Some Happy Fellas (and Gals) are Cast at Goodspeed

Casting is set for Goodspeed Musicals' The Most Happy Fella Sept. 20 – Dec. 1.

Leading the cast in the role of Tony will be Bill Nolte, whose numerous Broadway credits include La Cage aux Folles, The Producers, Amour, Jane Eyre, 1776, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, The Secret Garden, Me and My Girl and Cats. He previously appeared at Goodspeed in Man of La Mancha and Sweeney Todd. Mamie Parris will play opposite Nolte as Rosabella. She has appeared on Broadway in Ragtime, 110 in the Shade and The Drowsy Chaperone. 
Other casting: Ann Arvia (Marie), Daniel Berryman (Ciccio), Doug Carpenter (Joey), Natalie Hill (Cleo), Greg Roderick (Guiseppe), Martín Solá (Pasquale), Kevin Vortmann (Herman).

Rob Ruggiero directs; Parker Esse choreographs.

Tickets: 860-873-8668; goodspeed.org,

Special Events:

Girls’ Night Out: Friday, September 20, 7:00 pm. Celebrate Opening Night in style! Gather the girls for glitz and glamour Broadway-style with our Ticket ‘n’ ‘Tini special. Package includes one ticket to the 8 pm performanceand a specialty martini. A hot deal at $46 per person.

Wine Tasting: Sunday, September 22, 5:00 pm. Treat yourself to a sampling of fine wines, compliments of Shore Discount Liquors of Deep River, and hors d’oeuvres provided by the Gelston House of East Haddam. Only $12 with your ticket to the 6:30 pm performance. Reserve in advance through the Box Office.

Teen Nights: September 25 & 26, 7:30 pm; September 27, 8 pm. Introduce your favorite young person to the magic of musical theatre. Each adult who buys a regular-priced ticket on the specified dates may purchase a $15 ticket for a youth age 12 to 18. Meet the cast after the September  27th performance for autographs.

Lady Katharine Lunch Cruise: Enjoy Fall foliage on the Connecticut River. Add a leisurely cruise and sumptuous buffet aboard the Lady Katharine to your theatre ticket. Available on Wednesdays, October 2 & 23. Cruises depart at 11:30 a.m. $40 with your ticket to the 2 p.m. performance.

Trick-or-‘Tini Package: Thursday, October 31, 7:00 pm. This frightfully good Halloween special includes a ticket to the evening show and a specialty martini for only $46 per person!

Food Drive / Buy-One-Get-One Free Tickets: Monday, November 25. Two-for-one tickets for select seats to the 2:00 and 7:30 p.m. performances with a generous non-perishable food donation to benefit the East Haddam Food Bank.

Meet the Cast: Take part in a lively discussion with the cast after the Thursday evening performances on October 17 & 31 and November 14. Meet the Cast events are free with a ticket to that evening’s performance.

Friday Dinner Theatre Package:  Includes dinner at the Gelston House (located next door to the Opera House) and a ticket to the 8:00 pm performance. Only $76!

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Priests Play the Palace

Fathers Martin O'Hagan, Eugene O'Hagan and David Delargy, Photo: Courtesy of the Palace

Fathers Martin O'Hagan, Eugene O'Hagan and David Delargy, better known to their millions of fans as The Priests, will perform selections from their classical music repertoire at the Palace Theater in Waterbury on Friday, Nov. 22 at 8 pm. 

Tickets for the concert are $55 and $35. 

Since the release of their debut CD in 2008, the internationally-acclaimed trio of Roman Catholic clergymen has sold more than 3 million recordings, signed a $2 million dollar contract with Sony/BMG, and has been featured in a popular PBS performance special. Their eponymous album sold at such a frantic pace that it secured them a place in the Guinness Book of World Records as the fastest-selling classical debut of all time, and since then they have performed to sold-out audiences in major cities all around the world.

Hailing from the Diocese of Down and Connor in Belfast, Ireland, The Priest are among the most recognized and successful acts in both the religious and secular worlds. Their audiences have included the British Royal Family and the Irish President, as well as the Pope and a crowd of 80,000 people in Hyde Park, England in September 2010. No ordinary superstars, these three humble men remain first and foremost committed to the cloth and donate the vast majority of their royalties to their charitable fund, which helps build schools in places like Cambodia, Uganda and Thailand, and looks after retiredpriests and the homeless.

Tickets for the Palace Theater’s presentation of The Priests are available online at www.palacetheaterct.org, by phone at 203-346-2000 or in person at the box office, 100 East Main Street in Waterbury. For more information, visit www.thepriests.com.

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HSO Fall Events at a Glance

Carolyn Kuan conducting the 2011 Talcott Mountain Music Festival. Photo:Steven Laschever

HSO AT A GLANCE: SEPTEMBER-NOVEMBER 2013
Editors: Please update calendar listings to include the upcoming Hartford Symphony Orchestra events listed below. For more information about any particular event, please contact Katie Bonner Russo at kbonner@hartfordsymphony.org.

MASTERWORKS SERIES & SPECIAL EVENT: 70TH ANNIVERSARY OPENING NIGHT!
October 11 & 12, 2013
Friday & Saturday, 8:00 p.m.
Mortensen Hall│ The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts
Carolyn Kuan, conductor; Wu Man, pipa; Edward Clark, organ; Connecticut Youth Symphony, Daniel D’Addio, music director
Program: Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3, “Organ;” Bach: Toccata and Fugue in D minor; Harrison: Concerto for Pipa and String Orchestra
We’re rolling out the red carpet for Opening Night! Two of the most famous works in the organ repertoire, Saint-Saëns’ massive Symphony No. 3 and Bach’s glorious Toccata and Fugue, will be played on The Bushnell’s historic, Hartford-made Austin pipe organ. Matched with the delicacy of the pipa – a Chinese lute – played by virtuoso Wu Man, recently named Musical America’s 2013 Instrumentalist of the Year.
Concert Benefactor: Hartford Hospital
To mark this special season opener, the HSO will host a special opening night celebration before the concert, including cocktails, hors d’oeuvres and food stations; a dessert reception with Carolyn Kuan and the guest artists will conclude the evening following the concert. Tickets for the Opening Night Celebration are $170 per person for subscribers and $225 for non-subscribers, which include preferred concert seating. Call (860)246-8742 ext. 326 for more information and to purchase tickets.

POPS! SERIES: DISNEY’S FANTASIA – LIVE IN CONCERT
Saturday, October 26, 2013, 7:30 p.m.
Mortensen Hall│ The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts
Carolyn Kuan, conductor
Join us for a thrilling performance of Disney's groundbreaking marriage of symphonic music and animation, Fantasia. Magnificent repertoire from the original 1940 version and Fantasia 2000, including The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Beethoven's Fifth Symphony and The Nutcracker Suite, will be performed by the HSO while Disney's stunning footage is shown on the big screen. Experience iconic moments and childhood favorites as you never have before!
Presentation licensed by Disney Concert Library © Disney.

