Summer Season Is Flush With Music & Theater

By JOANNE BRIANA-GARTNER

Music and theater  will dominate the cultural scene this summer, offering something for everyone with a wealth of choices ranging from classical music to recent Broadway hits. While the Lower Cape has been well known for years for its arts and entertainment scene, the Upper and Mid-Cape certainly holds their own in terms of both quality and quantity. Below is a sampling of the many offerings for this coming summer season.

 

The College Light Opera Company (CLOC) will open its 56th season on Tuesday, June 18, with the Lerner and Loewe classic “Brigadoon.”

The company, which is made up of college students from across the country, comes together every summer to present nine musicals in nine weeks. Among CLOC’s goals is to expose the company to a variety of musical genres from operetta to the golden age of musicals, Broadway shows, concept musicals and more.

The season continues with Gilbert & Sullivan’s “Iolanthe” opening on June 25, followed by Irving Berlin’s “Holiday Inn” on July 2. 

Everything’s coming up roses on July 9 with the opening of “Gypsy,” followed by “The New Moon,” an enchanting and rousing musical by Sigmund Romberg and Oscar Hammerstein, opening on July 16. 

“Little Shop of Horrors,” a premiere for the CLOC company, opens on July 23, followed by a sendup of all things aesthetic with Gilbert & Sullivan’s “Patience” on July 30. “Legally Blonde,” another CLOC premiere, opens on August 6 and the season concludes with Stephen Sondheim’s Tony Award-winning musical “A Little Night Music,” opening August 13. Individual, season, and flex ticket options are available through CLOC’s website.

 

 

Cape Symphony’s concert season runs from September through June but the organization is anything but quiet during the summer months.

The Symphony’s summer lineup includes weekly jazz concerts in Dennis, a free July 4 concert in Barnstable as part of the town’s Independence Day celebration, an August tribute to the music of the Everly Brothers, the Barry Sisters, Les Paul and Mary Ford and an August 18 appearance of the Cape Symphony Orchestra and Livingston Taylor at the Melody Tent in Hyannis.

The Symphony’s summer highlight will be “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back in Concert,” July 27 and 28 at the Barnstable Performing Arts Center in Hyannis. Both evenings will feature John Williams’s Grammy-winning score performed live to the film. Tickets to Cape Symphony events are available through its website as well as at its box office, 2235 Iyannough Road in West Barnstable.

 

 

 

The Cape Playhouse in Dennis will present four musicals and one stage play over the course of its 2024 season starting with “Tick, Tick … Boom!” the semi-autobiographical musical written by Jonathan Larson, the composer who also wrote “Rent.” The show will be performed June 5 through June 15.

Inspired by the music of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins, “Million Dollar Quartet” will be performed June 19 through July 6.

Opening July 10 and running through August 3, the playhouse will present the Tony and Grammy Award-winning musical, “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.”

Based on a quirky 2007 cult film enhanced with words and lyrics by pop star-turned-Broadway composer Sara Bareilles, the Cape Playhouse will present “Waitress” August 7 through August 24. The show is an uplifting and inspiring musical celebrating friendship, motherhood, and the magic of a well-made pie.

Wrapping up the season will be “The 39 Steps,” a comedic take on the Alfred Hitchcock classic. The show opens August 28 and runs through September 7.

Tickets can be purchased through the playhouse website.

Summer at the Cotuit Center for the Arts will include indoor performances on both the main stage and the Vivian and Morton Sigel Black Box Theater as well as performances outdoors in the center’s John Weltman Outdoor Performance Pavilion. Highlights of the summer season include the one-woman play “The Playground” written by local playwright Jim Dalglish; “Silver Threads,” a tribute to the music of Linda Ronstadt; and “Little Shop of Horrors,” opening July 10 on the center’s main stage. 

Other musical performances will include Kim Moberg on August 3, Sara Sneed and Pat Ryan on July 28, Suede July 22 and 23, Kemp Harris on July 13 and Twisted Pine on July 29.

Arthur Miller’s classic, “Death of a Salesman” opens August 8 in the center’s black box theater.

Classical music at the Cotuit Center includes the Ying Quartet on August 6, while jazz performances include “A Tribute to Horace Silver” featuring Joe Mongelli, Scott Avidon, Matt Hutchinson, Mike Ryle and Michael Dunford on August 4 and Tish Adams and Mike Flanagan will make their Provincetown Jazz Festival debuts by performing at the center on August 12.

 

ArtsFalmouth will hold Arts Alive 2024 the weekend of June 14, 15, and 16 on the Falmouth Public Library lawn. The three-day event will celebrate the performing, visual and literary arts as well as Juneteenth, Father’s Day and Pride Month. The weekend typically opens with a townwide dance on Friday night followed by two days of art and performances. All events are free and open to the public. 

 

The 33rd Woods Hole Film Festival runs from July 27 through August 3 and will include feature-length films, documentaries, shorts and animation. Live music, workshops and audience talk backs are also part of the festival. Screening venues in Woods Hole will include the Clapp Auditorium (formerly Lillie Auditorium), Marine Biological Laboratory, 7 MBL Street; Redfield Auditorium, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 45 Water Street; and Woods Hole Community Hall, 68 Water Street. Another venue will be Falmouth Academy, 7 Highfield Drive in Falmouth. Festival selections can also be viewed virtually. Last year’s festival included 45 feature-length and 76 short films culled from more than 1,000 submissions. Options for single-purchase tickets and festival passes can be found online. The festival lineup will be announced later in the year.

Bands for Badges, a music festival created to raise money for local firefighters, police officers, EMS personnel and military in need, will take place on August 31 at the Cape Cod Fairgrounds in East Falmouth. In addition to music, the family-friendly event will feature food trucks, face painting, a bouncy house and more. Advance tickets can be purchased at bandsforbadges.com.

 

Headlining this year’s Coast-Fest on August 3 will be the Cape-based rock band Crooked Coast along with Andy Frasco & The U.N. The festival will take place at the Lin Whitehead Bandshell in Falmouth, adjacent to the Falmouth marina. Also performing will be The Ries Brothers (rock/jam), Hunter Root (alt country/rock), Copilot (Americana/pop) and Küf Knotz & Christine Elise (hip-hop/rhythm & blues).

Coast-Fest is an all-ages event. A portion of proceeds from the event will benefit the Falmouth Education Foundation. Tickets are available at www.coast-fest.com.