"Show Boat" shines at the Goodspeed

EAST HADDAM — Take a trip down the Mississippi River in Oscar Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern’s “Show Boat,” playing at the Goodspeed Opera House.

This classic American musical follows the show business life of a family over 40 years, as they travel up and down the Mississippi on a show boat, performing at stops along the way, and then on to the big city of Chicago.

It is full of songs, but the best has got to be the iconic “Ol’ Man River” sung by the fantastic David Aron Damane, who plays Joe.

Damane has a soulful, rich, and warm voice that one could listen to all day. He is great no matter what he sings, including the funny and sweet “I Still Suits Me,” a duet with his woman, Queenie, played by the feisty Andrea Frierson.

Lenny Wolpe plays Cap’n Andy Hawks, and does a swell job as the affable master of ceremonies and the henpecked husband to his hard-hearted wife, Parthy Ann Hawks, played by Karen Murphy. Porthy has some of the funniest lines in the show, delivered with a deadpan expression, and is an excellent foil to Wolpe’s Cap’n Andy.

They have a show to produce, but it turns out that leading lady, Julie LaVerne, is half black and is married to a white man, something illegal at that time. She leaves, and Andy and Parthy’s daughter, Magnolia Hawks, steps into the spotlight.

Lesli Margherita plays the sad and troubled Julie LaVerne, who can’t seem to get a break and loves Magnolia like a little sister. She sings another terrific tune in the show, “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man,” with Magolia, Queenie, Joe, and the ensemble.

Magnolia has fallen in love at first sight with a gambling man, Gaylord Ravenal, and next thing you know they are married and have a baby girl.

Ben Davis, who has a strong and clear voice, is charming as the wayfaring gambler who falls in love with Magnolia, played by Sarah Uriarte Berry. Berry has a gorgeous, lyrical voice and lights up the stage whenever she appears.

The rest of the show follows the fortunes of the couple, from their attempts at a new life in Chicago to Magnolia’s return to the show boat life, and their touching reunion at the end.

Danny Gardner as Frank Schultz and Jennifer Knox as Ellie May Chipley are the comic relief, doing a dance number in the second act that is right out of the old vaudeville circuit.

The beginning of Act II drags a bit. It has been reworked from the original by director Rob Ruggiero, to make it more of a personal story, better suited to the rather cramped stage at the Goodspeed, but it feels awkward and takes a long time to move along.

It instantly improves whenever Damane and the other black performers are on the stage.

There is an inspired conception of a boat by set designer Michael Schweikardt. It has plenty of stairs and an expandable second floor that makes the most of the small stage, with stellar direction by Goodspeed regular Ruggiero.

The costumes with their bustles and corsets for the women and the suits for the men are, as usual, solid and colorful, although Julie’s light blue dress looks oddly ill fitting and strangely thick. Costumes by Amy Clark.

Sometimes orchestras can overpower the singers, but in this show all the vocalists can be clearly and distinctly heard throughout, thanks to the controlled musical direction by Michael O’Flaherty.

“Show Boat” is proving such a success that due to popular demand it has been extended through Sept. 17.

The Goodspeed Opera House is a delight to visit any time of year, but it really comes to life in the summer. While there are a number of fine restaurants nearby, including the Gelston House Restaurant and Inn, on Wednesday evening some were enjoying their dinners on picnic tables next to the Opera House on the banks of the Connecticut River before the show — a simply elegant way to spend a summer night.

Three ½ Stars

(one star is poor, two is fair, three is good, and four is excellent)

Location: Goodspeed Opera House, 6 Main Street, East Haddam

Production: Music by Jerome Kern. Book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. Based on the novel by Edna Ferber. Directed by Rob Ruggiero. Musical direction by Michael O’Flaherty. Choreography by Noah Racey.

Scenic design by Michael Schweikardt. Costume design by Amy Clark. Lighting design by John Lasiter. Sound by Jay Hilton.

Running time: 2 ½ hours, plus one 15-minute intermission

Show Times: Wednesdays at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.; Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. (select performances at 2 p.m., Sept. 13, 14, 15, and 17); Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. with Saturday matinees at 3 p.m.; and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m., with Sunday Sept. 17 performances at 2 and 6:30 p.m.

