Monomoy Theater Company under Francesca James' engaging direction sizzles in delightful, harmonious musicality retelling Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones' fetching tale, "110 in the Shade". Gonna be another hot day in a grassy, Western prairie town, home to the Curry family.  The drought has set in on the plains while impacting more than a few hearts.  H.C. Curry is deeply worried for his unmarried daughter Lizzie...

This year, the annual Pan-Mass Challenge (PMC) will take place on Aug. 5 and 6, and local riders are getting in shape for the event. Cyclists from across the country will be participating in the bike-a-thon, which ranges from 25 to 192 miles, depending on the route. Among those riding this year are Chatham residents Paul Potash and Al Etre and Harwich residents Jennifer Hastings, Melissa Morse and Steven Conne...

“If I can fool a bug, I can certainly fool a man,” said the spider. Just as Mija is determined to save her pig from a slaughterhouse death in the new movie “Okja,” Charlotte the spider is resolute to save Wilbur, the Zuckerman pig, also from becoming a ham. By writing words in her web over Wilbur’s stall in the barn, “Charlotte’s Web” draws attention to Wilbur and makes him the talk of the county. Though my fa...

Seeing the world premiere of a play is not an everyday experience. It can be exciting, especially when the brand-new work is well-written and timely. Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater is known for cultivating new plays by giving playwrights the time and space to workshop their ideas, and WHAT’s stellar world-premiere comedy “The Empaths” is a testament to that process. The irreverent play is co-written by John ...

Over the years, I’ve seen “Legally Blonde: The Musical,” three times. After each performance, I’ve left the theater humming one of the show’s many silly, but catchy tunes. The Academy of Performing Arts’ current production of “Legally Blonde” was no exception. The movie “Legally Blonde” was a box office hit starring Reese Witherspoon in 2001. It spawned a musical, which opened in 2007 on Broadway and ran for a...

CHATHAM – For the past decade, the Monomoy Regional High School Animal Welfare Club (begun at Chatham High School) has been rescuing cats and dogs from abusive owners, neglect and homelessness. The club works exclusively with Pleasant Bay Animal Hospital to provide the best healthcare possible to rescued pets. Paula McMahon, the club’s advisor, says that the public is generally uninformed about what to do if t...

Gavin McNicholl elevates the hilarity to Monomoy Theater's presentation of Georges Feydeau's 1907 French farce "A Flea in Her Ear" in his duel comedic roles of Parisian aristocrat Victor Chandebise and the sad-sack look-a-like bell boy Poche at the Frisky Puss Hotel. Adapted by David Ives for the Chicago Shakespeare Theater in 2006, the University of Hartford Players, with local guest stars Bernard Cornwell an...

Mary Poppins might be the world’s most popular nanny, but she is anything but a lovey-dovey governess. In fact, it’s her firm approach and dry sense of humor that makes her charges feel safe, knowing she has their best interests at heart, even if she doesn’t cater to their every desire. With its strong cast, the all-volunteer Chatham Drama Guild hosts an energetic regional premiere of “Mary Poppins.” And, on open...

When it was suggested she write a book based on her children’s play “The Epic Adventures of Lulu’s Lemonade Stand,” local playwright and director Holly Erin McCarthy didn’t hesitate to say yes. The children's play, starring Rachel Tondreault as Lulu, is playing at the Cape Rep Theatre in Brewster every Tuesday and Wednesday at 10 a.m. through Aug. 31 in the outdoor theater. Surrounded by tall leafy trees, the ...

Monomoy Theater's "On Golden Pond" tackles head-on the hopes, fears, and future of Norman Thayer, a retired English professor on his approaching octogenarian birthday. Terry Layman, veteran of more than 20 Monomoy seasons, perfectly becomes the cantankerous curmudgeon spending one more summer with wife Ethel, played by his real wife, actress Ellen Fiske, at their Maine summer camp. Layman and Fiske are well pa...

You might remember the dramatic rescue in July 2015 of a juvenile great white shark that beached himself on South Beach. Jamison, as the shark was later named, had jumped out of the water to catch a bird and landed on a sandbar. Unable to extricate himself, he eventually washed onto the shore on his back. Beachgoers kept him alive until he could be towed out to sea again by the harbormaster and shark scientist...

Janet M. Daly has just released her second book telling the story of Chatham’s fascinating history through photographs and captions. “Chatham Through Time” (Fonthill Media, 2017) is a companion to Daly’s 2002 book “Chatham,” published as a part of Arcadia Publishing’s Images of America Series. While her first book is a collection of historic photographs, sketches and cartoons ranging from the 1860s to 1962, th...