Alex Drost News

The production of Chicago at the Fulton Theatre has added 6 more performances and is now extended through February 24th!

The Fulton Theatre swings into the new year with one of Broadway's longest running musicals, Chicago. Opening on January 24, 2019, the Fulton's distinctive production of Chicago is set to be the hottest show of the season, and will channel the alluring luster of 1920's vaudeville. Featuring a two story band stand, flying jail cells, and set elements that extend into the audience, Chicago is sure to be a spectacle so alluring it should be criminal. The dazzling set was designed by Adam Koch, who recently wowed audiences with his set design for Fulton Theatre's The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The Fulton's costumes are a departure from the simple all-black garb of the Broadway revival. Featuring glistening sequins, feathers, and boas, the Fulton's costumes epitomize one of the show's most iconic numbers, "Razzle Dazzle". The exquisite costumes are designed by Fulton regular, Ryan J. Moller, who has crafted wardrobes for some of the Fulton Theatre's biggest shows including Disney's Beauty and the Beast and Robin and Clark's Treasure Island, A Musical Adventure.

The historic Fulton Theatre is tapping in the holiday season with a signature Fulton dance extravaganza! The glitz, glamour, and the 'Lullaby of Broadway,' 42nd Street. This classic Broadway Music is bursting with show-stopping number after show-stopping number including memorable Broadway standards such as 'We're In the Money,' 'About a Quarter to Nine,' 'Shuffle Off to Buffalo,' and the title song 'Forty-Second Street'! 42nd Street at the Fulton will excite your senses and energize your spirits for the holidays!

The historic Fulton Theatre is tapping in the holiday season with a signature Fulton dance extravaganza! The glitz, glamour, and the 'Lullaby of Broadway,' 42nd Street. This classic Broadway Music is bursting with show-stopping number after show-stopping number including memorable Broadway standards such as 'We're In the Money,' 'About a Quarter to Nine,' 'Shuffle Off to Buffalo,' and the title song 'Forty-Second Street'! 42nd Street at the Fulton will excite your senses and energize your spirits for the holidays!

The historic Fulton Theatre is tapping in the holiday season with a signature Fulton dance extravaganza! The glitz, glamour, and the 'Lullaby of Broadway,' 42nd Street. This classic Broadway Music is bursting with show-stopping number after show-stopping number including memorable Broadway standards such as 'We're In the Money,' 'About a Quarter to Nine,' 'Shuffle Off to Buffalo,' and the title song 'Forty-Second Street'! 42nd Street at the Fulton will excite your senses and energize your spirits for the holidays!

The historic Fulton Theatre is tapping in the holiday season with a signature Fulton dance extravaganza! The glitz, glamour, and the "Lullaby of Broadway," 42nd Street. This classic Broadway Music is bursting with show-stopping number after show-stopping number including memorable Broadway standards such as "We're In the Money," "About a Quarter to Nine," "Shuffle Off to Buffalo," and the title song "Forty-Second Street"! 42nd Street at the Fulton will excite your senses and energize your spirits for the holidays!

The New York premiere of the new Australian musical, Errol and Fidel, with book by Boyd Anderson and Guy Anderson, music by Peter Kaldor, John Kaldor and Doug Oberhamer, and lyrics by Boyd Anderson, is an Official Selection of the 2017 New York Musical Festival, and the only international production chosen this year. It will be directed by Michael Bello, with choreography by Justin Boccitto and music direction, arrangements & orchestrations by Doug Oberhamer. Errol and Fidel had the honor of opening the festival on Monday, July 10, 2017 at 7:00pm and will play a total of five performances at Peter Jay Sharp Theater (416 West 42nd Street). BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

The cast and creative team for the New York premiere of the new Australian musical, Errol and Fidel, with book by Boyd Anderson and Guy Anderson, music by Peter Kaldor, John Kaldor and Doug Oberhamer, and lyrics by Boyd Anderson, has been announced.

The nationally regarded Fulton Theatre is thrilled to announce the extension of Disney's Beauty and the Beast.

