Theatre on the North Shore of MA seems to grow when the days are longer. We are lucky to have so many local companies offering summer theatre productions from popular musicals to new works throughout the season. Maybe I’m biased, but in-person performance is my favorite way to experience creativity. Live performances showcase a connection between fellow audience members and the relationship between audience and the performers on stage. As we move toward a more digital world, we will never be able to replace or replicate the experience of live performance. Let’s continue to support live theatre, dance, storytelling, live music, in-person poetry readings. Check out these awesome summer theatre productions this July and August to be transported to another time and place through one of the oldest forms of storytelling known to humankind.
1. Gershwin & Porter, Who Could Ask for Anything More?
Marblehead Little Theatre
July 28 – August 6 | Marblehead, MA
A Musical Revue
Two of the greatest composers of the 20th century are brought to life through their music.
First staged at Marblehead Little Theatre in 2014, Anne Lucas and Betty Lautner wrote this original musical revue.
2. THE SOUND OF MUSIC
North Shore Music Theatre
July 11 – July 23, 2023 | Beverly, MA
Revisit the world’s most beloved musicals. THE SOUND OF MUSIC tells the tale of a young nun who is dispatched to serve as governess for the seven children of a widowed naval Captain. Her growing relationship with the children, coupled with her generosity of spirit, gradually captures the heart of the stern Captain. The final collaboration between Rodgers & Hammerstein was a Tony®, Grammy®, and Oscar®-winning score, featuring favorites, including “Do-Re-Mi,” “My Favorite Things,” “Edelweiss,” and the iconic title track “The Sound Of Music.” The hills of North Shore Music Theatre come alive once more!
3. JIMMY BUFFETT’S ESCAPE TO MARGARITAVILLE
North Shore Music Theatre
August 15 – August 27, 2023 | Beverly, MA
Be transported to a tropical island getaway in ESCAPE TO MARGARITAVILLE. This upbeat and energetic new musical is the story of a part-time bartender, part-time singer, and full-time charmer named Tully who thinks he’s got life all figured out, until a beautiful career-minded tourist steals his heart and makes him question everything. This hilarious, heartwarming musical comedy features the most-loved Jimmy Buffett classics, including “Cheeseburger in Paradise”, “Margaritaville,” “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere,” “Fins,” “Volcano,” and many more! This is the party you’ve been waiting for!
4. Rite of Passage
Windhover Center for Performing Arts
July 13 – 30, 2023 | Rockport, MA
Directed by award-winning director Myriam Cyr
Rite of Passage is a new semi-autobiographical, sensory-friendly play by playwright Izzy Salant who brings his family’s true story to life with an amazing sensitivity grounded in love and faith.
Synopsis: A tragic secret haunts Harold while he is preparing for his Bar Mitzvah. Why did his mother suddenly die? What are others not telling him? His father, David, finds himself in the throes of a moral battle over whether or not to reveal the truth to his autistic son. Written with a mixture of love and humor, Rite of Passage is a semi-autobiographical story of a young man and his father coping with loss as they rebuild their family and hope for the future.
5. Importance of Being Earnest
Windhover Center for Performing Arts
June 30 – July 9 | Rockport, MA
by Lanes Coven Theatre Company
Directed by Lily Narbonne
The Importance of Being Earnest is the most renowned of Oscar Wilde’s comedies. Two bachelors, John ‘Jack’ Worthing and Algernon ‘Algy’ Moncrieff, create alter egos named ‘Ernest’ to escape their tiresome lives. They attempt to win the hearts of two women, the sophisticated Gwendolyn Fairfax and the alluring Cecily Cardew who, conveniently, claim to only love men called ‘Ernest’. The pair struggle to keep up with their own stories and become tangled in a hilarious tale of deception, disguise and misadventure while also thwarting… the legendary Lady Bracknell. The piece makes fun of uptight Victorian sensibilities and the ridiculousness of out of touch affluent classes by the most famous queer playwright of the 19th century.
6. Romeo & Juliet
Windhover Center for Performing Arts
August 4- August 20 | Rockport, MA
by Lanes Coven Theatre Company
Directed by Justin Genna
Romeo & Juliet is quite possibly the most famous Shakespeare play in the canon. It tells the tale of two star crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet, who against their parents wishes fall in love. They are aided by a wise mystic, Lawrence, who marries the young lovers in an attempt to bury their families ancient feud. But when the powers of fate are challenged we are but mortals. Some shall be pardoned and some punished!
Join Lanes Coven outdoors for this fresh, new, exciting take on the classic of all classics complete with dancing, sword fights and fun for the whole family!
*please note this production will contain stage simulated violence and content surrounding suicide.
7. STEW
Gloucester Stage
JULY 7 – 23 | Gloucester, MA
Regional Premiere by Zora Howard
Directed by Rosalind Bevan
Three generations of women gather at their family home to cook and honor an anniversary together. Tensions simmer with all the Tucker women under one roof, and things come to a boil as the outside world begins to intrude upon the sanctity of Mama’s kitchen.
8. THE DING DONGS
Gloucester Stage
AUGUST 11 – 27 | Gloucester, MA
by Brenda Withers
Directed by Rebecca Bradshawº
THE DING DONGS, a comedic thriller by Cape Cod playwright Brenda Withers (The Office, Matt & Ben, Cyrano) runs from August 11 to 27. Directed by incoming Artistic Director, Rebecca Bradshaw, this witty comedy is a lesson in how power evolves and intimidation works as strangers at the door turn out to be not only strange, but dangerous.
9. LADY WINDERMERE’S FAN
Maudslay State Park
July & August, 2023 | Newburyport, MA
By Oscar Wilde | Directed by Rory Pelsue
One of Oscar Wilde’s parlor comedies, Lady Windermere’s Fan is a masterful examination of reputation, love, and deceit. Lady Windermere suspects her husband of infidelity—and in trying to discover the truth, only more secrets are revealed. Wilde’s play is bitingly funny, tenderly kind, and teaches us that “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”
10. Pippin
Firehouse Center for the Arts
through July 16, 2023 | Newburyport, MA
Directed and Choreographed by Taryn Herman
Winner of Four 2013 Tony Awards including Best Musical Revival
Music & Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz
Book by Roger O. Hirson
Heir to the Frankish throne, the young prince Pippin is in search of the secret to true happiness and fulfillment. He seeks it in the glories of the battlefield, the temptations of the flesh and the intrigues of political power (after disposing of his father, King Charlemagne the Great). In the end, though, Pippin finds that happiness lies not in extraordinary endeavors, but rather in the unextraordinary moments that happen every day.
