Author: Stuart Brown

Donna Lynn Hilton, Artistic Director of Goodspeed Musicals, will be the 2026 recipient of the Connecticut Critics Circle’s annual Tom Killen Award. This special award recognizes Ms. Hilton’s long service and achievement to theater in the state. The award will be presented on Monday, June 22 at the 34th Connecticut Critics Circle Awards Ceremony at Hartford Stage in Hartford. The annual event celebrates and honors the state’s outstanding professional theater. The event is scheduled for 7:30-9:00 p.m. and is free and open to the public. Donna Lynn began her career 40 years ago as a respected stage manager of Musical… read more

Lauren Yarger, a producer, playwright and theater critic, will be the 2025 recipient of the Connecticut Critics Circle’s annual Tom Killen Award, recognizing her long service and achievement to theater in the state. The award will be presented June 23, 2025 at Housatonic Community College at the 33rd annual event celebrating and honoring the state’s outstanding professional theater. The event, scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m., is free and open to the public. Ms. Yarger has written several dinner theaters and revues as well as the book for an award-winning musical version of A Christmas Carol and is a member… read more

The 34th Annual Connecticut Critics Circle (CCC) Awards Ceremony will take place on Monday, June 22, 2026 at Hartford Stage. The Awards period covers shows from qualifying theaters that opened between June 1, 2025 – May 22, 2026. The event is free and open to the public. To reserve tickets, go to: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1987791636294. Goodspeed Musical’s Artistic Director Donna Lynn Hilton will receive the Tom Killen Award, which honors an individual for a lifetime of dedication to the theater and to theater in Connecticut. It is named after Tom Killen, an early and valued member of the Connecticut Critics Circle. James… read more

The 34th Annual Connecticut Critics Circle (CCC) Awards Ceremony will take place on Monday, June 22, 2026 at Hartford Stage in downtown Hartford. The Awards Ceremony honors productions from Equity theaters that open through June 1, 2026. The event will run from 7:30 – 9:00pm. The event is free and open to the public and annually attracts hundreds of theatergoers from all corners of the state. The ceremony and awards recipients receive press attention in media outlets in Connecticut and beyond. The annual awards show is the only event in the state which brings the theater community together. It is… read more

Saturday, February 7 was the coldest night in many years however, thanks to Norwalk’s DPW and Police Dept. the huge auditorium at Norwalk City Hall was packed for Norwalk Symphony’s concert version of “Guys and Dolls.” Under Music Director Jonathan Yates and Stage Director Kristin Huffman, the production made full use of the stage and theater aisles without distracting from the musicians and with just a few added props, the show’s scenery was hardly missed. What made the concert even more enjoyable is the fact the theatre, which now adjoins Norwalk’s City Hall, was once part of the Old Norwalk… read more

Two-time Tony Award-winning Goodspeed Musicals announced this week that they will be temporarily pausing productions at the Norma Terris Theatre in Chester this year. According to a press release, “while 2025 was a strong season with nearly sold-out performance runs at both The Goodspeed and The Terris, sharply rising production costs and shifting audience habits, expectations, and preferences have made The Terris Theatre’s sole focus on the development of brand-new shows more challenging to accomplish.” Managing Director Vanessa Logan stated: “Taking this pause will allow our teams to thoughtfully reimagine how The Terris can best support the organization’s overall financial… read more

Happy Holidays! This week’s column will highlight the most important Connecticut theater news AND the most memorable shows I saw in Connecticut and NYC. (My NYC theatergoing was very limited in the first five months of the year.) Two Up-Coming Departures: New Haven theater will have two new leaders by this time next year. James Bundy, longtime artistic director of Yale Rep and Dean of the Geffen School of Drama at Yale University, will retire in June. Long Wharf’s artistic director, Jacob Padrún, also announced his departure. Rebounding: One artistic director told me during Covid that it would take five… read more

If skiing, ice skating, sledding and ice fishing are not at the top of your idea of winter fun, then maybe you can be tempted to head indoors to Goodspeed’s innovative Festival of New Musicals. For the twentieth year, Goodspeed Musicals in East Haddam is presenting musical theater in a grand style, Martin Luther King weekend, January 16-18, 2026 and there is no need to bundle up in scarves, mittens, ear muffs and winter boots to partake in the entertaining fun. The temperature will be toasty and the offerings HOT! You are invited to experience a trio of brand new… read more

By Karen Isaacs You’ll need more than the twelve days of Christmas to take in all the holiday theater, music, and dance local arts groups are offering up this year. Besides the old favorites, you can also see some brand-new works, as well as what I call “variations on a theme.” The New Scrooge & Marley is a world premiere at the Legacy Theatre from Wednesday, Dec. 3, through Sunday, Dec. 14. Artistic Director Keely Baisden Knudsen used the book Jacob T. Marley as inspiration for this story about how the young Marley met Scrooge, they became business partners, and… read more

The theater calendars are filling up in both Connecticut and New York. The summer-oriented theaters are wrapping up their seasons, and our major producing houses are gearing up for theirs. Looking over the planned productions for the fall, a number of them jumped out as being particularly interesting. These are the shows I have starred on my calendar as being particularly interesting. Shows in Connecticut English — this Pulitzer Prize-winning play is a fascinating exploration of how language impacts culture and our identity. Set in Iran, an Iranian teacher is helping adult students prepare for an English proficiency exam that… read more