Brian P. Allen News

Good Theater is proud to announce the presentation of Will Rhys' one-man version of A Christmas Carol for four performances Thanksgiving weekend November 27-29.  Good Theater performs at the St. Lawrence Arts Center, 76 Congress Street, Portland.  For tickets and information contact 207-885-5883 or go to the Good Theater website www.goodtheater.com .

Good Theater has announced the annual presentation of its Broadway at Good Theater concerts December 2-6.  These fundraising events feature two special guests, Broadway star Kenita R. Miller, singing sensation Nicolas Callaway Foster and a dozen Good Theater performers. 

In mounting the world premiere of Rob Urbinati's new play, Mama's Boy, Good Theater's Artistic Director Brian P. Allen has given Maine a great gift - one of the company's finest productions - some two hours of searing psychological drama, tautly directed and brought to life by a stellar cast. Urbinati's (Death by Design, Hazelwood) two-act play explores the complex, emotionally wrought family dynamics of Lee Harvey Oswald, his mother Marguerite, his wife Marina, and his brother Robert in the time just prior to and just after the Kennedy assassination. Though the play is rooted in history and evokes indelible memories in the communal consciousness, it is less about the tragic events of 1963 and more about the personal relationships of four damaged individuals desperately seeking some connection and meaning. At the epicenter of this dysfunctional family is Marguerite Oswald, thrice married single parent to three estranged sons, a fierce and tender woman who is sees herself as victim and survivor, a woman whose own emotional demands continue to cripple her children. Returning from his defection to Russia, Lee Harvey brings with him his bewildered young wife Marina and their first child, and Urbinati examines Lee Harvey's troubled year before November 22, 1963 as he struggles to support himself and his family, find an ideology, and take hold of his manhood by freeing himself from his mother. The playwright effectively probes Lee Harvey Oswald's increasing instability, as well as his conflicts with Marina and Marguerite. Though the play offers no answers to the many riddles of the JFK assassination, it does challenge the audience to view the characters as human beings and to realize that the dreadful events at Dealey Plaza claimed the Oswald family among its victims, as well as the beloved President, his family, and a grieving nation.

Good Theater will offer two talk-back sessions with the playwright, Rob Urbinati, of MAMA'S BOY on Friday evening November 6, and Saturday afternoon November 7. These talk-back sessions are open to all patrons.  The Friday night session will begin at 9:40 immediately following the conclusion of the 7:30 performance of MAMA'S BOY.  The Saturday afternoon session will begin at 5:10 following the 3:00 matinee.

Some images are seared into the communal consciousness forever. The tragic assassination of John F. Kennedy and its tumultuous aftermath are just such indelibly tragic events which haunt memory. Playwright Rob Urbinati, whose new work Mama's Boy will receive its world premiere at Portland's Good Theater on October 29, 2015, was six years old in November 1963 and recalls seeing Lee Harvey Oswald murdered on television. It was an image which would resurface in his writing decades later. Urbinati's new play focuses on Marguerite Oswald, her two sons Lee Harvey and Robert, and Lee's wife Marina in the year prior to the assassination and in the days after, offering an unusual prism on the events through the eyes of Marguerite. The play, however, is not really an historical drama, but rather a domestic drama in which Urbinati, Actress Betsy Aidem, and Good Artistic Director Brian P. Allen have tried to imagine the family context from which the Oswald phenomenon emerged.

Good Theater is proud to present the world premiere of MAMA'S BOY, an exciting new play from Rob Urbinati the author of Death by Design.  Broadway veteran, Betsy Aidem, plays Marguerite Oswald with Graham (The Rainmaker) Emmons as Lee Harvey Oswald, Laurel (The Rainmaker) Casillo as Marina Oswald and Erik (4000 Miles) Moody as Robert Oswald in this fascinating look at the mother and the family behind an event that changed the course of history.  The show will open October 28 for a run through November 22.

Portland's Good Theater opened its 2015-2016 season with No Biz Like Show Biz, a stylish tribute to two legends of the Broadway stage, Ethel Merman and Mary Martin, created and directed by the company's artistic director, Brian P. Allen. The one-hundred-minute arrangement of songs associated with these legends from the decades of the 1930s-1960s focuses on the work of iconic composers and lyricists such as George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, Jule Styne, Jerry Herman, and Stephen Sondheim and is performed by three delightfully talented and distinctive singing-actresses.

