Dan Marois

Jukebox musicals are practically a summer tradition at the Ogunquit Playhouse. In recent years, we’ve seen everything from Jersey Boys and Million Dollar Quartet to The Cher Show, On Your Feet!-The Story of Emilio and Gloria Estefan, Heartbreak Hotel, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, and last year’s world premiere of When Elvis Met the Beatles.

Among the heavy hitters of the Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice catalog, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat doesn’t always carry the same somber weight as Phantom of the Opera or Jesus Christ Superstar. That’s likely because Webber originally penned it at the tender age of 20 as a modest 15-minute concert for a boys' private school.

What starts as a casual catch-up among old colleagues spirals into something much heavier, darker, and deeply haunting in Lucy Kirkwood’s The Children, now playing at the Players’ Ring in Portsmouth. In the famously intimate confines of the Ring—where the actors are often close enough to breathe on you, the tension doesn’t just fill the room; it sits right in your lap.

What did our critic think of OUT OF NOWHERE TOUR 2026: TIG NOTARO at State Theatre?

At Seacoast Repertory Theatre, the current production of Altar Boyz plays less like a traditional musical and more like a full-on concert experience—loud, fast, and packed with driving beats and body-bending choreography.t did our critic think of ALTAR BOYZ at Seacoast Repertory Theatre?

A new Executive Director at the helm of Seacoast Repertory Theatre

There is something immediately disarming about “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.” It doesn’t arrive with spectacle or grand stakes; there are no sweeping romances or life-or-death consequences. Instead, it gives you a handful of awkward kids, a gymnasium, and a spelling competition.

There’s one thing that the Seacoast Repertory Theatre knows how to do very well. It’s transforming their intimate, brick-walled space in Portsmouth into a world that feels ten times its actual size. Their current production of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels—the 2005 musical based on the Steve Martin/Michael Caine film—is a fun, high-energy farce, delivering a cocktail of sophisticated wit and unapologetically lowbrow humor that pleases like a French martini.

It is a clear sign of the December holidays when the Oqunquit Playhouse brings its theatrical magic to The Music Hall in Portsmouth. In their 11th year of collaboration, the season is blessed with a festive production of Irving Berlin’s White Christmas The Musical.

What did our critic think of ELF THE MUSICAL at Seacoast Repertory Theatre? “Elf” at the Rep succeeds because the theatre thrives on great storytelling with very believable cast members. Consider this a holiday treat not to be missed.

At the Rochester Opera House, currently hosting a rollicking production of the musical Young Frankenstein, the formula is simple. Give reverence to a film classic, add equal parts of infectious energy by outstanding talent and the result is non-stop laughter.

How does a regional theater, limited by its stage, capture the scale of the “ship of dreams”—a floating city of steel—while simultaneously honoring the desperate intimacy of the 1,517 souls who perished? 

What did BroadwayWorld's critic think of THE WILD PARTY at Seacoast Repertory Theatre? Learn more about the production of THE WILD PARTY here!

Tamworth’s venerable The Barnstormers Theatre finishes its 95 season with a spectacular production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, the Tony Award-winning musical by William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin.

What did our critic think of THE PRODUCERS at Rochester Opera House?

Some fairy tales are all sunshine and happy ever afters. You know the ones. A damsel in distress finds her prince, they ride off into the sunset, and all their problems conveniently disappear. But Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine were never ones for simple stories.

The brassy stage musical, High Society, is currently holding court at the Ogunquit Playhouse in a production that was specifically reimagined from Philip Barry's play The Philadelphia Story (and its iconic film counterpart), for the hallowed playhouse. This production delivers a generous helping of wit, charm, and musical sophistication, making for an unforgettable evening of theater.did our critic think of HIGH SOCIETY at Ogunquit Playhouse?

The Players' Ring in Portsmouth, in its latest offering, invites audiences into the unassuming yet profoundly resonant world of “A Man of No Importance.” This 2002 musical, with its tender book by Terrence McNally and the soaring melodies of Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens, (They wrote the musical, “Ragtime.”) gently peels back the layers of common day life into a universe of heartfelt human connection and quiet courage.