Chamberlain Chamberlain – A Civil War Romance

"Theater Review: ‘Chamberlain: A Civil War Romance’
Maine State Music Theatre pulls out all the stops with its grand retelling of the story of Maine hero Joshua Chamberlain and the love of his life.

Maine State Music Theatre’s “Chamberlain: A Civil War Romance” is history at its best.​

With an epic story, soaring score and stunning costumes, it captures and breathes life into the biography of Maine’s Civil War hero, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain.​

“Chamberlain” premiered at Maine State Music Theatre 18 years ago but has returned with a reworked script, directed and choreographed by Marc Robin.​

The theater pulled out all the stops for the opening performance. A half-hour before the show, costumed actors began mingling with delighted patrons outside the Pickard Theater.​

Before their eyes, Union soldiers pitched tents while a chorus of performers serenaded onlookers. And, with that, Chamberlain’s beloved campus was transported back in time 150 years...."
http://www.pressherald.com/2014/06/29/theater-review-chamberlain-a-civil-war-romance/
 
"‘Chamberlain: A Civil War Romance’
July 2, 1863, marked the turning point in the American Civil War, the moment when the struggling Union army stopped a mighty Confederate force at the Battle of Gettysburg. The crucial spot on that vast battlefield on that fateful day was Little Round Top, a modest hill where a small number of Union soldiers – including the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment – repulsed repeated attacks by a much larger Confederate force.​

Multiple Confederate attacks took a fearsome toll on the 20th Maine, and after several hours of constant fighting, the men were outnumbered and out of ammunition. The Confederacy might have won the battle on the next attack, then smashed through the Union lines and continued their drive toward Washington, D.C.​

But the tide at Gettysburg was turned when the commander of the 20th Maine, a colonel from Brunswick, ordered a desperate downhill charge with bayonets, an extraordinary move that surprised, scattered and ultimately defeated the men in gray.​

After the war, Chamberlain returned to a well-deserved hero’s welcome in Brunswick. He was later elected governor of Maine and subsequently selected as the president of Bowdoin College. He is lionized by historians to the present day..."
http://www.theforecaster.net/news/p...t-powerful-musicals-brunswick-ogunquit/203256
 
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"Perhaps the most revered war hero of Maine is Civil War general Joshua Chamberlain, a volunteer enlistee who later served as president of Bowdoin and governor of the state. Generations of Maine children have learned about Chamberlain’s critical flank defense at Gettysburg, and about his nobility in saluting surrendering Confederates. In both the state’s cultural memory and the epic autobiographical musical Chamberlain: a Civil War Romance, the beloved Mainer stands larger than life. Marc Robin directs an animated, beautifully appointed production at the Maine State Music Theatre, in Brunswick, on the very campus where Chamberlain spent much of his life.

Chamberlain opens with letters from home being read by the soldiers of the 20th Maine at Little Round Top Hill, where Chamberlain (the fine James Patterson) will soon lead a critical victory for the Union. Chamberlain has in his regiment the company of his younger brothers, rascally John (Ben Mayne) and sickly chaplain Tom (Sam Weber), but he has left behind his headstrong wife Fannie (Kathy Voytko), who is going blind and has made an aggressive plea against his absence. Through flashbacks, Chamberlain surveys the man’s war-troubled romance with Fannie, his honorable military career, and the eclipsing force that battle proves even in his post-war life..."

Read more: http://portland.thephoenix.com/arts/158938-distilled-portrait/#ixzz376xKYcqv
 
I just don't know what to say about the whole thing I'm speechless.
Yeah, I know how you feel.

But hey, this thread got more views than the was Chamberlain at the Crater thread, I guess people care even less about that contoversy, somehow that makes me feel better.
 
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It must be the whole Chamberlain backlash, on views, no? It has to have been a blessing and a curse Shaara told the Gettysburg story pretty much around Chamberlain- the guy didn't do it himself. Somehow Chamberlain gets it in the neck for Shaara's inaccuracies and the book added to his reputation as a self-promoter. Funny! ( All politicians are self-promoters, little tough getting elected otherwise )

Without endlessly comparing him to other men, psychoanalyzing his intents, poking around in his apparently terrible- from the- beginning -marriage( because that had everything to do with his war record ) or pointing out how many days he was not with the 20th Maine ( all of the above can be found in Longacre's ' bio ' ) , Chamberlain did what he did ( something the bio does not point out ). Could have sat out the war quite comfortably all the way up in Maine, actually went to huge lengths to put his life on the line. He did, in fact, order an amazing defense on LRT that day- with no nerve endings toboot, order a bayonet charge, do what he was ordered in holding his ground. He was chosen to accept the surrender, no one can take that from him, or what he did to honor the Confederate troops, all of them, not just officers.

