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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260911T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260911T210000
DTSTAMP:20260908T005412Z
CREATED:20260908T005412Z
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UID:10007508-1789155000-1789160400@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:Almost\, Maine at the Granite Theatre
DESCRIPTION:Almost\, Maine at the Granite Theatre opens Friday\, September 11\, for a two-week run of John Cariani’s romantic comedy about love found\, lost and occasionally turned upside down beneath the northern lights. \nThe Granite Theatre production runs September 11–20 in downtown Westerly\, with 7:30 p.m. performances on Thursdays\, Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sunday matinees. Tickets are $30–$35. \nRather than following one couple through a conventional love story\, Almost\, Maine tells nine interconnected stories about the residents of a tiny fictional community in northern Maine. During the course of one cold Friday night\, relationships begin\, end\, stumble and take some wonderfully strange turns. \nWelcome to Almost\nAlmost isn’t technically a town. \nIn Cariani’s fictional geography\, it’s an unorganized community so far north in Maine that it’s almost in Canada. On a clear winter night\, with the aurora borealis overhead\, its residents experience a series of encounters that revolve around falling in love\, falling out of it or discovering that what they thought they understood about another person wasn’t quite right. \nThe structure is closer to a collection of short stories performed on stage than a traditional beginning-to-end narrative. \nMost of the scenes involve just two characters\, with different residents moving in and out of focus as the evening progresses. The stories stand on their own\, but the shared place\, time and themes gradually turn them into a portrait of one small community. \nCariani also gives the play a touch of magical realism. \nEmotions sometimes become physical things. Characters carry the consequences of love in ways that couldn’t happen in the real world\, yet the feelings behind those moments remain recognizable. That lets Almost\, Maine move quickly between comedy\, absurdity\, heartbreak and tenderness without becoming a conventional romantic comedy. \nA Play That Almost Disappeared\nThe story behind Almost\, Maine is nearly as unlikely as some of the stories inside it. \nJohn Cariani developed the play at the Cape Cod Theatre Project in 2002. It received its world premiere at Portland Stage Company in Maine in 2004\, where it broke box-office records. \nBy then\, Cariani was already familiar to Broadway audiences as an actor. He earned a Tony Award nomination for playing Motel the tailor in the 2004 Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof and had appeared on television in Law & Order. \nAlmost\, Maine reached New York next\, opening Off-Broadway at the Daryl Roth Theatre in January 2006. \nThat production lasted only about a month. \nOrdinarily\, that might have been the end of the story. Instead\, after the play was published and became available to other theaters\, something unexpected happened. \nSmall professional theaters began producing it. Then community theaters picked it up. Colleges and high schools followed. \nAnd they kept doing it. \nFrom Short Off-Broadway Run to Thousands of Productions\nToday\, Almost\, Maine has become one of the most frequently produced contemporary American plays. \nThe play’s official site reports that more than 6\,000 theater companies in the United States have staged it\, along with more than 100 international companies. It has also repeatedly ranked among the most-produced plays in North American high schools. \nPart of the appeal is built into Cariani’s unusual structure. \nWith largely self-contained two-person scenes\, directors can distribute substantial material among an ensemble rather than building an entire production around one or two leading roles. Each vignette gives its actors a complete little story to develop. \nAudiences get something different from that structure\, too. One scene may land as broad comedy while the next turns unexpectedly bittersweet. Not every relationship works out\, and the title itself becomes something of a running idea. \nThings in Almost are frequently close. \nAlmost a town. Almost Canada. Almost together. Almost over someone. Almost happy. \nBut not quite. \nJohn Cariani Wrote About the Maine He Knew\nThe fictional setting wasn’t chosen at random. \nCariani grew up in Presque Isle in Aroostook County\, the enormous and sparsely populated region at the northern end of Maine. He has said those years shaped his affection for the landscape\, language and people that eventually found their way into Almost\, Maine. \nThe setting is intentionally remote. The cold matters. The darkness matters. So does the northern sky. \nAgainst that isolation\, the small interactions between people become bigger. A conversation on a bench\, an unexpected visitor at the door or an encounter between two neighbors can become the most important thing happening for miles. \nCariani eventually returned to the world he created in another form. In 2022\, he adapted Almost\, Maine into a novel\, expanding the interconnected stories and characters beyond what audiences see on stage. \nBut the theatrical version remains the work that made Almost into a place thousands of actors and audiences have visited. \nInside Westerly’s Historic Granite Theatre\nThe setting for this production has its own story. \nGranite Theatre occupies a restored Greek Revival building at 1 Granite Street in downtown Westerly. Long before actors performed there\, the building was a church. \nThe congregation that became the Broad Street Christian Church was organized in 1843\, and the building was completed in 1849. Its prominent classical façade and columns remain part of one of downtown Westerly’s distinctive historic structures. \nThe building eventually found a second life as a performance space\, reopening as the Granite Theatre in 2000. \nToday\, Renaissance City Theatre operates the Granite as a nonprofit theater\, presenting plays\, musicals\, family productions\, educational programs and special events throughout the year. \nIt’s also an intimate room. With roughly 140 seats\, the audience is close to the performers rather than watching from the distance of a large regional theater. That should suit a play built around small conversations and two-person encounters particularly well. \nOpening Night Begins a Seven-Performance Run\nAlmost\, Maine opens at 7:30 p.m. Friday\, September 11. \nA second evening performance follows Saturday\, September 12\, before the first Sunday matinee at 2 p.m. September 13. \nThe production returns the following Thursday and continues through Sunday\, September 20\, for seven performances in all: \n\nFriday\, September 11 at 7:30 p.m.\nSaturday\, September 12 at 7:30 p.m.\nSunday\, September 13 at 2 p.m.\nThursday\, September 17 at 7:30 p.m.\nFriday\, September 18 at 7:30 p.m.\nSaturday\, September 19 at 7:30 p.m.\nSunday\, September 20 at 2 p.m.\n\nTickets range from $30 to $35. \nAccessibility at the Granite\nBecause the Granite occupies a historic 19th-century building\, accessibility comes with some limitations. \nThe theater performance space itself is wheelchair accessible\, but the Granite notes that its lobby and restrooms are not fully accessible. \nA small number of accessible parking spaces are available behind the building and need to be reserved. The theater recommends that anyone who needs accessible parking or has mobility concerns call ahead rather than relying on availability when arriving for a performance. \nDetails\nEvent: Almost\, Maine\nPlaywright: John Cariani\nOpening Night: Friday\, September 11\, 2026 at 7:30 p.m.\nRun: September 11–20\, 2026\nEvening Performances: 7:30 p.m.\nSunday Matinees: 2 p.m.\nNumber of Performances: Seven\nGenre: Romantic comedy\nVenue: Granite Theatre\nAddress: 1 Granite Street\, Westerly\, RI 02891\nTickets: $30–$35\nBox Office: 401-596-2341\nAccessibility: Theater space is wheelchair accessible; lobby and restrooms are not fully accessible\nAccessible Parking: Limited spaces are available and should be reserved in advance \nMore information is available at the Event Website link below. \nTo purchase tickets\, click the Event Ticketing link below. \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/almost-maine-at-the-granite-theatre/2026-09-11/
