 Portland Rising, the monthly news entertainment and interview program presented by the Portland Phoenix, your weekly alternative independent newspaper and website. The Phoenix has always had a great interest in covering the arts and entertainment, both fine arts, theater and music. And today we're gonna take a look at with two of our critics, Megan Grumbling and Sam Feifel at the, at what's coming up this summer, what to look forward to as these arts programs recover from what is a terrible year from the pandemic. And at first I'd like to welcome Megan Grumbling. Megan is our longtime theater critic as well as a writer and teacher. So welcome, Megan, how are you today? Thank you so much for joining us. Thanks for having me, Mary, and I'm glad to be here. I'm doing well and I'm excited for some more theater to be happening than we've had over the last year. Great, well, why don't you tell us about that? What are the highlights for you as you look forward? Yeah, so as you said, the last year has been a struggle and a lot of theaters have adapted in various ways. And we've seen a lot of sort of pivoting to online filmed theater that is then available for streaming. And we are gonna continue to see some of that as theaters are playing a little bit safe. There's a lot of, there's a, that takes a time to plan for this stuff. So some theaters have been playing it safe and they're planning. And so we'll see some continue to be online as well as some theaters opening up their doors at full capacity and some outdoor theater returning. So we'll have kind of a variety of approaches this summer. But here are some highlights. So one is Port Fringe, which is turning 10 years old this year, which is really exciting. And Port Fringe, not theater, exactly. It's fringe, which means that it is kind of edgy out of the box. You don't know what you're gonna get. All kinds of weird stuff. And they are one of the events or organizations that have been playing it safe and they've put the whole festival online. And you can watch these short works. There will be 21 of them for Port Fringe 21. And you can see them in seven different programs that have been curated. So those will be online from June 11th through June 19th along with, you can watch these in a sort of live watch party situation with live chats and Q&A. So they're really doing a lot to cultivate that sense of community that has long been a part of Port Fringe on the ground. So that is something I really suggest everybody check out. And another long time festival that's gonna be happening a little bit after that is the Main Playwrights Festival, which is in its 19th year now. So this is a really longstanding celebration of main writers. And they have also opted to go all online. And what they've done is they have five short plays that are being fully rehearsed and fully staged. And then they've been collaborating with local filmmakers to bring you the festival safely and online. So that's gonna be happening from June 21st through July 11th. And again, a great way to support local, local theater writers as well as local filmmakers. So interesting to see collaborations like that happening as a result of the pandemic. And it will be more interesting too to see if any of this sticks in terms of collaborations and multidisciplinary fun once we're out of the pandemic. But some more traditionally structured and produced stuff will also be happening. So if you've been craving some outdoor theater and a grass with a picnic, we have options coming up for that, including I'm happy to report the return of the Phoenix Theater Company. That's F-E-N-I-X, Phoenix. And they've been around for many years doing great work in Dearing Oaks Park. And they're gonna be producing this year the Comedy of Errors, Shakespeare. So that'll be running July 8th through 31st. Always fun to take a picnic in the park for that. And the Ziggurat Theater has long been doing works outdoors as part of the Camden Shakespeare Festival. And they will be doing a show that I saw several years ago called Aquitania, which is a great show full of like sort of magic and myth and parallel adventures and a board game and all kinds of crazy stuff, wonderful costumes. And they'll be doing a series of outdoor events both in Camden and around the state, including in Bowdoinham, Bath, Monson, and possibly hopefully Portland. So that's a little bit TBD, but you can check out Ziggurat Theater and find that lineup. So summer is usually the season of outdoor of Lake Frolickson Theater, but because of the deprivation we've had of drama over the last year indoors, I'm excited to see some drama, a work of drama coming indoors. And that will be the first play back on stage of Portland Players, which is the oldest theater company in Portland, longest running. And that is gonna be Yasmina Reza's God of Carnage, which is this show about how chaotic and devolved human beings can be. So if you're looking for a little bit of that after the last year for catharsis purposes, that's gonna be running from June 11th through 26th at Portland Players. And they're doing reduced capacity still for seating as far as I know. So we'll be showing that in buying tickets in positive two. And then we've got the indoor musicals. So musicals are your thing. That's coming back as well. And a lot of that's gonna be at full capacity. So main state music