Ogunquit Performing Arts

Classic Film Series | Marilyn Monroe: Niagara
2022-02-13 14:00 (America/New_York) | S. Judson Dunaway Center, 23 School Street, Ogunquit, ME, 03907, United States
This film noir production, starring Marilyn Monroe, Joseph Cotten and Jean Peters, tells the story of an ordinary couple on an overdue vacation who witness the distressing and suspicious actions of another couple staying in a neighboring tourist cabin overlooking Niagara Falls. Ray and Polly Cutler, on a delayed honeymoon, become unwillingly involved in the troubled and volatile marriage of George and Rose Loomis. The incredible film scenery lends itself to this plot filled with illicit love and murder!
True to its title, the 1953 thriller in color spares no effort to make Niagara Falls the star of its suspenseful, sometimes spectacular story. The movie starts and finishes with dramatic images of the falls, emphasizing their power, beauty, and potential danger. Making the falls a constant presence was the deliberate strategy of the filmmakers; almost every scene takes place in the immediate vicinity of the falls.
To make strong impressions in this setting, the human stars have their work cut out for them. The one who succeeds best is, not surprisingly, Marilyn Monroe as the wicked wife, giving a nicely controlled performance, blending the sultry and the sinister without upstaging or eclipsing her costars. They’re gifted Hollywood actors: Joseph Cotten plays the tormented husband and Jean Peters plays the honeymooning bride in a neighboring cabin – but they don’t have the magnetism that made Monroe a unique screen personality.
Born Norma Jeane Mortenson (June 1, 1926 – August 4, 1962), Marilyn Monroe spent most of her childhood in foster homes and an orphanage. Famous for playing comedic characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s and was emblematic of the era’s sexual revolution. She was a top-billed actress for only a decade, but her films grossed $200 million (equivalent to $2 billion in 2020) by the time of her death in 1962. Long after her death, Monroe remains a major icon of pop culture.

Classic Film Series: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
2022-02-06 14:00 | S. Judson Dunaway Center, 23 School Street, Ogunquit, ME, 03907, United States
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is a 1953 American musical comedy film based on the 1949 stage musical of the same name. It was directed by Howard Hawks and stars Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe, with Charles Coburn, Elliott Reid, Tommy Noonan, George Winslow, Taylor Holmes and Norma Varden in supporting roles.
The film is filled with comedic situations and musical numbers, choreographed by Jack Cole, while the music was written by Hoagy Carmichael, Harold Adamson, Jule Styne and Leo Robin. The songs by Styne and Robin are from the Broadway show, while the songs by Carmichael and Adamson were written especially for the film. Despite the film’s title, Monroe was paid her usual contract salary of $500 a week, while Russell, then the better known actress, earned $200,000.
While Russell’s down-to-earth, sharp wit has been observed by most critics, it was Monroe’s turn as the gold-digging Lorelei Lee for which the film is often remembered.[4] Monroe’s rendition of the song “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” and her pink dress are considered iconic, and the performance has inspired homages by Madonna, Beyoncé, Geri Halliwell, Kylie Minogue, Nicole Kidman, Margot Robbie, Anna Nicole Smith, Christina Aguilera, Ariana Grande, and James Franco.
Born Norma Jeane Mortenson (June 1, 1926 – August 4, 1962), Marilyn Monroe spent most of her childhood in foster homes and an orphanage. Famous for playing comedic characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s and was emblematic of the era’s sexual revolution. She was a top-billed actress for only a decade, but her films grossed $200 million (equivalent to $2 billion in 2020) by the time of her death in 1962. Long after her death, Monroe remains a major icon of pop culture.

Classic Film Series | Robert Mitchum: CANCELLED The Sundowners
2022-01-30 14:00 | S. Judson Dunaway Center, 23 School Street, Ogunquit, ME, 03907, United States
THE SUNDOWNERS (1960) charts the nomadic adventures of a family of Australian sheep drovers. Robert Mitchum and Deborah Kerr play a loving but imperfect married couple, Paddy and Ida Carmody, who disagree on their basic lifestyle. Weary of cooking over campfires, Ida desperately wants a roof over her head. Paddy would prefer never to sleep in the same place twice.
Mitchum once again proves his versatility by playing against type: a good but willfully humble man determined to stay as he is. Kerr matches his determination point for point, and the two, re-teamed for their second film together, deliver another remarkable complementary performance. The film also stars Glynis Johns, Dina Merrill, and Peter Ustinov.
Sundowner is the Australian word for someone whose home is where the sun goes down. For this epic tribute to the virtues of home and family, based on Jon Cleary’s novel “Back of Beyond,” director Fred Zinnemann took cast and crew halfway round the world to make one of the first Hollywood films shot on location in Australia.
For leading lady, Zinnemann’s first choice was Deborah Kerr, who had shot to stardom when he cast her against type as an earthy adulteress in “From Here to Eternity” (1953). He originally wanted William Holden or Gary Cooper to play her husband, but neither was available.
Robert Mitchum got the role instead, turning in one of his best performances. Zinnemann quickly realized that the star’s lackadaisical attitude was merely a mask for his dedication to acting. Particularly impressive was Mitchum’s ability to capture the Australian accent. But he did have a problem with shearing sheep. The screen tough guy was so worried about hurting the sheep he needed a few beers before he could do the scene.
Robert Mitchum was an American leading man of enormous ability, who sublimated his talents beneath an air of disinterest. A master of accents and seemingly unconcerned about his star image, he played in both forgettable and unforgettable films with unswerving nonchalance, leading many to overlook the prodigious talent he could bring to a project that he found compelling.
Director Howard Hawks remained unconvinced about Mitchum’s self-proclaimed indifference towards acting, and confronted him on the set of “El Dorado”, telling him, “You pretend not to care, but you really work very hard.” Mitchum answered, “Don’t tell anybody.”
Actually, his craft and durability were achieved only through a lot of hard, private study. He learned how little the camera needed to be shown, and no one has matched his weary swagger. Unlike many, Mitchum realized that stillness and the ability to listen were the cornerstones of movie acting. He created his own sense of space and time, and offered the movie equivalent of a kind of jazz cool, a seamless fusion of thought and action.
Although underrated during his lifetime, Mitchum is now recognized as a master of the film art of stillness and underplaying. He appears on the American Film Institute’s list of the top 25 greatest male stars of classic American cinema.

