BLUE HILL — One would like to think that the story of Anne Frank has no relevance today. That teenage girls and their families are no longer being persecuted and murdered by forces beyond their control and beyond human compassion. The sad fact is such horrors continue to happen throughout the world. But who wants …
BROOKSVILLE — The outer limit of my theatrical travels has just expanded by 25 miles or so. Saturday night I passed through Blue Hill and my usual stop at the Town Hall Theater. I continued west along Route 176, which consisted largely of narrow, bumpy country roads, passing through the towns of Penobscot and Sedgwick …
BLUE HILL — The success of a play such as “Dear Elizabeth,” which opened at the Town Hall Theater last weekend, rests almost entirely on the shoulders of the two actors who play Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell. Based entirely on the 30-year written correspondence of these two poets, there is very little physical action, …
BLUE HILL — Epistolary plays, such as “Dear Elizabeth” opening this Friday, June 7, at the Town Hall Theater, have their own challenges and their own rewards. Because the action, dialogue and emotion are all revealed in letters — in this case a correspondence between two people — one can feel anchored to the stationary, …
WINTER HARBOR — The last two times I’ve seen what I think is Neil Simon’s most hilarious and heartwarming play, “Lost in Yonkers,” both productions were directed by Bill Raiten of New Surry Theatre. Raiten pretty much lived the story as the child of Jewish immigrants growing up during the ’40s and ’50s in Brooklyn …
BAR HARBOR — Bill Carpenter leans into a question a student has asked in his history class at College of the Atlantic. Perhaps it’s to hear better — he is after all pushing 80 — but the creative writing gives the impression of being fully engaged by the query. He leans back in his chair, …
BLUE HILL — They may be little, but they are mighty. That is an apt description of the women in the Louisa May Alcott story about the March sisters. Mighty also is a good adjective for the women who play those roles in New Surry Theatre’s production of “Little Women,” which opened last weekend at …
ELLSWORTH — The Grand’s production of “The Wizard of Oz,” which opened last weekend, has put the fine old theater back on track of presenting excellently cast, produced, directed and performed musicals. While there have been elements of all these qualities in recent past productions, it has been a while since they all have come …
ELLSWORTH — Never mind Captain Marvel. A real life marvel, right here in Hancock County, is Leslie Michaud. This theatrical superhero has, for many years, entertained us on stage at The Grand and other theaters as an actor and singer. Who can forget her Mrs. Potts from “Beauty and the Beast”? Or her many Gilbert …
ELLSWORTH — Ellsworth High School went all out to host Maine’s Class B Maine Drama Festival finale this past weekend with a wide variety of one-act plays performed by some seriously talented young actors from 10 Maine high schools. Lisbon High School students went home with the gold for their stunning “Scenes from the White …
BAR HARBOR — The Ellsworth High School Theatre of the Mad Jesters and Deer Isle-Stonington High School took first and second place in the 2019 Maine Drama Festival’s Class B regional competition held last weekend at Mount Desert Island High School. EHS will go on to compete in and host the finals Friday and Saturday, …
A tall, gangly young man, wearing a rather baggy dark suit and running shoes maneuvers through a forest of music stands at George Stevens Academy, where Maine’s District VI Jazz Festival was being held last week. Despite the suit, Jamie Calandro resembled a marathon runner pacing before a race start, exuding tension and anticipation. In …