LOCATION:The Granite Theater\, 1 Granite Street\, Westerly\, RI\, 02891\, United States
CATEGORIES:The Granite Street Theater
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://thectbeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Almost-Maine-at-the-Granite-Theatre.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260912T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260912T210000
DTSTAMP:20260908T005412Z
CREATED:20260908T005412Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260908T005412Z
UID:10007509-1789241400-1789246800@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:Almost\, Maine at the Granite Theatre
DESCRIPTION:Almost\, Maine at the Granite Theatre opens Friday\, September 11\, for a two-week run of John Cariani’s romantic comedy about love found\, lost and occasionally turned upside down beneath the northern lights. \nThe Granite Theatre production runs September 11–20 in downtown Westerly\, with 7:30 p.m. performances on Thursdays\, Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sunday matinees. Tickets are $30–$35. \nRather than following one couple through a conventional love story\, Almost\, Maine tells nine interconnected stories about the residents of a tiny fictional community in northern Maine. During the course of one cold Friday night\, relationships begin\, end\, stumble and take some wonderfully strange turns. \nWelcome to Almost\nAlmost isn’t technically a town. \nIn Cariani’s fictional geography\, it’s an unorganized community so far north in Maine that it’s almost in Canada. On a clear winter night\, with the aurora borealis overhead\, its residents experience a series of encounters that revolve around falling in love\, falling out of it or discovering that what they thought they understood about another person wasn’t quite right. \nThe structure is closer to a collection of short stories performed on stage than a traditional beginning-to-end narrative. \nMost of the scenes involve just two characters\, with different residents moving in and out of focus as the evening progresses. The stories stand on their own\, but the shared place\, time and themes gradually turn them into a portrait of one small community. \nCariani also gives the play a touch of magical realism. \nEmotions sometimes become physical things. Characters carry the consequences of love in ways that couldn’t happen in the real world\, yet the feelings behind those moments remain recognizable. That lets Almost\, Maine move quickly between comedy\, absurdity\, heartbreak and tenderness without becoming a conventional romantic comedy. \nA Play That Almost Disappeared\nThe story behind Almost\, Maine is nearly as unlikely as some of the stories inside it. \nJohn Cariani developed the play at the Cape Cod Theatre Project in 2002. It received its world premiere at Portland Stage Company in Maine in 2004\, where it broke box-office records. \nBy then\, Cariani was already familiar to Broadway audiences as an actor. He earned a Tony Award nomination for playing Motel the tailor in the 2004 Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof and had appeared on television in Law & Order. \nAlmost\, Maine reached New York next\, opening Off-Broadway at the Daryl Roth Theatre in January 2006. \nThat production lasted only about a month. \nOrdinarily\, that might have been the end of the story. Instead\, after the play was published and became available to other theaters\, something unexpected happened. \nSmall professional theaters began producing it. Then community theaters picked it up. Colleges and high schools followed. \nAnd they kept doing it. \nFrom Short Off-Broadway Run to Thousands of Productions\nToday\, Almost\, Maine has become one of the most frequently produced contemporary American plays. \nThe play’s official site reports that more than 6\,000 theater companies in the United States have staged it\, along with more than 100 international companies. It has also repeatedly ranked among the most-produced plays in North American high schools. \nPart of the appeal is built into Cariani’s unusual structure. \nWith largely self-contained two-person scenes\, directors can distribute substantial material among an ensemble rather than building an entire production around one or two leading roles. Each vignette gives its actors a complete little story to develop. \nAudiences get something different from that structure\, too. One scene may land as broad comedy while the next turns unexpectedly bittersweet. Not every relationship works out\, and the title itself becomes something of a running idea. \nThings in Almost are frequently close. \nAlmost a town. Almost Canada. Almost together. Almost over someone. Almost happy. \nBut not quite. \nJohn Cariani Wrote About the Maine He Knew\nThe fictional setting wasn’t chosen at random. \nCariani grew up in Presque Isle in Aroostook County\, the enormous and sparsely populated region at the northern end of Maine. He has said those years shaped his affection for the landscape\, language and people that eventually found their way into Almost\, Maine. \nThe setting is intentionally remote. The cold matters. The darkness matters. So does the northern sky. \nAgainst that isolation\, the small interactions between people become bigger. A conversation on a bench\, an unexpected visitor at the door or an encounter between two neighbors can become the most important thing happening for miles. \nCariani eventually returned to the world he created in another form. In 2022\, he adapted Almost\, Maine into a novel\, expanding the interconnected stories and characters beyond what audiences see on stage. \nBut the theatrical version remains the work that made Almost into a place thousands of actors and audiences have visited. \nInside Westerly’s Historic Granite Theatre\nThe setting for this production has its own story. \nGranite Theatre occupies a restored Greek Revival building at 1 Granite Street in downtown Westerly. Long before actors performed there\, the building was a church. \nThe congregation that became the Broad Street Christian Church was organized in 1843\, and the building was completed in 1849. Its prominent classical façade and columns remain part of one of downtown Westerly’s distinctive historic structures. \nThe building eventually found a second life as a performance space\, reopening as the Granite Theatre in 2000. \nToday\, Renaissance City Theatre operates the Granite as a nonprofit theater\, presenting plays\, musicals\, family productions\, educational programs and special events throughout the year. \nIt’s also an intimate room. With roughly 140 seats\, the audience is close to the performers rather than watching from the distance of a large regional theater. That should suit a play built around small conversations and two-person encounters particularly well. \nOpening Night Begins a Seven-Performance Run\nAlmost\, Maine opens at 7:30 p.m. Friday\, September 11. \nA second evening performance follows Saturday\, September 12\, before the first Sunday matinee at 2 p.m. September 13. \nThe production returns the following Thursday and continues through Sunday\, September 20\, for seven performances in all: \n\nFriday\, September 11 at 7:30 p.m.\nSaturday\, September 12 at 7:30 p.m.\nSunday\, September 13 at 2 p.m.\nThursday\, September 17 at 7:30 p.m.\nFriday\, September 18 at 7:30 p.m.\nSaturday\, September 19 at 7:30 p.m.\nSunday\, September 20 at 2 p.m.\n\nTickets range from $30 to $35. \nAccessibility at the Granite\nBecause the Granite occupies a historic 19th-century building\, accessibility comes with some limitations. \nThe theater performance space itself is wheelchair accessible\, but the Granite notes that its lobby and restrooms are not fully accessible. \nA small number of accessible parking spaces are available behind the building and need to be reserved. The theater recommends that anyone who needs accessible parking or has mobility concerns call ahead rather than relying on availability when arriving for a performance. \nDetails\nEvent: Almost\, Maine\nPlaywright: John Cariani\nOpening Night: Friday\, September 11\, 2026 at 7:30 p.m.\nRun: September 11–20\, 2026\nEvening Performances: 7:30 p.m.\nSunday Matinees: 2 p.m.\nNumber of Performances: Seven\nGenre: Romantic comedy\nVenue: Granite Theatre\nAddress: 1 Granite Street\, Westerly\, RI 02891\nTickets: $30–$35\nBox Office: 401-596-2341\nAccessibility: Theater space is wheelchair accessible; lobby and restrooms are not fully accessible\nAccessible Parking: Limited spaces are available and should be reserved in advance \nMore information is available at the Event Website link below. \nTo purchase tickets\, click the Event Ticketing link below. \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/almost-maine-at-the-granite-theatre/2026-09-12/
