STERLING — There’s a little something for everyone in the theater production “Maybe Baby, It’s You,” which will be presented as part of Sterling’s Old Fashioned Fourth of July celebration. There’s plenty of laughs, a little romance, lots of music, some dancing, and a lot of heart in the show.
Though there are only six in the cast of Sterling High School Theatre’s show “Maybe Baby, It’s You,” there will be a total of 30 people seen as part of the show which will be presented on Thursday and Friday, July 2 and 3 at 7:30 p.m. and at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, July 5 in the high school theater.
“This isn’t exactly the normal summer show we usually do for the Fourth of July,” explains Sterling Community Theatre Troupe director Dennis Dutton. “But then again, these are not exactly ‘normal’ times we are in right now.” The Troupe typically presents a big-cast summer musical for the Fourth, such as last summer’s “Mamma Mia!”
“Maybe Baby, It’s You” was to have been presented in the spring at Sterling High School but was postponed due to the pandemic. Now, it’s being presented as Sterling’s summer show in conjunction with the Sterling Community Theatre Troupe. Betsy Dutton, Sterling High director, is directing the six-person show while Dennis Dutton is putting together a pre-show musical revue and a series of “Man-on-the-street” interviews featured between each sketch in the show.
“Maybe Baby” is a lighthearted look at the search for love and romance in today’s world and runs about 90 minutes.
“The show is about the idea that love is timeless, and the trials and tribulations of relationships — there’s nothing different,” Betsy Dutton said. “It’s the same challenges and victories that people have had for years regarding relationships and marriage and love and lost love. Although it’s romantic comedy at heart, there are very real moments in the play about lost and unrequited love, because that’s true to life. And that’s why audiences will enjoy the play.”
To set the scene for the show, the Sterling Community Theatre Troupe is presenting a brief musical pre-show featuring songs from classic and contemporary musical theater. The pre-show will feature six Sterling area college-age adults including Kaci Wilson, JoJo Maxwell, Alex Engelkin, Will Dutton, Max Dutton and Rachel Thomson. Musical solos and duets will be included with songs by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Cole Porter, as well as new composers Andrew Lippa and Jason Robert Brown. Sterling College music faculty member Tiffiney Harms will accompany the musical selections.
The script to the show is a series of 10 sketches with man-on-the-street interviews setting up each sketch. Each interview asks a different question such as, “Do you believe in the idea of soul mates?” and “What don’t men get about women?” and vice versa. A cast of 18 will be featured in the filmed video segments, most of whom are Sterling Community Theatre Troupe regulars – with some surprises thrown in.
“We generally have about 30 in the cast of a summer show and we take the whole month of June to work on big choreographed musical numbers and pulling together dozens of costumes and building an elaborate set. But things like that are simply not possible this summer with the state of things,” Dutton explained. “We are all just thankful to be able to present a summer show that will feature comedy, romance, music and laughs. We all need all of those things right now!”
Tickets for “Maybe Baby, It’s You” are $6 for adults and $4 for students and will be available at the door before each performance. Rules of social distancing will be followed for the show and masks will be encouraged.
