"Maybe This Time" Information

1st PRODUCTION 

2015  Play was originally titled “It Had To Be You”. It was entered as a 10-minute one-act play in the 13th Annual North Park Vaudeville Playwright Festival.  Over 300 scripts are annually submitted, 24 are chosen. It won “Best Play”and sold out all three performances. (35-seat theatre)

2nd PRODUCTION

2016  “It Had To Be You” was expanded to a 3-scene, one act play (45 minutes) and accepted into the San Diego International Fringe Festival. It played 5 consecutive dates at different times and averaged 140% capacity in 5 sold-out performances. (56 patrons in a 40-seat theatre) The only reason it wasn’t more is that there literally wasn’t any more room for anybody else. It won the “Audience Award”.  

3rd PRODUCTION

2017  “It Had To Be You” was expanded to a 4-scene, 2-act play (90 minutes) and produced by PowPAC Community Theatre for two performances October 22nd and 23rd.  http://www.powpac.org/misc_pages/play.php?id=258

Both performances sold out (70-seat theatre)

Play title was changed from “It Had To Be You” when it was discovered that another play with the same title was already registered with the WGA. It was retitled “Maybe This Time” and re-registered. 

4th PRODUCTION

2018 “Maybe This Time” was performed with a different Cast and Director (Pamela Reckamp), August 17-19 at the Gaslight Theatre in St. Louis, Mo. It sold out all three performances (99-seat theatre).

Newspaper Review

http://www.laduenews.com/arts-and-culture/features/wry-witty-dialogue-brings-charm-and-comedy-to-maybe-this/article_5324be02-a650-11e8-8315-6fa05620287a.html

TV Review with video excerpts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q25tm9iPKxg

All versions were staged simply; black box, in front of a black curtain or on an empty stage, with a single table and two chairs.

5th PRODUCTION

2019 "Maybe This Time" was produced by Alton Little Theater, Alton IL on February 1-3. 

Articles and Interviews about the Alton Little Theater Production:

https://advantagenews.com/news/saving-the-date/

https://www.thetelegraph.com/news/article/8216-Maybe-This-Time-8217-ALT-presents-witty-13555846.php

https://kplr11.com/2019/02/01/michael-madden-brings-award-winning-play-maybe-this-time-back-to-area/

Feedback from Alton Little Theater Production:

2/5/19

Michael,

We were so thrilled that “Maybe This Time” lit up Alton Little Theater for three performances this past weekend. Despite the Polar Vortex COLD and the Sunday Super Bowl, we still entertained and delighted 353 theater patrons. This was a great response for a show that we squeezed between two other productions because we didn’t want to miss out on the chance to produce your play! Your support and ongoing efforts to encourage and analyze our portrayals was such a welcome collaboration. We hope you send us previews of your upcoming works for the possibility of maybe producing them also. 

The comments on our Facebook site have been overwhelmingly positive. The cast was also unanimously positive in their response to your witty and very funny play. And since three-fourths of the cast are “seasoned” Directors, that is high praise indeed. As I made my way around the community this week I heard more positive feedback: most were similar: “it made me laugh…and still feel a little sad”. Two 90-year old sisters said “you should do more plays like this”.

We at Alton Little Theater (the oldest continuously-running community theater in the state of Illinois) look forward to seeing you soar with success with “Maybe This Time”. Thanks for allowing middle-aged actors to have some great roles in a romantic comedy. Clearly, our audiences could relate and cheer you on. 

With Gratitude and Love,

Lee Cox

Vice-President/Artistic Director Alton Little Theater

6th PRODUCTION

February 7-9, 2020

Howard County Center for the Arts

Ellicot City, MD 21043

(between Baltimore and Washington DC)

Produced by Thunderous Productions

7th PRODUCTION

February 7-16, 2020

Stageworks Northwest Theatre

Longview, WA 98632

(between Portland OR and Seattle WA)

Produced by Stageworks Northwest

http://www.stageworksnorthwest.com

Article about the Production

https://tdn.com/lifestyles/entertainment-local/romantic-comedy-opens-at-stageworks-northwest-on-feb/article_07344d6e-5e9c-5156-9c51-ae5dd41104e9.html?fbclid=IwAR2ORDBsgwa-5oQNIFTFU7Nmkkljm6N-DA_PUD7QX8JIhfkLsM5GmzTUqnA

Feedback from Stageworks Northwest Theatre Production:

Michael,

Thank you for the opportunity to allow us to perform “Maybe This Time” at the Stageworks Northwest theater in Longview, WA. Stageworks has a 22-year history of providing quality entertainment to our small community. 

As an Artistic Director I believe that highlighting new works by playwrights, like yourself, is an important part of our theaters production value and provides our customers with a different view of our social fabric, the communities outside where we live and the challenges we all face in our lives.

"Maybe This Time" is an excellent example of these things. Your blend of humor and reality demonstrates how difficult it is to find the perfect mate in todays life. Especially for more “Mature” folks. But your story is more than that,  it also demonstrates how our own thoughts, desires, insecurities, and fears influence the outcome of first meetings and our interacting with others. Your characters are human, very  believable and takes the audience on an emotional roller coaster. 

Our cast worked diligently, and we performed 6 shows over two weekends in February. Our theater holds 120 seats and we sold an average of 90 seats per performance making it one of our more successful shows. 

Thank you again for the opportunity, I will look forward to seeing your new work. 

Larry E Fox

Artistic Director, Stageworks Northwest