BRUNSWICK – The Center Stage Players, a theater company for seniors in residence at the 55 Plus Center, will host a New Play Festival Friday, April 16.

Featured playwrights will be Center Stage members Edith Hazard, Rodney Sarle, Bonnie Wheeler and guest playwright Herb Coursen.

The 55 Plus hall at 6 Noble St. will be transformed into a theatrical coffeehouse. Café tables will surround the stage, and coffee and desserts will be served while an intergenerational cast reads the plays.

Actors featured in the staged readings will be Mary Cass Wallace, Reba Short, Jack Mahoney, Bonnie Wheeler, Eleanor Grafe, Jim Arbuckle and Vivian Kemp. The director is Frank Wicks, Center Stage’s artistic director.

The performance will begin at 1 p.m.

Admission is by donation. For reservations or more information, people can call 729-0757.
Vocal groups plan varied show
WINTHROP – Music lovers in Central Maine can hear a concert of a cappella singing this month featuring groups from Maranacook Community High School, Bates College and Colby College at the Winthrop Center for the Performing Arts.

The April 29 program will be hosted by the Maranacook school and features alumni of Maranacook in the two college groups. Listeners can expect a wide variety of music from the all female Bates College Merimanders, the all male Colby 8 and the Maranacook Show Chorus.

Performance time is 7 p.m. For further information, people can contact Larry Morrissette, music director at Maranacook, at 685-4923, ext. 313, or by e-mail at larry_morrissette@maranacook.org.

The performance is free but those who wish to make a donation to offset production costs may do so at the door.
Chamber choir to sing at St. Peter’s
LEWISTON – The Bowdoin College Chamber Choir will give a concert in Saints Peter and Paul Church at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 24.

Under the direction of Robert Greelnee, this extraordinary, 25-voice ensemble has performed throughout the world to critical acclaim and has recently been honored by being selected to perform at the American Choral Directors Association convention.

The Saturday program will include music by Palestrina, Schutz, Lassus, Arvo Part and a premiere by Maine composer Vineet Shende.

This concert is free, although a donation toward the church’s Casavant organ restoration fund would be appreciated.
Theater classes offered at MSMT
BRUNSWICK – For three Saturdays in May, Maine State Music Theatre will present three master classes on each of the components of performing in musical theater: singing, dancing and acting.

Each of these crafts will be taught in three classes divided by age: children from 8 to 13, youths from 14 to 17, and adults 18 and over. Singing and acting classes are 120 minutes in length. Dance classes are 90 minutes in length.

All classes are in Maine State Music Theatre’s new rehearsal studios at 22 Elm St. To register, call 725-8769.

The cost of a single class is $30. A series of three classes – one singing, one dancing and one acting – is $75.
Auditions slated
RUMFORD – The Rumford Association for the Advancement of the Performing Arts will hold auditions for two one-act plays, “Egad What a Cad” and “The Great Western Melodrama” Tuesday, April 27. They’ll be held at 6 p.m. at the Mountain Valley Middle School, followed by the first RAAPA chorus rehearsal at 7 p.m. The plays and choral music will be presented in a dinner theater format the weekends of June 18 and June 25 at Park Place. FMI: Call 562-7050.