Maine State Music Theatre’s second main stage production, perennial favorite, JOSEPH & THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT, takes the Pickard stage by storm, exploding with color, energy, and sheer irrepressible joy. Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s early collaboration based on the Book of Genesis has as its central metaphor the coat of many colors, and like that kaleidoscopic garment, the show itself is a rich, eclectic tapestry that weaves together musical and choreographic genres, ancient and modern sensibilities, and perhaps best of all in this production – a diverse and deeply talented cast that is beautiful to behold.
For two weeks now Brunswick’s Pickard Theater has been “alive with the sound of music,’ but on June 15 Hanley Smith and Will Ray, the stars of MSMT’s brilliant new production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s THE SOUND OF MUSIC, joined MSMT Artistic Director Curt Dale Clark and BWW Maine Regional Editor Carla Maria Verdino-Süllwold to celebrate the joy, inspiration, and continued resonance of this timeless musical at the first Peek Behind the Curtain program in three years. The popular panel discussion series held at Curtis Memorial Library returned to an enthusiastic, capacity audience for an hour of conversation about what Clark called “the quintessential American musical and the perfect show to launch post-pandemic MSMT’s Revival Season.”
Maine State Music Theatre opened its Theatre for Young Audiences series with a delightful, energetic, and amusing production of Robin and Clark’s JACK AND THE BEANSTALK that drew a crowd of enthusiastic youngsters, their teachers, parents, and grandparents for the four performances on June 13.
What did our critic think of MSMT's Sound of Music? What happens when one of the most beloved musicals in the canon comes to the stage at the very point in time when history and a harsh pandemic seem to intersect with an iconic story?
“Marc Robin ‘s vision for this production of THE SOUND OF MUSIC is that of a joyful, hopeful child,” says Hanley Smith, the actress who makes her debut as Maria von Trapp this week as Maine State Music Theatre kicks off its “Revival Season.” Describing the lens through which director/choreographer Robin views the piece, she continues, “This production comes from a very joyful, youthful place at the same time that there is an awareness of the weight and import of the story. In the face of deep darkness in the world, the light becomes all the brighter. Marc knows how to create both those worlds and the battle between them and make you really want the light to win. And you believe it CAN win. And that is not naïveté; that is an act of courage.”
Ten local Maine children will be taking the stage this summer in Maine State Music Theatre's (MSMT) production of The Sound of Music. These young cast members auditioned for the show at various open calls held in Brunswick in February and March.
“It all began with Wizard of Oz at Maine State Music Theatre,” confides ten-year-old Lily Philbrook. “That was the show where I found my real passion for theatre. It was a huge show and working with Marc [Robin] and everyone at MSMT was an amazing experience.” In those performances, for Lily Philbrook, a dream was born- one that would carry her over her own rainbow – to performing on stages at leading regional theatres.
In this last week of Maine State Music Theatre’s 2021 season, despite having to cancel several productions due to Covid-related issues, the 63-year-old company demonstrated its continued vitality and commitment to delivering the best in musical theatre. With two performances, held at Freeport’s Cadenza, MSMT showcased fourteen young professionals who, together with Music Director Ben McNaboe, created one of the most vibrant cabaret evenings in recent memory.
The generous more than 90-minute program featured ta varied repertoire ranging from Broadway classics to more recent shows, to pop covers in a series of ensembles, duets, and solos. The program was crafted by McNaboe, who did all the vocal coaching and led the evening from the grand piano, where he demonstrated his own versatility and impressive musicianship.
In the final moments of the 2005 hit musical JERSEY BOYS, Frankie Valli muses, “We were all just chasing the music.” For those fans of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons and the Bob Gaudio/Bob Crewe/Marshall Brickman & Rick Elice show about the group’s rise to fame and artistic and personal struggles, the “chase” need take them no farther than Westbrook Performing Arts Center where Maine State Music Theatre has mounted a spectacular production that is a must-see. In their only main stage show of the 2021 season, MSMT’s JERSEY BOYS, directed by Mark Martino and choreographed by Kenny Ingram, is a joyous, boisterous, dazzling, powerful, incisive, edgy and ultimately uplifting story that rivets from start to finish.
