Kory's final thoughts on the Barcelona Sojourn. For me, going to Barcelona was more than a vacation - it was a long time quest to get to see the architecture of Antoni Gaudi that I have admired and loved since I first discovered his work while in college. It was all I could have hoped for, and I have to thank Jessica for willing the idea into reality. Other highlights were the unusual and delicious food, the Roman and Greek ruins, putting my feet into the Mediterranean Sea and of course our road trip to Cadeques. The unexpected bonus was the fun I had, even when times were stressful. I would travel again with all of you anytime.

“Dividing the Estate” a divine human comedy at the HSC

HARTFORD — In Horton Foote’s oh-so human comedy “Dividing the Estate” the family members waste no time getting to the point — some want desperately to divide the family’s valuable estate before the matriarch has died.
Set in a fictional town of Harrison, Texas in 1987 during the savings and loan crash, the story couldn’t be more poignant or timely today, with the global financial crisis making those good old days pale in comparison.
What a honor to have the whole 2009 Tony nominated Broadway production, in this show with the venerable Lois Smith playing Stella, the strong matriarch, here in Hartford. Directed on Broadway by Hartford Stage’s own Michael Wilson, this play is a funny, direct, and often moving story of a family’s attitude around money and familial ties.
Leading the cast, and up for a 2009 Tony for best lead actress in a play, Foote’s daughter, Hallie Foote is dynamic as the straight-forward, energetic, focused woman.
Foote plays sister Mary Jo who is desperate for more money since she and her husband, Bob, played with grand gusto by James DeMarse, and their two daughters, live well beyond their means.
These characters could be stereotypical and pathetic, but they aren’t. When situations veer on the tragic, the family’s aged servant, Doug, played by Arthur French, steps in with some welcome comic relief.
Son, the family’s only gainfully employed individual has the thankless job of trying to run the estate. Played with patience and integrity by Devon Abner, Son is the moral center of the household.
Gerald McRaney plays Uncle Lewis, who has good intentions, but a weakness for alcohol and gambling. McRaney’s Lewis can be an embarrassment to the family, but he also has his own sense of integrity. His relationship with a teenager is creepy though. That teenager, Irene, played by Virginia Kull, makes a brief but indelible appearance near the end.
The lighting, designed by Rui Rita, streams through the windows and doors and manages to give a real but subtle sense of the intense Texas sunshine.
Sadly Horton Foote died in March, 10 days short of his 93 birthday, but he has left an amazing legacy with this play, and “The Orphan’s Home Cycle” that Hartford audiences will luckily get the chance to see next season.

DIVIDING THE ESTATE

3½ Stars
Location: Hartford Stage Company, 50 Church Street, Hartford.
Production: Written by Horton Foote. Directed by Michael Wilson. Scene design by Jeff Cowie. Costume Design by David C. Woolard. Original music and sound design by John Gromada. Lighting design by Rui Rita.
Running time: 2 hours plus one 15-minute intermission.
Show Times: Tuesdays, Thursdays, and selected Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., with matinee performances most Sundays and selected Wednesdays and Saturdays at 2 p.m. through July 5.
Tickets: $23 — $66. Call 860-527-5151 or visit their website at www.hartfordstage.org.
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Devon Abner … Son
Penny Fuller … Lucille
Lois Smith … Stella
Pat Bowie … Mildred
Arthur French … Doug
Gerald McRaney … Lewis
Keiana Richard … Cathleen
Maggie Lacey … Pauline
Hallie Foote … Mary Jo
Jenny Dare Paulin … Emily
Nicole Lowrance … Sissie
James DeMarse … Bob
Virginia Kull … Irene

42nd Street zippy Goodspeed production

EAST HADDAM — Put on your dancing shoes because “42nd Street” is hitting the boards at the Goodspeed Opera House.
This zippy production of the award winning 1980 musical has everything a musical devote could ask for — dancing, singing, and more dancing.
It’s difficult to believe this musical of musicals was produced as late as 1980. It feels more like the good old-fashioned musicals from the turn of the 1900s.
The plot is a bit hokey, but the cast has a blast with what they have to work with. Set in the time period just after the stock market crash of 1929, this show couldn’t be more timely too.
It’s a perennial fairytale of overnight success based on sheer talent and heart. A group of dancers are auditioning for a new show when a newcomer, Peggy Sawyer, played with wide-eyed optimism by Kristen Martin, is befriended by the sweet and welcoming chorus girls.
None of the gals has a professionally jealous bone in their super-fit bodies, and they welcome the fledgling hoofer from Allentown, Penn. with open arms. You know, just like in real life.
The star of the show within the show is Dorothy Brock, played with plenty of moxy by the sultry Laurie Wells. Brock can sing, but can’t dance her way out of a paper bag. She is accidentally tripped up by Sawyer, breaking her ankle.
The hard-nosed producer with a heart of gold, Julian Marsh, played with confidence by James Lloyd Reynolds, begs Sawyer to step into the lead role.
It’s always spectacular to see how the Goodspeed choreographers and directors, here Rick Conant and Ray Roderick, manage to squeeze so much dancing and action onto the tiny stage.
The costume changes are too numerous and fast to count, with candy colored rainbow delights of festive period getups — Costumes by David H. Lawrence.
Less successful is the Hollywood Squares-like dressing room ensemble number that seems a little cheesy, and would have been migraine producing if it continued much longer. The Shadow Waltz, with dancing behind a screen in silhouette is an imaginative idea, but is not so effective in delivery.
Notable is the incorrigible tenor, Billy Lawlor, played by the dashing and flirtatious Austin Miller, and the sultry femme fatal, Lorraine Fleming, played by Erin West. Fine comic relief to the comedy is provided by Dorothy Stanley and Dale Hensley as the show’s songwriting team, Maggie Jones and Bert Berry.
There are some classic musical numbers in the show, including “Lullaby of Broadway,” “We’re in the Money,” “Shuffle Off to Buffalo,” and of course, “42nd Street.”
Few sights are more stirring and spectacular than experiencing a talented chorus line tapping their hearts out. Come enjoy the ballyhoo at the Goodspeed Opera House through June 28.

