Wareham got a little taste of Broadway on Sunday, Feb. 21, as Community Arts in Action (CAIA) and Provincetown's Counter Productions presented a concert performance of the award-winning musical "Floyd Collins."

The performance was commissioned by CAIA, a Wareham nonprofit that presents musical and performing arts events ten months a year and donates the proceeds from ticket sales, a raffle, and refreshments to a local community organization.  Past beneficiaries have included the Wareham Free Library and the Council on Aging.  The proceeds from Sunday's event will be donated to the Wareham High School Band program to help defray the costs of instrument rentals.

A cast of ten performers performed selections from the 1994 musical, which recounts the story of spelunker Floyd Collins.  Collins caused a media sensation in the winter of 1925 when he was trapped underground while trying to find a new entrance to a system of caves that were becoming a popular tourist attraction in Kentucky.  He died from exposure and starvation after fourteen days.

The company began rehearsing in January and is discussing whether to expand their work into a full production.  Artistic Director Susan Grilli said that Counter Productions usually performs two musicals a year and four to six shows each winter.  They just completed a production of "The Elephant Man" at the Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater that Grilli said was a tremendous success.

"We have a really great community theater environment on the Cape," Grilli said.  "There's definitely an audience, and I think it's great that they're trying to bring that to Wareham."

After intermission, members of the cast performed selections from favorite musicals including "Wicked," "Working," "The Phantom of the Opera," and "Rent."

Jack Houton, who is a CAIA board member as well as involved with Counter Productions, was pleased with the performance, which marks the first time that a theater production has been commissioned for the CAIA venue.

"Bringing this to Wareham is a joy," he said. "I hope that this venue can be used more often for community theater groups."