News Briefs Week of Oct. 24

The Hartford Symphony Orchestra will begin the 2011-2012 Jazz and Strings Series with a tribute to the classic jazz album, Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Cole Porter Songbook 8 pm Friday, Nov. 4 in the Theater for the Performing Arts at the Learning Corridor in Hartford. 

Conceived and directed by Jazz and Strings Artistic Director Gene Bozzi, this concert will feature guest vocalist Tina Fabrique as the “First Lady of Song,” performing selections from the album as well as a few of Ella Fitzgerald’s biggest hits.  Bassist Rick Rozie and frequent HSO arranger and pianist Walter Gwardyak, along with Bozzi on drums will team up with members of the HSO string, brass, and wind sections for this program. Subscriptions to the 2011-2012 Jazz and Strings Series are $54 for orchestra seating, $104 for center orchestra seating. Single tickets to the 2011-2012 Jazz and Strings Series are $20 for orchestra seating, $40 for center orchestra seating. Student tickets are $10. To purchase tickets or for more information, please contact HSO ticket services at 860-244-2999 or visit www.hartfordsymphony.org.

• Cirque Dreams Holidaze will play The Bushnell Dec. 20-24. Tickets available at 860-987-5900 or www.bushnell.org. For a review of the show when it played the Palace last season click here.
• Spencers Theatre of Illusion plays the Quick Center for the Arts at Fairfield University 3 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 30 as part of the 2011-2012 “Awesome Fun” series. For added fun, there will be Halloween treats for all, and audience members are encouraged to come in costume and participate in a costume contest taking place that afternoon. Tickets are $35, $30, and $25. Children under 12 are $15. Tickets are available at 203-254-4010, toll-free 1-877-278-7396 or online at www.quickcenter.com.
• The powerful, five-octave vocal range of Karen Frisk will resound through the Mark Twain House & Museum's Murasaki Café on Sunday, Nov. 13, as the museum's popular series of Sunday Jazz Brunches continues. Seatings are at 11:30 am and 1:15 pm. The $35 admission includes the performance, full brunch, soft drinks and hot beverages. Alcoholic beverages are available at an additional charge. Call 860-280-3130 for reservations.

Quick Hit Review: Cirque Dreams Holidaze -- The Palace

Performance tonight at 7:30.

What: Cirque Dreams Holidaze, where holiday dreams meet fantasy and imagination. Giant ginergbread men, snowmen and candy canes provide a backdrop for aerial, contortionist, juggling and balancing acts performed by an international cast dressed in sparkly and flowing costumes.

When: A limited engagement at the Palace Theater, Waterbury, ending tonight. For information and tickets, call 203-346-2000, visit http://www.palacetheaterct.org/, or go in person to the box office. Groups of 20 or more qualify for discounted rates and should call the Group Sales hotline at 203-346-2002.

Where: The Palace Theater, 100 East Main St. in Waterbury

Who Will Enjoy this?: Kids, mostly, but a few of the acts are very skilled and will entertain the whole family.

Highlights:

• An audience interactive bell-ringing song that is quite funny and tonight's segment will offer an added surprise for one audience member.

• The song "Every Child," performed by the the Ice Queen, the Angel, the Dream Engineer and company at the top of Act Two.


• Best part of the night for me was the expression of total disbelief on the face of my companion when Elvis, playing a Christmas-tree-shaped guitar joined the action.

Lowlights:

• Some irritating, VERY LOUD, ear-blsitering, pounding, canned music that doesn't even stop during a lengthy intermission.


• People talking non-stop throughout the performance.

Dreams of Holidaze at Palace Theater

Whimsical dreams become a magical reality when Cirque Dreams Holidaze transforms the Waterbury Palace Theater’s stage into a holiday wonderland of fantasy and imagination for three 3:30 pm performances, Dec. 7 to 9.

Cirque Dreams Holidaze is an original musical extravaganza where ornaments that come to life as costumed characters perform astonishing feats that celebrate the holiday season with spectacle and imagination. An international cast of artists transform into gingerbread men flipping mid air, toy soldiers marching on thin wires, and reindeer soaring high above a landscape of holiday wonderment. With an original musical score featuring holiday favorites, Cirque Dreams Hoildaze will have audiences of all ages mesmerized with its memorable tribute to the holiday season.

In conjunction with The Broadway League’s annual “Kid’s Night on Broadway” promotion, the Palace Theater is offering a special “Buy One Ticket, Get One Half Price” promotion for children, ages 6 – 18, to attend the 7:30 pm evening performance on Wednesday, Dec. 8. The special offer is valid on all remaining seats and is only available by phone or in person at the Box Office. All children under 18 must be accompanied by an adult, and the offer is not valid on previous purchases.

