In the Broadway of yesteryear, the summer theatre scene in New York City slowed down as New Yorkers would run away for the summer and go upstate—or back to the shore—for some respite from the heat. Summer stock theatre, companies in beach and lakeside towns around New York, would present productions exclusively in the summer months to cater to the sophisticated theatregoing visitors. Summer stock began in the 1920s with four theatres: The St. Louis Muny; Manhattan Theatre Colony near Peterborough, New Hampshire, before moving to Ogunquit, Maine; the Cape Playhouse in Dennis, Massachusetts; and the Berkshire Playhouse in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

Before summer ends, Playbill collected the last productions of today’s summer seasons throughout New England. Whether you live in a neighboring town, you already have a New England vacation planned, or you’re looking for a last minute trip without sacrificing your opportunity to see theatre, here is a listing of some of the notable productions in the dog days of summer:

(The below list is separated by state and lists productions in the order of earliest closing dates and theatre.)

Connecticut

Clay & Wattles Theater Company at The Gary-The Olivia Theater, Bethlehem, Connecticut
Fiddler on the Roof
July 29–August 20
Visit thegarytheolivia.com for tickets.
Selling out during its previous staging at The Gary The Olivia Theater, the 2017 production will once again feature Thomas Camm as Tevye the milkman in his signature role. He will be joined by a professional cast from the tri-state region and with new choreography and staging by director-choreographer Sally Camm. Don’t miss this universal story of family, tradition, love, exile and abiding faith.

Sharon Playhouse, Sharon, Connecticut
The Music Man
August 4–20
Visit sharonplayhouse.org for tickets.
In 1957 Meredith Willson's The Music Man opened on Broadway and the rest is history. To celebrate its 60th anniversary as an American classic, the Sharon Playhouse and director Morgan Green invite you to experience The Music Man as you've never seen it. The story of a lovable conman who warms his way into the heart of small town America has never been more relevant.

Westport Country Playhouse, Westport, Connecticut
Appropriate
August 15–September 2
Visit westportplayhouse.org
Every family has its secrets. While gathered together at the crumbling estate of their deceased father’s Arkansas plantation, the Lafayette children unearth a haunting relic of his past. In the great American tradition of family dramas, from Long Day’s Journey Into Night to August: Osage County, this bitingly funny, award-winning play unleashes a series of jaw-dropping surprises.

Ivoryton Playhouse, Ivoryton, Conneceticut
Saturday Night Fever: The Musical
August 9–September 3
Visit ivorytonplayhouse.org for tickets.
Brooklyn-born Tony Manero loves to dance on the weekends, and he’s about to enter a dance competition and fall in love! It’s late 1970’s and disco is here! Get ready for some Night Fever and the nostalgic songs of the Bee Gees! Based on the film that defined the disco generation.

Goodspeed Musicals, East Haddam, Connecticut
Oklahoma!
July 14–September 23
Visit Goodspeed.org for tickets.
The Rodgers & Hammerstein classic that changed American musicals forever dawns at Goodspeed for the very first time. Cowboy Curly and farm girl Laurey are taking their sweet time falling in love. Can these stubborn romantics admit their feelings before it’s too late? A legendary score—including “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’,” “The Surrey With the Fringe on Top” and the rousing title tune—will put you in a brand new state!

Maine

Hackmatack Playhouse, Berwick, Maine
The Fantasticks
August 16–September 2
Visit hackmatack.org for tickets.
After 44 years of requests, Hackmatack repeats the musical love story that brought the barn its first success in 1972. There is always a "time to remember"—this fable of a boy, a girl, their two feuding fathers and a love that grows with each season. A story of falling in love, out of love and falling in love again.