MASTERWORKS SERIES: BEETHOVEN & BERNSTEIN
November 7 – 10, 2013
Thursday 7:30pm | Friday & Saturday 8:00 p.m. | Sunday 3:00 p.m.
Belding Theater│ The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts
Carolyn Kuan, conductor; Peter Winograd, violin
Program: Beethoven: Symphony No. 7; Piazzolla: Four Seasons of Buenos Aires; Bernstein: Fancy Free
Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony is paired with Piazzolla’s tango-inspired Four Seasons of Buenos Aires, featuring violinist Peter Winograd, son of HSO’s esteemed former music director Arthur Winograd. Plus, hear the ballet score Fancy Free – the first work in the HSO’s season-long tribute to composer Leonard Bernstein.
Concert Sponsor: The Katharine K. McLane and Henry R. McLane Charitable Trust

POPS! SERIES: SYMPHONIC SONDHEIM – A TRIBUTE TO THE COMPOSER’S CLASSICS
Saturday, November 23, 2013
Mortensen Hall│ The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts
Tim Stella conductor; Florence Lacey, Hugh Panaro, Ron Raines, and Lisa Vroman, vocal soloists
Experience the splendor of the HSO and singers performing the music of Pulitzer Prize, Tony Award, Academy Award, and Grammy Award–winning composer Stephen Sondheim. This legendary composer's greatest melodies include works such as Follies, A Little Night Music, Company, Into the Woods, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Sunday in the Park with George, and Sweeney Todd.
Premier concert sponsor: Richard P. Garmany Fund at Hartford Foundation for Public Giving

************************************************************************
Ticket Information: To purchase tickets or for more information, please contact HSO ticket services at (860)244-2999 or visit www.hartfordsymphony.org. Single tickets go on sale August 19.
-Single tickets to the 2013-2014 Masterworks Series range in price from $35.50-$70.50.
-Single tickets to the 2013-2014 Pops! Series range in price from $20-$67.50.
-A limited number of $25 tickets are available for patrons age 40 and under at the Masterworks and Pops! Series’ Saturday performances.
-Student and children tickets, available for Masterworks and Pops! concerts, are $10.

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Quick Hit Theater Review: Oblivion -- Westport Country Playhouse

Katie Broad and Aidan Kunze. Photo: Carol Rosegg

Oblivion
By Carly Mensch
Directed by Mark Brokaw
Westport Country Playhouse

By Lauren Yarger
What's it All About?
Well, that may be up to you..... Pam (Johanna Day), a successful HBO documentary exec and Dixon (Reg Rogers), a burned out corporate lawyer who has suffered a breakdown, find themselves in a crisis when their teenage daughter, Julie (Katie Broad), decides to become a Christian. The couple doesn't believe in setting any rules -- right and wrong is all relative any way -- but when Julie lies about where she was (at a church retreat instead of checking out mom's alumni, Wesleyan) they decide they had better do some parenting and get their daughter back on track.

Dixon is a little more willing to hear his daughter's side. He has a little bit of a tie with religion, coming from a Jewish background, and he is the only one Julie will speak to. She and her mother have a relationship that borders on contempt -- at least where Julie is concerned.

Pam is downright bigoted in her disregard of who who might be weak-minded enough to allow themselves to be brainwashed by religion (her parents were two Marxist professors). Socially awkward Julie's exploration of Jesus comes through hanging out with her only friend, Bernard (Aidan Kunze), whose family attends some kind of Baptist Church there in Brooklyn, and who is filming Julie for a film project.

Deeper in the plot about the religious experience is a message about the fact that we all worship something. Pam needs to be in control -- she goes to great lengths to worm information out of Bernard; Dixon loves his weed and is hard at work on something else he worships: a pornographic novel about a middle-aged man and a teen girl. Bernard worships a film critic named Pauline and a number of scenes involve his speaking out the letters he has written her in the hopes she will view his film. And Julie just wants to feel something. Anything.

What are the highlights?
Mensch (she writes for TV's "Weeds" and "Nurse Jackie" in addition to plays) has a gift for contemporary -- and funny -- dialogue. The characters deal with some very real emotions. There is a lot of funny stuff here, especially the really awful chapter Dixon reads about his protagonist and the French ambassador's daughter....

Rogers is the most comfortable in the skin of his character here. He enjoys the aging hippy who needs to find some way to take responsibility. This character has the most range of the four.

What are the Lowlights?
The play is interesting and keeps us engaged, but never delivers. We're left wondering what it all means, especially when Julie's intense conversion, which has propelled the action, isn't fully explained. Bernard's church is a little weird -- there is a bunch of Eastern and transcendental stuff thrown in there which has nothing to do with Christianity and Julie doesn't seem to really know who Jesus is. Her explanation of being a Christian: "You agree to believe in Jesus even though he's not really there..." The piece puts me in mind of other plays that tend to express the questions about religion the authors have in real life, but doesn't offer any answers (because they don't have them either).

Character development isn't too deep. Julie is hostile, but all the way through, not just toward her mother. She doesn't seem very fun to be around, so it's not hard to believe she doesn't have many friends. But why is Bernard an exception? We don't know. Bernard is kind of dorky and only has one moment where he seems to have a backbone (and Kunze doesn't seem at ease in the role). The technique of having Bernard write to Pauline is overused. Day seemed to be tripping over a bunch of her dialogue. Brokaw, with numerous Broadway directing credits, doesn't use a strong enough hand in directing to bring it all together. Even if he did, the play itself doesn't seem to know where it's headed.

Neil Patel's set is disappointing. All scenes take place on an all-in-one location that at first glance looks like the gym/library of a school with the back wall lined with cubby holes. Later, parts of it are used for the family's house, the basketball court at school, a movie theater, etc.

More information:
This world premiere of Oblivion runs through Sept. 8 at Westport Country Playhouse, 25 Powers Court, Westport. Tickets and info: 203-227-4177, toll-free at 1-888-927-7529, www.westportplayhouse.org,

Westport Country Playhouse will host two special events, “Teen Night” and “Mom’s Day Off,” in conjunction with Oblivion.

“Teen Night” on Wednesday, Aug. 28, will offer an opportunity for teens who are interested in any aspect of theater to meet in the Playhouse Green Room for pizza and soda at 6:30 pm, learn about the show, and have an intimate Q&A session with Broad and Kunze. They will talk about their experiences in the professional theater business and what it’s like to originate a role in a world premiere. Each teen attending will receive one complimentary ticket and 50-percent discounted tickets for their guests (parents or friends).

“Mom’s Day Off,” on Saturday, Aug. 31 at 3 pm and Wednesday, Sept. 4 at 8 pm will offer tickets at $30. On Aug. 31, moms will kick off the performance with a mimosa toast on the Playhouse patio. On Sept. 4, the audience is invited for a lively post-performance salon discussion of the thought-provoking play in the Smilow Lounge on the mezzanine level.

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Theater Review: Julius Caesar -- Elm Shakespeare Company

Jeremy Funke and Paul Pryce. Photo: Courtesy of Elm Shakespeare.. 

A Brisk Julius Caesar in Edgerton Park
By Tom Holehan
It's a brisk and relevant Julius Caesar currently playing under the stars in New Haven's gorgeous Edgerton Park. The modern dress production is the Elm Shakespeare Company's 18th season offering and it lives up to the group's well-earned reputation of presenting fresh, no-frills productions of classical works. What a good way to close out the summer theatre season.

More than most plays in the Shakespeare canon, Julius Caesar may equip itself the best to a modern dress rendering. The political intrigue that involves brothers Cassius and Brutus who, worried that Caesar has become too powerful, plan their own coup with a military takeover could speak directly to the events currently unfolding in Egypt.

Co-directed by theatre legend Alvin Epstein and Elm Shakespeare Company founder and Artistic Director James Andreassi, this Julius Caesar barely stops for breath as nefarious plots are hatched and the brothers entice a cabal of willing murderers in their devious plan. Epstein and Andreassi understand that once the deed is done, the tempo must pick up: blood flows and retribution begins. Their production is played without intermission and comes in well under two hours. At times, it may be too fast but with commanding actors in most of the leading roles, this Julius Caesar still rules.

Andreassi has given himself one of the play's best roles in Marcus Brutus and he plays the conflicted warrior with great power and insight. Also fine is Damian Buzzerio whose Cassius nearly browbeats Brutus into his lethal decision while Tracy Griswold's smug yet regal Caesar makes you understand why he is able to sway the populace.

Paul Pryce's enthusiastic Mark Antony is a vital presence though the famed "Friends, Romans and Countrymen..." is rendered a little too obvious and quickly here for my liking. It lacks political savvy though Pryce is charismatic enough to make it somehow still work. In the large supporting cast Jeremy Funke impresses in no less than three roles but some of the smaller roles stick out by being played by actors with far less experience.

