BWW Review: Broadway World Critic's Choice Maine 2018
Maine seems to be enjoying a theatrical renaissance with large and small companies vigorously engaged in producing a wide range of repertoire throughout the state. Several of the leading professional theatres have become destinations in and of themselves - (witness the inclusion of Maine State Music Theatre and Ogunquit Playhouse in Scott Andrews' upcoming book, Vacationland) - while venerable community groups continue to raise the bar for their work. I am privileged to get to sample these performances as Broadway World's Maine editor and to be able to compare many of them favorably with shows I see across the country, in New York and London. These are my personal choices of the best in Maine for 2018, grouped by theatre company and show.
MAINE STATE MUSIC THEATRE delivered a 60th anniversary season that redefined the meaning and substance of 'gala.'
BWW Interview: Coming Together to Bring Change, Panel Discusses NEWSIES
"Newsies is a hit wherever you take it; it had a highly successful Broadway run and national tour and now in these first regional productions, it is the kind of show that brings people from all over to see it again and again. It reaches so many people with its great music and dance and inspiring story. It's a brilliant piece of theatre, and I am honored to be a part of it."
Brooklyn Music Venue National Sawdust Releases Complete Lineup for Inaugural Season
Composer Paola Prestini, the Creative and Executive Director of National Sawdust (NS), today announced programming for the non-profit's inaugural fall season in its new home-a $16 million, 13,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art chamber hall in the heart of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The performance and recording venue, designed by Brooklyn-based architecture firm Bureau V in the shell of century-old former sawdust factory, will provide composers and musicians a setting in which they can flourish, and a place where they are given commissioning support, mentoring and other critical resources essential to create, and then share, their work. For audiences-serious fans and casual listeners alike-the venue will be a place to discover genre-spanning music at accessible ticket prices.
BWW Interviews: Staging MUSIC MAN for a Contemporary Audience
'I try to do every play I direct keeping in mind both people who have never seen it before and those who might know it well. I ask myself, 'What would today's audience want to hear and how can I tell the story for this a contemporary public?' I actively look for ways to put a spin on even a well-known show like the Music Man so that some things strike the audience as surprises, as fresh and different. I want them not to sing along with tunes they know, but be caught off guard a little and be so busy watching the story unfold that they forget they already know it.'
Director/choreographer Marc Robin is discussing his latest staging of Meredith Willson's classic musical, the Music Man, for Maine State Music Theatre. Robin was part of a panel that also included the shows stars, Curt Dale Clark and Lauren Blackman, MSMT's Props Designer Kyle Melton, and the company Director of Communications Carol Marquis, moderated by BWW's Carla Maria Verdino-Sullwold, the fourth such talkback in the company's summer series, Peek Behind the Curtain, which drew a standing-room only crowd.
The Cell Presents HEROES AND OTHER STRANGERS, Begins 11/1
the cell, Nancy Manocherian (Founding Artistic Director) and Kira Simring (Artistic Director) are pleased to announce the encore production of the Fringe Hit Zac Jaffee's HEROES AND OTHER STRANGERS, directed by Christian Haines.
The Cell Presents HEROES AND OTHER STRANGERS, Begins 11/1
the cell, Nancy Manocherian (Founding Artistic Director) and Kira Simring (Artistic Director) are pleased to announce the encore production of the Fringe Hit Zac Jaffee's HEROES AND OTHER STRANGERS, directed by Christian Haines.
HEROES AND OTHER STRANGERS Returns To NYC At The Cell
the cell, Nancy Manocherian (Founding Artistic Director) and Kira Simring (Artistic Director) are pleased to announce the encore production of the Fringe Hit Zac Jaffee's HEROES AND OTHER STRANGERS, directed by Christian Haines. HEROES AND OTHER STRANGERS will play a limited engagement at the cell (338 West 23rd Street New York, NY 10011).
The Cell Presents HEROES AND OTHER STRANGERS, Begins 11/1
the cell, Nancy Manocherian (Founding Artistic Director) and Kira Simring (Artistic Director) are pleased to announce the encore production of the Fringe Hit Zac Jaffee's HEROES AND OTHER STRANGERS, directed by Christian Haines.