Lakewood Theater, Madison, Maine
The Savannah Sipping Society
August 3–12
Visit lakewoodtheater.org for tickets.
Four unique Southern ladies are drawn together by an impromptu happy hour and decide it's high time to reclaim an enthusiasm for life. Randa, a perfectionist and workaholic, has lost her job. Dot, on the brink of an idyllic retirement, has lost her husband. Earthy and boisterous Marlafaye, a good ol' Texas gal, has lost her lifestyle. And Jinx, a spunky ball of fire who offers her services as a much needed life coach for the women, well...Jinx has lost her self.

Bullets Over Broadway
August 17–26
Visit lakewoodtheater.org for tickets.
David Shayne is a straight-arrow playwright who plans to stand firm against compromising his work but quickly abandons that stance when his producer finds a backer to mount his show on Broadway. There's just one catch, however: the backer is a mobster who sees Shayne's play as a vehicle for his ditzy, talent-free girlfriend. Throw in an aging diva, a savant hit-man and a bevy of beautiful chorus girls, and this is one Broadway show that is sure to knock ém dead.

Acadia Repertory Theatre, Mt. Desert, Maine
Agatha Christie’s Black Coffee
August 15–September 3
Visit acadiarep.com for tickets.
One of Christie's most gripping country house murder mysteries, and the only one starring her beloved sleuth, Hercule Poirot!

Ogunguit Playhouse, Ogunquit, Maine
Ragtime
August 2–26
Visit ogunquitplayhouse.org for tickets.
This Tony Award-winning musical portrait of early 20th-century America tells the story of three families in pursuit of the American Dream. Set in the volatile melting pot of New York City, filled with pageantry, emotion and hope, bursting onto the stage like no other musical.

Heartbreak Hotel
August 30–September 30
Visit ogunquitplayhouse.org for tickets.
This brand new tribute to the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll is the prequel to Tony-winning, record-setting, smash hit Million Dollar Quartet. Featuring hit songs from the King himself as well as the legends who influenced his iconic music. This is where the story begins.

Main State Music Theatre, Brunswick, Maine
Newsies
August 9–26
Visit msmt.org for tickets.
Inspired by the real-life ‘Newsboy Strike of 1899,’ when newsboy Kid Blink led a band of orphan and runaway newsies on a two-week-long action against powerful newspaper publishers. This timely and fresh fictionalized adaptation addresses age-old themes of social injustice, exploitative labor practices, and David-versus-Goliath struggles as the young learn to harness their power against a corrupt establishment.

The All Night Strut
August 15–September 10
Visit msmt.org for tickets.
The All Night Strut moves through the Depression, World War II and the post-war boom in a two-act musical celebration of the 1930s and ’40s, filled with jazz, blues, bebop and American songbook standards. Weaving together the work of legendary songwriters such as Hoagy Carmichael, Frank Loesser, Duke Ellington, Johnny Mercer, Cab Calloway and the Gershwins, the story moves through time and place to highlight a slick slice of yesteryear and capture a beloved American era.

Massachusetts

The Monomoy Theatre, Chatham, Massachusetts
The Good Doctor
August 15–19
Visit monomoytheatre.org for tickets.
Lots of humor and warmth and wisdom in Neil Simon’s retelling of Chekhov’s tales.

Once in a Lifetime
August 22–26
Visit monomoytheatre.org for tickets.
Insane ’30s Kaufmann and Hart comedy leading to grand chains of lunacy.

Chester Theatre Company, Chester, Massachusetts
Folk
August 17–27
Visit chestertheatre.org for tickets.
For Winnie, a Guinness-hoisting nun, and Stephen, a shy maintenance worker, Friday nights are for playing and singing. Until 16-year-old Kayleigh lobs a brick through Winnie’s window. These three band together into the unlikeliest of folk trios, and an equally unexpected family. Michele Tauber returns to CTC in the role of Winnie for the American Premiere of Folk under the direction of James Warwick, staging his eighth production with the company.

