Big-time, full-color musical!

Emily Holden and Chris Ellis star as "Babe" and "Sid" in the University of Southern Maine Department of Theatre and School of Music joint production of THE PAJAMA GAME. Ellis is a 2008 graduate of Oak Hill High School and Holden graduated from Fryeburg Academy in 2008.

The University of Southern Maine Department of Theatre and School of Music present the full-on, over-the-top, singing-and-dancing, romantic comedy: THE PAJAMA GAME - March 5-14, 2010.

WHEN: March 5, 6, 11, 12, 13 at 7:30 p.m. and March 7 & 14 at 2 p.m.

WHERE: Russell Hall on the University of Southern Maine's Gorham Campus

TICKETS: $20 for the general public; $14 for seniors and USM staff; $10 for students

SPECIAL: "$5 @ Five" show will be held on March 10 at 5 p.m., all tickets just $5

BOX OFFICE: (207) 780-5151 Reservation recommended

The University of Southern Maine Department of Theatre and School of Music team up to present the Tony Award winning show March 5 to 14, 2010, in Russell Hall on the USM Gorham campus. Director Wil Kilroy says he and his cast are reveling in the full-sized musical flavor of this audience favorite.

"What we're doing is a big piece of classic American theatre," he said recently at a rehearsal in Russell Hall. "There's major dancing and lots of singing - and it's a romance, definitely a romance."

The original production opened on Broadway in 1954, winning multiple Tony Awards. Musical director Edward Reichert notes the show includes sassy, jubilant song and dance numbers like "Steam Heat," "Hernando's Hideaway," and the timeless ballad "Hey There." Music/lyrics are by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, and the script by George Abbott and Richard Bissell.

The large cast includes talented musical theater majors - with the direction and design being handled by theatre professionals and faculty members. Vanessa Beyland is choreographer; Charles Kading is set designer; Kurt Alger is costume designer; and Shannon Zura is the lighting designer.

Here's the story setup -- amid a looming labor dispute at the Sleep-Tite Pajama Factory, love blooms! While Babe (played by Emily Holden, Fryeburg Academy 08) and her fellow union stitchers agitate for a seven-and-a-half cent raise, she's also falling in love with the new superintendent, Sid (Christopher Ellis, Oak Hill High School 08). Hines, the popular efficiency expert (Jeremiah Haley of Portland), is in love with Gladys (Autumn Pound of Portland), the secretary of the company President, Old Man Hasler (Michael Frier, Camden Hill Regional High School 07). And the head of the union, Prez (Joey Valliere, Old Orchard Beach High School 07), is courting several women at once, even though he's married!

Also in the cast are Greer Vashon of Waterville as Mae; Rylee Doiron of Wilton as Brenda; Caitlyn O'Reilly of Farmington as Poopsie (and a Steam Heat dancer in Hernando's Hideaway); James McDonald of Malden, Mass., as Lewie; Kyle Robert Dennis of Pittsfield as Cyrus; Patrick Molloy of Orono as Babe's dad, Pop; Matthew Defiore of Mexico as Max; Kelly Mosher of Marstons Mills, Mass., Kelly Mosheras as Sid's secretary, Mabel; and Jacob Cote of Bangor as Charley the handyman.

Factory Workers include Sarah Flagg of Hampden, Alice Hofgren of Waterville, Jonathan Marro of Claremont, N.H., Jericah Potvin of Millinocket, Kyle Skillin of Biddeford, and Abigail Worthing of Arundel.

The success of the show spawned the making of a film version in 1957 starring Doris Day, and several revivals. The 2006 Broadway revival, starring Harry Connick Jr., earned multiple Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Musical.

Caitlin O'Reilly, left, Joey Valliere and Emily Holden sing and dance in "Steam Heat" a show-stopping number from the University of Southern Maine Department of Theatre and School of Music joint production of THE PAJAMA GAME. O'Reilly is a 2008 graduate of Mt. Blue High School. Valliere is a 2006 graduate of Old Orchard Beach High School and Holden is a 2008 graduate of Fryeburg Academy.

The Republican Journal: Belfast student in USM dance show

The Republican Journal: Belfast student in USM dance show

USM's annual mash-up of costumes, lights, sound and bodies in motion: DANCE USM!

What: Dance USM!

When: December 10, 11, 12 at 7:30 p.m. and December 13 at 2 p.m.

Where: Russell Hall on the Gorham campus of USM

Tickets: $7 for students; $10 for seniors, faculty and staff; $14 for the general public

Reservation: Call the box office at 207-780-5151

Theatre student Audra Curtis (Belfast HS 06) rehearses a dance piece entitled "Breath" on campus in Gorham.

USM Theatre’s annual celebration of bodies in motion, Dance USM!, promises an exhilarating series of performances this year. Faculty choreographers lead student dancers, lighting designers and costumers in performances where hip-hop hangs from the ceiling, as bowling balls and monologues meet Bob Fosse with a shopping cart, in an excited mash-up of dance, sound and full-color fury.