42ND STREET

Three Stars
Location: Goodspeed Opera House, Route 82, East Haddam
Production: Music by Harry Warren. Lyrics by Al Dubin. Book by Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble. Directed by Ray Roderick. Choreographed by Rick Conant. Produced by Michael P. Price. Scene design by Howard Jones. Costume design by David H. Lawrence. Lighting design by Charlie Morrison.
Running time: 2 hours, with one 15-minute intermission.
Show Times: Wednesdays at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., and select Thursdays at 2 p.m.; Friday, and Saturday at 8 p.m. with Saturday matinee at 3 p.m., and Sunday matinee at 2 p.m., with select Sunday evening performance at 6:30 p.m. through June 28.
Tickets: $27.50 — $69.50. Call the box office at 860-873-8668 or visit their website at www.goodspeed.org
ACTOR…CHARACTER
James Lloyd Reynolds … Julian Marsh
Kristen Martin … Peggy Sawyer
Austin Miller … Billy Lawlor
Laurie Wells … Dorothy Brock
Dorothy Stanley … Maggie Jones
Dale Hensley … Bert Berry
Erick Devine … Abner Dillon
Erin West … Lorraine Fleming
Tim Falter … Andy Lee
Elise Kinnon … Phyllis Dale
Jenifer Foote … Ann Reilly

“Buried Child” a finely acted, surreal gothic tale at the Valley Rep Company

ENFIELD — If the title doesn’t give it away, “Buried Child,” written by Sam Shepard and playing at the Valley Repertory Company, is no comedy.
Shepard won the 1979 Pulitzer Prize for Drama this extraordinary play, which is set in the living room of a dilapidated farmhouse on a farm that no one is farming in Illinois.
It is a surreal, macabre, modern gothic tragedy of a dysfunctional farming family’s demise.
An invalid, alcoholic father, Dodge, has become dependent on his grown sons, Tilden and Bradley, while their mother, Halie, lives in a bizarre religious fantasy world of her own, idolizing a third dead son who died in a motel room on his honeymoon under mysterious conditions that are never explained.
She relentlessly and heartlessly nags what remains of her miserable family, finding relief flirting with the priest and solace in the religion of denial.
Tilden’s son, Vincent, and his new girlfriend, Shelly, unexpectedly drop in while on a road trip to New Mexico, where the son thinks his father is living. When Vincent arrives, however, the father and grandfather act as if the grandson is a stranger.
Odd things start happening, such as when Tilden enters the room with an armful of corn, and then an armful of carrots, even though the father and mother insist that nothing has been planted.
The family is unhealthily united under the shared burden of an incestual and murderous secret that eventually is revealed, but nothing is ever clearly spelled out or fully explained.
Each cast member is excellent, but Don Thomas’ nuanced and complex portrayal as the diminished curmudgeon, Dodge, is nothing short of remarkable.
He plays a man desperate for some whiskey, starring blankly at the television screen, and carrying the burden of a desperate secret like a cancer eating at him from the inside.
His hollowed out cheeks and weak condition belie a stubborn determination along with a wickedly funny intelligence that is believable and natural within the surreal proceedings.
Still, as sad and depressing as this story is, it is also bitingly and darkly funny at times, thanks mostly to Thomas’ Dodge, who, although he is on his last leg, hasn’t lost his wits.
Denise Walker plays the menacing Betty Davis-like matriarch Halie, and the confused and permanently depressed and depleted eldest son, Tilden, is played with unending sadness by Chris Kibble.
Jim York as the other living son, Bradley, who accidentally sawed his leg off with a chainsaw, is singularly creepy and totally scary, while Aaron L. Schwartz fits into the craziness of the household well as Tilden’s long-absent son, Vincent.
Janine Flood plays the relatively normal girlfriend, Shelly, as the outsider who is alternately repelled and oddly intrigued by the family lunacy.
Gary Turrel plays the Father Dewis with ecclesiastic hypocrisy.
The choice of blues guitar music between scenes works well to set the melancholy mood, but perhaps blending the second and third acts together would be a good idea. One intermission a show is preferable.
The solid set is beautifully and solidly constructed, with set and lighting design along with directing credits going to Eric Albetski, but it might have been more dilapidated to match the decrepit reality of these characters’ existence.
Make no doubt about it though, this is Dodge’s play, just as Shakespeare’s “King Lear” belongs to the monarch and Willy Loman is integral to Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman.” In it Thomas plays the role of a lifetime, and is one of the best and most believable actors I have ever seen on any stage.
Perseverance along with perversity pervades in this dark but fascinating tale — a brave choice by the Valley Repertory Company.

BURIED CHILD

3½ Stars
Theater: Valley Repertory Company
Location: 100 High Street, Enfield
Production: Written by Sam Shepard. Directed by Eric Albetski. Produced by Jan Albetski. Stage manager and assistant director Jason Fregeau. Costumes by Jeffrey Flood. Set and lighting design by Eric Albetski.
Running time: 2 ½ hours, with two intermission
Show Times: Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. through May 16.
Tickets: $10 in advance and $12 at the door. $8 prepaid and $10 at the door for seniors over 60 and youth under 18. Adult language & situations. Call 860-749-4665 or visit their website at www.valleyrep.com

ACTOR…CHARACTER
Don Thomas … Dodge
Denise Walker … Halie
Chris Kibble … Tilden
Jim York … Bradley
Janine Flood … Shelly
Aaron L. Schwartz … Vincent
Gary Turrel … Father Dewis

