No Longer Just a Midsummer Night’s Dream

All’s Well That Ends Well: Michael Bradshaw Flynn On Bringing Back the Bard

Fifteen years ago, staging Shakespeare in Scranton sounded improbable to plenty of people, especially to some New York theater types.

The original production was intended as a one-time public performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Nay Aug Park. Organizers hoped a modest audience would turn out for the celebrated Bard.

Instead, more than 1,000 people packed into the park.

In this episode of HarmonyTALK, host Lisa Champeau speaks with Scranton Shakespeare Festival co-founder Michael Bradshaw Flynn about the unlikely evolution of the festival from a free outdoor performance into a permanent arts organization producing musicals, Shakespeare, new works, and youth programming in downtown Scranton and Northeast Pennsylvania.

Flynn discusses balancing a career between New York and Northeastern Pennsylvania, working on Broadway productions including The Front Page, It’s Only a Play, and The Nance, (with Nathan Lane) and why regional theater still matters at a time when arts organizations across the country face shrinking audiences and financial instability.

The conversation traces Flynn’s early immersion in theater through Arts Alive, the Scranton Cultural Center, and local summer stock programs, as well as the influence of a family steeped in storytelling traditions.

Now entering its 15th season under the theme Faith, the Scranton Shakespeare Festival will present Much Ado About Nothing, Carousel, Henry V, Saint Joan, Jesus Christ Superstar, youth ensemble productions, and a 15th anniversary gala.

For more information, visit https://www.scrantonshakes.com/

@Scranton Shakespeare Festival

@Michael Bradshaw Flynn

@Lisa Champeau

@WVIA