BWW Critic's Choices: Best of Maine 2015

The theatrical scene continued to be lively in Maine this year, with the Portland-area theatres presenting a number of stunning world premieres and the musical theatre scene gloriously vibrant. These are my personal choices of the best in Maine, grouped by theatre company and show:

Because their repertoires are so vastly different, and because both companies produced outstanding seasons, my vote for highest honors goes to both Maine State Music Theatre and the Good Theater.

1. MAINE STATE MUSIC THEATRE is quite simply one of the finest regional theatres anywhere in the country, producing consistently excellent musical theatre, and in the past few years, challenging itself to attain new heights. The 2015 season offered four magnificent productions - The Full Monty, Sister Act, The Music Man, Young Frankenstein - each very different in tone and style, yet each staging realized with the meticulousness of production values and a breadth of talent. Marc Robin and Donna Drake shared the direction and choreography, both bringing an exuberance and depth of emotion to these revivals and devising dancing that was breathtaking and show-stopping. Productions were lavish with debuting costume designer Jeff Hendry scoring triumphs with his glitzy Sister Act garments and elegant, nostalgic Music Man attire. Notable performances included Trista Dollison's feisty and soulful Dolores Van Cartier and Kingsley Legg's slick, sinister Curtis, Curt Dale Clark's smooth-talking, irresistibly charming, and ultimately touching Harold Hill arold HillHarand Lauren Blackman's exqusite Marion, and Robert Creighton's wacky Igor. But naming these few does not actually do justice to the depth of talent in each and every MSMT production from the wonderfully versatile regulars like David Girolmo, Charis Leos, or Jayson Elliott, to the twenty-person ensemble of interns and young artists. Nor does it take into account the two non main stage productions from this summer - FAME! and Shrek Jr. - both elaborately produced by the intern company under Clark's and Raymond Marc Dumont's direction.

Thanks to the forward-thinking leadership of Curt Dale Clark and Stephanie Dupal, MSMT continues to enhance its artistic vision, daring more than it has in the past, continually setting the bar higher, and consistently meeting and exceeding these expectations.

And

GOOD THEATER under the artistic direction of Brian P. Allen which mounted a season of stylistically different straight plays, each engaging in its own way, but none perhaps as brilliant as the recent world premiere of Rob Urbinati's Mama's Boy, a searing drama about the complicated family relationships surrounding Lee Harvey Oswald. Starring Betsy Aidem in a monumental performance as his mother Marguerite and tautly directed by Allen, this premiere marked a major event on the Maine theatre scene which has created exciting waves of interest beyond the state and which reminds the Portland theatre community how lucky we are to have this company in our midst.

Other memorable productions and performances included Allen's stagings of The Rainmaker starring a luminous Laurel Casillo and The Other Place with Denise Poirier, as well as Stephen Underwood's direction of the wickedly funny Mrs. Mannerly (which missed last year's kudos).

3. PORTLAND STAGE once again offered a season of challenging plays, notable for their diversity, social awareness, and stimulating ideas. Perhaps their finest achievement this year was the world premiere of author Monica Wood's Papermaker, a touching and searching play, which, though set in contemporary Maine history, revealed a far more universal resonance and a new playwrighting voice that speaks with all the eloquence and emotional sensitivity of her novels and memoire. Other notable evenings included To the Mountaintop and Dancing at Lughansa with a poetic performance by Tony Reilly. Anita Stewart continues her artistic direction with a sure hand and consistently provides effective décor and strong overall production values.

4. MAD HORSE THEATRE COMPANY continued its tradition of exploring new work as well as classical plays. It, too, presented a stunning world premiere (which had grown out of its By Local series) of Callie Kimball's Alligator Road, directed intensely by Reba Short with outstanding performances especially from Christine Louise Marshall and Marie Stewart Harmon. Other riveting evenings were afforded in Kimberly Akimbo by David Linsay-Abaire, and Jon Robin Baitz's Other Desert Cities with Janice Gardner and Maureen Butler.

5. THEATER AT MONMOUTH continues to carry the colors for Shakespeare here in Maine, as well as introducing some interesting thematic programming such as this season's "Murder and Mayhem" and next summer's planned French drama. Especially noteworthy this past summer was a haunting production of A Winter's Tale with two outstanding performances by Jordan Coughtry as Leontes and Janice Stevens as Paulina.

Honors for community theatre go to both:

6. LYRIC MUSIC THEATRE, South Portland's plucky and colorful community theatre presented an exceptionally fine season with rollicking productions of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum with Zack Handlen in the leading role, The Addams Family with a delightful Schuyler White as Fenster, and Ken Ludwig's madcap farce, Lend Me a Tenor, deftly directed by Sean St. Louis-Farrelly with a stylish eight-person ensemble led by Connor Riordan Martin and Jaimie P. Schwartz. They capped 2015 off with an elegant, stylish, heartwarming take on The Music Man with classy performances by David Aaron Van Duyne and Jennifer MacLeod.

And

PORTLAND PLAYERS, which often shares the same talent with Lyric, for their rousing rendition of Hairspray with Alison Bogannan, David Van Duyne, and Adam Normand and a sensitive, probing production of The Boys Next Door, directed by Charlie Marenghi.

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