As its main stage finale in this Diamond Jubilee season, Maine State Music Theatre chose to present the stage version of one of the most beloved musicals of all time, Singin' in the Rain. With its book by Betty Comden/Adolph Green, and songs by Nacio Herb Brown/Arthur Freed), based on the famed MGM musical, this iconic classic receives a production that recreates the glitter of Hollywood's Golden Age on a dazzlingly grand scale. MSMT's staging, directed/choreographed by Marc Robin, sparkles with the effervescence of fine champagne, bubbles with energy and originality, exudes sunshine and joy, and offers its audiences an exhilarating, entirely magical entertainment experience.
It has been fifty-eight years since the Tony-award-winning Michael Stewart/Charles Crouse/Lee Adams musical Bye Bye Birdie first opened on Broadway, and while the topicality of the material is no longer au courant, still this fresh, charming Maine State Music Theatre revival, directed/choreographed by Raymond Marc Dumont, retains its humor, humanity, and universality.
MSMT's all-singing, all-dancing tribute to Irving Berlin, I Love a Piano, blew the Pickard Theater audience away at two Monday performances with its steady stream of classic hit tunes, its high energy choreography, and the dazzling virtuosity of its youthful cast. This was an afternoon and evening to sit back and revel in the rich history of American popular music and to celebrate a composer whose work provided the soundtrack for the American experience for almost seventy years.
It is exciting to watch MSMT's cast of young professionals perform this material with so much connection and commitment. Though this is the music of past generations, the eleven-person ensemble of remarkable triple threat actors brings it vibrantly to life for a contemporary audience, affirming the truism that longevity is what makes great music.
There is a moment in Robin and Clark's musical version of Cinderella when the scullery maid screws up her courage and hurls a self-affirmation back to her abusive stepmother and sisters, saying, "No! I've always done everything you asked and now it is time for me to do something for myself!" The audience young and old erupts into spontaneous applause for this very contemporary heroine. Though Marc Robin and Curt Dale Clark's musical is more than twenty-five years old, it speaks with a freshness and an appeal that are as lasting as the fairy tale itself, and Maine State Music Theatre's most recent production captures all the delightfulness and the darkness of the story and serves it up with customary flair.
The Theatre for Young Audiences program at Maine State Music Theatre opens with Robin and Clark's Cinderella June 13 (10 AM, 12:30 PM) and June 16 (11 AM).
Maine State Music Theatre (MSMT) will showcase the music of Irving Berlin with two performances of I Love a Piano on Monday, June 18 at 2:00 and 7:30 PM.
The Theatre for Young Audiences program at Maine State Music Theatre opens with Robin and Clark's Cinderella June 13 (10 AM, 12:30 PM) and June 16 (11 AM).
For most of us who love the theatre, attending a performance is an exciting, stimulating, anticipated event, but for some children with sensory issues, going to the theatre can be fraught with anxiety; a room full of strange people, new sounds and fantastical characters - all can make this experience overwhelming. And yet, once immersed in the magic of the play, the children can find delight and connection.
To encourage this journey of discovery and to provide families with a safe viewing experience, Maine State Music Theatre last year initiated a program of sensory friendly rehearsal performances of the Theatre for Young Audiences shows. MSMT uses its large rehearsal hall as the performance venue - a space less daunting than the 600-seat Pickard main stage. The hour-long shows are presented with piano (not full orchestra), in full costume with relevant props, and include interaction among the cast, crew, and directors with the young audience. The families have access to a quiet room, are free to move about during the performance, enjoy a snack break, and receive a study/activity guide and some small gifts to take home.
To an audience used to the likes of today's television talent show formats -The Voice, American Idol with their fiercely competitive, instant celebrity emphasis and often abrasive judging - the annual Midcoast Maine's Got Talent seems to hark back to a gentler era and a more positive model to showcase aspiring performers. Each year the Brunswick Rotary Club puts together this gala as a fundraiser for its social and civic programs, but also as a community service to help nurture the arts in Maine and to create an audience for the creativity and expression that artists provide.
The nationally regarded Fulton Theatre is proud to present the Broadway classic Guys and Dolls, March 6 through March 31. Explore a simpler time when the stakes of the "game" were your biggest concern in Damon Runyon's streets of New York City.
Maine boasts a vibrant, varied theatrical landscape, is home to a significant local community of fine artists, and plays host each year to artists from New York, Chicago, and all the leading regional theatres in the country. Moreover, Maine can be proud of its sophisticated, loyal, and warm-hearted audiences, who appreciate thoroughly the dedication and creativity that goes into producing professional and community theatre and who are generous with their support and acclaim. I am honored to continue to serve as Broadway World's Maine editor, and I remain excited and energized by the richness of the state's theatre scene. As we come to the end of another year, here are my personal choices of the 2017 best in Maine, grouped by theatre and show.
Actress, singer, comedienne extraordinaire Charis Leos has performed over one hundred roles on more than twenty-eight leading regional theaters across America. Known as a brilliant and endearing character actress with a powerful voice, she has made a name for herself in major roles like Rose in Gypsy, Adelaide in Guys and Dolls, Jolene in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Louise in Always Patsy Cline, and countless more parts that speak to her versatility and charisma. While Leos performs all over the country, Maine holds a special place in her heart.
Just when you thought the excitement of the Maine State Music Theatre season was drawing inevitably to a close, the company delivered one last smashing surprise of an evening: its first free concert on the Brunswick Mall. Playing to a huge crowd that spanned some four blocks of the town green on a perfect late summer evening, MSMT performed a program of highlights from its 2017 repertoire. Partnering with the Brunswick Downtown Association and receiving generous funding from the Maine Arts Commission, the company launched yet another of its many outreach projects designed to bring Broadway to Brunswick.
In the opening scene of Marc Robin and Curt Dale Clark's Alice in Wonderland, Alice sings of her notion of Wonderland - 'a place where nonsense fills the air, a place more magical than dreams' - and in MSMT's Theatre for Young Audiences' original musical version of this classic, witty nonsense is deliciously blended with flights of imagination to create the perfect fantasy that speaks to audiences of all ages.
One of the many missions of theatre is to entertain, to provide a fantasy escape from the often harsh realities of our contemporary world, and given the horrifying headlines of late, the delightful confection that is The Taffetas offers a welcome retreat into nostalgia for an era that was - at least as we remember it - surely sweeter, simpler, gentler. Rick Lewis' revue imagines a quartet of winsome, homespun singing sisters from Muncie, Indiana, who take the audience on a musical journey through the 'fabulous fifties' at the same time that they offer a glimpse into the lives and dreams of four young women of the era. The result is a polished, stylish, tongue-in-cheek romp that leaves the audience joyful, amused, and more than a little envious of a time gone by.
Maine State Music Theatre presented two sold-out performances of The Who's Tommy, the rock musical by Pete Townshend and Des McAnuff, on July 31, 2017, at Brunswick's Pickard Theater.
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.
