Academy Playhouse News

Updated this week! Check out upcoming Non-Equity Auditions from Sunday, August 21, 2016 for productions in your area and around the country.

Right on the heels of A Chorus Line's final performance last weekend, Grease continues a wonderful summer season at the Playhouse by bringing youthful energy and pizazz to a show that is on almost everyone's list of favorite musicals. This production brings together a rather large cast whose energy and eagerness to present what they have all been working so hard on is evident in the characters they play in the midst of all the hullaballoo and teenage angst that Grease already is.

Meredith Willson's six-time, Tony Award-winning musical The Music Man has arrived at the Cape Playhouse, a wonderful professional theater one can visit to see Broadway-quality productions right in the heart of Dennis, and has invited each and every one of us to join this miraculous parade that is considered "America's favorite family musical."

There are quite a few advantages of getting old, despite what many people may believe: the well-worn worries of youth are whisked away in the leveled way more mature people live their lives, self-dictated rules and personal boundaries are set as people come into their own and emotions are at bay as people gradually accept and even embrace the monotone way in which their lives are lived. Youth can still be kept alive and may even be sought after, but that shouldn't be too strenuous a task, right? Ha, no. After seeing the workings of the Academy of Performing Art's newest production of Social Security, where insecurities run rampant, youth is a perpetual theme in hilarious unforeseen ways and basically nothing is secure, the irony of this show's title alone is bound to excite and surprise anyone one believes that youth cannot be rekindled in the old at heart.

There is so much about the heartwarming nature complete with a simple lesson learned and the sheer magic involved in making that happen that have brought many to profess their love of The Wizard of Oz, which is, in essence, a wonderful story that tugs at the heartstrings ever so slightly. From an adult who grew up watching the well-known 1939 movie starring Judy Garland to a child who may have read L. Frank Baum's book about the strange adventures of one Dorothy Gale and her "little dog" Toto in their quest to find their way back to Kansas, the pure innocence of this tale creates a world that generations have found (and continue to find) fascinating.

Directed by Rich McKey, who brings his creative vision of what kind of world Levin's five characters should inhabit as they simultaneously create and avoid their own demise, Deathtrap is a joyride into the minds of maniacal people who think that their plans and intentions will be brought about not only because of the sheer brilliance they believe themselves to have, but also because everyone else is not thinking along the same lines. From playwrights to psychics, to the innocent wife who sits on a couch and merely wants a part in the unfolding plot she knows nothing about, everyone in this show wants to be included in some way, shape or form; although this is human nature to some extent, what people will do to see their vision become a reality is nothing short of something out of a book…and that is exactly what makes this play so damn fascinating.

The Academy Playhouse, a theater that has brought Cape Cod audiences an eclectic mix of productions that are always of the upmost professional quality, is taking a slight tangent from its recently closed holiday presentation of Sounds of the Season and delving into a play of a more murderous nature, also chock full of just enough laughs to make audiences question whether or not they should, in fact, notice the play's comedic side in the circumstances presented. Written by Ira Levin, Deathtrap makes its way to the Academy stage and from the start captures audiences with the extreme witticism of its characters and the brooding sense of mystery and danger which the title of the play alone implies.

Votes are cast; polls are closed; and results have been tabulated! This was our biggest year yet! After a record number of voters in more than 70 regions worldwide, BroadwayWorld is very excited to announce the 2015 Boston winners! Thanks to all who voted, and huge congratulations to all the winners!

Happy Holidays! It's the last week to vote for the 2015 BroadwayWorld Boston Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of December 18. Nominations were reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors. Voting runs through December 31!

Time is running out to vote for the 2015 BroadwayWorld Boston Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of December 18. Nominations were reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors. Voting runs through December 31!

Voting is fully underway for the 2015 BroadwayWorld Boston Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of December 11. Nominations were reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors. Voting runs through December 31.

Voting has opened for the 2015 BroadwayWorld Boston Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of November 27th. Nominations were reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors. Voting runs through December 31.

Voting has opened for the 2015 BroadwayWorld Boston Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of November 27th. Nominations were reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors. Voting runs through December 31.

