It was their mother, Katherine, however, who introduced them to performing, and more importantly, the Footlight Club. Her family has dedicated their lives to the arts, including her younger brother, Joey, best known as a member of New Kids on the Block. I like to call this the little theater that could.The cast of Footlight Club from left Chris Erath (cq), Renee Singletary, Tim Joseph and Bill Stambaugh rehearsed their seven-show performance of "Clybourne Park," Erin Clark/Globe StaffĬarol Gallagher, 56, might be more identifiable by her maiden name - McIntyre. “Getting people in the door is the hardest part,” he said. Tobin said, as artistic director, he gives preferences to new work – he’s staged many plays he’s written, too – and hires on Maine-based actors and techs.Įven though Footlights has been around for a decade, Tobin said he still faces challenges getting attention because his theater is just outside Portland. The theater produces main stage shows every month (tickets are $20) and also rents the space out for music, comedy and other performances, something it hopes to do more of in the coming years. Tobin likes to joke that he “has Martha Stewart and God on my side.” Tobin is the only full-time paid staff member.īefore it was a theater, the space was home to a church and then a showroom for Martha Stewart Home products. The theater hires professional actors and technicians, but its overhead is low. The capacity is 75, but the stage is not raised, and audiences are extraordinarily close to the performances. Located on Route 1 in Falmouth behind a real estate office, nail salon and UPS store, the theater is intimate. “He operates on a shoestring and in a gritty way that is appealing to me.”įootlights is celebrating its 10th year of bringing mostly original works that haven’t been shown before to Maine audiences. “When Michael brings you into that world, you feel really cared for,” she said. Higgins, a Presque Isle native now living in South Portland, previously directed Monica Wood’s “Papermaker” at Footlights and said she loves the atmosphere Tobin has created. “And that’s true, but that doesn’t mean we can’t do thought-provoking stuff too. “I think we saw a lot of comedy because the assumption was that people just wanted to laugh,” he said. Tobin said coming out of the pandemic, theaters have had to be more thoughtful about what they stage because audiences have been slow to come back. The theater has partnered with the Maine Jewish Museum as well and plans to have postshow discussions with members of the Jewish community. “But that piece is the most important to me, being able to dig into the history and keep it alive.” “It’s a fine line to walk between adding more fuel and honoring the stories and the humanity,” Higgins said. Tobin said he’s gotten a handful of hate calls since announcing “And Then They Came For Me.” ![]() ![]() Lindsey Higgins, who will direct, said she was drawn to telling this story even if it might spur more hateful comments from people who feel more emboldened than ever to be open with their hate. The play is a unique experience because it intersperses scenes of actors re-creating dramatic moments from the characters’ lives with videotaped interviews of the actual survivors. He, too, survived the Holocaust and later immigrated to the United States, where he died in 2015 at age 89. The other main character, Ed Silverberg, was Anne Frank’s first boyfriend, whom she wrote about in the beginning of her now-famous diary. Unlike Frank, though, Schloss and her mother survived, and once the war was over, the mother ended up marrying Otto Frank, Anne’s father, the only member of that family to come out alive. One, Eva Schloss, was the same age as Frank, lived in the same apartment building in Amsterdam and also went into hiding with her family.Īlso like the Franks, Schloss was betrayed, captured by Nazis and sent to a concentration camp. The play, written by James Still, tells a story of the Holocaust mostly through two characters who were connected to the famous diarist. Subscribe - $10 Sunday Delivery Sign In My Account Logout Primary Menu ☰ X
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