Tickets: Starting at $27. Call the box office at 860-873-8668 or visit their website at www.goodspeed.org

ACTOR…CHARACTER

Sarah Uriarte Berry … Magnolia

Ben Davis … Gaylord Ravenal

Andrea Frierson … Queenie

Karen Murphy … Parthy

Lenny Wolpe … Cap’n Andy

Danny Gardner … Frank

Jennifer Knox … Ellie

David Aron Damane … Joe

Lesli Margherita … Julie

Madeleine Berry … Kim

Photo left: David Aron Damane as Joe sings "Ol' Man River" in "Show Boat" at Goodspeed Opera House. Photo by Diane Sobolewski.

Photo Right: Ben Davis as Gaylord Ravenal and Sarah Uriarte Berry as Magnolia Hawks in Goodspeed Musical's "Show Boat." Photo by Diane Sobolewski.

Lyrical, elegant “Lar Lubovitch Dance Company” enchants at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival

BECKET, Mass. — Immerse yourself in a total experience of dance, food, and history, in a bucolic setting at the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival this summer.
In March, President Barack Obama honored the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival with a National Medal of Arts, the highest arts award given by the United States Government. Named a National Historic Landmark in 2003, Jacob’s Pillow is the first dance performing organization that has received this honor, and the accolades are well deserved.
Each week different guest artists perform, and this week the magical, lyrical Lar Lubovitch Dance Company graces the stage at the Ted Shawn Theatre through Sunday.
For those who saw the Robert Altman film “The Company” it was Lubovitch who choreographed its highlight, with the charming, graceful dance to “My Funny Valentine,” by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. Lubovitch’s signature style is smooth, graceful, and endlessly pleasing.
The 10 gifted dancers performed for an energetic two hours Wednesday. The first was an ensemble performance called “North Star,” originally choreographed by Lubovitch in 1978. It feels just as fresh and timeless today, with the whole company, plus solo performances by Jenna Fakoury and Reid Bartelme, with various quartets, trios, and duets interwoven throughout.
Fakoury performs an amazing, robotic, herky-jerky like solo under a bright spot light that is as shocking as it is riveting to watch, and even gets her massive curling hair into the action, with hyper-kinetic body contortions at frenetic pace.
The prerecorded music of “North Star” is composed by the fabulous Philip Glass, and has a dream-like, ethereal quality that is transformative and mesmerizing.
The dancers are all wearing similar navy tunics and navy tights that make them look identical at first, until time subtly unveils their unique characteristics and personalities. Costumes by Clovis Ruffin.
Next Katarzyna Skarpetowska in white and Brian McGinnis in blue perform a elegiac, graceful, and romantic “Duet From Meadow” from 1999 by Lubovitch, set to music composed by Gavin Bryars called “Incipit Vita Nova” with costumes by Ann Howard.
Following the brief intermission the dancers return all in black for Lubovitch’s 2010 “The Legend of Ten,” set to Johannes Brahms’ “Quintet for Piano and Strings in F Minor, Opus 34” movements I and IV.
After the second intermission they dance to “Coltrane’s Favorite Things” performed by the John Coltrane’s Quartet’s live rendition, with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II.
It is a tribute to Lubovitch’s seamless, distinctive choreography that despite the various composers, his own sensual, flowing, and elegant style remains consistent throughout.
Arrive early to the event or pop in during intermission to the free display in the airy Blake Barn of photographs by Annie Leibowitz whose mother was a dancer and who photographed dancers Mark Morris and the inimitable Mikhail Baryshnikov and others at Jacob’s Pillow.
Some patrons arrived well before the opening performance Wednesday to enjoy their own homemade picnics, while others grabbed a burger and beverage at the Pillow Pub.
If you really want to experience a special evening, however, make reservations for the al fresco Café at Jacob’s Pillow offering a select menu, which changes periodically. Jacob’s Pillow serves locally grown products from Berkshire and Hudson Valley farms.
The performances for Lubovitch have only limited seating available through Sunday, but fortunately there are other troupes through the end of August that are coming to Jacob’s Pillow, including the LDP/Laboratory Dance Project, from South Korea; Big Dance Theater; 3e Etage: Soloists and Dancers of the Paris Opera Ballet; and the Mark Morris Dance Group.
Expand your horizons and discover what makes Jacob’s Pillow such a life-affirming, remarkable place.