Classic Film Series | Robert Mitchum: The Big Sleep
2022-01-23 14:00 | S. Judson Dunaway Center, 23 School Street, Ogunquit, ME, 03907, United States
THE BIG SLEEP is a 1978 re-imagining of the Raymond Chandler classic. Mitchum plays an older Philip Marlowe, now based in London, who investigates a seemingly routine case of blackmail, but in the process uncovers a more sinister plot which spirals into murder and madness. (This is Mitchum’s second film portrayal of Philip Marlowe, having played the world-weary detective in 1975’s neo-noir “Farewell My Lovely.”) The film also stars Sarah Miles, Candy Clark, Joan Collins, and Oliver Reed, with a special appearance by James Stewart.
The film contains material more explicit than what could only be hinted at in the 1946 version with Bogart and Bacall, and includes much more original dialogue from the Chandler book. Common to both versions is the notoriously complicated plot.
Philip Marlowe (Robert Mitchum) is asked by the elderly General Sternwood (James Stewart) to investigate an attempt at blackmail on one of his daughters. He soon finds that the attempt is half-hearted at best, and seems to be more connected with the disappearance of the other daughter’s husband, Rusty Regan (David Savile). Rusty’s wife seems unconcerned with his disappearance, further complicating the mystery. Only General Sternwood seems concerned as mobsters and hired killers continue to appear in the path of the investigation.
Robert Mitchum was an American leading man of enormous ability, who sublimated his talents beneath an air of disinterest. A master of accents and seemingly unconcerned about his star image, he played in both forgettable and unforgettable films with unswerving nonchalance, leading many to overlook the prodigious talent he could bring to a project that he found compelling.
Director Howard Hawks remained unconvinced about Mitchum’s self-proclaimed indifference towards acting, and confronted him on the set of “El Dorado”, telling him, “You pretend not to care, but you really work very hard.” Mitchum answered, “Don’t tell anybody.”
Actually, his craft and durability were achieved only through a lot of hard, private study. He learned how little the camera needed to be shown, and no one has matched his weary swagger. Unlike many, Mitchum realized that stillness and the ability to listen were the cornerstones of movie acting. He created his own sense of space and time, and offered the movie equivalent of a kind of jazz cool, a seamless fusion of thought and action.
Although underrated during his lifetime, Mitchum is now recognized as a master of the film art of stillness and underplaying. He appears on the American Film Institute’s list of the top 25 greatest male stars of classic American cinema.

Classic Film Series | Robert Mitchum: El Dorado
2022-01-16 14:00 | S. Judson Dunaway Center, 23 School Street, Ogunquit, ME, 03907, United States
EL DORADO is a 1966 comedy Western film produced and directed by Howard Hawks and starring John Wayne and Robert Mitchum. The film is about an aging gunfighter who comes to the aid of an old friend, now a drunken sheriff, struggling to defend a rancher and his family in a range war. The film also stars James Caan as Wayne’s exasperating young sidekick who likes to quote appropriate stanzas from the Edgar Allan Poe poem, “El Dorado” at various points throughout the film. Although the plot is very similar to a previous Hawks’ film, “Rio Bravo,” the director told Mitchum that the film was not about the plot; it was all about character development.
Roger Ebert awarded the film three and a half stars, stating: “El Dorado is a tightly directed, humorous, altogether successful Western, turned out almost effortlessly, it would seem, by three old pros: John Wayne, Robert Mitchum and director Howard Hawks.” The film was the only screen pairing between Wayne and Mitchum; though they both appear in “The Longest Day,” they share no scenes in that film.
Robert Mitchum was an American leading man of enormous ability, who sublimated his talents beneath an air of disinterest. A master of accents and seemingly unconcerned about his star image, he played in both forgettable and unforgettable films with unswerving nonchalance, leading many to overlook the prodigious talent he could bring to a project that he found compelling.
Director Howard Hawks remained unconvinced about Mitchum’s self-proclaimed indifference towards acting, and confronted him on the set of “El Dorado”, telling him, “You pretend not to care, but you really work very hard.” Mitchum answered, “Don’t tell anybody.”
Actually, his craft and durability were achieved only through a lot of hard, private study. He learned how little the camera needed to be shown, and no one has matched his weary swagger. Unlike many, Mitchum realized that stillness and the ability to listen were the cornerstones of movie acting. He created his own sense of space and time, and offered the movie equivalent of a kind of jazz cool, a seamless fusion of thought and action.
Although underrated during his lifetime, Mitchum is now recognized as a master of the film art of stillness and underplaying. He appears on the American Film Institute’s list of the top 25 greatest male stars of classic American cinema.

Classic Film Series | Robert Mitchum: Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison
2022-01-09 14:00 | S. Judson Dunaway Center, 23 School Street, Ogunquit, ME, 03907, United States
HEAVEN KNOWS, MR. ALLISON (1957) stars Robert Mitchum as an uneducated, self-reliant American marine who finds himself marooned on a Japanese-occupied island during World War II, along with a well-mannered, deeply religious Irish nun (Deborah Kerr) – with whom he forms a deep emotional bond that gradually blossoms into love. The palpable chemistry between Mitchum and Kerr, the marvelous cinematography, and Oscar-nominated screenplay by director John Huston and John Lee Mahin come together in a captivating survival saga that Mitchum would cite as his own personal favorite among his films. He also would speak of Kerr ever after as his all-time favorite actress.
Deborah Kerr and Robert Mitchum were indeed a magical team. The actress likened their work together to a perfect doubles pair at tennis. Getting to know him in those first days on location on the island of Tobago, Kerr recalled finding herself “listening to an extremely sensitive, poetic, extraordinarily interesting man…a perceptive, amusing person with a great gift for telling a story, and possessed of a completely unexpected vast fund of knowledge…Bob was at all times patient, concerned, and completely professional.”
The film was adapted by John Huston and John Lee Mahin from the 1952 novel by Charles Shaw. It was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Deborah Kerr) and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium.
Robert Mitchum was an American leading man of enormous ability, who sublimated his talents beneath an air of disinterest. A master of accents and seemingly unconcerned about his star image, he played in both forgettable and unforgettable films with unswerving nonchalance, leading many to overlook the prodigious talent he could bring to a project that he found compelling.
Director Howard Hawks remained unconvinced about Mitchum’s self-proclaimed indifference towards acting, and confronted him on the set of “El Dorado”, telling him, “You pretend not to care, but you really work very hard.” Mitchum answered, “Don’t tell anybody.”
Actually, his craft and durability were achieved only through a lot of hard, private study. He learned how little the camera needed to be shown, and no one has matched his weary swagger. Unlike many, Mitchum realized that stillness and the ability to listen were the cornerstones of movie acting. He created his own sense of space and time, and offered the movie equivalent of a kind of jazz cool, a seamless fusion of thought and action.
Although underrated during his lifetime, Mitchum is now recognized as a master of the film art of stillness and underplaying. He appears on the American Film Institute’s list of the top 25 greatest male stars of classic American cinema.

