Bruce Gray

This is the last chance to vote for the 2021 BroadwayWorld Maine Awards! The 2021 Regional Awards honor productions which had their first performance between October 1, 2020 through September 30, 2021.

Time is running out to vote for for the 2021 BroadwayWorld Maine Awards! The 2021 Regional Awards honor productions which had their first performance between October 1, 2020 through September 30, 2021.

Bullying remains the number one problem among high school students in today's world. In Jordan Tannahill's Late Company he explores a Canadian family whose gay son committed suicide due to the influences of bullying at the Toronto school he attended. Currently onstage at Theatre 40, in its American premiere, Late Company boasts superb direction from Bruce Gray and a dynamic cast of 5 actors.

Each October for the past several years, I have thoroughly enjoyed welcoming the Halloween Season by attending WICKED LIT, produced by Unbound Productions at the spooky Mountain View Mausoleum & Cemetery in Altadena. This year audiences are being treated to three World Premiere short plays staged at various locations indoors and outside (yes, it is dark as you walk among the standing headstones with werewolves howling in the distance). When you arrive, you are issued a program on which there is either a red, yellow or green sticker denoting in which group you will view the three plays with a running time of almost 3 hours, including a pre-show and two intervals during which all audience members meet at Camp Mountain View, the outdoor staging area for the evening.

Unbound Productions Executive Director Jonathan Josephson, Artistic Director Paul Millet, and Producing Artistic Director Jeff G. Rack have announced the plays that will be included in WICKED LIT 2016, the company's 8th annual immersive theatre event that will for the 7th year take place at Mountain View Mausoleum and Cemetery in Altadena, California. The production will run from October 1-November 12, 2016 and feature world premiere adaptations of HP Lovecraft's From Beyond adapted by Trey Nichols (The Car Plays), directed by Jeff G. Rack (The Fall of the House of Usher, WL15); Anansi and the Demons adapted by Jonathan Josephson (The Grove of Rashomon, WL15, 2016 Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Festival), directed by Jaime Robledo (The Ebony Frame, WL15; Astroboy and the God of Comics, Sacred Fools); and Ellen Glasgow's The Shadowy Third, adapted by Paul Millet (The Fall of the House of Usher, WL15), directed by Bruce Gray (Black Coffee, Theatre 40). The frame for the show will be Camp Mountain View, written by Josephson and directed by Millet. The frame includes pre-show performances as well entertainment during the evening's two intervals.

Unbound Productions Executive Director Jonathan Josephson, Artistic Director Paul Millet, and Producing Artistic Director Jeff G. Rack have announced the plays that will be included in WICKED LIT 2016, the company's 8th annual immersive theatre event that will for the 7th year take place at Mountain View Mausoleum and Cemetery in Altadena, California.

Unbound Productions Executive Director Jonathan Josephson, Artistic Director Paul Millet, and Producing Artistic Director Jeff G. Rack have announced the plays that will be included in WICKED LIT 2016, the company's 8th annual immersive theatre event that will for the 7th year take place at Mountain View Mausoleum and Cemetery in Altadena, California.

Unbound Productions Executive Director Jonathan Josephson, Artistic Director Paul Millet, and Producing Artistic Director Jeff G. Rack have announced the plays that will be included in WICKED LIT 2016, the company's 8th annual immersive theatre event that will for the 7th year take place at Mountain View Mausoleum and Cemetery in Altadena, California.

Unbound Productions Executive Director Jonathan Josephson, Artistic Director Paul Millet, and Producing Artistic Director Jeff G. Rack have announced the plays that will be included in WICKED LIT 2016, the company's 8th annual immersive theatre event that will for the 7th year take place at Mountain View Mausoleum and Cemetery in Altadena, California.

