by Barbara Waldinger Premiering on May 3, 1960 at the compact Sullivan Street Playhouse in Greenwich Village, NYC, THE FANTASTICKS ran there for forty-two years: the longest-running off-Broadway musical in American history. How many Baby Boomers, including this reviewer, remember attending the play with its original cast (including Jerry Orbach…
(August 30, 2024–Chatham, NY) ​​The Mac-Haydn Theatre is thrilled to present the return of “The Fantasticks” to cap off the 2024 summer season, running for a two-week engagement from September 5 to September 15. This timeless classic promises to enchant audiences with its charming tale of young love and whimsical…
by Jeannie Marlin Woods Milords and ladies: get thyself over to Chatham. N.Y. for an undeniably riotous, rollicking evening of song, dance, and hilarity. The charming Mac-Haydn Theatre’s latest production is SOMETHING ROTTEN and it is a glorious theatre experience not to be missed. If you love musicals and love…
by Lisa Jarisch This confession may very well get me drummed out of the musical theater corps of critics and aficionados alike, but in all fairness, it has to be said. I do not like Sondheim. I have never liked Sondheim. I KNOW Sondheim will never make it to my…
by Lisa Jarisch At first glance, it almost seemed a cruel joke on the part of the Mac-Haydn Theatre management—choosing as the last show of the season The Marvelous Wonderettes, another jukebox musical, with “nothing” but a four-person all-female cast, following hard on the heels of the marvelous and wonderous…
(August 31, 2023–Chatham, NY) The Mac-Haydn Theatre’s 2023 season concludes with 50s and 60s jukebox musical, “The Marvelous Wonderettes,” running September 7-17. Created by Roger Bean, “The Marvelous Wonderettes” is a jukebox blast from the past. It’s the night of the 1958 Springfield High School prom, and the night’s entertainment…
by Lisa Jarisch I lied. I do confess it, and I beg forgiveness in the name of famed Broadway critic Walter Kerr, and perhaps with the indulgence of Saint Genesius, the patron saint of theater. My last review predicted that Godspell would be the stellar highlight of the Mac-Haydn Theatre‘s…
(August 10, 2023–Chatham, NY) “Jersey Boys,” the most requested show in Mac-Haydn Theatre history, will play the Chatham summer theatre for three weeks, August 17 – September 3. Winner of both the Tony and Olivier Award for Best Musical, Jersey Boys is a story of rags to riches, celebrating one…