Elizabeth Bolster's well-tailored suits for the men and sharp clothes for the women define this modern-dress Shakespeare with style. She is also credited with the handsome scenic design which simply but effectively sets a stage for royal intrigue. Jamie Burnett's lighting works beautifully under a starry sky at Edgerton but I do question the use of a roving follow-spot to sporadically highlight an actor. It seems oddly out of place but remains a minor blip. This is still a strong, straight-forward and accessible production of Shakespeare's great historical drama.

Julius Caesar continues at Edgerton Park, 75 Cliff St., New Haven through Sept.1. Admission is free - donations accepted

Tom Holehan is one of the founders of the Connecticut Critics Circle, a frequent contributor to WPKN Radio’s “State of the Arts” program and Artistic Director of Stratford’s Square One Theatre Company. He welcomes comments at: tholehan@yahoo.com. His reviews and other theater information can be found on the Connecticut Critics Circle website:www.ctcritics.org.

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Calling Tiny Tim! Hartford Stage to Hold Kids Auditions for A Christmas Carol

Hartford Stage's A Christmas Carol with  Bill Raymond and children. Photo:  T. Charles Erickson

Hartford Stage will be holding auditions for child actors for the Tony Award-winning theater's 16^th annual production of A Christmas Carol - A Ghost Story of Christmas on Tuesday, Sept. 17 and Wednesday, Sept. 18, from 3 to  6 pm each day. Callbacks will be on Friday, Sept. 20.

Auditions are for Non-Equity children of all ethnic backgrounds, 5-13-years-old. Children, who wish to audition may not turn 14 years of age until after Dec. 28, 2013.  Rehearsals begin Tuesday, Nov. 12, with performance dates from Friday, Nov. 29, through Saturday, Dec. 28. 

Auditions are by appointment only, and there are a limited number of appointments available.  To schedule an audition call 860-520-7103 Monday through Friday between 10 am and 5 pm or email artistic@hartfordstage.org. Audition location and requirements will be discussed when parents or guardians call to arrange an appointment.   

A Christmas Carol is by former Hartford Stage Artistic Director Michael Wilson and has been presented annually since 1998.

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Mark Twain Happenings from Shakespeare on the Lawn to Twain on the River

As You Like It by William Shakespeare will be performed by the world-renowned tragi-comedians The Castle Theatre Company of Durham University, UK on the lawn at the Mark Twain House Saturday, Sept.r 14 from 2 to 4 pm.

Bringeth lawn furniture and blankets! Rain or shine! Ree Will (Shakespeare) offerings accepted.

Castle Theatre Company is one of the oldest theatre companies in Durham University. Set amidst the grounds of Durham's beautiful and ancient Castle, part of the city's World Heritage Site, the company has produced theatre of the highest quality for three decades. The company holds strong to a tradition of producing a 'Summer Shakespeare' performance, which offers outdoor theatrical entertainment in the gardens of Durham Castle, before embarking on a national tour to some of England's finest stately homes and large estates to perform to audiences across the country and around the world.

Take a Ride on the Essex Steam Train, Riverboat with Mark Twain this Weekend

This Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 24 and 25, Mark Twain will create a unique experience, riding along and interacting with visitors on the Essex Steam Train & Riverboat in Essex, CT.

Mark Twain, one of Connecticut's most famous residents, will visit the train and riverboat to do what he does best - entertain crowds with storytelling and humor. Always with a smile, always with wit, Mr. Twain plans to make the "Passengers from the Past" experience fun and exciting. A tip for your ride aboard the Becky Thatcher riverboat: be sure to ask Mr. Twain about the Tom Sawyer character the riverboat is named after.

The "Passengers from the Past" experience is new to the Essex Steam Train this year, and is designed to take passengers back in time alongside popular historic figures. Prior "riders" included President Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln, as well as William & Helen Gillette. The special passengers are personified by some of the most renowned historic figure actors in the country. Visitors will get to spend quality time on the steam train and riverboat with some of the most interesting people in history. There are no additional fees for the "Passengers from the Past" experience.

Info here: http://www.essexsteamtrain.com/passengers.html.

Tom Lee

GILGAMESH: Love, Death & Power in Ancient Iraq
A reckless king seeks to become immortal and confronts all that it means to be human. What happens next in this thrilling epic -- Gilgamesh: Love Death & Power in Ancient Iraq -- will be relayed with consummate skill by Master-Storyteller-in-Residence Tom Lee Sunday, Sept. 22, at 2 pm. It's the first of an adult trio of "Grown-Up Storytime" appearances by the noted storyteller for adults, who has thrilled audiences at the museum in past years. 

Admission is $15; 90 minutes, not suitable for children.

An additional program ("Prince Ring" on Dec. 15) is suitable for children ages 7 and up! ($6). Tickets:

860-280-3130. 

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Theater Review: Time Stands Still -- TheaterWorks

Liz Holtan, Matthew Boston, Tim Altmeyer and Erika Rolfsrud. Photo: Lanny Nagler

A Look Through the Lens of Love and War
By Lauren Yarger
When photo journalist Sarah (Erika Rolfsrud) looks through the rectangular viewfinder on her camera to cover the anguish of people caught in the horrors of war, Time Stands Still. She can’t figure out how to make that happen with the fast-moving slideshow of tragedy and emotions in her own life, however, in Donald Margulies’ 2010 Tony-nominated play getting a run at TheaterWorks, Hartford.

Director Rob Ruggiero brilliantly focuses on the domestic tension between Sarah and her long-time, live-in boyfriend and fellow foreign correspondent, James (Tim Altmeyer), giving the play depth beyond its obvious question about the ethics of journalists being voyeurs on the sidelines of tragedies. The battleground at home produces far more serious wounds than anything these two experienced in actual war zones.

Sarah was wounded in a car bombing in Afghanistan which left her in a coma and killed her interpreter, Tariq. Now, with an injured arm and leg and a face scarred by the shrapnel (Special Makeup Design by Joe Rossi), Sarah returns to their Brooklyn apartment to recover (Luke Hegel-Cantarella designs the terrific loft.)

An over attentive Jamie, feeling guilty because he suffered a breakdown and was back in the states when Sarah was injured, drives her crazy with his attempts to help. His traumatic experience and Sarah’s brush with death have him re-thinking priorities in his life and he wants to settle down, get married and have children – a previously forbidden subject in the household. He doesn’t want to “dodge bullets or step over dead children” any more, he tells her. He is willing to forgive Sarah’s past infidelity with Tariq so they can have a future together.

Sarah isn’t so sure, however. Tariq was more than just a war-time fling for her, but the sudden domestic bliss of the couple’s editor, Richard (Matthew Boston) and his much-younger, naïve wife, Mandy (Liz Holtan who adds much-need and superbly acted humor to the plot) make her wonder if she shouldn’t go ahead and accept Jamie’s proposal. Thinking about what she does for a living has Sarah wondering about ethics, especially when blissful new mom Mandy questions her motives about how she can stand by and observe without doing anything to help.

“The camera is there to record life, not change it,” Sarah replies, tersely. “If I let it get to me, how could I do my job? I’m there to take pictures.”

It does get to her, though, as she suffers flashbacks, But telling the story truthfully, without interference is most important to her and she wants to get back to her job regardless of its difficulties and dangers.

She’s especially not happy with Jamie’s reporting for a book Richard wants them to write about the experience. Jamie seems more interested in writing another, lighter piece about horror films than telling about what happened in Afghanistan and when he finally writes up the car-bomb account, he leaves Tariq out of it, to Sarah’s frustration. The damage to their relationship, which started way before the bombing, just might be harder to fix than her physical injuries.

