Mark Twain House Hosts LA Comedy Shorts

For the first time ever, The L.A. Comedy Shorts Film Festival, the largest comedy film festival in the USA, is offering an encore event at an East Coast venue -- and that venue will be The Mark Twain House & Museum in Hartford, Conn., the home of one of America's finest funnymen.

The Festival Encore on Friday, February 24; Saturday, February 25; and Sunday, February 26 will be presented by the Connecticut Film Festival, which since 2005 has been offering edgy and innovative filmmaking in the state, including a major annual festival in Danbury.

The event will include the presentation of a "Commie" award for comedic writing and producing excellence to Mike Reiss,  who has won four Emmys and a Peabody Award during his twenty-one years writing for The Simpsons.
 
The Mark Twain House & Museum presentation of the L.A. Comedy Shorts Film Festival will kick off a monthly series of independent films at the museum on the fourth Friday of every month, also presented by the Connecticut Film Festival. The series will include the inaugural Viva Cinema Film Festival in July, an offering of films highlighting Latino arts, ideas and cultures
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The L.A. Comedy Shorts East Coast Encore is dedicated to introducing the newest and hottest comedic talent in a non-stop smackdown of more than 80 comedic short films with screenings, industry panels, and lots of filmmaker networking.

When the Best of the 2009 and 2010 L.A. Comedy Shorts were shown locally, they left Connecticut Film Festival audiences in stitches. The directors of L.A. Comedy Shorts and the Connecticut Film Festival decided to head East for an annual encore of the hilarious four-day event.

Participants will join celebrities, comedians, writers and other industry professionals at evening parties; hone their comedy writing chops at workshops and panels; and of course see over 80 comedy short films vetted by some of the funniest people in the industry. Major supporters include Will Ferrell and Judd Apatowís' website, FunnyorDie.com; Cartoon Network; Atom.com and Atom TV on Comedy Central; and Fremantleís Atomic Wedgie

The festival is edgy, provocative, can cause brief moments of hysterical laughter and can at times be downright offensive. Be prepared for those uncomfortable moments when you see your boss exiting the same provocative movie.

L.A. Comedy Shorts East Coast Encore will include receptions, parties, the "Commie" awards presentation, and other day  and evenuing  events on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. 

The heart of the festival is the films themselves, shown in 90-minute "blocks" of 8-10 films each: the Opening Night Celebrity Shorts Block; As Seen on TV; Boys, Toys & Goys; Male Pattern Badness (featuring Atom.com); Best Of The 2009 L.A. Comedy Shorts Film Festival; East Vs West - Show Us Your Best Short; Better Than Birth Control; Shut Your Wormhole; Stone-Cold Busted; Best Of The 2010 L.A. Comedy Shorts Film Festival; Mo' Money, Mo' Ninjas; Fish & Chicks; Liars and Tigers and Bears; and Best Of The 2011 L.A. Comedy Shorts Film Festival. Panels include Paper to Pitch to Gettiní Rich; Let's Get Digital, Digital; Famous People Talking about S&*%;  and If You Want Something Done 'Write.'

For a full schedule and to purchase tickets, go to www.ctfilmfest.com.

Admission to individual screenings and workshops is $9 for adults and $7 for seniors and students. An All Access Pass, which gets you into all screenings, workshops, receptions Friday through Sunday, is $125. A VIP All Access Pass is $175.00.
A Day Pass for Friday or Saturday -- which includes all screenings, workshops and that evening's reception -- is $45. A Sunday Day Pass is $35.

An Evening Film & Party Pass is $25. It's is good Friday and Saturday nights and includes screening and pre- and post-film receptions catered by Executive Chef Michael Bick's Some Things Fishy Catering. Connecticut's very own independent brewery, Thomas Hooker, will provide the finest brews around. There will also be a fine selection of Cabernet, Merlot and Zinfandel and non-alcoholic beverages provided by Pink Monkey Water.

