Production History

Live Arts has a rich performance history.

Take a trip down memory lane and remember those shows that have had lasting impressions on our hearts and our stage. If a link is available, click to see the cast/crew information.

In May 2020, we embarked on a month-long Live Arts theater retrospective called 30in30. Each episode covers one year’s worth of productions in Live Arts’ 30 year history!

Dive into 30in30 here.

2018-2019 Season (Season 28)

RAGTIME

October 5-27, 2018

Based on the Novel by E.L. Doctorow
Directed by Ike Anderson
Musical Direction by Kristin Baltes
Choreography by Heather Powell
Sponsored by Alexander Nicholson
Book by Terrence McNally
Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens
Music by Stephen Flaherty

SPECIAL EVENT: THE RAGTIME AFFAIR

Join us on October 4th and support the new season as we kick off our 28th year of Forging Theater and Community with an exclusive black-tie dinner and preview performance of RAGTIME!

SEVEN HOMELESS MAMMOTHS WANDER NEW ENGLAND

November 16-December 15, 2018

Sponsored by Penny & Tom Howard and Tim McNamara
Written by Madeleine George
Directed by Larry Goldstein

THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME

February 1-17, 2019

Sponsored by Scarpa
A Play by Simon Stephens
Based on the Novel by Mark Haddon
Directed by Bryan Close

THE WOLVES

March 8-30, 2019

By Sarah DeLappe
Directed by Kelli Shermeyer
Sponsored by McGuireWoods and Pamela Friedman & Ronald Bailey

THE BOOK OF WILL

April 12-28, 2019

Sponsored by Bankers Insurance and Auto-Owners Insurance
By Lauren Gunderson
Directed by Boomie Pedersen

THE ROYALE

May 17-June 8, 2019

Sponsored by The Frazier Foundation and George Worthington & Cameron Mowat
By Marco Ramirez
Directed by Leslie Scott-Jones

RENT

July 12-28, 2019

Book, Lyrics, and Music by Jonathan Larson
Directed by Ti Ames

2017-2018 Season

A Delicate Balance

by Edward Albee

October 13–Nov 11
Founders Theater.

“Be prepared for a surprise: an evening of theatrical fireworks that prompt astonished oohs and ahs, genuine laughter and a certain amount of delicious unease.”
– New York Times

Sweet Charity

Music by Cy Coleman, Lyrics by Dorothy Fields, Book by Neil Simon

December 1–January 6
Gibson Theater

“It’s slick, it’s funny, but it is also… nudging us towards a question: how to be good, in a world such as this?”
– The Guardian

Top Girls

By Caryl Churchill

February 2–24
Founders Theater

“A once-daring play has matured over 30 years into a genuine classic, as pertinent and piercing as ever.”
– The Hollywood Reporter

Fun Home

Music by Jeanine Tesori, Book and Lyrics by Lisa Kron

March 9–25
Gibson Theater

“Heart-gripping and cathartic, FUN HOME occupies the place where we all grew up.”
– New York Times

Hand to God

By Robert Askins

April 13–May 5
Founders Theater

“Darkly delightful.”
– New York Times

The Liar

By David Ives, Adapted from the play Le Menteur by Pierre Corneille

May 18–June 3
Gibson Theater

“Ives’s Liar is a treat—and that’s the truth.”
– Entertainment Weekly

2016-2017 Season

by Stefanie Zadravec
October 14 to November 5, 2016
Presented by Silverchair
Six characters, three stories, and only the mysterious moon floating through her magical phases sees them all. One life-changing coincidence later, their journeys begin that curious braiding that can connect each of us to all of us, and make every strand stronger. Together and separately they search—for their destiny, for forgiveness, for acceptance, and finally, perhaps, just for a moment’s peace together. While they search, old tales are told, folk remedies are shared, and always, the Baby glows.

GUYS AND DOLLS

Music and lyrics by Frank Loesser; Book by Jo Swerling & Abe Burrows; Based on story & characters by Damon Runyon
December 9, 2016 to January 15, 2017
Presented by Old Dominion Bank
Sit Down, Live Arts will be Rockin’ the Boat all night long with our own, no-holds-barred take on this treasured musical, as Sarah and Sky, Nathan and Adelaide navigate their way into safe harbors against odds high enough to scare away even Big Julie. Whether you’d rather Follow the Fold or sit in on the Oldest, Established, Permanent Floating Crap Game in New York, there’s a place for you in Damon Runyon’s Manhattan love story. Join us for a high octane evening full of the music you love and the story with the happy ending only Broadway could provide.

WELL

by Lisa Kron
February 3 to February 25, 2017
Presented by Lisa Grant and Tim McNamara
I want to figure some things out, that’s all. I love you, so I need to understand. Why do some get well and others, not? Is it a chance, or a choice? And that patient who became the healer for her world—how did she do that? What is the connection between treatment and getting better? And Mother, will you please, for one minute, just shut up! Sorry, I do love you, but they don’t need a drink, they don’t need a snack, they just need to help me. I’m trying to figure this out and you’re so distracting. I know I can do this, I know how to do it, and as soon as I figure it out, I’ll be able to…

PETER AND THE STARCATCHER

written by Rick Elise, composed by Wayne Barker, based on the novel by Dave Barry & Ridley Pearson
March 10 to March 26, 2017
Presented by Woodard Properties and Sponsored by Alexander Nicholson
The Boy had no home, no friends. He even got his name by accident. All the grownups he knew lied (no wonder he won’t grow up!). The Girl is an apprentice Starcatcher who tells great bedtime stories. They share the starstuff adventure with pirates, mermaids, islanders who hate the English but love gourmet pasta, and Queen Victoria (God Save Her!). Come along while we turn the story you’ve known all your life into a whole new-yet-familiar adventure.

THE REALISTIC JONESES

by Will Eno
April 21 to May 13, 2017
Presented by Susan Jacobson and Norm Oliver
Simple conversations, complex communication; minor irritations, major confrontations; everyday affection, transcendent love. Winner of two Drama Desk Special Awards and nominated for three Drama League Awards in 2014, Will Eno’s poignant look at everyday people is full of gentle humor and wry commentary on how we deal with our own mortality. The Joneses (both couples) are doing their very best to navigate modern life in all its glorious everyday chaos, while fighting for the quiet time and inner space to make sense of it all. This play will warm your heart and break your heart, showing that there is somebody’s hero in each of us, even though none of us can be heroic all the time. And as long as we stick by each other, we don’t have to be.

DEATH OF A SALESMAN

by Arthur Miller
May 19 to June 4, 2017

Willy Loman is just an ordinary, hardworking American man, trying to hold it all together. His grown sons, Biff and Happy, are up for anything, it seems, except working hard. Meanwhile, their mother, Willy’s wife Linda, strives to keep the family from falling apart.

In Arthur Miller’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, the family-man who fought for everything is on the edge of losing it all, and now more than ever “attention must be paid.”