LAR LUBOVITCH DANCE COMPANY
Four Stars
Theater: Ted Shawn Theatre
Location: 358 George Carter Road, Becket, Mass.
Production: Artistic director and choreographer Lar Lubovitch. Executive director Ricard J. Caples. Lighting director Jack Mehler. Production stage manager Maxine Glorsky. Company manager Leticia D. Baratta. Costumer Naomi Luppescu.
Running time: About 2 hours with two 10-minute intermissions.
Show Times: Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m. with Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. through July 24.
Tickets: $59.50 to $64.50. For more information call their box office at 413-243-0745, or visit their website at www.jacobspillow.org.
DANCERS
Jonathan E. Alsberry
Reid Bartelme
Nichole Corea
Attila Joey Csici
Rory Hohenstein
Jenna Fakhoury
Jason McDole
Brian McGinnis
Laura Rutledge
Katarzyna Skarpetowska

The elegant, lyrical “Lar Lubovitch Dance Company” mesmerizing at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival

BECKET, Mass.-Immerse yourself in a total experience of dance, food, and history, in a bucolic setting at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival.

Each week different guest artists perform and this week the magical, lyrical Lar Lubovitch Dance Company graces the stage at the Ted Shawn Theatre through Sunday.

For those who saw the Robert Altman film “The Company” Lubovitch choreographed the charming, graceful dance to “My Funny Valentine.” His style is smooth, graceful, and endlessly pleasing.

The 10 gifted dancers performed some old and newer works for an energetic two hours. The first was an ensemble performance called “North Star,” originally choreographed by Lubovitch in 1978. It feels just as fresh and timeless today, with the whole company, plus solo performances by Jenna Fakoury and Reid Bartelme, and quartets interwoven throughout.

Fakoury performs an amazing, robotic, herky-jerky like solo under a bright spot light that is as shocking as it is riveting to watch, and even gets her massive curling hair into the action, with kinesthetic body contortions at an almost inhuman rapid speed.

The prerecorded music of “North Star” is composed by the fabulous Philip Glass, and has a dream-like, ethereal quality that is transformative and mesmerizing.

The dancers are all wearing similar navy tunics and navy tights that make them look identical at first, until time subtly unveils their unique characteristics and personalities. Costumes by Clovis Ruffin.

After a brief pause Katarzyna Skarpetowska in white and Brian McGinnis in blue perform a elegiac, graceful, and romantic “Duet From Meadow” from 1999 by Lubovich, set to music composed by Gavin Bryars called “Incipit Vita Nova” with costumes by Ann Howard.

After the brief intermission the dancers return all in black for Lubovitch’s 2010 “The Legend of Ten,” set to Johannes Brahms’ “Quintet for Piano and Strings in F Minor, Opus 34” movements I and IV.

After the second intermission is “Coltrane’s Favorite Things” with music by the John Coltrane’s Quartet Live Rendition with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II.

It is a tribute to Lubovitch’s seamless, distinctive choreography that despite the various composers, his own sensual, flowing, and elegant style remains consistent throughout.

Come early to the event and visit the free display in the airy Blake Barn of photographs by Annie Leibowitz whose mother was a dancer and who photographed dancers Mark Morris and the inimitable Mikhail Baryshnikov and others at Jacob’s Pillow. Other dancers and icons in the exhibition include photographs of Michael Jackson, Robin Williams, Gregory Hines, Rudolf Nureyev, and even Arnold Scwarzenegger back in his weight-lifting, pre-scandal days.

Some came well before the opening performance Wednesday to enjoy their own homemade picnics, while others grabbed a burger and beverage at the Jacob’s Pillow Pub.

If you really want to make it a special evening, however, make reservations for the al fresco Jacob’s Pillow Café that offers a brief menu which changes periodically and includes chilled gazpacho soup with lump crab, Boston bibb salad with green goddess dressing, and entrees including lamb with risotto and vegetables, and chicken, vegetable, and chilled salmon dishes.

In addition to ice cream, the dessert selection offers a cheesecake, rich red velvet cake, and a white chocolate, milk chocolate, and dark chocolate mousse with raspberry sauce and whipped cream.

The performances for the Lar Lubovich Dance Company are almost sold out through Sunday, with limited seating available, but fortunately there are other troupes through the end of August that are coming to Jacob’s Pillow, either at the Ted Shawn Theatre or the Doris Duke Theatre. They include the LDP/Laboratory Dance Project, from South Korea; Big Dance Theater; 3e Etage: Solists and Dancers of the Paris Opera Ballet; Jonah Bkaer, a former member of the Merce Cunnigham Dance Company; the Mark Morris Dance Group; and others.