Classic Film Series | Robert Mitchum: The Enemy Below
2022-01-02 14:00 | S. Judson Dunaway Center, 23 School Street, Ogunquit, ME, 03907, United States
THE ENEMY BELOW (1957) is a war adventure film , which tells the story of the battle between an American destroyer escort and a German U-boat during World War II. Produced and directed by acclaimed actor, Dick Powell, the movie stars Robert Mitchum and Curt Jürgens as the American and German commanding officers, engaged in a prolonged and deadly battle of wits that tests both men and their crews. Each man grows to respect his opponent.The film was based on the 1956 novel by Denys Rayner, a British naval officer involved in anti-submarine warfare throughout the Battle of the Atlantic.
The film’s destroyer escort USS Haynes (DE-181) was represented by the USS Whitehurst, filmed in the Pacific Ocean near Oahu, Hawaii. Many of Whitehurst’s crewmen acted in the film; the phone talkers, the gun and depth charge crews, and all of the men seen abandoning ship were real Whitehurst crewmen.
Robert Mitchum was an American leading man of enormous ability, who sublimated his talents beneath an air of disinterest. A master of accents and seemingly unconcerned about his star image, he played in both forgettable and unforgettable films with unswerving nonchalance, leading many to overlook the prodigious talent he could bring to a project that he found compelling.
Director Howard Hawks remained unconvinced about Mitchum’s self-proclaimed indifference towards acting, and confronted him on the set of “El Dorado”, telling him, “You pretend not to care, but you really work very hard.” Mitchum answered, “Don’t tell anybody.”
Actually, his craft and durability were achieved only through a lot of hard, private study. He learned how little the camera needed to be shown, and no one has matched his weary swagger. Unlike many, Mitchum realized that stillness and the ability to listen were the cornerstones of movie acting. He created his own sense of space and time, and offered the movie equivalent of a kind of jazz cool, a seamless fusion of thought and action.
Although underrated during his lifetime, Mitchum is now recognized as a master of the film art of stillness and underplaying. He appears on the American Film Institute’s list of the top 25 greatest male stars of classic American cinema.

Classic Film Series: Indiscreet
2021-12-26 14:00 | S. Judson Dunaway Center – Community Auditorium on the main floor, 23 School Street, Ogunquit, ME, 03907, United States
In this 1958 elegant romantic comedy from the end of the classic era, Ingrid Bergman stars as London stage actress Anna Kalman, who meets a man too good to be true. International financier Philip Adams (Cary Grant) is smitten with Anna as well, and an affair begins despite the fact that he claims that he cannot obtain a divorce from his wife.
Anna is rich and famous, Philip is rich and important, and when they walk together a chauffeured Rolls Royce follows at a discreet distance, while the sparkling dialog flows like champagne.
The film is based on the play Kind Sir written by Norman Krasna, and is directed by Stanley Donen.

Classic Film Series: CANCELLED The Sleeping Beauty
2021-12-19 14:00 | S. Judson Dunaway Center – Community Auditorium on the main floor, 23 School Street, Ogunquit, ME, 03907, United States
Rudolf Nureyev and Veronica Tennant star in Tchaikovsky’s beloved 1890 ballet, with choreography by Nureyev after Marius Petipa. This lavish 1972 production by the National Ballet of Canada beautifully tells the story, based on the Brothers Grimm fairy tale, about the sleeping princess who can only be awakened by love’s first kiss.
The premiere performance of the ballet took place at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg on January 15, 1890. The second of Tchaikovsky’s three ballets, the work has become one of the classical repertoire’s most famous ballets.

Classic Film Series: I’ll Be Seeing You
2021-12-12 14:00 | S. Judson Dunaway Center – Community Auditorium on the main floor, 23 School Street, Ogunquit, ME, 03907, United States
Two troubled souls Mary Marshall (Ginger Rogers) and Sgt. Zachary Morgan (Joseph Cotton) meet while seated across from each other on a train bound for Pinehill. Each has a week’s Christmas furlough, and as they begin to fall in love, each hopes to hide the secret of an unhappy past for the brief length of their time together. Also starring Shirley Temple and Spring Byington, the 1944 film was among the first to explore the uncertain territory of postwar adjustment.
Ginger Rogers, by the 1940s was showing a gift for tougher, weightier roles, such as her award-winning performance in Kitty Foyle. She could be intensely moving without ever succumbing to sentimentality. That’s a gift she also brings to I’ll Be Seeing You.
New York Times critic Bosley Crowther was particularly struck by Cotten’s performance, writing, “He plays the shell-shocked veteran with supreme restraint and with a calm and determined independence that beautifully reveals his pain and pride.”

Classic Film Series: Christmas in Connecticut
2021-12-05 14:00 | S. Judson Dunaway Center, 23 School Street, Ogunquit, ME, 03907, United States
Elizabeth Lane is a single New Yorker, employed as a food writer. Her articles about her fictitious Connecticut farm, husband, and baby are admired by housewives across the country. Her publisher, Alexander Yardley, is unaware of the charade and insists that Elizabeth host a Christmas dinner for returning war hero Jefferson Jones, who read all of her recipes while in the hospital and is so fond of her that his nurse, Mary Lee, wrote a letter to the publisher. Facing a career-ending scandal, not only for herself but for her editor, Dudley Beecham, Lane is forced to comply. In desperation, Elizabeth agrees to marry her friend, John Sloan, who has a farm in Connecticut. She also enlists the help of her uncle, chef Felix Bassenak, who has been providing her with the recipes for her articles.
At Sloan’s farm on Christmas Eve, Elizabeth meets Norah, the housekeeper, as well as a neighbor’s baby whom they pretend is their baby. Elizabeth and John plan to be married immediately by Judge Crowthers, but the ceremony is interrupted when Jefferson arrives early. Elizabeth is smitten and it is love at first sight.

Classic Film Series: OLIVER!
2021-11-28 14:00 | S. Judson Dunaway Center – Community Auditorium on the main floor, 23 School Street, Ogunquit, ME, 03907, United States
Based on an adaptation of Charles Dickens’ 1838 novel Oliver Twist, this 1968 British musical drama stars Ron Moody, Oliver Reed, Shani Wallis, and Mark Lester as Dickens’ fabled workhouse orphan. Winner of 6 Academy Awards, the production contains such musical numbers as “Consider Yourself,” “As Long As He Needs Me,” and “Where Is Love?”
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times awarded the film four out of four stars. “Sir Carol Reed’s Oliver! is a treasure of a movie,” he wrote. “It is very nearly universal entertainment, one of those rare films like The Wizard of Oz that appeals in many ways to all sorts of people. It will be immediately exciting to the children, I think, because of the story and the unforgettable Dickens characters. Adults will like it for the sweep and zest of its production. And as a work of popular art, it will stand the test of time. It is as well-made as a film can be.”

Classic Film Series: The Uninvited
2021-11-07 14:00 - 16:00 | S. Judson Dunaway Center – Community Auditorium on the main floor, 23 School Street, Ogunquit, ME, 03907, United States
Who doesn’t love a good ghost story? Yet, how many truly memorable movies about the supernatural can you actually name? The Uninvited, is a grade-A 1944 production from Paramount Pictures, not a studio usually associated with horror films. Produced by Charles Brackett (a frequent screenplay collaborator with director Billy Wilder), the film is a handsomely mounted thriller with a first-rate cast, atmospheric cinematography by Charles Lang, Victor Young’s emotionally gripping score (which introduces the song “Stella by Starlight”), and a highly original story that invites Freudian interpretations of the characters while inserting a lesbian subtext and a droll sense of humor.
While on holiday, music critic Roderick Fitzgerald (Ray Milland) and his sister Pamela (Ruth Hussey) discover an abandoned mansion on the Cornish coast. With its remote yet breathtaking location on a sea cliff, Windward House completely captivates them with its possibilities; Roderick sees it as an ideal workplace where he can finally devote himself to his true love, composing music. But when they set out to purchase it from its owner Commander Beech (Donald Crisp), they encounter resistance from his granddaughter Stella Meredith (Gail Russell), who has a strong attachment to the house. It is soon learned that Stella’s mother died there under mysterious circumstances. Nevertheless, the sale goes through and Roderick and Pamela move into Windward House – and almost immediately begin to experience strange occurrences. The sound of footsteps and mournful sobbing keeps them awake at night, the dog barks at something no one can see, and the overpowering scent of flowers and unexplained cold waves often permeate rooms, defying any logical explanation. Windward House is obviously haunted but why? Roderick and Pamela begin to uncover the mystery with the help of Stella whose visits to the house increase the spectral activity and place the young girl in great danger. While a Freudian reading of the film might have seemed inappropriate during the forties, it’s impossible to ignore now, especially the scenes involving Miss Holloway (Cornelia Otis Skinner), the sinister asylum director, whose obsession with the former Mrs. Meredith is all too clearly spelled out.
While it might have chilled audiences of its era, The Uninvited is not a frightening film by contemporary standards. It is, however, an intriguing mood piece, subtle and suggestive in its imagery. Incidents that could easily appear cliched and trite – a seance by candlelight, doors that open and close by themselves, flowers that wilt suddenly in the presence of something evil – convey a genuine sense of the otherworldly.
Jeff Stafford for TCM

