Charis Leos News

There's just one final week to submit votes for the 2019 BroadwayWorld Maine Awards, brought to you by TodayTix! Vote today to make sure your favorite local theatre's achievements and performers are recognized!

We're heading into the final week of voting for the 2019 BroadwayWorld Maine Awards, brought to you by TodayTix! Vote today to make sure your favorite local theatre's achievements and performers are recognized!

There's just two weeks left to vote for the 2019 BroadwayWorld Maine Awards, brought to you by TodayTix! The people have spoken nominations are set, and now you can vote to make sure your favorite local theatre's achievements and performers are recognized!

There's just a few weeks left to make your voice heard and submit your votes for the 2019 BroadwayWorld Maine Awards, brought to you by TodayTix! The people have spoken nominations are set, and now you can vote to make sure your favorite local theatre's achievements and performers are recognized!

It's December! Voting is now underway for the 2019 BroadwayWorld Maine Awards, brought to you by TodayTix! Now you can vote to make sure your favorite local theatres and performers are recognized. Check out the first set of stats below.

It's December! Voting is now underway for the 2019 BroadwayWorld Central Pennsylvania Awards, brought to you by TodayTix! Now you can vote to make sure your favorite local theatres and performers are recognized. Check out the first set of stats below.

As evidenced by the breadth of nominations for Broadway World's Annual Audience Choice Awards, Maine's theatrical landscape seems to grow and flourish with each new season. For a state as remote as we are, we boast two prestigious regional theatres now in their second half centuries a?" Maine State Music Theatre and Ogunquit Playhouse a?" which are leaders on the national regional scene and which have become destinations for travellers from far flung places. Add to these an array of countless other companies of every size and philosophic bent, and you have a colorful, rich artistic arena that grows more interesting each year. I am privileged to get to sample these performances as Broadway World's Maine editor and to be able to compare many of them favorably with shows I see across the country, in New York and London. These are my personal choices of the best in Maine for 2019, grouped by theatre company and show.

Voting is NOW OPEN and the first votes are in for the 2019 BroadwayWorld Maine Awards, brought to you by TodayTix! The nominees are set, and now you can vote to make sure your favorite local theatres and performers are recognized!

Cagney recently opened at Salt Lake City's Pioneer Theatre Company. Find out what critics had to say!

The Broadway-bound CAGNEY at Pioneer Theatre Company has a sensational star, a Broadway-ready production, and a fascinating story to tell.

BroadwayWorld has a first look at the Broadway-bound production of Cagney, based on the life of Academy Award® winner James Cagney, launches Pioneer Theatre Company's (Artistic Director, Karen Azenberg & Managing Director, Chris Massimine) season this Fall. Opening Friday, September 20, the limited engagement runs  through October 5. Tickets are available as part of a season subscription package by calling (801) 581-6961 or by visiting pioneertheatre.org.

The Broadway-bound production of Cagney, based on the life of Academy Award winner James Cagney, launches Pioneer Theatre Company's season this Fall. 

a?oeIn the musical they all learn that the thing they believe is missing is already inside of them. We all have within us everything we think we are deficient in a?" everything we need to become the person we are supposed to be.a?? Actor David Girolmo is speaking of the lesson his character, the Cowardly Lion, learns in the stage version of L. Frank Baum's iconic classic THE WIZARD OF OZ, which runs from August 7-24 in a spectacularly fantastical production co-directed by narc Robin and Curt Dale Clark at Maine State Music Theatre.

a?oeHELLO, DOLLY! is the classic American musical,a?? affirms its star Charis Leos. And her colleagues and cast mates on the panel, Lauren Blackman, Matt Gibson, and Jason E. Simon, enthusiastically concur. Not only does it have a perfect score, a heartwarming book, colorful characters, and a healthy dose of irresistible comedy, but it is also infused with some messages of lasting significance. It is these takeaway meanings that these cast members are eager to discuss with BWW's Maine editor Carla Maria Verdino-Süllwold at MSMT's PEEK BEHIND THE CURTAIN on July 24 at Curtis Memorial Library in Brunswick.

Just as Dolly Gallagher Levi makes a stunning entrance to the unforgettable strains of her signature song, so MSMT's new production of the Jerry Herman classic HELLO, DOLLY! takes command of the Pickard stage with a joie de vivre and heartwarming tenderness and delivers an evening sparkling with laughter, love, and life. In a production directed by Donna Drake, choreographed by Rhonda Miller and performed by an ensemble of true stars, HELLO, DOLLY! offers the audience a magnificently memorable score, daring and dazzling dancing, and a cast of embraceable characters whose story unfailingly tugs at the heartstrings.

"My favorite line in musical theatre history is the one where Irene says, 'Dolly, the world is full of wonderful things!' When I said it in rehearsal the first time to Charis [Leos], I broke down in tears. It's a thought I repeat to myself if I am down. Irene is saying, 'Take risks, go enjoy this wonderful world!'" Actress Lauren Blackman is talking enthusiastically about her upcoming portrayal of Irene Malloy in Maine State Music Theatre's new production of HELLO, DOLLY!, which runs July 17 - August 3, 2019, at the Pickard Theater in Brunswick. Blackman returns not only to a beloved role, but also to friends and a theatre company and community she calls "home." Last season, she appeared briefly in the gala 60th Anniversary Concert, but it has been almost four years since she graced the stage in a major role - last in 2015 as Marion in THE MUSIC MAN and before that in 2013 in MARY POPPINS. Those intervening years have, indeed, been fruitful ones for Blackman - filled with all kinds of wonderful things!

Maine State Music Theatre is going to Yonkers for its third show of the season, Hello, Dolly! from July 17 - August 3.

The Broadway-hopeful production of Cagney, based on the life of 'Yankee Doodle Dandy' star Academy Award winner James Cagney, has completed its casting and returns to the stage, opening Pioneer Theatre Company's (PTC) season this fall.

Robbins's choreography was athletic and imaginative. His incorporation of unusual props like briefcases and swim flippers made the dance numbers highly memorable and very enjoyable.

Tickets for Maine State Music Theatre's summer season go on sale to the general public on Wednesday, April 24 at 9:00 AM.