Few people love drama in their life and try to avoid stress, maintain inner cool to avoid the crazies.
But the good kind of drama that entertains and touches you deeply happens when you attend local Maine theatre events. Whether a children’s theatre production like the Houlton Maine Star Bright group. Or on the state of Maine Drama Festival level. The state of Maine Drama high school competitions are a very worthwhile experience to pencil in on your entertainment social calendar.
On the Maine community drama level, there are lots of companies, production non profit organizations producing memorable theatre works.
The neat local, home grown chemistry of Maine community theatre means someone helped create the set, collecting the props to add to the production. Local talent gave time to memorize their lines, polish up the presentation of the part they play. And local businesses contribute for the close to home fine arts underwriting. So you don’t only see a play or musical, comedy once a year with a trip to the city where they run year round the only other option. The fine arts brought to your home town from within. With Maine local talent for the one act drama, the comedy, musical, etc play production.
The backstage help from a small Maine town is enormous.
Printing programs, advertising and promotion. Maybe adding a dinner to the night out theatre experience. Sewing period costumes to fit the players, actors in taylor made fashion. Hammering, sawing, painting sets. Arranging lights, setting up actor marks for the delivery of lines. The when and where choreographed coordination critical to the timing of the drama production. Along with the sound, make up, and many other “devil in the details” items to create the “on with the show” flow.
As the red, black, whatever color velvet like curtain opens. House lights dim. Everyone murmurring in the audience in anticipation quiets. To when the curtain closes for hopefully a standing ovation. In a not an empty seat in the house situation. With smiling cast hand in hand, smiling, completing another give it all your got presentation to entertain.
Break a leg.
Bust a gut. To get the theatre, drama production group to stay together. Planning the next local event for the local Maine community to enjoy happens on top of the one just completed. Studying the financials, scrutinizing the numbers. Considering the audience before investing in the scripts, props, staging elements. To at least break even or make money to do more lavish, bigger, a tad more intricate productions.
I remember the fun being in a Maine high school drama one act play contest.
Winning the states with seven other actors, all the support group members that made it happen. Going on to the New Englands in Cranston Rhode Island. Staying with out of state families was super. They took me and one of the cast staying with them to a neat Italian restaurant that had a long long waiting line. Thought why not go to another place because standing in the rain. Took an hour to get a table but was quite a spread, worth the delay to a Northern Maine teenager enjoying the out of state, all new surroundings experience.
Here is a list of performing arts, local Maine community theatre companies, organization houses. Maine, lots to the place with the space called Vacationland.
I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker
207.532.6573
info@mooersrealty.com