Seating for this weekend event is extremely limited and it is recommended that attendees purchase their tickets and passes ahead of time.

All special passes and tickets can be purchased online by visiting www.ctfilmfest.com and clicking on the "L.A. Comedy Shorts East Coast Encore" link. Tickets and passes will be available the week of the festival at The Mark Twain House & Museum box office.

Because of the adult nature of much of the material, the event is PG-13/R-Rated.

Movie snacks will be available in the Mark Twain Museum Store.

Along with his four Emmys and Peabody, Mike Reiss received a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006 from the Animation Writers Caucus.  He co-created the animated series The Critic and created Showtime's hit cartoon Queer Duck, named one of the 100 Greatest Cartoons of All Time by the BBC.  Queer Duck: the Movie was released in  2006, winning awards in New York, Chicago, San Diego, Sweden, Germany and Wales. My Life in Ruins, a film inspired by his travels to 71 countries, was released in 2009.  Reiss also co-wrote The Simpsons Movie and Ice Age 3.

The L.A. Comedy Shorts Film Festival, (www.lacomedyshorts.com), founded by Boston Legal's Gary Williams, is dedicated to introducing the newest and hottest comedic talent to the industry, and helping them make the connections they need to take their careers to the next level.
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The Connecticut Film Festival, (www.ctfilmfest.com), an annual state-wide event screening national and international films in cities and towns throughout Connecticut, was founded in 2005 . Each year the festival produces and a monthly film series, 5-6 weekend festivals and a culminating 10-and-night film, digital media, emerging music and screenwriting festival and conference.

The Mark Twain House & Museum (www.marktwainhouse,org) has restored the author's Hartford, Connecticut, home, where the author and his family lived from 1874 to 1891.

Twain wrote his most important works during the years he lived there, including Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.

In addition to providing tours of Twain's restored home, a National Historic Landmark, the institution offers activities and educational programs that illuminate Twain's literary legacy and provide information about his life and times.

The house and museum at 351 Farmington Ave. are open Monday and Wednesday through Saturday, 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m., and Sunday, noon-5:30 p.m. (Closed Tuesdays through March.) For more information, call 860-247-0998 or visit www.marktwainhouse.org.

Programs at The Mark Twain House & Museum are made possible in part by support from the Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism and the Greater Hartford Arts Council.

New England Children's Writers, Illustrators Group Hosts All-Day Revision Workshop in Westport

The Southern Region of New England Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustraors is hosting an all -ay revision workshop featuring former editors Eileen Robinson and Harold Underdown at Write Yourself Free, 252 Post Road East, Westport, on Sunday, March 4, from 9:30 am to 5:30pm.

Workshop Details: Learn how to revise like an editor by working with two experienced editors, who have distilled the methods they've used in editing manuscripts with individual clients and in the online Kid's Book Revisions class.

To create a framework, they'll compare reader response theory and the lit. crit approach, and explore ways to gain objectivity and to focus on different aspects of manuscripts. You will learn and try out a variety of techniques for self-editing, from big picture revision down to copy-editing, working on your own or with a partner. You will also work together in a model critique group, critiquing one another's manuscripts, and learning how to manage the group dynamics to make the process more productive.

In the afternoon, you can put theory to work and both revise and plan further revisions to your manuscript while meeting with Eileen or Harold individually and, getting feedback in ad-hoc critique sessions, or digging in on your own.

This workshop is appropriate for all Children's Book writers, picture book through YA.

Registration: The event is $125. To register, send an email to Stacy Mozer at necritiquegroups@gmail.com with your name and phone number. Attach a document (formatted in .doc) with a synopsis and the first 15 pages of your manuscript. Once Stacy has confirmed receipt of your manuscript, she will send you the address to send your registration fee. This event is limited to the first 20 responders who correctly attach their manuscript.