LOCATION:The Granite Theater\, 1 Granite Street\, Westerly\, RI\, 02891\, United States
CATEGORIES:The Granite Street Theater
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://thectbeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Almost-Maine-at-the-Granite-Theatre.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260913T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260913T153000
DTSTAMP:20260908T005412Z
CREATED:20260908T005412Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260908T005412Z
UID:10007510-1789308000-1789313400@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:Almost\, Maine at the Granite Theatre
DESCRIPTION:Almost\, Maine at the Granite Theatre opens Friday\, September 11\, for a two-week run of John Cariani’s romantic comedy about love found\, lost and occasionally turned upside down beneath the northern lights. \nThe Granite Theatre production runs September 11–20 in downtown Westerly\, with 7:30 p.m. performances on Thursdays\, Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sunday matinees. Tickets are $30–$35. \nRather than following one couple through a conventional love story\, Almost\, Maine tells nine interconnected stories about the residents of a tiny fictional community in northern Maine. During the course of one cold Friday night\, relationships begin\, end\, stumble and take some wonderfully strange turns. \nWelcome to Almost\nAlmost isn’t technically a town. \nIn Cariani’s fictional geography\, it’s an unorganized community so far north in Maine that it’s almost in Canada. On a clear winter night\, with the aurora borealis overhead\, its residents experience a series of encounters that revolve around falling in love\, falling out of it or discovering that what they thought they understood about another person wasn’t quite right. \nThe structure is closer to a collection of short stories performed on stage than a traditional beginning-to-end narrative. \nMost of the scenes involve just two characters\, with different residents moving in and out of focus as the evening progresses. The stories stand on their own\, but the shared place\, time and themes gradually turn them into a portrait of one small community. \nCariani also gives the play a touch of magical realism. \nEmotions sometimes become physical things. Characters carry the consequences of love in ways that couldn’t happen in the real world\, yet the feelings behind those moments remain recognizable. That lets Almost\, Maine move quickly between comedy\, absurdity\, heartbreak and tenderness without becoming a conventional romantic comedy. \nA Play That Almost Disappeared\nThe story behind Almost\, Maine is nearly as unlikely as some of the stories inside it. \nJohn Cariani developed the play at the Cape Cod Theatre Project in 2002. It received its world premiere at Portland Stage Company in Maine in 2004\, where it broke box-office records. \nBy then\, Cariani was already familiar to Broadway audiences as an actor. He earned a Tony Award nomination for playing Motel the tailor in the 2004 Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof and had appeared on television in Law & Order. \nAlmost\, Maine reached New York next\, opening Off-Broadway at the Daryl Roth Theatre in January 2006. \nThat production lasted only about a month. \nOrdinarily\, that might have been the end of the story. Instead\, after the play was published and became available to other theaters\, something unexpected happened. \nSmall professional theaters began producing it. Then community theaters picked it up. Colleges and high schools followed. \nAnd they kept doing it. \nFrom Short Off-Broadway Run to Thousands of Productions\nToday\, Almost\, Maine has become one of the most frequently produced contemporary American plays. \nThe play’s official site reports that more than 6\,000 theater companies in the United States have staged it\, along with more than 100 international companies. It has also repeatedly ranked among the most-produced plays in North American high schools. \nPart of the appeal is built into Cariani’s unusual structure. \nWith largely self-contained two-person scenes\, directors can distribute substantial material among an ensemble rather than building an entire production around one or two leading roles. Each vignette gives its actors a complete little story to develop. \nAudiences get something different from that structure\, too. One scene may land as broad comedy while the next turns unexpectedly bittersweet. Not every relationship works out\, and the title itself becomes something of a running idea. \nThings in Almost are frequently close. \nAlmost a town. Almost Canada. Almost together. Almost over someone. Almost happy. \nBut not quite. \nJohn Cariani Wrote About the Maine He Knew\nThe fictional setting wasn’t chosen at random. \nCariani grew up in Presque Isle in Aroostook County\, the enormous and sparsely populated region at the northern end of Maine. He has said those years shaped his affection for the landscape\, language and people that eventually found their way into Almost\, Maine. \nThe setting is intentionally remote. The cold matters. The darkness matters. So does the northern sky. \nAgainst that isolation\, the small interactions between people become bigger. A conversation on a bench\, an unexpected visitor at the door or an encounter between two neighbors can become the most important thing happening for miles. \nCariani eventually returned to the world he created in another form. In 2022\, he adapted Almost\, Maine into a novel\, expanding the interconnected stories and characters beyond what audiences see on stage. \nBut the theatrical version remains the work that made Almost into a place thousands of actors and audiences have visited. \nInside Westerly’s Historic Granite Theatre\nThe setting for this production has its own story. \nGranite Theatre occupies a restored Greek Revival building at 1 Granite Street in downtown Westerly. Long before actors performed there\, the building was a church. \nThe congregation that became the Broad Street Christian Church was organized in 1843\, and the building was completed in 1849. Its prominent classical façade and columns remain part of one of downtown Westerly’s distinctive historic structures. \nThe building eventually found a second life as a performance space\, reopening as the Granite Theatre in 2000. \nToday\, Renaissance City Theatre operates the Granite as a nonprofit theater\, presenting plays\, musicals\, family productions\, educational programs and special events throughout the year. \nIt’s also an intimate room. With roughly 140 seats\, the audience is close to the performers rather than watching from the distance of a large regional theater. That should suit a play built around small conversations and two-person encounters particularly well. \nOpening Night Begins a Seven-Performance Run\nAlmost\, Maine opens at 7:30 p.m. Friday\, September 11. \nA second evening performance follows Saturday\, September 12\, before the first Sunday matinee at 2 p.m. September 13. \nThe production returns the following Thursday and continues through Sunday\, September 20\, for seven performances in all: \n\nFriday\, September 11 at 7:30 p.m.\nSaturday\, September 12 at 7:30 p.m.\nSunday\, September 13 at 2 p.m.\nThursday\, September 17 at 7:30 p.m.\nFriday\, September 18 at 7:30 p.m.\nSaturday\, September 19 at 7:30 p.m.\nSunday\, September 20 at 2 p.m.\n\nTickets range from $30 to $35. \nAccessibility at the Granite\nBecause the Granite occupies a historic 19th-century building\, accessibility comes with some limitations. \nThe theater performance space itself is wheelchair accessible\, but the Granite notes that its lobby and restrooms are not fully accessible. \nA small number of accessible parking spaces are available behind the building and need to be reserved. The theater recommends that anyone who needs accessible parking or has mobility concerns call ahead rather than relying on availability when arriving for a performance. \nDetails\nEvent: Almost\, Maine\nPlaywright: John Cariani\nOpening Night: Friday\, September 11\, 2026 at 7:30 p.m.\nRun: September 11–20\, 2026\nEvening Performances: 7:30 p.m.\nSunday Matinees: 2 p.m.\nNumber of Performances: Seven\nGenre: Romantic comedy\nVenue: Granite Theatre\nAddress: 1 Granite Street\, Westerly\, RI 02891\nTickets: $30–$35\nBox Office: 401-596-2341\nAccessibility: Theater space is wheelchair accessible; lobby and restrooms are not fully accessible\nAccessible Parking: Limited spaces are available and should be reserved in advance \nMore information is available at the Event Website link below. \nTo purchase tickets\, click the Event Ticketing link below. \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/almost-maine-at-the-granite-theatre/2026-09-13/
