documentary playFri-Sun, June 19-21
"Searching for the Soul of the City" takes you on a stroll through the history of Newburyport.
musical theaterFri-Sat, July 24-25 & Thu-Fri, July 30-31 at 8pm
Based on the 1984 hit movie, this high-energy musical will give you happy feet!
musical theaterThu-Sun, August 20-23
The sights and sounds of the classic Dickensian tale come to the Firehouse stage this summer!
Written by Gregory Moss and Stephen Haley Directed by Maureen Daley
June 19-21, Fri-Sat 8pm, Sat-Sun 3pm
BONUS! Preview of Bryon Matthews'
"Newburyport Urban Renewal Project
1968-1977"
Exceptional slide show by former Newburyport Mayor will be shown 30 min. before each showtime.
The Firehouse Center for the Arts is proud to announce the return of an original documentary theater piece titled, The Yankee City Theater Project, “Searching for the Soul of the City.” The Yankee City Theater Project is a multi-media documentary theatre piece chronicling the changes that have swept through the city of Newburyport Massachusetts in the last fifty years. Through interviews with over fifty Newburyport residents from all walks of life, Greg Moss, Stephen Haley, Myron Moss, Maureen Daley and Dylan Fuller have recorded an important, illuminating entertaining piece of oral history. The Yankee City Theater Project traces the historical arc from the initial highly contested reconstruction of Newburyport in the late 60’s to the current debate over land development and use of the waterfront. The play shows Newburyport once again on the edge of a major change.
The play, which features a mix of live actors and videotaped interviews, also tells the story of life on Newburyport’s streets, documenting the slow change from the rougher, more eccentric city of the 70’s into the upscale bedroom community it has become. Newburyport heroes and eccentrics, now gone, are remembered and revisited.
Archival materials, including those of local historian Eloise Hamilton, provide a rich continuous backdrop to the stories that have been collected. The Yankee City Theater Project is a snapshot of a city in progress, an examination of the intersection between civic life and personal recollection. It is a poetic evocation of Newburyport’s multiple histories, both official and unofficial, which conjoin to bring the soul of the city to light.
Also see the diorama model (on loan for this event from the Historical Society of Old Newbury) of what Newburyport would have looked like if the original plan for urban renewal went through: lost buildings and strip malls on State Street might have been our fate!
BONUS! Those individuals who become Firehouse members at the $100 level (or above) during the run of this production will receive the Eloise Hamilton slide show on CD as a special thanks.
This event is presented by the Yankee City Theater Project.
Tickets: Adults $16; Students,Members,Seniors $14