The nationally regarded Fulton Theatre opens a monumental new season with the triumphant Billy Elliot: The Musical through October 16. The Tony Award-winning musical features infectious music by the incomparable Sir Elton John including "Shine," "Solidarity,"  "Electricity," and many more!   

The nationally regarded Fulton Theatre opens a monumental new season with the triumphant Billy Elliot: The Musical through October 16. The Tony Award-winning musical features infectious music by the incomparable Sir Elton John including "Shine," "Solidarity,"  "Electricity," and many more!   

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 staged production, this timeless tale conjures up the magic of wish making, the power of love to transform, and the importance of believing in one's self. In the past few seasons, MSMT has made a concerted effort to expand and enhance their Young Audiences series by offering original musicals based on traditional children's literature and packaged in sophisticated productions with elaborate costumes, imaginative scenery and stagecraft. Moreover, these hour-long performances are entirely created by MSMT's young professional artists- interns, apprentices, and local actors – thereby offering these artists a chance to gain valuable experience.

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 Mia! - one of the first regionally for the blockbuster Broadway hit. But anticipation aside, it is the delivery here that is the story: a stunningly executed, intelligently staged, deliciously performed rendition of the 2001 long running ABBA musical that transformed the intimate Pickard Theater into a boisterous celebration.

Come along with Aladdin as he journeys to the Cave of Treasures to find the magic lamp… and the Genie who lives inside!

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 and joyous tapestry of laughter, tears, and joy. Maintaining its perfect dramatic and emotional equipoise, this Fiddler on the Roof travels between tradition and change, monumental events and mastery of detail.

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 Evita is gripping and epic, at the same time that it is touchingly intimate and magnificently detailed. The size of the endeavor is both literal and figurative, for MSMT's Evita succeeds not only in its grand sweep, but also in the magnitude of its intangible assets - unsparing honesty, intensity, and emotional depth.