14th Annual Elizabeth Dunaway Burnham Piano Festival | Student Piano Recital
2021-10-17 15:00 | S. Judson Dunaway Center, 23 School Street, Ogunquit, ME, 03907, United States
The Festival concludes with the Student Piano Recital, featuring the area’s best young pianists performing on OPA’s fabled Steinway. It is here that talented local students have the opportunity to perform on a world-class piano in front of a live audience. Admission to this performance is free.
The Festival honors the memory of Elizabeth Dunaway Burnham, founder and first chairperson of Ogunquit Performing Arts. A pianist herself, Betty studied, performed and taught piano for most of her life. She also saw to it that OPA acquired its spectacular Steinway Concert Model C Grand Piano, which still remains OPA’s greatest treasure.

14th Annual Piano Festival | Boston Chamber Music - An Evening of Piano Trios
2021-10-09 19:30 | S. Judson Dunaway Center, 23 School Street, Ogunquit, ME, 03907, United States
Click button below to purchase advance tickets.TICKETS
Boston Chamber Music returns to Ogunquit, this time as a piano trio with Pianist – Randall Hodgkinson, Cellist – Bruce Coppock and Violinist – Gabriela Diaz. Mr. Coppock continues the tradition of bringing together the finest ensembles especially selected for this concert.
Tickets to this performance will go on sale 3 weeks prior to the event on this website. Tickets may also be purchased at any of the fine establishments listed on the bottom of the page. Free Parking for audience members behind the Dunaway Center.

Boston Chamber Music Program
Lili Boulanger:

Dún Matin de Printemps
Dún Soir Triste

Fanny Mendelssohn:

Piano Trio in d minor, Opus 11

Beethoven:

Piano Trio in Bb, Opus 97 (Archduke)

Randall Hodgkinson

Randall Hodgkinson is an acclaimed American pianist. He won the International American Music Competition in 1981 which was sponsored by Carnegie Hall and the Rockefeller Foundation. He was also a winner in the J.S.Bach International Competition and received the Tanglewood Music Center’s Cabot Award in 1971. Hodgkinson made his European orchestral debut in 1985 with the Santa Cecilia Orchestra of Rome.
Later in 1986, he made his formal New York recital debut at Alice Tully Hall. He has performed as a soloist with numerous orchestras including the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, theCleveland Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Concord Orchestra (Concord, Massachusetts), the Iceland Philharmonic, the Orchestra of Santa Cecilia in Rome, and had successful collaborations with Leonard Bernstein and Gunther Schuller. He was a featured artist on the Bosendorfer Concert Series aired over WNYC – FM in New York City and has recorded for the Albany, Nonesuch, CRI and New World labels.
Hodgkinson is an active performer of chamber music and is currently a member of the Boston Chamber Music Society, Boston Artists Ensemble, Worcester Chamber Music Society and the Gramercy Trio. He has performed chamber music at numerous festivals, including Blue Hill Festival (Maine), Bargemusic, Chestnut Hill Concerts (Madison, Connecticut), Seattle Chamber Music Festival, and Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. In addition to his solo work, he also regularly performs the four-hand and two-piano repertoire with his wife Leslie Amper.

Bruce Coppock

Bruce Coppock has enjoyed a career as a cellist, teacher and arts executive for over 40 years. He was cellist, co-founder and executive director of the Boston Chamber Music Society; principal cellist of the Handel & Haydn Society; cellist of the Boston Musica Viva. Throughout his career Coppock has maintained an active teaching life as a cellist and chamber music coach. Since 2013, he has led an intensive year chamber music course for gifted high schools students called QuartetLab in which students spend an entire year studying one piece of music in depth, with Coppock serving both as cellist and coach. This program will be relocated to the Rivers School beginning in fall 2019.
Coppock has held teaching positions at the Longy School of Music, Brown University, the University of New Hampshire, the Boston Conservatory and the New England Conservatory. He was Chair of the Music Division of the Boston Conservatory and subsequently chair of both the chamber music and orchestral studies departments at New England Conservatory. Since returning to the Boston area in 2016, he has re-joined the faculty of the Longy School of Music, is Chair of the Chamber Music Department at the Rivers School Conservatory and is a member of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra.
Coppock served twice as president & managing director of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, a position in which he served both as the artistic and the executive leader of the organization. Coppock first led the SPCO from 1999 until 2008, when he stepped down due to illness. During a five-year hiatus from the SPCO Coppock focused on medical issues, served a consultant to several orchestras, and served as managing director of the Cleveland Orchestra’s Miami Residency, in addition to teaching chamber music at the University of Minnesota School of Music. Coppock returned to the SPCO in 2013, the highlight of which was being part of the leadership team that oversaw the construction and opening of a new 1100-seat purpose-built concert hall dubbed by the NYTimes as “acousticslly ideal.. . .a hall that allows clarity and detail in the playing to come through while providing orchestral resonance and bloom.” He retired from the SPCO at the end of 2015.
Prior to Saint Paul, Coppock served as the founding director of the League of American Orchestra’s Orchestra Leadership Academy, as deputy director of Carnegie Hall, and as executive director of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra from 1992-1997.
Coppock has also been active as a Board member, at the Harlem Boys Choir, the Interlochen Center for the Arts and the Board of Overseers at the Curtis Institute of Music. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and the Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation.

