Ogunquit Playhouse’s Beat Goes On with ‘The Cher Show’

May 28, 2022May 28, 2022 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Charissa Hogeland (Lady), Sara Gettelfinger (Star), Madeline Hudelson (Babe) in ‘The Cher Show’ at Ogunquit Playhouse. Photos by Nile Hawver, Nile Scott Studios.

‘The Cher Show’ – Rick Elice (writer), Gerry McIntyre (Director), Jane Lanier (Choreographer), Kristin Stowell (Music Director), Andy Walmsley (Set Design), Richard Latta (Lighting Design), Bob Mackie (Costume Design), Roxanne De Luna (Wig Design), Kevin Heard (Sound Design), John Narun (Projection Design). Presented by the Ogunquit Playhouse through June 25^th.

by Linda Chin

Ogunquit Playhouse is New England’s grande dame of the summer stock circuit, making The Cher Show an entirely fitting choice to open the theatre’s 90^th season in grand style. With a book by Rick Elice (Jersey Boys) and 35 tunes, this show about Cher’s early life and career spanning six decades is not your average musical, but in the “juke box musical” or bio-musical” category. The archival black-and-white clips from The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour, colorful, over-the-top costumes by fashion designer Bob Mackie, and adoring (and adorable) back-up dancers make this production part-documentary, part-TV series, part-runway show, part-sketch comedy and nightclub act.

Ogunquit’s ‘Mystic Pizza’ Hits You With Its Best Shots

September 7, 2021September 19, 2021 michaelhoban1 Comment

Cast of ‘Mystic Pizza at Ogunquit Playhouse

‘Mystic Pizza’ – Based on the MGM movie ‘Mystic Pizza’, with story and characters by Amy Holden Jones. Directed by Casey Hushion, Choreography by Liz Ramos, Additional Music Staging by Connor Gallagher, Orchestrations and Music Supervision by Carmel Dean, Music Direction by Kristin Stowell, Scenic Design by Nate Bertone, Lighting Design by Richard Latta, Sound Design by Kevin Heard; Costume Design by Jennifer Caprio; Wig Design by Roxanne De Luna. Presented by the Ogunquit Playhouse through October 7^th.

By Linda Chin

The much-anticipated world premiere production of Mystic Pizza: A New Musical at Ogunquit Playhouse brings together two cultural highlights of the 80s and 90s: the film Mystic Pizza (1998) that launched then unknown 21-year old actor Julia Roberts’ career, and the music video Girls Just Want to Have Fun (1984) that propelled Cyndi Lauper’s iconic career (and became not only her signature song but a feminist anthem for girls of all ages). Add a venue where starving audiences and artists can safely participate in live performance again, and you get a summer 2021 theater trifecta – a perfect storm of a production.

Ogunquit Brings Back the ‘Bright Side of Life’ with Riotous ‘Spamalot’

June 22, 2021June 22, 2021 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Cast of ‘Spamalot’, presented by Ogunquit Playhouse. Photo by Gary Ng

by Mike Hoban

‘Spamalot’ – Directed by BT McNicholl; Choreography by Jennifer Rias; Music Direction by Fred Lassen; Set Design by Nate Bertone; Lighting Design by Rich Latta; Sound Design by Kevin Heard; Costume Coordination by Jill Tarr. Presented by the Ogunquit Playhouse at 10 Main St, Ogunquit, ME through July 10^th.

If the CDC were to provide guidance on the musical best suited to break us out of the isolation and joylessness of the past 15 months, it would come as no surprise if Dr. Fauci recommended Spamalot,the 2005 Monty Python-inspired Broadway musical now playing at the Ogunquit Playhouse. This entertaining production is precisely the kind of silly fun needed to snap theatergoers out of our doldrums by reminding us of the joy of the shared experience of laughing out loud with a crowd of people. Worn down for too long by the pandemic and the increasingly toxic political landscape, Spamalot provides a salve to the psyche that the weightier classics (Cabaret, Ragtime, Fiddler etc.) just couldn’t deliver during this unique space in time.

Get Your Kicks at ‘KINKY BOOTS’ at Ogunquit Playhouse

October 12, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

(Cast of ‘Kinky Boots’ at Ogunquit Playhouse. Photos by Gary Ng)

By Sheila Barth

BOX INFO: Two-act, popular Broadway musical hit, appearing at Ogunquit Playhouse, 10 Main St. Route 1N, Ogunquit, Maine, through October 27. Tickets start at $36; economy seats, $51. ogunquitplayhouse.org, 207-646-5511.

Kick up your heels, stride proudly, walk tall, and enjoy every minute of Ogunquit Playhouse’s spectacular production of “Kinky Boots,” Harvey Fierstein and Cindy Lauper’s popular Broadway musical hit. This is one show you don’t want to miss.

Don’t let the name of the play be off-putting. The musical isn’t about sexual kinkiness. It’s about two contrasting males who share what they perceive as the same shortcoming. They can’t live up to their fathers’ expectations. The main theme, though, is a clarion call for tolerance, love, and accepting people for who they are. The story is based on fact, writes Director-Choreographer Nathan Peck, former dance captain for the Broadway run. Thirty-something Steve Pateman of Northampton, England reluctantly took over his dad’s failing shoe business in the early 2000s. A woman who specialized in the sale of transgender women’s footwear saved Pateman’s business, by joining him and creating glamorous shoes. Their story was highlighted on BBC, and provided the heart of 2005 British film “Kinky Boots,” starring Joel Edgerton and Chiwetel Ejiofor.