The Cape Playhouse, Dennis, Massachusetts
Gypsy
August 8–19
Visit capeplayhouse.com for tickets.
Regarded by many as one of the greatest musicals ever created, Gypsy is the ultimate tale of an ambitious stage mother fighting for her daughters’ success…while secretly yearning for her own. Set across America in the 1920s, when vaudeville was dying and burlesque was born, Arthur Laurents’ landmark show explores the world of two-bit show business with artful humor, heart, and sophistication. The celebrated score, by Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim, boasts one glorious hit after another, including: “Let Me Entertain You,” “Some People,” “You’ll Never Get Away from Me,” “All I Need Is the Girl,” “Everything’s Coming Up Roses,” “You Gotta Get A Gimmick,” and “Together Wherever We Go.”

Murder for Two
August 22–September 2
Visit capeplayhouse.com for tickets.
Murder for Two, the perfect comedic blend of music, mayhem and murder, comes to us from a smash hit oOf-Broadway run. In this hilarious show, two performers play thirteen roles—not to mention the piano—in a witty and winking homage to old-fashioned murder mysteries. You won’t want to miss this killer musical comedy!

Williamstown Theatre Festival, Williamstown, Massachusetts
A Legendary Romance
August 3–20
Visit wtfestival.org for tickets.
Emmy Award winner and Tony Award nominee Lonny Price directs an intimate new musical by composer/lyricist Geoff Morrow and book writer Timothy Prager that delivers us to the intersection of loyalty, love, and ambition. Back in 1950, film producer Joseph Lindy (Jeff McCarthy) was on top of the world, making hit after hit with the love of his life and leading lady, Billie Hathaway (Lora Lee Gayer). Nearly four decades later, retired and forgotten, he must approve for release a version of his abandoned cinematic masterpiece, an autobiographical film now altered irrevocably by a young producer. Haunted by the choices he made years ago, Joseph’s story hangs in the balance as he reconstructs the film, his memory and, ultimately, his legacy.

New Century Theatre, Northampton, Massachusetts
The 39 Steps
August 17–20
Visit newcenturytheatre.org for tickets.
Two parts vaudeville style comedy, one part classic Hitchcock masterpiece, and a dose of edge-of-your-seat spy thriller, The 39 Steps is a raucous whodunit for theatre lovers everywhere. A man with a boring life meets a mysterious woman and is soon embroiled in international espionage culminating in a death-defying finale. This Tony Award winner is a fast-paced delight packed with nonstop laughs and over 150 characters played by just four actors. The New York Times calls it, “Theatre at its finest!... Absurdly enjoyable! This gleefully theatrical riff on Hitchcock's film is fast and frothy." The 39 Steps, with its wildly inventive stagecraft, is an unforgettable evening of pure pleasure.

Theatre Workshop of Nantucket, Nantucket, Massachusetts
Mamma Mia!
July 8–August 26
Visit theatreworkshop.com for tickets.
The international smash hit comes to Nantucket. Featuring the music of pop superstars ABBA, Mamma Mia! follows soon-to-wed Sophie desperately trying to track down her father by asking three men of her mother’s past to return to the magical Greece island where they met. Nominated for five Tony Awards (including Best Musical and Best Book of A Musical), the whole family will fall in love with this irresistible musical.

Barrington Stage Company, Pittsfield, Massachusetts
THIS
August 3–27
Visit barringtonstageco.org for tickets.
A very funny play that received raves when it played Off-Broadway. This captures the hilarious yet touching relationships of a circle of friends as they back their way into middle age.

Company
August 10–September 2
Visit barringtonstageco.org for tickets.
Starring Aaron Tveit, Stephen Sondheim’s Tony-winning, groundbreaking musical is a wildly funny look at relationships. Over a series of dinner parties, dates and conversations with his friends, the perennially single Bobby attempts to understand the pros and cons of marriage and the meaning of the word “commitment.” Featuring a brilliant score by one of the greatest composers of our time.

