September’s theater season is in full swing
The days may be getting cooler, but September is heating up theatrically with more openings and events happening this week.
Be sure to check each venue’s website for the latest COVID-19 protocols. But for now, on with the show!
Merrimack Repertory Theatre returns to live, in-person performances this weekend with the new comedy “Wild Horses” by Allison Gregory, directed by Courtney Sale, MRT’s Nancy Donahue artistic director.
The play is one woman’s hilarious recounting of one summer of her youth — those first feelings of all-consuming love, the emergence of her identity, the realization that all things aren’t as they should be and the intoxication of sweet freedom.
It features live music, including such ’ 70s classics as “Ain’t No Sunshine,” “A Horse with No Name,” “Smoke on the Water” and “Dancing in the Moonlight.”
Live performances begin this Friday and Saturday outdoors at the Stevens- Coolidge House and Gardens, 153 Chickering Road, North Andover. Other live performances are Sunday, Stoklosa Middle School, Lowell; Sept. 23-25, Whistler House Museum of Art, Lowell; Sept. 26, Unitas Community Center, Lowell; Sept. 30- Oct. 2, Onyx Room at Western Avenue Studios, Lowell; and Oct. 3, outdoors at North Common Park, Lowell.
Video on-demand performances will be available Oct. 1-17. Visit www.mrt.org/show/wildhorses for tickets and details. Vaccination or negative test results required. Masks required for indoor and outdoor locations.
All manner of Irish music will reverberate on the grounds and stage of Lowell Memorial Auditorium on Saturdaywith the return of the Lowell Irish Festival from noon to 11 p.m.
The music and dance, featuring local and national acts, are only part of the fun. You’ll also find food trucks, craft tents, family activities, craft beer and more. Visit https://event.etix.com/ ticket/online/performance for tickets and other important info.
Worcester’s Hanover Theatre plans a free 20212022 season kick-off at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 23.
Titled “The Sounds of Summer,” highlights include previews of the upcoming season, including Broadway shows, holiday traditions, family performances and concerts. Also featured is a behind-thescenes Q&A with Hanover Theatre and Conservatory president and CEO Troy Siebels and a spotlight performance from “Summer: The Donna Summer Musical.”
Registration is required to attend the event and registrants will automatically be entered for a variety of prizes from tickets to gift cards to swag from upcoming shows.
To register, visit https:// tickets.thehanovertheatre.org/Online/.
In the wings
‘BAREFOOT’ ROMP » The Players Ring opens its first pandemic-era season — and 30th anniversary season – with the zany Neil Simon classic romcom “Barefoot in the
Park.” The hilarious hijinks take place starting Saturday through Oct. 3 at the Players’ Prescott Park home, 105 Marcy St., Portsmouth, N.H. The show, directed by Michael Towle, navigates the ups and downs of a newlywed couple moving into their first apartment. Performances at 7:30 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays, and 2:30 p.m. Saturdays-Sundays. Tickets $25, general admission; $22, seniors and students at www.playersring.org or email info@playersring.org.
STRIKE UP THE BAND » The Orchestra of Indian Hill celebrates the start of its 47th season on Sept. 25 with a 7:30 p.m. concert at Littleton High School Performing Arts Center, 56 King St., Littleton. Maestro Bruce Hangen will conduct the orchestra in a concert featuring the elegant musicianship of principal cellist Young Sook Lee in a Haydn concerto, Mendelssohn’s “Reformation” symphony and inspirational spirituals by Adolphus Hailstork. Tickets are $20, $35 and $50 and free for Indian Hill Music students. For tickets and information, visit https://indianhillmusic.org/orchestra/season2021-22-september/.
AT THE ART » Oberon, American Repertory Theater’s second stage, located on the outskirts of Harvard Square, Cambridge, is closing its doors, ending the popular venue’s 12-year run. It has not hosted in-person events since the start of the pandemic. The financial realities of the prolonged closure and continuing uncertainty about the safety of in-person performances were major factors in the decision to close. It was the home of the disco-themed Shakespearean takeoff “The Donkey Show” and a popular venue for fringe, amateur and experimental theater in Boston. Final performances are planned before its lease ends in December. Masks will be required, and the bar will not be open. In other ART news, The Arboretum Experience is happening now on a daily basis into early fall. The free collaborative event between the ART and the Arnold Arboretum features audio plays written and performed by Greater Boston artists and beyond, plus movement experiences, music and dance set against the Arboretum’s 281-acre backdrop. For info, visit https://americanrepertorytheater.org/ shows-events/the-arboretum-experience/.