Underdown is a freelance editorial consultant. He has worked at Macmillan, Orchard, and Charlesbridge, and has experience in trade and educational publishing. He enjoys teaching, and in that role wrote The Complete Idiot's Guide to Children's Book Publishing, now in its third edition. He founded and runs "The Purple Crayon," a respected web site with information about the children's publishing world at www.underdown.org. He speaks and gives workshops at conferences, including the Highlights Foundation's Chautauqua Retreat and SCBWI's national and regional conferences.

He runs the Kids Book Revisions online tutorial and workshop service with Robinson. Last year, they gave workshops at the Highlights Foundation and the LA SCBWI National conference.

A former executive editor at Scholastic, Robinson works with both published and unpublished authors and helps them to strengthen their writing, look at their work from a marketing perspective and learn the part of the business that isn?t writing so they have a better chance of getting published. She began F1rstPages.com in 2005 and joined up with Harold Underdown, author of the Idiot?s Guide to Publishing Children?s Books and owner of the Purple Crayon web site, in 2007 to create KidsBookRevisions.com and recently launched Move Books in the Fall of 2011.   

News from Long Wharf Theatre

Studio School Announces Spring Slate of Classes for Performers of All Ages

Classes begin on Sunday, March 19 and range in cost from $195 to $250.

The first class of the Studio School session allows high school students to learn how to engage William Shakespeare’s comedies in a kinetic manner that will make the text come alive. “Taking our Shakespeare Moves! class will be tremendously helpful to those interested in auditioning for Shake-It-Up Shakespeare’s teen production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream this coming summer,” said Director of Education Annie DiMartino. “The three parts of Shake-It-Up Shakespeare are the language, the music and heartbeat of the characters, and the physicality that allows that language and heartbeat to really come alive.”

Off the Cuff Improvisation, targeted for middle school students, allows kids to learn one of the fundamental precepts of good acting – listening and reacting truthfully under the given circumstances of a scene. “Learning to improvise allows actors to learn problem solving quickly and how to stay in touch with the story without having a full sense of where it all might go,” DiMartino said.

Finally, adults will have the chance to delve deeper into scene work and monologues, increasing their depth and range as an actors.

For more information, or to join a class contact Corey Morrison in the Education Department at 203-772-8262.

Spring Studio School Classes

Shakespeare Moves!

GRADE: High School

Mondays at 5:30pm-7:00pm

March 19 – April 16

COST: $195

Explore the fun and excitement of Shakespeare’s Comedies! Using a physical and active approach to text analysis and character exploration, we will make Shakespeare’s language both clear and entertaining. Focus will be given to comedic monologues as well as voice and body work. Shakespeare Moves! is a great opportunity for those interested in the Long Wharf’s Shake-It-Up Shakespeare to become comfortable with the Bard’s comedies in preparation for Midsummer Night’s Dream auditions!

Off the Cuff Improvisation

GRADE: Middle School

Saturdays at 12:30pm-2:00pm

March 24-April 21

COST: $195

Learn to listen, react and respond "off the cuff" using high energy, physical comedy and the simple art of telling a story. Through ensemble games in focus, listening, and problem solving will strengthen your student's ability to think creatively while building confidence.

Acting for Adults Level II

Saturdays at 10:00am-12:00pm

March 24-April 21

COST: $250

Take your craft to the next level in this advanced scene study acting class. Using the Meisner Technique participants will explore contemporary scenes and monologues. Learn to live truthfully in the moment of the scene by working spontaneously from your partners’ behavior as the catalyst into an honest response. Some acting experience is required.

Next Stage Productions for Yojng Audiences:

Long Wharf Theatre will present the family comedy The Mischief Makers, by Lowell Swortzell, directed by Kristianna Smith, as its annual Next Stage production for young audiences, slated for late March.

Performances for the general public will take place Saturday March 24^th at 10:30am and 2pm, Sunday March 25^th at 2pm, Saturday March 31^st at 2pm. School performances will take place March 27^th – Friday March 30^th with performances at 9:30am and 11:30am. Admission is free for school performances and a suggested donation of $5 for the public performances. The play is suitable for first through eighth graders.

