Review: Huge Turnout Celebrates MSMT's Annual Concert on the Mall
by Carla Maria Verdino-Süllwold - Aug 14, 2025
On August 13, a clear, warm summer evening, thousands filled the grassy downtown Brunswick Mall to enjoy a free evening of music performed by the stars of MSMT. The annual event, presented in collaboration with the Brunswick Downtown Association’s Music on the Mall series has grown in size since its inception eight years ago and continues to hold the record for the best attended outdoor event in the community.
And the crowds come with good reason. It is an opportunity to hear the MSMT performers regale the audience with repertoire from musical theatre and popular covers, backed by an excellent five-piece band led by Music Director Jacob Stebly.
Review: Brilliant, Beautiful, Revelatory, MSMT's Monumental Revival of WEST SIDE STORY
by Carla Maria Verdino-Süllwold - Aug 8, 2025
Sizzling with sass & style, smoldering with passion, and searing the heart with timeless beauty, WEST SIDE STORY triumphs in a monumental new revival, directed/ choreographed by Marc Robin at Maine State Music Theatre. As groundbreaking as this work was when it first appeared on Broadway sixty-eight years ago, it retains its freshness and uniqueness today thanks to MSMT’s ability to approach a classic with both respect and a sense of relevance. This is a WEST SIDE STORY for all generations - brilliant ,beautiful, even revelatory. In fact, in an MSMT season marked by artistic triumphs, this new production is, quite simply, a theatrical masterpiece.
Interview: All the Colors of True Love: A Conversation with Coleman Cummings
by Carla Maria Verdino-Süllwold - Jul 29, 2025
“The role requires quite a range of acting; it calls for all the colors of true love, as well as grief, anger frustration, the whole spectrum playing out in the two-day time period of the show. And Bernstein’s score is groundbreaking. It’s full of so many colors that accurately express the emotions and subtexts of all the characters through these little motifs. It stands alone; it’s unique in style.”
Actor Coleman Cummings is musing on the challenge he is undertaking in making his role debut as Tony in Maine State Music Theatre’s WEST SIDE STORY, which runs from August 6-23, 2025 at Brunswick’s Pickard Theater. For Cummings, this will be his second appearance with the company, having portrayed Dimitry in ANASTASIA earlier in the season.
Review: Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: Robin & Clark's SNOW WHITE with Some Twists
by Carla Maria Verdino-Süllwold - Jul 21, 2025
Magic mirrors, an evil stepmother, forest creatures who sing and chatter prettily- all familiar fairytale tropes – but then add an empowered maiden, a narcissistic prince, and seven “dwarfs,” who are actually icons of ancient wisdom and culture, and you have a new, delightful musical version of the Brothers’ Grimm tale of Snow White created by Marc Robin & Curt Dale Clark for audiences young and young at heart. MSMT’s new production sparkles with wit, energy, and visual splendor, featuring a first-rate cast of young professional performers who bring this tale to life with new meaning.
Review: Can't Stand Still: FOOTLOOSE Explodes Onto MSMT Stage
by Carla Maria Verdino-Süllwold - Jul 18, 2025
Bursting with energy and pulsating with a heartwarming story of forgiveness and family, Maine State Music Theatre’s new production of FOOTLOOSE serves up both a genuinely poignant tale and a dance extravaganza. The new production, directed by E. Faye Butler and choreographed by Tyler Hanes, the first revival since 2014 of the 2008 musical by Tom Snow, Dean Pitchford, and Walter Bobbei, offers a new deeper, more probing and more compelling take on this timeless story of teen rebellion, generational conflict, and a journey to forgiveness.
Review: Joyous, Funny, Tender, and Thought Provoking: TOOTSIE Takes the Stage at MSMT
by Carla Maria Verdino-Süllwold - Jun 27, 2025
Following on the heels of a nostalgically, romantic ANASTASIA, Maine State Music Theatre’s second main stage show this season, TOOTSIE, demonstrates the company’s ability to turn on a dime. The 2018 David Yazbek musical, based on the 1982 film starring Dustin Hoffman, is a big, boisterous Broadway show that is joyous, tender, and thought provoking all at once and provides the audience with an evening filled with exhilaration and elation.
Review: MSMT Celebrates Community
by Carla Maria Verdino-Süllwold - Aug 15, 2024
On August 14, the Brunswick Town Mall brimmed full with spectators, all eager to enjoy Maine State Music Theatre’s annual free Concert on the Mall, presented in collaboration with the Brunswick Downtown Association. For MSMT, the performance is a meaningful opportunity to give back to the community that has supported the theatre all summer. Stars of the final main stage show, BEAUTIFUL: THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL, together with the MSMT singers and several other favorite artists, treated the enthusiastic crowd of all ages to an evening of Broadway favorites and covers of popular standards.