Curt Dale Clark

The MSMT Singers, the spectacularly talented group of young professionals in residence at Maine State Music Theatre all summer, bid farewell to Brunswick with two splendidly crafted and performed cabarets at the Freeport venue, Cadenza. The eight performers were able to showcase their triple threat talents and the new skills they honed all summer, in a program of musical theatre song and dance.

The record crowd who came out to fill the Brunswick Mall and celebrate the final week of the theatre company’s 2023 season were treated to a summer’s evening of joyful song, performed by the stars of SOMETHING ROTTEN! (the current main stage production) and the MSMT Singers. The concert, presented in conjunction with the Brunswick Downtown Association and funded in part by a gift from the Maine Arts Commission, featured sixteen selections from the musical theatre repertoire and was emceed by MSMT Artistic Director Curt Dale Clark with his customary flair.

“As an actor, I have a huge sense of play, and this show is very much that. It’s really like a fun game of tennis with lots of back and forth. We don’t always know what is going to happen until we are in the moment, declares Tyler Hanes, who portrays Shakespeare in SOMETHING ROTTEN!, the musical which closes out MSMT’s 2023 season. Artistic Director Curt Dale Clark concurs, “SOMETHING ROTTEN! is like a game I love to play; it teases you verbally, vocally, and instrumentally to name those Broadway musicals. It is so much fun!” “It is everything I love about musical theatre all in one show,” agrees Lucy Godinez, who plays Bea Bottom. “It’s joyful; it’s fun; there is love. The sense of play in this show gives you the license to fill in the blanks.” Bryant Martin, who plays Nick Bottom, adds that not only is the show great fun with lots of great musical numbers, but it also “speaks to the struggle all artists have dealing with validation. Nick asks why his peers are having success and he isn’t. It’s a situation with which we as actors can easily resonate.” The foursome are serving on a panel moderated by BWW World Maine Editor, Carla Maria Verdino-Süllwold, at MSMT’s final Peek Behind the Curtain on August 16 at Brunswick’s Curtis Memorial Library to discuss MSMT’s hilarious production of SOMETHING ROTTEN! And judging by the laughter in the room, the large audience agrees that the musical by Karey and Wayne Kirkpatrick is not only clever and hugely funny, but a crowd-pleasing hit.

“MSMT has been trying for years to get the rights to 9 to 5 THE MUSICAL, so I was delighted when we finally were able to present this show this season. When we screened the movie at our May Teaser Tuesday series, the entire room guffawed all night long, and I knew the musical would be the perfect choice for 2023. People want to laugh, and they deserve to laugh, especially after all we have been through in the past few years.” Artistic Director Curt Dale Clark is talking about the Dolly Parton musical now in its last week at the Pickard Theater in Brunswick, Maine. He is joined by cast members Lauren Blackman, Jaden Dominique, and Kevin Earley as part of MSMT’s Peek Behind the Curtain panel hosted by Broadway World Maine Editor, Carla Maria Verdino-Süllwold, held at Brunswick’s Curtis Memorial Library on July 26. The conversation explores the enduring appeal of Dolly Parton’s musical, the lessons it teaches through humor, and and the resonance it continues to have today.

Maine State Music Theatre’s new production of 9 TO 5 THE MUSICAL with Dolly Parton’s pulsating score is a high energy, hilarious madcap misadventure that somehow also manages to ring uncannily true. Both a period piece and a contemporary one, this tale of women in the workplace is propelled by zany humor, but also fueled by the empathetic characters at its core. The trio of women embattled with their narcissistic boss are - as Parton, herself, phrased it “just a step on the boss man's ladder” - and yet they sing and dance their way into our hearts in an evening filled with laughter and warmth.

We are the stewards of the music. We are here to keep it alive and share it with as many people as possible,” says actor Jayson Elliott, who plays the Big Bopper in Maine State Music Theatre’s current production of THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY. Elliott joins Diego Guevara, who portrays Ritchie Valens, Angela C. Howell, director/choreographer/music director who also plays Vi Petty, and MSMT Artistic Director, Curt Dale Clark for a conversation about the musical with Broadway World’s Maine Editor, Carla Maria Verdino-Süllwold at the second Peek Behind the Curtain series of the season. The record-breaking crowd attending the panel discussion mirrors the sold-out houses THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY has been drawing each night at the Pickard Theatre. They have come to celebrate the rock n’ roll legends and to explore what made Buddy Holly and his early colleagues such phenomena of music history.

There are certain moments of history that become emblazoned in our collective human  psyches. Fans of American popular music all remember with a searing certainty the day when Charles Hardin Holley was killed in a plane crash at age twenty-two,  his pioneering meteoric rock ‘n’ roll career brought to a tragic end. But if  Feb 3,1959, was “the day the music died “ - as Don McLean wrote - MSMT’s Buddy Holly STORY turns that trope on its head. The new production, staged by Angela C. Howell makes clear that the legacy of Buddy Holly lives, and if MSMT’s production of the jukebox musical about Holly’s legend and his legacy rocks the Pickard Theater to the rafters with its visceral musical energy, it also speaks volumes about the warmth and heart of the Holly story.

On one of its most gala evenings in recent memory, Artistic Director Curt Dale Clark and Maine State Music Theatre celebrated Maury Yeston,Tony/Drama Desk/Olivier Award winning composer and lyricist of TITANIC, with two standing room only performances of the company’s recent revival, directed and choreographed by Marc Robin. And Yeston, who had journeyed to Maine to see his work performed at the Pickard Theater on June 22 and 23, in turn celebrated the work of the company, calling the new co-production, conceived and created by MSMT and the Fulton Theatre, “the most innovative, exciting presentation of anything I have seen in years. It is not even a matter of whether it was my work or any work, what they did here was so original and brilliant in its simplicity that it was magic.”