theater is a big musical draw in the summer and they're gonna be doing kind of a bunch of different things. One is some co-productions with Portland Stage Company, which they've done in the past and they're doing two this year. One is they're both jukebox numbers. So kind of vehicles for music you may know and love. One by the Everly Brothers, that's called Dream, was running in July. And the other is Ring of Fire, which is of course Johnny Cash, which is running in August. The Everly Brothers one is gonna be running in Brunswick and the Portland Stage Company Theater will be running Ring of Fire. Both of those will be at full capacity as far as I know. So lots of tickets to be had. And then the Gungo Playhouse, of course, a very old, back to the barnstorming days of musicals, they're gonna be doing, that they amazingly constructed this full outdoor theater, which is open air but roofed. So their shows will be in this outdoor theater, which is called the Leary Pavilion. And tickets being sold in pods, they're starting off with a jukebox show called Escape to Margaritaville, Jimmy Buffett. So that's a little bit in the musical department. And I have one more virtual thing that I think I'm really excited about and it is the return of Blooms Day. You know, Blooms Day, that's the celebration of James Joyce's Ulysses. You ever tried to read it? You know that it is not the easiest read. I once asked somebody if they'd ever read Ulysses and he said, I've read the words. And if you have read the words and not quite known, if you understood the words, this is the events because it is Ulysses for Beginners and the American Irish Repertory Ensemble with artistic director Tony Riley, who is an amazing actor, writer, producer, director, human being, much loved in Portland. And he is the writer of this show and it will kind of take you through the ABCs in the very user-friendly and enjoyable fashion. And it is gonna be happening online through the main Irish Heritage Center, which is right here in the West End. And you can show up wearing your best Blooms Day attire. You're invited to do that. That might include cooking a kidney and drinking some ale while you do. So those are some of my highlights and yeah, hoping to see some folks out there at some shows. Megan, that sounds great. How exciting to be looking forward to all those shows and cover so many bases in a short period of time. Those all sound great. Thank you so much. And now I'd like to turn it over to Elizabeth Clemente who's going to be talking to Sam Feifel about what's on board for music this summer. Elizabeth? Yes, thank you, Mary, and so much. That was great, Megan. Obviously just discussed what's happening in theater here, but a huge part of the Portland art scene is music. So Sam, what can you tell us as the world reopens? What can we expect in the realm of live music here this summer? Hey, Liz, great to be here. Thanks for having me. You know, I would love to be able to answer that question super confidently, but I think it's gonna be a little bit of a, hiccups and starts and stops to live music, seeing what people want to do and how people are going to kind of engage with live music again, because so much of the concert experience is being pressed up against the front of the stage. I think about Thompson's point or I think about Geno's or I think about wherever I go, part of the fun is that whole snake through the crowd to find your exact spot and try not to be in front of a shorter person, but you're sort of scooching into your little territory and it's kind of fun being amongst people. And I think that's part of that live music experience, especially at a rock show or a hip hop show, is the all doing things at the same time. And we're gonna have to see if having a person right here is still comfortable for people. I think I'm gonna be okay with it. I actually did a little dry run and I ate at the bar at Taco Esco bar last week with no mask on and nobody else had a mask on and it felt frickin' great to just be at a bar and drink and talk to people and talk to the bartender. So I think people, some people are gonna be there with masks on and some people are going to be just ready to rock and roll. And I think some people are going to kind of stay out at the back. I expect the outdoor shows to kind of be the first ones that people feel comfortable in a crowd. So, you know, Thompson's Point gets kicked off on July 30th with a Nathaniel rate lift and that sold out like in a minute. And then, you know, Leg Street Dive is on August 21st. Boom, that was gone in like two days. So it seems like people are comfortable with Thompson's Point. If you wanna know about a show that, you know, you actually can still get tickets to, you can go see Jason Mraz on August 25th or on August 24th. And then right after that is Wilco and Slater Kinney, which is, I don't know, pretty much dream come true for me having gone to college in 1993 when those bands were hot as hell. I'm really excited to go see that. And then actually, I think the best show so far that's been booked in Maine is the St. Vincen show on September 3rd, which I'm gonna count as still summer. I think that show is gonna be amazing. I saw her at Austin City Limits two years ago, three years ago and she puts on a super freaky show like costumes and weird stuff and, you know, people in the back with