In March, President Barack Obama honored the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival with a National Medal of Arts, the highest arts award given by the United States Government. Named a National Historic Landmark in 2003, Jacob’s Pillow is the first dance performing organization that has received this honor, and it is well deserved.

Expand your horizons and discover what makes Jacob’s Pillow such a life-affirming, remarkable place.

4 Stars

Theater: Ted Shawn Theatre

Location: 358 George Carter Road, Becket, Mass.

Production: Artistic director and choreographer Lar Lubovitch. Executive director Ricard J. Caples. Lighting director Jack Mehler. Production stage manager Maxine Glorsky. Company manager Leticia D. Baratta. Costumer Naomi Luppescu.

Running time: About 2 hours with two 10-minute intermissions.

Show Times: Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m. with Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. through July 24.

Tickets: $59.50 to $64.50. For more information call their box office at 413-243-0745, or visit their website at jacobspillow.org.

DANCERS

Jonathan E. Alsberry

Reid Bartelme

Nichole Corea

Attila Joey Csici

Rory Hohenstein

Jenna Fakhoury

Jason McDole

Brian McGinnis

Laura Rutledge

Katarzyna Skarpetowska

Photos: Todd Rosenberg

“Menopause the Musical” feel-good show of the summer at Long Wharf

NEW HAVEN — Get ready to cry tears of laughter in the side-splitting, hilarious “Menopause, the Musical” celebrating it’s 10th year in production and playing at Long Wharf Theatre through Aug. 7.
Who would have thought that night sweats, mood swings, relationships, wrinkles, and weight gain would all be topics that are ripe for comedy, here with songs such as The Beach Boys “Good Vibrations,” which takes on a whole new meaning and practically bring down the house.
This musical, with books and lyrics by Jeanie Linders, uses familiar older tunes by groups including The Bee Gees, The Beach Boys, and Sonny and Cher and parodies them with lyrics fitting for women going through that change of life.
The Bee Gees “Night Fever” is now “Night Sweats,” and “Stayin’ Alive” is “Stayin’ Awake” about insomnia and the list goes on, complete with disco ball and appropriate choreography created by Patty Bender.
Even Irving Berlin has a song in the show, where “Heat Wave” is mashed into “Hot Flash.”
The show features four women, each with a different background, who all meet at a department store lingerie sale.

It’s kind of a “Sex and the City” meets middle age, set to music.
One is a professional gal who tries to keep cool even when she can’t remember what she was thinking about, played by the dynamic Fredena J.
Williams who does an amazing turn among other songs as Tina Turner singing “What’s Love Got To Do With It?”
They all have terrific voices, by Williams has a soulful sound that should make her a singing star in her own right. She is simply stunning.
Lisa Fox plays a soap opera star whose ingenue days are well behind
her, and hears through the rumor mill that her days on the T.V. show
are numbered, singing, “I’ve Heard It Through The Grapevine.”
“I’ve heard it through the grapevine, not much longer is the job mine…” she sings.
Margot Moreland plays the Earth Mother who is hanging onto her sanity by trying to meditate rather than medicate when the heat turns up. She says that night sweats never keep her up at night, because she never sleeps.
Carolynne Warren is amazing as the naïve Iowa Housewife visiting New York City for the first time while her undertaker husband is at a convention.
She says, “I’ve gotten a lot more pushy, when I’m not crying.” She goes from uninformed to liberated by the end of the 90-minute performance.
Warren does a hysterically funny silent bit with a piece of lingerie that tests the durability of Lycra and makes her a comic star in her own right. She also does a mean air-drum when the four become an air-band.
The set is an Art Nouveau backdrop with four golden doors and two curtained side entrances that function alternately as bathrooms and dressing rooms at the department store. Set design by Bud Clark.
The costumes, designed by Sue Hill, are flattering and attractive and distinguish each character as a unique individual.
The music sounds good enough to be live, but must be pre-recorded, which is quite an achievement, with original music direction and orchestration by C.T. Hollis and original score and arrangements by Alan J. Plado.
At the end of the show the four ask all the women who have gone through menopause to join them on stage, which is not necessary and ends the show on an unfinished note. As generous as the actors are, they should just take their bows and end it cleanly.
There were a few men in the packed house Sunday and they appeared to be having at least as much fun as the women in the audience.
This fabulous show is touring North America through November, but this is their only Connecticut stop, so do what you can, and bring your husbands, sisters, and daughters too, to this uproarious, outrageous, feel-good show of the summer season.