More than 20 student dancers are involved in the show, which features five separate performance pieces. Each piece has unique costumes and lights designed by students.

Theatre major, Jessica Dummich (Winthrop HS 05) and musical theatre major Michael Lynch rehearse "Breath."

In addition to energetic traditional dance pieces, the show this year is focusing on a variety of body-centered performance styles open to theatre students who are not necessarily trained dancers.

“It’s a way for students to discover how to use their bodies in a performative way,” says choreographer and professor, Shannon Zura.

Theatre Professor Shannon Zura oversees a rehearsal.

Zura’s piece, entitled “Breath,” explores the difference between just surviving and living with a sense of emotion and humanity, using four dancers and a pair of long ropes looped around the dancers.

“It asks the question, ‘what would it be like to exist without humanity,’” says Zura. “It’s about existence and simply existing.”

In the tension-filled number, punctuated by long exhalations by the dancers, the rope stands for what binds people together, literally and figuratively. Dancers use the rope to counterbalance each other’s weight as they lean backwards at precarious angles.

“It’s a tough piece,” says theatre major Jessica Dummich (Winthrop HS 05), a dancer in the piece. “It’s built around resistance with the rope.”

Theatre minor, and geography major, Laura Collard (Freeport HS 08) rehearses a dance piece entitled "Breath" on campus in Gorham.

Theatre student Jessica Dummich, seen in a mirror, (Winthrop HS 05) rehearses in Gorham.

Theatre minor, and geography major, Laura Collard (Freeport HS 08) and musical theatre major Michael Lynch rehearse a dance piece entitled "Breath" on campus in Gorham Thursday November 19. The dance, along with several other pieces, will be performed at Dance USM! December 10-13, 2009.

Dance USM! also features a unique dialog-driven piece, a Bob Fosse inspired hot jazz number, an aerial dance studded with multiple props and a story-driven, hip-hop inspired performance. The public is invited.

"Tea and Sympathy" opens and the audience talks back

The show opened to very appreciative audiences this weekend. Meghan Brodie, a Department of Theatre instructor, lead a talk back session with the audience, director William Steele, and the cast after the matinee performance, Sunday afternoon.

Tea and Sympathy deals with fear, diversity and compassion.

Heather Scammon (Scarborough High School grad 2005) plays Laura, the kindly wife of the housemaster at a stuffy boys school, played by Patrick Malloy, right, (Orono High School 2009) who comforts Tom, played by Joseph Skelton Bearor (Bangor High School 2006), when he is tormented by his schoolmates for possibly being gay, in the University of Southern Maine Department of Theatre's production of Tea and Sympathy this November.

Tea and Sympathy

By Robert Anderson

Directed by Professor William Steele

November 6-15, 2009

When: November 6, 7, 12, 13, 14 at 7:30 p.m. & November 8, 15 at 2 p.m. / Special “$5 @ Five” show November 11 at 5 p.m., all tickets $5 / High school matinee performance November 10 at 10 a.m.

Tickets: Students $7, seniors/faculty/staff $10, general public $14 / Season Flex Pass good for six tickets, in any combination (limit two tickets to the spring musical) to the play or plays of your choosing for $40

For reservations: call the Theatre Box Office at 207-780-5151

Where: Russell Hall on the Gorham Campus of the University of Southern Maine

Tea and Sympathy, far ahead of its time, examines the emerging relationship between a student and his schoolmaster's wife against a backdrop of homophobia and hypocrisy in the 1950's.

A sensitive teenage boy named Tom endures the cruelty and suspicion of his teachers and classmates as they taunt and ridicule him for possibly being gay at a stuffy private boy’s academy. The only one who seems to understand, to offer any sympathy, is Laura, the evasive housemaster’s young, compassionate wife.

Heather Scammon (Scarborough High School grad 2005) plays Laura, the kindly wife of the housemaster at a stuffy boys school who comforts Tom, played by Joseph Skelton Bearor (Bangor High School 2006), when he is tormented by his teachers and schoolmates for possibly being gay.

“At its heart, Tea and Sympathy, looks at how we make judgments about other people based on the degree to which they conform to our own preconceived ideals,” says Director and Professor William Steele.

“It’s also about kids who don’t fit in and how the people around them, their peers and parents and teachers, often compound their angst. It’s a sensitive play about a boy, falsely stereotyped, who is rescued by a compassionate woman who is locked in a lonely marriage that is itself based on false pretenses,” he adds.

Following the performance on Sunday November 8, the public is invited to attend a talk-back session. Director William Steele and the cast of the show will field questions about their work, the play, and the relevancy of this story to contemporary audiences. The post-show discussion is free and will be moderated by USM instructor Meghan Brodie.