Mix, Mash, and MATCH

A look inside home sweet home for Mashup Rock & Roll Musical

By Nick Cooper | Nov. 15, 2025

Earlier this year, Mashup Rock & Roll Musical, the TC-based indie theater creators of performances such as Quack to the Future, officially found a place to call home. Founders Lesley Tye and husband Anthony Bero have settled at the Music, Arts, Theatre, Community, Home event space in the Cherryland Center after years of moving from venue to venue.

Tye, Bero, and more than 20 artists and performers had been traveling around Traverse City practicing and performing at multiple locations as they looked for a place to settle. For a time, the traveling performers found a home at the Inside Out Gallery. However, once the gallery closed in 2016, the search and travel began again.

“It’s really a challenge to put on a show like we do. We don’t have a lot of money, and we’ve always cobbled together some sort of rehearsal space here and there,” Tye says.

Affectionately called MATCH by Tye, the new facility was transformed from what was once a Kmart.

“It was sort of like, right place, right time,” says Tye, a film and screenwriting professor at Interlochen Center for the Arts.

Home Improvement

When the couple began leasing the new space at the Cherryland Center, they found that there was an obvious need to update the former retail store, including updating bathrooms and push bars on all the exits in case of emergency in the 90-person capacity building.

“We worked with Jeff Neidorfler”—a local architect with Neidorfler Group—“who came up with the arrangement for the walls. The walls that we built kind of enclose the electrical room as well because that was just open,” says Tye.

The walls partially enclose the seating area around the stage, which Neidorfler designed to allow for an interesting visitor experience.

“It’s really cool because it makes it sort of closed in for the people [attendees] and our actors can still pass behind them,” says Tye.

Due to the intimacy and close proximity to the stage, Tye, Bero, and Neidorfler decided to employ a layered seating arrangement with each row being set a bit higher than the one before. The remodeling of the space included the addition of elevated flooring.

“Our audience that have been to a lot of our other shows really enjoyed being able to be on the riser seats, because other times they’d just all be on the floor. So, they might miss some of the action. The stage usually isn’t very high in the various venues,” says Tye.

The new elevated flooring is not only courtesy of Neidorfler but others in the area.

“He [Neidorfler] brought the bathrooms up to code. He helped build the risers which were gifted from the Old Town Playhouse. It really is a community effort,” Tye says.

Not all of the extinct Kmart store has been gutted during the renovations, as Tye found a valuable use for the remaining items.

“Everybody notices that it’s just a wide-open space. Having a drop ceiling makes it look really [dated], but at the same time, it helps acoustically. The philharmonic across from us took out all of the drop ceiling and then they had to add all kinds of stuff on top of it,” Tye says.

The drop ceiling is just one of the quirks of the MATCH. The location also has what the group refers to as the “ghost light,” which sits on center stage throughout the night. Tye had not noticed any paranormal activity to date.

Ready to Host

After shows such as Quack to the Future, which ran in September, Tye has noticed that the feedback from those visiting the MATCH to be positive.

“It’s really positive. We’re still kind of working on it since we have a loud rock and roll band. So, trying to get the right mix kind of depends on where you sit. [But] everybody is excited about it,” says Tye.

With the MATCH space, Tye hopes to grow the influence of Mashup throughout the community. She is confident that the location can become an asset for many local creative groups and organizations.

“We’re looking for partners who are ready to use the space. We’re partnering with another creative group called Stone Fruit Collective headed up by Steve Clark, a local writer and playwright. We’re looking for improv groups that want to use the space,” says Tye.

The Interlochen Center for the Arts instructor hopes to build a connection with local schools as well.

“I’ve offered workshops with special programming for students. I’m working with students at [Traverse City] West senior [high school] theatre class about adapting a Shakespeare for modern times,” Tye says.

Coming Soon

The Haunting of Ebenezer by Steve Clark and the Stonefruit Collective takes the stage Dec. 19, 20, and 21. The 16 original Americana songs take the audience through Ebenezer Scrooge’s haunting and transformation. Mashup will join in for a second act of merriment, revisiting past shows How Grinchy Met the Who and Madonnativity, and share some favorite traditional and not-so-typical holiday tunes. Learn more at mashuprockandrollmusical.com.

Photo by Harpe Star