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 Dale Clark with tap choreography by Raymond Marc Dumont, the revue features a sixteen-member cast of young professionals drawn from the intern company and local Maine performers, who turn in a performance that offers not only grand singing and dancing, but also speaks to the huge reservoirs of talent that MSMT is proud to possess. The original 1993 twenty-seven song revue skillfully weaves together a wide range of Rodgers and Hammerstein's works in arrangements by Fred Wells (and lovely orchestrations by Michael Gibson and Jonathan Tunick) from both their smash hits like Oklahoma, Carousel, South Pacific, The Sound of Music, The King and I, and Cinderella, as well as gems from lesser-known shows like Allegro, State Fair, Flower Drum Song, and Pipe Dream. Patrick Fanning serves as MSMT's Music Director, conducting the wealth of melodic material with elan, delicious detail, and nuance and eliciting from the young cast lyrical and idiomatic renditions of beloved sings such as 'We Kiss in a Shadow,' 'Maria,' 'If I Loved You,' and 'This Nearly Was Mine' or upbeat numbers like 'Honey Bun' and 'Oh, What a Beautiful Morning!' The dynamically staged and imaginatively choreographed production by MSMT's Artistic Director Curt Dale Clark - with a dazzling, intricate tap number created by Raymond Marc Dumont for 'Kansas City' - is brimming with class, warmth, and humor. Clark inspires the cast to bring to their music and vignettes an infectious and embracing energy, an eloquence of emotion spiced with mischievous moments. His pacing is brisk, and he effectively builds a lively sense of character and communication among the cast members, who share their enthusiasm with the public, even interacting on several occasions with the audience in the house. By retooling the contexts of many of the songs, he is able to add a contemporary and universal touch to their appeal. Most of all, he helps these young artists find and share the timeless heart in this treasure trove of American musical theatre. Using the bare bones of the Ghost set makes for a minimal but attractive decor. The characterful casual and subsequently elegantly formal costumes by Travis S. Grant are carefully chosen for their complementary pastel hues; the kinetic lighting by Heather Reynolds and a well-balanced sound design by Nate Dickson contribute to making this revue offers a feast for eyes and ears. Working seamlessly as an ensemble, the youthful cast gives their all both in the big production numbers and in focused solos, amply illustrating the meaning of the musical theatre term 'triple threat.' They sing beautifully; they dance with technical aplomb, and they act with irresistible charm. Moreover, each and every one of them knows how to interpret a song - to make it more than a lyrical moment. Each has several occasions to shine, and Clark and Dumont have skillfully mined their individual strengths. Among the many highlights are a perky rendition of 'Surrey with the Fringe on Top' (Eric Berry-Sandelin, Katie Whittemore, Cameron Wright, Rachel Grindle, Hugh Cipparone, Berkley Jones), inspired vocal interpretations of 'If I Loved You (Jennifer Kennedy), 'It Might As Well Be Spring' (Berkely Jones)'This Nearly Was Mine,'(Matthew LaBerge), a smoldering account of 'Maria' (Alex Drost), a romantic 'We Kiss in a Shadow' (Giovanni DiGabrieli), a winsome 'All At Once' (Marty Lauter, Cipparone), and a single verse in 'Love Look Away' to bring tears to the eyes (Lauter), a feisty 'Stepsisters' Lament,' (Ali Sarnacchiaro, Haley Ostir, Megan Flynn), a spirited 'I Can't Say No' (Molly Keane-Dreyer, Kennedy), and a witty 'The Gentleman Is A Dope' (Alex Drost, Kyle Laing, Ostir, DiGabrieli, Lauter). The numerous ensemble numbers are enhanced by the strong camaraderie and chemistry among the players, making for some memorable comic and romantic moments such as the women's septet in sunny 'Wash That Man' and the men's octet in a plaintive 'Love Look Away.' The choreography is expressive, lyrical, and catchy by turns - ranging from ballet and modern to jazz and tap - with such numbers as the sweeping polka of 'Shall We Dance?' or the dueling tap in 'Kansas City' garnering special attention. Special mention to Berkely Jones, Marty Lauter, and Kyle Laing for their dance solos and impressive technique. To spend an evening with these magnificent Rodgers and Hammerstein classics makes it impossible not to take away a renewed appreciation for their geniuses and a love of their legacy. But A Grand Night for Singing does something else as well. It proves to be one more piece of evidence that MSMT is truly, as its catchphrase promises, 'Bringing Broadway to Brunswick.' Photos courtesy of MSMT, Roger S.Duncan, potographer Evita which begins on June 29 - July 16 at the Pickard Theater, 1 Bath Rd., Brunswick, ME, on Monday, June 20 at 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. For tickets call box office at 207-725-8769 or visit online at www.msmt.org

Maine State Music Theatre will be presenting one of Andrew Lloyd Webber's most beloved musicals, EVITA, June 29 through July 16.

Maine State Music Theatre presents Rodgers & Hammerstein's A GRAND NIGHT FOR SINGING appearing on the Pickard stage for one day only: Monday, June 20, 2016 at 2 PM and 7:30 PM. Taste and imagination, the two key ingredients for a first-rate revue, abound in this fresh take on the Rodgers & Hammerstein canon. This revue, with innovative musical arrangements including a sultry Andrews Sisters-esque 'I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Out-a My Hair,' a swingin' 'Honeybun' worthy of the Modernaires, and a jazzy 'Kansas City', leaves no question about how terrifically up to date the remarkable songs of R&H remain.

 Directed by Trent Blanton, this production aims to give Oliver a grittier, more down to earth feeling than people are used to seeing while still staying true to it's musical theatre roots. The Forestburgh Playhouse was founded in 1947,  and is the oldest continuously operating professional summer theatre in New York State. Dubbed the 'Miracle of the Forest,' close to 30,000 patrons attend various performances every year and the growth shows no signs of slowing down.  As The Forestburgh Playhouse approaches its 69th season, under the new leadership of Producer Franklin Trapp, it continues to thrive and make summer nights special for residents and visitors alike.