Northshore Magazine

May/June 2012

Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.

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D Driving through its mostly residential neighborhood, you might never imagine that the Gorton Theatre, an unremarka- ble-looking one-story brick building, has for the past three decades been debuting plays that go on to critical and popular acclaim on Broadway, off-Broadway, and stages throughout the world. Despite the slab floor left over from the build- ing's brief stint as a car dealership and the cinder block walls that hearken back to its original days as a fish storage ware- house, this theater at 267 East Main Street, abutting Rocky Neck Cove, is home to the renowned Gloucester Stage. Founded in 1979, Gloucester Stage originally made its home at the Blackburn Tavern under the artistic direction of internationally known playwright Israel Horovitz. A summer resident of Glouces- ter, Horovitz is largely responsible for challenging the Gloucester Stage audience throughout his 25-year reign with 33 world premieres and 40 American premieres, 25 of which took place in New England. "Israel used this as his proving ground," says Andrew Burgreen, general manager of Gloucester Stage, pointing to plays such as The Indian Wants the Bronx, Line, and Sins of the Mother to highlight Horovitz's special brand of brilliance. It is no wonder, then, that by 1986, this theater with such critical acclaim had outgrown its birth place. That same year, the Gorton Seafood building became the next venue in which Gloucester Stage would further make its own mark on Cape Ann's cultural scene. Over time, extensive renovations have slowly turned the space from fish locker into a full working theater, albeit one that carries its share of visual re- minders of the cost of running a non-profit arts organization in 2012. The seats—all 190 of them—are haphazardly upholstered and tatty, though still endearing. 152 Not surprisingly, Eric Engle, Gloucester Stage's artistic director since Horovitz retired from the position half a dozen years ago, has the same sort of charm that his favorite summer enterprise displays. As director of Harvard University's Memorial Hall/Sanders Theatre and College Theater Venues in the Office for the Arts at Harvard, and having directed over 85 productions at various theaters throughout the Bos- ton area in the past 25 years, he is quick to deflect the spotlight and attribute Glouces- ter Stage's reputation for innovation to its audience. "Our audience is smart," says Engle. "[So] we try to do creative inter- pretations of underrepresented musicals, because they insist on that…[they're] open to being told each story in a fresh way." A man of his word, Engle is bringing the rarely performed Carnival to Gloucester Stage this season. Last year, his pick was Frank Loesser's The Most Happy Fella. That Engle is hitting the mark as suc- cessfully as ever, albeit uniquely—musicals have only been cropping up on the play list since his reign as artistic director began— has recently been validated by the seven Independent Reviewers of New England nominations that Gloucester Stage has re- ceived for last year's production of The Most Happy Fella, in addition to three more for Living Together and three for Nine Circles.)

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