The play is a well written, thought-provoking piece from the Pulitzer-Prize winning and Connecticut playwright with a strong ensemble. Particularly smart is a photo exhibit in the lobby of a number of famous and award-winning photographs similar to the kind Sarah might have been taking. Viewing them before and after the show gives added insight into the character and into the role of photojournalists and in a way, makes time stand still as you reflect.

Time Stands Still closes out the 2012-2013 season at TheaterWorks, 233 Pearl St., Hartford. It runs through Sept. 15, Performances: Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays: 7:30 pm; Fridays and Saturdays: 8 pm; Weekend Matinees at 2:30 pm. Tickets $17-$63: 860-527-7838; www.theaterworkshartford.org.

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CT Arts Connections: Dan Sullivan to Retire as Head of O'Neill's Critic Institute

The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center announced today that Dan Sullivan, faculty member of the National Critics Institute (NCI) since 1977 and its Director since 1999, will retire as head of the long-standing summer program for theater critics. He will remain on the faculty. A replacement has not been announced.

• Arts advocate and philanthropist Howard J. Aibel of Weston will be honored with the Westport Country Playhouse Leadership Award at the theater’s annual fundraising gala on the evening of Monday, Sept. 16. As previously announced, the Playhouse’s annual gala, entitled, “Sophisticated Lady: A Gala Evening Honoring Phylicia Rashad,” will also honor the Tony Award-winner, who directed Westport Country Playhouse’s A Raisin in the Sun last fall. Information or ticket purchases: Elizabeth Marks Juviler, special events coordinator, at 203-227-5137, ext. 123, or ejuviler@westportplayhouse.org.

• Downtown Cabaret Auditions for Children's Company:
WEDNESDAY SEPT 4TH open call 5 to 9 pm

Male and female musical theatre performers, *ages 16+
Child actors under 16 will be seen for Annie Jr. at a separate audition
 Headshot/photo and resume required (email to auditions@downtowncabaret.org)
Seeking Strong actors that can sing and move well.
Two songs (up tempo and ballad). Have a 16 bar section ready.
Accompanist provided. Bring sheet music in correct key.
A dance call to establish basic movement skills may take place, please bring appropriate shoes

2013/2014 Season includes:
“How I Became a Pirate” Oct. 5-27
“Annie Jr.” Nov. 10- Dec. 29
“The Littlest Mermaid” Jan. 11 - Feb. 16
“Robin Hood” March 1 - 30
“Aladdin” April 12 - May 18 

Audition location: 263 Golden Hill Street, Bridgeport; www.downtowncabaret.org.

• Kate Classic: Long Day's Journey into Night 
Date: Tuesday, August 20
Times: 2pm & 7pm
Price: $8
Katharine Hepburn received her ninth Best Actress Oscar nomination for playing Mary Tyrone, a depressed, unstable addict in the movie version of Eugene O'Neill's drama, "Long Day's Journey Into Night". It is one of Katharine Hepburn's most famous performances (she herself considered this one her best) and it won her Best Actress at Cannes in 1962.
Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, 300 Main St., Old Saybrook. 877-503-1286; www.thekate.org.

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Westport's 2014 Season Explores Different Facets of Love

Mark Lamos

Westport Country Playhouse Artistic Director Mark Lamos has selected plays by Noël Coward, Ingmar Bergman, Alan Ayckbourn, and Lynn Nottage for the theater’s 84th season.

“It's a season that will be rich and enriching,” said Lamos. “A rich variety of offerings, each exploring the different facets of love: passionate, cruel, remembered, longed-for, or hysterically silly. An enriching series of experiences for theatergoers who love theater worth talking about.”

The 2014 season will begin with Coward’s A Song at Twilight directed by Lamos, April 29 – May 17, 2014, a co-production with Hartford Stage. In this exquisite battle of wits, Coward explores the nature of passion, the cruelty of love, and the price of hidden secrets. The story tells of Sir Hugo Latymer, who, in his long career, has achieved more than most writers even dream of—money, fame, and a reputation beyond reproach. But his carefully constructed ivory tower is imperiled when a long-ago love threatens to shed a very public light into the most scandalous corner of his private past, a revelation that could bring it all tumbling down.

The second show, playing June 10 - 28, 2014, will be announced at a later date. Directed by Lamos, it will be either a comedy or a world premiere musical event.

Nora, Bergman’s adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, translated into the English language by Frederick J. Marker and Lisa-Lone Marker, will run July 15 – Aug. 2, 2014, directed by David Kennedy, Playhouse associate artistic director. A story of love, blackmail, and the little lies people tell.

A comedy by Playhouse favorite Ayckbourn, Things We Do for Love, will run Aug. 19 – Sept. 6, 2014. Replete with trademark Ayckbourn touches, this wickedly funny play questions just how sane anyone really is when it comes to love. Fastidious Barbara’s orderly, but solitary world is thrown into chaos when the arrival of her longtime friend Nikki and her fiancé ignites unexpected and violent passions.

Rounding out the season, Oct. 7 – 25, 2014, is Intimate Apparel by Pulitzer Prize winner Nottage (Ruined). The play explores how each choice people make is a vital stitch in the ornately and delicately embroidered fabric of their lives. The story weaves an intricate tapestry of the joys, sorrows, tragedy, and triumph of a gifted but lonely African-American seamstress in early 20th century Manhattan who's negotiating the choice between a love that is accepted and one that is true.

Information: 203-227-4177; toll-free at 1-888-927-7529; 25 Powers Court, Westport. Tickets: twww.westportplayhouse.org.

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Elm Street's Julius Caesar Has Some Cast Changes

Paul Pryce. Photo courtesy of Elm Shakespeare.

Julius Caesar
Elm Shakespeare Company
Through Sunday, Sept. 1
Tuesday-Sunday at  8 pm. Free outdoor performances, Edgerton Park, 75 Cliff Street, New Haven. www.elmshakespeare.org; 203-874-0801.

Co-directed by Elm Shakespeare’s Artistic Director James Andreassi and Alvin Epstein
Cast: Tracy Griswold (Julius Caesar), Keely Baisden (Portia), Colin Lane (Metullus Cimber), Andreassi (Brutus), Paul Pryce (Mark Antony), Damian Buzzerio (Cassius), Robert Boardman (Decius Brutus) and Paula Plum (Casca).

Coming up:
Annual Gala and Auction to benefit the Elm Shakespeare Company
Thursday Aug. 29
5 to 8 pm, followed by the performance of Julius Caesar
Tickets for Gala: Friend $125, Patron $175: www.elmshakespeare.org; 203-874-0801. On-line Auction www.biddingforgood.com/elmshakespeare.

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Theater Review: Dreamgirls -- Ivoryton Playhouse

Sheniqua Denise Trotman as Effie. Photo: Anne Hudson. 

Oh, My. I Said, Oh, My, This One’s a Dream
By Lauren Yarger
With a strong cast, a profusion of sparkling costumes and a nine-person band, Ivoryton Playhouse goes full out to produce a version of the musical Dreamgirls that really is a dream.

The musical, which was nominated for 13 Tony Awards on Broadway back in 1981 is a challenge for theater groups wanting to stage the tale of the rise of an African-American singing group (reminiscent of the The Supremes or The Shirelles) in the 1960s. Not only is the musical score by Henry Krieger (with lyrics by Tom Eyen, who wrote the book) difficult to sing vocally, but the actress who plays Effie always finds herself in the shadow of Jennifer Holliday, who won a Tony for a Best Actress for her performance. Her rendition of “(And I’m Telling You) I’m Not Going” was so dramatic that it is etched forever on the minds of anyone who saw it. 

Add to that Jennifer Hudson’s Academy Award-winning performance in the movie adaptation and suddenly finding an “Effie” who can anchor this show often proves to be a daunting job. Not just any actress can pull it off, even if she can belt.

