Hackmatack Playhouse will open its 45th anniversary season on June 16 with a performance of "She Loves Me," a Tony awarding-winning show set in a 1930s European perfumery. It will end the season in August with a three-week run of the Fantastick's, the same musical Hackmatack showed its first summer in business 45 years ago.
This season will be notable for the huge variety of music and stories that will come to the stage of this Berwick theater set on a farm, according to artistic director Crystal Lisbon of Dover.
"We have a broad range of engaging stories to tell this year," said Lisbon. "From rock n'roll and tragedy, to young love and comedy. There is something for everyone."
"She Loves Me," nominated for five Tony Awards in 1964, features music by
Jerry Bock and
Sheldon Harnick, who also composed the music for "Fiddler on the Roof" and a script that was written by
Joe Masteroff, who wrote Cabaret. Its 1993 Broadway revival won the Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival of a Musical and the 1994 Critics Circle Award for Best Musical. And it recently completed a highly successful 2016 Broadway revival with
Zachary Levi and
Jane Krakowski.
Some would say this story of two shop clerks who respond to a "lonely hearts advertisement" is one of the most charming musical ever written, but Hackmatack owner Michael Guptill simply calls it "a touching romance with old world elegance."
The second show of the Hackmatack season will be "Buddy, the
Buddy Holly story," a wildly popular rock and roll show. Opening Wednesday July 5, this passionate tale follows
Buddy Holly through his rise to fame and onto his tragic death. It covers many of Holly's and rock' n roll's best songs, including "That'll Be the Day", "Peggy Sue", "Johnny B Goode", and "Chantilly Lace."
"Steel Magnolia," opening July 26, is an hilarious yet touching show that tells the story of a group of gossipy southern ladies who meet at a small-town beauty parlor. Set in Louisiana, this production reveals everyone's need for family, friends and community. All the ladies who are anybody have their hair done in this shop. The shop assistant is not sure whether or not she is still married and the wise-cracking owner dispenses shampoos along with free advice to such characters as the town's rich curmudgeon, an eccentric millionaire with a raging sweet tooth and the local social leader.
"I love this show, because it shows strong female characters and friendships with humor and grace," Lisbon said.
The last show of the season,"The Fantasticks," which opens Aug. 16, was last done at Hackmatack 45 years ago. "The Fantasticks" first opened in Greenwich Village in 1960 and showed for 55 years and more than 20,672 performances. When it closed in May 2015 it was Off Broadway's longest running musical.
This love fable about a boy, a girl and the fathers who try to keep them apart, is both nostalgic and universal. The narrator asks audience members to use their imagination and follow him into a world of moonlight and magic. It is a moving tale of young lovers who become disillusioned, only to discover a more meaningful love, told through memorable songs and a great cast.
"The Fantasticks" is also a show close to the heart and soul of Hackmatack. This production brings the theater back to when the Guptill family first offered summer stock at the centuries old family farm. Carleton Guptill, Michael's father who died in 1994, was in the show.
"She Loves Me" will be shown 8 pm June 16 and 17 and as well as June 21 to 24 and June 28 to July 1, with matinees at 2 pm Thursday June 22 and June 29. All other shows run Wednesdays to Saturdays at 8 pm, with matinees at 2 pm Thursdays. "Buddy" will be presented July 5 to 8, 12 to 15 and 19 to 22."Steel Magnolias" runs July 26 to 29; Aug 2 to 5 and Aug 9 to 12. "The Fantasticks" will run Aug. 16 to 19; Aug. 23 to 26 and Aug. 30 to Sept. 2. For tickets or more information, go to
hackmatack.org or call
207-698-1807.
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