The cast is comprised of Jenn Mello (New York City), Kenneth Murray (West Haven), Tim Stabers (Norwalk), and Aleta Staton (New Haven). In addition to Smith, a Bristol native, the creative team is comprised of Marissa Friedman (Assistant Director/Dramaturg, New Haven), Luke Reinwald (Set Design, Branford), Jason Pratt (Lighting Design, Atkinson, NH), Abbey Steere (Costume Design, Manchester, NH), Darlene Richardson (Sound Design, Baltimore, MD), Craig Harlow (Props, East Haven). The stage manager is Maria DiFabbio of Guilford. The technical director is Gordon Granger of Mamaroneck, NY.

Stuck forever together on their totem pole in a beautiful part of the woods, Anansi the Spider, Reynard the Fox, and the Raven can’t decide who among them is the most clever – in short, the trickiest of them all. With tricksters’ pride, the trio argues, reenacting their most fanciful and amazing exploits, learning in the meantime that laughter can indeed change the world. African, Native American and European folklore comes together to create a fun and fantastical evening of theatre for the whole family. “Kids will enjoy the elements of surprise. Just when they think they know what’s coming, when they think they know the characters, some different and exciting thing happens. The characters are larger than life,” said Director of Education Annie DiMartino.

Smith sees storytelling – a fundamental theme of this play – as a universal human activity, crossing all ethnic boundaries. “Telling stories is something that connects all of us. I hope that this play will show children the magic and the importance of passing down certain tales from generation to generation,” she said.

In addition, in an effort to improve accessibility, Long Wharf Theatre will be offering sign-language performance of this production on Saturday March 31^st at 2pm.

The Next Stage program is a program for early career theatre professionals. 

For more information about Long Wharf Theatre’s Education Department, visit www.longwharf.org or 203-787-4282.

Also in the news:

'I Am' project

Long Wharf Theatre’s Education Department is calling for submissions of student self portraits to be displayed in our Mainstage Lobby during the run of My Name is Asher Lev.  The guidelines for artwork are as follows: 

• Students, age kindergarten to 12th grade are eligible to submit.
• Students can choose any medium they like to create a self portrait that best captures one of the following:  Who they are now; who the world says they are supposed to be; what they secretly aspire to be; a triptych of their personal, public and dream self; a combination of any of the aforementioned.
• Art Work needs to have the words “I am” at the top of the page and their name clearly visible at the bottom.
• Portraits should be no larger than 11 x 17, and no smaller than 8 x 10. 
• Submission deadline is April 30^th, 2012 at 3:00PM
• Submissions can be mailed or delivered to Long Wharf Theatre, Attention Annie DiMartino, 222 Sargent Drive, New Haven, CT 06511

All questions should be emailed to Director of Education, Annie DiMartino at annie.dimartino@longwharf.org.

Theater Review: Good Goods -- Yale Rep

Angela Lewis and Clifton Duncan
© Joan Marcus, 2012

Play Possessed by Too Many Ideas Not Exorcised, Realized
By Lauren Yarger
"What was that about?" seemed to be the main question theatergoers were asking after experiencing Christina Anderson's play Good Goods receiving its world premiere at Yale Repertory, Well, it's about a family dry goods store, a mysterious factory town, finding love, finding sexual identity, and oh, yeah, possession and excorcism. It's almost enough to make your head spin (pun intended).

Anderson starts off with an intriguing premise: Comedy entertainer Stacey Good (Clifton Duncan) returns to his roots in "a small town/village that doesn't appear on any map" to run the dry goods store "Good Goods" left to him by his father. Attached to the store, through a legal clause in the documents tranferring the property, is Truth (Marc Damon Johnson) who has worked there since he was a young boy. Stacey reconnects with Wire (Kyle Beltran), the twin brother of his comedy partner and romantic interest, Patricia (De'Adre Aziza), with whom he has been performing for 10 years. Truth, who feels cheated out of the store, isn't happy about the turn of events until Patricia shows up bringing along Sunny (Angela Lewis),  a vivacious young traveler she met on the bus. For Truth it is love at first sight and he asks Patricia for her help in wooing the young girl.

