Playhouse Favorite is Last of the Red Hot Lovers at Ivoryton



R. Bruce Connelly

Neil Simon's The Last of the Red Hot Lovers runs at Ivoryton Playhouse June 6-24.
Meet Barney Cashman, a 47-year-old restaurateur, who decides he needs to take a break from his 23-year-old marriage. On three different afternoons, he brings women to his mother’s apartment while she’s at the hospital volunteering. Behind plentiful laughs is a tender portrayal of a decent fellow who just can’t succeed in sinning.

R. Bruce Connelly returns to Ivoryton to play the hopelessly faithful Cashman. He iwll be joined by Playhouse veteran Beverley Taylor, Kate Hubbard and Bonnie Black.

Longtime wives who attend TheLast of the Red Hot Lovers are urged to bring their longtimehusbands. Each guy may well see how smart he’s been to not humiliatehimself the way Barney does!

Directed by Maggie McGlone Jennings, the set design is by Rachel Reynolds, lighting design by Marcus Abbott, and costumes by Lisa Marie Harry.

Performance times are Wednesday and Sunday matinees at 2 pm. Evening performances are 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 and are available by calling the Playhousebox office at 860-767-7318 or by visiting our website at www.ivorytonplayhouse.org (Group rates are available by calling the box office for information.) The Playhouse is located at 103 Main  Street in Ivoryton.

Broadway Shows, Special Needs Performance Highlight Summer New Canaan

The Summer Theatre of New Canaan (STONC) 2012 Theatre Festival in Waveny Park will include mainstage productions of the such Broadway classics as My Fair Lady and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, plus The Wizard of Oz, Pinkalicious, The Musical, Disney’s High School Musical 2,

The Stars of Broadway Concert and an additional performance of The Wizard of Oz performed by special needs youngsters mentored by professional actors.

STONC musicals are presented in Waveny Park in a state-of-the-art open-air tent theatre with reserved seating plus stage-side and orchestra box dining as well as open field seating and picnicking. Performances take place rain or shine.

Opening the 2012 season will be My Fair Lady Friday, June 15 through July 7. Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber and Sir Tim Rice’s Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat featuring a professional company of actors and a 20-member choir of local children, runs Saturday, July 14 through Aug. 5.

The festival also features a Theatre for a Young Audience series of shows: The Wizard of Oz (Sunday, June 17 through Saturday, Aug. 4); Pinkalicious, The Musical (special preview Wednesday on the 4th of July opens Saturday, July 7 thru Sunday, Aug. 5) is a charming smash hit based on the popular book by Elizabeth and Victoria Kann. Come dressed in Pink.

In addition, STONC’s Junior Company will present Disney’s High School Musical 2 on Friday, July 27 at 4 pm. The Junior Company, created only for middle school-age children grades 5 thru 8, will work with the Summer Theatre professional actors, director, choreographer, designers and crew who will instruct, rehearse and assist the students in mounting the production. Tuition for this three week performance intensive program and production in the afternoons is $695.

The festival will also include an additional performance of The Wizard of Oz performed by the Summer Theatre Drama Ramas company of special children with needs. Professional actors currently performing in the same festival show will have mentored and rehearsed with each special needs child to help them sing, dance and perform the roles in this very special performance. Tuition for this 3 week Drama Ramas program is $425 (some scholarships available) and their performance is on Thursday, June 28 at 4 pm.

The tent theater opens one-hour prior to performance for picnics or dining at reserved tables and the house opens 30 minutes prior to performance for regular ticket holders. Reserved seating available online or can be purchased one hour prior to performances on site.

Theatre entrance and free parking is located at 11 Farm Road, Canaan. Take the New Canaan High School Entrance, follow road to end at Dunning Field Parking lots. The Outdoor Tent Theatre and picnic areas are adjacent to Parking area.

For directions via auto and train go to stonc.org and click on directions or set GPS units for Summer Theatre of New Canaan located at 11 Farm Road Canaan CT. Take the New Canaan High School Entrance and follow road to Dunning Field and Waveny Park.