Follow your dreams with “The Sound of Music” at the Opera House Players

EAST WINDSOR — The East Windsor hills are alive with “The Sound of Music,” the classic musical about Maria, the captain, and the kids.
Producing a musical that is so familiar to so many because of the timeless musical and famous 1965 film “The Sound of Music,” starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer, is a double-edged sword.
The songs are ingrained into our social unconscious, and for a good reason — they are delightful — but the risk is that the production could easily pale by comparison.
Fortunately, that is not a problem for the Opera House Players’ production. This cast does a smashing job of putting on a seamless, well-rehearsed entertainment, lead by the near-perfect Rosanne Sweeney, as Maria Rainer, who has a clarion, clear voice with terrific enunciation, along with an innocent honest and intelligence that really could not be better.
Set just before World War II, the German Nazi’s are about to invade Austria. Maria is a young novice studying to become a nun in a convent and is sent to be a governess for a wealthy widower, Capt. Von Trapp’s seven children. She and Von Trapp fall in love and decide to flee Austria before the Third Reich takes over.
Unlike the film, the musical begins with an a capella preludium sung in complex yet glorious harmony by the nuns that really sets the high bar for the rest of the show to follow.
Dallas Hosmer plays Capt. Von Trapp with a stern stiffness and fine presence. He is especially appealing when relating to the children. And, as anyone who has ever seen the movie knows, there are lots of children, and they comprise much of the show.
This impressively large cast is even bigger than it appears, because director Patrique Hurd took on the Herculean task of having two complete children casts.
The eight youth roles are played on alternate nights by 15 children, playing the roles of Rolf Gruber, Liesl, Rolf, Louisa, Kurt, Brigitta, Marta, and Gretl, with only the role of Fredrich being played by one actor, Conor Ellis.
If Saturday night’s performance is any indication, all the children are enchanting and delightful, but some of the kids, as well as some of the adult performers (who should really know better) occasionally stole indulgent glances at the audience — a definite no-no.
Brianna Mello as the wealthy Elsa Scraeder and Gary Rhone as the self-serving sarcastic Max Detweiler are well cast with plenty of personality between the two. They do the best they can with less than memorable songs.
Nina McFerrin plays the Mother Superior of the convent, Mother Abbess, with a compassionate understanding. She also has a lovely singing voice, and gets to belt out the gorgeous, heart-stirring song “Climb Ev’ry Mountain.”
Songs like “Do-Re-Me,” “My Favorite Things,” “So Long, Farewell,” “Sixteen going on Seventeen,” “Edelweiss,” and of course the perennial “The Sound of Music” are all sung with heart and soul, with strong musical direction by Michael Gowdy.
The choice to have Maria and the children sing “The Lonely Goatherd,” and perform the darling puppet show below the stage level was not the best idea, because the children could not be seen beyond the front row.
The many costumes by Solveig Pflueger are outstanding, particularly when the children are dressed in their curtain-play clothes, and then in their travel outfits at the end of the show.
Sadly this show is closing Sunday. “The Sound of Music” is a joyful, exuberant production that will put a song in your heart and just might encourage you to follow your dreams.

THE SOUND OF MUSIC

3½ Stars
Theater: Opera House Players
Location: 107 Main Street, Broad Brook
Production: Story by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. Music by Richard Rodgers. Directed by Patrique Hurd. Musical direction by Michael Gowdy. Staged managed by Khara C. Hoyer. Technical direction by George Fields. Costumes by Solveig Pflueger. Lighting design by Diane St. Amand.
Running time: Under 3 hours, including a 15-minute intermission
Show Times: Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m. through May 17.
Tickets: $20, seniors over 60 and youth under 12 pay $16. Call 860-292-6068 or visit their website at www.operahouseplayers.org
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Rosanne Sweeney … Maria Rainer
Dallas Hosmer … Capt. Von Trapp
Nina McFerrin … Mother Abbess
Brianna Mello … Elsa Scraeder
Gary Rhone … Max Detweiler

LTM’s “Inherit the Wind” a timeless tale based on America’s historic past

MANCHESTER — Creationism goes head to head with Darwinism in the classic tale based on a 1925 legal trial that pitted Bible against science, and also the rights of free speech, in “Inherit the Wind” a play from the 1950’s that still has meaning today.
The play is loosely based on the “Scopes Monkey Trial,” as journalist H.L. Mencken dubbed it.
The actual trial was held in Dayton, Tenn., where two renowned lawyers came to the small town to argue the case of a biology teacher, John Scopes, who taught Charles Darwin’s theory that man evolved from the ape.
The full biblical quote of “Inherit the Wind” is, “he that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind: and the fool shall be servant to the wise of heart.”
The play, through its protagonists, is focused on the right to think, and the freedom to draw one’s own conclusions, rather than take information at face value. It was written by Robert E. Lee and Jerome Lawrence partly as a reaction to the McCarthy trials.
In the Scopes trial, the famous attorney Clarence Darrow defends the part time biology teacher Scopes for teaching Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, and three-time presidential candidate and Congressman William James Bryan was the prosecutor for the state, defending creationism. In the play Darrow is renamed Henry Drummond and Byran is Matthew Harrison Brady.
The excellent Charles Merlis plays lawyer for the defense, Drummond. First off, Merlis bears an uncanny resemblance to Spencer Tracy, who played the same role in the 1960 movie version of the play. Merlis’ Drummond hits all the right notes of the world-weary, angry, wise, frustrated, and appropriately bemused attorney.
Ken Adamson plays the Holy Roller self-aggrandizing politician Brady with fine bravado. He could have been nothing more than a pompous caricature, but Adamson gives him a humanity and pathos that makes him sympathetic and pitiable.
In one scene a minister, Rev. Jeremiah Brown, well played by Stephen Dombeck, humiliates his daughter, Rebecca, played with tearful sincerity by Trish Urso.
Rather than just stand by and allow the disgraceful spectacle to continue, Brady steps in and stops the bullying minister. That scene and the romance between Rebecca and the accused, Bertram Cates as John Scopes, played by Mark Musco, were not part of the original trial.
The journalist character, E.K. Hornbeck, based on Baltimore Sun newspaper reporter H.L. Mencken, is played by Michael Forgetta, who displays a searing sarcasm and sardonic wisdom that is spot on for the role.
Hornbeck is amusing when he tells Brady, “It is the duty of a newspaper to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.”
The dialog was a little choppy at times, but there was a lot of it, and it should improve as the actors gain confidence in this fine ensemble effort.
The simple set, with the town in the background and the witness stand in the foreground, by Fred T. Blish, is sturdy and functional, while the scratchy radio music that wafts in and out between acts, by Doug AmEnde, sets the 1920’s mood.
Lest you think creationism, or the literal, non-metaphorical interpretation of the Bible, has disappeared by now — think again. There are those who are absolutely convinced that the earth is no more than 6,000 years old, and the only reason dinosaurs are no longer on the earth is because they couldn’t fit onto Noah’s Ark.
“An idea is a greater monument than a cathedral,” Drummond says, while observing that “progress has never been a bargain.” He doesn’t attack people’s thoughts and views, but rather their right to think differently than others.
The Little Theatre of Manchester gives a respectable solid performance of the timeless American drama “Inherit the Wind.”