Romantic pursuits and a birthday party planned for the twins are put on hold, however, when a tragedy occurs at the pencil factory, which looms over the town since an unanamed "invasion" took place. (James Schuettte meticulously designs the dry goods store topped by a pair of smoke stacks representing the factory).The death of a factory worker, one of the mysterious Evans clan which lives on the other side of tracks and strikes terror in the hearts of residents, sets into motion unexpected events.

Those happenings, including a possession of Sunny's soul by the dead pencil factory worker, constitute one of the biggest implosions of a play during the second act ever witnessed on stage. While Lewis is stunning in her head-spinning switches between joy-bursting Sunny and foul-mouthed factory worker, the story loses credibility and even a director with as much talent as Tina Landau, can't provide the holy water needed to rid it of its demons. (We wonder how Landau didn't suggest, upon reading the script, that it is in some serious needs of development before a stage version will work).

The possession storyline seems more "Saturday Night Live" meets "The Exorcist" than serious drama. After restraining a screaming, violent Sunny, characters sit around catching up,  having petty arguments and trying to figure out how hey will pay for an excorcist.

They hire Waymon (Oberon K.A. Adjepong), but you have to wonder if he is the best choice -- he tells the possessed creature to "shh" and is himself housing the spirit of Evans' ancestor Hunter Priestess. Highlights here are the lighting and sound effects designed by Scott Zielinski and Junghoon Pi.

Meanwhile, both Patricia and Stacey discover they are gay and hook up with Sunny and Wire. Heads definitely were spinning during this disjointed second act which seemed to have very little connection with the first. A quick read of the program, which features an interview between Landau and Anderson, might provide some incite into what the playwright hoped to accomplish. Apparently Anderson's inspiration for the play came while she was a student at Yale when she read reports of a real-life possession. She also wanted to incorporate some feelings about musicians, explore "queer relationships" and present the Black American culture through time.

Let's just say that Anderson might have understood all of that, but none of it translates on the stage. The time, for example, during which the play is set, is listed in the program as "1961 and 1994. And everything in between. Time is layered, stacked, mixed, and matched." Never once do we feel we are in 1961 (a date significant because the song Wang Dand Doodle came out that year?), however, or in 1994  (the date of the real-life possession). Costumes (Toni-Leslie James, design) are generic (and many of the cast end up changing into a simple white collared shirt borrowed from Stacey's collection of them under his bed...). We also don't feel that time is anything but linear or that we are exploring any of the broader themes mentioned. In this case, time and meaning are in a quark known only in the playwright's mind.

Good Goods runs through Feb. 25 at Yale Rep, 1120 Chapel St., New Haven. Tickets are $20 to $88 available in person, by calling 203-432-1234 or by visiting www.yalerep.org.

Quick Hit Theater Review: Macbeth 1969 -- Long Wharf

Jackie Chung, Barret O'Brien, McKinley Belcher III, Socorro Santiago and Shirine Babb. Photo: Joan Marcus

Macbeth 1969
World Premiere of Eric Ting's adaptation of the Skakespeare Classic
Directed by Eric Ting
Long Wharf Theatre

Summary:
It's Christmas time, 1969 in a small town in middle America, where soldiers returning from the Viet Nam war deal with post-traumatic stress and are tended to by three nurses. The play is arranged into 13 scenes, all played out in a hospital room with three beds (Mimi Lien, set design) in front of a nurse's station that doubles as a place where memories haunt (made possible by excellent sound and music design by Ryan Rumery and lighting design by Tyler Micoleau. Macbeth (McKinley Belcher III), an injured soldier, soon finds himself involved in a plot to kill Duncan (George Kulp), a politician and hero from an earlier war. Urging him on is his wife (Shrine Babb). More murders follow, including draft dodger Macduff (Barret O'Brien) and his pregnant wife (Jackie Chung) and the blood on their hands (lots of it) throws Macbeth and his wife into madness and downfall. Other main characters include the head nurse (and fellow witch with the other two actresses) played by Socorro Santiago and Banquo, also played by O'Brien.

