John Costa and Michael P. Cartwright star in “The Story of My Life”, presented by MiLo Productions. Photo by Robert Hughes.
MiLo Productions has announced that the intimate musical comedy The Story of My Life, by Drama Desk Award-nominees Neil Bartram and Brian Hill, will be their first stage production, running August 21-23, at Deep River Town Hall Auditorium.
Do you remember the day you met your best friend? The Story of My Life tells the story of two childhood friends and how their friendship profoundly defined their lives. Thomas Weaver is a best-selling, award-winning author. Alvin Kelby was his best friend for 30 years. But time can test the bonds of friendship, and when it does, Thomas calls on the only resource he has — his stories of Alvin — to learn where things went wrong.
A richly melodic musical, The Story of My Life is a soaring tribute to the power of friendship and the people who change our lives forever. BroadwayWorld said “See if you don’t find yourself moved to Google the name of some long-lost friend with whom you simply lost touch. The Story of My Life inspires us to reconnect with those who were part of the earliest chapters of our own life stories.”
Guilford resident Michael P. Cartwright will play Thomas. Cartwright is familiar to local audiences through his appearances at several area theatres. He portrayed the green-tinged title character in Warner Theatre’s Shrek. At West Hartford Community Theatre, he has appeared as Max Bialystock in The Producers and Javert in Les Misérables. He has been seen at Goodspeed Musicals in 1776, and in productions with Summer Theatre of New Canaan, River Rep, Ivoryton Playhouse, and Newington Mainstage, as well as Arden Theatre Company in Philadelphia and Delaware Theatre Company.
The mental health issues addressed in The Story of My Life resonate closely for Cartwright, a clinical social worker for over 25 years, who currently works at Yale-New Haven Hospital.
The role of Alvin will be played by John Costa of New Bedford, Mass. Costa comes to Connecticut directly from the Festival Theatre production of Mary Poppins, where he was featured as Admiral Boom. His regional credits include Goodspeed Musicals (1776), The Huntington Theatre (Pirates!), American Repertory Theatre, NewRep (Ragtime), Lyric Stage Co. of Boston (1776, Big River), and The SpeakEasy Stage Co. (Carrie the musical).
Other credits include Herr Schulz (Cabaret), Cogsworth (Disney’s Beauty and the Beast), Max Detweiller (The Sound of Music), and Amos Hart (Chicago) with New Bedford Festival Theatre; as well as performances with Salem Summer Theatre, Star Players, Little Theatre of Fall River, Sweet Apple, and Big Star Productions.
The Story of My Life features music and lyrics by Neil Bartram and book by Brian Hill. It was produced at The Norma Terris Theatre in Chester, Conn. before making the trip to Broadway in 2009, where it was nominated for four Drama Desk Awards, including Outstanding Musical, and won a Barrymore Award for Outstanding Ensemble.
Bartram and Hill were commissioned to write The Theory of Relativity by Sheridan College in Toronto as a new show specifically for college-age students. It had its London, UK premiere in May of 2014 and its regional theatre premiere at The Norma Terris Theatre in 2015. Bartram and Hill’s musical Not Wanted On The Voyage received a developmental production at Northwestern University’s Barber Theatre as part of the American Music Theatre Project. The pair are currently developing musical adaptations of Disney’s famous Bedknobs and Broomsticks and Ray Bradbury’s cult classic Something Wicked This Way Comes for the stage.
Performances are Friday, Aug. 21 and Saturday, Aug. 22, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, Aug. 23, at 2 p.m. at the Deep River Town Hall Auditorium, located at 174 Main Street. Tickets are $25 for general admission seating and are available at www.milo-productions.com.
The Story of My Life is produced by the Guilford-based MiLo Productions, which also produces the popular local Victorian holiday singing group Connecticut Yuletide Carolers and the Shoreline Cabaret Series.
Come and celebrate the holidays at Cappella Cantorum’s Holiday Festival concert with chorus and brass, Sunday, Dec. 6, at 3 p.m. at John Winthrop Middle School, 1 Winthrop Rd., Deep River.
