Erin McIntyre

Lost Nation Theater opened a high-energy production of the musical HAIRSPRAY last week at Montpelier's City Hall Arts Center. With music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman, and book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan, HAIRSPRAY opened on Broadway in 2002 and went on to win eight Tony Awards.

Kate Kenney, Eric Love, and Christopher Scheer have become well-known to Central Vermont audiences over the past few years through their work with Lost Nation Theater. Kenney, Love, and Scheer sat down with Broadway World to talk about their backgrounds, their recent run in Lost Nation's fall repertory productions of THE 39 STEPS and THE COMEDY OF ERRORS, and the important role Lost Nation has played in the development of their careers.

FlynnArts Summer Youth Theater opened THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD on Thursday, July 31 at Burlington's FlynnSpace at the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts.

FlynnArts Summer Youth Theater opened CARRIE, THE MUSICAL on Thursday July 18 at Burlington's FlynnSpace at the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts.

Summer in Vermont provides a multitude of theater opportunities for performers and audience members alike, and Broadway World got a behind-the-scenes look at a few of the state's companies and productions. This is by no means a complete list of all the extraordinary summer theater that happens in Vermont, and should be used as a starting point for further exploration.

The performing arts come alive in Vermont during the summer months, and this year's season promises to be an exciting one. Vermont's summer theater venues are as varied as its productions. Both Unadilla Theater (Marshfield, VT) and QuarryWorks (Adamant, VT) offer an intimate theater-going experience in a picturesque setting where pre-show picnicking is encouraged. For live theater in one of Vermont's beautiful historic spaces, try Stowe Theatre Guild (Town Hall Theatre; Stowe, VT) or Lamoille County Players (Hyde Park Opera House; Hyde Park, VT). Lost Nation Theater (Montpelier, VT), Saint Michael's Playhouse (Colchester, VT), and Weston Playhouse (Weston, VT) routinely bring in top-notch professional performers from across the country. Each of these theaters has a full summer/fall season:

Lost Nation Theater has long been a leader in bringing the performing arts to new Vermont audiences, and the organization's latest innovations are no exception. Lost Nation announced two new initiatives last week aimed at attracting a broader theater-going audience: LNTix and LNT Afterhours.

Lost Nation Theater continues its presentation of Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, OUR TOWN, through April 27 at Montpelier's City Hall Arts Center. First produced in New York City in 1938, the play enjoyed four subsequent Broadway revivals, making it one of the best-known pieces of classic American theater. Lost Nation's production features a 19-member company under the direction of Kim Allen Bent.

2014 MAC (Manhattan Association of Cabaret Artists) Award winner Rev. Yolanda appeared at Outright Vermont's 25th Anniversary Silver Celebration on April 11th in Williston, Vermont. New York audiences recognize Yolanda from her cabaret show, REV. YOLANDA'S OLD TIME GOSPEL HOUR, while Vermonters may know her from the public access television show she co-hosted with Cherie Tartt from the mid-'90s through 2001, or from her band, Yolanda & the Plastic Family.

There's still snow on the ground, but warm weather is coming faster than you think! The performing arts thrive during Vermont summers, and so do opportunities for kids to explore the world of theater. Here's a look at some of this summer's Vermont theater camps for kids and teens:

Christopher Scheer is a favorite with Central Vermont audiences. Vermont theater-goers have seen him in a number of Lost Nation Theater productions, including THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (ABRIDGED), A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, and THE MYSTERY OF IRMA VEP. When we spoke this past week, Christopher shared some thoughts about his work with Lost Nation and filled me in on some of his upcoming projects.

A new one-man show, JUST A WELDER, written and performed by Richard Klovdah opens tonight at the Valley Players Theater in Waitsfield, VT.

Broadway veterans Heidi Blickenstaff and Aaron Ramey, and Emmy Award Winner and Tony Nominee Gordon Clapp are among this year's Vermont BroadwayWorld Award nominees. Shows from a large cross-section of professional, semi-professional, and community theater groups are also represented in the 2012-2013 nominations. Let's take a look at some of the Vermont theater companies with BroadwayWorld Award Nominations:

Vermont's busy summer/fall theater season has come to a close, and now it's time for some holiday fun! Among this year's holiday-themed productions are Green Mountain Theater Group's A CHRISTMAS SURVIVAL GUIDE and two opportunities to see IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: Lost Nation Theater's live radio play presentation, and Lamoille County Players' traditional stage production.

Arthur Miller's THE CRUCIBLE is now playing at Lost Nation Theater in Montpelier, VT. Based on actual people and events surrounding the Salem witch trials of 1692 and 1693, Miller's play examines social paranoia and judicial power, themes that struck a particularly strong chord in the era of McCarthyism, and continue to be relevant in today's security-obsessed climate. Despite mixed reviews from critics on its first Broadway run in 1953, the play won the Tony Award for Best Play, and earned Beatrice Straight a Best Featured Actress Tony Award for her portrayal of Elizabeth Proctor. Four subsequent Broadway revivals (including a star-studded 2002 production featuring Liam Neeson and Laura Linney) have cemented THE CRUCIBLE as an American classic.

The Stowe Theater Guild's delightful presentation of the beloved Gilbert & Sullivan classic, THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE, is now playing at the Town Hall Theatre in Stowe, Vermont. The story opens as Frederic (James Blanchard) is released from his apprenticeship to a band of pirates notorious for their kindness to orphans. Having never seen a young woman before, Frederic is enchanted by the daughters of Major-General Stanley (George Walker), particularly Mabel (Taryn Noelle). But Major-General Stanley and the Pirate King (Patrick Clow) don't see eye to eye, and Frederic and Mabel's love isn't smooth sailing. Mayhem and hilarity ensue as Frederic's childhood nurse, Ruth (Sebastian Ryder) reveals one surprising secret after another.

Tony Award-winning shows like THE LION KING, WAR HORSE, and AVENUE Q have made extensive use of puppets on Broadway, but imaginative puppetry isn't limited to New York stages. The Off Center for the Dramatic Arts and The Saints & Poets Production Company present Chris Caswell's THE PUPPET SHOPPE, a two-person, many-puppet play directed by Jordan Gullikson.

The Waterbury Festival Playhouse offers up something dark this season: Mark Roberts' PARASITE DRAG. ('Parasite drag' is an aeronautical term that refers to the resistance caused by parts of an aircraft that don't contribute to lift.) This psychological drama tells the story of a family ripped apart by a terrible secret - a secret that remains unknown to the audience until close to the play's end.

Lost Nation Theater's presentation of ROBERT FROST: THIS VERSE BUSINESS opened on September 7 at City Hall Arts Center in Montpelier, Vermont. Emmy Winner and Tony Nominee Gordon Clapp portrays the iconic American poet in A.M. Dolan's one-man play, under the direction of Gus Kaikkonen.