like, you know, no clothes on. So I highly, highly recommend the St. Vincent show. And then also Maine State, Maine Savings Pavilion. I have to say it every time I call it Rock Row. I don't know if that's like an illegal name. Sorry, Maine Savings, whatever you are. I don't even know if that's a bank or a place, but they have a cool show coming that I think I might go to just cause, I'm a huge Almond Brothers fan. I used to, you know, just as a guitar player, you know, Dicky Betts was a big hero of mine and just love, you know, guitar bands in general. They have this spirit of the South tour that's coming to the Rock Row where there's like a mobile Almond Brothers museum that you can go to and has all this, you know, Greg and Dwayne Almond, paraphernalia and, you know, so it should be pretty cool. And Blackberry Smoke is actually playing. And then there's an Almond Betts fan that has like some of the kids of the Almond Brothers and Dwayne Betts or Dicky Betts. I give them all next up. So I'm not gonna know the names exactly. But so then also right after them, they have a Brothers Osborn show on July 31. And, you know, I think that like country solo cup kind of thing is gonna be pretty fun this summer. So encourage people to go there. Although there, I noticed that their tour slogan is that we're not for everyone. So which I thought was interesting, you know, like telling people don't come to our show and I haven't really seen that very much. But so that'll be fun. But, you know, maybe people want to be indoors, not everybody loves being out in the sun. So, you know, Aura is actually, I think maybe getting kicked off the first with a June 18 show inside with Love by Numbers and Sarah Halle Richardson and the Amorantos Quartet. And, you know, that's very much a more sit-down sort of show. Then after that, they have Zema Libre, which is a dance band on June 25th. They have Sons of Almond, which is a local country band on July 2nd. They have Mercilago, a heavy rock band on July 9th. And then they even have like a Stones cover band on the 16th. So they've got like their Fridays, I think those are all locked down. And, you know, those will be fun. But I think that's where the, well, are people going to want to go inside and like get sweaty with Zema Libre? That's gonna, you know, I'll be super interested in that. The State Theater is a little bit slower to put indoor shows in. Their first one is Melissa Etheridge on August 31st. And so I think they're taking a little bit more of a wait and see unlike Aura, which is kind of driving right in. But, you know, once September hits, they've got a bunch of stuff. They've got lettuce, they've entered the Haggis. They have Dr. Dog, which is their sort of farewell tour. So, you know, there's some great stuff coming up, for sure. You know, and I think it'll just be, do they really want to go? That's gonna be the curiosity for me. Right, for sure. And for people that maybe are a little bit apprehensive about the bigger venues, you know, Thompson's Point State Theater, Aura, things like that. What's going on in the smaller venues in Portland? Cause those are obviously another big draw to the scene here, being a little more intimate, kind of cozy. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, that's always, you know, that's, that's my, you know, local music jam. That's where I spend most of my time. I think they're all kind of doing a little bit of a different vibe. They're easing into it, you know, Portland House of Music's first thing is been, is now on the table. They are, July 9th is their first show with the Maine Dead Project, which is sort of like the house band at Portland House of Music. They're there all the time. They're comfortable people, the people who go see the Maine Dead Project will go see them anywhere. So I think that's a smart move. And then after that, the next show they have on the calendar is August 7th. So there's a whole month gap in there. And I think they're probably going to fill in local shows, assuming everything goes well on July 7th. Blue is kind of the same way. They've got some jazz bands. They've got something booked for June 19th with Taylor O'Donnell, which is more of a singer-songwriter-y thing. Then they have Michael Bailing who's a jazz player on July 3rd. So there's a gap in there. You know, it's not the calendars and filled in. Suntiki, their first show is with The Worst, which I, you really should go see them. They are awesome. It's a big throwback to, you know, kind of grunge fun with Brook Binion as the lead. They're starting off August 6th. So that's still, you know, a good month, two months away. And then the first show that I can see at Geno's is September 25th with The Lowered, which is kind of a doom-medley sort of thing. But I would be shocked if all of those places didn't start filling things in as long as things go well, right? So I think all of them are really reticent to like jam the calendar and then have to cancel stuff again, because that's, you know, I think they'll just be too disappointed if they have to cancel a second time. So I think, you know, I would encourage people, if you want to see live music, go to some of these early shows and show them that, you know, the money's there. For sure. And you obviously have a lot of music knowledge. Is that Geno's show in September, your first planned concert, or