Disneyland magic with a realistic bite is how the actors of Sinclair’s upcoming production of John Cariani’s play, “Almost, Maine,” describe this sweet and sour story of frigid but heartwarming romance.
It plays with your emotions, says Amanda Hanisch,who will play Ginnette, Hope and The Waitress. “I love every single character,” and the casting is perfect, she says.
A collection of vignettes staged in the fictional town of Almost, Maine, lets the actors present perhaps the widest range of romantic scenarios possible within roughly 90 minutes.
“This play is kind of Disneyland magical,” says Chris Hahn, actor for the characters Randy and Lendall. It’s a visualization of emotion where, “in every scene there’s an element of unreality,” Hahn says. “I think a lot of the scenes are things we wish would happen to all of us. Some of those moments of romanticism that we all kind of wish we had but very few of us ever do.”
Smart and driven Sandrine is a big city girl from a small town. She’s having an awkward moment with her ex-boyfriend, Jimmy, whom she found at The Moose Patty after her bachelorette party. Her wedding is tomorrow. The Waitress keeps interrupting. Sandrine’s actress, Becca Sebree, says, “Trying to convey all that in 5 minutes; fun!” Sebree describes “Almost, Maine” as being about, “the loss of love, finding love, regaining love.”
Hahn says that Almost, Maine’s residents are coping with, “fear of commitment; fear of leaving somebody; fear of staying with somebody who you’re not happy with, but that’s all you have and all you know.” Hanisch says, “It gets you feeling so happy, so joyful… and then it makes you feel: Aw, that’s so horrible.”
A highly diverse tragicomedy, carrying its audience along an emotional rollercoaster ride, “Almost, Maine,” presents characters with which the actors can’t always relate. This, the actors say, is part of the fun.
“Randy’s a challenge for me,” says Hahn. “He’s in love with this other guy… it’s hard for me to connect with that.” Hahn remembers a scene from “American Beauty” in which U.S. Marine Corps Col. Frank Fitts beats his son, Ricky, over Fitts’ suspicion that Ricky is gay. This helps Hahn imagine Randy beating himself up emotionally over the possibility of being in love with his best friend.
“For all my characters, I’ve created backstories,” says Sebree. With help from her fellow cast members, “we went through: When was our first date? What did we do on our first date? When was the first time you kissed me?” She adds, “You have to know where your character’s at, where she’s been and where she’s going… you really have to be able to dissect it and know who that character is.”
Hanisch, describing her background story for Hope, says, “When I was little I really wanted to be a nurse… to go to college for that. I didn’t want to stay in Maine because I was tired of everybody in Maine. It’s a small town. I wanted to be in the big city and, so, when he asked me to marry him it was just like: Dude, this is going to ruin everything that I wanted.”
“Almost, Maine” takes main stage at Sinclair’s Blair Hall on Feb. 24 through March 3. Tickets and further details are available now online, at sinclair.edu/tickets. The box office opens Feb. 19. Ticket prices range from $10 to $20 depending on show time and guest.