CAPTAINS COURAGEOUS The Musical Makes Its New Hampshire Premiere

On October 20-22 Powerhouse Theatre Collaborative will present the New Hampshire premiere of Captains Courageous the Musical by Frederick Freyer and Pat Cook at the Colonial Theatre in Laconia. Based on the Rudyard Kipling novel and the MGM movie starring Spencer Tracy, this all-male musical is a rarely produced gem due to the difficulty of finding enough singing/dancing men for the ensemble! The show is part of Powerhouse's 2023 Colonial series sponsored by Bank of New Hampshire, Grappone Mazda, and the Platinum Group.

Captains Courageous tells the story of Harvey Cheyne (Logan Currier), a spoiled 11 year old who accidentally falls off an ocean liner on a transatlantic voyage and is rescued by a crew of fisherman from Gloucester, Massachusetts out on a three month fishing journey. Stuck on the boat, Harvey's selfish and angry ways slowly melt away as he forms a bond with the lonely Portuguese fisherman Manuel (Davd MacNeill) who teaches him what it means to be a fisherman and part of a team. Filled with rousing sea chanteys and touching ballads, Captains Courageous will warm up even the stodgiest fisherman's heart, and is perfect for adults of all ages and families with preteens and up.

The show, sponsored by Lakes Region Fence and the Laconia Daily Sun. is directed by Powerhouse's Bryan Halperin who previously directed the show in Massachusetts in 2001 and again in 2003. Those productions were so successful that they were asked to bring the show to Gloucester both times after their initial runs, and were awarded top prize at the 2003 EMACT Festival, and the Moss Hart Award. The 2003 production was also selected to represent the United States at an International Community Theatre Festival in Monaco.

Says Halperin, "We've been waiting 20 years to bring this show to New Hampshire and finally had enough talented men willing to audition so we could do it right. We're having a great time in rehearsals tackling this challenging piece and can't wait to debut it for NH audiences. This is certainly something that audiences aren't likely to get another chance to see and we hope will take a chance to see something new!"

Captains will be performed Friday October 20 and Saturday October 21 at 7:30 pm and Sunday October 22 at 2 pm at the Colonial Theatre in Laconia. Tickets can be purchased via coloniallaconia.com or powerhousenh.org. The Powerhouse 2023 season is sponsored by The Home Beautiful and Lavalley/Middleton Building Supply.

Powerhouse Theatre Collaborative is a program of the Belknap Mill and the resident theatre company of the Colonial Theatre. For more information on all the programs of the Mill check out Belknapmill.org.