Maine Interviews

Maine State Music Theatre is the first - and only - regional theatre to be granted the rights to produce Funny Girl since the Broadway National Tour launched. We chat with Kenny Ingram about the upcoming production....

“There was no one else like Fanny Brice!  Since I was a child, I have identified with her in so many ways,” enthuses Jenna Lea Rosen, who makes her MSMT debut and role debut this week in the first regional revival since the Broadway show’s recent closing....

Thrills and chills have arrived a bit early this season in Ogunquit, Maine. That's because the ultimate thriller, Dan Brown's bestselling mystery novel The Da Vinci Code, is being presented for the first time onstage in the US at Ogunquit Playhouse. In this video, watch as Dan Brown, Michael Urie an...

Jessica Vosk is a celebrated singer and actress and she has just kicked off her “MY GOLDEN AGE” US tour and will be visiting your area shortly! You may recognize her from Broadway roles like Elphaba in WICKED, or as the Narrator in JOSEPH... at Lincoln Center. I had the opportunity to catch up with ...

Things are about to get nutty in Maine! Ogunquit Playhouse is presenting the musical adaptation of the beloved film comedy The Nutty Professor. Watch as Holmes checks in with...

Tune in right here as he chats with one of Broadway's most beloved actors, Christopher Sieber, who will perform a very special concert tonight, November 5 (7pm), as a part of the Radio Free Birdland series....

Tune in right here today, October 29 (3pm ET), as he chats with one of Broadway favorite Beth Malone. Beth will soon join Seth Rudetsky for two very special concerts on Sunday, November 1 (8pm) and Monday, November 2 (3pm)....

Tune in right here today, October 28 (12pm ET), as he chats with Rafael Casal and Adrienne Warren, who star in one-night-only virtual Halloween benefit concert presentation of The Nightmare Before Christmas, benefitting the Actors Fund and the Lymphoma Research Foundation. ...

Tune in right here today, October 21 (12pm ET), as he chats with one of Broadway's favorite leading ladies, LaChanze. LaChanze will soon join Seth Rudetsky for two very special concerts on Sunday, October 25 (8pm) and Monday, October 26 (3pm). ...

Tune in right here as he chats with composer John McDaniel, Javier Muñoz, George Salazar, and Joshua Colley from Stick and Stones, which premieres today, October 16, 2020, as part of National Bullying Prevention Month....

Tune in right here today, October 16 (12pm ET), as he chats with Broadway's original Dreamgirl, Jennifer Holliday, who celebrates her 60th birthday in concert on Monday, October 19 (8pm)!...

Tune in right here today, October 15 (4:30pm ET), as he chats with Broadway beltress Keala Settle. Keala will soon Seth Rudetsky for two very special concerts on Sunday, October 18 (8pm) and Monday, October 19 (3pm)....

Tune in right here today, October 14 (5pm ET), as he chats with Broadway couple Jenn Colella and Chilina Kennedy about Divas For Democracy: United We Slay, which streams this Sunday, October 18 (8pm). ...

Tune in right here today, October 14 (3:30pm ET), as Richard chats with Heidi Schreck and Oliver Butler, whose What the Constitution Means to Me premieres Friday on Prime Video!...

Tune in right here today, October 14 (12pm ET), as Richard chats with the wonderful Kate Rockwell. Kate who headlines a concert with Radio Free Birdland on Thursday, October 15 at 7PM ET....

Tune in right here today, October 13 (3:30pm ET), as Richard chats with New York City Ballet Principal Dancer, Tiler Peck, curates and stars in A New Stage. Available to stream starting October 16, A New Stage gives you a front-row seat to experience world-class artistry from the comfort of your hom...

Tune in right here today, October 8 (12pm ET), as he chats with Tony winner Beth Leavel who will headline concerts with Seth Rudetsky on October 11 (8pm) and 12 (3pm)....

Tune in right here today, October 7 (12pm ET), as Richard Ridge chats with Noam Ash, Mike Heslin and Jay Armstrong Johnson from the new web series, BoyFriends....

Tune in right here today, October 1 (12pm ET), as he chats with Broadway's favorite couple, Orfeh and Andy Karl, who will headline concerts with Seth Rudetsky on October 4 (8pm) and 5 (3pm)....

'There is something so simple, so wholesome about the story and the characters. When Curly made his entrance on opening night at the St. James Theatre in 1943 and sang 'Oh, what a beautiful morning,' the whole audience took a huge sigh of relief. There in the midst of war was a breath of optimism ...

Stephen Flaherty's catchy and powerful melodies and Lynn Ahren's poignant lyrics 'It was the music of something beginning, an era exploding, a century spinning. In riches and rags, and in rhythm and rhyme. The people called it Ragtime.' can be heard at Maine's very own Ogunquit Playhouse running now...