Highlights:
The idea is good -- one of the few modernizations of a Shakespeare Play where the setting doesn't seem contrived. The flashback scenes are nicely staged and a hospital curtain used to section off part of the stage is very clever. A scene where the three nurses, who also play wives/witches, recite the "double, double toil and trouble" lines is enhanced by electronic verb. Ting's subtle touches, like McDuff's wife not being able to get him on the phone, make us smile. A scene where Macbeth and his wife have sex in the hospital bed gives new insight to a old passage of dialogue.

Lowlights:
If you aren't familiar with the story of Macbeth, you might have trouble following this tale, particularly with actors assuming various roles without and real costume changes (Toni-Leslie James, design). It isn't very clear why Lady Macbeth suddenly feels guilty, for example, and for some, it wasn't clear that she was Lady Macbeth at that point.... The program includes a synopsis with a scene breakdown (usually this is a clue that you are going to have trouble following along).

A number of people were catching a few Zzzs the night I attended -- until the hospital fire alarm sounded when Duncan's corpse was found -- and I have to admit that I found it quite amusing to watch them lurch to a fully awake state. There's a whole lot of blood and we have to wonder why these hospital workers never use plastic gloves before sticking their hands in it (one problem with updating a classic to modern times is that current thought encroaches stealthily, sort of like Birnam Wood). One nurse mopped up some of the blood on the floor, but left an alarming amount on one section of the stage bringing to mind "out, out damn spot" long before she uttered the line.

Other information:
The show runs through Feb. 12 at Long Wharf Theatre's Stage I, 222 Sargent Drive, New Haven.

Tickets are $40 to $70 and can be purchased by calling 203-787-4282 or by visiting www.longwharf.org.

See a video of the production by Jacob Bricca here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjKSoepxynk.

Quick Hit Theater Review: Almost Maine -- Music Theatre of Connecticut

Clockwise from upper left: Cynthia Hannah, Tim Reilly, Katie Sparer and Jim Schilling . Photo: Regina Madwed/Capitol Photointeractive

Almost Maine
By John Cariani
Directed by Kevin Connors
Music Theatre of Connecticut, Westport

Summary:
Eight short plays with a prologue and epilogue depict folks falling in and out of love in a town called Almost, ME. The action takes place on a Friday evening in front of a rustic cabin-like backdrop (Scott Holdredge, design) when there is a chance of seeing the Nrothern Lights (similated by designer Joshua Scherr). The plays, featuring different characters played by Cynthia Hannah, Tim Reilly, Jim Schilling and Katie Sparer, are separate from each other, but contain some mentions of common people or places to tie them together.

Highlights:
The actors seem to be having fun and deserve awards for fast their lightning-quick costume changes (Diane Vanderkroef, design) that keep the pace between the plays brisk. Reilly shows off some impressive facial-expression skills and Sparer delights with a wide range of characters. The publicity materials suggest this is perfect for Valentine's Day and we agree. A fun date night of escapism.

Lowlights:
Cariani's predictable script, which takes a few too many liberties with reality and has you saying, "What the heck?" just a few too many times, was a big hit when it premiered in Portland. ME, but flopped Off-Broadway. That sort of says it all.

More information:
The show runs through Feb. 19. Performances: Fridays at 8 pm, Saturdays at 4 and 8 pm, Sundays at 3 pm at MTC's studio theater. 246 Post Road East (Lower Level) in Westport.  Tickets range from $25 to $45 with a discount for seniors and students. Call 203-454-3883 or visit http://www.musictheatreofct.com.