Love is Blossoming and Life is Beautiful at Ogunquit Playhouse’s ‘Cabaret’

August 1, 2019August 1, 2019 michaelhoban5 Comments

(Randy Harrison as Emcee, cast of Ogunquit Playhouse’s ‘Cabaret’)

by Linda Chin

‘Cabaret’ – Creative Team: BT McNicholl (Director), Andrea Leigh (Choreographer), Bruce Barnes (Music Director), Robert Brill (Scenic Designer), William Ivey Long (Costume Designer), Richard Latta (Lighting Design), Kevin Heard (Sound Designer), Roxanne De Luna (Wig/Hair and Makeup Designer), Anthony C. Daniel (Casting), Robert V. Thurber (Associate Director and Production Stage Manager). Presented by Ogunquit Playhouse at 10 Main St, Ogunquit, ME through August 10

(Note: At this writing, the news of the passing of Hal Prince, director of Cabaret’s original (1966) production, has been announced. RIP to the Prince of Broadway.)

There is a theater (Ogunquit Playhouse), and there is an executive artistic director (Bradford T. Kenney), and there is a state (Maine) in a country called the United States, with a production of Cabaret that is simply, sensuously, sensational. Having seen multiple revivals of this iconic musical on college, regional, and Broadway stages over the past four decades, I’ve been struck each time by the brilliant and complex musical composition and lyrics by John Kander and Fred Ebb, the masterful book by Joe Masteroff (commissioned by the late Hal Prince), and the timelessness of the show’s themes. In Ogunquit’s Cabaret, the lighting and scenery, costumes, wigs and makeup, the music and choreography, the orchestra, the girls – and yes, the boys – are beautiful, and all the elements in this exquisite production meld seamlessly to tell the story of life in 1930s Berlin, of love blossoming with the rise of Nazi Germany as a dark, lurking backdrop.

Go and Meet Those Dancing Feet – Ogunquit’s ’42nd Street’ is a Gem

July 10, 2019July 10, 2019 michaelhoban2 Comments

by Mike Hoban

42nd Street – Music by Harry Warren, Lyrics by Al Dubin, Book by Michael Stewart & Mark Bramble, Based on the novel by Bradford Ropes; Original Direction and Dances by Gower Champion; Originally produced on Broadway by David Merrick; Director/Choreographer, Randy Skinner; Associate Choreographer, Sara Brians; Music Director, Jeffrey Campos; Original Scenic Design, Douglas Schmidt; Lighting Design, Richard Latta; Costume Design, Roger Kirk; Sound Design, Ed Chapman. Presented by Ogunquit Playhouse, Rte. 1, Ogunquit, Maine through July 13.

From its wildly energetic opening number to the big finale featuring the title song, the Ogunquit production of 42^nd Street is everything you’d want from a BIG summer musical. Killer dance routines with an army of glitzily costumed hoofers, one of the genre’s best known and loved scores performed with verve by a deep and talented cast, a megawatt Broadway star (Rachel York) at the top of her game, and a storyline as light as the cotton candy at a traveling carnival.

Ogunquit’s ‘GRUMPY OLD MEN’ Delivers Love, Laughs from the Senior Set

August 27, 2018August 27, 2018 michaelhobanLeave a comment

by Sheila Barth

BOX INFO: US premiere of two-act musical comedy written by Dan Remmes, and the late Nick Meglin, with music by Neil Berg, directed by Matt Lenz. Appearing through September 1, Ogunquit Playhouse, 10 Main St., Ogunquit, Maine. Starring Broadway’s Ed Dixon and Marc Jacoby, with Sally Struthers and guest star Hal Linden. Tickets start at $52. ogunquitplayhouse.org, 207-646-5511.

When Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning comedic veteran Sally Struthers and Emmy and Tony Award winner Hal Linden appear at the Ogunquit Playhouse with a stellar Broadway cast, such as they do in Dan Remmes’ new two-act musical comedy, “Grumpy Old Men,” you know you’re in for a slap-happy feast.

Ogunquit’s “Smokey Joe’s Cafe,” is a Spectacular Songfest

May 30, 2018May 30, 2018 michaelhobanLeave a comment

by Sheila Barth

There’s no other way to say it.

Ogunquit Playhouse’s opening season,90-minute, one-act, super songfest, “Smokey Joe’s Cafe,” based on the music of multi-award winners Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, is sensational, spectacular, stupendous, and superlative in every way.

Ogunquit’s Dark and Powerful ‘Ragtime’ Couldn’t Be More Well-Timed

August 15, 2017 michaelhobanLeave a comment

by Mike Hoban

‘Ragtime’ – Based on a novel written by E. L. Doctorow. Book by Terrence McNally, Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, and Music by Stephen Flaherty. Directed by Seth Sklar-Heyn; Scenic Design by Tim Mackabee; Lighting Design by Richard Latta; Sound Design by Kevin Heard. Costumes based on original designs by Santo Loquasto and Coordinated by Molly Walz. Music Direction by Jeffrey Campos; Choreography by Jesse Robb. Presented by the Ogunquit Playhouse, 102 Main St (Rte 1), Ogunquit, ME through August 26.

Towards the end of the second act of “Ragtime”, now being given an artistically brilliant and emotionally unsettling staging at the Ogunquit Playhouse, Kirsten Scott (as Mother) delivers a breathtaking version of one of the Tony Award-winning musical’s standout numbers, “Back to Before”. The final line, “We can never go back to before,” refers not only to her transformation from subservient wife to self-actualized woman, but also to the larger issues that were changing (for the better) at the turn of the 20^th century, such as the strengthening labor and woman suffrage movements, as well as the notion that “negroes” and immigrants might actually be people too.