Category: News

By Karen Isaacs Two new Scrooges are gracing Connecticut stages this holiday season. Each will bring a new take on the classic character of Scrooge, and the story of A Christmas Carol. A new musical version of the story is at Goodspeed Musicals through Sunday, Dec. 24. A Connecticut Christmas Carol is the brainchild of LJ Fecho and Michael O’Flaherty, Goodspeed’s longtime music director. “We had the idea about two years ago,” O’Flaherty said. “We had done a very silly and fun Pennsylvania Dutch version a few years ago. Larry (the book is written by him) suggested setting it in… read more

THE JUKEBOX EXPLODES IN “GOIN’ TO THE CHAPEL” BONNIE GOLDBERG 203-397-5433 Teenagers are often preoccupied with bouts of puppy love, going steady, getting their hearts broken, pledging eternal devotion, wearing varsity pins, and all the other diversions that make these adolescent years so dramatic and traumatic.  To get a glimpse into your past, no matter how many years ago your high school years were, hop and bop over to the Connecticut Cabaret Theatre in Berlin for Valerie Fagan’s world premiere musical “Goin’ to the Chapel” with arrangements and orchestrations by Bryan Crook playing weekends until Saturday, December 16. If you can… read more

BONNIE GOLDBERG 203-397-5433 Every good little girl and boy, and even the ones not so good, have a long and involved Christmas list for Santa.  If your name is Ralph and you are nine years old, live in Indiana and are growing up in the 1940’s, you only have one item written in bright red on your wish list.  Ralphie desires above all else one genuine, official, Red Ryder Carbine-Action 200-shot Range Model Air Rifle, with a compass in the stock and a thing that tells time.  What he does not want are a pair of pink bunny pajamas.  You… read more

by Joe Meyers, CT Post Acting is a tough profession that consists of countless interviews and auditions that rarely lead to jobs — the national unemployment rate at any given time is around 90 percent. So, veteran performer Mia Dillon, 62, is savoring a highly unusual year in which she has been offered four juicy acting jobs without having to audition for any of them. Since last spring, Dillon has starred in “Cloud 9” at Hartford Stage, “Lettice and Lovage” at the Westport Country Playhouse, “Arsenic and Old Lace” at the Berkshire Theatre Group and the current “Seder” at Hartford… read more

by Frank Rizzo First published in the Hartford Courant’s Hartford Magazine November 16, 2017   Broadway has a new hit with “The Band’s Visit,” but just like the little lost traveling band at the heart of the musical, the show’s journey was a circuitous one — starting in Hartford. It all began when Orin Wolf, who graduated from the theater division of University of Hartford’s Hartt School in 2001, saw the film “The Band’s Visit” shortly after its 2007 release. Wolf thought the modest and minimalist story — an Egyptian policemen’s band scheduled to perform at an Arab arts center… read more

Triney Sandoval will be performing the role of Capulet in the new production of Romeo & Juliet at Westport Country Playhouse in Westport, CT. (WCP) The play is directed by Mark Lamos, who has served as the artistic director of WCP since 2009. Lamos’ has become one of the most admired and respected theatrical directors in his interpretation and presentation of works by Shakespeare.  I still remember many of the scenes of the productions of plays by Shakespeare, he directed during the 17 years in which he was the Artistic Director at Hartford Stage. The news that Lamos will direct… read more

Broadway music celebrating Halloween will takeover the airwaves on the show music radio program, “On Broadway,” on Sunday, October 29th from 5:30-6:30 p.m. on WRTC-FM, 89.3. The show can also be heard live over the Internet at http://www.wrtc.com. Host Stuart Brown will play music from a variety of Broadway musicals that have a haunted, supernatural theme including “Jekyll and Hyde,” “Little Shop of Horrors,” “Wicked,” and “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.”  “There are quite a few Broadway and Off-Broadway musicals that are perfect for the Halloween season,” stated Brown, who has hosted “On Broadway” for over 22 years. “We’ll have… read more

Portraying passion on stage — whether it’s a steamy romance or just hot-and-heavy sex — has been a theatrical staple from the Greeks to the Bard to contemporary work where making love can be oh-so-realistic. So how do actors — especially those who don’t know each other— make the love connection believable? In other words, how do they have sex with strangerThat’s the question I posed to Chris Ghaffari and Jessica Love, who star in the fittingly named “Sex with Strangers,” Laura Eason’s two-actor play at the Westport Country Playhouse Sept. 26 to Oct. 14. Greenwich native Ghaffari is no… read more

Broadway Lighting Designer and League of Professional Theatre Women member Dawn Chiang will lead an interactive discussion on how visual vocabulary and theatrical crafts contribute to the emotional life of the storytelling art Monday, Oct. 23 in Norwalk. Joining Chiang for the “Find Your Light!” panel are Elizabeth Williamson, artistic director at Hartford Stage, Costume Designer Tilly Grimes and Scenic Designer Jessica Parks. The event, produced by Co-Founder Marie Reynolds, will kick of the 2017-2018 season for the CT Chapter of the League of Professional Theatre Women, now in its second year. A networking time with light refreshments will be held from  5:30… read more

Connecticut Critics Circle member Dave Rosenberg reviews the original cast recordings from last year’s Broadway season: A Bronx Tale Anastasia Bandstand Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Come From Away Dear Evan Hansen Groundhog Day Hello, Dolly! War Paint Read more… read more