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LEWISTON – Everyone knows that Comedian Bob Marley loves to perform at the Franco Center. He has for years. He believes in “going big or going home,” so he loves to pull off his very popular one-man show in front of a full-house in the 430-seat Performance Hall. For a couple seasons, he even managed to pack the house twice with back-to-back performances on the same night.
Marley, one of the hottest and most sought-after comedians in the country, loves the venue and even likes to weave the fact that the space was once a Roman Catholic Church sanctuary into his two-hour show. It wouldn’t be a Bob Marley show at the Franco Center without an obligatory apology to the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary (directly behind where he stands center stage) at some point during the night.
This would be a good time to mention that Marley will return to the Gendron Franco Center at 8 p.m. Friday, May 19, to wrap up the 2016-2017 season’s Comedy Series. The series opened in October with five of Maine’s funniest comedians performing a night of stand-up comedy.
Lewiston comedian Dawn Hartill, the Franco Center’s newest (and perhaps funniest) board member, hosted her first annual Fall Comedy Showcase featuring Tuck Tucker, Connor McGrath, Will Green and R.A. Sweeney.
Tuck Tucker is one of the funniest comics to come out of New England in the last decade. The combination of his verbal wit and physical comedy are a recipe for falling-off-your-chair funny.
Portland comedian, Connor McGrath, is a truly unique voice in the comedy scene, winning over audiences with tales of lost love and fragrant banks.
Will Green is a founding member of The Portland Comedy Co-op and has toured from Portland to Chicago.
Sweeney is a storyteller and performs at comedy venues throughout southern Maine.
Hartill is the 2016 winner of the Strand Cup Comedy Competition and was a quarter-finalist in the Couch Summer Comedy Classic in Portland.
In early March, the series continued with the successful return of the Mainely Improv “On the Spot Comedy” troupe led by Dan Marois. When these comedic actors combine the improvisation style of the television show, “Whose Line Is It, Anyway?” with a Maine-based comedy troupe that loves the art of improvisation, they get a professional troupe that has been entertaining audiences since 1995.
The group specializes in making up comic situations entirely from suggestions made by the audience. “Every show is different and we have no idea what will happen,” said Marois. “It was another evening of fun, comedy, and the unexpected in the Franco Center’s unique clubhouse setting.”
The third show in the series is Hartill’s own “baby” and promises to be a sold-out hit. Twelve local comics have been chosen as finalists to compete in Central Maine’s Comedy Invitational at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 24, in Franco Center’s Heritage Hall Clubhouse. The daring dozen will compete for a chance to take home the grand prize of $250 and the title of Central Maine’s Funniest Comedian.
“The winner will be chosen by audience vote at the end of the evening. Each contestant will be given five to seven minutes to present an original monologue,” said Hartill. The doors and the bar will open at 6:30 p.m. Admission is just $5 at the door.
The Dolard and Priscilla Gendron Franco Center is handicap accessible. Parking and a voting ballot are included in the admission price.
Maine comedian Tuck Tucker will return a second time this season to host the competition. The contestants vying for the grand prize are Jed Bloom, Billy Jack Goodwin, Nick Gordon, Mike Gray, Jake Jacobson, Adam Johnson, Danny Jordan, Angela Merrill, Sam Pelletier, Ben Roberts, Jamie Roux, and Ali Simpson.
Hartill, a Lewiston mother of three sons and wife to one husband, volunteers her time at the Franco Center and is a vice president and certified information systems auditor for TD Bank. Last year she served as the marketing and media director for the Great Fall Balloon Festival. Her hobbies include baking, performing stand-up comedy and improvisational theater.
She cut her teeth volunteering at the Franco Center by writing and performing in short plays at the monthly Thread Theater, which is now always on the third Wednesday of the month in Heritage Hall. The Thread Theater has provided countless hours of humorous (and sometimes serious) original writing and cold readings for over two years.
Hartill is very involved with the Lewiston school system, serving in both the Martel Elementary School and Lewiston Middle School Parent Teacher organizations. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree from Tennessee Temple University in Chattanooga.
So, comedy has found its permanent place at the Gendron Franco Center in a number of ways. Thanks to the hard-working, dedicated staff and countless volunteers (including Hartill), there will certainly be much more to come!
All proceeds from shows and events will benefit the Franco Center for Heritage and the Performing Arts, a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization.
For more information, visit the box office at the corner of Cedar and Oxford Streets and at www.francocenter.org. Call 207-783-1585. Box office hours are Monday thru Friday, from noon to 4 p.m.