LOCATION:The Granite Theater\, 1 Granite Street\, Westerly\, RI\, 02891\, United States
CATEGORIES:The Granite Street Theater
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://thectbeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Almost-Maine-at-the-Granite-Theatre.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260917T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260917T210000
DTSTAMP:20260908T005412Z
CREATED:20260908T005412Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260908T005412Z
UID:10007511-1789673400-1789678800@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:Almost\, Maine at the Granite Theatre
DESCRIPTION:Almost\, Maine at the Granite Theatre opens Friday\, September 11\, for a two-week run of John Cariani’s romantic comedy about love found\, lost and occasionally turned upside down beneath the northern lights. \nThe Granite Theatre production runs September 11–20 in downtown Westerly\, with 7:30 p.m. performances on Thursdays\, Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sunday matinees. Tickets are $30–$35. \nRather than following one couple through a conventional love story\, Almost\, Maine tells nine interconnected stories about the residents of a tiny fictional community in northern Maine. During the course of one cold Friday night\, relationships begin\, end\, stumble and take some wonderfully strange turns. \nWelcome to Almost\nAlmost isn’t technically a town. \nIn Cariani’s fictional geography\, it’s an unorganized community so far north in Maine that it’s almost in Canada. On a clear winter night\, with the aurora borealis overhead\, its residents experience a series of encounters that revolve around falling in love\, falling out of it or discovering that what they thought they understood about another person wasn’t quite right. \nThe structure is closer to a collection of short stories performed on stage than a traditional beginning-to-end narrative. \nMost of the scenes involve just two characters\, with different residents moving in and out of focus as the evening progresses. The stories stand on their own\, but the shared place\, time and themes gradually turn them into a portrait of one small community. \nCariani also gives the play a touch of magical realism. \nEmotions sometimes become physical things. Characters carry the consequences of love in ways that couldn’t happen in the real world\, yet the feelings behind those moments remain recognizable. That lets Almost\, Maine move quickly between comedy\, absurdity\, heartbreak and tenderness without becoming a conventional romantic comedy. \nA Play That Almost Disappeared\nThe story behind Almost\, Maine is nearly as unlikely as some of the stories inside it. \nJohn Cariani developed the play at the Cape Cod Theatre Project in 2002. It received its world premiere at Portland Stage Company in Maine in 2004\, where it broke box-office records. \nBy then\, Cariani was already familiar to Broadway audiences as an actor. He earned a Tony Award nomination for playing Motel the tailor in the 2004 Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof and had appeared on television in Law & Order. \nAlmost\, Maine reached New York next\, opening Off-Broadway at the Daryl Roth Theatre in January 2006. \nThat production lasted only about a month. \nOrdinarily\, that might have been the end of the story. Instead\, after the play was published and became available to other theaters\, something unexpected happened. \nSmall professional theaters began producing it. Then community theaters picked it up. Colleges and high schools followed. \nAnd they kept doing it. \nFrom Short Off-Broadway Run to Thousands of Productions\nToday\, Almost\, Maine has become one of the most frequently produced contemporary American plays. \nThe play’s official site reports that more than 6\,000 theater companies in the United States have staged it\, along with more than 100 international companies. It has also repeatedly ranked among the most-produced plays in North American high schools. \nPart of the appeal is built into Cariani’s unusual structure. \nWith largely self-contained two-person scenes\, directors can distribute substantial material among an ensemble rather than building an entire production around one or two leading roles. Each vignette gives its actors a complete little story to develop. \nAudiences get something different from that structure\, too. One scene may land as broad comedy while the next turns unexpectedly bittersweet. Not every relationship works out\, and the title itself becomes something of a running idea. \nThings in Almost are frequently close. \nAlmost a town. Almost Canada. Almost together. Almost over someone. Almost happy. \nBut not quite. \nJohn Cariani Wrote About the Maine He Knew\nThe fictional setting wasn’t chosen at random. \nCariani grew up in Presque Isle in Aroostook County\, the enormous and sparsely populated region at the northern end of Maine. He has said those years shaped his affection for the landscape\, language and people that eventually found their way into Almost\, Maine. \nThe setting is intentionally remote. The cold matters. The darkness matters. So does the northern sky. \nAgainst that isolation\, the small interactions between people become bigger. A conversation on a bench\, an unexpected visitor at the door or an encounter between two neighbors can become the most important thing happening for miles. \nCariani eventually returned to the world he created in another form. In 2022\, he adapted Almost\, Maine into a novel\, expanding the interconnected stories and characters beyond what audiences see on stage. \nBut the theatrical version remains the work that made Almost into a place thousands of actors and audiences have visited. \nInside Westerly’s Historic Granite Theatre\nThe setting for this production has its own story. \nGranite Theatre occupies a restored Greek Revival building at 1 Granite Street in downtown Westerly. Long before actors performed there\, the building was a church. \nThe congregation that became the Broad Street Christian Church was organized in 1843\, and the building was completed in 1849. Its prominent classical façade and columns remain part of one of downtown Westerly’s distinctive historic structures. \nThe building eventually found a second life as a performance space\, reopening as the Granite Theatre in 2000. \nToday\, Renaissance City Theatre operates the Granite as a nonprofit theater\, presenting plays\, musicals\, family productions\, educational programs and special events throughout the year. \nIt’s also an intimate room. With roughly 140 seats\, the audience is close to the performers rather than watching from the distance of a large regional theater. That should suit a play built around small conversations and two-person encounters particularly well. \nOpening Night Begins a Seven-Performance Run\nAlmost\, Maine opens at 7:30 p.m. Friday\, September 11. \nA second evening performance follows Saturday\, September 12\, before the first Sunday matinee at 2 p.m. September 13. \nThe production returns the following Thursday and continues through Sunday\, September 20\, for seven performances in all: \n\nFriday\, September 11 at 7:30 p.m.\nSaturday\, September 12 at 7:30 p.m.\nSunday\, September 13 at 2 p.m.\nThursday\, September 17 at 7:30 p.m.\nFriday\, September 18 at 7:30 p.m.\nSaturday\, September 19 at 7:30 p.m.\nSunday\, September 20 at 2 p.m.\n\nTickets range from $30 to $35. \nAccessibility at the Granite\nBecause the Granite occupies a historic 19th-century building\, accessibility comes with some limitations. \nThe theater performance space itself is wheelchair accessible\, but the Granite notes that its lobby and restrooms are not fully accessible. \nA small number of accessible parking spaces are available behind the building and need to be reserved. The theater recommends that anyone who needs accessible parking or has mobility concerns call ahead rather than relying on availability when arriving for a performance. \nDetails\nEvent: Almost\, Maine\nPlaywright: John Cariani\nOpening Night: Friday\, September 11\, 2026 at 7:30 p.m.\nRun: September 11–20\, 2026\nEvening Performances: 7:30 p.m.\nSunday Matinees: 2 p.m.\nNumber of Performances: Seven\nGenre: Romantic comedy\nVenue: Granite Theatre\nAddress: 1 Granite Street\, Westerly\, RI 02891\nTickets: $30–$35\nBox Office: 401-596-2341\nAccessibility: Theater space is wheelchair accessible; lobby and restrooms are not fully accessible\nAccessible Parking: Limited spaces are available and should be reserved in advance \nMore information is available at the Event Website link below. \nTo purchase tickets\, click the Event Ticketing link below. \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/almost-maine-at-the-granite-theatre/2026-09-17/
