Handel's Messiah Rocks!

The Croswell Opera House invites you to a joyous celebration of the Christmas season!

The stirring sounds of Handel’s Messiah Rocks! will fill Michigan’s oldest theater for five very special shows, beginning Thanksgiving weekend.

The show is a rock ‘n’ roll adaptation of Handel’s Messiah. One of the greatest pieces of sacred music of all time, Messiah has been updated for a modern audience with a high-energy score and a 14-piece rock orchestra performing live on the Croswell stage.

Handel’s Messiah Rocks! was updated by Grammy Award-winning composer Jason Howland, with a libretto adapted by Broadway producer Dani Davis.

Here’s what Davis said about adapting Messiah in a 2009 interview:

“The real challenge in determining whether a piece can be updated is the piece itself has to be extraordinary to begin with.  And we made these beautiful discoveries … we discovered that Handel’s Messiah is as timely and provocative and beautiful now, in this updated sensibility, as it was then.”

The Croswell’s production will be the first time Handel’s Messiah Rocks! has been seen in the area since the national tour hit Toledo in 2010. Featuring a cast drawn from across southeast Michigan and northwest Ohio, this will be a Christmas celebration to remember!

Show dates and times are:

  • Saturday, November 28, at 7:30 p.m.
  • Sunday, November 29, at 2:30 p.m.
  • Friday, December 4, at 7:30 p.m.
  • Saturday, December 5, at 7:30 p.m.
  • Sunday, December 6, at 2:30 p.m.

To see video samples of the music from the show, go to croswell.org/messiahrocks and click on “Videos.”

You can also click here or call 517-264-7469 to reserve your tickets today!

Resize text