Out and About, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Late afternoon sunlight and long shadows on the Boston Common, the oldest city park in the United States dating from 1634.

I left home early for the 50-mile drive to downtown Boston. One can never predict the traffic and I am obsessively early for everything plus, the purpose of the visit was to see the national touring production of the Broadway hit, "Dear Evan Hansen," at the 1600-seat venue, the Boston Opera House, and I didn't want to risk missing a moment of the show.

I parked at Post Office Square Garage ($9 after 4pm weekdays or, all day on weekends), and headed to the Seaport District for a vegan meal at "by Chloe." I wandered about that part of town for a while in the sparkling late afternoon sun on a perfect warm clear summer Boston day happy to be alive.

A few sights caught my eye during this ramble:



























The purpose of my visit, "Dear Evan Hansen," showing at the Boston Opera House.



No photos were permitted inside the performance hall but, this lobby view was allowed. Both areas were equally grand.



I don't often see a show downtown - generally too expensive, the difficulty of getting there and back, and the crowd of humanity in a small space. But this production was well worth the effort.

"Junie B. Jones, the Musical," Priscilla Beach Theatre, Priscilla Beach, Manomet, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

Priscilla Beach Theatre (PBT) Owners, Guardians, and Producers Bob and Sandy Malone, recently completed their production of "Junie B. Jones, the Musical," as part of the PBT Summer Workshop Series. This production was directed by Marisa Budnick.

Produced by: Bob and Sandy Malone
Production Manager: Joshua Patino
Director: Marisa Budnick
Stage Manager: Michael Ricciardone
Music Director: Michelle Ingle
Costumer: Kelsey Ferdinand
Production Assistant: Sydney Jones
Production Assistant: Meridien Terrell
Lighting Designers: Shannon Malone and Andrew Melville

The following moments were captured during the final dress/tech rehearsal and are in order of occurrence. Click on an image for a higher resolution version if your device supports that action.



































































Priscilla Beach Theatre has been educating young performers for more than 70 years and conducts a Children's Workshop Series each year. Come out and support our local youth. The following is the schedule for both the Children's Workshop Series and the Adult Cast Series.

2019 PBT Barn Stage Productions - Adult Cast Series

"Life Could Be A Dream" in May,

"Heathers the Musical" in June,

"Hairspray" in July,

"Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" in August,

"[Title of Show]" in September,

"Young Frankenstein" in October.

2019 PBT Barn Stage Productions - Children's Workshop Series

"Seussical Jr" in May,

"Godspell, Jr" in July,

"Junie B. Jones, Jr" in July,

"Little Red Robin Hood" in August,

"Frozen Jr" in August

2020 PBT Barn Stage Productions - Adult Cast Series

"Sisters of Swing" in May,

"She Loves Me" in June,

"Mamma Mia" in July,

"Spamalot" in August,

"25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" in September,

"The Addams Family" in October.

What to Do, Manomet, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

If you find yourself nearby, how about a visit to the stunning sands of White Horse or Priscilla Beaches. And speaking of Priscilla Beach......



For your indoor entertainment, there is a magnificent theatre, Priscilla Beach Theatre, that has been entertaining folks since 1937. They offer six main productions with top-notch casts each year from May through October for a total of about 60 separate performances.



Their iconic Barn Stage offers comfortable and intimate seating for 240 patrons.



Much of the original wood from the barn built in 1875 still serves as the walls and structure of this historic space. Here's a full house crowd enjoying the recent production of "Hairspray."



And if you'd rather be outside in nature, perhaps wander by one of the many freshwater ponds and catch a glimpse of a local resident red-shouldered hawk like this one I saw through the window at breakfast recently.

Natural or human-made, we have pretty much something for everyone.  A mighty special place this Village of Manomet.

