by Barbara Waldinger Bravo to the Mac-Haydn Theatre for daring to produce Next to Normal as part of their busy summer season schedule!  Imagine a musical about mental health alongside a lineup including A Chorus Line, Urinetown, Kiss Me Kate, The Full Monty, Xanadu and Forever Plaid.  Undaunted, Artistic Director/Director…

(July 25, 2022–Chatham, NY) The Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical “Next to Normal” will make its Mac-Haydn debut from August 4-14 – a regional premiere production. The show promises to be an artistic highlight of the 2022 Mac-Haydn season, and is unlike anything audiences have ever seen on the Chatham…

by Lisa Jarisch Full Disclosure: After almost 2 years without the pleasure and privilege of being able to enjoy live theatre, I was becoming rather desperate for another opening, another show—anything to be taken out of the Stygian gloom of lock-downs, shut-downs, & mask-ups. So desperate was I that I…

(July 23, 2021–Chatham, NY) The Mac-Haydn Theatre kicks off its magical 2021 return season with the Stephen Schwartz musical, Pippin, opening July 29. There’s magic to do when a young man learns the true meaning of glory, love, and war in this iconic and unforgettable musical masterpiece. Presented for the first time ever…

by Lisa Jarisch In college I had an English professor who was fond of saying such and such a play, or this, that and the other literary work, or some particular personal hobby, were intended to be, and should be taken as, nothing more than “great good fun”. With its…

by Lisa Jarisch As filling as the first slice of wedding cake, and almost twice as sweet, The Wedding Singer literally heads down the aisles of the Mac-Haydn Theatre with all the big hair, big shoulders, and big sounds that made the 1980s as memorable as  the New Coke, Reagan’s jelly…