E-Mail This Article to a Friend Fire fighters Abyssinia rescued and relocated BY SALLY CRAGIN

When on July 14 fire struck the North Shore Music Theatre and flames consumed the stage and the orchestra pit following the opening performance of Cinderella, it appeared the remainder of the summer schedule had gone up in smoke as well. But then friends of the theater, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, and the NSMT staff got to work. Next week, the musical Abyssinia, which had been scheduled for the damaged Beverly facility, will open at Boston’s Shubert Theatre; it’ll be followed there by Camelot September 20–October 9. Reconstruction will be complete in the fall, and The Full Monty will be presented in Beverly starting October 25.

The fire, according to artistic director Jon Kimbell, a 22-year NSMT veteran, was caused by an electronic malfunction between the stage and the substage and consumed both stage and orchestra pit, "including valuable instruments." The roof was destroyed and all 1800 seats suffered irreparable smoke and water damage. "In the theater, you’re kind of used to bumps in the road. This was a pretty big bump."

The day after the blaze, however, Kimbell spoke with Josiah A. Spaulding, president and CEO of the Wang Center for the Performing Arts, and an old friend who’d grown up on the North Shore. "When someone is in crisis, your brothers and sisters need to come and, if possible, offer help," said Spaulding, who realized that the Wang-run Shubert was available. Within a week, arrangements had been made for the season to move forward. "It’s incredible that the stars were aligned and we were dark," Spaulding points out. What’s more, the Abyssinia production was already scheduled to move from in-the-round at Beverly to proscenium at co-producing Goodspeed Opera House, where it will open September 30.

So the show goes on. NSMT developed Abyssinia in 1995, and it elicited more reprise requests than any other new show there. But the move from in-the-round to production came much earlier than was planned. "We had to redesign, rechoreograph, and redirect everything," Kimbell says. Fortunately, rehearsals hadn’t started, "so at least the actors aren’t having to switch."

And the musical itself is providing solace and inspiration. "It’s about an African-American community that’s a microcosm in and of itself," Kimbell continues. "When they were doing fairly well, they had their own farms, and you don’t often see a musical with that theme. The score is filled with gospel and ragtime." Abyssinia is the central character, "a young woman who finds her way through adversity and finds new meaning in life, so there is a connection to surviving the fire." Perhaps more than one, Kimbell notes. "The title of the book the musical is based on, by Joyce Carol Thomas, is Marked by Fire."

Abyssinia | Shubert Theatre, 265 Tremont St, Boston | $32-$65 | 800.447.7400 or www.nsmt.org