Gabriela Diaz

Georgia native Gabriela Diaz began her musical training at the age of five, studying piano with her mother, and the next year, violin with her father.
As a childhood cancer survivor, Gabriela is committed to supporting cancer research and treatment in her capacity as a musician. In 2004, Gabriela was a recipient of a grant from the Albert Schweitzer Foundation, an award that enabled Gabriela to create and direct the Boston Hope Ensemble. This program is now part of Winsor Music. A firm believer in the healing properties of music, Gabriela and her colleagues have performed in cancer units in Boston hospitals and presented benefit concerts for cancer research organizations in numerous venues throughout the United States.
A fierce champion of contemporary music, Gabriela has been fortunate to work closely with many significant composers on their own compositions, namely Pierre Boulez, Magnus Lindberg, Frederic Rzewski, Alvin Lucier, Unsuk Chin, John Zorn, Joan Tower, Roger Reynolds, Chaya Czernowin, Steve Reich, Tania León, Brian Ferneyhough, and Helmut Lachenmann. Gabriela is a member of several Boston-area contemporary music groups, including Sound Icon, Ludovico Ensemble, BMOP, Dinosaur Annex, Boston Musica Viva, and Callithumpian Consort. She plays regularly with Winsor Music, Castle of our Skins, Radius Ensemble, and Emmanuel Music and frequently collaborates with Alarm Will Sound, the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICEensemble), and A Far Cry.
In 2012 Gabriela joined the violin faculty of Wellesley College. Gabriela is co-artistic director of the much beloved Boston-based chamber music and outreach organization Winsor Music. Please visit winsormusic.org for more information!​Gabriela’s recording of Lou Harrison’s Suite for Violin and American Gamelan was highlighted in the New York Times Article “5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Classical Music.”
Critics have acclaimed Gabriela as “a young violin master,” and “one of Boston’s most valuable players.” Lloyd Schwartz of the Boston Phoenix noted, “…Gabriela Diaz in a bewitching performance of Pierre Boulez’s 1991 Anthèmes. The come-hither meow of Diaz’s upward slides and her sustained pianissimo fade-out were miracles of color, texture, and feeling.” Others have remarked on her “indefatigably expressive” playing, “polished technique,” and “vivid and elegant playing.”

14th Annual Elizabeth Dunaway Burnham Piano Festival | Concert by Frederick Moyer
2021-10-01 19:30 | S. Judson Dunaway Center – Community Auditorium on the main floor, 23 School Street, Ogunquit, ME, 03907, United States
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Concert pianist Frederick Moyer has excited and delighted audiences in 44 countries — from the Sydney Opera House to Windsor Castle to Carnegie Recital Hall to the Kennedy Center. His performances exhibit impeccable training and exacting artistry in both classical music and jazz. Inventive technological enhancements, well-chosen programs and his relaxed verbal introductions help the audience get into the heart of the musical experience.
An avid computer programmer and inventor with multiple patents, Fred has created innovative concerts that redefine the piano recital. His MoyerCam gives the audience a view of the hands and keyboard from virtually any seat. His USolo software allows him to play piano concertos in recital with orchestral accompaniment synchronized to his interpretations, – as he will do in this concert with the gorgeous Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto and the Stuttgart Symphony Orchestra.
ARTIST WEBSITE: https://www.frederickmoyer.com/

MR. MOYER’S PROGRAM
Chopin: Waltz in E-flat MajorMendelssohn: Fantasy in F-sharp Minor, Op.28Rachmaninoff: Two Preludes, Op. 23Wilder: Two Piano PiecesTchaikovsky: Piano Concerto #1 in B-flat Minor, Op. 23 Stuttgart Symphony Orchestra, Emil Kahn, conductor

Elizabeth Dunaway Burnham

The Annual Piano Festival honors the memory of Elizabeth Dunaway Burnham, founder and first chairperson of Ogunquit Performing Arts. A pianist herself, Betty studied, performed and taught piano for most of her life. She also saw to it that OPA acquired its spectacular Steinway Concert Model C Grand Piano, which still remains OPA’s greatest treasure.
Betty had been a piano student all her life, receiving music degrees from Smith College. She continued piano studies for many years, working with Estelle Broussard of Dunbarton College in Washington, D.C. and William Masselos, noted concert pianist and faculty member at Julliard School of Music in New York City.

30th Annual Capriccio Music Festival | Stillson School of Irish Dance - POSTPONED
2021-09-18 00:00 | 23 School St, Ogunquit, ME, 03907, United States

The Capriccio Festival of Kites at Ogunquit Beach with the Folk Music of Andy Happel
2021-09-11 09:00 - 14:00 | Ogunquit Beach, Beach Street, Ogunquit, ME, 03907
Kite-flying and Music for the Whole Family!
This delightful, annual Festival features professional kite flying demonstrations, with multiples, and oversized kites filling the sky. Children are provided with free, white kites, along with colorful markers and crayons. They can decorate their own kites, which are then entered into a contest of many categories and prizes. Kites are also available for sale at the beach, so that no one is left out of the fun. At the end comes the climactic Grand Ascension, filling the sky with everyone’s kite in the air at the same time.
Fiddler/singer Andy Happel will provide high-flying music on Ogunquit Beach for the Capriccio Festival of Kites. Andy plans to bring along some musician friends to join in the joyous fun, playing selections from his repertoire of exotic tunes and lilting rhythms.
Join Andy at the Capriccio Festival of Kites, where songs and kites will fill the air!

A little sample of music from Andy Happel

30th Annual Capriccio Music Festival | Tim Sample - POSTPONED
2021-09-10 00:00 | 23 School St, Ogunquit, ME, 03907, United States

Classic Film Series: The Uninvited - CANCELLED
2020-11-01 14:00 - 16:00 | S. Judson Dunaway Center – Community Auditorium on the main floor, 23 School Street, Ogunquit, ME, 03907, United States
CANCELLED
Free Admission, Parking, Popcorn
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Who doesn’t love a good ghost story? Yet, how many truly memorable movies about the supernatural can you actually name? The Uninvited, is a grade-A 1944 production from Paramount Pictures, not a studio usually associated with horror films. Produced by Charles Brackett (a frequent screenplay collaborator with director Billy Wilder), the film is a handsomely mounted thriller with a first-rate cast, atmospheric cinematography by Charles Lang, Victor Young’s emotionally gripping score (which introduces the song “Stella by Starlight”), and a highly original story that invites Freudian interpretations of the characters while inserting a lesbian subtext and a droll sense of humor.
While on holiday, music critic Roderick Fitzgerald (Ray Milland) and his sister Pamela (Ruth Hussey) discover an abandoned mansion on the Cornish coast. With its remote yet breathtaking location on a sea cliff, Windward House completely captivates them with its possibilities; Roderick sees it as an ideal workplace where he can finally devote himself to his true love, composing music. But when they set out to purchase it from its owner Commander Beech (Donald Crisp), they encounter resistance from his granddaughter Stella Meredith (Gail Russell), who has a strong attachment to the house. It is soon learned that Stella’s mother died there under mysterious circumstances. Nevertheless, the sale goes through and Roderick and Pamela move into Windward House – and almost immediately begin to experience strange occurrences. The sound of footsteps and mournful sobbing keeps them awake at night, the dog barks at something no one can see, and the overpowering scent of flowers and unexplained cold waves often permeate rooms, defying any logical explanation. Windward House is obviously haunted but why? Roderick and Pamela begin to uncover the mystery with the help of Stella whose visits to the house increase the spectral activity and place the young girl in great danger. While a Freudian reading of the film might have seemed inappropriate during the forties, it’s impossible to ignore now, especially the scenes involving Miss Holloway (Cornelia Otis Skinner), the sinister asylum director, whose obsession with the former Mrs. Meredith is all too clearly spelled out.
While it might have chilled audiences of its era, The Uninvited is not a frightening film by contemporary standards. It is, however, an intriguing mood piece, subtle and suggestive in its imagery. Incidents that could easily appear cliched and trite – a seance by candlelight, doors that open and close by themselves, flowers that wilt suddenly in the presence of something evil – convey a genuine sense of the otherworldly.
Jeff Stafford for TCM