In the spirit of holiday giving, the Palace Theater is donating a portion of ticket sales from the Cirque Dreams Holidaze performance on Dec.7 to the WATR Sunshine Fund to help those in need during the holiday season. In addition, the Republican-American’s Campership Fund will have their “Celebrity Beggars” out in force before the Dec. 9 performance to collect donations to help defray the cost of sending deserving children and youth to summer camp.

Tickets for Cirque Dreams Holidaze, sponsored in part by WTNH/MyTV9, WATR Radio, Republican-American, Brass Mill Center, Powerstation Events and Crystal Rock, can be purchased by phone at 203-346-2000, online at www.palacetheaterct.org, or in person at the Palace Theater Box Office, 100 East Main St. in Waterbury. Groups of 20 or more qualify for discounted rates and should call the Group Sales hotline at 203-346-2002.

Spamalot Heads Palace Season with Launch of National Tour

Audiences everywhere will be eating up Spamalot when the Tony Award-winning musical embarks on the fair city of Waterbury for three performances at the Palace Theater on Sept. 24 and 25. The national Broadway tour will kick off the theater’s 2010-2011 Webster Broadway Series, sponsored in part by WTNH/MyTV9.

Lovingly "ripped-off" from the internationally famous comedy team's most popular motion picture, “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” Spamalot tells the legendary tale of the quest by King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table for the Holy Grail. The mucial features a chorus line of dancing divas and knights, flatulent Frenchmen, killer rabbits, flying cows, one legless knight and show-stopping musical numbers.

In a unique opportunity for the Palace Theater, the tour’s cast and crew will take up residency at the performing arts center for three weeks prior to the scheduled performances to re-tool and tech the production before it embarks on its 2010 national tour. This residency will present local students and patrons alike with exciting behind the scenes opportunities as well as ‘meet and greets’ with the director and cast members.

Tickets can be purchased by phone at 203-346-2000, online at http://www.palacetheaterct.org/, or in person at the Palace Theater Box Office, 100 East Main St., Waterbury. Groups of 20 or more qualify for discounted rates and should call the Group Sales hotline at 203-346-2002. For more information on becoming an EPASS member, contact the Box Office at 203-346-2000.

Other shows rounding out the theater season at the Palace are:

CIRQUE DREAMS HOLIDAZE
Tuesday, Dec. 7 – 7:30 pm
Wednesday, Dec. 8 – 7:30 pm
Thursday, Dec. 9 – 7:30 pm
Created and directed by Neil Goldberg, CIRQUE DREAMS HOLIDAZE is an original new musical extravaganza filled with spectacle, imagination and whimsical dreams. Ornaments come to life as costumed characters perform astonishing feats that celebrate the holiday season and showcase pageantry, ingenuity and breathtaking artistry. An international cast of acrobats, aerialists, singers, dancers and musicians fill this Cirque Dream on stage and in the air and while dangling from a 24 foot tall magical tree.

FIDDLER ON THE ROOF
Friday, Jan. 28 – 8 pm
Saturday, Jan. 29 – 2 pm & 8 pm
FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, the Tony Award® winning musical that has captured the hearts of people all over the world with its universal appeal, embarks on its North American Tour. Filled with a rousing, heartwarming score, which includes “Tradition,” “Matchmaker, Matchmaker,” “If I Were A Rich Man” and “Sunrise, Sunset,” FIDDLER ON THE ROOF is a timeless classic.

GREASE
Friday, March 18 – 8 pm
Saturday, March 19 – 2 pm & 8 pm
The one that you want is back! GREASE, Time Magazine’s 2007 pick for “#1 musical of the year,” is rockin’ across the country in this new production direct from Broadway. Now starring Laverne & Shirley’s Eddie Mekka (Carmine “the big ragu” Ragusa) as DJ Vince Fontaine. Take a trip to a simpler time of poodle skirts, drive-ins, and T-birds. “Bad boy” Danny and “the girl next door” Sandy fall in love all over again to the tune of your favorite songs: “Summer Nights,” “Greased Lightnin’” and “We Go Together,” as well as additional songs from the hit movie: “Grease,” “Hopelessly Devoted to You” and “You’re the One That I Want.”
We also have two “one night only” presentations:

GIRLS NIGHT: THE MUSICAL

Saturday, Feb. 19 – 8 pm
A touching and hilarious 'tell-it-like-it-is' look at the lives of a group of female friends, follows five friends as they re-live their past, celebrate their present and look to the future on a wild and hilarious karaoke night out.

RIVERDANCE

Wednesday, March 2 - 7:30 pm

RIVERDANCE, the thunderous celebration of Irish music, song and dance that has tapped its way onto the world stage thrilling millions of people around the globe, will play one Farewell Performance at the Palace Theater.