Plum at helm in Gloucester
Paula Plum has added a new title to her impressive resume of acclaimed actor, director, teacher and drama coach.
She’s now interim artistic director at Gloucester Stage Company. And she embraces her new position enthusiastically, as she’s done each time in her long career in Boston theater, which includes several shows at MRT and a teaching gig for several years at Umass Lowell.
“I’m loving it — it’s lots of fun,” she said recently by phone. “But it’s a huge responsibility — and since I am a right-brained person, I have many spreadsheets to help me out.”
Plum, with 30 years acting experience at GSC, was the logical candidate to replace Bob Walsh when he stepped down to return to directing after seven years as AD.
She was acting artistic director at Actors Shakespeare Project and has held a similar post for 17 years with WGBH’S “Celtic Christmas Sojourn” touring holiday show.
She and Walsh worked together in choosing the current summer season, looking for an eclectic mix to appeal to the GSC summer audience.
“We read over 20 plays and came up with the season,” Plum said. “This summer Gloucester Stage is taking you on a roller- coaster ride through a kaleidoscope of theatrical but very human experiences.”
The season includes “Gloria,” now through June 26, a satirical play about ambitious twenty-somethings at an esteemed New York cultural magazine.
Next up is “Mr. Fullerton, Between the Sheets,” July 1-24, a turn- of- thecentury tale of unbridled passion, inspired by Edith Wharton’s love letters and sexual awakening at age 46.
Walsh returns to direct “Grand Horizons,” July 29Aug. 21, a Broadway hit comedy about marital malaise.
The final plays are “Paradise Blue,” Aug. 26-Sept. 18, a powerful, noir-inspired drama set in a sultry, jazzfilled club, and the haunting “The Thin Place,” Sept. 30- Oct. 23, part ghost story and part dissection of the truth.
GSC will also do “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in an outside space and Plum is already looking at plays for next season.
“It’s fun, but a lot of work,” she said.
But Paula Plum is up to the challenge.
Tickets are $25-$59 at gloucesterstage.com.
In the wings
AT MRT » Hootenanny! Bring your guitars and get ready for three informal hootenannies, or folk music jam sessions, following the upcoming Sunday matinees of Merrimack Repertory Theatre’s production of “Woody Sez: The Life and Music of Woody Guthrie.” The fun takes place at 4:45 p.m. on Sundays, June 12, 19 and 26 at Merrimack Ales, 92 Bolt St., Lowell, which is 1.8 miles from the MRT. Local musicians and audience members will be invited to perform along with the cast. No fee to attend the Hootenanny whether you’ve seen the show or not. If you wish to see it, tickets start at $21 at mrt.org/woody. The show runs through June 26. … In other MRT news, Broadway performer Christina Acosta Robinson (“Summer: The Donna Summer Musical”) will replace Tina Fabrique in performing at MRT’S 43rd Anniversary Gala on June 17. She will perform along with David M. Lutkin (“Ring of Fire”) and instrumentalist Rob Witmer ( MRT’S “Best Summer Ever”). The festive evening begins at 6 p.m. with cocktails, dinner and a silent auction in the Hall of Flags at Lowell Memorial Auditorium followed by the performances and a live auction in MRT’S Liberty Hall home adjacent to the LMA. For tickets and info, visit mrt.org/gala43 or call 978- 654- 4678. HANOVER HAPPENINGS » June’s calendar is full at Worcester’s Hanover Theatre and Conservatory. The lineup includes “50 Years of Billy,” a tribute show to America’s “Piano Man” and one of the most celebrated songwriters of the 20th century. It’s on at 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Next week, the national touring production of “The Band’s Visit,” plays the Mainstage, June 16-19. With a seductive Tony- and Grammywinning score, the show rejoices in music’s ability to make us laugh, cry and bring us together. Acclaimed veteran musician Gordon Lightfoot arrives at 7:30 p.m. June 24, and the laugh- a-minute romp “Menopause, The Musical” is on at 2 p.m. June 25. Visit thehanovertheatre.org for the full line-up and ticket info.
SASSY AND SULTRY » Greater Boston Stage Company’s spreading rhythm and humor with the infectious “Ain’t Misbehavin’: The Fats Waller Musical Show” on- stage in Stoneham June 9-26. The highenergy musical celebration transforms the theater into the steamy Savoy Ballroom and incomparable Cotton Club to bring audiences the songs that made Fats Waller famous. Tickets $62-$67 for adults; $57$62 for seniors; and $20 for students with valid ID at https://web.ovationtix. com/trs/pr/1050914.