"Dirty Rotten Scoundrels," Priscilla Beach Theatre (PBT), Priscilla Beach, Manomet, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

So, I was at Priscilla Beach Theatre (PBT) the other day to make some photos for Owners, Guardians, and Producers Bob and Sandy Malone to help with promotional material for the upcoming production of "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels," directed by Ron Fassler.

Instead, I hopped on board my private jet and flew the two lead characters to the coast of Italy in the Cinque Terre region to find a suitable backdrop in the village of Vernazza.



Somehow, it just wasn't right, though - I didn't really like the results so, we jumped back on board and I flew them to the south of France to the delightful village of Gordes in the Provence region.



That was better but, still not quite what I wanted. I had them strike the same pose in each place so the only variable would be the location. So, then we headed north.........



.....to Paris for both a daytime version and.......



...... a nighttime version but, frankly, none of these locations really hit the mark for me. So we headed back home and, lo and behold, right under our noses, the best location had been there all along.....



.....right on the campus of PBT! Dorothy in the "Wizard of Oz" was right, "there's no place like home, there's no place like home."

Come out and see the PBT production of "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" on the iconic Barn Stage. The production runs from August 1st to the 17th. It is the fourth show of six in this season's offering by Owners Bob and Sandy Malone. Contact PBT online or by phone for ticketing info.

Following is the full schedule for this year and next in the Adult Cast Series!

2019 PBT Barn Stage Productions - Adult Cast Series

"Life Could Be A Dream" in May,
"Heathers the Musical" in June,
"Hairspray" in July,
"Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" in August,
"[Title of Show]" in September,
"Young Frankenstein" in October.

2020 PBT Barn Stage Productions - Adult Cast Series

"Sisters of Swing" in May,
"She Loves Me" in June,
"Mamma Mia" in July,
"Spamalot" in August,
"25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" in September,
"The Addams Family" in October.

Okay, so maybe I didn't really do all that flying around but, after all, isn't that one of the joys of live theatre? To pretend, to temporarily suspend belief. In fact, my pilot's license is expired, I don't own a private jet and, it was really only a 15-minute photo session on stage in front of the main curtain but, oh, what fun pretending otherwise.

Director Ron Fassler is an experienced PBT director and otherwise in all things theatre related.  You have seen his extraordinary work in the previous PBT hits of:

"Fiddler on the Roof" in 2015, 
"A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" in 2016, 
"The Producers" in 2017,  
"Guys and Dolls" in 2018, and now
"Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" in 2019.

Support local live theatre in our community.  Come out to PBT and suspend belief for a few hours with this wonderfully skilled production of "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels."

"Hairspray," Final Tech/Dress Rehearsals, Part 4 of 4, Priscilla Beach Theatre, Priscilla Beach, Manomet, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

This is Part 4 of a 4-part series from Priscilla Beach Theatre's iconic Barn Stage production of "Hairspray."  This was the third of six productions this performance season by Owners, Guardians, and Producers Bob and Sandy Malone.

These images are from Act II of the last rehearsal.

Part 1 is at this link.
Part 2 is at this link.
Part 3 is at this link.

Click on an image for a higher resolution version if your device supports that action. Images are in order of occurrence in the production.




















































































2019 PBT Barn Stage Productions - Adult Cast Series

"Life Could Be A Dream" in May,
"Heathers the Musical" in June,
"Hairspray" in July,
"Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" in August,
"[Title of Show]" in September,
"Young Frankenstein" in October.

2019 PBT Barn Stage Productions - Children's Workshop Series

"Seussical Jr" in May,
"Godspell, Jr" in July,
"Junie B. Jones, Jr" in July,
"Little Red Robin Hood" in August,
"Frozen Jr" in August

2020 PBT Barn Stage Productions - Adult Cast Series

"Sisters of Swing" in May,
"She Loves Me" in June,
"Mamma Mia" in July,
"Spamalot" in August,
"25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" in September,
"The Addams Family" in October.

Support local live theatre here in our community or, wherever you may live in the world.