M. Grant News

Maine State Music Theatre opens its 60thseason with a new title to the Pickard Stage. Million Dollar Quartet is produced in association with the Fulton Theatre and is the electrifying story of how four stars made music history! Million Dollar Quartet runs from June 6 to June 23. 

Million Dollar Quartet is the kind of show that invites dancing in the aisles. It is a fun and memorable blast from the past.

The Fulton Theatre in association with Maine State Music Theatre is excited to bring to the stage, Million Dollar Quartet! The electrifying story of how 4 stars made music history!

Alyson Grant, writer of past Infinith tre hit shows Progress! and Trench Patterns, returns with her searing new play, Conversion. Never one to shy away from both current and meaty subject matter, Grant now tackles the power of words and labels with her usual bite and poignancy, exploring ideas of entitlement, prejudices, inadequacy, status and family. Directed by Infinith tre Artistic Director Guy Sprung, Conversion runs from February 6-25 at Espace Knox, a multidisciplinary artist-run space aptly housed in the converted sanctuary of a former church. Conversion will be shown with French surtitles twice a week. Post-show Artist Talks with invited guests are on Thursdays, otherwise plan to go out for tea/coffee/drinks after the show- there will be plenty of fodder for conversation. Warning- contains expected family infighting over strong, opinionated views (Rolaids not provided).

On a bitter cold blizzard day in January, the Maine theatre community was deriving some warmth and cheer by celebrating its achievements with the 2017 Broadway World Audience Choice award winners. The sixteen theatre artists voted by Maine theatre-goers as the best in each category of performing and technical achievements were selected from a group of 69 finalists, culled from over 9000 nominees rwho epresented less than % of all those in contention for the accolades, and voting for the winners was close and competitive to the very end of the process.

The Waterville Opera House (WOH) is proud to present an adventurous musical tale - Annie the Musical - December 1st through 10th in downtown Waterville. Featuring a local cast of more than 35 performers, the throwback to the bright Broadway Musical production will certainly take the whole family on a rich adventure this holiday season.

The Waterville Opera House (WOH) is proud to present an adventurous musical tale Annie the Musical December 1st through 10th in downtown Waterville. Featuring a local cast of more than 35 performers, the throwback to the bright Broadway Musical production will certainly take the whole family on a rich adventure this holiday season. Check out productions photos below!

The Waterville Opera House (WOH) is proud to present an adventurous musical tale - Annie the Musical - December 1st through 10th in downtown Waterville. Featuring a local cast of more than 35 performers, the throwback to the bright Broadway Musical production will certainly take the whole family on a rich adventure this holiday season.

The Season Two premiere of Disney Channel's hit series ANDI MACK will feature the network's first gay storyline. In the episode, one of the show's main characters, Cyrus (Joshua Rush), will begin to realize that he has feelings for one of his male classmates.

Creative Pinellas announces the return of their Professional Artist Grant, designed to support and sustain Pinellas County's creative community and to enhance the County as an arts and culture brand.

The Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center is honored to receive $30,000 from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts for its upcoming exhibition The Other Side of the Alamo: Art Against the Myth, on view in the Galeria Guadalupe February 23-July 20, 2018.

Midway through the first act of The Who's Tommy, the young protagonist invites his mates and listeners to ride together on his amazing journey. And truly, Maine State Music Theatre's production of the Pete Townshend/DesMcAnuff musical, seen for two performances only at the Pickard Theater July 31 offers its audience just that - a riveting, often raw, perennially relevant, piercingly beautiful account of a boy's painful but ultimately uplifting journey through the darker side of human experience and into the light. The rarely staged 1992 musical version based on the 1969 concept album and rock opera with its sung-through score, narrative told largely in dance, and its sometimes disturbing material poses significant challenges to any company, but MSMT once again proves its artistic mettle. Under the inspired direction of Curt Dale Clark, with the complex choreography of Raymond Marc Dumont and the rousing musical direction of Patrick Fanning, this company of young artists marshals its considerable talents to tackle the ambitious project with energy, passion, and complete professionalism.

