Category: News

Broadway Bound Theatre Festival (BBTF), in partnership with The Town Players of Connecticut, will be holding their 2024 season this summer at the POWERHOUSE THEATRE in Waveny Park in New Canaan. “Our first year in Connecticut, we’re pleased to offer something for everyone,” BBTF Festival Director Lenore Skomal said. “We’re so proud to host seven new playwrights, representing states from the West Coast to our home state, everything from comedies, dramadies to allegorical tales. Bringing talented new voices to the stage is our passion and this should prove our finest year yet.” The Festival runs from Thursday, Aug. 8 through… read more

Ruth Bader Ginsburg may have been short of stature but she was a giant in the world of legal justice, for women and men, Jews, blacks and Native Americans, and children. She was an outspoken advocate for gender equality for anyone who needed a voice, the “left out people,” winning arguments before the Supreme Court long before she became an illustrious member herself. A trailblazer, a member of the Harvard Law School, one of only nine women against five hundred men, Ruth employed liberal views of the law and never stepped back when she saw an injustice. Along the way,… read more

Irene Backalenick — a nationally known journalist, theater critic, and a founding member of the Connecticut Critics Circle, passed away at home on December 16, 2023. She was 102 years old. Longtime friend and colleague Marlene Gaylinn remembers Irene. I met Irene when I began writing theatre reviews for “The Darien News-Review.” My editor, Virginia Bates, knew Irene from the CT Press Club and informed me that we may have something in common. It was at the Press Club that we first met. Soon afterwards, Irene became one of the founders of The Connecticut Critics Circle and I became one… read more

I don’t do a ten-best list; instead, I like to recall some of my favorite shows of the past year. My NYC City Favorites: Other critics loved some of these and didn’t like some. But I am glad I saw them. I thoroughly enjoyed: Merrily We Roll Along – this Sondheim musical had a rocky original run, but the score is so good that productions keep popping up. This revival (now on Broadway, but I saw it off-Broadway) makes a strong case for its worth. Parade ­­– Another show that had a disappointing initial run; it got a stellar revival… read more

For some people, winter signals a time for sledding, skating, snowboarding and snowman making. For others, like me, the highlight of the cold weather months is a special weekend, this year Friday to Sunday, January 12-14, when music theater lovers gather in East Haddam for the 2024 Goodspeed Festival of New Musicals. Come join this magical celebration. Hopefully the weatherman will cooperate and there will be no need for snow shoes or skis, just for open hearts and minds to the wonders that musical theater offers in abundance. For the 18th year, Goodspeed is presenting a weekend with a trio… read more

Ivoryton Playhouse is rockin’. Getting a head start on the holiday season, Million Dollar Quartet Christmas is running through Sunday, Dec. 17. Since the original legendary recording session with Elvis, John Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins occurred on Dec. 4, 1956, it isn’t a stretch to imagine that some holiday songs were included. You’ll hear everything from “Go Tell it on the Mountain,” “Rockin’ around the Christmas Tree,” and more, including some traditional carols. Several Ivoryton favorites are in the cast. For tickets, visit IvorytonPlahyhouse.org. IT’S BACK! After a three-year absence, A Christmas Carol – A Ghost Story… read more

Los Angeles’ Geffen Theatre reduced staff and shuttered one of its theatres, its Mark Taper Forum will “pause” this year. Williamstown Theatre Festival (MA) produced no full productions this summer with the exception of a production in conjunction with the Berkshire Theatre Festival. The well-known and well-respected Humana Festival at Actors Theatre of Louisville was discontinued. The Brooklyn Academy of Music laid off 13 percent of its staff; The Dallas Theatre Center cut its full-time staff nearly in half. In Connecticut, we have seen Long Wharf Theatre vacate its longtime home in New Haven; with no home, it is presenting… read more

In our continuing series on spotlighting community theaters in Connecticut, I recently spoke with Roxanne Drolet, a Board member of the West Hartford Community Theater – https://www.westhartfordtheater.org/. Their upcoming production of The Drowsy Chaperone begins on November 4, 2023. Tell me about West Hartford Community Theater. Why was the company started? • West Hartford Community Theater was started in 2007 by Bruce LaRoche and Maria Librio Judge, two West Hartford residents who were both alumni of Conard High School. They saw the need and the room for a true community theater in West Hartford, one that would open the stage… read more

The musical The 12, currently playing at the Goodspeed Opera House through October 29, is a very different show that audience members have come to expect from the venerable regional theater. The show, a new production, is not a comedy, but a serious, dramatic musical presentation that centers around the 12 Apostles of Christ and their reactions and actions after his death. “There is part of our audience that wants serious, more in-depth material,” according to Dan McMahon, Director of Marketing at the theater. “This is a show that addresses that segment while at the same time helping us appeal… read more

Back to the Future – the Musical has been a big hit in London. The show opened last month in New York to mixed reviews. However, everyone – from critics to audience members – agrees that the star of the show is the flying DeLorean. That got me thinking about other shows where an automobile was one of the stars. Here are a few. How many have you seen? Which musicals would you add? Grease – opened on February 14, 1972 My first Broadway show without parental accompaniment. Grease is still one of my all-time favorite shows and cast recordings.… read more