3 ½ Stars
Location: 222 Sargent Drive, New Haven
Production: Books and lyrics by Jeanie Linders. Supervising director
Seth Greenleaf. Choreography supervisor Daria Melendez. Costume design
by Sue Hill. Set design by Bud Clark. Lighting design and national
production manager Ryan Patridge. Choreography created by Patty
Bender.
Running time: 90 minutes with no intermission.
Show Times: Tuesdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday
matinees at 2 p.m. through Aug. 7.
Tickets: $51.50. For more information call their box office at
203-787-4282, or visit their Website at www.longwharf.org
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Margot Moreland … Earth Mother
Carolynne Warren … Iowa Housewife
Lisa Fox … Soap Star
Fredena J. Williams … Professional Woman
Kimberly Ann Harris … Professional Woman (July 29-31)

"Chicago" at Playhouse on Park a snazzy, dazzling musical
WEST HARTFORD — Murder and mayhem set to jazzy numbers is what you’ll get at the dynamic, lively production of “Chicago” at the Playhouse on Park running through July 24.
Although this long-lived show is currently running on Broadway, there’s no reason to travel all the way to the Big Apple to enjoy this sexy blockbuster musical, because there is a super production right here in Connecticut.
The plot, based on a true story, follows the fortunes of murderesses Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart.
They killed their lovers and are enjoying their time on the cover of the newspapers, trying to leverage their notoriety into successful vaudeville careers in Chicago during the 1920s.
They both have the same sleazy big-time lawyer, Billy Flynn, played by Doug LeBelle.
The show has a cabaret sensibility, with everyone in black, and the gals in revealing, tight-fitting lingerie.
Directed by Darlene Zoller, who also does the choreography, this show lives up to all that “razzle-dazzle” of Bob Fosse jazz dance numbers.
The fabulous, fit ensemble of women and men sing and dance their hearts out and deliver a powerful one-two punch.
The band, lead by Colin Britt, is alone worth the price of admission.
Even with the drums behind a sound screen though, they are too loud in the beginning and overpower the singers, who are miked.
It would be great if they would crank up the volume on the miked singers so they could be heard over the band. Towards the end of the show the singers could be better heard at a recent Thursday night
show.
These songs, with music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb, are classics, including the snazzy opener “All That Jazz” sung by the fine Elise Murphy who plays the street-wise Velma.
Bethany Fitzgerald is everything she needs to be as the murderess Roxie who has grand ambitions to be a star. She’s married to a simple, lovable looser who doesn’t have much going for him named Amos.
Rick Fountain Jr. plays the sad-sack Amos who sings that terrific number “Mr. Cellphane” and lives up to his sorry lot.
Keisha Gilles makes her presence known in a big way as Matron “Mama” Morton when she belts out her entrance song, “When You’re Good To Mama.”
Thao Nguyen plays the sympathetic reporter Mary Sunshine with a gorgeous operatic voice, but really needs to articulate more, because the words are incomprehensible.
The set is simple but functional with a two-tiered platform, all in black. Set design by stage manager Rick Bell.
Rape, murder, and mayhem actually appear like fun pastimes at this deliciously dark and energetic production of “Chicago.”

3 ½ Stars
Theater: Playhouse on Park
Location: 244 Park Road, West Hartford
Production: Book by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse. Music by John Kander.
Lyrics by Fred Ebb. Directed and choreographed by Darlene Zoller.
Music direction by Colin Britt. Production stage manager and set
design by Ryan Bell. Lighting design by Tim Hache. Costume design by
Erin Kacmarcik.
Running time: 2 hours plus a 15-minute intermission
Show Times: Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m. through July 24.
Tickets: $22.50-$32.50. Call the box office at 860-523-5900 ext. 10,
or visit their website at www.playhouseonpark.org
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Elise Murphy … Velma Kelly
Bethany Fitzgerald … Roxie Hart
Rick Fountain Jr. … Amos Hart
Doug LeBelle … Billy Flynn
Keisha Gilles … Matron “Mama” Morton
Thao Nguyen … Mary Sunshine
Erica Misenti … Liz
Hannah Kaplan … Annie
Carolyn Cumming … June
Lindsay Adkins … Hunyak
Laura Helm … Mona
Ramona Piretti … Go-To-Hell Kitty
Michael O’Brien … Fred Casely
Joseph Fierberg …. Harry, Martin Harrison
Tim Hache … Doctor, The jury
William Macke … Sgt. Fogarty, Aaron, The Judge
Spencer Pond …Bailiff, Court Clerk

Headline: “I Wish You Love” an evening of song and struggle

HARTFORD — The soft romantic music of crooner Nat “King” Cole fills the air at the Hartford Stage Company in Penumbra Theatre Company’s production of “I Wish You Love.”