North Shore Music Theatre, Beverly, Massachusetts
Young Frankenstein
August 15–27
Visit nsmt.org for tickets.
It’s alive! From the creators of Broadway‘s record-breaking musical comedy sensation, The Producers, comes Young Frankenstein, a monster of a hit musical based on Mel Brooks’ classic comedy film masterpiece. This wickedly inspired re-imagining of the legend of Frankenstein is the story of the bright young doctor Frankenstein (that's Fronkensteen) who travels to Transylvania to complete the masterwork of his grandfather by bringing a corpse to life. Young Frankenstein is a scientifically proven, monstrously good time at the theatre.

Gloucester Stage Company, Gloucester, Massachusetts
Out of the Mouths of Babes
August 11–September 2
Visit gloucesterstage.com for tickets.
Four women arrive in Paris for the funeral of the 100-year-old man who loved each of them–at times variously, at times simultaneously. For 24 hours they share his apartment, delicious secrets, and a dead cat.

Rhode Island

Theatre by the Sea, Wakefield, Rhode Island
Beauty and the Beast
July 19–August 12
Visit theatrebythesea.com for tickets.
A family musical based on the 1991 Academy Award-winning animated film, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast follows a young woman who stumbles upon a secluded castle occupied by a monstrous beast and a host of enchanted objects trying to break a witch’s spell before it is too late. It’s a classic story about finding love in the most unexpected places. This eye-popping spectacle has won the hearts of countless audiences worldwide and is filled with unforgettable characters, imaginative sets and costumes, and breath-taking production numbers.

The Producers
August 16–September 10
Visit theatrebythesea.com for tickets.
Theatre By The Sea is thrilled to bring back The Producers, the musical that won 12 Tony Awards more than any other show in history. Based on the hit 1968 film, this Mel Brooks masterpiece is the story of a washed-up Broadway producer and his timid accountant who hatch a scheme to get rich quick by producing a sure-fire flop. It’s a comic tour de force that spoofs the big, old-fashioned Broadway musical while paying tribute to it at the same time. The Producers will leave you laughing out loud!

New Hampshire

Interlakes Summer Theatre, Meredith, New Hampshire
Cats
August 2–13
Visit interlakestheatre.com for tickets.
Nominated for 11 Tony Awards after its Broadway debut, Cats is a musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot, and produced by Cameron Mackintosh. The musical tells the story of a tribe of cats called the Jellicles and the night they make what is known as “the Jellicle choice” and decide which cat will ascend to the Heaviside Layer and come back to a new life.

Gypsy
August 16–20
Visit interlakestheatre.com for tickets.
Gypsy tells the story of the dreams and efforts of one hungry, powerhouse of a woman to get her two daughters into show business. The musical features songs that have become standards of the musical theatre canon, including “Some People,” “Let Me Entertain You,” “Rose’s Turn,” and the show-stopping, “Everything’s Coming Up Roses.” At the heart of the musical is the gregarious Rose, whose journey made critic Frank Rich call Gypsy, “Broadway’s own brassy, unlikely answer to King Lear.”

Peterborough Players, Peterborough, New Hampshire
The Producers
August 2–13
Visit peterboroughplayers.org for tickets.
Want to make it big on Broadway? Produce a stinker of a play! Or at least that is the scheme hatched by a down-on-his-luck Broadway producer, Max Bialystock, and a peculiar accountant, Leo Bloom. Sounds easy, right… but what if the play turns out to be a hit?! Winner of a record 12 Tony Awards, Broadway comes to Peterborough with this gloriously entertaining, insanely funny musical.

The Doctor’s Dilemma
August 16–27
Visit peterboroughplayers.org for tickets.
London's finest physician, at the peak of his career, is on the horns of a dilemma—having discovered a miracle cure for tuberculosis, should he treat a penniless fellow doctor or save a talented yet unscrupulous artist? A keen-eyed examination of medical morals and malpractice, The Doctor's Dilemma is a witty, compassionate and timely classic by master playwright, George Bernard Shaw.