LOCATION:The Granite Theater\, 1 Granite Street\, Westerly\, RI\, 02891\, United States
CATEGORIES:The Granite Street Theater
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://thectbeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Almost-Maine-at-the-Granite-Theatre.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260919T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260919T120000
DTSTAMP:20260917T191159Z
CREATED:20260915T002435Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260917T191159Z
UID:10007604-1789812000-1789819200@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:Westerly Performing Arts Tour Takes Young Performers Behind the Scenes at Three Downtown Arts Institutions
DESCRIPTION:The Westerly Performing Arts Tour gives young singers\, musicians and actors something they don’t normally get from sitting in the audience: a look behind the curtain at three of Westerly’s major performing arts organizations and a chance to find out how they can become part of them. \nThe guided walking tour begins beneath the marquee at The UNITED Theatre at 10 a.m. Saturday\, September 19\, before heading through downtown to the Granite Theatre and George Kent Performance Hall\, home of The Chorus of Westerly. \nOver roughly 90 minutes\, participants will meet artists and educators\, explore performance spaces\, learn about training programs and discover opportunities to sing\, act\, play an instrument or otherwise become involved in Westerly’s performing arts community. \nFor a young person who knows they want to perform but doesn’t know where to begin\, that’s really the point of the morning. \nThree Stops\, Three Different Ways Onto a Stage\nThe tour isn’t simply a walk through three interesting buildings. \nEach stop represents a different part of the performing arts. \nAt The UNITED\, the focus includes music education and the many ways musicians can develop their skills. \nAt the Granite Theatre\, participants actually step onto the stage while learning about acting\, theatrical training and performance. \nAt The Chorus of Westerly\, the tour moves into vocal and ensemble training inside Kent Hall. \nTogether\, the three organizations offer a surprisingly broad introduction to what’s available to a young performer within a relatively small section of downtown Westerly. \nAnd participants will hear directly from the people who teach and create the work rather than simply picking up three brochures. \nIt Starts Under The UNITED Marquee\nThe first meeting point is one of downtown Westerly’s most recognizable landmarks: the marquee at The UNITED Theatre at 5 Canal Street. \nFrom there\, participants head behind the scenes. \nThe UNITED today is considerably more than a movie theater. \nIts modern arts complex contains a 750-capacity flexible performance space\, three cinemas\, an event and gallery space and a dedicated music school. \nThe building hosts concerts\, theater\, dance\, comedy\, films\, lectures and other programming while maintaining an increasingly substantial educational operation. \nYoung visitors on Saturday’s tour will get a closer look at that educational side. \nThe UNITED Music School Is a Working Training Center\nThe UNITED Music School offers instruction and performance opportunities across a range of instruments\, ages and ability levels. \nThe idea isn’t simply to teach someone how to play scales in a practice room. \nStudents can develop through lessons and ensembles while being conneGcted to an active performing arts organization where musicians are regularly rehearsing\, recording and appearing onstage. \nThe UNITED also extends its education programs beyond traditional instrumental instruction. \nIts broader arts programming has included songwriting\, voice\, photography\, video\, visual arts\, film and podcasting\, along with after-school programming for local students. \nThe tour gives prospective students a chance to see where that work happens and ask the people involved what participating actually looks like. \nThe Building Has Been Training Entertainers for a Century\, in a Way\nThere’s another reason the UNITED is an appropriate place to begin. \nIn 1926\, the original United Theatre opened as a vaudeville house. \nThat means the building turns 100 years old in 2026. \nVaudeville theaters were variety houses. A single bill could contain singers\, dancers\, comedians\, musicians\, novelty performers and other acts. \nThe United later became a movie theater before closing in 1986. \nDecades later\, a major redevelopment joined the historic theater with the neighboring Montgomery Ward building. Following an extensive renovation\, the new UNITED reopened in July 2021 as a multipurpose arts center. \nA building that once presented performers now both presents them and helps train the next generation. \nSaturday’s tour makes that connection unusually literal. \nThen the Tour Heads Through Wilcox Park\nFrom The UNITED\, the group walks through Wilcox Park toward the Granite Theatre. \nThat makes the event a genuine downtown arts tour rather than three disconnected building visits. \nThe park itself is one of the features that makes this possible. \nWesterly’s compact downtown puts theaters\, music spaces\, restaurants\, shops and historic buildings within walking distance of one another\, with Wilcox Park sitting near the center of it all. \nFor young participants\, the walk also demonstrates something that’s easy to overlook when visiting one venue at a time: \nThese organizations are neighbors. \nThey’re part of the same arts community. \nAt the Granite\, Young Performers Get to Step Onto the Stage\nThe second major stop is the Granite Theatre at 1 Granite Street. \nHere\, participants will step onto the stage and hear how theatrical training reaches beyond memorizing lines and learning where to stand. \nThe Granite specifically emphasizes the ways theater can develop confidence\, communication skills and personal growth. \nThose benefits matter even for children who never intend to become professional actors. \nGetting onstage requires speaking clearly. \nActors have to listen to one another. \nThey need to collaborate\, remember instructions\, adapt when something unexpected happens and become comfortable communicating in front of other people. \nA theatrical production is also intensely collaborative. \nThe person delivering the line may be the one the audience sees\, but performances depend on directors\, designers\, technicians\, stage managers and many others working together. \nFor a child interested in theater but uncertain about being the center of attention\, there are plenty of ways into that world. \nThe Granite Has Been Expanding Its Youth Programs\nThe Granite’s mission specifically combines entertainment and education\, and the theater has been developing dedicated programming for younger performers. \nIts Youth Theatre Program has included theatrical training\, summer camps and staged productions for young actors. \nRecent youth programming has been designed for participants roughly 8 to 18 years old\, giving children and teenagers the opportunity to work toward an actual performance rather than treating theater solely as a classroom exercise. \nSaturday’s stop gives prospective young actors and their families a chance to see the space before deciding whether that kind of program feels right for them. \nThat can be much more useful than trying to make the decision from a website. \nThe Granite’s Stage Is Inside an 1849 Church\nThe building itself has already spent more than 175 years gathering people together. \nThe Greek Revival structure was purchased for $200 in 1843 and became the Christian Chapel in Westerly. \nThe