Cheryl Turski has her mother to thank for her latest stage role as the maid in Meadow Brook Theatre’s production of “The Angel Next Door,” which runs Feb. 12 through March 9 at the Rochester Hills theater.

“My mother was visiting her high school friend in San Diego and they saw this play at the North Coast Rep,” recalled the Detroit resident. “My mom called me to say, ‘I think Meadow Brook should do it and you should be the maid.”

Turski contacted Cheryl Marshall, Meadow Brook’s managing director, and Travis Walter, artistic director, about the play, and they decided to stage it. Written by Paul Slade Smith, the story was adapted from the 1924 farce, “Play at the Castle” by Ferenc Molnár. It’s set in 1948, in a Newport, Rhode Island, mansion, where playwrights, actors, a young star-struck author and a housekeeper all interact.

“It’s a funny, feel-good play — good for winter blues,” Turski said. “It’s a farce, a comedy of errors.”

“I’m the East European housekeeper who comes in and sometimes causes a little bit of trouble,” added Turski. “This stern, surly housekeeper (Olga) finds some joy in theater by the end of the play.” Earlier, she thought “theater people were wild, crazy and irresponsible.”Olga isn’t the main character, however. The story revolves around two playwrights, Arthur (Phil Powers) and Charlotte (Mary Robin Roth), who are adapting a novel, “The Angel Next Door,” into a play they hope to take to Broadway. The novelist, Oliver Adams (Chris Stinson), is reluctant to sign the publishing contract because the woman (Margo Bell, played by Olivia Ursu) featured in the novel doesn’t know he wrote it.

“Oliver and Margo met only one time and have this long back and forth (relationship) through love letters,” Turski said.

The playwrights, an older couple, urge Oliver to tell Margo about the novel so they can have the play produced. Margo is having a fling with Victor Pratt (David Aron Damane) — “Broadway’s favorite baritone.” They’re all staying in a Newport mansion for the weekend, where Margo and Victor are giving a concert.

“When they hear a love scene (between Margo and Victor) through the wall, they’re all shocked. Oliver is devastated and wants to destroy his novel. He thought she was this angel that he put on a pedestal,” explains Turski. “Then Charlotte decides she’s going to write a play with every single word they heard through the wall to convince Oliver that Margo and Victor were rehearsing a play and not having a love scene.

“It’s a really fun romp,” Turski said. “And it has a happy ending.”

An associate professor of theater at Wayne State University, Turski has been teaching acting and movement for actors since 2011. She moved to Michigan from Naperville, Illinois, in 2011, and has been performing at Meadow Brook since 2013.

“My first role was my biggest — as Constance in ‘The Constant Wife,’” she said.

She’s performed in a dozen Meadow Brook shows, including “Moriarty,” “Noises Off,” and “Baskerville.” “Noises Off” was her favorite because “it’s a very big complex farce with a lot of physical comedy and I really love that.”

“I mostly play comedic or ensemble characters,” she said. Turski also has performed at the Purple Rose Theater in Chelsea and Tipping Point Theatre in Northville and in shows around the country. “I did a show that toured China one summer. It was called ‘America: An Ongoing Experiment.’ It was a history of American theater.”

Turski also worked as a choreographer at the Actors Theatre in Louisville from 2017-2019. She was the assistant director on the “PAW Patrol Live! Heroes Unite” tour in 2023.

For this latest production, scenic design is by Donna Beagle, costume design by Marley Boone, lighting design by Neil Koivu, and sound design by Brendan Eaton. Brittanie Nichole Sicker is the stage manager and Caridad Guy is the assistant stage manager.

Tickets range from $39 to $48 and are available by calling the Meadow Brook Theatre box office at 248-377-3300 or going online to ticketmaster.com. Student discounts are available at the box office. Groups of eight or more may call 248-370-3316 for group pricing.