Tickets prices begin at: $30 for the musicals and $16 for the Theatre for Young Audience shows. Schedules, tickets and info: 203-966-4634 weekedays 10 am to 5 pm; www.stonc.org

Theater Review: Teddy & Alice -- Seven Angels

The Cast of Teddy and Alice. Photo: Paul Roth

A Bully Season-Ender Where Current Headlines Could Have Written the Dialogue
By Lauren Yarger
The possibility of a third-party candidate amidst disagreement within the Republican Party; questions about corporate donations to campaigns; charges of socialism and a president who golfs too much. Sound like topics from today's news? Think again.
The subjects are part of the 1987 musical Teddy & Alice about the early 20th-century presidency of Teddy Roosevelt (a bully John T Lynes). It features tunes by John Philip Sousa (Richard Kapp provides adaptations and original music), a book by Jerome Alden, lyrics by Hal Hackaday and even artistic consultation by Alan Jay Lerner. The timely references prove, as Director Semina De Laurentis promised in a pre-curtain welcome, that even though the musical depicts events from more than 100 years ago, "not much has changed."

The Alice in the title, is Roosevelt's daring, unconventional daughter (played by Sydney Turner) who smokes in public, doesn't blush at showing a little ankle and speaks her mind. Her opinions clearly interfere with those who want the president's ear for themselves like financier J.P. Morgan (Tim Cleary), William Howard Taft (Charles Stoop), Sen. Henry Cabot Lodge (Jonathan Ross) and Secretary of War Elihu Root (John Swanson), so they conspire to marry "Alice Interuptus" off. Charles DellaRocco, Jimmy Donohue, Michelle Gotay, Diane Magas, Deb O'Connell Mandy Thompson and Cassie Taylor round out the ensemble.
Alice is really just a chip off the old block, they discover, however, as her father bucks the norm himself, even doing the unthinkable -- at least in 1901 Washington -- by inviting black Booker T. Washington (Jerrial Young) to dine at the White House. The president also manipulates politics in Panama, where he wants to build a canal.
"Shouldn't you consult with Congress?" one of his advisers asks.
"No, I want to get things done," he barks.
That exchange got a lusty guffaw from the audience who didn't miss the modern-day relevence.
Alice eventually does fall in love with Sen. Nick Longworth (Matt Martin, who has a lovely tenor), many years her senior, but at first Roosevelt refuses to give his blessing and sends Alice off on a four-month good will tour of the Far East. The trouble, it seems, is that Roosevelt just can't let go of Alice. She reminds him too much of her late mother, Alice Lee. That reluctance doesn't go unnoticed by second wife, Edith (Krista Adams Santilli), who feels she can't compete with the memory of Roosevelt's beloved first wife, even though she has given him five more children (played here by Connor Barth, a 6th grader at WAMS, Carey Cannata, a rising freshman at the Taft School,  Brandon Szep, Christina Vlamis and Philip Coffey).

There are some unfortunate glitches that mar the production: sound levels and mixes need adjustment (Martin also designs the sound); conversations by the four musicians housed off stage left can be heard during dialogue; light cues can be slow (Matt Guminski, design) and the ensemble and musicians aren't together in some of the larger productions numbers (Richard DeRosa, music direction).
There are some triumphs as well, however. Choreographer Janine Molinari does a nice job with both small and larger numbers particularly as the ensemble members seem to be at different levels of ability. A scene depicting the 1912 convention and the birth of the progressive party when Roosevelt tried to keep his successor, Taft, from winning the nomination for a second term, is very well staged with banners streaming (Erik D. Diaz, set design), flags waving and Sousa's "Stars and Stripes" blaring. (In a nice touch the theater has patriotically decorated ballot boxes in the lobby for audience members to cast votes to choose shows for next year's season.)
Alden's book is a bit cheesy and long at more than two and half hours, but it's wholesome fun and awfully contemporary.
Teddy & Alice wraps up the season at Seven Angels with an extension of dates: Friday, June 15 at 8 pm, Saturday, June 16 at 8 pm and Sunday June 17 at 2 pm. For information or to purchase tickets, call 203-757-4676 or visit http://sevenangelstheatre.org/. Seven Angels is located at 1 Plank Road, Waterbury.