Director Lawrence Thelen proves himself up to the challenge, however, with the casting of terrific nonEquity actress Sheniqua Denise Trotman from Huntsville, AL. Her “I’m Not Going” puts focus on the emotional pain felt by the character and is a powerhouse exploration of the lyrics. In between all that belting. Kudos.

Effie is lead singer of the Dreamettes singing group made up of Lorell Robinson (Ashley Jeudy, who just did a turn at Ivoryton in Footloose) and her best friend Deena Jones (Jennlee Shallow from Trinidad who has starred in The Lion King tours, Ragtime at the Kennedy Center and was the lead singer in Cirque d Soleil’s Las Vegas Vivo Elvis). They are signed as a backup group for Jimmy Early (a sensational Caliaf St. Aubyn) by shady manager Curtis Taylor, Jr. (Damian Norfleet) who wins Effie’s heart.

Effie’s songwriter brother, C.C. (Datus Puryear) helps Jimmy hit the top of the charts, but Jimmy’s manager, Marty (Colin Lyle Howard) , grows more and more annoyed with Curtis’ interference. Finally the girls split off to form their own act, the Dreams, but the break comes with a change: Curtis wants Deena to sing lead.

As Curtis turns his attention toward making Deena a star – and his next romantic conquest – Effie finds it harder to perform and starts missing appointments, or showing up late. Thelen stages a beautiful moment where Curtis and Deena discuss the future downstage as a devastated Effie looks on through the fog further upstage. Without notice, Curtis replaces her with another singer, Michelle Morris (Brennyn Lark Langhorn), and Effie becomes estranged from her lover, best friend and brother.

Years later, down to her last shot at making it in the music business, Effie allows Marty to try to revive her career with “One Night Only,” the latest pop hit penned for her by C.C.

The costumes designed by Njaye Olds) are amazing. There are so many, you can’t count, but they sparkle, flow (and in one number don’t cover very much) and help create the tone and era of the musical. Each one contains exquisite detail and is part of something larger. The Dreams, for instance, all wear beautiful dresses – each slightly different and accented in blend. Todd L. Underwood choreographs here (the original show was directed and choreographed by Michael Bennett).

St. Aubyn lights up the stage (even brighter than the pretty nifty lighting show designed by Marcus Abbot who also designs the sets) with a humorous and consuming performance as the singer who battles with delivering the more “white” sound booking venues want with the more free, rhythmic and black sound that bursts out of him. His performance is so engaging, in fact, that the audience has to remind itself to side with Lorell when she finally tells her two-timing lover they are through.

The band, relatively large for Ivoryton, is conducted by Musical Director Mike Morris who is Director of Music for the Hartt School Theater Division at University of Hartford.

This is one of the biggest musicals Ivoryton has ever produced. And one of the best. Don’t miss it.

Dreamgirls runs at Ivoryton Playhouse, 103 Main St., through Sept.1. Performances are Wednesday and Sunday at 2pm; Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 pm; Friday and Saturday at 8 pm.. Tickets are $40 for adults, $35 for seniors, $20 for students and $15 for children: 860-767-7318; www.ivorytonplayhouse.org.

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Horse Extravaganza Show Extends Near Boston

The Travelers V / Les voyageurs V | Credits: JF Leblanc

Cavalia’s Odysseo, a $30-million horse show imagined by Normand Latourelle, one of the co-founders of Cirque du Soleil, has extended its run under the White Big Top at  201 Assembly Square Drive in Somerville, MA at the intersection of Interstate 93 and Route 28.

Tickets, priced from $34.50-$139.50 are on sale through Aug. 25:  www.cavalia.net or by calling 1-866-999-8111.  VIP tickets (Rendez-Vous package) offer the best seats in the house, buffet-dinning before the show, open bar, deserts during intermission and an exclusive visit of the stable after the show. The Rendez-Vous package prices range from $154.50 to $219.50.

To give life to this extraordinary equestrian adventure, Cavalia created a 17,500-square-foot stage, in the middle of which rise two hills each three storeys tall. Some 10,000 tons of rock, earth and sand are trucked in and then sculpted to create the vast space of freedom where human and horse come to play in complicity.

Above the stage hangs an imposing technical grid capable of supporting 80 tons of equipment including, a full-sized merry-go-round. Odysseo presents a “live 3-D” voyage with extremely high-definition computer graphic images that transport the audience across the world’s most beautiful landscapes. To project these
breathtaking graphic backdrops on an immense cyclorama the size of three IMAX screens, Odysseo uses 18 projectors simultaneously.

The dream begins in a misty, enchanted forest where horses graze and frolic under a sky of rolling clouds and a setting sun. Horses, riders, acrobats and musicians embark on a soulful journey that leads them from the Mongolian steppes to Monument Valley, from the African savannah to Nordic glaciers, from the Sahara to Easter Island.

Among the sites on this grand voyage are urban stilters,  a troupe of African acrobats, horses powering angelic aerialists in a four-person silks act that takes them into the skies, an African harp called a Kora and purebred Arabian horses directed by inaudible vocal commands from their kneeling trainer.

The scenes follow the seasons; at times, the horses and people become too numerous to count. The Odysseo epic wraps up with a fantastic crescendo as the stage is inundated with 80,000 gallons of water in just a few minutes. A virtual waterfall overhangs the resulting lake, in which horses, riders and artists join to frolic, leaving behind them the traces of their splashes and an astonished audience.

Fun Facts:

• Odysseo features 63 horses of 11 different breeds including the Appaloosa, Arabian, Canadian, Holsteiner, Lusitano, Oldenburg, Paint Horse, Quarter Horse, Spanish Purebred (P.R.E.) and armblood.Headquartered in Montreal.
• The horses are from Spain, Portugal, France, The Netherlands, Germany, The United States and Canada.
• There are 47 artists - riders, acrobats, aerialists, dancers and musicians.
• The artists are from around the world including the United States, Canada, Brazil, France, Belgium, Guinea, Russia, Spain and Ukraine.
•  There are 350 costumes and 100 pairs of shoes and boots in the show. Artists may have up to seven different costumes.

Cavalia Inc. is an entertainment company that specializes in the creation, production and touring of innovative shows for audiences of all ages. Founded by Latourelle, the company has an expertise in equestrian and performing arts, and is known for cutting-edge technology, multimedia and special effects. Cavalia, seen by some 4million people across North America and Europe since its 2003 debut, celebrates the relationship between humans and horses by loosely recounting the evolution of this bond.

The website for Odysseo says information about tour stops in Washington, DC and Seattle is coming.

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A Midsummer Night's Dream -- CT Free Shakespeare

A Lively “Midsummer” Presented Under the Stars

By Tom Holehan
There was life last week on the grounds of the woebegone American Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford where Director Ellen Lieberman continued her annual presentation of “accessible Shakespeare” this time with a fast and lively production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. 

Shakespeare’s popular tale of mismatched lovers lost in a forest of fairies, sprites and changelings looks right at home on the theatre grounds with majestic tall trees framing the stage. The trees helped considerably as Doug Frawley’s bland scenic design doesn’t begin to suggest the enchanted forest required for the classic.

This is in-your-face, endlessly enthusiastic Shakespeare with enough good actors and high spirits in the large company to win over even those who still don’t quite “get” the Bard. Handsome Mark Friedlander makes for an appealingly love-struck Lysander matched well with the adorable Caitlin Chuckta as Hermia. Jonathan Holtzman’s Oberon and Saluda Camp’s Titania are both well-spoken who suggest the otherworldly without a lot of fuss and CFS regular Eric Nyquist is a ball of energy as the exuberant Puck. The clear crowd-pleaser of the evening, however, was Ian Eaton’s delightfully hammy Bottom. He probably gets away with more than the law should allow here, but the audience I sat with was not complaining.