But it isn’t all love and happiness. The show is set in 1956 to 1957 when Cole had a popular television show called “The Nat King Cole Show,” which ran for 13 months.

This was right at the start of the Civil Rights movement, where children were being integrated into the Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas and violence was breaking out all over the country, but notably in the south.

Daniel W. Spears plays Cole and for the most part he does an admirable job channeling the internationally famous star.

It’s impossible to completely capture Cole’s trademark sound, but Spears comes quite close, only occasionally sounding a little flat and rough. He embodies the smooth, professional stage presence that Cole presented on camera.

Spears also does a convincing “air-piano,” which is helped by video of him playing.

The show flows smoothly, written by Dominic Taylor, with tight direction by Lou Bellamy, who is the founder and artistic director of Penumbra Theatre Company of Minnesota.

Most effective are the five black and white television screens in the background that broadcast the television show as it progresses. The vintage television commercials including Brylcreem hair cream, Kodak film and cameras, and Dial soap add significantly to the nostalgic mood. Sound and video design by Martin Gwinup.

The play follows the last few months of the short-lived T.V. show, and the struggles, frustrations, and real danger that Cole and his fellow musicians faced — especially when the network executives had the brilliant idea of having Cole perform in the south in the hot bed of the Ku Klux Klan. Talk about adding fire to gasoline.

Black and white photos and video from that violent, ugly era are projected onto the projection screen at the back of the stage while Cole sings, offering an interesting juxtaposition between the love he shares and the hatred he is up against.

When Cole returns from the southern tour, with one of his band members permanently deaf in one ear because of police brutality, he is faced with the choice of continuing, but only if he segregates his band.

Cole really wants his show to succeed, but will not cross that line and ends the show.

His fellow band members are terrific, including the older, funny bass player Oliver Moore, played by Kevin D. West, who explains that Cole is more than an employer; he’s family.

There is also the younger naïve but enthusiastic guitarist Jeffrey Prince, played by Eric Berryman, who is excellent and convincing, as he learns the harsh realities of a country in upheaval.

Michael Tezla perfectly captures the voice of a 1950s announcer, with the precise emphasis and diction of the time. He also plays Bill

Henry, who works for NBC, and is the constant bearer of bad and worse news each time the network and the sponsors make new demands on Cole.

Through it all, it is the music that makes this show and many songs are played and sung including “Get Your Kicks on Route 66,” “It’s Only a Paper Moon,” “Mona Lisa,” and “Let’s Face the Music and Dance.”

Cole was really a ground breaking pioneer making enormous strides in his graceful quiet and generous manner that makes him all the more remarkable.

3 ½ Stars

Location: Hartford Stage Company, 50 Church Street, Hartford.

Production: Written by Dominic Taylor. Directed by Lou Bellamy. Music

director Sanford Moore. Stage manager Mary K. Winchell. Scenic design

by C. Lance Brockman. Costume design by Mathew J. LeFebvre. Lighting

design by Don Darnutzer. Sound and video design by Martin Gwinup.

Running time: 2 hours plus one 15-minute intermission.

Show Times: Tuesday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m. with matinee

performances at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Saturday, and Sundays through

July 24.

Tickets: $25 — $50. Call 860-527-5151 or visit their website at

hartfordstage.org.

ACTOR…CHARACTER

Dennis W. Spears … Nat Cole

Michael Tezla … Bill Henry, Anchor, Announcer

Kevin D. West … Oliver Moore

Eric Berryman … Jeffrey Prince

Adam Ehret … Studio Grip

“My Fair Lady” simply loverly musical at CRT

by Kory Loucks

STORRS — First there was the smashing success of “Guys and Dolls”

followed by the sweet delights of “Seusical the Musical,” and now

comes the grand finale of Connecticut Repertory Theatre’s Nutmeg

Summer Series with the most “loverly” musical of all, “My Fair Lady.”