Check out photos from Good Theater's production of NO BIZ LIKE SHOW below, an original musical revue, created and directed by Brian P. Allen with musical directions and arrangements by Victoria Stubbs, starring Marie Dittmer, Lynne McGhee and Jen Means.  

Good Theater, the professional theater company in residence at the St. Lawrence Arts Center, kicks off its 14th season tonight, September 23, with the original musical revue, NO BIZ LIKE SHOW BIZ. This show is a tribute to Mary Martin and Ethel Merman starring three singers: Marie Dittmer, Lynne McGhee and Jen Means.

Good Theater, the professional theater company in residence at the St. Lawrence Arts Center, kicks off its 14th season on September 23 with the original musical revue, NO BIZ LIKE SHOW BIZ.  This show is a tribute to Mary Martin and Ethel Merman starring three singers:  Marie Dittmer, Lynne McGhee and Jen Means.

Portland's Good Theater brings its “lucky” thirteenth season to a close with a delightful original musical revue, Happy Days Are here Again: Streisand's 60s Songbook, dedicated to the legendary Barbra Streisand. Written and directed by Brian P. Allen and starring Lesley McKinnell, the seventy-five minute songfest takes the audience along on Streisand's journey from Brooklyn schoolgirl to Broadway, film, and recording star.

Good Theater, the professional theater in residence at the St. Lawrence Arts Center, 76 Congress Street, Portland, closes its 13th season with HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN - Streisand's 60's Songbook. The show is created and directed by Brian P. Allen, Good Theater's Artistic Director. It stars Lesley McKinnell a veteran of the national tour of Wicked where she played the leading role of Glinda. Victoria Stubbs is the musical director/arranger and pianist for the show. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Good Theater, the professional theater in residence at the St. Lawrence Arts Center, 76 Congress Street, Portland, will close its 13th season with HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN - Streisand's 60's Songbook. The show is created and directed by Brian P. Allen, Good Theater's Artistic Director. It stars Lesley McKinnell a veteran of the national tour of Wicked where she played the leading role of Glinda. Victoria Stubbs is the musical director/arranger and pianist for the show.

Good Theater, the professional theater company in residence at the St. Lawrence Arts Center, will be celebrating its 14th year with the 2015-2016 season. The year will include a world premiere plus two Maine premieres including SHEAR MADNESS the international hit that is the longest running American play in the history of theater.

Portland's Good Theater's fourth play of the season is the Maine premiere of Sharr White's The Other Place, a compelling and compassionate exploration of trauma, illusion, and dementia. Directed with quiet, yet hair-raising intensity by Brian P. Allen and starring the remarkable Denise Poirier, the production keeps the audience invested and involved from start to finish.

Good Theater has announced the Maine premiere of Sharr White's acclaimed play, THE OTHER PLACE opening tonight, March 4 and running through March 29. Good Theater is the professional theater in residence at the St. Lawrence Arts Center, 76 Congress Street, Portland.

Good Theater has announced the Maine premiere of Sharr White's acclaimed play, THE OTHER PLACE opening March 4 and running through March 29. Good Theater is the professional theater in residence at the St. Lawrence Arts Center, 76 Congress Street, Portland. For tickets and information call 207-885-5883 or go to the Good Theater website www.goodtheater.com .

Good Theater, the professional company in residence at the St. Lawrence Arts Center, 76 Congress Street, Portland, will present the Maine premiere of Paul Rudnick's REGRETS ONLY. The show opens tonight, January 28 and plays through February 22.

Good Theater, the professional company in residence at the St. Lawrence Arts Center, 76 Congress Street, Portland, will present the Maine premiere of Paul Rudnick's REGRETS ONLY. The show opens January 28 and plays through February 22.

Once again 2014 was a year to revel in the diversity and accomplishments of the theatrical scene in Maine. The summer and winter seasons yielded a nice balance between adventurous programming and classics. Here is my personal list for 2014, grouped by theatre company and show. 1. MAINE STATE MUSIC THEATRE once again receives my vote for the finest company in the region. Their 2014 season offered four dazzling main stage productions, including the remarkable revival of Chamberlain: A Civil War Romance, a daring and moving music theatre piece, beautifully realized by director-choreographer Marc Robin together with stars James Patterson and Kathy Voytko.