Maddy’s Theatre Opens Frederick, the Musical
Portland, Maine - Maddy’s Theatre premieres the first musical staged in our new space at Thompson’s Point on December 3-30, 2021. Musical theatre has been an important staple in the almost-100-year history of the Children’s Theatre of Maine, and the timing of Frederick feels especially significant. Frederick is a musical, directed by Hollie Pryor, that adapts the children’s book by Leo Lionni. As the days get colder and the nights get longer, Frederick offers a story about hope, resiliency, and camaraderie to inspire audiences of all ages throughout another Maine winter.
As a state-of-the-art theatre, Maddy's Theatre is equipped for technically challenging productions. Frederick is going to use the new theatre's technical capacity more rigorously. Part of that comes with the logistics of staging a musical. The production team is now balancing the music of the score, the sound design that supports the story through additional audio, and live singing of the talented cast. The set is a true playground of mobile parts that the cast can move through, hide in, and play on, while the prop and puppet design is designed to surprise the audience, to bring them into the world of the mice, and to emphasize the changing seasons.
The protagonist Frederick the mouse is a dreamer and an artist. He moves through the world with his head in the clouds, collecting items, ideas, and memories that he finds beautiful so he can recreate the same beauty and wonder for his mouse family. Under the pressure of an impending winter, Frederick’s dreaming frustrates his fellow mice while they work to collect food for the long months ahead. What use is a colorful leaf when the family needs food to survive? However, when the going gets tough, Frederick’s character role models how imagination, stories, and wonder can keep us all hopeful and connected.
“I think the message of Frederick is that being artistic and playful are important life skills and valuable assets to our daily lives -- and showing this to children and families is huge!” says Musical Director Brynn Lewallen. “I think this message gets to the heart of why we perform theater for young audiences, and I'm so pleased to be a part of it.”
Maddy’s Theatre opened with a series of three, one-person productions for the summer, and started the fall with a two-actor show. Frederick features the largest cast yet with five actors, including hip hop artist Nathan LaPointe in the title role of Frederick; Colby College graduate Kyah Morrissette as Nellie; New York-born Dan Leonard as Ernest; Georgia-native Carrow MacLean as Sunny; and CMTM alum Michela Micalizio as Baby.
Frederick was adapted for the stage by Suzanne Maynard Miller, with music and lyrics by Sarah Durkee and Paul Jacobs. Each song in the musical is inspired by a different genre. Styles range from folk to gospel and bluegrass to spoken-word. The cast and Brynn, who is also a vocal coach, collaborated on the music to emphasize personality and uphold the power of storytelling with song. Produced with special permission by the Dramatic Publishing Inc. of Woodstock, IL, Frederick runs December 3-30th in Maddy’s Theatre. Frederick, copyright @1967 by Leo Lionni, @ renewed 1995 by Leo Lionni. Used with permission from NORAELEO, LLC.
Maddy’s Theatre would like to thank the generous support of our Season Sponsors Amtrak Downeaster and the Homeport Relocation Guide, and our Show Sponsor Saco Biddeford Savings Institution for making this production possible.