Mac-Haydn Theatre Announces 49th Season

Lynne Haydn Artistic Director/Producer and John Saunders, Artistic Director are pleased to announce The Mac-Haydn Theatre's (MHT) 2017 summer season, the 49th season for the summer stock theatre in-the-round.

The season, running May 25 through September 3 includes, seven musicals, three children's theatre productions, an End of the Season Cabaret, and weekly Coffee House Cabarets following Friday and Saturday evening performances. Of the seven mainstage shows, four are MHT premiers!

The mainstage season will open with Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (May 25--June 4) with music and lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Bryan Knowlton (recipient of the 2017 New Hampshire Theatre Award for "Best Choreographer") directs and choreographs, and Laura Helm (Narrator on the National Tour of Joseph...) reprises her role this summer.

Following Joseph... is the MHT premier Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (June 8--18) with music and lyrics by David Yazbek and book by Jeffrey Lane. The story is based off of the 1988 film of the same name and will be directed by Artistic Director John Saunders with MHT favorites Gabe Belyeu as Lawrence and Colin Pritchard as Freddy.

A Cole Porter classic Anything Goes (June 22-July 2) returns with director/choreographer Robin Levine making her MHT debut. Robin recently directed at Forestburgh Playhouse and was part of the ensemble of Mama Mia! On Broadway.

In the middle of the season is the most requested show of the summer, Saturday Night Fever (July 6-23) featuring music and lyrics by The Bee Gees. James Kinney (recipient of the Broadwayworld.com award for Best Choreography for his work on Children of Eden at Casa Manana Theatre) choreographs.

For the second year in a row, the fifth show of the season is a Stephen Sondheim classic. Sweeney Todd (July 27-August 6) is a musical thriller based on the 1973 play Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street by Chrispher Bond. Mark Hardy (whose credits include Broadway's Children And Art, Titanic, and the 1987 production of Les Miserables) stars as Mr. Todd and Emily Kron (Nellie in South Pacific last summer) returns as Mrs. Lovette. Both Saturday Night Fever and Sweeney Todd are directed by John Saunders.

The sixth show of the season is Monty Python's Spamalot (August 10-20). Adapted from the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the musical parodies the story of King Arthur and his knights of the round table. The musical stars MHT first timers John Anker Bow as King Arthur and Madison Stratton as Lady of the Lake. Paul Wyatt (The Baker in Into the Woods in 2016) returns to play the "Not Quite So Brave" Sir Robin. Spamalot is directed by Neal Kowalsky and choreographed by Sebastiani Romagnolo.

Closing out the season is the Jerry Herman classic, Hello, Dolly! (August 24-September 3). Artistic Director John Saunders directs the final production of the 49th season, starring Mac-Haydn favorite Monica M. Wemitt as Dolly. Monica was in the 1995 Broadway Production of Hello, Dolly! as Ernestina and understudied Carol Channing.

The Children's Theatre Season will consist of The Trials of Alice in Wonderland (June 30-July 15), Hi, Ho Robin Hood (July 21-July 29), and The Wizard of Oz (August 4-19). The Children's Theatre season will star company members from the mainstage cast, and The Wizard of Oz is presented in conjunction with The Mac-Haydn Musical Theatre Workshop. The End of the Season Cabaret will be on Saturday September 2.

About the Mac-Haydn Theatre

Founded in 1969 by Lynne Haydn and Linda MacNish, The Mac-Haydn Theatre has been bringing artists from all around the country to the town of Chatham, NY (perfectly place in between the Berkshires, the New York Capital and the Catskill Region) each summer to produce classic and modern musicals in-the-round. For more information and tickets, please visit us at: www.machaydntheatre.org or call the box office at (518) 392-9292.

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