INHERIT THE WIND

Three Stars
Location: Cheney Hall, 177 Hartford Road, Manchester
Production: Written by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee. Directed by Sharon FitzHenry. Stage manager Paul Leone. Produced by Chuck Burns. Set design by Fred T. Blish. Sound design by Doug AmEnde. Lighting design by Jared Towler.
Running time: 2 hours, plus one 15-minute intermission
Show Times: Thursday, May 7, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. Sundays at 2 p.m., and through May 17.
Tickets: $16 — $23. Call the box office at 860-647-9824, or visit their website at www.cheneyhall.org
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Charles Merlis … Henry Drummond
Ken Adamson … Matthew Harrison Brady
Stephen Dombeck … Rev. Jeremiah Brown
Mark Musco … Bertram Cates
Nick Demetriades … Judge
Trish Urso … Rachel Brown
Michael Forgetta … E.K. Hornbeck
Sam Greene … Mayor
Jared R. Towler … Meeker
James Demetriades … Howard
Nancy Gatto … Mrs. Brady
Scott Dehart … Elijah
Ron Blanchette … Bannister
Jim Powers … Tom Davenport
Don DiGenova … Hurdy Gurdy man/Reporter
Scott Ironfield … Mr. Goodfellow
Cathy Topping … Mrs. Krebs
Philip Anthony … Dunlap
Doug Soyer … Sillers
Joanna Schiff … Mrs. Loomis
Alex Pazda … Hot dog man/Dr. Page
Darlene LaPointe … Mrs. Blair
Ron Gatto … Court reporter
Leo Reaves … Reuters man/Aaronson
Brain Courtemanche … Harry Y. Esterbrook
Jen Lysomirski … Dr. Ruth Keller
Catherine McElaney … Melinda
Victoria Dehart … Victoria
Alexandria Dehart … Alex McLain

“What the Butler Saw” a comedy of manners gone haywire

SUFFIELD — First of all, don’t expect to see a butler in the Suffield player’s production of “What the Butler Saw.” There isn’t one.
Written by Joe Orton, this door-slamming, clothes-shedding, gun-toting roller coaster ride of a play is a biting social commentary disguised as a black comedy of the highest order.
Evidently the term “what the butler saw” is an English slang reference to peeking through keyholes, or voyeurism, something the audience is voluntarily participating in. Probably not the best comedy for kids — not so much for the language but for the subject matter.
Set in a psychiatric clinic consulting room somewhere in England, the play begins with Dr. Prentice, played by a Bob-Newhart like Dana T. Ring, leeringly interviewing a potential secretary, Geraldine Barclay, played with doe-eyed innocence by Rayah Martin.
Ring is soft-spoken and sometimes difficult to hear, especially when the mood-setting music overwhelms him.
When Barclay says she can’t recall having a father, Prentice says that he can’t employee her if she is “in any way miraculous,” and so sets the tone for the ensuing shenanigans.
In walks Dr. Prentise’s simultaneously oversexed and under-responsive wife, played with confidence by Dorrie Mitchell and her one-night lover and subsequent blackmailer, who happens to take great shorthand, Nicholas Beckett, played energetically by Steve Wandzy.
Prentice says to his wife that she is so over-sexed that when she is buried, it will have to be in a Y-shaped coffin, and later says, “all appearances to the contrary, she is harder to get into than the British Public Library.”
As if this weren’t enough craziness, next arrives the fully certifiable government official, Dr. Rance, played by Bruce Showalter. Showalter steals the show when he is on stage with his gleefully insane circuitous logic and singularly over-active imagination.
At one point he tells Dr. Prentice there is no need to give him explanations, “I can supply my own.” At another he speaks of a psychiatrist he once knew as someone, “having failed to achieve madness himself, he took to teaching it to others.”
The play is a fabulous fantastical comeuppance to our crazy world. Orton was clearly influenced by Oscar Wilde in this comedy of manners gone haywire.
When under cross-examination by Dr. Rance, Barclay vehemently denies being molested as a child by her father, but Rance is undeterred, gleefully proclaiming that her energetic denial is proof-positive it happened.
Even the institution of public safety is lacerated when the dazed and confused Sgt. Match, well played by Larry Chiz, enters the action, attempting to arrest Nick, euphemistically charging Nick of “misconducted himself” with a group of school girls in a hotel where he works.
While the dialog is spat-out with machine-gun precision, the action, with plenty of door slamming and clothes flying off and on, is also precise and imaginative, with admirable direction by Philip Vetro.
Come and surrender to a night of hilarious black humor with an unexpected, twisted ending at the Suffield Players darkly delirious production of “What the Butler Saw.”