Theater Review: The Tempest -- Hartford Stage



Aerialist Joshua Dean and the Cast of the Tempest. Photo: T. Charles Erickson

Tresnjak's Tantalizing Tableau Transcends Tempest
By Lauren Yarger
Stimulating visuals which incorporate movement that is part ballet and part Cirque du Soleil set the stage for Darko Trasnjak's vision for Shakepeare's The Tempest at Hartford Stage.

Daniel Davis (you probably best know him as Niles the butler on TV's "The Nanny") heads a fine cast in the tale of betrayal, forgiveness and redemption, but those themes, along with the storyline, at times seems to drown in the sea of colorful images.

The vision is set in the first scene, a clever and breathtaking depiction of the tempest and the shipwreck which brings a host of characters to a remote island previously inhabited only by  Prospero (Davis), his daughter, Miranda (Sara Topham), Caliban (Ben Cole), a spirit named Ariel (Shirine Babb) and various other spirits, gods and goddesses (Jane Cracovaner, Joshua Dean, Annastasia Duffany and Jillian Greenberg).

Arriving in the storm conjured up by Prospero's mighty powers are Alonso, King of Naples (Christopher Randolph), his son, Ferdinand (William Patrick Riley), whom Alonso thinks has been lost at sea, and Alonso's brother, Sebastian (David Barlow) in addition to Prospero's brother, Antonio (Jonathan Lincoln Fried), who with Alonso's help, had usurped Propsero as the Duke of Milan. Washing up with them on shore are a host of characters (played by Noble Shropshire, Alex Saffer, Michael Spencer-Davis, Bruce Turk and Dean.)

When Miranda lays eyes on the first man she's ever seen besides her father and his grotesque slave, Caliban, it's love at first sight. Thankfully Ferdinand returns the affection, but Prospero refuses to give his approval to the match. There are plots against Prospero's life, some drunken sport (the mocking of Caliban seems particularly cruel-edged in this version) and some Shakespeare-style humor enhanced by Tresnjak's interpretation.

Shirine Babb and Daniel Davis.
Photo: T. Charles Erickson.

Davis is compelling as the wronged man who treads water until he finds a way to ride a wave of forgiveness. Turning in some noteworthy performances are Cole as the tormented. mistreated slave, Babb as the mischievous spirit longing for freedom and Barlow, who gives one of the most engaging performances in a smaller role.
The story lack cohesion and the actors don't come together or bounce off of each other, however, because attention is mostly on the the spectacle of the play, rather than on its substance. And it is beautiful to behold. Alexander Dodge's set is splashed with dialogue from the play in the Bard's handwriting on a blue background. It is at once an ocean tossing a helpless ship and the sands of the beach on which it runs aground (with the help of excellent lighting designed by Michael Chybowski).

A circular map of the world on the backdrop of the set is removed to reveal a staging area for the staging of portraits. Fabio Toblini's costume design borrows the handwriting theme which allows characters to blend into the scene. Spirits attach themselves to areas around the circle or up on the massive bookcases framing the set (Shakespearian students will know that when Prospero was deposed and set adrift with 3-year-old Miranda, he took his books with him), part of the scene, but not, to create some wonderful tableaux.

The highlight of the beautiful staging is an aerial/ ballet number by the spirits with original music (and sound design) by David Budries and Nathan a. Roberts (Babb lends a beautiful singing voice to the production). Dean, who serves as aerial consultant, performs above the stage flying on strips of fabric, à la Cirque du Soleil.

The Tempest is the first production selected by Tresnjak who began as the theater's new artistic director this year. It runs through June 10 at Hartford stage, 50 Church st., Hartford. Tickets and info: http://www.hartfordstage.org/show/tempest; 860-527-5151.