“TITANIC is ultimately uplifting, but a large part of the show sits in a melancholy place. It is a beautiful melancholy and it gives the audience a moment of hope and joy.” Maine State Music Theatre Artistic Director Curt Dale Clark is commenting on the company’s 2023 season opener, Maury Yeston and Peter Stone’s majestic musical, TITANIC, now playing its final week at the Pickard Theater. Clark is part of the first PEEK BEHIND THE CURTAIN panel discussion that includes some of TITANIC’s stars, Linda Balgord, Michael Nigro, and Carolyn Anne Miller in conversation with BWW Regional Maine Editor, Carla Maria Verdino-Süllwold, who have assembled at Brunswick’s Curtis Memorial Library on June 14 to explore the appeal of Yeston’s work and to share insights about performing and producing this epic show.

Maine State Music Theatre opened its Theatre for Young Audiences series yesterday with the East Coast premiere of Robin & Clark’s latest children’s musical, RAPUNZEL. This unconventional and upbeat retelling of the traditional fairytale replaces the quintessential damsel in distress with a modern, sexist-defying heroine whose journey to embrace her destiny is a courageous adventure of self-discovery, reversal of stereotypes, and unabashed female empowerment.

Maine State Music Theatre will present Titanic this summer. Learn how to purchase tickets!

The Play That Goes Wrong is a Looney Tunes cartoon come to life.  Bring your whole family to enjoy its’ slapstick and silliness.

Maine State Music Theatre was saddened to receive news of the passing of one of its legendary stars – an actor whose career was inextricably interwoven with the history of Maine’s premier musical theatre. “Bernie” Wurger was a mainstay of MSMT summers from 1962 until 2000, playing 195 leading and supporting roles and winning an indelible place in the hearts of his public. His long and versatile career spanned opera, musical theatre, directing, and film not only in Maine but in New York and leading regional theatres across the country.

After three seemingly endless years, Maine's theatrical landscape has truly begun to come to life again after the pandemic. I am thrilled to be able to pen this article, having experienced a 2022 that saw the remarkable 'comebacks' of Maine's theatres. While the year was not without continued challenges, these brave, resilient companies managed to produce first-class live theatre for grateful audiences. These are my personal choices of the best in Maine for 2022, grouped by theatre company and show.

What better way to cap what has been billed as MSMT’s Revival Season than with a free, festive outdoor event that, despite intermittent showers, drew a large, enthusiastic crowd? That is exactly what MSMT did on August 24 when it presented its annual MSMT Concert on the Mall as part of the Brunswick Downtown Association’s summer series. In a program designed to thank the community for its loyal support of the theatre, especially during the pandemic, the seventy-five-minute concert featured performers from the company’s current main stage show, KINKY BOOTS, as well as other local artists in a rousing and engaging program of musical theatre selections.

“Lola gains her strength from her resilience,” says Stephane Duret, who plays the drag queen star of MSMT’s KINKY BOOTS. “Sometimes she feels like an island, alone in this world she has created. But she survives. She’s got her Angels for support, her chosen family, and even when she gets a little slap in the face from Charlie, she comes back to their partnership. That’s her resilience.” “And Lola challenges others to be accepting and to change their perspective,” continues MSMT Artistic Director Curt Dale Clark. “I consider it important for MSMT to present something that can cause change in a community, and this show with Stephane’s and the entire cast’s unbelievable performances is doing just that!” His remarks draw applause from the capacity audience at MSMT’s final Peek Behind the Curtain panel discussion, moderated by Carla Maria Verdino-Süllwold, BWW’s Maine editor, on August 17 at Curtis Memorial Library in Brunswick.

Something extraordinary has happened in Brunswick, Maine, this summer. Maine State Music Theatre’s production of THE COLOR PURPLE has taken this tiny New England town by storm, telling a story that has shaken and uplifted an entire community, inspired by its truth, beauty, and sheer joyousness.

For its third 2022 main stage production, Maine State Music Theatre has mounted a brilliant, beautiful, authentic, and heartwarming staging of the musical adaptation of Alice Walker’s epistolary novel, THE COLOR PURPLE. This epic story chronicles the journeys of its complex characters through hardship and pain to hope and healing. Inspirational and uplifting, it is a tale of resilience, redemption, and love, that speaks with powerful universality, and in this stunning production, directed by E. Faye Butler, it becomes one of those unforgettable, transformative moments in the theatre.

“JOSEPH’s ability to be done in a thousand different ways is what keeps it fresh,” declares Maine State Music Theatre’s Artistic Director, Curt Dale Clark. “I have heard people say they almost didn’t come to see it because they had already seen it many times, and then when they did see it, they were blown away by a new fresh production.” Clark is joining the two stars of MSMT’s current production, Jordan Alexander (Joseph) and Alyssa Anani (Narrator) at the second PEEK BEHIND THE CURTAIN panel discussion, hosted by Broadway World Maine editor, Carla Maria Verdino-Süllwold, on July 6 at Curtis Memorial Library to discuss with patrons the theatre’s second main stage show.

Maine State Music Theatre’s second main stage production, perennial favorite, JOSEPH & THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT, takes the Pickard stage by storm, exploding with color, energy, and sheer irrepressible joy. Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s early collaboration based on the Book of Genesis has as its central metaphor the coat of many colors, and like that kaleidoscopic garment, the show itself is a rich, eclectic tapestry that weaves together musical and choreographic genres, ancient and modern sensibilities, and perhaps best of all in this production – a diverse and deeply talented cast that is beautiful to behold.