MAINE THEATER REVIEWS

One of the most popular movie musicals adapted for the stage, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers has enjoyed several notable regional productions in the past few seasons, and the Ogunquit Playhouse's current staging demonstrates once again the nostalgic appeal of this sweet and folksy romantic tale set...

Director Lindsey Higgins has audio recordings of British and American politicians play before the action begins in the 60 Grit Theatre Company's production of Sarah Kane's 'Blasted.' Their stuffy proclamations set the stage for the 1995 play's exploration of some horrific clashes along the frontline...

The young and young at heart were treated to a day of enchantment at Maine State Music Theatre today, when the company presented four performances of Marc Robin and Curt Dale Clark's delightful musical retelling of Aladdin, directed and choreographed by Raymond Marc Dumont. Presented in a fully stag...

'We are the storytellers; we are the musicmakers; we are the dreamers of dreams.' With these words the cast of Frank McCourt's The Irish and How They Got That Way brings to a close a spellbinding evening of story and song that has the audience clapping, foot-tapping, weeping, and laughing in one of ...

You're either on the bus or you're not on the bus, so the old saying goes. Currently, audiences at the Ogunquit Playhouse are willingly climbing onboard for a wild ride....

The electric, near ecstatic atmosphere in Brunswick's Pickard Theater last night more closely resembled that of a rock concert than a theatre company opening. For months in advance, the sold out box office has signaled the joyful anticipation of Maine State Music Theatre's new production of Mamma Mi...

The Quartet's first Maine concert is one of its last with all of the original members....

The Theater at Monmouth's new production of Pierre de Beaumarchais' delightful, provocative 18th century comedy, The Barber of Seville, (in translation by Elizabeth Griffith) sparkles not only with saucy wit, but also with a striking modernity. The first play from the French master's Figaro trilogy ...

One of Shakespeare's best-loved history plays, Henry V, opened Friday July 23 at Maine's Theater at Monmouth in a stylish and stirring performance directed by Mark Mineart. Trimmed to a little over two hours, the production, nonetheless, keeps the architecture of the masterpiece and all the most fam...

Maine State Music Theatre's third 2016 main stage production is a cause for celebration! After twenty-one years, the beloved Bock-Harnick musical, Fiddler on the Roof returns to the Pickard stage in a monumental production directed and choreographed by Gary John LaRosa, that stunningly weaves a rich...

Ogunquit Playhouse's third season offering is an epic production of the Alan Menken-Stephen Schwartz- Peter Parnell musical version of Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame. This is only the third regional production of this adaptation of Hugo's 19th century novel set in 15th century Paris and r...

Twenty-five years after it was last presented at the Pickard Theater, Andrew Lloyd-Webber/Tim Rice's masterpiece has returned in triumph to Maine State Music Theatre in a stunning new production directed and choreographed by Marc Robin. Boasting the largest cast in the company's history (46), this E...

The Theater at Monmouth kicked off its ambitiously programmed 2016 summer season, Vive La France, with one of the timeless treasures of French theatre, Cyrano de Bergerac. Presented in a severely abridged seventy-five minute adaptation by Jo Roets, the Edmund Rostand play made its impact largely thr...

Maine State Music Theatre continues its impressive 2016 lineup of shows with two performances on June 20, 2016, of A Grand Night for Singing, a musical revue conceived by Walter Bobbie to showcase the glorious songs of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. Directed and choreographed by Curt Dal...

Stars come out for a spirited take of a classic....

Robin and Clark's musical theatre version of Jack and the Beanstalk, which plays three performances this week at MSMT's Pickard Theater, is a colorful, clever, catchy retelling of a familiar story designed to enchant the entire family. Directed/choreographed by Curt Dale Clark, cast with an ensemble...

'We do art because of what it does for us - how it transforms us,' actor Gregg Goodbrod states with quiet conviction. 'Being an actor helps me to understand other people and see their lives and my own from a different perspective. That's why doing a play like Ghost becomes a journey that really res...

Maine State Music Theatre's 2016 opening brought the East Coast premiere of the stunning and soul-stirring new chamber version of Ghost The Musical, and the evening proved to be an extraordinary artistic event! Not only did this production represent an unique collaboration between director/choreog...

South Portland's Mad Horse Theatre closed out its season with a prickly and provocative production of Aaron Posner's adaptation of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull - Stupid F**king Bird - a contemporary "deconstruction" which brilliantly mines the inherent humor as well as the aching ennui of the Russian...

LET IT BE celebrates the Beatles music with glimpses of the era from whence it came....

An air of curiosity and expectation was in the air at the opening of Andrew Lippa's THE WILD PARTY at South Portland's Portland Players. The 1997 musical with book, music and lyrics by Lippa is not a familiar piece for many musical theatre audiences. What they experienced in a little over two hours,...

Music Director Rohan Smith has certainly taken this fine community orchestra to a new level of excellence. This past weekend, joining forces with the Oratorio Chorale, directed by Emily Isaacson, the Vox Nova Chamber Orchestra, directed by Shannon M. Chase, and four guest soloists, the huge ensemble...

With miles of pristine coastline, picturesque villages, excellent dining and shopping, Maine is a summer mecca for tourists. But beyond sightseeing and outdoor recreation, Maine's summer theatre landscape is a rich and colorful one, making it a major cultural destination as well. Here are my editor...

Lewiston's Public Theatre's closing play of the 2015-2016 season, Susan Sandler's Crossing Delancey is the perfect Mother's Day offering, projecting cozy warmth and fond memories of an unforgettable Jewish grandmother. The 1985 play, which takes a bemused look at the clash between traditional Jewis...

Portland Stage closes its season with Dario Fo's 1974 play, They Don't Pay? We Won't Pay!, in the playwright's signature style of provocative socialist politics and broad Commedia dell'Arte farce. Translated from the Italian by Jon Laskin and Michael Aquilante, the Portland production adds an Ameri...