MTC's final production of its 25th anniversary season will by I Left My Heart. . . A Salute to the Music of Tony Bennett April 20-May 6.
--Lauren Yarger

Shakespeare on the Sound Gets New Executive Director

Shakespeare on the Sound annuncd that Steven Yuhasz has joined the organization as its new executive director.  Yuhasz replaces Emily Bryan, who is now the organization’s director of education.  This is the first Executive Director in the organization’s 17 year history.
Yuhasz has worked extensively in both the non-profit and commercial theatre.  He has produced Streakin’ and Pterodactyl Island (Off Broadway) and The Visit, The Normal Heart, and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas for The Actor’s Fund of America.  He is a founding producer of the New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) and has acted as associate general manager for Papermill Playhouse.  He has directed Off Broadway, and worked at numerous regional theatres around the country including Goodspeed, Ogunquit Playhouse, and The McCarter Theatre.

Now in its seventeenth season, Shakespeare on the Sound presents summer theater at its waterfront venues – Pickney Park in Rowayton and Roger Sherman Baldwin Park in Greenwich. 

For more information on Shakespeare on the Sound, visit www.shakespeareonthesound.org.

Theater Review: The Sty of the Blind Pig -- TheaterWorks

Eden Marryshow, Krystel Lucas
and Brenda Thomas. Photo: Lanny Nagler

TheaterWorks Revives Rarely Seen Slice-of-Life Play
By Lauren Yarger
A mother and daughter struggle with transitions in their life and with living with each other in Philip Hayes Dean’s play The Sty of the Blind Pig, getting a rare run on stage at TheaterWorks, Hartford.

Set on the brink of the civil rights movement on the south side of Chicago, Sty won the Drama Desk and numerous other awards in 1971, bthen slipped somewhat into oblivion. Director Tazewell Thompson shakes out the dust with a strong ensemble cast. The play is at times a study of human relationships and at others a playwright’s exercise in cramming tons of exposition in dialogue, but overall, it’s a slice-of-life piece without much plot, but which nevertheless, makes us feel as though we have experienced something profound.

Characters develop and thanks to humor- infused and argument-driven dialogue, we discover a long-standing conflict between churchgoing matriarch Weedy (Brenda Thomas) and stifled Alberta (Krystel Lucas), the daughter she seems to enjoy belittling. Weedy’s brother, Doc (a terrific Jonathan Earl Peck), a gambler who is down on his luck after having enjoyed better days as a bigwig in Memphis, visits their apartment in search of money and whiskey. There, his easy-going personality is put to the test when he finds himself serving as referee in conflicts between the women, or deflecting  criticism from Weedy, who apparently is oblivious to the hurt her comments cause. Similar tirades apparently drove her husband away years ago and threaten her relationship with her daughter.

Alberta, who has a gift for delivering spirited eulogies, hasn’t been feeling well since the funeral of a friend – a man she admired from afar. This loss, combined with the steady diet of guilt trips and put downs from her mother drive her toward a spiritual and mental breaking point when an itinerant, blind musician enters her life.  Jordan (Eden Marryshow) offers songs and guitar music (performed by Sound Designer J. Hagenbuckle) in exchange for a meal as he goes door-to-door in the neighborhood of condemned buildings searching for a woman from his past. Alberta offers food, assistance in the search and then, much more.

Bible-thumping Weedy doesn’t trust Jordan, the product of a blind pig – a sort of lower-class house of ill repute where booze, drugs and prostitutes abound – and disapproves when he becomes romantically involved with Alberta.

While the situations are interesting to explore, there are too many questions unanswered. What's behind Alberta's illness? Who is the woman from Jordan’s past? Why does everyone choose stay in such a stifling situation? In addition, too much exposition and two lengthy intermissions interrupt the three-act play and confuse a sense of time frame (run time is two hours and 30 minutes).  Long stretches of watching a character unpack groceries, for example, or listening to dialogue yelled at characters who have moved off stage to an unseen room in the apartment (Donald Eastman designs the set) also detract from the drama.