You know in depth his achievements and life- have always wondered what set off Spears? Longacre's bio contains an awful lot of Spears charges actually- not sure how many because I never finished the bio. Once it really got into Fanny's endless list of grievances I pitched it.

Is the stage show over-the-top? Can't imagine how one does a Civil War bio for theatre? Of course, there's a runaway hit, said to be incredibly good, a musical on the life of Alexander Hamilton of all people. Uses rap, too- it's apparently quite brilliant. If that's possible, guess bringing Chamberlain to the stage isn't impossible.
 
It must be the whole Chamberlain backlash, on views, no? It has to have been a blessing and a curse Shaara told the Gettysburg story pretty much around Chamberlain- the guy didn't do it himself. Somehow Chamberlain gets it in the neck for Shaara's inaccuracies and the book added to his reputation as a self-promoter. Funny! ( All politicians are self-promoters, little tough getting elected otherwise )

Without endlessly comparing him to other men, psychoanalyzing his intents, poking around in his apparently terrible- from the- beginning -marriage( because that had everything to do with his war record ) or pointing out how many days he was not with the 20th Maine ( all of the above can be found in Longacre's ' bio ' ) , Chamberlain did what he did ( something the bio does not point out ). Could have sat out the war quite comfortably all the way up in Maine, actually went to huge lengths to put his life on the line. He did, in fact, order an amazing defense on LRT that day- with no nerve endings toboot, order a bayonet charge, do what he was ordered in holding his ground. He was chosen to accept the surrender, no one can take that from him, or what he did to honor the Confederate troops, all of them, not just officers.

You know in depth his achievements and life- have always wondered what set off Spears? Longacre's bio contains an awful lot of Spears charges actually- not sure how many because I never finished the bio. Once it really got into Fanny's endless list of grievances I pitched it.

Is the stage show over-the-top? Can't imagine how one does a Civil War bio for theatre? Of course, there's a runaway hit, said to be incredibly good, a musical on the life of Alexander Hamilton of all people. Uses rap, too- it's apparently quite brilliant. If that's possible, guess bringing Chamberlain to the stage isn't impossible.

Yeah, Chamberlain backlash sure sells books. It amazes me this new book goes right on telling newspapers the very argument of theirs that I already refuted. They just plan on sticking their fingers in their ears till their book sells I guess. Maybe they know no one is about to listen to a woman so its safe to just ignore me.

But back to the topic, yes I'm sure other Civil War generals have had over the top theater productions.
 
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Oh heck, 150 years ago Mary Lincoln had someone write a book and give lectures on her while she was still alive- supposedly an ' expert ' on her, it was insane. William Herndon's stuff is still being sourced- he didn't even know her, just made nonsense up. Nasty, nasty coward of a man, hiding behind a woman, making cash from destroying her reputation- if Mary's male relations had any testosterone they'd have pounded his head into the ground. Show me myth, nasty myth on Mary, I'll show you a Herndon source.

Making money from schmearing Chamberlain, same thing. Too easy given the head start, it's shameful. It really is. OK- take this name and brouhaha away- here's a guy who served the Union. Unflinchingly. LRT? Chamberlain plain, old did what he did there. It's been so scrutinized, gee whiz, it's a play by play. Got himself shot through the hips elsewhere. doing what hundreds of other leaders did. Chosen to accept the surrender. For a reason. Did what he did there. This is a soldier who answered a call at great cost personally, professionally and physically. Served very well. To continually insist on tearing his professional and personal reputation apart especially since he is no longer here to defend himself is ridiculous. If an entire book is required to convince the world that someone who looks honorable on the outside is really a big fraud, don't buy the book. The simplest explanation is always the truth- that being there's no conspiracy. Isn't it what the Chamberlain backlash amounts to, a conspiracy theory? ' Joshua Lawrence only looks like a good man and soldier, here's what he really was, buy this book for the story of how aliens took over his body '.

When you stood in for the man with your professional expertise well, no one is interested. If it is because you're female, more heaps of shame on them gee whiz.
 
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