The Bay Community Theatre in Suttons Bay kicks off its Fall 2025 live series on Saturday, Sept. 20, at 7 pm with a special solo evening with May Erlewine. One of the Midwest’s most prolific and passionate songwriters, Erlewine has a gift for writing songs of substance that feel both fresh and soulfully familiar. Her ability to emotionally engage with an audience has earned her a dedicated following far beyond her Michigan roots, touching people all over the world.
“The Search for Anna and Levi: A Lost History of Black Homesteaders in Leelanau County” will show at Leland School on May 31—not at the hamstrung Sleeping Bear Dunes headquarters, as originally scheduled. The Bay Theatre in Suttons Bay initially screened the film in February. Northern Michigan has begun to feel like a second home for Philadelphia resident Carmen Hopson. Ever since she received a life-changing Facebook message in September 2022 from Kevin Brooks, an amateur genealogist based in Grand Rapids, who shared photos to show that their ancestors—hers Black, his White—were neighboring farm owners and pioneering homesteaders more than 100 years ago along Little Glen Lake. “It feels like we’re coming home. This is a place where we will be welcomed home,” said Hopson. The National Lakeshore decided that it could no longer host the screening following the Trump administration’s March 27 executive order, titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” that cast this nation’s collective reexamination of historical racism as a “distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth.”
Made in Michigan, a popular film series hosted by The Bay Community Theatre in Suttons Bay highlighting great films made in the state of Michigan, concludes on Sunday, April 13, at 4 pm with a special screening of filmmaker Keith Famie’s Detroit: The City of Chefs, an inspiring documentary that celebrates the rich heritage of Detroit’s culinary scene. The Made in Michigan 2025 series is proudly presented by French Valley Vineyard and Hendryx House.
It’s a movie house. It’s a venue for concerts. It’s a gathering place for members of the community. It’s a working non-profit. The Bay Theatre in Suttons Bay is all of those. “This building has so much history,” says Graham Powers, executive director of the Bay Community Theatre Organization. Built in 1920, it originally served as a livery stable and fire station. It wasn’t until 1946 that it was transformed into a movie theatre. “There’s a great need for keeping these spaces alive,” says Powers. Alive and live, as in the theatre’s “Live at the Bay” series. On March 16, the Bay welcomes Kennedy’s Kitchen for its annual St. Patrick’s Day show. “It’s the fifth year for Kennedy’s Kitchen. It’s become one of our annual favorites. It’s a fun show,” Powers says.
On Sunday, June 23, the Bay Theatre in downtown Suttons Bay will show the third and final film of this year’s Made-In-Michigan series with a screening of the documentary film Marqueetown by Traverse City writer-directors Joe Beyer and Jordan Anderson. Beyer and Anderson will attend along with producers Beth Milligan and Christal Frost Anderson for an audience Q&A hosted by Glen Arbor Sun editor/publisher Jacob Wheeler.
On Saturday, Dec. 16, at 7 pm, Miriam Pico and David Chown will return to The Bay Theatre in Suttons Bay after last year’s sold out event for an evening of joy, reflection, and wonderful memories as they entertain the audience in their unique style, with original arrangements of Holiday favorites. They’ll be accompanied by a full ensemble of fellow instrumentalists and singers, making this a night to remember.
Get ready for a special spooky Halloween offering at the Bay Community Theatre, Saturday, Oct. 21, at 7 pm. The 1924 classic silent film The Hands of Orlac will be shown, accompanied by the composer, Chicago based Maxx McGathey performing live.
What do hospitals and theaters have in common? More than one might think. At least, that’s the contention of Graham Powers, the general manager of the Bay Theatre in Suttons Bay. Powers came to his position after working on the hospitality side of healthcare with Parkview Health System in his hometown of Fort Wayne, Indiana. “My professional background is in healthcare management and hospitality. There are a lot of parallels in theater management,” Powers says. Such as the fact they are both community-facing, serve large segments of the populace, and in the case of the Bay and Parkview, both are not-for-profits.
Before their weekend movie was to start, Riley Griffis from Milan, Michigan, proposed to Ashlee Engstrom of Bryan, Ohio, at The Bay Theatre in Suttons Bay.
In acknowledgement of the life of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, The Bay Theatre in Suttons Bay will host special showings of the documentary “RBG” and the bio-pic “On the Basis of Sex” on September 24 and October 1.