Other Shakespeare/Hartford Stage news:

Hartford Stage YoungCompany to hold audition for Breakdancing Shakespeare: Much Ado About Nothing

What:
Hartford Stage Young Company, in conjunction with the Greater Hartford Arts Council’s Neighborhood Studios, will hold general auditions for Breakdancing Shakespeare: Much Ado About Nothing on Wednesday, May 23. Breakdancing Shakespeare: Much Ado About Nothing is a modern take on Shakespeare’sclassic comedy exploring life’s deceptions, both large and small. In this reimagined version of the play,students use breakdancing and hip hop to help make Shakespeare’s language accessible to audiences of all ages. This is a paid,six-week rehearsal process involving 16 Greater Hartford area students. Over the course of the summer, students will learn techniques of breakdancing, physical and vocal characterization,movement, and interpretation of classical text, culminating in two final performances on Monday, Aug. 6. 

When:
Wednesday, May 23 from 3 to 8 pm
Callbacks (by invitation only) Thursday, May 24

Where: Hartford StageRehearsal Studios, 942 Main Street, 2nd floor, Hartford

How:
Visit the Greater Hartford Arts Council website to download more information and an application. Go to www.letsgoarts.org, clickon Arts in Education, then select Neighborhood Studios.

Jay & the Americans Perform at Downtown Cabaret

Jay and The Americans will perform two concerts Saturday, June 2 at 5 and 8 pm at Bridgeport’s Downtown Cabaret Theatre.

The theatre is located at 263 Golden Hill Street in downtown Bridgeport. Reserved tickets are $39 and $59. For information: 203-576-1636 or downtowncabaret.org.

Up next: Crystal Gayle - Jun 23.

Hartford Native, Jazz Great Jimmy Greene to Solo with HSO

HSO JAZZ AND STRINGS: JIMMY GREENE WITH STRINGS
with Jimmy Greene, saxophone; Gene Bozzi, Jazz & Strings artistic director, drums; Walter Gwardyak, piano; Edward Rozie, acoustic bass; HSO String section
Saturday, May 19, 2012 │ 8:00 p.m.
Theater for the Performing Arts at the Learning Corridor│359 Washington Street Hartford, CT│Free, Secure Parking
Ticket Information: Single tickets to this performance 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.

Fairfield University Exhibit Explores History of Women

Forever Together by Vinita Manjunath.

The significant role women have played over time is explored in the new exhibition The History of Woman, on view from May 30, 2012, through June 23, 2012, at Fairfield University’s Thomas J. Walsh Art Gallery, located in the Quick Center for the Arts.

The exhibition is presented by Montage Initiative, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization headquartered in Bridgeport, CT, and London, England, and its Traveling Art Gallery (TAG) program. Montage Initiative is dedicated to providing impoverished and disadvantaged women and families around the globe with expanded opportunities to earn a sustainable living. TAG is one of the organization’s unique programs, offering space and materials for artists to create and exhibit their art.

The History of Woman features works by local artists, students, and faculty in celebration of cultural acceptance and individual expression. The Quick Center’s stewardship of this project and its relationship with Montage Initiative is an important, multi-faceted collaboration that aims for prompt discussion on globalization and increased awareness about extreme poverty and sustainable development.

The History of Woman is the capstone event of the Quick Center’s involvement in Fairfield University’s Global Citizenship initiative. During this period, from June 11-15, 2012, Fairfield University is hosting the 3rd Biennial JUHAN (Jesuit Universities Humanitarian Action Network) Student Leadership Conference: Global Perspectives on Humanitarian Action. An estimated 200 students, faculty and staff will be attending the conference from Jesuit Universities globally and nationally to visit the exhibition. Montage Initiative’s attention is currently focused on the plight of the widows in the Indian providence of Vrindavan, although it endeavors to alleviate the reality of extreme poverty worldwide by rallying support and awareness and promoting peace building.

