Author: Stuart Brown

Theaters are anxious to resume, and most artistic directors say that people want to see theater, but safely. Right now, several theaters in Connecticut are trying different approaches to fulfilling these needs. Those that are doing so are relying on digital streaming of productions or a combination of live performances with a limited audience and streaming. Music Theatre of Connecticut, or MTC as it is usually called, is a small established theater in Norwalk. It was one of only three theaters in the east (and maybe nationwide) to receive permission from Actor’s Equity to resume productions. According to artistic director… read more

Two years ago, the Connecticut Critics Circle created a Mentor Program so that undergraduate college students could train to become theater critics. One of the 2020-2021 mentees is Sydney Reynolds of Quinnipiac University. She is a Media Studies major, Film minor, and will be pursuing her Master’s in Journalism next year. She is currently part of the Communications Honors Society with a 3.93 GPA. At just six years old, Sydney was already becoming involved in community theater as an actress and would continue this passion throughout her whole life. She is now heavily involved in Quinnipiac University’s television station, Q30,… read more

NORWALK — After six months live indoor professional theater has returned to Connecticut with Music Theatre of Connecticut’s production of Becky Mode’s “Fully Committed,” running through Sept. 27. The evening was going to be an enjoyable, if unique, experience. Music Theatre of Connecticut, or MTC, is one of three theaters in the country that has been approved by their state, the CDC, and the stage actors’ union Actors Equity Association. The other two being Weathervane Theatre in Whitefield, New Hampshire, and Northern Stage in White River Junction, Vermont. Traditionally, MTC would sit 110 people, but with current COVID-19 restrictions for… read more

The Music Theatre of Connecticut has been designated by Equity as one of three theaters in the country to hold live, in-person productions. The show, the one-man play, “Fully Committed,” runs through September 27, 2020. There are restrictions such as only 23 in-person tickets and 78 live stream tickets. Critics from the CT Critics Circle were invited to the opening and their reviews will be posted on our website. Simply click on the “Reviews” tab. read more

David Arlen Rosenberg, 90, of 14 – Acre Pond, Norwalk, died Wednesday, July 15, 2020 at Norwalk Hospital. Born in Brooklyn, NY on April 24, 1930; he was the son of the late Joseph and Ruth Rosenberg. Covering theatre and opera productions in Connecticut, Broadway, off-Broadway and London, he was an acknowledged award-winning theatre and arts critic who wrote reviews and feature articles for The Norwalk Hour, Hearst Media of Connecticut; Back Stage in New York; as well as magazines in Greenwich, Westport and New Canaan. He was co-founder of the Connecticut Critics Circle and was an active member affiliated… read more

Dear theater lover, David Rosenberg, our esteemed theater critic, died suddenly Wednesday night, July 15, at Norwalk Hospital. Comments below are by his friend/fellow critic Irene Backalenick: LOSS OF DAVID ROSENBERG The loss of my best friend/fellow theater critic/co-founder of the Connecticut Critics Circle is devastating, unacceptable. How shall we all go on without David? I can look back on thirty years of sharing the profession with him. With each of us covering theater for our various publications, we often traveled the field together–primarily in New York City and Connecticut, but also across the country. And our frequent trips to… read more

The Connecticut Critics Circle (CCC) announced it is honoring more than two dozen theater artists whose work was presented during the 2019-2020 season, which was shortened mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The group of theater critics and writers annually salute outstanding work by artists among the state’s professional theaters. The annual ceremony, originally scheduled this year for June 29 at New Haven’s Long Wharf Theatre, was cancelled. An on-line ceremony is planned to be held later this summer. “We wanted to recognize outstanding productions and performers during the abbreviated season,” says Stuart Brown, president of the CCC. “Instead of… read more

What can you do during a pandemic when you run an event that takes places all over a city and includes audiences in spaces small and large, indoors and outdoors? New Haven’s International Festival of Arts & Ideas confronted that this spring when it became clear that the normal form would not be possible; not just due to the limitations on gatherings, but also because it would have been impossible to get visas for the numerous foreign arts and speakers that usually take part of the festival. “We mourned the loss, and began to unravel a year’s work,” says Bobby… read more

Due to the continued COVID-19 pandemic, the Connecticut Critics Circle (CCC) is canceling its annual awards program and instead will honor excellence presented at the state’s professional theaters from this past season. The 30th annual awards ceremony was scheduled for June 29 at New Haven’s Long Wharf Theatre. The members of CCC will meet online this month to discuss ways in which excellence can be recognized in the shortened season, which ended prematurely when theaters closed in mid-March. “There was so much great theater presented in the state before the shutdown,” says Stuart Brown, President of the CCC and owner,… read more

Someday this current health related crisis will be under control. With all of the uncertainty and havoc it’s created, one of many questions that remains unclear is what Connecticut theater will look like once it’s safe to gather in crowds again. Will all our professional companies survive? No one knows. Theaters struggle for money; the ticket purchases cover a relatively small percentage of costs for productions. Theaters depend on donations and grants to pay the bills. The coronavirus crisis has jeopardized the financial health of many Connecticut theaters. Some already were facing economic difficulties, but now these are more severe… read more