‘Journey to the Past’ with MSMT
BRUNSWICK – Maine State Music Theatre will launch its 2025 season with the sweeping Broadway musical “Anastasia: The Musical,” running June 4-21 at the Pickard Theater in Brunswick.
A co-production with Lancaster, Pennsylvania’s Fulton Theatre and based on the 1997 animated film, it whisks audiences from the twilight of the Russian Empire to the dazzling lights of 1920s Paris in a tale of mystery, courage and self-discovery.
The story follows Anya, a brave young woman haunted by fragmented memories of a royal past. With the help of a dashing con artist named Dmitry and his endearing friend Vlad, she sets off on a quest to uncover the secrets of her identity. Along the way she discovers love, belonging, and a place to call home.
With a book by four-time Tony Award winner Terrence McNally, music by Stephen Flaherty, and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, the award-winning team behind “Ragtime” and “Once on This Island,” “Anastasia: The Musical” is a romantic epic that offers soaring melodies, dynamic choreography, and richly detailed period costumes. The score features favorites like “Journey to the Past” and “Once Upon a December.”
The production stars Lila Coogan as Anya. Coogan was on Broadway in “Mary Poppins” and toured nationally in “Anastasia.” The other five principals all have Broadway or national tour experience, or both. And five local young performers will alternate the roles of the Romanov children.
Maine State Music Theatre productions are in Pickard Theater on the Bowdoin College campus. For more information go to msmt.org.
Ring in the new Muhammad Ali statue
LEWISTON — In 1965, Lewiston, Maine, became the unlikely stage for one of the most iconic moments in sports history, the heavyweight championship boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston.
Sixty years later, on Saturday, May 31, the city will gather to commemorate the event and the characteristics of the man behind it with the unveiling of the first full-body bronze statue in the United States honoring Ali.
Ali knocked Liston down in 1 minute and 44 seconds into their bout at the Central Maine Youth Center on Birch Street, now The Colisee, with what became known as the phantom punch.
Tom Platz of Platz Associates, artist Charlie Hewitt, sculptor Zenos Frudakis and Lewiston officials will unveil the statue at 56 Main St. at 2 p.m. Organizers of the unveiling say the statue honors “courage, conviction, and the power of rising above. This tribute reminds all of what Lewiston strives for each day: strength through unity and pride in unexpected triumphs. Stand with Lewiston as we honor a legacy that still moves us today.”
The statue will become part of the city’s growing public art trail.
Go behind the ‘gonzo’ with artist Ralph Steadman
LEWISTON — Renown “gonzo” artist Ralph Steadman will be the focus of a four-month installation at Bates College beginning Friday, June 6.
“Ralph Steadman: And Another Thing,” which will run through Oct. 11 at Bates’ Olin Arts Center, spans more than 60 years of the artist’s life and artwork. Showcasing his creative passion, collaborations and ongoing evolution, the exhibition presents works from his early years as a student to his political illustrations, social commentary and activism.
Steadman is famous for his long collaboration with journalist and author Hunter S. Thompson and the development of “gonzo” journalism in works such as “The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved,” first seen in Scanlan’s Monthly, and the novel “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.” Their form of journalism continues to influence today’s online news sources, editorial pieces, social media, videos, political punditry and podcasts.
The exhibition at Bates College features a selection of 149 original artworks as well as ephemera, including Steadman’s sketchbooks, children’s books, magazines, personal photographs and handwritten notes that tell a fuller story of how the artworks were born. Works from “The Gonzovation Trilogy,” his collaboration with documentarian and filmmaker Ceri Levy about extinct and endangered birds and animals, showcase Steadman’s concern for the environment. A more experimental collection, “Paranoids” are caricatures of notable figures from history, entertainment and politics created by reworking Polaroid photographs. Iconic illustrations for all ages include Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland,” Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Treasure Island,” Kurt Baumann’s “Dozy & Hawkeye” and Steadman’s “The Little Red Computer” and “That’s My Dad.”
The installation’s opening reception will held at the Bates College Museum of Art on June 6 from 7-9 p.m. Workshops, activities and films are scheduled throughout the exhibition period. For more information: ralphsteadman.com/and-another-
Take in museums, music, magnificent vistas and more
POLAND SPRING — The Poland Spring Preservation Society has kicked off its 2025 season with free museum access and a packed summer schedule of concerts.
Its historic museums officially opened May 23 and the three museum buildings — the 1893 Maine State Building, the 1912 All Souls Chapel, and the 1907 Poland Spring Bottling Museum & Source Building, are available for tours, all with free admission.
This year marks a special milestone as the society celebrates the 130th anniversary of the Maine State Building at Poland Spring. Originally Maine’s entry for the 1893 World Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois, the architectural gem was purchased by the Ricker family at the end of the fair, meticulously dismantled and rebuilt at Poland Spring Resort for use as a library and art gallery.
For days and hours, contact the society at polandspring.org.
The society has also announced its summer concert series, a tradition since 1977, featuring a lineup of regional talent. Performances are held Mondays from June through August with one final performance in October. Admission is $5 a person. Concerts begin at 6:30 p.m.
June concerts will be held at the All Souls Chapel, 37 Preservation Way. July and August concerts will be held at the Poland Spring Resort Gazebo at 22 Robbins Road. The June lineup features: June 9, Poland Regional High School Music Group; June 16, Organist Ryan Slocum; and June 23, Denny Breau. For the rest of the summer schedule and more information go to polandspring.org.
Bring a lawn chair, grab a bite at Mel’s Hilltop Restaurant or drinks and snacks at the Maine Inn at Poland Spring Resort, and enjoy summer evenings filled with music and community spirit. The preservation society campus is at 37 Preservation Way, off Route 26.
For more events, go to www.sunjournal.com/lifestyle/encore/.
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