Sty of the Blind Pig runs through Feb. 26 at TheaterWorks, City Arts on Pearl, 233 Pearl St., Hartford. For tickets call 860-527-7838 or visit www.theaterworkshartford.org.

Connecticut Theater & Arts News

• The Legacy Theatre, a new theater company serving the Connecticut Shoreline and the Greater New Haven area, will present TONIGHT, TONIGHT! – A Shakespeare Cabaret on Saturday, Feb. 11 at 7 pm as part of the Shakespeare at Yale initiative.The performance will take place at The Lyric Hall, 827 Whalley Avenue in New Haven.  Suggested donation is $15 and reservations can be made by calling 203.457.0138.
• Back by popular demand, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra will present a brand-new Cirque de la Symphonie show on Saturday, Feb. 18 at 8 pm in Mortensen Hall at The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, Hartford. Led by HSO Music Director Carolyn Kuan, this concert will feature acrobats, jugglers, strongmen, and more performing with some of the most popular classical music of all time, including Bizet’s Carmen Suite, Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor, and more. Ticket Information: Tickets range in price from $20-$67.50. Student and children tickets are $10. $25 tickets are available for patrons age 40 and under.  To purchase tickets or for more information, please contact HSO ticket services at (860) 244-2999 or visit www.hartfordsymphony.org.
• New Exhibition! From Italy to America – Photographs of Anthony Riccio Bellarmine Museum of Art, Fairfield University, Fairfield, CT through March 30, 2012. The Bellarmine Museum of Art is located in Bellarmine Hall on the campus of Fairfield University at 1073 N. Benson Road in Fairfield. Admission is free. The museum is open Monday through Friday, 10 am. to 4 pm. Call 203-254-4000, ext. 4046, or visit www.fairfield.edu/museum.

CT Arts News Briefs



Charlie Ross. Photo courtesy of the Quick Center.

• Star Wars fans of the world can unite with Charlie Ross coming to town! At 8 pm Friday, February 3, 2012, the talented Canadian actor brings his hilarious one-man-show One Man Star Wars Trilogy to Fairfield University’s Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts. An added bonus for ticket-holders is a post-show screening in HD of “Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” the 2008 animated feature film chronicling the further adventures of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker. Tickets are $30 and $25.
• HSO SUNDAY SERENADES SERIES: SOUNDS OF THE EUROPEAN MASTERS
  with Leonid Sigal, artistic director and violin; Curt Blood, clarinet; Barbara Hill, French horn; Margreet Francis, piano
  Sunday, Feb. 26│ 2 pm
  Courtyard │ Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art
  Program: Johannes Brahms: Trio for Violin, Horn and Piano in E-flat Major; Camille Saint Saëns: Sonata for Clarinet and Piano in E-flat Major, Op. 167; Gian Carlo Menotti: Trio for Violin, Clarinet, and Piano
  Tickets are $30 ($25 for HSO Subscribers and Atheneum Members). Ticket price includes general admission to the Wadsworth Atheneum on the days of the concerts. To purchase tickets or for more information, please contact HSO ticket services at 860-244-2999 or visit www.hartfordsymphony.org.
• Goodspeed Musicals has announced that Tony Award nominee Louise Pitre, known as Canada’s“first lady of musical theatre,” will take on the role of Mame Dennis in Mame at the Goodspeed Opera House beginning April 20^.
• The Edgerton Center for the Performing Arts at Sacred Heart University continues its Retro Series with Melissa Manchester In Concert  Saturday, Feb. 11  at 8pm.
• Jeanie O’Hare is the new chair of Yale's Department of Playwriting, effective July 1 for a three-year term.She comes to Yale from the Royal Shakespeare Company, where she has served as Company Dramaturg since 2005.