Abby Pilon

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