building was completed in 1849 and later became the Broad Street Christian Church. \nIts basic historic character survived remarkably well\, although the steeple required remodeling after being damaged during the Hurricane of 1938. \nThe building eventually found an entirely different purpose. \nIn 2000\, it reopened as the Granite Theatre. \nThe former church sanctuary became an intimate performance venue where actors now perform only a short distance from the audience. \nFor a young performer stepping onto its stage Saturday morning\, it’s worth looking around. \nThat’s not a purpose-built modern auditorium. \nIt’s another piece of Westerly history that the arts helped preserve. \nThe Final Stop Is Kent Hall\nThe walking tour continues to 119 High Street\, where another former church has become one of Westerly’s major performance spaces. \nGeorge Kent Performance Hall is home to The Chorus of Westerly. \nThe organization uses Kent Hall for rehearsals\, classes\, concerts and educational programs throughout the year. \nFor young singers\, this portion of the tour may be particularly useful because The Chorus of Westerly has made children’s musical education part of its identity from the beginning. \nParticipants will learn how singers develop musicianship\, vocal technique and ensemble skills\, and how children can progress into serious choral performance even without arriving with years of previous training. \nYou Don’t Need to Arrive Already Knowing How to Sing in a Chorus\nThe Chorus of Westerly explicitly says that children don’t need previous voice lessons\, formal music classes or other musical training to begin its children’s program. \nTeaching them is part of the job. \nIts children’s program is designed for young people approximately ages 8 through 18 and uses multiple levels so developing singers can be placed appropriately. \nEach young singer receives at least two hours of rehearsal per week. \nAnd this isn’t a children’s choir that exists entirely apart from the organization’s major performances. \nOne of The Chorus of Westerly’s founding principles was giving children and teenagers the opportunity to sing challenging music alongside adults in serious performance settings. \nYoung singers have long participated in the organization’s main symphonic and Pops programming. \nThat makes the Kent Hall stop less about asking\, “Can my child already do this?” \nIt’s about discovering how they can learn. \nThe Chorus Has Built a Program That Can Last a Lifetime\nThe children’s program is only one piece of The Chorus of Westerly. \nThere is an auditioned Symphonic Chorus for adults. \nThere are also non-auditioned programs designed to make group singing accessible to people with different experience levels and at different stages of life. \nThe organization has developed a Foundations Chorus\, Threshold Singers and an Encore Choir for older adults\, among other educational and outreach programs. \nThat creates an unusual continuum. \nSomeone can begin singing at Kent Hall as a child and remain involved in choral music well into adulthood. \nThe organization isn’t simply producing concerts. \nIt’s trying to create singers. \nKent Hall Has Heard Some Extraordinary Music\nThe room the young performers will visit has hosted considerably more than local rehearsals. \nThe Chorus of Westerly first performed there in 1968. \nOver the decades\, Kent Hall has welcomed internationally known musicians and ensembles including Yo-Yo Ma\, Pete Seeger\, Rudolf Serkin\, The King’s Singers\, Chanticleer\, The Tallis Scholars\, the Choir of King’s College Cambridge and the Vienna Boys’ Choir. \nIts history predates all of them. \nConstruction of the building began in 1886 as Westerly’s first Roman Catholic church\, Immaculate Conception. \nThe Chorus eventually acquired the building and undertook years of restoration and renovation. \nIn 2004–05\, a nearly $2 million project added an office wing and backstage access. Later work addressed the roof\, bell tower\, HVAC systems\, rehearsal spaces and lower level. \nToday it’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places. \nSo Saturday’s young singers will be standing in a room with some stories to tell. \nThe Tour Is Really About Finding Your Door In\nA child saying “I like music” doesn’t necessarily know what comes next. \nDo I need lessons? \nCan I join a band? \nWhat if I’ve never acted before? \nDo I have to audition? \nWhat happens at an audition? \nCan I sing in a chorus if I can’t read music? \nWhat if I want to work in theater but don’t want to act? \nThose questions can make arts organizations seem more intimidating from the outside than they actually are. \nThe Westerly Performing Arts Tour removes some of that barrier by putting families directly in the spaces and introducing them to the people who can answer those questions. \nThere’s no requirement that a participant emerge from Saturday morning having chosen an artistic career. \nFinding something they’d like to try is enough. \nParents Need to Come Along With Younger Participants\nThe tour is designed for young performers\, but participants under 18 must be accompanied by an adult. \nThat makes sense for another reason. \nParents are usually the ones who need answers about schedules\, commitments\, auditions\, costs and transportation before a child can join a program. \nInstead of a young person coming home excited about something and trying to explain it\, parent and child can hear the information together. \nThe UNITED asks participants to reserve a spot in advance. \nThe tour begins at the UNITED marquee at 10 a.m. The UNITED describes the guided experience as approximately 90 minutes\, while the Chamber calendar blocks out 10 a.m. to noon\, so families would be wise to keep the full two-hour window available. \nThree Institutions\, One Arts Community\nThe most interesting part of the Westerly Performing Arts Tour may not be any single stop. \nIt’s the fact that all three stops exist so close together. \nWithin one morning\, a young person can explore a century-old theater reborn as a modern music and arts center\, stand on the stage of an 1849 church transformed into a community theater and visit an 1880s church that became home to a nationally recognized choral organization. \nThey’re different institutions with different histories and specialties. \nBut they’re doing versions of the same thing. \nThey’re taking people who want to create something and giving them a place to begin. \nOn September 19\, they’re opening those doors together. \nDetails\nEvent: The Westerly Performing Arts Tour\nDate: Saturday\, September 19\, 2026\nStart Time: 10 a.m.\nCalendar Window: 10 a.m.–noon\nGuided Tour Length: Approximately 90 minutes\nStarting Point: The UNITED Theatre marquee/front entrance\nStarting Address: 5 Canal Street\, Westerly\, RI 02891\nStops: The UNITED Theatre and Music School\, Granite Theatre and George Kent Performance Hall/The Chorus of Westerly\nAudience: Young performers and families interested in local performing arts opportunities\nUnder 18: Must be accompanied by an adult\nActivities: Behind-the-scenes theater visit\, music school introduction\, Granite Theatre stage visit\, choral education introduction and conversations with artists and educators\nWalking: The tour travels between downtown locations\, including a walk through Wilcox Park\nRegistration: Advance reservation is requested\nContact: The UNITED Theatre\, 401-388-8208 \nMore information is available at the Event Website link below. \nTo reserve your spot\, click the Event Registration link below. \n  \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/westerly-performing-arts-tour-takes-young-performers-behind-the-scenes-at-three-downtown-arts-institutions/
LOCATION:United Theatre\, 5 Canal Street\, Westerly\, RI\, 02891\, United States
CATEGORIES:United Theater
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://thectbeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Westerly-Performing-Arts-Tour-Takes-Young-Performers-Behind-the-Scenes-at-Three-Downtown-Arts-Institutions.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260919T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260919T210000
DTSTAMP:20260908T005412Z
CREATED:20260908T005412Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260908T005412Z
UID:10007513-1789846200-1789851600@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:Almost\, Maine at the Granite Theatre
