So Long, 2023: A Year Of Arts In Review

Here we are again, at the end of another year so jam-packed with incredible local theater, music, film and visual arts that we can hardly believe we get to live here, surrounded by so much skill, talent and creativity.

It’s impossible to mention every concert, exhibition or performance which amazed us in 2023. Here are a few which really captured our attention and imagination. We can’t wait to see and hear more from these wonderful creators in 2024.

The year opened with three brilliant January performances of Shakespeare’s “The Winter’s Tale” courtesy of Cape Rep Theatre’s Young Company, known as YoCo. The spectacle that unfolded on Cape Rep’s indoor stage swirled with power, desire, jealousy, betrayal, romance and thrills, not to mention The Bard’s most famous stage direction of all time, “Exit, pursued by a bear.” Cape Rep’s YoCo, made up of students in grades 8 to 12, did its seventh year proud. Congratulations to YoCo, to director and YoCo program director Maura Hanlon, and to Cape Rep for providing free professional theater training to these talented young artists. Other noteworthy events in January included the Creative Arts Center’s Faculty Exhibition and Chatham Bars Inn Winter Art Series, and Cross Rip Gallery’s Pop-Up Show at The 204.

February made up for being the shortest month of the year by bringing a staggering amount of great theater and art to the table. One of the most memorable was “Peter and the Starcatcher” on the Cape Cod Theatre Company/Harwich Junior Theatre stage. The fun, action-packed Peter Pan origin story featured not one, not two, but three mother-daughter duos in the spotlight: Jenn Pina and Xevi Pina-Parker, Jessica and Cora Georges, and Emily Murray and Phoebe Schuessler. Also fantastic was “A Streetcar Named Desire” on The Academy of Performing Arts stage, directed by Academy Artistic Director Judy Hamer. Other February happenings included the Revel in Romance Literary Weekend event at the Wequassett Resort, the Creative Arts Center Photography Exhibition and the Chatham UUMH Art Show.

March 2023 saw even more great performances at the Academy of Performing Arts, which was looking fantastic after the historic building received an extensive makeover. The 24-Hour Play Festival amazed its audience with the skill and creativity of writers, directors and actors given only 24 hours to write, stage and rehearse 10-minute plays. Later in the month, “Somewhere Beyond the Sea” returned to the Academy stage by popular demand. Other events in March included a performance of “Everybody” by Cape Rep Theatre’s 55-and-over Bold Company, or BoldCo, directed by Julie Allen Hamilton, and a concert by talented Nova Scotian sisters Cassie and Maggie MacDonald at The 204 as part of Harwich’s wonderful Cranberry Arts And Music Festival.

In April, ballroom dance studio Adam in Chatham made us proud, taking three pro-am students to Chicago to compete at the esteemed Windy City Open Ballroom competition. Student Avery Lloyd competed in the most advanced category for an amateur competitor. After placing first in her division, she became Windy City Open A-category champion 2023. Student Adele Bloomfield of Orleans came in first in the senior American Rhythm Scholarship. Student Nancy Wight of Brewster came in second in her American Rhythm Championship and third in the six-dance combined American Smooth and Rhythm Championship. Other April events included Pop-Up Practices in Parish Park in Orleans, the Creative Arts Center Student Exhibition, and the Fly Fishing Film Festival at the Chatham Orpheum Theater.

May 2023 saw the triumphant return of the ArtCast column, as well as the Chatham Music Club’s “A Moveable Feast,” a unique concert event to benefit Monomoy Community Services. The unique event consisted of three consecutive pipe organ concerts, each performed in one of three of Chatham’s Main Street churches. Each concert lasted about 30 minutes, with a 30 minute window in between, allowing attendees to make their way to the next venue. Other May happenings included “Silver Threads 2: Get Closer” on the Cape Cod Theatre Company/HJT stage, Mark Roderick’s original adaptation of “Robin Hood” at the Academy of Performing Arts, and Nauset Regional High School’s spring musical “The Drowsy Chaperone” on the Cape Rep stage.

June filled our stages and venues with more performances and exhibitions than a month should be able to hold. Some of our favorites included the return of the Music at the Atwood Summer Concert Series, featuring Vienna, Austria-based fortepianist Daniel Adam Maltz. “Don’t Dress for Dinner” took the Chatham Drama Guild stage, delighting audiences with this comedy of secret lovers and mixed-up alibis. Other events included a Brick Hill House Concert performance by singer and guitarist Liz Simmons and cellist Casey Murray, the Chatham Music Club’s Spring Gala Concert, Galley West Art Gallery’s Spring 2023 Show and the Creative Arts Center’s All-Cape Juried Art Show.

