When one hears the title “world’s longest-running musical,” Broadway blockbusters like “The Phantom of the Opera” and “Cats” come to mind. Surprisingly, “The Fantasticks” was never on Broadway but still claims the title, after running for 42 years off-Broadway, starting in 1960. This summer, the Academy of Performing Arts is paying homage to the staying-power of the musical with a heartfelt production. Mak...

On Friday night, Aug. 3, the Melody Tent in Hyannis was filled to bursting with Baby Boomers. Very, very happy Baby Boomers. They had gathered for what the Tent had promoted as “An Evening with Tommy James and The Shondells and Herman’s Hermits starring Peter Noone.” Many in this audience came to the Tent as retirees and grandparents – and left as youngsters, if only for a couple of magic hours. It was Noon...

This summer, audiences can sail the seven seas while learning all about the pirate code at the Cape Rep Theatre’s “How I Became a Pirate.” The Rep is home to the only outdoor theater on Cape Cod, making their childrens' shows a fun outdoor activity for the whole family. The performing arts center was converted out of a childrens' camp, so the stage is set in the middle of a clearing. The outdoor scenery gives ...

Nietzsche might have said, “God is dead,” but at Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre, she is alive and has something to say, in the irreverent comedy “An Act of God,” written by playwright David Javerbaum. The show opens with a part-game-show-part-talk-show vibe. Being momentarily housed in “the toffee-colored” body of Lynnette R. Freeman (which is the name of the actress playing the part), God has taken a human f...

Phil Rittner's rock music and Teddy Yudain's gigantic flesh-eating puppet have taken over the Monomoy Theater in a wretchedly bewitching musical playing all week. Being green has been tainted by a terrifying plant with dreadful eating habits. No cousin to a cuddly sing-along frog named Kermit brought to life by the late master puppeteer Jim Henson. Audrey II is no Muppet! She commands center stage with shark-like...

“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood.” So begins Robert Frost’s famous 1916 poem “The Road Not Taken.” Wouldn’t it enhance Frost’s poem if you could read it while standing in a picturesque wood? Since mid-June you can. This and 27 other poems—half for adults, half for young readers—are set out on Chatham’s first Poetry Walk thanks to a collaboration between the Eldredge Public Library (EPL) and the Chatham ...

CHATHAM — Two of Chatham’s long-time summer residents will sign their new books, an allergy-free cookbook and a young adult novel, this week. At the age of 14, Catherine Walker has published a cookbook, “Cook It Up: Delicious Recipes for Healthy Cooking” (Bookbaby, 2018) made up of about 75 recipes that she wrote. Walker, who lives in Hudson, Ohio, also cooked the food, plated it, staged it and photograph...

The day a professional puppeteer brought Audrey II, the alien plant that is the villain in “Little Shop of Horrors,” to life during the Monomoy Theatre's rehearsals for the musical was “like having the final cast member show up,” said director Marsha Korb Predovic. The giant plant, created by Monomoy veteran Dennis Predovic – who will also voice the character – not only has to talk and sing like the rest of th...

A middle-aged man wearing a striped polo and khaki shorts was strolling through the farmers' market in Brewster. He passed stalls of vegetables, looked at the honey, and after he passed a display of local yarn he did a double take. He had just seen a sign advertising fresh lobsters for $8 a pound. “Are you here all the time?” he asked. Tyler Daley, captain of the lobster boat Dorothea Isabel, was sitting...

HARWICH – Cape Cod has been home to many bands in the past, and one struggling to make a name for itself is Canon Hill. Around since 2013, the band has changed its lineup several times in its four-year history, but the two constants have been vocals and lead guitarist Logan Tichnor and drummer Ben Hayden. “Me and Ben were in eighth grade,” said Tichnor, “and Ben was in a band, but then he wasn't in a band anym...

Elements Theater Company is doing what it does best in Noël Coward’s “Blithe Spirit,” with spot-on accents, perfect diction and impeccable attention to historical detail. Written during World War II, the comedy of manners was an effort by the playwright to provide a lighter perspective on death by borrowing elements from the supernatural and romantic comedy. The play opens on wealthy couple Ruth and Charles Co...

Trouble just seems to follow Tom Sawyer, and Tom doesn’t seem to want to steer clear of it either. Aunt Polly has her hands full raising both Tom and his brother Sid. The mischievous child is always in the middle of one pickle or another. He’s late for school, never finishes assignments, explores where he’s not supposed to go and sneaks around all with a twinkle in his eye and a tick in his pocket. When one of...