Carla Maria Verdino-Süllwold

When HAIRSPRAY begins its run at Maine State Music Theatre on June 3, the new revival, created as a co-production with Lancaster’s Fulton Theatre, will be an evening of professional firsts for its young star, Eden Franco, who plays the demanding role of the musical’s protagonist, Tracy Turnblad. For Franco, who was graduated from college only two years ago, this production marks her first professional contract, her first experience in regional theatre, her debut in Maine, and her role debut in the Marc Shaiman-Scott Wittman musical.

To close its first season at Stevens Square, the Good Theater presents a compelling production of the Maine premiere of Bess Wohl’s Tony-nominated GRAND HORIZONS.  Touching, funny, and filled with friction, Wohl’s play examines the forces leading to the unravelling of a fifty-year marriage and the fallout their decision has on their entire family.

What better way to welcome Spring back to Maine than with the classic fairytale of re-awakening, SLEEPING BEAUTY, which Maine State Ballet has chosen for its current performance! 

Three decades after directing the Maine premiere of Ken Ludwig’s LEND ME A TENOR, Brian P. Allen, Artistic Director of the Good Theater, now brings to the stage the Maine premiere of Ludwig’s new version of the material.  With gender changes and altered comic thrust,  LEND ME A SOPRANO presents the farcical tale of mistaken identity in the melodramatic world of grand opera with delicious verve.

The Public Theatre in Lewiston’s production of Lia Romeo’s two-character drama, STILL, is a beautifully calibrated exploration of the complex dynamics of past love, present attraction, and diametrically opposing personal ideologies.  The new production, directed by Mark Routhier, starring Janet Mitchko and Joe Gately, proves to be as timely as it is universal.

Brent Askari’s new play, set on an isolated island in Maine, explores the secrets , insecurities, and yearnings of a handful of quirky characters brought together by a murder investigation.  DIRTY DEEDS DOWNEAST is an amusing and touching portrayal of small town life, the secrets the townsfolk keep, the iconoclastic barriers they erect around themselves, and the bumbling, yet uncannily accurate instincts of the island’s only policeman, who himself harbors a history of mental struggle and deep insecurity.

In this revolving door, gender-bending farce, five actors switch roles with dizzying speed to tell the tale of Count Dracula on the trail of his latest conquest, Lucy, who is determined to break Victorian convention.

In recent years Maine State Music Theatre has presented THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY on two occasions – both to sold out houses.  The undying appeal of the rock ‘n’ roll pioneer’s rags to riches story and his tragic early death captivate audiences, but it is without question the series of blockbuster musical hits that form the score which makes THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY irresistible. And so MSMT, for its final concert tribute concert at the Donald M. Gay auditorium in Auburn, has assembled a tribute to Holly and his two foremost colleagues:  the Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens. RAVE ON will remind audiences of the thrill of the mega mix that closes THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY – only, in this case, the delight continues over two hours with music that defined early rock ‘n’ roll.

Elvis is back! Having mesmerized Maine State Music theatre audiences for two years, Victor Trevino, Jr. now brings his tribute concert to a new venue in Auburn, Maine.  For the first time ever, MSMT has produced a fall season that includes a series of concerts at the brand new, state-of-the-art Donald M. Gay PAC on the Edward Little High School campus. And what better way to delight new audiences in this spectacular new space than to showcase the music of the King of Rock and Roll.

That MSMT chose to create this their co-production with Lewiston‘s Public Theatre is perhaps no surprise since every mounting of this play has met with huge public success.

MSMT’s Peek Behind the Curtain drew its largest audience of the summer for its last program on August 13, 2025, which was devoted to the theatre’s revival of WEST SIDE STORY, the final main stage production which has won widespread critical acclaim and is drawing sold out houses at the Pickard Theater. The panel consisted of Kelly Liz Bolick (SINGIN’IN THE RAIN,WIZARD OF OZ JOSEPH & THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT), who plays Velma and serves as Dance Captain, and Austin Nedrow (THE FULL MONTY, NEWSIES), who portrays Baby John, together with MSMT Artistic Director Curt Dale Clark, who has played Tony in some 250 performances in his career, and BWW moderator Carla Maria Verdino-Süllwold. Held at Curtis Memorial Library in Brunswick, the conversation addressed such topics as the timeless nature and groundbreaking elements of  WEST SIDE STORY; the production’s new Marc Robin choreography; short rehearsal process; the visual elements of the show; and the impact of this inspiring, even “life-changing” work.