'We are all there for each other,' Kevin Nietzel asserts, affirming the bond that is making Maine State Music Theatre's Grease so electric. 'It is very rewarding,' adds Neil Starkenberg, MSMT's Danny Zuko. Co-star Chelsea Williams, who plays Sandy to Starkenberg's Danny, continues the thought: 'Neil and I have had conversations about how we could do this show for a really long time. It is so much fun, and I think that must be obvious to the audience. The energy is so palpable that it is a special joy to work that hard every night. Everyone is having the time of his life!' These three actors together with principals Gerrianne Perez (Rizzo), Charis Leos (Miss Lynch), Costume Designer Travis M. Grant, and MSMT Artistic Director Curt Dale Clark all joined BWW's Maine editor Carla Maria Verdino-Sullwold for the third panel discussion in the theatre's Peek Behind the Curtain series held each summer at Curtis Memorial Library. In an especially lively and far-ranging conversation that highlighted not only the challenges but also the camaraderie of this ensemble, the panel and capacity audience explored the history, characters, and production process for MSMT's summer mega hit.

Rock'n roll, teen rebellion, a collection of quirky, lovable characters, and a musical score seared into the American cultural fabric - all these come together in a breathless and breathtaking joy ride that pulsates with electrifying energy in Maine State Music Theatre's third main stage show, Grease. The Jim Jacobs/Warren Casey musical, which reminisces nostalgically about the joyful, naughty, unforgettable days of senior year in mythical Rydell High in 1959, has seen numerous permutations since its original production as an edgy, raunchy musical play called Vaseline in 1971, to its Broadway debut in 1972 and through various film versions including the iconic 1978 movie starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. Here in its Broadway version, amplified with a number of the favorite songs from the movie, MSMT has created a high-flying confection that is a valentine to a simpler era with just the right sparks of sass and sweetness that combine for an irresistibly engaging evening that is sure to prove the summer theatre scene's mega hit.

MSMT opens its Theatre for Young Audiences with three performances of Marc Robin and Curt Dale Clark's musical retelling of the Brothers Grimm fairytale, Sleeping Beauty, in a striking visual production, performed with energy, conviction, and style by a company of young actors. The hour-long musical version puts a contemporary spin on the familiar story and subtly raises issues and values which seem remarkably current, despite the fact that the show was written more than twenty years ago.

The Shubert Foundation's 2017 Grants Program has awarded a record total of $26.8 million to 533 not-for-profit performing arts organizations across the United States. The 2017 grants mark the 37th consecutive year that the Foundation has increased its giving. 

What began as a 1970s rock opera concept album became a global stage phenomenon that captured seven Tony Award nominations and countless awards overseas in its 40-plus years. Jesus Christ Superstar, the beloved rock opera that explores the story and internal struggles of the last seven days of the greatest idol in history - Jesus - is the 2016-17 Broadway Series finale, now through May 28, 2017 at the Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena Blvd. in downtown Aurora. BroadwayWorld has highlights from the show below!

Associated Chamber Music Players (ACMP) announces the return of the Foundation's largest grant program, the Community Music program. The program was introduced in 1993, but put on hiatus in 2010 as a result of the recession.

Sara Ruhl is arguably the most inventive young playwright to emerge in recent years. Exploiting a genre that thrives on the fringes, she graces the mainstream with narratives that fuse realism and sundry whimsical elements. She has a shrewd sense of humor to boot, demonstrated in her 2009 Broadway hit and Pulitzer Prize nominee for Drama: In the Next Room, or the Vibrator Play, now playing to titillating cheers at Repertory Philippines (REP).

Associated Chamber Music Players (ACMP) announces the return of the Foundation's largest grant program, the Community Music program. The program was introduced in 1993, but put on hiatus in 2010 as a result of the recession.