WHAT THE BUTLER SAW

3 Stars
Location: Mapleton Hall, 1305 Mapleton Ave. Suffield.
Production: Written by Joe Orton. Directed by Philip Vetro. Stage managed by Becky Schoenfeld. Costumes designed by Dawn McKay. Set Design by Konrad Rogowski. Lighting design by Jerry Zalewski.
Running time: 2 hours, plus a 15-minute intermissions.
Show Times: Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. through May 16.
Tickets: $17, $15 for seniors and students. Call 1-800-289-6148 of visit their website at www.suffieldplayers.org.
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Dana T. Ring … Dr. Prentice
Rayah Martin … Geraldine Barclay
Dorrie Mitchell … Mrs. Prentice
Steve Wandzy … Nicholas Beckett
Bruce Showalter … Dr. Rance
Larry Chiz … Sergeant Match

“Noises Off!” farcical fun at the HSC

HARTFORD — Throw common sense out the door when you see this farce to beat all farces, “Noises Off!,” at the Hartford Stage Company.
The play is all sardines and doors on the surface and squabbling, gossip, and wacky situations under the surface.
Written by Michael Frayn, this English farce is a play within a play. It starts the night before the play, called “Nothing On” opens. The actors don’t know their lines, and even if they did, the play is clearly bad. The actors limp through their lines and complain bitterly about anything and everything, to which the director alternately yells, supports, or consoles, depending on the person.
The second act starts behind the stage, where you see the actors getting ready to make their entrance on tour, while having pantomimed screaming matches at one another.
Then, half way through the second act, the set reverses back to the front of the stage again, and the actors’ start the play within the play, which comes totally unglued.
In the slapstick tradition of Laurel and Hardy, the Three Stooges, the Keystone Cops, and Charlie Chaplin, this play escalates from the silly to the ridiculous, and some might say hilarious.
It’s the kind of humor that is based on character and situations, rather than just one-liners, and lots of slapstick humor. There is plenty of running into walls, tied shoe laces and conjoined costumes, missing and misplaced props, and lots and lots of sardines.
The cast who play the English-accented dual roles are in great shape, and they need to be, because there is much physical humor here, scampering up and tumble down stairs, fling themselves in and out of doors, and pretty much non-stop action throughout.
There’s the maid, Mrs. Cratchet, played by the actress Dotty Otley, who is played by the fine Johanna Morrison. Morrison, last seen at the HSC in “A Christmas Carol” sets the tone from the play-within-a-play’s opening, and from the start there is no looking back.
Noble Shropshire, who plays the alcoholic Selsdon Mowbray playing the burglar, seems a little frail for the roles, and is too soft spoken at times. He is enthusiastically driven to acquire a bottle of scotch that floats about behind the stage.
Bill Kux, also in “A Christmas Carol,” makes a believable director within the play as Lloyd Dallas.
Michael Bakkense as Garry Lejeune/Roger Tramplemain, is funny trying to express himself, with limited success, while David Andrew Macdonald, as Frederick Fellowes/Philip Brent really has the vapid stare down pat.
Liv Rooth as the sexy Brooke Ashton/Vicki runs into walls with the best of them, and has distilled bad acting down to a science.
As the farce progresses, it enters into the tangled web of nonsense, too complicated to decipher, but that show-train kept on rolling, taking no prisoners, but causing plenty of laughs in the audience, who adored the performance Wednesday.
Excellent playbill too, highlighting both plays.
Don’t try to make sense of the nuttiness, but sit back and enjoy the wacky world of “Noises Off!” at the Hartford Stage Company, running through May 17.

NOISES OFF

3 Stars
Location: Hartford Stage Company, 50 Church Street, Hartford.
Production: Written by Michael Frayn. Directed by Malcolm Morrison. Scene design by Tony Straiges. Costume design by Ilona Somogyi. Lighting design by Rui Rita. Original music and sound design by David Stephen Baker.
Running time: 2 1/2 hours including one 15-minute intermission.
Show Times: Tuesdays, Thursdays, and selected Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., with matinees performances Wednesdays and Sundays, selected Saturdays at 2 p.m. through May 17.
Tickets: $23 — $66. Call 860-527-5151 or visit their website at www.hartfordstage.org.
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Johanna Morrison … Dotty Otley/Mrs. Clacket
Bill Kux … Lloyd Dallas
Noble Shropshire … Selsdon Mowbray/Burglar
Michael Bakkensen … Garry Lejeune/Roger Tramplemain
Liv Rooth … Brooke Ashton/Vicki
Andrea Cirie … Belinda Blair/Flavia Brent
David Andrew Macdonald … Frederick Fellowes/Philip Brent
Veronique Hurley … Poppy Norton-Taylor
Daniel Toot … Tim Allgood

Opulent, phantasmagoric “Phantom of the Opera” at the Bushnell

HARTFORD — “The Phantom of the Opera” is a “phantastic” gothic musical for all at the Bushnell through May 10.
Pyrotechnics abound in this production, with numerous loud blinding blasts giving off enough heat at times to be felt by those up close.
The balcony seats offer the best vantage point, with excellent views of the huge chandelier flying to the ceiling, and provide a good look at the golden, garish, faux-baroque carvings that imposingly frame the stage.
The musical is based on a French novel by Gaston LeRoux. LeRoux was a fan of Edgar Allan Poe, and this dark tale has all the grotesque and macabre imagery of a Poe tale. A disfigured man escaped from a gypsy freak show and made his home in the musty bowels of the Paris opera house.
Here the Phantom with the masked face tutors a woman, Christine Daae, to become an opera star. She is an overnight sensation, while an old beau, Raoul, reappears after years, and they fall instantly in love.
Played with pathos and power by John Cudia, this love affair doesn’t fit the Phantom’s plans, since he wants Christine, his invention as he sees her, for himself.
People start dying, and the Phantom insists through many notes, that his opera be produced and Christine star in it.
The music, by the inimitable Andrew Lloyd Weber, is fantastic as always, with unforgettable numbers such as “Angel of Music,” “Masquerade,” “Think of Me,” and “All I Ask of You.”
Christine is played by the lovely Trista Moldovan, whose voice is almost always up to the challenge of the demanding soprano range.
The portly tenor lead, Ubaldo Piangi, is well played with goofy humor by John Whitney, while Kim Stengel is amusing as Carlotta Giudicelli, the over-acting spoiled diva.
Stengel is almost too good though. Instead of loving to hate her, as the role demands, one almost feels badly that an upstart ingenue, Christine, is squeezing her out.
No expense was spared on the sets, with huge swaths of Victorian-style draperies, designed by Maria Bjornson.
The costumes with their bright, brilliant, sometimes garish colors are glorious and eye-popping wild, especially when the ensemble is dressed for the masquerade ball. They are a nice counterpoint with the ballerinas who are dressed at times in Monet-like white outfits.
And don’t forget the elephant, which looks terrific on the stage, giving the show an “Aida” like feeling.
The precise choreographed movement, like a formalized dance, perfectly complements the complex octet of “Notes/Prima Donna,” with musical staging and choreography by Gillian Lynne.
“Phantom of the Opera” is confidently directed by the legendary Harold Prince, and appeals to all ages. The love story speaks to everyone, but seems to really hit a strong chord with teen-age girls, if the audience Saturday is any indication.
With all its pageantry and glitz, however, some of the show’s emotional intimacy is sacrificed. Still, there is much to enjoy in this polished production of “The Phantom of the Opera.”