If you happen to be one of the many for whom the holidays can't come soon enough, and for whom there are never enough carols to be sung and laughter to be had amongst loved ones, then fortunately, there is an upcoming show that will without doubt embody all that the spirit of the holiday season has to offer. The Academy of Performing Arts, located right in the heart of Orleans, presents Sounds of the Season, a musical revue featuring a fun and eclectic mix of songs both old and new that is bound to put anyone in the gift-buying, celebratory and lighthearted spirit that proves Christmas magic is indeed upon us. Bringing together many of the Academy's favorite performers that have been bringing quality performances to a Cape Cod audience for years, each takes part in a beautiful medley of solos, duets and group numbers that are upbeat, contemplative, jolly and overall provide a wonderful way to spend an evening amongst friends and family, in the presence of songs that perpetually remind us of what is to feel thankful and loved.

Whatever the past is, it is immortal to the person reliving it, and acknowledging the truth of this statement and thus questioning its relevance in the life of Homer's Poet is something the audience is faced with throughout An Iliad. In this beautiful one-man production, the sole man on stage offers his "immortality" to an audience of those who will listen through his tales of the Trojan War, not retelling epic battles and regurgitating facts that can be found in any history book, but conveying to his fellow listeners a story of his past. This past is one he has lived and continues to live through, boasting of and lamenting over brave men who were his friends, his enemies, his comrades in a war that he makes both he can make so simultaneously dreadful and beautiful. Not knowing for sure of his actual involvement in the events of the time, or for what reason he decides to recount and retell such events even though they cause him a considerable amount of anguish (very similar to Carraway in Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby), An Iliad is just that: an epic telling of a man's past that he, presumably, must tell again and again, making his words that much more poignant as he tells of a not so distinguishable time ago.

With score and lyrics by the [in]famous Stephen Sondheim and a book by Hugh Wheeler, Director Peter Earle brings Sweeney Todd to the town of Orleans, enshrouding the Academy Playhouse's intimate black-box theater in darkness as black as the hearts of many of the characters that make this show of such a menacing nature. Continuing in the tradition of producing quality theater for forty years and following a successful summer season, Earle's creative vision brings yet another production to unforgettable heights, proving to both loyal theater-goers and those who happened to be on Cape for the holiday weekend that the Academy does not play around when it comes to extracting the absolute rawness of a show and putting in on stage in a way that keep audiences coming back for more.

The Academy Playhouse, a group that has been bringing quality theater to the Cape Cod community for over forty years, is proud to present its next exciting production of Stephen Sondheim's masterpiece, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. With quite a beautiful yet challenging score and one of the most deliciously evil yet profound plots in the history of music theater, the Academy rises to the challenge to stage this killer of a musical for the start of its fall season, and with this ambitious endeavor comes the dedicated and talented cast that will make it all happen - familiar faces that have called the Academy their home for quite some time. Knowing this, Sweeney is undoubtedly bound to both delight and frighten audiences this fall.

What is interesting about Quixote, though, is that he is not a knight at all, but a man soon considered by the masses to be delusional - a complete lunatic to believe that knights are still in existence and can be of some heroic use amongst men when such people seem hopeless causes for which to fight. Yet, what is so beautiful about Miguel de Cervantes' unyielding hero (for that is what he is nonetheless) is that he teaches an incredibly valuable lesson: if one can find beauty in this world, a true hero will fight to attain it, regardless of what mockery may belittle his efforts and what perils may confront him (in whatever form they may come). With this said, the Academy Playhouse's production of Man of La Mancha is a beautiful rendition of a beautiful tale that audiences should flock over to see.

Mercury Summer Stock and Dana Aber present: Five Fingers Open, Two Fingers Crossed, a cabaret event to be performed tonight, Sunday, July 14th at 5:30pm at the Regina Auditorium on the Notre Dame College Campus.

Mercury Summer Stock and Dana Aber present: Five Fingers Open, Two Fingers Crossed, a cabaret event to be performed on Sunday, July 14th at 5:30pm at the Regina Auditorium on the Notre Dame College Campus. The event will feature songs from new, bound-for-Broadway musicals written by up-and-coming composers and lyricists from all over the globe, including Mercury Summer Stock's own Aliyana Stewart who contributed both music and lyrics. This concert production will feature over a dozen of Mercury's favorite singers, all of whom are committed to using their uniquely talented voices to bring new work to the area of Cleveland.