Everything about this production is just about as good as it gets. The

leads make or break this show, and here director Vincent J. Cardinal

manages some superlative casting of this classic tale based on George

Bernard Shaw’s play “Pygmalion.”

Professional actors take the main roles including Alix Paige who is spot-on as the Cockney who becomes the lady, Eliza Doolittle, and the pitch-perfect Terrence Mann as the aristocratic misogynist who learns

much more than he teaches as Henry Higgins.

Timothy Gulan is supportive as the somewhat less sexist foil to Higgins, Colonel Pickering, who plays his character with underscored humor and compassion.

Eileen Fulton, who some might recognized from television soaps, is absolutely elegant as the frustrated mother of a spoiled Henry-Mrs. Higgins.

UConn alumni Richard Ruiz enjoyably steals the show as Eliza’sstreet-smart lovable-loser father Alfred P. Doolittle.

Ruiz has malleable facial features and eyebrows that speak languagesall by themselves. For a solid man, Ruiz is surprisingly fleet of foot while he leads the ensemble in some rousing musical numbers. Credit to choreographer Charlotte d’Amboise and the fit and able ensemble cast.

As the plot goes, phonetics enthusiast Higgins decides to take an uneducated Cockney girl and teach her how to speak, act, and dress like a lady in six months. At the end of that time he takes her to a ball to see if she passes the test. She falls in love with him as he teaches her to speak in a more refined manner and they all have a grand time learning that “the rain in Spain falls mainly on the plane.”

“My Fair Lady” has succinct lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and glorious music by Frederick Loewe, includes classic songs such as “With a Little Bit of Luck,” “I Could Have Danced All Night,” “On the Street Where You Live,” and “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly.”

Not only is the music memorable, but the show is chock full of comic moments, such as when the ensemble, beautifully decked out in refined black, white, and grays, are at the horse races and watch a race go buy in unison with totally blank expressions. And the way that Eliza

mashes the English language is a joy to hear.

The costumes are numerous with many fine details, like ragged petticoats for the poor women and plentiful lace for the rich ladies.

However, Paige has a delicate, petite frame and the ball gown is toolarge for her, while the blue bodice around her waist is too thick and bulky, masking her fine figure. Much better is the delicate pink gown she wears a few scenes later while having tea with Mrs. Higgins, which

accentuates her tiny waist and handsome shoulders. Costumes by Kevin

Thacker.

It’s difficult to say who was having more fun on Saturday night, the audience or the actors, but with a little bit of luck you too will get to see this spiffy show, which sadly ends far too soon on Sunday.

All three shows were so excellent, I would recommend next year trying to book three week runs to allow more people the pleasure of seeing the Nutmeg Summer Series.

4 Stars

Location: Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre, Jorgensen Road, Storrs.

Production: Book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner. Music by Frederick

Loewe. Directed by Vincent J. Cardinal. Music direction by NDavid

Williams. Scenic design by Michael Anania. Choreographer Charlotte

d’Amboise. Costume design by Kevin Thacker. Lighting design by Zakaria

M. Al-Alami. Sound design by Nathan Leigh. Technical direction by John

Parmelee. Production stage manager Cynthia Kocher.

Running time: About 2 ½ hours including one intermission.

Show Times: Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., and

a Saturday and Sunday matinee at 2 p.m. through July 17.

Tickets: Range in price from $10 to $39. Call the box office at

860-486-4266 of visit their Website at www.crt.UConn.edu.