PHANTOM OF THE OPERA

3 Stars
Theater: The William H. Mortensen Hall at the Bushnell Memorial Center
Location: 166 Capitol Ave. Hartford
Production: Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Lyrics by Charles Hart. Book by Webber and Richard Stilgoe. Directed by Harold Prince. Musical Staging and choreography by Gillian Lynne. Lighting by Andrw Bridge. Music director Jonathan Gorst. Sound by Martin Levan. Production design by Maria Bjornson.
Running time: 2 ½ hours, plus one 15-minute intermission
Show Times: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m., with Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. through May 10.
Tickets: $28 — $82. Call 860-987-5900 or visit their website at www.bushnell.org.
ACTOR…CHARACTER
John Cudia … the Phantom of the Opera
Trista Moldovan … Christine Daae
Sean MacLaughlin …Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny
D.C. Anderson …Monsieur Andre
Michael McCoy …Monsieur Firmin
Kim Stengel …Carlotta Giudicelli
Nancy Hess …Madame Giry
John Whitney …Ubaldo Piangi
Jessi Ehrlich …Meg Giry

“Hair” still joyous, meaningful after all these years

STORRS — Get out your tie-died t-shirts, patchouli incense, and your fringe vests, because “Hair,” that 60’s iconic musical of love and letting it all hang out, is happening at the Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre through Saturday.
With such classics as “Aquarius,” “Easy to be Hard,” and the perennially upbeat “Let the Sunshine In,” plus many more, “Hair” still has a strong and pertinent anti-war message to impart.
In it’s day, it was the Vietnam War and the draft that the youth was railing against, but even today, without conscription, over 4,200 American soldiers have died in Iraq and hundreds of American soldiers lives have been lost in Afghanistan — something a blackboard outside the theater reminds the audience as they depart.
The University of Connecticut’s Connecticut Repertory Theatre combines graduate and undergraduate students with equity professionals, and here the lead role of the charismatic Berger is played by equity actor Fabio Monteiro and Sheila is dynamically played with a soulful, belting, strong voice, by Stephanie Umoh, also an equity member.
A perfect production for a large cast, where many get a chance to shine, like Noah Weintraub with an angelic voice as Woof singing the nasty song “Sodomy” and Hud, played by the lithe Philip AJ Smithey singing “Colored Spade,” with the ensemble, known as the tribe.
Claude, played by Brian Patrick Williams, is the show’s central character. Wanting to burn his draft card, but torn about breaking the law and going against his parents, Williams has a strong and clear voice and holds his own with the pros.
Everything about this production, directed by Gabriel Barre, is first rate, with kaleidoscope colored flower-power costumes by Lucy Brown, vibrant multi-level scenery by Jennifer Corcoran, and psychedelic lighting by Brad Seymour.
The backdrop projection is an inspiration of changing images from peacocks to stained glass to parachutes, and really makes the stage pop with energy.
Not that the troop needs any more energy than they already have. Extra special is the choreography, by Mark Dendy, with constant but meaningful motion and dance. The rock band, with brass backup, is super too.
There is some brief but intense profanity and nudity, so this isn’t a show for children.
Even puppets are used to fine effect, particularly when the gargantuan likeness of the incomparable American icon Kate Smith singing “God Bless America” appears.
The counter culture Timothy Leary mantra, “Turn on, tune in and drop out,” getting high on marijuana and LSD, and pre-AIDs indiscriminant free sex is celebrated in “Hair.” In its era society was going through an extreme pendulum swing in reaction to the repressive 1950’s that in hindsight clearly has its shortcomings and limitations.
While the show drags some in the middle of the second act, overall it is an enthusiastic dance down macramé lane for some, while love, questioning authority, and working for peace always remains relevant.

HAIR

Three ½ Stars
Theater: Connecticut Repertory Theatre
Location: Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre, Glenbrook Road, Storrs.
Production: Music by Gait MacDermot. Book and lyrics by Gerome Ragni and James Rado. Directed by Gabriel Barre. Choreography by Mark Dendy. Musical direction by Ken Clark. Scenic design by Jennifer Corcoran. Costume design by Lucy Brown. Lighting design by Brad Seymour. Sound design by Wilson Tennermann.
Running time: About 2 hours plus one 15-minute intermission.
Show Times: Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., and Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., with matinees Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. through May 2.
Tickets: General admission $11 to $29. Call 860-486-4266 or visit their website at www.crt.uconn.edu.
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Fabio Monteiro … Berger
Brian Patrick Williams … Claude
Stephanie Umoh … Sheila
Philip AJ Smithey … Hud
Noah Weintraub … Woof
Rebecca Dale … Jeanie
Carolyn Cumming … Crissy
Meghan O’Leary … Dionne

