Summer Stages: BWW's Top Summer Theatre Picks in Massachusetts

Summer Stages: BWW's Top Summer Theatre Picks in Massachusetts

Compiled by Jan Nargi, Nancy Grossman and Larry Murray

Greater Boston and the North Shore

Summer means musicals for three of the major theater companies in the regions north and west of Boston. From pop opera blockbusters to old-fashioned family fare, great musical theater is no more than an hour away from the heart of the city.

LES MISERABLES - Reagle Music Theatre

http://www.reaglemusictheatre.com

LES MISERABLES (August 8-18) caps off Reagle Music Theatre of Greater Boston's 45th anniversary "dream" season with all new staging provided by director/choreographer David Hugo, an alum of the Broadway and touring companies of Boublil and Schönberg's Tony and Oscar-winning runaway hit. Also onstage at Reagle Music Theatre this summer: Chicago (June 13-23) starring Broadway's Angie Schworer, Sara Gettelfinger and Rick Pessagno and directed and choreographed by Gerry McIntyre; and Fiddler on the Roof (July 11-21), back by popular demand starring Boston television personality Scott Wahle reprising his IRNE Award-nominated role as Tevye. Olivier Award nominee and Broadway vet Kirby Ward directs, with the original Jerome Robbins choreography recreated by Susan Cheebookjian.

La Cage Aux Folles - North Shore Music Theatre

http://nsmt.org

It's technically no longer summer when La Cage Aux Folles (September 24-October 6) takes to the circular stage of North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly, but it marks the return of popular television actor Charles Shaughnessy (The Nanny) to the venue, so fans will want to know. His lov-er-ly co-star from My Fair Lady a few seasons back, Lisa O'Hare, also returns to open the season as Maria in The Sound of Music (June 11-23). The Wizard of Oz eases on down the road July 16-28; Cats are on the prowl August 20 - September 1; and another Boublil and Schönberg popera Miss Saigon lands November 5-17. Wonder how they'll handle the helicopter in the round.

Thoroughly Modern Millie - Ogunquit Playhouse

http://www.ogunquitplayhouse.org

What would summer in Ogunquit be without Sally Struthers making an appearance at Ogunquit Playhouse? This year, Struthers struts her considerable comic stuff as the inscrutable Mrs. Meers in Thoroughly Modern Millie (June 12 - July 6). The season also includes Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein (July 10-27); Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (July 31 - August 25); Ballroom with a Twist (August 27-31); West Side Story (September 4-28); and the return of Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story (October 2-20), which last year became the highest-grossing show in Ogunquit Playhouse's history.

Spring Awakening - Gloucester Stage Company

http://www.gloucesterstage.com

The Tony Award-winning musical Spring Awakening (June 20 - July 14) brings Gloucester Stage out of its winter hibernation with an electrifying jolt of contemporary teenaged angst. Set in Germany during the late 19th century, the musical is an explicit journey through sexual awakening and cultural rebellion. The season continues with Israel Horovitz's Pulitzer Prize-nominated play North Shore Fish (July 18 - August 4); This Is Our Youth (August 8-25); Dueling Divas Cabaret (August 28 - September 1) starring Boston favorites Kathy St. George and Kerry Dowling; and Driving Miss Daisy (September 5-22), starring Johnny Lee Davenport, Academy Award nominee Lindsay Crouse, and Elliott Norton Award winner Robert Pemberton.

The Berkshires

The classics continue to attract crowds in this summer spot, but there's lots of fresh and new work where the audiences are younger.

On the Town - Barrington Stage Company

http://barringtonstageco.org/

On the Town, (June 12-July 13) will be performed just a few miles from Tanglewood where composer Leonard Bernstein once conducted the Boston Symphony Orchestra. BSC's Artistic Director Julianne Boyd has a knack for assembling great musicals. Joshua Bergasse (Smash) provides new choreography and has Three Sailors who dance as well as they sing: Clyde Alves, Jay Armstrong Johnson, and Tony Yazbeck as Ozzie, Chip and Gabey. John Rando (Urinetown) directs this mainstage opener. All the local companies frontload their summer seasons with musicals. Following in quick succession are the Williamstown Theatre Festival's Animal Crackers (June 26-July14) and the Berkshire Theatre Group's Oklahoma! (July 1-20).