ACTOR…CHARACTER

Alix Paige … Eliza Doolittle

Terrence Mann … Henry Higgins

Eileen Fulton … Mrs. Higgins

Timothy Gulan … Colonel Pickering

Richard Ruiz … Alfred P. Doolittle

Connor Moore …Freddy Eynsford-Hill

Jennifer Guindon … Mrs. Eynsford-Hill

John Bixler … Harry, Ensemble

Lynn McNutt … Mrs. Pearce

David Alan Stern … Prof. Zoltan Karpathy, Bartender

Justin Schuman … 1st Cockney, Prince, Ensemble

Joey Barreiro … 2nd Cockney, Ensemble

Ethan Kasnett … 3rd Cockney, Ensemble

Joshua Wright … 4th Cockney, Ensemble

Parker Slaybaugh … Busker, Ensemble

Cassie Abate … Mrs. Hopkins, Lady Tarrington, Ensemble

Clyde Voce … Hoxton man, Jamie, Ensemble

Daria DeGaetano … Busker, Lady Boxington, Ensemble

Kevin Jones … Selsey Man, Busker, 5th Cockney, Ensemble

Sarah Schenkkan … Cockney Flower Girl, Ensemble

Josephine and Shelby Mann … Street Urchins

Photo by David Ciano

Shakespeare & Co.’s “As You Like It” a touch of 1920s Paris

by Kory Loucks

LENOX-Who would have thought that Shakespeare’s “As You Like It” would be a perfect comedy for a musical? At Shakespeare & Company’s marvelous, lively, and shining version, set in “Gay Paree” of the 1920s, it can and it does.

With music composed by Alexander Sovronsky, and the many capable musicians in the cast, the show begins with a court dance set to the Charleston, and the two lead women dressed in flapper dresses.

The plot follows the fortunes of two brothers, the eldest treats his younger brother Orlando poorly, and Orlando challenges a fighter to a wrestling match.

Cousins Rosalind and Celia see Orlando wrestle and it is love at first sight for Orlando and Rosalind.

Celia’s father has banished Rosalind’s father to the forest of Arden and soon thereafter sends Rosalind packing. But Celia goes with her, as does the court’s fool, Touchstone.

Once in the forest, Rosalind finds love notes plastered onto branches and carved into trees from Orlando to her. She is in disguise as a man in order to travel more safely through the world, and tells Orlando she (as a he) knows Rosalind and how to woo her.

The role of Rosalind is arguably one of the best, most intelligent female characters all of Shakespeare. Sometimes giddy as a school girl, other times wise as a monk, Merritt Janson lives up to the demands and delights of this feisty role. Although there were no Parisian accents in the show, thankfully, Janson had a slight Irish lilt occasionally. She also looks much like the French film actress Juliette Binoche. She also plays a lovely mandolin.

Tony Roach plays Orlando with great physicality and enthusiasm and he does it all with youthful charm, while Kelley Curran plays Celia with a sweet and funny devotion and undying love for Rosalind.

Jonathan Epstein is disarming as the fantastical fool, Touchstone, who is the truth-teller of the show. His leaving the court for the woods is an indication that all is not well back at the palace and good sense has been tossed out while abusive power has taken hold.

Johnny Lee Davenport has the most challenging job of playing the two duke brothers. He manages to make them distinct enough so that he really does seem like two different people. The two characters are never on the stage at the same time, but their cues are quite close so quick costume changes and fast feet with separate entrances do the job admirably.

It’s all silly fun and the able cast is well directed by Tony Simotes, who also does the fight choreography. The wrestling was a little stilted and awkward, but the fighter Charles, played by Kevin O’Donnell does a good imitation of a World Wrestling Federation pro.

The set is simple, but functional with a small-scale Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe that lets you know immediately you aren’t in Kansas anymore. Behind there is the Forest of Arden whose limbs and tree trunks become more revealed as the play continues. Set design by Sandra Goldmark.

The costumes are very good, especially Touchstone’s Harliquin multi-colored jacket and the duke’s glamorous robes. Celia and Rosalind’s first lacy dresses look surprisingly cheap, however, and Rosalind’s wedding dress is easily two sizes too big. I know they are supposed to be flapper gowns, but it looks like it will fall off her petite frame at any second.

From the French court to the Forest of Arden, “As You Like It” is a happy, clever, witty, and irreverent comedy at Shakespeare & Company, playing through September 4.

Four Stars

Location: Founder’s Theatre, 70 Kemble Road, Lenox, Mass.

Production: Written by William Shakespeare. Directed with fight choreography by Tony Simotes. Set design by Sandra Goldmark. Costume design by Arthur Oliver. Lighting design by Les Dickert. Composer, sound design and music direction by Alexander Sovronsky.

Running time: 3 hours including one intermission.

Show Times: 7:30 p.m. and matinees at 2 p.m. on selected Tuesdays through Sundays through Sunday, Sept. 4.

Tickets: Range in price from $15 to $65. Call 413-637-3353 of visit their website at www. Shakespeare. org

ACTOR…CHARACTER

Merritt Janson … Rosalind

Orlando … Tony Roach

Kelley Curran … Celia

Malcolm Ingram … Adam

Jonathan Epstein … Touchstone

Johnny Lee Davenport … Duke Senior, Duke Frederick

Jaques … Tod Randolph