DESCRIPTION:Almost\, Maine at the Granite Theatre opens Friday\, September 11\, for a two-week run of John Cariani’s romantic comedy about love found\, lost and occasionally turned upside down beneath the northern lights. \nThe Granite Theatre production runs September 11–20 in downtown Westerly\, with 7:30 p.m. performances on Thursdays\, Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sunday matinees. Tickets are $30–$35. \nRather than following one couple through a conventional love story\, Almost\, Maine tells nine interconnected stories about the residents of a tiny fictional community in northern Maine. During the course of one cold Friday night\, relationships begin\, end\, stumble and take some wonderfully strange turns. \nWelcome to Almost\nAlmost isn’t technically a town. \nIn Cariani’s fictional geography\, it’s an unorganized community so far north in Maine that it’s almost in Canada. On a clear winter night\, with the aurora borealis overhead\, its residents experience a series of encounters that revolve around falling in love\, falling out of it or discovering that what they thought they understood about another person wasn’t quite right. \nThe structure is closer to a collection of short stories performed on stage than a traditional beginning-to-end narrative. \nMost of the scenes involve just two characters\, with different residents moving in and out of focus as the evening progresses. The stories stand on their own\, but the shared place\, time and themes gradually turn them into a portrait of one small community. \nCariani also gives the play a touch of magical realism. \nEmotions sometimes become physical things. Characters carry the consequences of love in ways that couldn’t happen in the real world\, yet the feelings behind those moments remain recognizable. That lets Almost\, Maine move quickly between comedy\, absurdity\, heartbreak and tenderness without becoming a conventional romantic comedy. \nA Play That Almost Disappeared\nThe story behind Almost\, Maine is nearly as unlikely as some of the stories inside it. \nJohn Cariani developed the play at the Cape Cod Theatre Project in 2002. It received its world premiere at Portland Stage Company in Maine in 2004\, where it broke box-office records. \nBy then\, Cariani was already familiar to Broadway audiences as an actor. He earned a Tony Award nomination for playing Motel the tailor in the 2004 Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof and had appeared on television in Law & Order. \nAlmost\, Maine reached New York next\, opening Off-Broadway at the Daryl Roth Theatre in January 2006. \nThat production lasted only about a month. \nOrdinarily\, that might have been the end of the story. Instead\, after the play was published and became available to other theaters\, something unexpected happened. \nSmall professional theaters began producing it. Then community theaters picked it up. Colleges and high schools followed. \nAnd they kept doing it. \nFrom Short Off-Broadway Run to Thousands of Productions\nToday\, Almost\, Maine has become one of the most frequently produced contemporary American plays. \nThe play’s official site reports that more than 6\,000 theater companies in the United States have staged it\, along with more than 100 international companies. It has also repeatedly ranked among the most-produced plays in North American high schools. \nPart of the appeal is built into Cariani’s unusual structure. \nWith largely self-contained two-person scenes\, directors can distribute substantial material among an ensemble rather than building an entire production around one or two leading roles. Each vignette gives its actors a complete little story to develop. \nAudiences get something different from that structure\, too. One scene may land as broad comedy while the next turns unexpectedly bittersweet. Not every relationship works out\, and the title itself becomes something of a running idea. \nThings in Almost are frequently close. \nAlmost a town. Almost Canada. Almost together. Almost over someone. Almost happy. \nBut not quite. \nJohn Cariani Wrote About the Maine He Knew\nThe fictional setting wasn’t chosen at random. \nCariani grew up in Presque Isle in Aroostook County\, the enormous and sparsely populated region at the northern end of Maine. He has said those years shaped his affection for the landscape\, language and people that eventually found their way into Almost\, Maine. \nThe setting is intentionally remote. The cold matters. The darkness matters. So does the northern sky. \nAgainst that isolation\, the small interactions between people become bigger. A conversation on a bench\, an unexpected visitor at the door or an encounter between two neighbors can become the most important thing happening for miles. \nCariani eventually returned to the world he created in another form. In 2022\, he adapted Almost\, Maine into a novel\, expanding the interconnected stories and characters beyond what audiences see on stage. \nBut the theatrical version remains the work that made Almost into a place thousands of actors and audiences have visited. \nInside Westerly’s Historic Granite Theatre\nThe setting for this production has its own story. \nGranite Theatre occupies a restored Greek Revival building at 1 Granite Street in downtown Westerly. Long before actors performed there\, the building was a church. \nThe congregation that became the Broad Street Christian Church was organized in 1843\, and the building was completed in 1849. Its prominent classical façade and columns remain part of one of downtown Westerly’s distinctive historic structures. \nThe building eventually found a second life as a performance space\, reopening as the Granite Theatre in 2000. \nToday\, Renaissance City Theatre operates the Granite as a nonprofit theater\, presenting plays\, musicals\, family productions\, educational programs and special events throughout the year. \nIt’s also an intimate room. With roughly 140 seats\, the audience is close to the performers rather than watching from the distance of a large regional theater. That should suit a play built around small conversations and two-person encounters particularly well. \nOpening Night Begins a Seven-Performance Run\nAlmost\, Maine opens at 7:30 p.m. Friday\, September 11. \nA second evening performance follows Saturday\, September 12\, before the first Sunday matinee at 2 p.m. September 13. \nThe production returns the following Thursday and continues through Sunday\, September 20\, for seven performances in all: \n\nFriday\, September 11 at 7:30 p.m.\nSaturday\, September 12 at 7:30 p.m.\nSunday\, September 13 at 2 p.m.\nThursday\, September 17 at 7:30 p.m.\nFriday\, September 18 at 7:30 p.m.\nSaturday\, September 19 at 7:30 p.m.\nSunday\, September 20 at 2 p.m.\n\nTickets range from $30 to $35. \nAccessibility at the Granite\nBecause the Granite occupies a historic 19th-century building\, accessibility comes with some limitations. \nThe theater performance space itself is wheelchair accessible\, but the Granite notes that its lobby and restrooms are not fully accessible. \nA small number of accessible parking spaces are available behind the building and need to be reserved. The theater recommends that anyone who needs accessible parking or has mobility concerns call ahead rather than relying on availability when arriving for a performance. \nDetails\nEvent: Almost\, Maine\nPlaywright: John Cariani\nOpening Night: Friday\, September 11\, 2026 at 7:30 p.m.\nRun: September 11–20\, 2026\nEvening Performances: 7:30 p.m.\nSunday Matinees: 2 p.m.\nNumber of Performances: Seven\nGenre: Romantic comedy\nVenue: Granite Theatre\nAddress: 1 Granite Street\, Westerly\, RI 02891\nTickets: $30–$35\nBox Office: 401-596-2341\nAccessibility: Theater space is wheelchair accessible; lobby and restrooms are not fully accessible\nAccessible Parking: Limited spaces are available and should be reserved in advance \nMore information is available at the Event Website link below. \nTo purchase tickets\, click the Event Ticketing link below. \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/almost-maine-at-the-granite-theatre/2026-09-19/
LOCATION:The Granite Theater\, 1 Granite Street\, Westerly\, RI\, 02891\, United States
CATEGORIES:The Granite Street Theater
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://thectbeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Almost-Maine-at-the-Granite-Theatre.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260920T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260920T153000
DTSTAMP:20260908T005412Z