The Lion in Winter - Berkshire Theatre Group

The Berkshire Theatre Group began as the Berkshire Theatre Festival and has hung in there decade after decade developing its one-of-a-kind history of classic and original works. Robert Moss directs The Lion in Winter (June 25-July 13) with Jayne Atkinson and Treat Williams in the principal roles, joined by Tara Franklin and Tommy Schrider. Also topping their list is Karen Allen directing Extremities (July 13-27) and O'Neill's Anna Christie (August 20-31) with Rebecca Brooksher.

The Bridges of Madison County - Williamstown Theatre Festival

Subscribers are curious about The Bridges of Madison County (August 1-18) based on the film, with Elena Shaddow and Steven Pasquale, a telling choice for artistic director Jennie Gersten. She's been developing a new musical niche which I label Romance Musicals since all of which seem to have a broken heart at their core. Bridges of Madison County follows Ten Cents a Dance (2011) and Far From Heaven (2012) in this emerging genre. Also a hot ticket is Pygmalion (July 17-27) with former AD Nicholas Martin returning to direct. On the smaller Nikos stage will be the premiere of Bess Wohl's new play American Hero (June 26-July 7).

Mother Courage and Her Children - Shakespeare & Company

With Olympia Dukakis taking the lead, Mother Courage and Her Children (July 26-August 25) gets a fresh airing under the direction of company AD Tony Simotes. Words like feisty, spunky and revolutionary have been used to describe Ma Courage, but they could just as easily apply to the legendary Dukakis who has yet to slow down. John Douglas Thompson and Apollo Dukakis also star. Shakespeare is on the summer bill as well: Love's Labour's Lost (June 22-September 1) and Richard II with Rocco Sisto (July 5-21).

Southern Comfort - Barrington Stage Company

Southern Comfort (July 19-August 10) gets its premiere with music by Julianne Wick-Davis, book and lyrics by Dan Collins, starring Jeff McCarthy and Annette O'Toole, and directed by Tom Caruso. It's about the quest for normalcy by a transgendered couple living in the South. Once again this company offers heartier fare for the adventurous, as Bill Finn's Musical Theatre Lab delivers unusual slices of life through song. BSC has some of the most intellectually curious ticket buyers in the area. Part of that is due to regularly offering literary tinged plays such as Scott and Hem in the Garden of Allah (August 15-Septmber 29) written by Mark St. Germain (Freud's Last Session).

Cape Cod and the Islands

Cape Playhouse, Dennis

http://www.capeplayhouse.com

They're Playing His Songs: The Music of Marvin Hamlisch (June 24 - July 6) starring Tony winner Karen Ziemba, Tony Nominee Christiane Noll, Cape Playhouse favorite Jason Graae and Carol Woods; Ballroom with a Twist (July 22 - August 3) featuring celebrity pros Anna Trebunskaya and Tristan MacManus from "Dancing with the Stars," along with finalists from "So You Think You Can Dance" and "American Idol;" Radio Gals (August 19-31).

Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater

http://www.what.org/

Six Characters in Search of an Author (June 29 - July 20); One Slight Hitch by Lewis Black (July 27 - August 24).

Elements Theatre Company, Orleans

http://www.elementstheatre.org

A Midsummer Night's Dream (August 9-18)

Cape Rep Theatre, Brewster

http://www.caperep.org

9-Ball (June 20 - July 13); The Mystery of Edwin Drood (July 25 - August 24)

Provincetown Theater

http://provincetowntheater.org/

Pornocchio (June 18 - September 3), Ryan Landry & The Gold Dust Orphans; Mildred Fierce (Sept 5-8), The Gold Dust Orphans w/ Varla Jean Merman; Tennessee Williams Theater Festival (Sept 26-29)

The Vineyard Playhouse, Vineyard Haven

www.vineyardplayhouse.org

Henry IV (July 17 - August 17), Outdoor Shakespeare Production

Theatre Workshop of Nantucket

http://www.theatreworkshop.com

Edward Gorey's Dracula (August 14 - September 7)

Cape Cod Theater Directory: http://capecodlive.org/cape-cod-theater-directory/

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