The Public Theatre News

Bay Street Theater is pleased to announce the World Premiere of SAFE SPACE begins tomorrow, June 25, and runs through July 21. This is a new play by Alan Fox; directed by three-time Tony Award winner Jack O'Brien (All My Sons, Henry IV, Hairspray, The Coast of Utopia).

Due to multiple sold out shows, a Saturday, June 29, 3pm matinee performance AND a Sunday, June 30 7pm performance has been added to accommodate the high demand for tickets to the musical Grease, an exciting Co-production between The Public Theatre in Lewiston and Maine State Music Theatre (MSMT) in Brunswick.

Just as the youthful cast sings their exuberant anthem, 'We Go Together,' at the close of GREASE, so, too, might the theatre-loving communities of Midcoast Maine find new reason to celebrate in the first-ever co-production of Maine State Music Theatre and The Public Theatre. From June 18-30, 2019, the two Equity companies have joined forces to present Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey's beloved classic, in Lewiston in a fresh, new, vibrant production that recaptures all the joy, travails, libido and angst of adolescence.

Due to sell out audiences, a Sat, June 29, 3pm matinee performance has been added to accommodate the high demand for tickets to the musical Grease, an exciting Co-production between The Public Theatre in Lewiston and Maine State Music Theatre (MSMT) in Brunswick.  

Academy Award, Tony Award, and Golden Globe Award winning performer, director and photographer Joel Grey has released The Flower Whisperer, his fifth book of photographs.

The 5th Avenue Theatre is announcing a change in its 2019/20 season lineup. The world premiere of an original new musical, Bliss, will replace the previously announced Stu for Silverton in early 2020. Producing Artistic Director Bill Berry said, "Even though we do not like to make changes after we have announced our season, we are very proud of the hundreds of thousands of audience members who come to The 5th each year and understand that this is sometimes part of the process of being one of the leading theaters in the country producing new musicals."

"It's like a first date, " says Christopher Schario, Executive/artistic Director of Lewiston's Public Theatre. "It's a total cross population between our institutions and our audiences," he adds. Maine State Music Director Curt Dale Clark concurs: "This co-production is helping the arts in both our communities. It's upping the ante and providing more opportunities for people to enjoy live theatre," The two artistic heads , together with the leads of the production Tanner Callicutt and Katie Brnjac are chatting with Broadway World about the first-ever collaboration between the two theatres, a new staging of the musical GREASE, performed at The Public Theatre June 18-30, 2019.

Last fall, I had the opportunity to chat with Jeremy Stevens, the Education and Development Coordinator at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center, about a project called the Orbit Initiative. During a rare break from tech rehearsal, I sat down to chat with Mr. Stevens about the Orbit Initiative's upcoming production of The Tempest and some of what his team has accomplished in the past 6 months.

In Conversation with Ashley Teague of Notch Theatre Company and Jessica Kahkoska about Wild Home: An American Odyssey

Bay Street Theater is pleased to announce the cast of SAFE SPACE (June 25 - July 21) is now in rehearsal.The new play is by Alan Fox; directed by three-time Tony Award winner Jack O'Brien (All My Sons, Henry IV, Hairspray, The Coast of Utopia). The play will star Mercedes Ruehl (Torch Song, Hustlers, Bay Street's Viva la Vida!), Sasha Diamond (Blindspot, The Romanoffs, Murphy Brown) and Rodney Richardson (The Day Shall Come, CBS's FBI, Somebody's Daughter). Tickets are now on sale by calling the Box Office at 631-725-9500 or online at www.baystreet.org.  The Box Office is open daily from 11 am - show time.

Maine State Music Theatre (MSMT) in Brunswick and The Public Theatre (TPT) in Lewiston are partnering together for the first time to bring the musical GREASE to The Public Theatre stage June 18-30.

We're flashing back through the photo archives of BroadwayWorld's very own Walter McBride to bring you some shots of 2019 Tony nominee Annette Bening in 2014 and 2017.

Maine State Music Theatre (MSMT) in Brunswick and The Public Theatre (TPT) in Lewiston are partnering together for the first time to bring Grease the Musical to The Public Theatrestage. 

Writer/actress Dagmar Stanec is about to present her solo play Loose Underwear at the Hollywood Fringe Festival. In our conversation she talks about her show with the utmost honesty and depth. Dagmar Stansova is an award winning writer and critically acclaimed actor, has performed in leading roles off-Broadway, at LaMama and The Public Theatre and in Los Angeles at the Odyssey and West Coast Ensemble. Her television credits include “One Life to Live” and HBO's “The Image” with Albert Finney.

Wild Home: An American Odyssey is a new theatre project by Notch Theatre Company that brings to the stage the hopes, struggles, and experiences of local communities in areas under serious threat from extractive industries. After Wild Home's recent performance in The North Fork Valley of Colorado, Ashley Teague, Artistic Director of Notch Theatre Company and playwright Jessica Kahkoska discuss the program and look to its next steps.

The Muny announced today its complete cast, design and production team for Lerner and Loewe's Paint Your Wagon, the sixth show of its second century, July 27 – August 2. Lerner and Loewe's Paint Your Wagon is proudly sponsored by Ameren.     

SHADOWLAND STAGES (Brendan Burke, Producing Artistic Director) today announced completion of casting for MEMOIRS OF A FORGOTTEN MAN by D.W. Gregory - the first production of the theatre's 2019 season.

Goodspeed Musicals today announces the cast of Hi, My Name is Ben, the inspirational true story of one man who impacted the lives of all those around him without speaking a word.

Looking for something fun to do with the kids this weekend? Great family fun is happening at The Public Theatre on Sunday, May 19th at 2pm when the Frogtown Mountain Puppeteers perform their award-winning show, The Legend of the Banana Kid.

Joe Pope and PopeFilms will be presenting a staged reading of THE NOOSE, a new play by Nicholas T. Proferes, on Friday, May 17, 2019 at 11am and 3pm at Ripley Grier Studios