The fact that the classic fairytale of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST is said to be “a tale as old as time” did not stop the musical writing team of Marc Robin and Curt Dale Clark from deciding to tell their version of the ancient story by framing it within a modern one. Their heartwarming, sweetly funny version, enlivened by song and dance, which launches MSMT Theatre for Young Audiences 2021 season, makes for a magical and engaging entertainment for the entire family.
In many ways MSMT’s concert, WELCOME HOME, is a valentine to the world of musical theatre and to those who create it and who love and support it. This original, complexly conceived, all-singing, all-dancing musical revue starring MSMT’s Fellowship Performers is packed with so much talent, energy and emotion that it will – quite simply - blow you away!
Directed by Curt Dale Clark, this collection of musical theatre standards and contemporary works is skillfully woven together to capture a kaleidoscope of shifting moods, styles, and ensemble as well as solo moments. Not only has Clark constructed a powerful and poignant narrative, but he has cast each number with a fresh eye that gives vitality to the whole. His ability to nurture, challenge, and stretch the talent with which he works transforms the performance from a routine revue to a dazzling master class.
As a sequel to the first gala concert last week featuring some of the company’s most celebrated and beloved performers, MSMT presents two more special performances of its STARS #2 Concert on August 8-9. This second gala, directed once again by Curt Dale Clark with Ben McNaboe as Music Director, features four other nationally prominent artists who have been closely associated with the theatre - Felicia P. Fields, Heidi Kettenring, David Girolmo, and Gregg Goodbrod – in a program of story and song that dazzles and delights with its brilliance, humor, and warmth.
One of Artistic Director Curt Dale Clark’s many talents is his ability to discover, retain, and nurture talent – from young artists to seasoned performers – and to create performances that tap into each individual artist’s best selves. This gala (as in the first) has been proof of that, as each artist is showcased in musical theatre numbers that have defined his/her careers. The evening is fast-paced, witty, and poignant by turns, allowing the audience to revel in the emotional ride that fine theatre provides.
As part of a summer series of concerts to welcome the arts, artists and audiences back to Brunswick, MSMT mounted the first of two gala concerts featuring four of the company’s most storied performers, Charis Leos, Lauren Blackman, Kingsley Leggs and Robert Creighton with a cameo appearance by Curt Dale Clark in a rousing, heart healing, and heartwarming evening that is playing for just two performances (July 28-29).
Conceived and directed by MSMT’s Artist Director, Curt Dale Clark, STARS 1 allows these incomparable artists with resumes filled with Broadway, national tour, and leading regional theatre credits, to reprise some of their biggest hits and favorite moments and to reminisce about their careers and their experiences here in Maine. The cast creates the perfect ensemble, spinning a musical and narrative thread that is by turns comic, poignant, stirring, and inspiring.
“This has been a tough year and a half for so many, and the arts can help us rediscover our joy,” says actress Charis Leos, speaking enthusiastically about her upcoming appearance in one of Maine State Music Theatre Stars Concerts scheduled to celebrate the theatre’s return to live performing this summer. “It is a special gift for me to be able to perform again at a theatre that holds such a special place in my heart. To me it signals a return to the joy of the shared experience of live performance,” Leos adds.
Leos is one of eight stars, chosen by Artistic Director Curt Dale Clark, to perform two gala concerts, each with different repertoire and cast at the Pickard Theater in Brunswick in July and August 2021. The first runs from July 28-August 1 and features Charis Leos, Lauren Blackman, Robert Creighton, and Kingsley Leggs. The second runs from August 4-8 with Felicia P. Fields, Heidi Kettenring, David Girolmo, and Gregg Goodbrod. Both programs are directed by Curt Dale Clark, who says the concerts will “offer audiences a chance to revel in the songs and stories that have kept audiences flocking to the Pickard for decades.”