Pyramus and Thisbe, the hilarious play-within-a-play that caps the production, goes on far too long but, again, the crowd would have probably enjoyed even more. There are also extended dance and song sequences that could have been trimmed and pity this poor company that doesn’t even get a rest at intermission as they lead group sing-alongs while passing buckets for donations. Frankly, I could have used a break from this fun but aggressive production, but there is no denying that Ms. Lieberman knows her audience very well.

 A Midsummer Night’s Dream will continue at McLevy Green in Downtown Bridgeport through Aug. 11. For further information call 203-916-8066 or visit:www.ctfreeshakespeare.org. 

 
Tom Holehan is one of the founders of the Connecticut Critics Circle, a frequent contributor to WPKN Radio’s “State of the Arts” program and Artistic Director of Stratford’s Square One Theatre Company. He welcomes comments at: tholehan@yahoo.com. His reviews and other theatre information can be found on the Connecticut Critics Circle website:www.ctcritics.org.

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Theater Review: Grease -- New Canaan

Courtesy of New Canaan

Grease Rocks Under the Stars in New Canaan

By Tom Holehan
Grease, the much-produced 1950s rock and roll musical and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the Shakespeare perennial (especially at this time of year), are both being offered al fresco this summer by the Summer Theatre of New Canaan and Connecticut Free Shakespeare. Pack your picnic basket and enjoy the night breezes…if not the productions!

Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey struck musical theatre gold with Grease, which opened on Broadway in 1972, had a few revivals, countless National Tours and a certain blockbuster film version whose popularity continues to baffle me to this day. The simple story about some not-too-tough high school greasers and the women they love includes the main romance between virginal new girl Sandy Dombrowski (STONC’s perky Sharon Malane) and bad boy ladies man Danny Zuko (Christian Libonati, working awfully hard). Complications, as they say, ensue and the dubious moral of  Grease still seems to say: Embrace your inner slut and the boys will love you. Nice.

At STONC, the cast is knocking themselves out to entertain and the mugging and extreme “face acting” going on is broad enough to be comfortably observed from the parking lot. Director Melody Meitrott Libonati leaves little to the imagination and everyone seems to be trying just a little too hard. It would have been nice if the actors were encouraged to take a step back and find some truth in these cartoonish characters. You’d also like them to relax a tad and enjoy their characters instead of forcing them so on us with such gusto.

The nifty score, however, is still fun to hear and audience members sang along with the familiar, infectious music. The most successful performance of the evening was Cristina Farruggia as mean girl (with a heart of gold, ‘natch!) Betty Rizzo. Farruggia may look mature enough to join the cast of “The Real Housewives of New Jersey”, but her powerhouse singing of “There Are Worse Things I Could Do” late in act two may be the production’s highlight. Adam Hill’s Teen Angel does a decent job with “Beauty School Dropout” finding the wit within the lyrics and Elysia Jordan brings real feeling to “Freddy My Love”. David Hancock Turner’s compact but pistol-hot orchestra continues to impress and this Grease manages to entertain despite itself.

Grease continues at the Summer Theatre of New Canaan through August 11. For further information or ticket reservations, call the theatre box office at 203.966.4634 or visit: www.stonc.org. For further information call 203.916.8066 or visit: www.ctfreeshakespeare.org. 

 
Tom Holehan is one of the founders of the Connecticut Critics Circle, a frequent contributor to WPKN Radio’s “State of the Arts” program and Artistic Director of Stratford’s Square One Theatre Company. He welcomes comments at: tholehan@yahoo.com. His reviews and other theater information can be found on the Connecticut Critics Circle website:www.ctcritics.org.

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Free Ice Cream, Music and More Today at Mark Twain House -- Rain or Shine

 I scream! You scream! We all scream for The Mark Twain House and
Museum Ice Cream Scoail.

 

An olde-fashioned Ice Cream Social featuring locally-made confections from Tulmeadow Farms, UConn Dairy Bar (courtesy of UConn Dining Services), Main Street Creamery and Shady Glen is planned, rain or shine, today from 5 to 7 pm at the Mark Twain House Museum Center.

Rounding out the evening will be performances from Bandstand Barbershop Quartet and the original ballet, "A Love Chase," penned by Susy Clemens and performed by Ballet Theatre Company. Free discounted first-floor tours of The Mark Twain House also will be offered. Funded by First Niagara Bank Foundation.

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Theater Review: Hello Dolly! -- Goodspeed

Will Burton, Klea Blackhurst, and Steve Geary. Photo: Diane Sobolewski  

Well, Hello, Klea! Blackhurst is a Charming, Feisty Dolly

By Lauren Yarger

When Goodspeed Musical first announced a production of Hello Dolly!, I must admit my first reaction was “ho hum.”

Jerry Herman’s tunes, like “Before the Parade Passes By,” “It Only Takes a Moment,” and the title song are the best part of the show which otherwise doesn’t have a lot to offer. Michael Stewart’s book, based on Thorton Wilder’s play The Matchmaker, is weak, at best. The thing that really made this show a hit when it won 10 Tony Awards in 1964 including (amazingly enough – it beat Funny Girl) Best Musical, was star Carol Channing (who reprised the role of matchmaker Dolly Levi for two Broadway revivals in 1978 and 1995).

Channing’s portrayal is the iconic one against which all other Dollys are measured (including Funny Girl star Barbra Streisand who played Dolly in the 1969 movie version). They are big shoes to fill, but my interest in Goodspeed’s production piqued when directed Daniel Goldstein (Broadway’s Godspell) announced casting of Klea Blackhurst in the lead with Ashley Brown in a supporting role to boot.

Blackhurst won the CT Critics Circle Award for her performance in Music Theatre of Connecticut’s production of All the Traffic Will Allow, a one-woman tour de force through the songs and life of Ethel Merman. If anyone could take on Channing, Blackhurst, could, I thought, and Brown, who created the title role in Broadway’s Mary Poppins and played Belle in Broadway’s Beauty and the Beast, is a bonus as Irene Molloy, a hat maker whom matchmaker Dolly has introduced to “half” millionaire Horace Vandergelder (Tony Sheldon), though she has her eye on him herself. I was right. Both bring wonderful singing voices and pluck to their characters. Sheldon rounds out some fine casting and gives depth to the otherwise unbelievable, shallow, sexist Horace.

Blackhurst is a combination of talent, humor, sheer force and seriousness (otherwise we’d never believe those dumb business cards she keeps pulling out of her oversized bag). She’s a cross between Ethel Merman and Bette Midler as she makes her entrance up the aisle through the house to the stage, but she puts her own stamp on Dolly.

We sympathize with her when she talks with her departed husband about the need to get on with her life, and smile as she exasperates Horace and sabotages his meetings with Irene and the unsuitable Ernestina (Melodie Wolford) so she can position herself to be the next Mrs.Vandergelder. Dolly’s scheme gets a leg-up when Irene falls in love, instead, with Cornelius (Spencer Moses), chief clerk at Vandergelder Hay and Feed.  Cornelius and his associate, Barnaby (Jeremy Morse), take a night off and pretend to be well-to-do gents on the town as they entertain Irene and her assistant, Minnie (Catherine Blades) and try to avoid their boss.

While they are out, they visit a fancy restaurant and are served by a chorus line of waiters ridiculously balancing glasses and bottles, throwing plates and rolling by on carts as choreographed by Kelli Barclay. OK, she is limited by Adrian W Jones’ set designs which decrease the size on the already too-small stage to accommodate scenic elements like the famous grand stairway down which Dolly descends to the strains of “Hello Dolly!,” but the moves throughout the show appear either hokey or stilted.

The late 19^th-century costuming in muted colors that seem to blend with the set (Wade Laboissonniere, design) also proved somewhat problematic. In one larger dance number, Blackhurst suddenly was unable to perform the choreography when her underskirt tore and got tangled around her feet. A true pro, she hid the problem nicely and I am sure most of the audience was unaware of her difficulty, or of her subtle communication to the other dancers that she wasn’t able to execute the moves as choreographed.

