With his career in show business at stake, a new Artistic Director works to revive Detroit's vintage Mercury Theater - a longtime hub of Black culture in a majority Black city - despite his crushing insecurities and unmistakable white-ness.

SYNOPSIS:

In contemporary Detroit -- a majority Black city – a struggling Black theater needs a new Artistic Director. Enter Alex Christos – outwardly all charm, charisma, and swag. Inwardly – terrified and desperate to save his career in show business, which hasn’t been going so well, because people find him … difficult. And from any direction you look – he’s a pretty white guy.

Why is the Mercury Theater left behind, in Detroit’s renaissance? Is the fresh white money pouring into the city really as woke as it claims to be? Or does authentic Black culture actually scare the pants off these new people? Alex’s staff -- racially mixed and many frustrated artists themselves -- are convinced they answer to a higher calling, yet frequently cause problems in their attempts to help.

Alex thinks he knows what he wants – to turn The Merc around and prove everyone wrong about him. Strangely mixed in with his imposter syndrome is a Sisyphus problem – he pushes the rock partway up the hill, gets cocky and it rolls right back down. Also, he cares too much; his heart breaks at the cruelties and injustices of the world. And maybe - as things finally wrap - maybe he learns that he’s happiest just putting on shows and making people happy.

Friendly note -- this is not a show about theater! It uses theater as a context to tell universal human stories, with the particular edge of a racially-charged scene in a contemporary American city with a rich music history. ‘The Merc’ looks at our human need to succeed – to be good at something, to feel fulfilled through our efforts, and to be recognized for our accomplishments. And that for many of us, it’s not a straight-line path to get there.

What if the cast of ‘Mad Men’ were alive and well and Black and white and Arab and trying to live their best lives in a gentrifying city, finding their way through messy human problems with a whole lot of funny, heartfelt, dramatic, messy human effort?