A year ago, it was “The Impossible Dream,” now, the nationally regarded Fulton Theatre is proud to announce a marquee season in the theatre's 169th year. The Fulton invites audiences to “Return to LIVE,” beginning this summer with a concert series that will ease back into full audiences.
There is nothing like Celtic music to bring a lift to the step and a smile to the heart, and SONGS OF IRELAND, a new benefit concert streaming on the Fulton Theatre’s virtual platform, Fulton HD, delivers an hour of irresistible tunes performed with impeccable style, charm, and emotional depth by a stellar ensemble, who have a strong bond with Maine theatre. Directed and choreographed by Marc Robin, this beautifully crafted musical revue brings together Curt Dale Clark, Charis Leos, David Girolmo, Cary Michele Miller, Jay Poff, and Gillian Hassert, all of whom are favorites at Maine State Music and most veterans of either the 2016 THE IRISH AND HOW THEY GOT THAT WAY co-production with Portland Stage or Robin’s restaging at the Fulton Theatre in 2018.
“Cooking is theatre,” says MUMBAI TO MAINE culinary celebrity Cherie Scott. “Creative cooking is like doing live improv – engaging, exciting, something that keeps you on the tips of your toes. The common goal of the actor and the cook is to take the audience on an unpredictable journey with a rewarding outcome a delicious meal with diverse flavors and a dynamic, nuanced performance to talk about for days.”
Scott, together with Artistic Director Curt Dale Clark, recently served up this heady, delightful combination of culinary prowess and theatrical performance in an online benefit for Maine State Music Theatre, as the organization continues to battle the challenges of being shuttered by the pandemic. Scott, raised in Mumbai India, has created a very successful business, MUMBAI TO MAINE, with her blog, website, cooking classes, and delectable line of products for home cooking.
Clark says the idea for the fundraiser came from Scott. “It was a pretty special offer on her part. She donated her talents to create this show, and all the proceeds from the sold out event have gone to benefit MSMT’s Lifeline Fund.”
Winners have been announced for the 2020 BroadwayWorld Central Pennsylvania Awards - which were back bigger than ever, celebrating the best in local theatre of the past decade!
Maine playwrights - and those from across the United States – will have an opportunity to submit their work to the Fulton Theatre’s first National Festival of New Plays, which will debut May 21-23, 2021 in Lancaster, PA. Entitled “Stories of Diversity: Reflections of Community,’ the festival is dedicated to works – comedies, dramas, or musical, that “celebrate perspectives from the spectrum of diversity, including voices from Black, Indigenous, and other peoples of color, LGBTQ communities as well as voices from different religious and economic viewpoints. The initiative was launched this year as part of the theatre’s commitment to what Director of Community Engagement, Steph Jo Wise calls “theatre’s commitment to be an agent of change though the stories we tell” and to make a positive difference in the ongoing struggle for equity and inclusion.
“At Good Theater we have put ourselves in mothballs, declares Executive/Artistic Director Brian P. Allen. Maine State Music Theatre’s Artistic Director Curt Dale Clark concurs, “ For me the hardest part is the feeling of treading water.”
“My Grandfather taught me that life was a staircase,” Clark recounts. “He would say,’ Always make sure you are moving forward; if you have to stay on a step for a while, no big deal. Try not to take a step backwards, but if you have to, figure out why, fix it, and keep moving forward.’ Right now,” Clark says sadly, “it does not feel possible to keep climbing. Everything is stacked against us and all the people we need to help us.””
On a brisk fall day nine months into the pandemic the two are taking a moment to share their experiences in this unprecedented time of crisis – a crisis that has shuttered their theatres and forced them to engage all their energies in survival of the institutions and the art form they love.
