Michael was born and raised in Flint, Michigan, to Dorrene MacKenzie and Loyde Wills. He is known for playing Alexander Blaney in The Choirboys directed by Robert Aldrich. His performance is highly pr ...Show More
Michael was born and raised in Flint, Michigan, to Dorrene MacKenzie and Loyde Wills. He is known for playing Alexander Blaney in The Choirboys directed by Robert Aldrich. His performance is highly praised by Vito Russo in the book The Celluloid Closet. He most recently wrote the libretto for a new opera called Cow Goes to the Opera with composer Sunny Knable. He is the creator/writer/director of Operation Opera, the MAC Award winning Off-Broadway show which was also a hit at the 2011 Edinburgh Festival Fringe and went on to play at Symphony Space NYC and Lincoln Center. He was co-founder and Artistic Director of Playful Theatre Productions NYC where Theatre Row and The Currican Theatre was their home for 10 years. Playful Theatre Productions also had a grand regional program which included such classics as The King & I, Guys & Dolls, Fiddler on the Roof, Annie, and Brigadoon - to name a few.He has worked with several cutting-edge icons such as Penn & Teller, Blue Man Group, MTV Networks (60 episodes of Before They Were Rock Stars), and FUSE TV. His association with Penn & Teller includes being part of many of their best-known stage and television appearances, such as the Broadway show Penn & Teller's Refrigerator Tour, Saturday Night Live, and several infamous appearances on Late Night with David Letterman. Premiere productions in New York include developing and directing James Gandolfini (The Sopranos) in Tarantulas Dancing, Liev Schreiber (Ray Donovan) in G-Force, Recreation by Penn Jillette, Hunting Humans by Richard Thompson, Fixing Frank by Ken Hanes, The Honest Liar starring Jamy Ian Swiss, The Last Session, and Men: The Musical. Other regional productions include Alan Menken's A Christmas Carol, Stephen Sondheim's Putting It Together, Cole Porter's Fifty Million Frenchmen, Gershwin's Lady Be Good, and Jerome Kern's Very Good Eddie.He has written the book and lyrics to several successful shows including the musical farce A Cow Named Cow, The Adventures of Superbunny series, and POE: An Introduction to Edgar Allan. His film Grinch, won honors at FILMEX, the International Film Festival in Los Angeles. He has been a member of The Actors Studio since 1992 and belongs to SDC (Stage Directors and Choreographers Society) and the Dramatists Guild. Education: American Academy of Dramatic Arts, UCLA (Michael Gordon), Gordon Hunt, and Playwrights Horizons Professional Theatre Program (Bob Moss). Hide