are you going to go? I think I'll see something before September 23rd. I actually really wanted to go see Lake Street Dive and completely blew it, getting tickets. So I'm probably going to go to that Wilco show with Slater Kinney in August, but I'll go to something before that and my band is playing some like gazebo shows and that kind of thing. But in terms of like a ticketed show, that might be the first one or there's, you know, some festivals and things around the state that I'm looking at. So, you know, we'll see what happens. Awesome. Yeah. I was also hoping for Lake Street Dive. I don't know why I thought I had a prayer of getting tickets to that, but for some reason I did. So, you know, looking at the statewide level, what do we have outside of Portland going on? Yeah, I would totally encourage people to travel because I think that's where some of the most laid back stuff is going to happen without the kind of crush of people in Portland. One of the coolest things that I think hopefully I haven't missed out on it is the Mallard Brother Band are going to release their new record, Gold Light up at Bissell Brothers Milo Brewery which is in Piscataquist County, you know, Good Solid Drive from Portland. They have two shows, July 2nd and 3rd. I know that July 2nd one is sold out as of this taping on June 10th. And hopefully the July 3rd one, I can grab some tickets to Bissell is brewing up a special Gold Light beer that they're going to release with the album released, which is super cool. And I'm just imagining, I haven't been there, but I'm imagining the setting is awesome. And then the Mallards are also going to be at this Moosehead music festival, which I think is brand new, just sort of as a response to COVID. That's July 23 through 25. The Mallards are there with their dad, David Mallet. Don Campbell is there. The Boneheads are getting back together to play that show. That's like, it feels like really defiant. It's like all these kind of older sort of veteran main musicians that are like, I'm going to just play a fricking show. I don't care, you know? So I think that would be super fun if you want to drive up to Greenville at Moosehead. There's the Bluegrass festivals are coming back, which we've really missed. Blistered Fingers return to Litchfield Fairgrounds on June 17. They've got a great lineup of classic Bluegrass. That's something that I may hit. They also are going to, I think reprise it in August. So be on the lookout for that. There's even a reggae festival at Pointe Cebego on June 12th. Probably most people saying this have already missed it, but like, I guess there are reggae festivals at Pointe Cebego, but I had never heard of that before. And I was like, oh, great, awesome, you know? There's even a River Rock Festival, July 2nd and 3rd at Sunday River and Bethel, which is Christian Rock, I guess, which seem, I don't know, they have like good posters and it seems like the tickets are expensive. I know almost nothing about Christian Rock, but it seems like, hey, if this is your thing, it'll be a big deal. Kind of similarly, there's a big jam band festival at Thomas Pointe Beach I haven't seen before. I would encourage people to look that up. It's got Kung Fu and Echoes of Floyd. And I imagine the dispensaries will do very good business right before that festival, people are jamming out. So, you know, I would just encourage people to get out of the state. I think these outdoor festivals are gonna be really chill. Bands are desperate to play, you know? That doesn't mean venue bookers that we wanna play for free, but it does mean that we will bust our butts playing because I know I am, I know everybody I know is just super excited to play for fans again. Playing to a live stream sucks. Getting zero feedback when you finish your song, it's worse than recording because you're just like, it's like silence. And you're like, I don't know, was that good? Maybe it sucked, I don't know. So, just that crowd feedback, I know that bands are gonna be fired up for it. And hopefully people are super supportive and just realize that, you know, we don't have like a divine right to live music and it can be taken away from us for 18 months. And, you know, if you want it, you gotta go out there and support it. Really, you know, buy a couple extra beers for your friends or whatever. Let's get these venues, you know, back to soldier, that'd be great. Absolutely, well Sam, thank you so much. I know I for one am so excited and music is a huge part of the summer. So, sounds like people have to look forward to and now I will send it back to Marion. Thank you so much. That was great, Sam, wonderful. And we're looking, it's really great to see what's going on and to talk about and hear how much is gonna be happening and in recovery as we move into live entertainment. So thank you, Sam and Megan for doing this show and helping us see what's going on out there. And reminder, we do these Portland Rising shows every month and please, and they are sponsored by the Phoenix. And so look for the Phoenix newspaper at your newsstand and wherever free newspapers are available and also on the website at portlandfenix.me. Thank you very much to Leslie and Josh at Portland Media Center for orchestrating this show. And we will see you all in July. Thank you very much. -♪ On the way of a small land, I told something further.