After a fulfilling theater season of seeing close to 50 plays, musicals, and staged readings, I have walked away with some impressive highlights which have stayed with me. How fortunate to live in an area rich with gifted playwrights and talented performers, not to mention the able staff and crew who put everything together.
Seeing almost every show at the Mac-Haydn Theatre in Chatham, NY, I was endlessly delighted by the summer stock cast who danced and sang in musicals including, Jesus Christ Superstar, Guys & Dolls, A Bronx Tale, The Last Five Years, and more. Standout voices accompanied by complicated choreography perfectly executed, left me smiling and singing along to the awesome house band. Costumes and staging accented each performance. Amelia Barr and Jonah Hale, lead performers in many of the musicals, had the chance to shine as the duo in The Last Five Years, a short-run musical squeezed in the midst of a full summer season. John Saunders, Producing Artistic Director, chose a hit selection of shows performed by exceedingly able casts.
While I enjoyed shows in the heart of the Berkshires, such as The Elephant Man and Metamorphoses at Berkshire Theater Group, and How to NOT Save the World with Mr. Bezos at Great Barrington Public Theater, I loved venturing to some of the smaller theaters, including Ancram Center for the Arts in Ancram, NY and Chester Theatre Company in Chester, MA. The drive was always worth it.
Ancram nurtures many of their playwrights as their work is in development. Where the Mountain Meets the Sea reconfigured the small theater into a café and bar with a duo singing and playing original music, while a father and son separately told their stories. The songs and storytelling along with the transformed theater worked well and was incredibly moving. My out-of-town guests were thrilled they came.
The Plein Air Plays invited us on a (fortunately) beautiful summer evening to drive to three outdoor locations to view three wildly different short productions. It was a glorious night.
My favorite musical of the season was Penelope. Co-written by and starring Grace McLean, she tells her story based on Homer’s The Odyssey. Mostly in song, McLean sings with her pianist Alex Bechtel, who co-wrote the book and composed the music and lyrics. Along with three other band members on the small stage who all sing while playing instruments, I was mesmerized and astonished by the talent and the story. It was a perfect 70 minutes.
Driving in the other direction, I saw a fabulous play, A Hundred Words for Snow by Tatty Hennessy at the Chester Theatre Company. Directed by her mother, Michelle Ong-Hendrick, Hero Marguerite gave a masterful solo performance for which she won a Berkshire Theater Critics Award. Playing a teenage girl, taking a trip by herself to the North Pole to spread her father’s ashes, Marguerite commands the stage. Believable in her grief and her adolescence, she moves with grace and athleticism. Her performance was unforgettable.
Definitely worth mentioning was the developmental premiere of The Waiting, A New Musical put on by the Playhouse Stage Company at Cohoes Music Hall, book and lyrics by EmmaLee Kidwell and music by Maria Isabella Andreoli. In front of a full orchestra, the triple threat cast performs a story about living in the ‘InBetween’ a liminal space in the mystical woods of Vermont. Unusual is the experience of becoming enthused by a completely original score on the first listen. I am eager for this musical to evolve and receive a wider audience. I will be among them.
Again, I feel lucky to live in a theater hub with Broadway talent, reasonable ticket prices, easy parking, and the availability to meet the cast and crew following the show. In addition, I can see many old standards and brand-new theatrical pieces. Creativity is encouraged and talent is nurtured. I am eagerly awaiting the 2026 season. I already know Barrington Stage is presenting A Chorus Line. And we also know theater is what we “do for love.” Kiss this year good-bye.