Check Out Joe Bailey’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Joe Bailey

Hi Joe, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
In 2002 I was on the road doing theatre around the country. Brandy Joe Plambeck and I met in San Diego and began a personal relationship. Eventually we were on the road together doing shows and I finally tired of living out of a suitcase and decided to move back to Michigan. Brandy Joe is from Wyoming originally and made the decision to move to Michigan with me. Once we were here, we decided to start a theatre company and we procuded our first show at the Methodist church on Woodward in Ferndale. Our next show, Vampire Lesbians of Sodom by Charles Busch, was produced at the old Xhedo’s Coffeehouse on 9 Mile (now Bobcat Bonnie’s). Through that production we met a benefactor who helped us find and outfit our first home on Woodward just south of 9 Mile where we produced shows until (guess when?) 2020. When Covid hit, we were forced to shutter the doors and ended up paying rent on what was essentially a very large storage unit. As it happened, our lease was up at the end of November that year (and the new lease contained a rent increase) so we made the decision to leave. We packed up 14 years of stuff and moved most of it to 0ur garage and spent time trying to figure out the next move. A few months later we were approached by the fine folx at Affirmations with an offer to make our new home there and in the fall of 2021 we opened our first show in our new home.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
We will forever be grateful to Affirmations. David Garcia extended the invitation for us to move in and now Cheryl Czach is in charge and the staff could not be nicer. It really has become a great partnership. It was really sad to have to leave the place that had been home for so long, but we couldn’t have landed in a better place.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
At The Ringwald we’re primarily known as the gay theatre. We do a lot of LGBTQ+ work and we’re also known for our parodies. We just closed The E(X-mas)ist our Christmas/Exorcist mash-up. We’ve done parodies of The Facts of Life, The Golden Girls, Grease, Mommie Dearest, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? and on and on. But we also have done serious work as well.. We were the first local theatre to produce August: Osage County and last year we produced the 6 hour gay opus The Inheritance. We believe in sharing stories that we love with as many people as we can.

Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
I knew pretty young that I wanted to perform. But I wasn’t a big personality. Although I WAS a gay little boy. When I was in 6th grade the only thing I wanted for Christmas was The Ethel Merman Disco Album (which my mom, god bless her, got me). I was also devoted to all things TV and in my adolescence starting going to the movies a lot. So I guess all of these things really play into my aesthetic, now that I’m thinking about it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://theringwald.com