On August 13, a clear, warm summer evening, thousands filled the grassy downtown Brunswick Mall to enjoy a free evening of music performed by the stars of MSMT. The annual event, presented in collaboration with the Brunswick Downtown Association’s Music on the Mall series has grown in size since its inception eight years ago and continues to hold the record for the best attended outdoor event in the community. And the crowds come with good reason. It is an opportunity to hear the MSMT performers regale the audience with repertoire from musical theatre and popular covers, backed by an excellent five-piece band led by Music Director Jacob Stebly.

MSMT closes its Family series on August 11 with a colorful, lively, special-effects-laden presentation of Roald Dahl’s WILLY WONKA, JR.  The production is the fruit of MSMT’s Summer Theatre Intensive, which auditions, casts, and trains local youth (ages 8-18) to perform a fully mounted main stage production. In the four years since the program’s inception, the productions have continued to grow in sophistication and artistic and technical excellence, with this year’s WILLY WONKA, JR. distinguishing itself for cast size and talent and production complexity.

Sizzling with sass & style, smoldering with passion, and searing the heart with timeless beauty, WEST SIDE STORY triumphs in a monumental new revival, directed/ choreographed by Marc Robin at Maine State Music Theatre. As groundbreaking as this work was when it first appeared on Broadway sixty-eight years ago, it retains its freshness and uniqueness today thanks to MSMT’s ability to approach a classic with both respect and a sense of relevance. This is a WEST SIDE STORY for all generations - brilliant ,beautiful, even revelatory. In fact, in an MSMT season marked by artistic triumphs, this new production is, quite simply, a theatrical masterpiece.

“I haven’t stopped acting since I started fifty years ago, and West Side Story will be my return to Maine State Music Theatre after fourteen years,” notes Ed Romanoff.

“The role requires quite a range of acting; it calls for all the colors of true love, as well as grief, anger frustration, the whole spectrum playing out in the two-day time period of the show. And Bernstein’s score is groundbreaking. It’s full of so many colors that accurately express the emotions and subtexts of all the characters through these little motifs.  It stands alone; it’s unique in style.” Actor Coleman Cummings is musing on the challenge he is undertaking in making his role debut as Tony in Maine State Music Theatre’s WEST SIDE STORY, which runs from August 6-23, 2025 at Brunswick’s Pickard Theater. For Cummings, this will be his second appearance with the company, having portrayed Dimitry in ANASTASIA earlier in the season.

MSMT continued its 11th season of the popular series, Peek Behind the Curtain, on July 23, 2025, presenting a panel consisting of two of MSMT’s favorite artists, Charis Leos (GYPSY, YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, HELLO, DOLLY!) and David Girolmo (WAR PAINT & CANDIDE on Broadway, TITANIC, TREASURE ISLAND, HELLO, DOLLY!), together with MSMT Artistic Director Curt Dale Clark and BWW moderator Carla Maria Verdino-Süllwold. Held at Curtis Memorial Library in Brunswick, the event drew its customary enthusiastic crowd. Among the topics addressed in the conversation were FOOTLOOSE as a reflection of the 1980s, the creative team of E. Faye Butler (director) and Tyler Hanes (choreographer), the setting of FOOTLOOSE in the fictional town of Bomont, Oklahoma, and the meaning of dance as self-expression and liberation in the musical.

Magic mirrors, an evil stepmother, forest creatures who sing and chatter prettily- all familiar fairytale tropes – but then add an empowered maiden, a narcissistic prince, and seven “dwarfs,” who are actually icons of ancient wisdom and culture, and you have a new, delightful musical version of the Brothers’ Grimm tale of Snow White created by Marc Robin & Curt Dale Clark for audiences young and young at heart.  MSMT’s new production sparkles with wit, energy, and visual splendor, featuring a first-rate cast of young professional performers who bring this tale to life with new meaning.

Bursting with energy and pulsating with a heartwarming story of forgiveness and family, Maine State Music Theatre’s new production of FOOTLOOSE serves up both a genuinely poignant tale and a dance extravaganza.  The new production, directed by E. Faye Butler and choreographed by Tyler Hanes, the first revival since 2014 of the 2008 musical by Tom Snow, Dean Pitchford, and Walter Bobbei, offers a new deeper, more probing and more compelling take on this timeless story of teen rebellion, generational conflict, and a journey to forgiveness.

Maine State Music Theatre packs a great deal of excellence and excitement into its 14 weeks season, but for this critic, the most anticipated production for 2025 is WEST SIDE STORY. Directed/ choreographed by the inexhaustibly inventive Marc Robin, the Bernstein Sondheim classic is one of the most perfect stage works ever created.