CANCELLED || 14th Annual Elizabeth Dunaway Burnham Piano Festival
2020-10-18 15:00 - 17:00, 2020-10-10 19:30 - 21:00, 2020-10-02 19:30 - 21:00 | S. Judson Dunaway Center – Community Auditorium on the main floor, 23 School Street, Ogunquit, ME, 03907, United States
Pianists To Be Announced
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The Annual Piano Festival honors the memory of Elizabeth Dunaway Burnham, founder and first chairperson of Ogunquit Performing Arts. A pianist herself, Betty studied, performed and taught piano for most of her life. She also saw to it that OPA acquired its spectacular Steinway Concert Model C Grand Piano, which still remains OPA’s greatest treasure.
In accordance with his wishes, Sanford Judson Dunaway’s daughter, Elizabeth Dunaway Burnham, requested that the executors include a contribution to Ogunquit to endow a fund for musical performances. She had long dreamed that Ogunquit could support such a program to add to its attractiveness as a welcoming place for artists, sculptors and summer theatre. In November 1978, the Committee for the Performing Arts was formed and began its work with Betty elected as chairperson.
The Famous OPA Steinway Piano came to the Committee again as a result of Betty Burnham’s insight and generosity. She had been a piano student all her life, receiving music degrees from Smith College. She continued piano studies for many years, working with Estelle Broussard of Dunbarton College in Washington, D.C. and William Masselos, noted concert pianist and faculty member at Julliard School of Music in New York City. Betty taught piano for most of her adult life.
Betty was determined that the Committee should have a piano worthy of the world’s major pianists, and donated additional funds for that purpose. She consulted with New England’s most distinguished piano tuner, the late Frank Hanson, and his partner at University Piano Service, the equally renowned piano technician Vincent D’Errico. Frank and Vincent bought an abused Steinway from a piano dealer, and set about to completely rebuild it.
Its restoration by Frank and Vincent brought it back to a top quality concert instrument, with a superb, radiant tone. They offered to sell it to OPA at cost, donating their rebuilding services entirely. The only caveats were that it would be used only for OPA performances, and that they would continue to tune and see to its occasional repair needs, again donating their services. And so it was. Vincent continues the tradition, and is currently serving as a member of the Committee. The 125 year-old, glorious Steinway continues to win enthusiastic acclaim from both pianists and audiences.

CANCELLED - 30th Annual Capriccio Music Festival Frank Vignola & Vinny Raniolo, Jazz Guitarists
2020-09-18 19:30 - 21:30 | S. Judson Dunaway Center – Community Auditorium on the main floor, 23 School Street, Ogunquit, ME, 03907, United States
TICKETS
Frank Vignola is one of the most extraordinary guitarists performing before the public today. He has played in the genres of swing, fusion, gypsy jazz, classical and pop. His stunning virtuosity has made him the guitarist of choice for many of the world’s top musicians, including Ringo Starr, Madonna, Donald Fagen, Wynton Marsalis, Tommy Emmanuel, the Boston Pops, the New York Pops, and guitar legend Les Paul, who named Vignola to his “Five Most Admired Guitarists List” for the Wall Street Journal. Vignola’s jaw dropping technique explains why the New York Times deemed him “one of the brightest stars of the guitar”.
Vinny Raniolo is best known for his accompanying skills and is a very high in demand rhythm guitarist.

His dynamic playing with Frank Vignola has taken him to 14 countries on 3 continents, in performances in some of the world’s most illustrious venues, including the Sydney Opera House in Australia, the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, New York’s Lincoln Center, and the world’s oldest indoor concert hall, Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza, Italy.
Tickets to this performance will go on sale August 1, 2020 on this website. Tickets may also be purchased at Crickets Corner, Dunaway Center, Ogunquit Playhouse Downtown Box Office, and Ogunquit Welcome Center.
Free parking for the performance is located behind the Dunaway Center. Wine and refreshments available.
Listen to these fabulous artists at:
www.frankvignola.com
www.vinnyraniolo.com

Boston Chamber Music - CANCELLED
2020-06-05 19:30 | S. Judson Dunaway Center – Community Auditorium on the main floor, 23 School Street, Ogunquit, ME, 03907, United States
Ogunquit’s favorite Boston Chamber Music returns to the Dunaway Center for a special, 2-concert appearance. Led by acclaimed cellist Bruce Coppock, the piano trio on June 5th features Gabriela Diaz, violin, and Randall Hodgkinson, piano. Mr. Coppock continues the tradition of bringing together the finest ensembles especially selected for this concert. Their program is a celebration of the 250th anniversary of the birth of Ludwig van Beethoven:
BEETHOVEN: Celebrating Friends & Inspirations
Two Viennese Masterpieces
BEETHOVEN Piano Trio in Eb Major, Opus 70 # 2
SCHUBERT Piano Trio in Eb Major, Opus 100
Tickets to this performance will go on sale May 15, 2020 on this website. Tickets may also be purchased at Ogunquit Camera Shop, Dunaway Center, Ogunquit Playhouse Downtown Box Office, and Ogunquit Welcome Center. Free parking for the performance is located behind the Dunaway Center.

Bruce Coppock has enjoyed a career as a cellist, teacher and arts executive for over 40 years. He was cellist, co-founder and executive director of the Boston Chamber Music Society; principal cellist of the Handel & Haydn Society; cellist of the Boston Musica Viva. Throughout his career Coppock has maintained an active teaching life as a cellist and chamber music coach. Since 2013, he has led an intensive year chamber music course for gifted high schools students called QuartetLab in which students spend an entire year studying one piece of music in depth, with Coppock serving both as cellist and coach. This program will be relocated to the Rivers School beginning in fall 2019.
Coppock has held teaching positions at the Longy School of Music, Brown University, the University of New Hampshire, the Boston Conservatory and the New England Conservatory. He was Chair of the Music Division of the Boston Conservatory and subsequently chair of both the chamber music and orchestral studies departments at New England Conservatory. Since returning to the Boston area in 2016, he has re-joined the faculty of the Longy School of Music, is Chair of the Chamber Music Department at the Rivers School Conservatory and is a member of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra.
Coppock served twice as president & managing director of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, a position in which he served both as the artistic and the executive leader of the organization. Coppock first led the SPCO from 1999 until 2008, when he stepped down due to illness. During a five-year hiatus from the SPCO Coppock focused on medical issues, served a consultant to several orchestras, and served as managing director of the Cleveland Orchestra’s Miami Residency, in addition to teaching chamber music at the University of Minnesota School of Music. Coppock returned to the SPCO in 2013, the highlight of which was being part of the leadership team that oversaw the construction and opening of a new 1100-seat purpose-built concert hall dubbed by the NYTimes as “acousticslly ideal.. . .a hall that allows clarity and detail in the playing to come through while providing orchestral resonance and bloom.” He retired from the SPCO at the end of 2015.
Prior to Saint Paul, Coppock served as the founding director of the League of American Orchestra’s Orchestra Leadership Academy, as deputy director of Carnegie Hall, and as executive director of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra from 1992-1997.
Coppock has also been active as a Board member, at the Harlem Boys Choir, the Interlochen Center for the Arts and the Board of Overseers at the Curtis Institute of Music. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and the Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation.

