Montgomery Theatre - The Golden Bay Times

In Finding Neverland, we enter early 20th-century London, where a struggling playwright, J. M. Barrie, is tangled in creative despair and social expectation. He meets Sylvia Llewelyn Davies, a gentle widow, and her four lively sons, and through their daily walks, games, and whispered confessions in Kensington Park, a fierce friendship blossoms. Their playful world becomes fertile ground for Barrie’s imagination, inspiring him to craft something daringly new. As the boundaries between reality and fantasy blur, the seeds of Peter Pan begin to take root, though doubts, critics, and whispered judgments lurk nearby. Imagination becomes both escape and mission, and Barrie must gamble everything on belief in what could be.

At the quirky 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, a handful of bright yet delightfully awkward middle schoolers gather to test their vocabulary, their nerves, and sometimes their patience. Each contestant carries more than a dictionary’s worth of personal baggage, whether it’s the pressure to be perfect, the sting of loneliness, or the awkwardness of growing up under the spotlight. Guided by a motley crew of adults who are just as flawed as the kids, the Bee becomes less about spelling and more about self-discovery. With humor that dances between heartwarming and hilariously uncomfortable, the musical turns an academic competition into an emotional coming-of-age story, one where victory doesn’t always mean a trophy, and losing can sometimes spell out something far more meaningful.

Imagine slipping into the mind of Robert F. Kennedy during the most electrifying and heartbreaking three months of 1968. Told as a one-man show through Bobby’s eyes, Kennedy: Bobby’s Last Crusade unspools from the moment he announces his presidential bid on March 16 to his final address in Los Angeles on June 4. Along the way, we hear his stirring campaign speeches, glimpse his private doubts, and ride the emotional highs and lows of a man driven by idealism in a country plunging into turmoil. It’s not a dry biography, but a tight, human portrait of a crusade fueled by compassion, moral urgency, and a vision of justice, leaving you feeling as if you’ve been inside his head while history unfolds all around him.

Dear Evan Hansen follows a socially anxious high schooler whose world turns upside down after a misunderstanding launches him into unexpected attention and emotional chaos. Tasked by his therapist to write letters to himself as a form of self-encouragement, one of Evan’s letters accidentally falls into the wrong hands, sparking a chain of events that spirals far beyond his control. The story unfolds as Evan tries to navigate the delicate line between truth and illusion, belonging and isolation, as he experiences what it feels like to finally be seen, but at a heavy cost. Set against an intimate, contemporary score by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the musical dives deep into the human need for connection in an age of digital distance and emotional loneliness.

Set during the height of the Cold War, Chess turns a high-stakes international chess tournament into a metaphorical battlefield of love, politics, and loyalty. An American chess champion and his Soviet rival face off in a match where every move is charged with more than strategy, as it becomes a contest of pride, ideology, and the people caught in between. When a brilliant woman becomes entwined with both men, the tension between personal desire and political duty reaches its breaking point. Fueled by the soaring pop-rock score of Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus of ABBA, with lyrics by Tim Rice, the musical blends intrigue, romance, and power games in a world where hearts and nations alike hang in precarious balance.