“Old Man and the Sea” fine adaptation at Long Wharf

NEW HAVEN — Anyone who hasn’t read Ernest Hemmingway’s novella “The Old Man and the Sea” will most likely have at least heard of the story that was made into a 1958 film staring the oddly cast Spencer Tracy.
Oddly cast because this is definitely a Cuban story, demanding Hispanic and island actors, of which this play thankfully provides.
Well adapted by director Eric Ting and set designer Craig Siebels, “The Old Man and the Sea” is almost mythic in it’s presentation of a man against the elements.
The play centers on the old man, Santiago, who has had an 84-day run of bad luck catching no fish, while others, using more modern techniques, fair better.
Deciding to travel out farther than ever, by himself, he lands a 1,500-pound marlin that is bigger than his little skiff.
Here an aged fisherman, Santiago, ably and energetically played by Mateo Gomez, fights against his bad luck, with King Lear-like rage, pitting himself against fish and sea.
At one point Santiago asks of the fish, “am I bringing you home, or are you bringing me?”
Referring to the sea as a woman, he says, “I think that the ocean can be so cruel …wild and wicked, she cannot help it.”
And like Icarus who flew too close to the sun, Santiago traveled too far out to sea.
The two-act play strangely feels both longer and shorter than is 90-minute run, which is not a negative comment, but more an observation of the trance-like state it casts.
Hemingway wrote his stories in everyday language that conveyed drama within the simplicity, and this adaptation does the same.
Not shy of self-promotion, he said, with typical Hemmingway brevity, that “The Old Man and the Sea” was “the best I can write ever for my whole life.”
The boat, painted a brilliant weathered blue, has beautiful lines and is set well against the variegated wooden flooring that doubles for a beach, the night sky, and the shack floor of the old man’s home.
Far too old to be fishing by himself, the old man pushes himself beyond endurance, and then further still. Watching him struggle against nature and his mortality is both admirable and sad.
References to baseball, and particularly the fishermen’s beloved Yankees and their hero Joe DiMaggio, parallels Hemmingway’s experience as an avid sportsman and fisherman with the Cuban fishermen he knew while living in his adopted country in the 1940’s.
Supporting actors include the loving and devoted boy, Manolin, played with compassionate respect and admiration by Rey Lucas, and the guitarist and arm wrestler, Cienfuegos, well-played by Leajato Amara Robinson.
There are no surprises in this adaptation, nor does there need to be. The play is all one could ask for from “The Old Man and the Sea” — A finely acted, well directed and well-produced play.

THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA

3 Stars
Location: 222 Sargent Drive, New Haven
Production: By Ernest Hemingway. Adapted by Eric Ting and Craig Siebels. Directed by Eric Ting. Set design by Craig Siebels. Costumes designed by Kaye M. Voyce. Lighting designed by Michael Chybowski. Sound by John Gromada. Original music designed by and co-sound by Ryan Rumery.
Running time: 1 hour 30 minutes plus a 15-minute intermission.
Show Times: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Sundays at 7 p.m., Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8 p.m., with Wednesday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. and Saturday matinees at 3 p.m. through April 26.
Tickets: $32 to $62. For more information call their box office at 203-776-2287, or visit their website at www.longwharf.org
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Mateo Gomez … The Old Man (Santiago)
Rey Lucas … The Boy (Manolin)
Leajato Amara Robinson … Cienfuegos

“Icarus” imaginative inventive production at CRT

STORRS- Like a cross between “Rosemary’s Baby” and “Alien,” the wildly imaginative, creative interpretation of “Icarus” is playing at the studio theater at the Uconn’s Connecticut Repertory Theatre Wednesday through Sunday.
Based on the ancient Greek myth of Icarus, the boy who flew too high on feathered wings, this show is definitely the stuff of nightmares for young children, while giving lingering, hypnotic impressions to adults.
Set in ancient impoverished Crete, King Minos is desperate for an heir, but his Queen Pasephae is without child.
Rather than sacrificing the white bull to appease the wrathful ocean god Poseidon, Minos allows his queen’s wish and does not sacrifice the bull, with dire consequences.
She is impregnated by the bull giving birth to a half-man, half-bull monster, the Minotar, which is imprisoned in a death-trap labyrinth.
The fighting behind the screen between the Minotar and villagers is well done, and the labyrinthine moving walls are inspired.
The king’s inventor, Daedalus, has his own set of problems. His son, Icarus, dreams of his dead mother, who died because of Daedalus’ greed in catching too many fish.
Daedalus eventually loses favor with the king who banishes Daedalus and Icarus to a deserted island. When Daedalus invents the wings to escape, he warns his son not to fly too close to the son, but just like a teenager, Icarus pays no attention until it is too late.
This show uses puppetry as an augmentation to the action, rather than as the main characters, to impressive effect.
The gigantic white bull is truly ominous and terrifying, juxtaposed as it is next to the flirty, petulant queen who is in way over her head. Played by equity actor Lyn Kagen, who looks much like a young Heddy Lamar, she gives a transfixing performance as the dazed and disappointed queen.
When Pasephae gives birth her screams of agony are intense, and while not graphic, it is definitely not for young kids.
Robert Rosado is convincing and moving as the devastated king who ruins his world with his stubborn, privileged superiority, unable to bend and so is broken.
Sarah Murdoch who plays Neucrate, Daedalus’ wife and Icarus’ mother, is ethereal and lovely as the doomed beloved.
The story is simple, but the production is not. The music is excellent, from the simple guitar, to the recorded orchestral compositions, to Metallica, with sound designed by Emily Tritsch and sound and music mixing by Stefano Brancato. Brancato directed “Icarus” as well and adapted and co-created the show with Michael Bush.
Bush designed the puppets, which, in addition to the imposing white bull, included the stunning Poseidon, the delicate, inspired seagulls, and the other ancillary and glorious puppets.
The costumes by costume designer Mitchell Travers, were like living creatures themselves — with leather and rope bodices, intricate stitching, and detailed but loose tailoring, each fit the various characters as if they were born to wear them, including Icarus’ exquisite white knit tunic and fabulously darted white pants.
The solid and movable set by Jeanette Drake was minimalist but effective.
The show is at times top heavy with narration, but as the play progresses, the payoff is an amazing, hypnotic, and original achievement.

