KEEP SINGING! Showcase of Short, Original Musicals to Play in Yarmouth Maine in August

A comedy, a dramedy, and a drama: that's the offering of "Keep Singing!", a showcase of short, original musicals by creative team Linda Hildonen and Colby Michaud coming to The Playhouse in Yarmouth on August 11th-13th. The pair, who work together under the name LinCo Media, previously collaborated on the six-episode podcast musical about love in the time of the pandemic, "Once in a Lifetime," and "Queen of Hearts," a short film that won "Best Music" and "Best Use of Prop" in the 2022 Maine Film Association Winter 72-Hour Filmmaking Challenge.

While the pair found success in writing, shooting and editing their short film in just 72 hours, "Keep Singing!" is a culmination of years' of the duo's efforts. The most traditional piece, a musical comedy called "Chasing James," is a shortened version of "Hopeless!", a full-length musical that the pair had finished writing in early 2020. In March of that year, Hildonen and Michaud had begun to talk to the Royal River Community Players about renting The Playhouse to stage the production. "When the pandemic hit, suddenly everything stopped," explains Colby Michaud of Sabattus, the team's composer. Together, the pair switched gears and spent the next two years working on their podcast musical, confident that they would revisit their ambition to mount a full-scale theatrical production when the time was right.

"Chasing James" features five of the songs from "Hopeless!" in a stripped-down plot about a man who makes some toxic choices in his quest to find love through online dating apps, and his beleaguered best friend's attempts to help him grow. "When we cut out 'Hope,' the titular character, we realized that a lot of the emotional complexity was taken out of the piece, so we decided to really lean into the comedy angle." explains Linda Hildonen of Lisbon, the team's librettist. The role of James will be played by Jacob Sutherland of Waterville, and the role of his best friend Brody will be played by Ross Poulin of Lisbon. Also featured will be Jane Clukey as Sola, and Sabrena Gallego of Portland, Leigha Walls of Auburn, and Kierra Bouchard of Lisbon as "Superlikeable Girls."

The dramedy piece, "It's Complicated," is also an adaptation of a previous work. Hildonen had written this piece with help from her Husband, Daniel Bridgman, as part of the 2022 Port Fringe festival. "We had a great response from the audience, and I was eager to polish it up, with Colby's help, and see it on a larger stage." Bridgman will be reprising his role of the sincere-but-emotionally-inarticulate husband in the upcoming production about a couple who is roped into singing about their marital problems by their guitar-playing therapist. The cast will also feature Amber Kachmar of Buxton and Alan McLucas of Limington.

The final piece, "Home Again," is the only piece of the showcase written entirely in the last few months. The team first saw their leading man, Andy Barber of Woolwich, performing in a concert in Bath, and was struck with inspiration to write him a role. They quickly crafted a story about a woman desperately looking for answers from her father, who suffers from late-stage dementia, but when it was done, they had trouble contacting Barber. "Eventually, I just drove out to the address listed for him in the white pages and knocked on his door." says Hildonen. After an awkward introduction, Barber was intrigued by the project and agreed to join. "He really does have the most incredible voice," says Michaud. Amy Torrey of Brunswick and Danielle Eaton of Litchfield round out the cast as his daughter and caregiver, respectively.

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