The Barnstromers, Tamworth, New Hampshire
Toward Zero
August 10–19
Visit barnstormerstheatre.org for tickets.
This is Agatha Christie at her best! An elderly widow is murdered at a clifftop seaside house… What is the connection between a failed suicide attempt, a wrongful accusation of theft against a schoolgirl, and the romantic life of a famous tennis player? To the casual observer, apparently nothing. But when a house party gathers at Gull’s Point, the seaside home of the elderly widow, earlier events come to a dramatic head. It’s all part of a carefully laid plan—for murder. Don’t miss this dramatic and highly entertaining who-dunnit—it wouldn’t be summer without Lady Agatha at The Barnstormers!

Driving Miss Daisy
August 24–September 2
Visit barnstormerstheatre.org for tickets.
This iconic tale of pride, changing times, and the transformative power of friendship unfolds as Daisy Werthan, a widowed, well-to-do woman living in mid-century Atlanta, is deemed too old to drive. When her son hires Hoke, an African-American chauffeur, Daisy’s world is turned upside down. What begins as a troubled pairing blossoms into a profound, life-altering friendship that transcends all societal boundaries between them. The Wall Street Journal urged audiences, “Do whatever you have to do to get a ticket.” Driving Miss Daisy is a lovely reminder of the power of human connection.

New London Barn Playhouse, New London, New Hampshire
All Shook Up
August 9–20
Visit nlbarn.org for tickets.
The ultimate jukebox musical, featuring the hip-swiveling melodies of the country’s most iconic rock ‘n’ roll heartthrob. A small-town girl with big dreams joins forces with a motorcycle-riding stranger to bring the power of rock ‘n roll to a sleepy Midwestern backwater. Includes classic tunes like “Heartbreak Hotel,” “Jailhouse Rock”, “Come On, Everybody”, and “Can’t Help Falling in Love”.

On Golden Pond
August 23–September 3
Visit nlbarn.org for tickets.
A funny and bittersweet story about the complex, deeply felt ties binding one American family together. The tranquility of the idyllic New Hampshire lake where Ethel and Norman Thayer have spent the past 48 summers is about to be broken by the arrival of their daughter and her entourage. Love, family, and the passage of time intertwine in this Tony Award-winning play.

Players’ Ring Theatre, Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Living Through
August 18–27
Visit playersring.org for tickets.
A reflection of the simplicity and chaos of family dynamics as the members change from being pieces of a whole into whole pieces on their own. Living Through examines the lines we have to draw when we are in relationships not just with the people we chose to love but with the people we feel obliged to love. The story plays 'jump rope' with the timeline in order to illustrate how everything can change while also remaining exactly the same.

Vermont

Dorset Theatre Festival, Dorset, Vermont
The Legend of Georgia McBride
August 3–19
Visit dorsettheatrefestival.org for tickets.
He’s young, he’s broke, his wife is having a baby. And now, Casey has lost his gig as an Elvis impersonator. When his club brings in a drag act led by Miss Tracy Mills, Casey is given the opportunity to trade one sequined outfit for another. A critic’s pick wherever it plays, this heart-warming, music-filled comedy celebrates finding your own voice and singing your own song.

Weston Playhouse, Weston, Vermont
The Music Man
August 3–19
Visit westonplayhouse.org for tickets.
Follow fast-talking traveling salesman Harold Hill as he cons the townspeople of River City, Iowa, into paying for a boys' band that he has no intention of organizing. But when he falls for Marian, the librarian, his plans to skip town with the cash are foiled and a town is transformed.

Buyer & Cellar
August 10–September 3
Visit westonplayhouse.org for tickets.
Struggling Los Angeles actor Alex More takes a day job in a superstar’s personal mall, gaining insight into the cost of fame, the price of things, and the oddest of odd jobs. A one-man tour-de-force, this hilarious play won multiple awards Off-Broadway and is quickly becoming a favorite of regional theaters nation-wide.

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