 The theater building in 2012 | |
 | |
| Address | Beverly, Massachusetts  United States |
|---|---|
| Owner | Bill Hanney |
| Type | Theatre-in-the-round |
| Production | Concerts, Musicals |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1954 |
| Reopened | 2010 |
| Website | |
| official website | |
North Shore Music Theatre is the largest operating regional theater in New England. It is located in Beverly, Massachusetts and is one of the few remaining theatre-in-the-round stages left in the United States. The theater is owned by Massachusetts businessman Bill Hanney.
In 1955, theater producer Steven Slane, bandleader Ruby Newman, and attorney C. Henry Glovsky founded the North Shore Music Theatre. The trio originally planned to construct a restaurant, bowling alley, swimming pool, and condominium complex for seniors as well, however they eventually changed their plans and in 1961 created the North Shore Community Arts Foundation, a nonprofit organization that focused on the theater. [1] [2]
The theater "opened as a partstar-centered comedies". [3] After Route 128 was finished in the 1960s, permanent walls were constructed along with heating and air conditioning, and the capacity of the theater was increased from 1,000 to 1,750 and later 1,800 seats. Since the renovation in 2005, the theatre currently has 1,500 seats. The theater became the largest non-profit theater in New England, and up to 350,000 people attended the musicals performed each year. The theatre annually presented a series of celebrity concerts of children's musicals. It also housed the Youth Performance Academy that provided an opportunity for child actors to perform. The theater produced the world premiere of the Tony Award-winning musical Memphis in 2003, as well as the regional premieres of Hairspray , Thoroughly Modern Millie , Ragtime , and many others.[ citation needed ]
The theatre suffered from a serious fire in 2005 and slipped into debt. [4] The financial distress of the theatre was also attributed to a poor management decision, which canceled the extremely popular annual production of A Christmas Carol in favor of High School Musical 2 . With debts totaling more than $10 million in 2009, NSMT officials announced that the financially distressed theatre had failed to raise $2 million in philanthropic commitments to fund a new business model and launch a 2009 season. Although more than $500,000 in pledges had been made since the theatre announced a turn-around strategy in mid April, not enough money was raised to save the season. [5] The planned productions were cancelled, [6] and more than 4,000 people who had prepaid for tickets for the 2009 season were never refunded. [7] [8]
When the theatre closed in June 2009, NSMT's debts included large mortgages on its property and buildings and debts to vendors, the State of Massachusetts, and subscribers who paid in advance for the 2009 season. Theater officials were in discussions with its senior creditor and were reviewing the options available for liquidating and maximizing the value of the theatre's assets, as well as identifying potential buyers of the property who might consider a lease back of the theatre. [9]
The theatre was later acquired by Citizens Bank in October for $3.6 million. In November 2009, Bill Hanney, a Massachusetts investor and owner of Theatre-By-the-Sea and Entertainment Cinemas, a chain of 10 movie theaters in New England, looked to purchase the North Shore Music Theatre. [10] Hanney reached an agreement with Citizens Bank and with Producing Artistic Director, Evans Haile,(Producing Artistic Director of the historic Cape Playhouse) [11] reopened the theatre under new ownership in the summer of 2010. [12]
The theatre continues to thrive and grow under owner Bill Hanney, annually producing a five-show subscription series and a unique popular production of A Christmas Carol. The theatre closed for the 2020 season amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and reopened in the fall of 2021 with an encore of its 2018 production of Mamma Mia! , followed by the 30th annual production of A Christmas Carol. The 2024 musical season will include Fiddler on the Roof , Frozen , Tootsie , Million Dollar Quartet , and Titanic . [13]
In September 2017, the theater received criticism for casting non-Latino actors to play lead roles in the play "Evita". The New York-based group Am I Right?, protested the use of actors who do not understand the culture and perpetuate the stereotypes. The group would like actors who are not members of underrepresented groups not to play the part and pass on the roles. The owner and producer, Hanney, stated that the theater does colorblind casting with the only criteria being able to dance, sing, and act. [14]
Evita is a rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. It concentrates on the life of Argentine political leader Eva Perón, the second wife of Argentine president Juan Perón. The story follows Evita's early life, rise to power, charity work, and death.
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The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) is a professional not-for-profit theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1979 by Robert Brustein, the A.R.T. is known for its commitment to new American plays and music–theater explorations; to neglected works of the past; and to established classical texts reinterpreted in refreshing new ways. Over the past forty years it has garnered many of the nation's most distinguished awards, including a Pulitzer Prize (1982), a Tony Award (1986), and a Jujamcyn Award (1985). In 2002, the A.R.T. was the recipient of the National Theatre Conference's Outstanding Achievement Award, and it was named one of the top three theaters in the country by Time magazine in 2003. The A.R.T. is housed in the Loeb Drama Center at Harvard University, a building it shares with the Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club. The A.R.T. operates the Institute for Advanced Theater Training.
The North Shore is a region in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, loosely defined as the sea coast between Boston and New Hampshire. Its counterpart is the South Shore region extending south and east of Boston.
Montserrat College of Art is a private art school in Beverly, Massachusetts. It is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education and the National Association of Schools of Art and Design.
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Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical, or simply How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical, is a seasonal musical stage adaptation of the 1957 Dr. Seuss book How the Grinch Stole Christmas!. Versions of the musical have been produced since the 1990s, including a Broadway production that ran during two Christmas seasons.
A Christmas Carol, the 1843 novella by Charles Dickens (1812–1870), is one of the English author's best-known works. It is the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, a greedy miser who hates Christmas but who is transformed into a caring, kindly person through the visitations of four ghosts. The classic work has been dramatised and adapted countless times for virtually every medium and performance genre, and new versions appear regularly.
The Civic Theatre of Allentown, also known as the Nineteenth Street Theatre, is the oldest cinema in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The theater opened on September 17, 1928. It hosts live theater, educational programs, and screens art house films. In July 1957, the property was purchased by Allentown's Civic Little Theatre. Since then, stage productions have been performed at the theater. In 1994 the company officially changed its name to the Civic Theatre of Allentown. Its building on 19th Street was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2024.
Theatre-By-the-Sea is a historic theater and playhouse at Cards Pond Road in South Kingstown, Rhode Island. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
Mill Mountain Theatre (MMT) is a regional theater located at Roanoke, Virginia. Established in 1964, the institution originally performed out of the former Rockledge Inn located atop Mill Mountain in the city. That location was destroyed by fire in 1976, leading to the theater's eventual re-opening in the Center in the Square arts and culture hub in 1983.
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C. Henry Glovsky was an American attorney and politician from Beverly, Massachusetts, who served in the Massachusetts General Court. He also played a role in the founding of the North Shore Music Theatre and Montserrat College of Art.
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