Bangor actress to have play-full summer

Monica Willey of Bangor will perform at the Arundel Barn Playhouse near Kennebunk. She is portraying Belle in “Beauty and the Beast” through July 14 and also will appear in “Thoroughly Modern Millie” and “NunSensations” through the remainder of the summer season.

Willey is well-known in eastern Maine theater circles, where she began performing at the Penobscot Theatre in Bangor at an early age. Her work in Bangor Community Theatre and at Bangor High School gave her a broad experience in acting and musical theater.

Willey is a 2007 graduate of Brown University with a bachelor’s degree in theater arts. She is studying for a master’s degree at Brown University Trinity Repertory Consortium in Providence, R.I., and just completed her first year of the graduate program.

She studies with voice teacher Kevin Wilson of New York City.

Recently, Willey was featured with actor Jason Alexander, who played George in the television series “Seinfeld,” at a musical theater workshop produced at Brown University.

Willey is the recipient of the Robinson Potter Dunn Award and the Weston Fine Arts Award from Brown University. She was featured in many performances at Brown, including “Merrily We Roll Along,” “Moon Mary,” “Hair,” “Into the Woods,” “Anna in the Tropics,” “Sunday in the Park with George,” “Compleat Female Stage Beauty” and “Rubbing Elbows.”

She was featured recently in the Rhode Island School of Design film “Brandon.” Her graduate school performances include “Camino Real,” “Blood Wedding” and “Our Country’s Good.”

Willey also is featured by Brown University in its catalog for prospective students in which her undergraduate and graduate theater performances are discussed.

To learn more about the summer theater, visit www.ArundelBarnPlayhouse.com.