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Almost Maine question

  • 1.  Almost Maine question

    Posted 01-30-2015 10:37
    I see many of you have put on this great show-my question is how you handled the final scene in a high school setting? Did you have the kids strip down to the long underwear? And if so-what was the general response? ------------------------------ Nancee Beilgard Lawrence KS ------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: Almost Maine question

    Posted 01-30-2015 13:46

    My kids stripped to red long johns and it was pretty hilarious. The kids were more hesitant about the kissing then the stripping. The audience loved it and I didn't get any negative feedback. I am in California's Bay Area, so your location might make all the difference.

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    Joyce Thrift
    Theater Teacher
    West Contra Costa Unified School Distric
    Hercules CA
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  • 3.  RE: Almost Maine question

    Posted 01-31-2015 06:22
    Love the idea of red long johns.  Location is important (I'm in Southern Maryland).  Know your audience and your administrators. And while you might not receive any complaints to you or your school, you do run the risk of alienating a portion of your audience. To censor or not to censor is a messy question. We ultimately had to rewrite the ending to get the approval.  It went really well but also added a lot of little touches to each story to tie in with our ending.   

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    Allen Price
    California MD
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  • 4.  RE: Almost Maine question

    Posted 12-09-2019 09:58
    I am considering directing Almost, Maine.  We are in a small, conservative town in Kansas, so I am concerned about a couple of the scene (They Fell and the final scene.)  I am very interested in your changes to the final scene.  Would you be willing to share?  Thank you.

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    Lex Rhoadarmer
    Clearwater KS
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    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Almost Maine question

    Posted 01-02-2020 08:50
      |   view attached
    We did "Almost..." about 6 years ago with an all-female cast! It was probably my favorite show thus far! We had the actors strip down to red colored long johns. I also made sure they were "bundled up" so that they had several layers to take off to get to the long johns. I never had them kissing, instead I built up the tension of having them stare at each other then suddenly start stripping and then, finally go into the house.

    Have fun!


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    Jennifer Jordan
    Lenox MA
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  • 6.  RE:Almost Maine question

    Posted 01-31-2015 16:16
    We did Almost Maine 2 years ago and it was a huge hit. Admin was concerned about the stripping...but it got lots of laughs and no one complained....lots of "awwwwws" when he turns the heart sign around. My cast stripped off lots of winter layers and got down to red long johns...lots of laughs and nothing scandalous! Have fun with it!

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    Lorie Baldwin
    High School Theater Teacher and Director
    Richboro PA
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    Sent via Higher Logic Mobile



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  • 7.  RE: Almost Maine question

    Posted 01-31-2015 08:48

    My students took off a lot of layers-- like A LOT and finally revealed silly shorts, knee high socs, t-shirts that represented their character, etc.  It was really funny.

    The most push back I got on the show was from They Fell and that final scene, above.  Even at that, I only heard of one phone call to my principal.  Our production standards where really high, so I don't think people were upset.  I often heard that our production was "College Level" work, so I was happy. We also played They Fell pretty close to the vest and tried to be really true to who those guys are as people.  Had a lot of discussions about the scene and the characters, which I think helped a lot.

     Almost Maine, is a beautiful theater piece.  I would put it up there with Our Town in my personal set of loved favorite scripts.

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    Michael Johnson
    Trinity NC
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  • 8.  RE: Almost Maine question

    Posted 01-31-2015 09:29
    So we had some fun with the strip tease. We played an upbeat song (forthe life of me I can't remember what) that was humorous and not all reminiscent of stripper music. We had them layered I. So many coats and sweaters and pants and sweat pants. I think they were six or seven layers deep top and bottom. The patterns on the clothes grew in obnoxiousness and tackiness with each layer. They did I a whole bit of sitting down to take of their boots. They did not try to look sexy at all, just silly. Of course with this many layers they had to look and feel like the little kid in Christmas Story for most of the scene. In the final layer, he was in traditional red one piece long inderwear with big pis assuring the bum flap stayed shut. She was in a leopard print onsie. ------------------------------ Scott Hasbrouck Wheat Ridge CO ------------------------------
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  • 9.  RE: Almost Maine question

    Posted 01-31-2015 18:43
    I did the show a year ago and I, too, was concerned about the reaction to that scene. I did have my kids go through probably three or four layers until they got to the long underwear. The audience absolutely loved it and I got no problem from my administration at all. I teach in a fairly conservative suburb of Chicago. Good luck with it. Directing that show is one of the highlights of my career. ------------------------------ Andy Simon Theatre Teacher Theatre Director Naperville IL ------------------------------
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  • 10.  RE: Almost Maine question

    Posted 01-31-2015 18:55

    I have done the show three times; in a HS setting and twice with community theater. I am in a small Southern Maine community and got 0 negative feedback. The guys who did the strip had more than 10 layers and it was hysterical. The most sensitive piece is definitely "They Fell"; but most people get the irony and real life agony of these decisions.


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    Rob Juergens
    High School Musical Director
    Windham ME
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  • 11.  RE: Almost Maine question

    Posted 02-02-2015 10:09
    Thanks so much for all the feedback!  I feel a lot better about plowing ahead with my original intent (the red long johns).  "They Fell" is not one that concerns me at all, maybe it should, but I am in a liberal college town and am hoping there is no issue there.  I was just worried about the stripping issue!  Thanks again.