Seconds later, she didn’t miss a beat as she ate the scenery – literally – in a scene which calls for her to consume a huge meal of dumplings and corn on the cob, totally oblivious to the entire ensemble and audience watching her. It was sheer comedic brilliance – and a testament to Blackhurst’s theater chops. A less experienced performer might have been tempted to use the knife to cut herself free from the offending underskirts, bringing attention to them in some way that would have shifted the focus of the scene.

Meanwhile, there is another matchmaking subplot involving Horace’s niece Ermangarde (Brooke Shapiro), who weeps and whines all the time (and has very little other dialogue) because her uncle doesn’t approve of her chosen, Ambrose Kemper (Charles MacEachern). After a while, we kind of wonder why the heck anyone would want to marry her, but matchmaker Dolly does her best to bring the two together.

It’s one of those old musicals with a few memorable tunes and a ridiculous plot that would find it difficult to stand on a modern stage otherwise, but solid performances anchored by Blackhurst make Goodspeed’s production an enjoyable romp through turn-of-the-century New York. Goodspeed announced a week’s extension to the run before it even had begun.

Hello Dolly! runs through Sept. 14 at Goodspeed Opera House, 6 Main St., East Haddam. Performances: Wednesday at 2 and 7:30 pm., Thursday at 7:30 pm (with select performances at 2 pm), Friday at 8 pm, Saturday at 3 and 8 pm, and Sunday at 2 pm (with select performances at 6:30 pm). There will also be performances on Tuesdays, Aug. 13 and 27 at 2 pm. Tickets $27-$81.50: (860.873.8668) or online at goodspeed.org.

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Theater Review: Smokey Joe's Cafe -- Long Wharf Theatre

Smokey Joe’s Café Brings Cool Sounds to Hot Summer at Long Wharf

By Lauren Yarger

Looking for a way to beat the heat of squelching temperatures this summer? Try something else that’s hot: the cool songs of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller rolled into the revue Smokey Joe’s Café entertaining in the air conditioned Mainstage at Long Wharf Theatre.

A cast of nine singers and five musicians rock the place out with tunes by the popular 1950s songwriting team including standards like “Young Blood,” “Kansas City,” “Fools Fall in Love,” “Poison Ivy,” “Jailhouse Rock,” “I’m a Woman,” “On Broadway” and many others (there are more than 30 numbers).

This version of the 1995 Tony-Award-nominated musical is a tour stop by Irving Street Rep (New Jersey) and stars Vida Allworthy, Derrick Baker, Jonathan Celestin, Dawn Marie Driver, Jose Figueroa, Jr., Ron Lucas, Jay Rivera, Famecia Ward and Stevanie Anita Williams directed by producer A. Curtis Farrow. Music Director John Bronston plays piano and directs the band on stage (Darius Frowner also musical directs).

The revue contains no dialogue. Each song is presented as a little vignette, with the performers acting out the song with a few supplemental costume items and props. Choreography is minimal and unimaginative, but Farrow gets cast members out into the house for some fun interaction with audience members who find themselves doing the shimmy up on stage or becoming a character in one of the songs. A guy named Dave seated in the front row was in the spotlight a few times. Members not directly involved in the action find themselves clapping, bopping and singing along with the tunes.

The show offers a nice changeup between rock and roll and ballads giving each of the performers a chance to shine. Driver, in particular, wows the crowd with her blow-you-out-of-your-seat volume.

Diehard fans of the original soundtrack will want to know that a few of the songs, most notably “Shopping for Clothes” and “You’re the Boss,” are omitted here. The original show had a run of 2,036 performances, making it the longest-running musical revue in Broadway history and the soundtrack recording won the Grammy Award.

Irving Street Rep was founded in 1991. Farrow, producer and director of McDonald’s Gospelfest, has won two Emmys and was named one of the top 20 influences in gospel music (he orchestrated the service for Whitney Houston’s funeral). He produced Ain’t Misbehavin’ which has been touring for about 10 years. He also has produced Five Guys Named Mo in the current rotation of shows in rep at which Irving Street.

The show runs about two hours with an intermission. A perfect way to beat the heat.

Smokey Joe's runs through July 28 at Long Wharf Theatre, 222 Sargent Drive, New Haven. : Tuesday, Thursday and Friday at 8 pm; Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday at 3 pm. Tickets $59 (203) 787-4282; www.longwharf.org.

The cast of Smokey Joe's Cafe. Photo courtesy of Long Wharf.

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Quick Hit Theater Review: Loot -- Westport Country Playhouse

Liv Rooth, Zach Wegner, and Devin Norik. Photo: Carol Rosegg

Loot
By Joe Orton
Directed by David Kennedy
Westport Country Playhouse

What's It All About?
A 1960s-era British farce written by Joe Orton (What the Butler Saw), it tells the tale of two thieves trying to secret the cash they took in a bank heist amidst a death in the family and a visit from a detective. Hal (Delvin Norik) isn't really all that sad that his mother has passed on or that her nurse, Fay (Liv Rooth), herself a widow with a string of seven dead husbands, is trying to convince his father, McLeavy (John Horton) that she should be the next mistress of the house.

She catches on to Hal's relationship with the undertaker's assistant, Dennis (Zach Wegner). Besides apparently being lovers, the two think it is fun to impregnate as many girls as possible and Hal plans to use his share of the loot to open a brothel. When they realize they can't avoid Fay, they cut her in on the deal and attempt to hide the stolen cash in mum's casket. Trusty detective Truscott (David Manis) arrives on the scene and smells murder, however, even if he can't see the corpse right under his nose. William Peden rounds out the cast as Truscott's assistant, Meadows.

In the midst of the dialogue are a lot of double entendre and digs at the Catholic church and government. Some jazzy new music is composed by Sound Designer Fitz Patton to introduce the piece and wrap it up.

What are the Highlights?
Liv Rooth. She lights up the stage whenever she is on it. The actors all try their best with some pretty inane material. Some of the commentary about government interference in personal lives and the Catholic Church is surprisingly contemporary in the light of recent headlines.

What are the Lowlights?
Too numerous to list here. This work simply doesn't come together. It's not believable, which might be OK in comedy, but unfortunately it's also not very funny. Director David Kennedy's pace seems slow -- certainly not the madcap speed we expect from a comedy. Hal apparently is inflicted with an inability to lie, so when Fay asks him whether he robbed the bank he says yes, then clamps a hand over his mouth. Another character says, "Policemen, like red squirrels, must be protected." If you're rolling on the floor right now after reading that, I apologize, because I must have missed the funny part. I usually enjoy a good British farce, but this one just wasn't my cup of tea.

More information:
Loot runs through Aug. 3 at Westport Country Playhouse, 25 Powers Court, Westport.. Performances: Tickets start at $30: 203- 227-4177. www.westportplayhouse.org. Tuesday at 8 pm, Wednesday at 2 and 8pm., Thursday and Friday at 8pm., Saturday at 3 and 8pm. and Sunday at 3 pm. Special series feature Taste of Tuesday, Previews, LGBT Night OUT, Opening Night, Sunday Symposium, Open Captions, Literary Salon, Thursday TalkBack, Together at the Table Family Dinner, Playhouse Young Professionals, and Backstage Pass.

Note: On opening night, when I attended, a glitch in the lighting system caused a hold in the show while  the crew attempted to reboot the system which apparently was suck in one fairly dark lighting cue. When the glitch was fixed, the actors went back and started the show again from the top.

-- Lauren Yarger

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A Conversation with Stephen King

Stephen King and Colin McEnroe at the Bushnell. Photo: John Groo

By Lauren Yarger

Fans packed the house at The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts last night to hear author Stephen King in a conversation to benefit the Mark Twain House and Museum.