The Thomas J. Walsh Art Gallery is free and open to the public. Hours: Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sundays from noon to 4 p.m., and approximately one hour prior to curtain and during intermission at all Quick Center events. The Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts is located on the campus of Fairfield University at 1073 North Benson Road in Fairfield, Connecticut. Entrance to the Quick Center is through the Barlow Road gate at 200 Barlow Road. Free, secure parking is available. Access for people with disabilities is available throughout the Quick Center. Fairfield University is located off exit 22 of Interstate-95. For further information and directions, call (203) 254-4010 or 1-877-278-7396, or visit www.fairfield.edu/quick.
 
 In conjunction with the The History of Woman exhibition, there will be a reading at 7 p.m., Thursday, May 31, 2012, at the Fairfield University Bookstore, by author Julie Barbero Mughal, Assistant Director for the Center for Faith & Public Life at Fairfield University, from her book “Land Without Hats,” a collection of oral histories from women around the world, exploring what it means to be a widow in different cultures. Accompanying the reading will be demonstrations by The History of Woman exhibiting artists Anna Linley, Reiki Master, and Diane Platt, sculptor. Free admission. The Fairfield University Bookstore is located at 1499 Post Rd. in Fairfield, CT. All sales of “Land Without Hats” at this event will benefit the Montage Initiative and its programs.  Sponsored by The Montage Initiative and Fairfield University’s Center for Faith and Public Life.
 

Accounts of Escape from Slavery Will be Read

The Emancipation Narratives of pre-Civil War America -- first-hand accounts of slaves who broke their bonds and escaped northward -- thrilled American readers and brought home the horrors of slavery in a vivid way.

At the Thursday, June 14, meeting of the Nook Farm Book Talks, to be held at The Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, participants will read selections from three of the more popular narratives written during Stowe's and Mark Twain's lifetime. The Stowe Center has made the narratives available online at http://bit.ly/LZE02M.

The Emancipation Narratives discussion will be facilitated by Lois Brown, Elizabeth Small Professor of English at Mount Holyoke College.

The discussion will be held at the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, 77 Forest Street, Hartford, Conn., on Thursday, June 7. A 5:00 p.m. reception will be followed by the 5:30 p.m. discussion. The event is free, but registration is encouraged at 860-522-9258, Ext. 317.

Also, this Sunday, at 1pm the museum will announce the student winners of awards for their own artistic and literary reactions to the exhibit "Hateful Things," which provokes discussion of issues of race in America. The event is free.

Meanwhile, CitySingers of Hartford will perform "Songs of Spring and Such: Travels with Twain" at the museum on Saturday, June 2, at 3 pm. Admission to the concert is by voluntary offering.

Hartford Stage Has Summer Ed Opportunties for Kids

Hartford Stage's Young Company, in conjunction with the Greater Hartford Arts Council's Neighborhood Studios, is looking for teen actors, dancers, rappers, and singers (students 14-16) for this summer's production of Breakdancing Shakespeare: Much Ado About Nothing.

Selected students will participate in a rigorous six-week rehearsal period that includes acting classes, breakdancing training, and career skills workshops. Performers cast in the production receive a weekly stipend and will perform at Hartford Stage on Monday, Aug. 6. Auditions will be held on Wednesday, May 23. Applications are now available on the Greater Hartford Arts Council's website and must be submitted by Friday, May 11, 2012. For more information about Breakdancing Shakespeare, visit  Hartford Stage.


Summer Studio

Do you know a child or teen with a knack for the dramatic? Our Summer Studio classes for ages 7-18 are enrolling now! To register, visit our website or call the Box Office at (860) 527-5151.

Musical Theatre: Revue
July 9 - July 13

9:00am - 5:00pm

Ages 14-18
$300

Students will spend the week learning techniques in acting, singing, and dancing, and working towards a final musical revue performance. From auditions to rehearsal to performance, this class will guide students through the steps to becoming a triple threat. The week will conclude with a final, small scale production open to the public.

Musical Theatre: Performance Project

July 16 - July 20

9:00am - 5:00pm

Ages 7-14
$300

Spend a week with us singing, acting and dancing as we work together to stage a final performance for friends and family. Morning sessions will focus on teaching students the essential skills of Musical Theatre performance. During afternoon sessions, students will put those skills to work as they rehearse for their final show.