"Newsies is a hit wherever you take it; it had a highly successful Broadway run and national tour and now in these first regional productions, it is the kind of show that brings people from all over to see it again and again. It reaches so many people with its great music and dance and inspiring sto...

"The All Night Strut will transport you to a time when life was happier, and the fun was the music. This show will prove that it is still about the music. The audience will go nuts for the production; they will eat it alive and want more and more of it." Curt Dale Clark knows from whence he spe...

“She a woman standing up in a man's world, and she won't take no for an answer,” Kate Farhner says admiringly of her current role in Maine State Music Theatre's new production of Disney's Newsies. “Katherine is one of the principal storytellers in the show, and [as a writer], she is unique because s...

'It has been a very cool year for me!' Matt Farcher exclaims, as he reminisces about the last twelve months since he made his Maine State Music Theatre debut as Che Guevara in Evita last summer. The actor, who will star as Jack Kelly in the upcoming production of Disney's Newsies that begins perform...

'We are all there for each other,' Kevin Nietzel asserts, affirming the bond that is making Maine State Music Theatre's Grease so electric. 'It is very rewarding,' adds Neil Starkenberg, MSMT's Danny Zuko. Co-star Chelsea Williams, who plays Sandy to Starkenberg's Danny, continues the though...

'I think other people first recognized that I was geared to being a performer. I didn't necessarily recognize that myself, but when I performed in my first musical in high school, I suddenly said to myself 'Nothing else makes me feel like this. I felt these amazing vibrations between me and the au...

'I imagine that Danny is the youngest in a family of boys, and he feels he has to live up to the name Zuko at Rydell High. In the movie he says 'I've got a reputation to protect,' and I think that goes a long way to explaining his behavior.' Neil Starkenberg is commenting on his role debut in Mai...

'There have been so many musical threads throughout my life ever since I was a little guy. Music was something I did early on. I would listen to my dad, who had a beautiful voice, sing, and together we would listen to his vinyl record collection. I was always drawn to music written before I was bor...

'It's a warhorse and has been a guaranteed sellout since 1950, but that doesn't mean a production doesn't need a little spark. DJ [Salisbury] did exactly what I asked him to do,' says Maine State Music Theatre's Artistic Director Curt Dale Clark. 'I asked him not to reinvent the wheel, but to tweak...

"She's a wonderfully layered character," Kristen Hahn exclaims as she describes her newest role. "Most of all in her heart she wants to help people, but she is not quite cut out to rule with an iron fist like her mentor, General Cartwright. I think at first she is feeling a little lost and not willi...

'There's this line in the show that I think is key to understanding Sky and Sarah's romance. 'Chemistry?' she asks, and he says, 'Yeah, chemistry.' The message is that when that connection between two people happens, it doesn't really matter what you've predicted for yourself. What's real is the che...

'We wanted to go big and grand. We knew we had Christine [Mild] with her powerhouse performance and Charis [Leos] so we wanted to play it large and create an environment that would support them. The production concept we came up with turned out to be a wonderful envelope to wrap around the show and ...

What's Socrates got to do with it anyway? I sat down with Connor Donnelly (LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, FOOTLOOSE) who plays Schroeder and found out some information about the rehearsal process for YOU'RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN at the Seaside Pavilion....

'I love it here! This Always, Patsy Cline will be the twenty-sixth production I've appeared in with MSMT, and by the end of this summer, the number will be twenty-nine.' Actress Charis Leos - a huge favorite with Maine audiences and critics alike - is reflecting on her long association with the Brun...

'It's all in the way she placed her voice. I like to call it the Kermit the Frog place - the soft palate at the back of the throat, and that's what activates the yodel, the catch, the cry, the growl which are the iconic hallmarks of her singing. Patsy Cline wasn't really a technical singer; this al...

“The All Night Strut has a songbook to die for! It may not be as riotously funny as The Irish and How They Got Way was,” says Maine State Music Theatre's Artistic Director Curt Dale Clark, but I know from experience that the audience will leave the theatre exhilarated!” Clark, who will co-produce th...

'The theme of romantic relationship is one familiar to all of us and in the dance of the lovers that is played out by the characters, we can see, and laugh at our own follies and challenges as human beings.'...

'At the end of last summer I told myself that we were not going to try to top the 2016 season. I was going to think of 2017 as a completely separate and unique adventure, but the end result is that we are already topping our previous metrics in terms of ticket sales.' The speaker, Curt Dale Clark,...

One normal night is not what you'll get at Thornton Academy! I was invited to talk to the performers of THE ADDAMS FAMILY at the Thornton Academy Auditorium. I was able to speak with Zack LaChance and Braden Foley who play Gomez and Fester Addams, respectively....