Violinist Gabriela Diaz began her musical training at the age of five, studying piano with her mother, and the next year, violin with her father.
Critics have acclaimed Gabriela as “a young violin master,” and “one of Boston’s most valuable players.” Lloyd Schwartz of the Boston Phoenix noted, “…Gabriela Diaz in a bewitching performance of Pierre Boulez’s 1991 Anthèmes. The come-hither meow of Diaz’s upward slides and her sustained pianissimo fade-out were miracles of color, texture, and feeling.” Others have remarked on her “indefatigably expressive” playing, “polished technique,” and “vivid and elegant playing.”
A fierce champion of contemporary music, Gabriela has been fortunate to work closely with many significant composers on their own compositions, namely Pierre Boulez, Magnus Lindberg, Frederic Rzewski, Alvin Lucier, John Zorn, Roger Reynolds, Steve Reich, Brian Ferneyhough, and Helmut Lachenmann. Gabriela is a member of several Boston-area contemporary music groups, including Sound Icon, Ludovico Ensemble, Dinosuar Annex, Firebird Ensemble, Boston Musica Viva, and Callithumpian Consort. She also plays regularly with Winsor Music, Mistral Music, Radius Ensemble, and Emmanuel Music.
In 2012 Gabriela joined the violin faculty of Wellesley College. Gabriela is co-artistic director of the Boston-based chamber music organization Winsor Music. Please visit winsormusic.org for more information!
Gabriela can be heard on New World, Centaur, BMOPSound, Mode, Naxos, and Tzadik records.
Gabriela plays on a Vuillaume violin generously on loan from Mark Ptashne and a viola made by her father, Manuel Diaz.

Randall Hodgkinson has achieved recognition as a winner of the International American Music Competition for pianists sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation. He has appeared frequently as soloist and chamber music artist in festivals throughout the United States, and as a featured soloist with major orchestras including those of Philadelphia, Atlanta, Buffalo, the American Symphony, the Orchestra of Illinois, and abroad in Italy and Iceland. His solo debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra was presented both in Boston and at Carnegie Hall.
Mr. Hodgkinson studied at The Curtis Institute and the New England Conservatory. He has been an artist member of the Boston Chamber Music Society since 1983. While a member of Boston Musica Viva, he performed throughout the U.S. and Europe, and his recordings on several labels have brought him notable acclaim.
He also performs four-hand and two-piano literature in duo recitals with his wife, Leslie Amper. He is a member of the piano faculty of the New England Conservatory and Wellesley College.

Jordan Tirrell-Wysocki Celtic Quintet - CANCELLED
2020-05-16 20:00 | S. Judson Dunaway Center – Community Auditorium on the main floor, 23 School Street, Ogunquit, ME, 03907, United States
Bringing fresh energy to traditional Celtic music, Jordan Tirrell-Wysocki is an award-winning New Hampshire-based fiddler/singer who has been performing professionally for over two decades. He has toured nationally with bands in various genres, performed across Ireland, and released multiple recordings of Celtic music that can be heard on radio stations in Ireland and Scotland as well as around New England. He is also an Emmy®-nominated composer who has written soundtracks for audiobooks and television and appeared as a guest on over 75 albums. His lifelong passion for history helps bring to life the traditional music around which he built his career.
Putting a fresh spin on traditional Irish music, the Jordan Tirrell-Wysocki Trio delivers and dynamic show full of foot-stompin’ fiddle tunes and classic sing-alongs. Fiddler Jordan Tirrell-Wysocki is joined by fellow New Hampshire natives Matt Jensen on guitar and Chris Noyes on upright bass. Their shows blend traditional Celtic music with their own original material, drawing on multiple genres to produce a unique sound. For their performance at OPA, Jordan brings with him an all-star group of 5 musicians, including members of the Trio.
Jordan was first recognized as part of New Hampshire’s musical culture at the age of 12, when he was the youngest member of the delegation representing the state at The Smithsonian Folklife Festival. He grew up on a combination of contra dances and Celtic music, releasing multiple recordings and performing regularly at dances, parties and even governor’s inaugurations until leaving for college in Middlebury, VT. After graduating, Jordan spent time in both New York City and Ireland, exploring musical possibilities and honing his craft. He then began to carve out a career for himself back home in NH, working with multiple rock bands while continuing to develop his unique approach to traditional Celtic music.

In 2012 Jordan released Into The Cold, an all-original record drawing on multiple genres held together by the thread of Celtic fiddle melodies. The record has been described as “hauntingly beautiful” and “an instrumental coming-of-age story.” Shortly after the release, he formed The Jordan TW Trio by recruiting Matthew Jensen and Chris Noyes, from Into The Cold, to perform with him around New England. In 2013 New Hampshire’s Traditional Arts Council named him a Master Artist. In 2015, the trio released their first record, Return To The Castle, which represents a return to more traditional roots. While it incorporates several fresh original pieces, the entirely acoustic, instrumental record is stacked with traditional favorites ranging from haunting waltzes to foot-stomping reels and was described as “bright, crisp and energetic” by The Boston Irish Reporter. The trio released their first live album, Live At CedarHouse, in July of 2018, earning the praise “brilliant interpretations of Celtic standards” from Bill Copeland Music News and heavily featuring their vocals for the first time.
In 2016, The NH Humanities Council added Jordan to their presenters roster with his program, “Songs of Emigration: Storytelling through traditional Irish music.” Since then he has brought the educational program to over 45 libraries, historical societies and community centers around the state.
After producing a feature piece on Jordan, WMUR’s New Hampshire Chronicle commissioned him to compose and produce a new theme music package for their nightly show. Once the music was developed Jordan recruited an all-star team of musicians to record it, including the members of his trio. The new music debuted in the fall of 2018, along with a music video featuring the band, produced by WMUR. Both music and video received 2019 New England Emmy® nominations.
Listen to Jordan

Evita - CANCELLED
2020-05-03 14:00 | S. Judson Dunaway Center – Community Auditorium on the main floor, 23 School Street, Ogunquit, ME, 03907, United States
A lavish movie version of the highly successful musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, Evita is the story of Argentina’s most controversial First Lady, Eva Perón (1919 – 1952.) Her awe-inspiring funeral, attended by seven million devoted followers, is the opening to the musical, with the narrator then bringing the story back by over a decade, explaining how a B-movie actress became the object of such controversial devotion.
Evita stars Madonna in the title role, with Jonathan Pryce and Antonio Banderas. Directed by Alan Parker and written by Parker and Oliver Stone, the film production of Evita was as extravagant as the subject matter; the 84-day shoot involved 93 full cast members, over 40,000 extras, and totaled out at over 60 million dollars. A replica of the Peron palace was under construction in London, since shooting had been forbidden at the original location. However, Madonna was able to persuade Argentina’s President Menem to grant access to Casa Rosada for the famous balcony scene.