Production teams at Theatre 40 expertly present mid-20th Century British comedy better than almost any other theater in town. So it was no surprise to find out the group decided to present the riotous BREATH OF SPRING by Peter Coke to open their 51st season, directed by Bruce Gray and produced by David Hunt Stafford, the dynamic duo production team who have brought so many great shows to their stage. Written in 1958, BREATH OF SPRING has nothing to do with the season. In fact, it is a type of silver mink highly prized among fur aficionados. And while we may have differing opinions about wearing fur, there is no doubt in the mid-20th Century that lovely fur coats, stoles and jackets were often worn not only to keep warm but to show the wearer had "made it" into high society.

From Beyond, Anansi and the Demons and The Shadowy Third, are the 28th, 29th and 30th  plays to receive their world premiere from Unbound Productions. Several of these plays have been produced by schools and theatre companies across the country and around the world including England, Scotland and Cameroon.October 1 - November 12, 2016, Limited engagement!

Portland's Lyric Music Theater has mounted a sweetly sad production of the Marsha Norman-Lucy Simon musical version of the Frances Hodgson Burnett novel, The Secret Garden, that is sure to touch the hearts of young and old alike. Directed by Joshua Chard, the production showcases the versatility of the company and offers a gentle lyrical contrast to previous endeavors such as Sweeney Todd and The Addams Family.

I had never heard of the romantic comedy PERFECT TIMING by Kristi Kane before enjoying it so much at Theatre 40 in Beverly Hills - and with good reason as this is only the second production of the play. This wild and often bordering on farce production is perfectly marvelous and brilliantly cast, directed with great style and panache by Bruce Gray who took over the reins just two weeks prior to opening. Add in the perfectly glamorous and homespun costumes by Michele Young and you have a perfect production that will keep you laughing throughout its quick two hour run time.

DOUBLE DOOR debuted on Broadway in 1933, with a subsequent play by Elizabeth McFadden, debuting on Broadway in 1945. This later version is currently being presented at Theatre 40 in Beverly Hills as the second production of their 2015-2016 season. And I advise you not to miss it as you will be kept on the edge of your seat throughout the show!

South Portland's Lyric Music Theater opened its 2014-2015 season with a stylish, saucy production of the 2003 Tony award-winning musical Avenue Q. The Lopez-Marx-Whitty show is an unconventional, politically incorrect parody - a parable which chronicles the coming of age of eleven Sesame Street generation young adults on Brooklyn's Avenue Q.

The Road Theatre Company and Taylor Gilbert, Founder/Artistic Director together with Sam Anderson, Artistic Director, remain committed to their meaningful mission to produce and develop New Work for the Stage. They are thrilled to announce in this, their 23rd season, the fifth annual SUMMER PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL (SPF5).

NIGHT WATCH is one of the best productions I have seen at Theatre 40, a brilliantly written script visualized and presented by a talented production team and cast who truly understand the material and what it takes to keep you at the edge of your seat, trying to figure out just who has done what to whom. There's an array of suspects with a twist ending worthy of O. Henry.

As backstage comedies go, Opening Night is not on a par with the farcical Noises Off or with the flamboyant My Favorite Year, but it is a sweet play just the same with uber belly laughs and miles of heart. Now onstage at Theatre 40, a fine cast and steady direction make the play within a play Opening Night a definite worth see through June 16.

Lovers of mystery find magic in the works of Agatha Christie, who not only knows how to weave together detailed clues to a juicy crime but more importantly how to make it into a sophisticated, classy entertainment. Like The Mousetrap, one of the longest running plays in UK theatre history and last season's Black Coffee at Theatre 40, Spider's Web is elaborately organized and amazingly enjoyable from start to finish, especially this production at Theatre 40, which puts director Bruce Gray and Christie together once more. Its large engaging ensemble simply sparkle.

There's only one mystery writer, in my book, who has managed to capture and enthrall the hearts of millions through the past century, the one and only Agatha Christie. Her plays, like the longest running play on the West End The Mousetrap as well as this early hit Black Coffee, not only keep audience on the edge of their seats, guessing whodunit, but are as entertaining and fun as all get out, particularly when led by the devilishly fun Miss Marple, or in this case, the unparalleled Hercule Poirot. Theatre 4o's handsome production of Black Coffee is a real treat with a stellar ensemble.