Cape Cod premiere of 'Bridges' musical and Kander/Ebb revue among 7 theater shows to see
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It’s all about music for the new shows at Cape Cod community theaters this week, with Falmouth Theatre Guild staging an area premiere, and Cotuit Center for the Arts celebrating two giants in the musical-theater world in a revue.
The shows offer a chance to hear some of the region's top voices, plus check out some newcomers from off-Cape making their debuts on the Falmouth stage. In addition, “The Addams Family Musical” at Cape Cod Theatre Company/Harwich Junior Theatre and "The Vourdalak" at the Academy Playhouse in Orleans continue, and Provincetown Theater stages "The Humans" after a COVID-related opening delay. See our reviews at www.capecodtimes.com/entertainment.
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For other theater experiences this weekend, a beloved favorite by A.R. Gurney comes to Sandwich Town Hall with unusual casting, and Truro Public Library kicks off a new series featuring plays by Outer Cape writers. Here’s what you need to know:
Kander and Ebb music celebrated in four-night Cotuit revue
A musical revue showcasing the songs of John Kander and Fred Ebb will be presented for just one weekend, Oct. 20-23, at Cotuit Center for the Arts, with producers noting the title of “The World Goes ‘Round” holds special meaning “as the challenges of life in the decade of 2020 seem to come at us with alarming regularity.”
But the fundraiser for the center is designed as an “escape to musical beauty,” with eight performers singing songs of humor, romance and drama in what producers call “a thrilling celebration of life and the fighting spirit that keeps us all going.”
Kander and Ebb shows represented in the revue range from “Cabaret” to “Chicago,” including the songs “Mr. Cellophane,” “Maybe This Time,” “Cabaret” and “New York, New York.” The performers are Kathleen Larson Day, Sara Bleything, Lynne Johnson, Holly Hansen, Rebecca Riley, Beau Jackett, Zack Johnson and Madison Mayer.
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Shows — directed by Donna Wresinski, with musical direction by Pam Wannie and choreography by Teri Shea — are at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at the center, 4404 Falmouth Road (Route 28). Tickets: $35, with a $5 discount for members and a $2 discount for seniors/veterans. Reservations and information: https://artsonthecape.org/, or 508-428-0669, ext. 0.
Live accompaniment will be provided by Misao Koyama on piano, Chris Santos on percussion, and Moises Carrasco on bass. Mike McGarty is stage manager, props are by Bonnie Corliss, and lighting design by Greg Hamm.
Falmouth group premieres 'Bridges' musical
Falmouth Theatre Guild will produce the Cape Cod premiere of “The Bridges of Madison County,” a 2014 stage musical based on the 1992 bestselling novel by Robert James Waller and then 1995 movie starring Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood.
The musical will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays Oct. 21-Nov. 6 at Highfield Theatre, 58 Highfield Drive, Falmouth. There will be an opening night reception to celebrate the guild’s 2022-2023 season. Tickets and information: https://falmouththeatreguild.org/.
The Broadway show, with a book written by Pulitzer Prize winner Marsha Norman and the music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown, won Tony Awards for best score and orchestrations.
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The Falmouth production, directed by Joan McKenzie-Baird, stars Cape actress Jennifer Perrault as Francesca and off-Cape actor Danté Murray as Robert, two strangers who are caught up in a four-day romance that could change the rest of their lives and that raises the question of “What if?”
Perrault is a Cape native who lives in Falmouth, is a second-grade teacher at St. Pius X School in South Yarmouth and has performed leading roles ("The Secret Garden," "9 to 5," "Jekyl & Hyde") and more with the guild for over 17 years. Murray is an Equity actor whose past credits include "Ain’t MisBehavin," "Memphis," "Sister Act" and last year was part of the Opening Gala at The Palladium’s Center for Performing Arts led by Michael Feinstein.
The ensemble cast will include Randy Doyle, Drew Frayre, Kalyn Berestecky, Bonnie Fairbanks, Dan Zajac, Jennifer Almeida, Aquinnah Steedman, Nicole Norris and Merritt Willcox. Nancy Sparklin is music director and keyboardist with 10 live musicians. Guild newcomer Maggie Sexton Dwyer is stage manager, and the set — including the centerpiece Roseman Bridge from the story location of Winterset, Iowa — is being designed by Brett Baird.
New-play series starts with summer drama
A new monthly playwriting series presented by the Truro Public Library in partnership with The Truro Playwright Collective will begin with a staged reading of the new play “Summer Rentals” by Joseph M. Paprzycki at 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22 at the library, 7 Standish Way, North Truro.
“Summer Rentals” takes place in summer 2022 at two adjoining waterside cottages in North Truro. The plot, according to an announcement of the show: When a married gay couple discovers that their young son might be involved in a relationship with their middle-aged friend, “they must all deal with feelings of anger, confusion, betrayal and regret that could threaten the fabric of all of their relationships.”
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The playwriting series is designed to celebrate emerging Outer Cape playwrights, starting with Paprzycki, an award-winning playwright, screenwriter and director who was the founding producing artistic director of South Camden Theatre Company in Camden, New Jersey. Future writers whose work is due to be featured include Fermin Rojas, Will Hildreth, Linda Fiorella, Gary Garrison, Julia Salinger and JohDennis Anderson.
Admission is free; registration: tpl_mail@clamsnet.org. Information: https://trurolibrary.org/.
‘Love Letters’ the Sandwich way
Familiar faces from the Sandwich business world will take the Town Hall stage this weekend to perform A.R. Gurney’s play “Love Letters” for the Sandwich Arts Alliance.
Melinda Gallant will direct two casts of two actors in the favorite 1988 play that consists of letters over 50 years between childhood friends Melissa Gardner and Andrew Makepeace Ladd III. As the actors reading the letters at adjacent tables, a story unfolds of Melissa and Andrew's hopes and ambitions, dreams and disappointments, and victories and defeats.
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The 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22 performance will star Tobin Wirt, Café Chew co-owner, and Denise Dever, executive director of the Sandwich Chamber of Commerce. At 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 23, the actors will be Café Chew co-owner Robert “Bob” King and Cape Cod 5 bank manager Pattie Piva.
“We’re so fortunate to have these well-known community members go beyond their comfort zones to perform these beautiful characters,” Gallant said in announcing the show.
Tickets: $20, $35 for both performances. Reservations: https://www.sandwichartsalliance.org/, at the SAA Center & Gallery (124 Route 6A), and at the door.
Contact Kathi Scrizzi Driscoll at kdriscoll@capecodonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @KathiMSCCT.
This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Cape Cod theater: Bridges of Madison County musical, Kander/Ebb revue