July saw the return of CranFest in the Courtyard, ringing in the concert series’ fifth season in the courtyard of The 204 with southern singer-songwriter Kate Campbell. The Meeting House Chamber Music Festival hosted “A Delightful Conversation among Friends,” a chamber music concert created by artistic director and pianist Donald Enos. Cape Cod Shakespeare Festival returned to Chatham’s Kate Gould Park for a second season with wonderful performances of “Much Ado about Nothing” and “As You Like It.” Other July delights included “Oklahoma!” at the Academy of Performing Arts, “The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane” on Cape Rep Theatre’s outdoor stage and “A Man of No Importance” on the indoor stage, “The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical” at CCTC/HJT, and the return of The Guild of Chatham Painters to the Methodist Church lawn in downtown Chatham.

Summer continued with a host of great August concerts, exhibitions and performances. The experience that stays with me to this day is “The Pianist of Willesden Lane” at Cape Rep Theatre, a deeply affecting and compelling true story of a mother’s survival conveyed by her daughter, and the artistry of a world-renowned classical pianist performing the music of Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Rachmaninoff and more on a Steinway concert grand on Cape Rep’s intimate stage. The production, which featured writer/performer Mona Golabek, left the audience on their feet without a dry eye in the house. The Chatham Drama Guild recreated the feeling of a smoky, sultry speakeasy with the Broadway musical revue “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes,” directed by Deborah Mahaney. “Finding Nemo, Jr.,” directed and designed by Tristan DiVincenzo with musical direction by Marcia Wytrwal, and “Macbeth,” directed by Tess O’Leary, both lit up CCTC/HJT’s summery outdoor stage, as did the wonderful and haunting “Arkansaw Bear.” There are just too many things to mention, but “American Idiot” at the Academy of Performing Arts made a big impression, as did Suede at the Cape Cod Jazz Festival, among many others.

September arrived without any sign of our creative community slowing down whatsoever. A memorable production which stuck with me was The Harbor Stage’s “The Thin Place,” a haunting drama by Lucas Hnath, directed by Jeff Zinn. The Movimento Project dazzled the audience as the dancers took the CCTC/HJT stage. The Cape Cod Chamber Orchestra’s season six kickoff concert "Bridge & Britten" delighted music lovers at the Pilgrim Congregational Church in Harwich Port. Other notable events included September exhibitions at Cross Rip Gallery and Addison Art Gallery, “The Finishing Touch” on the Academy of Performing Arts stage, and “The Pickleball Wars” at Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater, as well as Cape Rep Theatre’s much-loved musical revue “All Our Best.”

Spooky season came howling in with a number of perfect October offerings, including the hilarious Mel Brooks musical comedy “Young Frankenstein!” at CCTC/HJT directed by Robert Wilder and choreographed by Suzette Hutchinson. The Academy of Performing Arts presented a whole new take on a classic tale “Little Red Riding Hood,” featuring singer/songwriter/storyteller Claudia Nygaard and the Academy Players. Accomplished director and actor Jeff Zinn launched a new podcast titled “Gurus: The Story of Acting, from Stanislavsky to Succession.” The Chatham Drama Guild presented “Born Yesterday,” directed by Anna Marie Johansen, and Cape Rep Theatre presented the crowd-pleasing and irresistible “Trish LaRose: Come On-a My House.” At the Chatham Orpheum Theater, a Fly Fishing Film Festival delighted audiences with gorgeous views of fishing in scenic locations around the world.

November saw a disturbing development as fraudulent Cape Symphony Orchestra tickets were discovered on sale across a number of third party vendor websites. To prevent Cape Symphony patrons and others from falling victim to these scams, the Symphony reached out to patrons to make clear that the organization does not sell blocks of tickets to third party sellers. Eventide Theatre Company offered a live radio play of the holiday classic “It’s A Wonderful Life” on the Gertrude Lawrence Stage, and The Chatham Chorale celebrated two great artists, born a century apart, in a pair of concerts titled “The Best of Bach and Schubert.” The Chatham Drama Guild‘s Agatha Christie mystery "The Mousetrap" kept audiences on the edge of their seats, and the Sunday Cabaret Series installment “Holidays Ahead — Fabulous and Festive” delighted those in the mood for holiday merrymaking.

December began with beautiful folk music and charming storytelling as CranFest’s An Evening with John McCutcheon lit up The 204’s stage. Cape Rep Theatre rang in the holiday season with a festive musical revue, “Sing Out! It’s the Season.” The Creative Arts Center’s Holiday and Small Works Sale offered an opportunity to give the gift of a one-of-a-kind work of art, while The Academy of Performing Arts enchanted audiences of all ages with Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Cinderella.” It’s not too late to catch the final performances of CCTC/HJT’s “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” and Cross Rip Gallery’s Color Connections show Outside the Box: Small Works and More is on exhibit through Dec. 31. Don’t miss it!

Bravo, 2023! Thank you and, once again, an enthusiastic standing ovation goes to all of the writers, artists, musicians, actors, tech wizards, costume creators, lighting and sound geniuses, directors, choreographers, singers, dancers, gallery curators, poets, songwriters, stage managers, and all those behind the scenes, including the friends and family members who encouraged them all, enabling such an incredible variety of creativity to be shared throughout the year. We can’t wait to see, hear and experience all you have in store for us in the coming year.

See you in 2024!