At a benefit to aid the victims of an earthquake, rural-girl-turned-actress Eva Duarte (Madonna) meets Colonel Juan Perón (Jonathan Pryce), an ambitious politician with designs on the presidency. They fall in love and Eva encourages his plans to become dictator of the country, even using her star power to get him released from prison when his enemies order his arrest. On February 24 1946, Perón is elected president with a huge majority, but it quickly becomes apparent that it’s his glamorous wife who’s the focus of the people’s love.
Affectionately nicknamed ‘Evita’ by her millions of devoted followers, Eva founds a huge charity to alleviate the suffering of the nation’s poor. Throughout it all, the beautiful first lady is dressed in the latest high fashion and she is accused of being a distraction for the people, rather than an aid, by the embittered and cynical narrator (Antonio Banderas.) With millions of people still utterly devoted to her, Evita continues to appear in public, dazzling her supporters and enfuriating her enemies, despite being secretly consumed with terminal cancer. At the end of the musical, she dies, aged 33, resulting in hysterical mourning throughout Argentina.
Evita was nominated for six Oscar®s, including nominations for Cinematography, Art Direction, and Editing. Lloyd Webber and Rice took home the Academy Award for Music (Original Song), for “You Must Love Me.” The worldwide gross for the film totaled over 140 million.

The Long, Long Trailer CANCELLED!!
2020-04-05 14:00 | S. Judson Dunaway Center – Community Auditorium on the main floor, 23 School Street, Ogunquit, ME, 03907, United States
The Long, Long Trailer is a 1954 American road comedy film based on a novel of the same name written by Clinton Twiss in 1951 about a couple who buy a new travel trailer home and spend a year traveling across the United States.
The film stars Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, and features Marjorie Main, Keenan Wynn, and Bert Freed. The picture was directed by Vincente Minnelli, working from a screenplay by Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich.
The Long, Long Trailer stars Lucy and Desi as an upwardly mobile couple who decide to buy a trailer so they can live together while his job takes him around the country. Thanks to their naivete in such matters, they end up with a huge 1953 36-foot Redman New Moon model, that costs five times what they planned. Their “seeing America” trip turns out to be a slapstick series of disasters, topped by Lucy’s foolish decision to hide a heavy rock collection in the trailer as Desi tries to maneuver a treacherous mountain road through the Sierra Nevada mountains.

At MGM, the same team that had made Father of the Bride (1950), and its sequel, Father’s Little Dividend (1951) – producer Pandro Berman, director Vincente Minnelli, and screenwriters Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett – re-worked a non-fiction book about a middle-aged couple who spent a year traveling cross-country in a mobile home. By making them honeymooners, and making the husband Latin and the wife wacky, the script was perfect for the king and queen of television.
Arnaz, in fact, had tried to buy the rights to the book, but Berman had beaten him to it. At first, MGM executives wanted no part of it. because it was thought people would not pay money to see Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz in a movie when they could watch the couple on television for free (I Love Lucy). Arnaz made a $25,000 bet with the studio that the movie would make more money than the current highest grossing comedy at that time (Father of the Bride, starring Spencer Tracy and Elizabeth Taylor, and also directed by Vincente Minnelli.) Arnaz won the bet.

Stillson School of Irish Dance
2020-03-07 18:30 | S. Judson Dunaway Center – Community Auditorium on the main floor, 23 School Street, Ogunquit, ME, 03907, United States
Irish Stepdancing continues to be a wildly popular art form for performers and audiences alike. Ogunquit Performing Arts celebrates this unique style of dance at this most appropriate time of year. The award-winning Stillson dancers, returning to Ogunquit by popular demand, will perform a brilliant array of jigs and reels, dressed in a variety of dazzling, hand-made costumes.
The performance will consist of both the fluid soft shoe style as well as the rhythmic hard shoe popularized by shows such as Riverdance and Lord of the Dance.
At the end of the performance, the dancers will invite children and the young at heart to join them onstage to learn or try out some steps. A reception with refreshments will conclude the evening.

The Stillson School of Irish Dance is under the direction of the celebrated dancer/teacher Carlene Moran Stillson ADCRG/TCRG. She is accredited by Ad Coimisium in Dublin, Ireland and a member of IDTANA (Irish Dancing Teacher’s Association of North America). Carlene has a long tradition of dancing having started at age 4. She has competed in the New England Regional, North American, and World Championships.
In existence for more than 20 years, the Stillson School is the only certified school of Irish dancing in the state of Maine and its dancers compete all over New England and place in the New England Regional Irish Dancing Championships annually, and in competitions around the world.
In addition to the dance performance, Carlene Stillson will tell about the history of the dance and explain the reasons for the design of the many different costumes worn by the dancers. Traditional Irish dress is represented in the school dress which features embroidery designs taken from the Book of Kells.
The Stillson School of Irish Dance also has an active show team which has performed throughout New England as well as on the Elipse lawn of the White House. They have been featured dancers accompanying such renowned Celtic performers as Solas, Cherish the Ladies, Trinity Dance Company, Liz Carroll, Billy McComiskey and Mick Moloney, and Eileen Ivers.

Out of Africa
2020-03-01 14:00 | S. Judson Dunaway Center – Community Auditorium on the main floor, 23 School Street, Ogunquit, ME, 03907, United States
Out of Africa is a 1985 American epic romantic drama film directed and produced by Sydney Pollack, and starring Robert Redford and Meryl Streep. The film is based loosely on the autobiographical book Out of Africa written by Isak Dinesen, which was published in 1937, with additional material from Dinesen’s book Shadows on the Grass and other sources. The book was adapted into a screenplay by the writer Kurt Luedtke, and filmed in 1984.
The film tells the autobiographical tale of Baroness Karen Blixen (Dinesen’s true name), portrayed by Streep, and her time spent on a coffee plantation in East Africa in the early twentieth century. Blixen, in the film, marries Baron Bror Blixen-Finecke (Klaus Maria Brandauer) and moves with him to Africa. The marriage is most unsatisfactory as he is a womanizer who eventually leaves her to take care of the plantation on her own. The Baroness meets a hunter named Denys (Redford), and the two begin an idyllic love affair.
The idea of adapting the Dinesen’s memoirs to the screen had been thrown around for decades before the project was finally picked up by Universal Studios. (Orson Welles and David Lean had both considered making the film, and Nicholas Roeg thought about making the film with Julie Christie starring as Karen.) Sydney Pollack was the one to produce the film in the 1980s, along with directing it.

Out of Africa was filmed on location in Africa using descendants of several people of the Kikuyu tribe who are named in the book, including the grandson of chief Kinyanjui who played his grandfather. Much of it was filmed in the Langata area near the actual Ngong Hills outside Nairobi. As Karen’s farmhouse was at the time of filming a part of a local nursing school, the filming took place in her nearby first house “Mbogani”, which is a dairy today. Her actual house, known as “Mbagathi” is now the Karen Blixen Museum. A substantial part of the filming took place in the Scott house and in a recreation of 1910s Nairobi built in an area of unoccupied land in Langata.
The film won 7 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director (Sydney Pollack), Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score, and Best Sound.