CREATED:20260908T005412Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260908T005412Z
UID:10007514-1789912800-1789918200@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:Almost\, Maine at the Granite Theatre
DESCRIPTION:Almost\, Maine at the Granite Theatre opens Friday\, September 11\, for a two-week run of John Cariani’s romantic comedy about love found\, lost and occasionally turned upside down beneath the northern lights. \nThe Granite Theatre production runs September 11–20 in downtown Westerly\, with 7:30 p.m. performances on Thursdays\, Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sunday matinees. Tickets are $30–$35. \nRather than following one couple through a conventional love story\, Almost\, Maine tells nine interconnected stories about the residents of a tiny fictional community in northern Maine. During the course of one cold Friday night\, relationships begin\, end\, stumble and take some wonderfully strange turns. \nWelcome to Almost\nAlmost isn’t technically a town. \nIn Cariani’s fictional geography\, it’s an unorganized community so far north in Maine that it’s almost in Canada. On a clear winter night\, with the aurora borealis overhead\, its residents experience a series of encounters that revolve around falling in love\, falling out of it or discovering that what they thought they understood about another person wasn’t quite right. \nThe structure is closer to a collection of short stories performed on stage than a traditional beginning-to-end narrative. \nMost of the scenes involve just two characters\, with different residents moving in and out of focus as the evening progresses. The stories stand on their own\, but the shared place\, time and themes gradually turn them into a portrait of one small community. \nCariani also gives the play a touch of magical realism. \nEmotions sometimes become physical things. Characters carry the consequences of love in ways that couldn’t happen in the real world\, yet the feelings behind those moments remain recognizable. That lets Almost\, Maine move quickly between comedy\, absurdity\, heartbreak and tenderness without becoming a conventional romantic comedy. \nA Play That Almost Disappeared\nThe story behind Almost\, Maine is nearly as unlikely as some of the stories inside it. \nJohn Cariani developed the play at the Cape Cod Theatre Project in 2002. It received its world premiere at Portland Stage Company in Maine in 2004\, where it broke box-office records. \nBy then\, Cariani was already familiar to Broadway audiences as an actor. He earned a Tony Award nomination for playing Motel the tailor in the 2004 Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof and had appeared on television in Law & Order. \nAlmost\, Maine reached New York next\, opening Off-Broadway at the Daryl Roth Theatre in January 2006. \nThat production lasted only about a month. \nOrdinarily\, that might have been the end of the story. Instead\, after the play was published and became available to other theaters\, something unexpected happened. \nSmall professional theaters began producing it. Then community theaters picked it up. Colleges and high schools followed. \nAnd they kept doing it. \nFrom Short Off-Broadway Run to Thousands of Productions\nToday\, Almost\, Maine has become one of the most frequently produced contemporary American plays. \nThe play’s official site reports that more than 6\,000 theater companies in the United States have staged it\, along with more than 100 international companies. It has also repeatedly ranked among the most-produced plays in North American high schools. \nPart of the appeal is built into Cariani’s unusual structure. \nWith largely self-contained two-person scenes\, directors can distribute substantial material among an ensemble rather than building an entire production around one or two leading roles. Each vignette gives its actors a complete little story to develop. \nAudiences get something different from that structure\, too. One scene may land as broad comedy while the next turns unexpectedly bittersweet. Not every relationship works out\, and the title itself becomes something of a running idea. \nThings in Almost are frequently close. \nAlmost a town. Almost Canada. Almost together. Almost over someone. Almost happy. \nBut not quite. \nJohn Cariani Wrote About the Maine He Knew\nThe fictional setting wasn’t chosen at random. \nCariani grew up in Presque Isle in Aroostook County\, the enormous and sparsely populated region at the northern end of Maine. He has said those years shaped his affection for the landscape\, language and people that eventually found their way into Almost\, Maine. \nThe setting is intentionally remote. The cold matters. The darkness matters. So does the northern sky. \nAgainst that isolation\, the small interactions between people become bigger. A conversation on a bench\, an unexpected visitor at the door or an encounter between two neighbors can become the most important thing happening for miles. \nCariani eventually returned to the world he created in another form. In 2022\, he adapted Almost\, Maine into a novel\, expanding the interconnected stories and characters beyond what audiences see on stage. \nBut the theatrical version remains the work that made Almost into a place thousands of actors and audiences have visited. \nInside Westerly’s Historic Granite Theatre\nThe setting for this production has its own story. \nGranite Theatre occupies a restored Greek Revival building at 1 Granite Street in downtown Westerly. Long before actors performed there\, the building was a church. \nThe congregation that became the Broad Street Christian Church was organized in 1843\, and the building was completed in 1849. Its prominent classical façade and columns remain part of one of downtown Westerly’s distinctive historic structures. \nThe building eventually found a second life as a performance space\, reopening as the Granite Theatre in 2000. \nToday\, Renaissance City Theatre operates the Granite as a nonprofit theater\, presenting plays\, musicals\, family productions\, educational programs and special events throughout the year. \nIt’s also an intimate room. With roughly 140 seats\, the audience is close to the performers rather than watching from the distance of a large regional theater. That should suit a play built around small conversations and two-person encounters particularly well. \nOpening Night Begins a Seven-Performance Run\nAlmost\, Maine opens at 7:30 p.m. Friday\, September 11. \nA second evening performance follows Saturday\, September 12\, before the first Sunday matinee at 2 p.m. September 13. \nThe production returns the following Thursday and continues through Sunday\, September 20\, for seven performances in all: \n\nFriday\, September 11 at 7:30 p.m.\nSaturday\, September 12 at 7:30 p.m.\nSunday\, September 13 at 2 p.m.\nThursday\, September 17 at 7:30 p.m.\nFriday\, September 18 at 7:30 p.m.\nSaturday\, September 19 at 7:30 p.m.\nSunday\, September 20 at 2 p.m.\n\nTickets range from $30 to $35. \nAccessibility at the Granite\nBecause the Granite occupies a historic 19th-century building\, accessibility comes with some limitations. \nThe theater performance space itself is wheelchair accessible\, but the Granite notes that its lobby and restrooms are not fully accessible. \nA small number of accessible parking spaces are available behind the building and need to be reserved. The theater recommends that anyone who needs accessible parking or has mobility concerns call ahead rather than relying on availability when arriving for a performance. \nDetails\nEvent: Almost\, Maine\nPlaywright: John Cariani\nOpening Night: Friday\, September 11\, 2026 at 7:30 p.m.\nRun: September 11–20\, 2026\nEvening Performances: 7:30 p.m.\nSunday Matinees: 2 p.m.\nNumber of Performances: Seven\nGenre: Romantic comedy\nVenue: Granite Theatre\nAddress: 1 Granite Street\, Westerly\, RI 02891\nTickets: $30–$35\nBox Office: 401-596-2341\nAccessibility: Theater space is wheelchair accessible; lobby and restrooms are not fully accessible\nAccessible Parking: Limited spaces are available and should be reserved in advance \nMore information is available at the Event Website link below. \nTo purchase tickets\, click the Event Ticketing link below. \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/almost-maine-at-the-granite-theatre/2026-09-20/
LOCATION:The Granite Theater\, 1 Granite Street\, Westerly\, RI\, 02891\, United States
CATEGORIES:The Granite Street Theater
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