WEST SIDE STORY & More Lead BroadwayWorld's Maine Summer 2025 Theater Picks

Maine State Music Theatre packs a great deal of excellence and excitement into its 14 weeks season, but for this critic, the most anticipated production for 2025 is WEST SIDE STORY. Directed/ choreographed by the inexhaustibly inventive Marc Robin, the Bernstein Sondheim classic is one of the most perfect stage works ever created.

As groundbreaking today as it seemed at its 1957 Broadway premiere, Arthur Laurents’ book, together with Jerome Robbins’ enduring choreographic blueprint and the Bernstein/Sondheim musical masterpiece, retain their compelling force and magic to this day.

Robin, who has directed the show numerous times before, is, nevertheless, certain to explore some new riffs on the work, and the score is sure to shine. With Curt Dale Clark’s brilliantly unerring instinct for casting, the company promises to dazzle.

Another anticipiated show (and one that is an addition to MSMT’s calendar) is a revival of THE IRISH AND HOW THEY GOT THAT WAY in a co-production with Lewiston’s Public Theatre. This gem of a little musical by Frank McCourt shimmers with spirit and heart. The quartet of principals is comprised of some of MSMT’s most admired performers – Curt Dale Clark, David Girolmo, Charis Leoa, and Heidi Kettenring - reprising their roles from a staging in Lancaster this winter. Together, they make the perfect ensemble - funny, moving, and vocally stunning.

This is a show that wins the audience’s heart instantly and reels them in - often for multiple viewings. It is likely to be a sellout, so get those tickets quickly!

 Photographs courtesy of MSMT www.msmt.org 207-725-8769