BANGOR, MAINE: Penobscot Theatre Company has announced its 2018-19 season featuring the Maine premieres of Fun Home and Elf the Musical.
“If there’s a unifying theme for our 45th season, it’s family,” said producing artistic director Bari Newport in a statement. “Through these compelling stories we’ll introduce families of various stripes-from nuclear to nontraditional, embattled to emboldened-while growing our own family of subscribers.”
The season will open with the Maine premiere of The Graduate (Sept. 6-30), adapted by Terry Johnson and based on the novel by Charles Webb and the classic screenplay by Calder Willingham and Buck Henry. The play tells the story of Benjamin, who finds himself adrift after graduation and floats into an affair with the unhappily married Mrs. Robinson.
Next up will be Frederick Knott’s Wait Until Dark (Oct. 18-Nov. 4), adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher. This classic thriller is a game of cat and mouse between a sightless woman who must outsmart crooks in her apartment.
The holiday show will be the Maine permiere of Elf the Musical (Dec. 6-30). With music by Matthew Sklar, lyrics by Chad Beguelin, and book by Bob Martin and Thomas Meehan, the musical is based on the popular movie starring Will Ferrell.
Following will be the Maine premiere of Honky Tonk Laundry (Jan. 31-Feb. 24, 2019), by Roger Bean, with musical arrangements by Jon Newton. This show features country hits made famous by Reba McEntire, Carrie Underwood, the Dixie Chicks, Dolly Parton, and more.
Onstage next will be David Lindsay-Abaire’s Ripcord (March 14-April 31, 2019). The play traces the hilarious outcome when Abby is forced to share living quarters in an assisted living facility with an infuriatingly chipper woman.
Next up will be the Maine premiere of Fun Home (April 25-May 12, 2019), the Tony Award-winning musical with music by Jeanine Tesori and book and lyrics by Lisa Kron. The musical is based on the autobiographical graphic novel by Alison Bechdel.
Founded in 1973, Penobscot Theatre Company presents shows at the historic Bangor Opera House and is the only year-round, professional regional theatre in Northern Maine.
