Category: News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Bryan Perri and ACT of CT Present Broadway Unplugged  Come Hang Out with Broadway Star Elizabeth Stanley on August 24 at 8PM!  Ridgefield, Conn. (August 15, 2018) – Bryan Perri, ACT of Connecticut’s resident Music Supervisor and Broadway Music Director, is bringing his favorite Broadway singers, songs, and stories to his hometown of Ridgefield!  Mr. Perri, the music director and conductor of Wicked at the Gershwin Theater, has invited his Broadway friends to help him present an ongoing series of one-of-a-kind evenings of great conversation, behind-the-scenes stories, and—of course—extraordinary music. Perri has chosen, in his own words, “people of incredible talent, who are incredibly… read more

If your hair is shellacked to an inch of an Egyptian pyramid and piled high like a Dairy Queen ice cream cone, you are clearly sporting a beehive hairdo. No need to visit your stylist because Seven Angels Theatre in Waterbury is offering a grand musical tour of the 1960’s, with historical commentary, until Sunday, August 19, “Beehive The 60’s Musical.” Come swing and sing with Amy Bentley, Brittany Mulcahy, Chelsea Dacey, Samantha Rae Bass, Erin West Reed and Patricia Paganucci as they play teenyboppers in a swirl of pastel prettiness. All your favorites from the past, like Brenda Lee… read more

For many, New York in 1979 was a wild, out-of-control place. The city had barely survived bankruptcy, crime was at record levels and garbage was piling up on sidewalks. Nightclubs like glamorous Studio 54 and later counter-culture Mudd Club reflected that sense of anything-goes while at the same time offering themselves as a glorious refuge, a welcoming place to hide — or thrive, and even as a little piece of heaven. That sense of fantasy, family and freedom are themes that reverberate in the world premiere of a new musical opening this week at off-Broadway’s Atlantic Theater. “This Ain’t Not… read more

A friend of actor-writer Ed Dixon came up to him after a reading of a new solo work he had just written and performed and said flatly: “You can’t tell this story.” Dixon was stunned but then thought, “But It happened to me and it’s my story.” At first the work Georgie, seemed straight-forward and innocuous enough. It was a solo show about Dixon’s years-long friendship with two-time Tony Award-winning actor George Rose. It was filled with amusing and slightly bitchy backstage theatrical anecdotes with Dixon doing a spot-on imitation of the British character actor who was murdered in 1988… read more

Peter Dinklage, who plays Tyrion Lannister — one of the most popular characters on HBO’s hit fantasy series Game of Thrones — is taking on another fascinating character with physical challenges: Cyrano. Dinklage, 49, stars in Cyrano, the new musical that his wife Erica Schmidt is directing at Goodspeed Musicals’ Norma Terris Theatre in Chester from her adaptation based on Edmond Rostand’s play Cyrano de Bergerac. Also starring Haley Bennett (The Girl on the Train, The Magnificent Seven) as Roxanne, the play is a “developmental production” (meaning not ready for critics) and runs Aug. 3 to Sept. 9. For this production, it’s not about the… read more

How do you keep a hyena clean? Very carefully, laughs Gregory Young, wardrobe supervisor for the 350 costumes that travel with the tour of The Lion King, which plays Hartford’s Bushnell Aug. 1-19. Half the costumes can be washed, he says, but for the unique fabrics and materials of the other costumes designed by director Julie Taymor, he turns to a local dry cleaner, French Cleaners of West Hartford. (And because the tour has played Hartford several times before, the cleaner is well versed in his costume challenges.) “This is the most unique show I’ve worked on,” Young says. “With other… read more

STORRS. Connecticut Repertory Theatre (CRT) under the leadership of Artistic Director Michael Bradford and Managing Director Matthew J. Pugliese have announced the theatre’s 2018-19 Season.  Subscriptions for the 2018-19 Season are on sale now at crt.uconn.edu or by calling 860-486-2113. Connecticut Repertory Theatre is the professional producing arm of the Department of Dramatic Arts at the University of Connecticut, Storrs. CRT productions are directed, designed by, and cast with visiting professional artists, including Equity actors, faculty members, and the department’s most advanced student artists. The synergy between professional and advanced student artists creates extraordinary theatre and a unique learning environment.… read more

When Nick LaMedica first played the lead character of the anxiety-ridden Jason in Robert Askins’ Hand to God, his co-star, Tyrone, would often steal scenes. But LaMedica really couldn’t complain because he was the one manipulating Tyrone, a hand-rod, Elmo-like puppet and the dangerously irreverent character in the Christian Puppet Ministry. “There’s no opportunity to blame your scene partner for letting you down,” he says of his dual duties, adding “from a technical point of view, it’s great because I can rehearse whenever I want.” Now he’s returning to the role in a production that Tracy Brigden will return to again direct at… read more

Donald Corren remembers his first professional musical when, at the age of 10, his Uncle Ira took him to see a touring production of Oliver! in San Francisco, near his hometown of Stockton. “Watching a bunch of young boys sing and dance and having a great time, it was my ‘I want to do that’ moment,” Corren says. He subsequently played the musical’s Artful Dodger in a high school production and now he has the lead as Fagin in Goodspeed Musical’s Oliver! which plays through Sept. 8. “You have to love him,” he says of his rogue character that teaches… read more

WEST HARTFORD – Select guests arrived to Playhouse on Park for an exclusive event recently announcing Season Ten at the non-profit professional theater that was founded by Executive Director Tracy Flater and Co-Artistic Directors Sean Harris and Darlene Zoller. “It’s amazing to us that there are all of these other theaters that you could spend your nights with, and the fact that you’re here tonight means a ton, so thank you,” remarked Harris, who joined Flater and Zoller on the Playhouse stage via Skype. Regarding Season Ten, Harris remarked: “We think about our space, and these shows that we’re passionate… read more