Local radio personality Colin McEnroe moderated the discussion which ranged from King's favorite movie adaptations of his books to God and religion.

Greeted by a rousing standing ovation by the sell-out crowd, King joked that they must not have been able to get tickets for the Justin Bieber concert down the street at the XL Center (traffic in Hartford was snarled through rush hour as people flocked to these two events and to fireworks programs scheduled on the waterfront).

Applause greeted the mention of each of King's book titles, prompting him to quip that he would just name them all because the adulation was making him feel like a rock star. He agreed to appear for the Mark Twain House, he said, because Twain was "a big deal" to him. His mother had read him "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" when he was a boy of about 6 and he was fascinated by the story about white washing the fence. Here a kid is given the job as a punishment, but gets other people to pay him to do it for him, King thought. "Would that work?" he wondered, and decided he'd like to be a writer because "that's what kind of job it is."

Here are some highlights from the two-hour conversation with the popular author whose books have sold more than 350 million copies worldwide. His next book, "Doctor Sleep," a sequel to "The Shining," will be out this October (visit http://www.stephenking.com).

On reading, writing and criticism:
He reads across a wide spectrum. He loves William Faulkner, Margaret Atwood, Jonathon Franzen. He just re-read "The Scarlet Letter," by Nathaniel Hawthorne, "though I still can't get through "Moby Dick." He likes "Game of Thrones" -- "brilliant acts of storytelling."

He doesn't like it when people make "artificial" distinctions between popular fiction and literature, That's like a kid who complains that he can't eat his dinner because the peas and potatoes are touching each other on the plate. "Well, that's bullshit."

He writes about regular people who live regular lives -- something that got him bad reviews from critics early on. "We live is a culture where there is an actual texture to life," and specifics help tell that story. When he wrote "Carrie," his first novel, he was the new kid on the block and critics of his parents' generation would think of his kind of writing as "trash." As it happens, he's outlived most of those critics and the people he "scared the shit out of when they were kids now are critics and they think I'm great."

On being a romantic:
It might be from watching too many Kim Novak movies when he was younger, he joked. But he doesn't want to cross the line of having too much sentiment and emotion in a story. Honest emotion and response to the book is good, though. He has been married to the same woman (novelist Tabitha King) for 43 years. "Lisey's Story" was written after King almost died from pneumonia and a hospital infection and had a vision of an author's widow cleaning out her husband's office. He wanted to write a book not just about marriage, but of the "secret sphere" of a marriage only the people in that relationship know.

On God and religion:
"I choose to believe in God, because, what's the down side?" he quipped to the audience who laughed. If you die and there's nothing, you haven't lost anything, but if there is a god and you stay on his good side...

 "I have no love for organized religion," he continued. Most religionists and churchgoers -- the "foot soldiers" -- are nice people, he said, coming to the aid of people in need and doing other good works. But sooner or later a philosophy emerges that says "God wants to put a gun in your hand or a suicide belt around your waist. "That kind of stuff can take a hike."

Does stuff happen because of God's will? No, what's done is done, he said. The past is history; the future is a mystery.

Do things happen for a reason? "Why ask that question?" he said. "You're never going to know. Shit happens. If you want to say God ordained it, fine, but you don't really know. That's why we have faith."

On being an alcoholic and drug addict:
It has been 25 years since he has had a drink. "If it would make me high, I wanted it," he said. The hardest thing he quit was cocaine. The easiest was Oxycodone, which he had to take to combat severe pain after he was struck by a van and thrown 14 feet into a ditch on a road in his native Maine. He suffered a compound fracture of the leg, a broken hip, a collapsed lung and other injuries.He took the drug for three or four years  until it became clear that he would have to stop or die.

On "11/22/63" and the Kennedy assassination:
He grew up in a Republican home where his mother couldn't even say the name of FDR. He worked on the campaigns of Republican candidates in Maine and Barry Goldwater and voted for Richard Nixon (a decision for which his wife "is still giving me shit."). When John F. Kennedy was elected, his mother was devastated, but when he was assassinated, he came home from school to find her on the couch crying. "Something was changed; a light had gone out," he recalled. When she was dying of cancer, she confided in her son that in 1972 she had voted for McGovern....

He's pretty sure Oswald acted alone and if he did, there is a chain of events that led to that fateful moment (hence the book). "Life turns on a dime,: he said. "That one moment that changed everything."

On children and his childhood:
What people really want to ask about his childhood, he said, is "What fu**ed you up so bad.?" He grew up like most kids, afraid of monsters, of the monster under the bed, in the closet or in the cellar, but at the same time was attracted to it. One of the main characters in "Doctor Sleep" is a girl of 12. Another is a now-adult Dan from "The Shining," still haunted by his childhood experience at the Overlook Hotel. Kids interest King, he says, because they "haven't started to narrow their focus." He told of seeing a kid sitting in his underwear on a street in his hometown, striking the dirt with a stick and saying, "I'll  get you." If an adult did that, he'd be taken to a mental institution, King said.

He writes about kids for adults. More often authors write about kids for kids. He likes being a voice for the loser.

"Anybody who looks back on high school as the best part of life has severe mental problems," he joked. High school is like being asked to run the gauntlet. At the time, it seemed horrible. He was a fat kid, the youngest in his family and always saying, "Hey guys, wait up."

"'Wait up' is the cry of a loser," he said.

He loves it when the monsters get the bad kids....

On the highlight of his celebrity existence:
While dining with Bruce Springsteen, a beautiful, awestruck young girl kept looking over at their table, then finally approached. Springsteen made a move to get his pen for the anticipated autograph request when she asked, "Aren't you Stephen King?"

"She never fu**ing looked at him," King laughed. "For one golden moment, books trumped rock."

On which movie adaptations of his works he likes:
Stand By Me, The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, Misery and the Dee Wallace version of Cujo.

Which one didn't he like?
"The Shining," directed by Stanley Kubrick. It's a beautiful movie, it just isn't the book, he said. In the first scene, when Jack applies for the job at the hotel, you know he's crazy. "There's no arc for that character. There's never a moment he wasn't crazy." And Shelley Duvall, though a wonderful actress, isn't given anything to do as Jack's wife except to be a scream machine, King said.

"A lot of men came out of that movie and said, 'I would have killed her too.'"

On favorite foods:
"My idea of a really great meal when you're hungry is The Waffle House." They leave you alone, the menu is waterproof, it has pictures of the food....

On favorite places to visit:
New York, Sarasota and Hartford, though "what I don't like is coming in on I-84."

On who he would like to be if he could inhabit someone else's life for 24 hours:
"Not Barack Obama," he said. Maybe an African-American bus driver in Cleveland -- not someone famous -- as a way of seeing an experience that he doesn't have, like being someone of another race or a woman.  But celebrity wouldn't be too bad if he could throw the ball like Patriots' quarterback Tom Brady or be Red Sox stars Ted Williams or David Ortiz.



Coming up at the Mark Twain House and Museum:

• Terry Brooks, Creator of the World of Shannara. Friday, July 26 at 7:30 pm

In 1977, author Terry Brooks first opened the gates to the fantasy realm of Shannara. More than 30 years later, Brooks continues to build the epic history and legacy of his world in an unparalleled run of over-two dozen Shannara novels. Brooks celebrates the release of his latest novel, "Witch Wraith: The Dark Legacy of Shannara" where elves, trolls, gnomes and other dark things dare to dwell. Tickets $25 / $20 members; VIP Reception Ticket: $65 includes lecture and 5:30 reception with Terry Brooks. (860) 280-3130.

• Mark My Words, an evening with Sue Grafton, Alice Hoffman, Scott Turow, moderated by David Baldacci, 8 pm Wednesday, Oct. 9 at the Shubert Theatre, New Haven. http://www.twainmarkmywords.com/

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