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    Nancee Beilgard
    Lawrence KS
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    Original Message


  • 12.  RE: Almost Maine question

    Posted 12-10-2019 07:57
    We just wrapped this production before Thanksgiving - and we had to reassure our admin that we would handle those scenes tastefully.  For "They Fell" - we had 2 guys rather than 2 girls - but I also just saw a post on a FB group last night about similar potential concerns - and of the comments was very insightful.

    "Each story in this show is about love and humanity - each are conveyed in the style of magical realism and require an understanding of symbolism and metaphor - not once is there any direct reference to the characters' sexuality, nor do they have any intimate contact... the play conveys that there are all types of love... who is to say that one person could interpret that scene as the beginning of romantic love, while another person could interpret it as platonic love between two friends who realize they fulfill each other's needs as partners."  (J. Ievolo)

    I must also put in a plug that I absolutely HIGHLY recommend using the original music for this production!  It is linked on the website for licensing.  It's $20 to purchase, and then $20 for each performance royalty... we started the music in Scene 8 (the snowmobilers) scene - and it was PERFECT to lend to scene as underscoring.  Ours had just a few layers, ending up in jeans/flannel shirt (him) or leggings/flannel shirt (her)... and it was very tasteful.  

    Admin hasn't said that we've received any negative remarks/complaints at all.  Our (new) HS principal came to our senior citizen performance and had nothing buy praise for how it was done. (We had to meet with him this summer before he approved the play - and the other scene he was concerned about was the  one at the Moose Paddy because they were drinking alcohol, and we had to assure him that we would do so responsibly.)

    It is a wonderful play - I hope that it goes well for you!

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    Melissa Mintzer
    Willow Street PA
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  • 13.  RE: Almost Maine question

    Posted 12-12-2019 11:44
    I am actually getting ready to do the show as well. "They Fell" is not something I am too worried about - a kid did that scene with another boy in a talent show and won, so the audience was receptive to it.
    For the other scene, I plan to talk to the kids who are doing it and get their comfort level on it. There are many ways it can be done, and as long as I am doing what I can to make sure they are comfortable with it, then I should be okay.
    We did a production of Footloose a few years ago and our Chuck Cranston was played as a complete jerk. We did the beat up of Ren scene onstage (in the dark), and no one said anything. I put a caveat in there and we focused on domestic abuse in our show as well. While I realize this is a different situation, I was very careful in being transparent and talking with administration and the students and parents involved to make sure everyone was comfortable.

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    Karen Wiebe
    Drama Director
    Burlington KY
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  • 14.  RE: Almost Maine question

    Posted 12-11-2019 08:14
    I did Almost Maine 5 years ago. In the last scene I cast two good friends who stripped to the long johns and were super comfortable with the intentions of the scene. In They Fell I had two girls because I did not have enough boys. There were zero complaints.

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    Nancy Lomas-Reynolds
    Director and Theatre Coordinator
    Voorhees High School
    Glen Gardner, NJ
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  • 15.  RE: Almost Maine question

    Posted 12-31-2019 14:02
    Nancee,

    When we did it, I don't think I overplayed the tons and tons of layers.  I had the two actors find a provide a fun, goofy, adult-onesie pajama that they wore underneath.  So one had something like stars and planets and the other had something like cute animals.  The fact that they both wore fun, child-like onesies with the footies underneath was a surprise and a cherry on top of their "connection."  So it looked modest, was cute and funny, and served the scene well.  

    Great show.  A great one to let the students explore and develop their own realities for sure.  Have fun!

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    Brett Buffum
    Theatre Teacher
    Spring Hill KS
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    Original Message


  • 16.  RE: Almost Maine question

    Posted 01-01-2020 10:45

    My kids STILL talk about Almost, Maine. All Fall Plays are compared to it.

    We had MANY LAYERS, with red long johns at the bottom. The audience laughed harder and harder with every layer. I would not skimp on it! The "romance" is very implied, but we promoted the show as PG.

    Have the best time with it!



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    Jen Stover
    Director, Souhegan Drama
    Souhegan High School
    Amherst, NH
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    Original Message


  • 17.  RE: Almost Maine question

    Posted 01-01-2020 12:34
    When I made announcements, I said there would be kissing and stripping.  People laughed a lot at that.  We wore long underwear and had a blast with many layers and boots getting stuck.  It was funny.  We did both the female and male same sex scenes.  The females we put at the end of the first act and the males we put at the end.  No one kissed, but the taller of the two males jumped into the arms of the other.

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    Carol Knarr Gebert
    Jay County High School
    Portland, Indiana
    cgebert@jayschools.k12.in.us
    419-910-1287
    Thespian Troupe #574
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  • 18.  RE: Almost Maine question

    Posted 01-01-2020 23:22
    I,too, did the red long johns! My audience loved it and it's all how you deal with the acting as well. I still have people say it was one of their all time favorites.

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    Natalie (Saunders) Dommer
    Pasadena Memorial High School
    Pasadena, Texas
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