Sarajane Morse Mullins News

Have there ever been such devoted sisters as the four March girls, birthed by Louisa May Alcott in her postbellum semi-autobiographical novel LITTLE WOMEN? Director Ilyse Robbins shows her abiding affection for the story with her devotion to its heart and soul on display in the production of the 2005 Broadway Musical at Greater Boston Stage Company.

Two hundred years after Washington Irving introduced the little hamlet of Sleepy Hollow and its superstitious denizens to the canon of American literature, the legend remains among the most enduring of stories that capture the imagination of adults and children alike, inspire questions about the supernatural realm, and scare the bejesus out of its audience.

HUNDRED DAYS and the intimate Black Box at the Umbrella Stage Company in Concord are a perfect match, not unlike Abigail and Shaun Bengson, the couple whose true story of their romantic and musical journey is told in this original song cycle. Staged like a concert before a few cabaret-style tables and rows of stadium seating, with the band seated behind the vocalists and totally engaged, HUNDRED DAYS has elements of ONCE with everyone having a grand old time making music as the vehicle for their storytelling.

This January 24-February 16, The Umbrella Stage Company - Greater Boston's newest professional theater -- will present the regional premiere of the exhilarating folk-punk musical, Hundred Days, by The Bengsons with a book by Sarah Gancher, and directed by Brian Boruta.

There's not a Christmas tree in sight, but there's plenty of uplifting, feel good spirit in the Umbrella Stage Company's TUCK EVERLASTING, the third production of their inaugural season in their gleaming new building in Concord. Under the direction of Elliot Norton Award-winner Nancy Curran Willis, the simplicity and magic of the story shine through the captivating performance of Madi Shaer as 11-year old Winnie Foster, a girl whose life is inexorably changed when she runs away and meets the Tuck family in the woods of Treegap, New Hampshire.

The red velvet curtain rises on about a dozen pairs of feet tapping up a storm, but there are a few hundred more dancing their way out of the Umbrella Community Arts Center after they pay a visit to 42ND STREET, the blockbuster grand opening production of the Umbrella Stage Company, Greater Boston's newest professional theater in Concord. The 344-seat, state-of-the-art main stage is airy and comfortable, with a generous rake to provide unobstructed viewing from every row. Kicking off the season with the quintessential backstage musical is a stroke of genius that celebrates the performing arts and generates excitement for the Umbrella.

The Round Barn Theatre first produced "Annie" in 1996, its first year of repertory theatre. Nine year old Sarajane Morse Mullins captured the hearts of that first year's audience as the world's most famous redhead. Now twenty-two years later, Sarajane returns as Miss Hannigan on the same stage she began her professional career. Annie's red dress has been passed to Maddi Reese Ames, the next generation of budding starlets. It promises to be a special homecoming and debut for the two actresses and audiences.

Ilyse Robbins leads a team of champions in Greater Boston Stage Company's SHE LOVES ME, a delightful musical for the holiday season - or any season, for that matter. Music Director Matthew Stern brings out the best in the Jerry Bock/Sheldon Harnick score with the voices of Jennifer Ellis, Sam Simahk, Aimee Doherty, and Jared Troilo at the front and center of a talented ensemble.