Filmmaking

July 23 - August 3 (two week program)

9:00am - 5:00pm
Ages 13-18
$425

Designed for aspiring filmmakers, this two-week course in basic filmmaking teaches students to create their own short, narrative film. Topics covered will include film analysis, scriptwriting, shooting basics, and editing. Some degree of familiarity with digital editing tools such as iMovie or Final Cut is helpful, but not necessary. Students will walk away with a copy of their own short film, along with a clearer understanding of pre-production, production, and post-production elements.

Summer Theatre of New Canaan Offers Education Programs

In addition to its mainstage 2012 Festival Season, the Summer Theatre of New Canaan (STONC) at Waveny Park also offers these specifically designed Education Programs giving area students unlimited opportunities to explore all levels of theatre arts:

• Junior Company (for students 5th thru 8th grades)
• Pre-College High School Apprentice Theatre Intensive Program
• College Intern Program
• DramaRamas Special Needs Production

Each of the individual programs allows participants to work directly with the theater company’s professional staff members in preparation for additional bonus performances scheduled to take place at the Festival tent venue at Waveny Park in New Canaan, Connecticut.

The Junior Company, for students 5th-8th grades, will rehearse Disney’s High School Musical 2 for three weeks (July 9 thru 27) at the Performing Arts Conservatory of New Canaan and then perform it (admission free) for the public on Friday, July 27 at 3:30. The story of High School Musical 2 takes place as school ends and everyone is on summer vacation. All of the characters from the movie of the same name will make the summer scene in this fun-filled musical. To schedule an audition for the Junior Company call the office at 203.966.4634.

Participation in the Pre-College High School Apprentice Theater Intensive Program allows area high school students to develop a more insightful understanding of building an ensemble of performers and personal inner discovery, as well as enhancing the tools necessary to be strong actors and informed theatre artists. Beginning Monday, June 25 and continuing thru Friday, July 20, the program is scheduled Mondays through Fridays from 10am to 4:30pm. Working with successful professionals in theatre, the students will take classes and workshops in audition prep, voice & speech, acting, Shakespeare, musical theatre, dance styles, set/costume design, play/screen writing, devising theater and more during the day as well as create a staff-guided apprenticeship according to their theater interests. As a final project, the Pre-College High School Apprentice Theater Intensive Program students will highlight the skills they have learned during a performance on Friday, July 20 at 4pm, free to the community. This is a tuition based program and those interested in participating should contact the Summer Theatre office at 203.966.4634.

STONC’s College Internship Program is a professional internship for a select number of college students pursuing a career in theater arts. Recent college graduates are also eligible. Paid positions include assisting directors, company management, marketing, stage managers, choreographers, costumers, actors, the musical director and the artistic director. This program will include 14 students working alongside the STONC professional designers and staff throughout the summer season.

The DramaRamas Special Needs program is a unique in that it offers students ages 8-17 an opportunity to play roles in a theatrical production while being personally mentored by professional actors and staff as well as college interns. This season the DramaRamas and their professional acting mentors will appear in one performance only of Wizard of Oz (featuring the script from the Theatre for a Young Audience) on Thursday, June 28 at 4pm. The students and their mentors will rehearse for ten one-hour sessions in June to learn the script, music and movements and then perform the musical on stage of the Festival tent theatre in Waveny Park New Canaan for friends, family and those supporting the program. The performance is free and open to the community. In addition, the “Rubber Band” from STAR will also be performing before the performance. To be part of The DramaRamas Special Needs program, contact the Summer Theatre office at 203.966.4634.

In addition to these Education Programs, the Summer Theatre of New Canaan 2012 Theatre Festival includes the Broadway classics My Fair Lady (June 15 - July 7) and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (July 14 - August 5), plus The Wizard of Oz (June 17 - August 4) and Pinkalicious (July 4 - August 5).

For information about auditions plus performance information and to purchase tickets contact the Summer Theatre of New Canaan call 203.966.4634 or visit the theatre website at info@stonc.org.