After many years of hosting others on its stage but not producing its own shows, in 2014 The Grand restarted its fine tradition of live community theater with a new production of the Broadway hit Monty Python's Spamalot; following in 2015 were the Downeast Maine Playwright's Festival and Disney's Mary Poppins. As Grand Executive Director Gail Thompson learned her very first days at work in 2013, this is something that Ellsworth has been waiting for. “Everyone I spoke with had the same question for me – when is community theater returning to The Grand?” said Ms. Thompson. And now the success of both fall musicals, combined with the enthusiasm of local audiences, sponsors, and the Downeast community has allowed the Grand to present an entire season of its own productions beginning with...
June 2nd – 5th: The Farnsworth Invention. It’s 1929. Two ambitious visionaries race against each
other to invent a device called “television.” Separated by two thousand miles, each knows that if he stops working, even for a moment, the other will gain the edge. Who will unlock the key to the greatest innovation of the 20th century: the ruthless media mogul or the self-taught Idaho farm boy? The answer comes to compelling life in The Farnsworth Invention, the electrifying new play from Oscar™ and Emmy™ -award winning writer Aaron Sorkin (creator of The West Wing and screenwriter of The Social Network and Steve Jobs).
July 25th– August 20th: Advanced Theatre Camp. In this four-week-long intensive camp, youth of advanced skill and discipline work on a full-length theatrical production from the world of Broadway. Each day is filled with rehearsing, learning lines and songs, and discovering all the work that it takes to put together a show. At the end of the camp, the community has the opportunity to see these talented, dedicated young people strut their stuff live on the Stanley Subaru Stage. Title will be announced in early 2016.
October 14th– October 30th: Mel Brooks' The Producers. The Grand's Fall Musical promises a return to the outrageous, Broadway irreverence of Spamalot, this time with a distinct leap into the crazy world of Mel Brooks. Bialystock and Bloom: these names should strike terror and hysteria in anyone familiar with Brooks' classic cult comedy film. Now as a big Broadway musical, The Producers once again sets the standard for modern, outrageous, in-your-face humor, while winning a record twelve Tony™ Awards and wowing capacity crowds night after night. The plot is simple: a down-on-his-luck Broadway producer and his mild-mannered accountant come up with a scheme to produce the most notorious flop in history thereby bilking their backers (all "little old ladies") out of millions of dollars. Only one thing goes awry: the show is a smash hit. The antics of Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom as they maneuver their way fecklessly through finding a show (the gloriously offensive Springtime For Hitler), hiring a director, raising the money, and finally going to prison for their misdeeds is a lesson in broad comic construction from a master comic showman. At the core of the insanely funny adventure is a poignant emotional journey of two very different men who become friends. With a truly hysterical book co-written by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan (Annie) and music and lyrics by Mr. Brooks, The Producers skewers Broadway traditions and takes no prisoners as it proudly proclaims itself an "equal opportunity offender."
For more information on these or other Grand events, please call the box office at 207-667-9500 or visit The Grand website at www.grandonline.org or follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Grand-Auditorium/112755987339
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