ICARUS

3 Stars
Theater: Connecticut Repertory Theatre
Location: Studio Theater, 802 Bolton Road, Storrs.
Production: Adaptation written and co-created by Stefano Brancato and Michael Bush. Directed by Stefano Brancato. Puppet designer Michael Bush. Scenic designer Jeanette Drake. Lighting designer Alex Goldberg. Sound designer Emily Tritsch. Sound and music mixing by Stefano Brancato. Costume designer Mitchell Travers. Technical direction by Ed Weingart. Production stage manager Tamsen Brooke Warner.
Running time: 2 hours including one intermission.
Show Times: Wednesday, and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, with a 2 p.m. matinee Sunday, through Apr. 5.
Tickets: $13 to $26. Call 486-4266 of visit their Web site at www.crt.uconn.edu.
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Scott Cooke … Icarus
Robert Rosado … Minos, the king
Lyn Kagen … Pasephae, the queen
Fergus Walsh … Daedalus, Icarus’ father
Zach Dorn … Old Man
Sarah Murdoch … Neucrate, Daedalus’ wife
Michael Truman Cavanaugh … Minotar/Lifter
Zane Roberts … Strong man/King’s snooty attendant
Joseph Therrien … Lead narrator
Zoe Besmond de Senneville … Second narrator and mad woman
Seth Koproski … Third narrator
Anastasia Brewczynski ... Fourth narrator/Rouser
Lauren Horoszewski … Fire dancer

“A Chorus Line” feels dated

HARTFORD — Superlatives abound whenever “A Chorus Line” is mentioned — “Longest Running Broadway Show Ever” — “Best Musical Ever” — Pulitzer prize-winning musical — nine Tony Awards, and the list goes on.
Despite these accolades, unfortunately this 1975 musical, playing at the Bushnell’s Mortensen Theater through Sunday, feels dated and dull.
It originally hit the scene when the old-fashioned musicals, with their stylized glamour and glitz, were fading, and a new, grittier theater scene was emerging.
“A Chorus Line” is a bit of a transition piece in Broadway history, bridging the gap of the past to the future. As one of the characters observes — Robert Goulet is out, and Steve McQueen is in.
The musical must have been revolutionary in its time with the dancers revealing their personal lives, coming out of the closet and so forth, but in 2009 it feels like an Oprah episode with some high kicks.
The show starts out with a bang with some incredible dancing by the ensemble cast, but then stagnates into one monologue followed by another. And then another.
Set in 1975, a group of 17 dancers are auditioning for a show. The director in the musical, Zach, played as well as could be expected by Sebastian La Cause, goes into the audience during a dance audition and starts creepily asking the dancers to talk about their personal lives, like it is a therapy session. And one by one by one by one all seventeen to various degrees, tell their sad, angst-ridden, depressing tales. Half as many would have gone twice as far.
The music, by Marvin Hamlisch, is kind of a combination of a 1970’s television variety show — “The Jackie Gleason Show” with his June Taylor Dancers comes to mind, and part disco, with synthesizers and sparkly mirrors.
When the director selects which dancers he wants, it feels eerily similar to the reality television shows of today, like “Project Runway” and “Top Design.”
The adult language and topics are definitely for mature audiences only.
There are the emblematic, however time-worn songs “One” “What I Did for Love,” “Dance: Ten; Looks; Three,” and “The Music and the Mirror,” but they aren’t enough to pull this show through those deadening monologues.
No doubt “A Chorus Line” definitely had its day, but it’s not today.

A CHORUS LINE

2 Stars
Theater: The William H. Mortensen Hall at the Bushnell Memorial Center
Location: 166 Capitol Ave. Hartford
Production: Originally co-choreographed and directed by Bob Avian. Book by James Kirkwood and Nicholas Dante. Music by Marvin Hamlisch. Lyrics by Edward Kleban. Music direction by John C. O’Neil.
Running time: 2 hours, with no intermission
Show Times: Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., with matinee performances Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m., through Mar. 29.
Tickets: From $20 to $65. Call 860-987-5900 or visit their website at www.bushnell.org. Adult language, for mature audiences only.
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Sebastian La Cause … Zach
Robyn Hurder … Cassie
Gabrielle Ruiz … Diana
Shannon Lewis … Sheila
Anthony Wayne … Richie
Mindy Dougherty … Val

Broadway comes to Ivoryton in “Godspell”

IVORYTON — Why take a train or drive into New York City when just an hour away at the historic Ivoryton Playhouse you can see a top notch Broadway-quality production of “Godspell” for a fraction of the price of Broadway tickets.
What a show. The youthful cast supplies enough energy to light up a town, and they invest every bit of enthusiasm and joy they have to their various parts.
“Godspell” is an archaic form of the word “Gospel,” and the musical is based on the on the Gospel of St. Matthews, with parables and teachings from the bible, such as the story of Noah and the Ark, the Prodigal Son, and central to all is the story of Jesus and his eventual betrayal by Judas, his death, and rebirth.
The show begins with the cast members dressed in dark and somber clothing, speaking as philosophers about thought and logic, when John the Baptist, played by Chris Gleim, who also makes a fine and tormented Judas, enters and sings the simple and beautiful “Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord.”
Next thing you know, everyone is dressed in a riot of greens, blues, oranges, purples, and yellows, and love is in the air.
All of the songs, which range from ballads, to rock, to vaudeville, and even some rap, are really fantastic, with lyrics and music by Stephen Schwartz, but probably the one most recognized because it made it to the music charts in its time, is “Day by Day.”
The 1970 musical was first conceived as a master thesis by John Michael Tabela at Carnegie-Mellon University and took off from there, moving to off-Broadway, a film in 1973, eventually heading to Broadway in 1976, and has been on the community and church theater circuit ever since.
Jesus, lovingly played by Joshua Isaacs, narrates the acted-out biblical stories. The rest of the cast members, who are identified by their real names and also play various parts in the bible, are on stage for the entire two acts.
Tiana Checcia gives a fine clear performance singing “Day by Day,” while Elisabeth Cernadas who sings “O Bless the Lord My Soul” has a lovely voice you want to hear again.
Robert W. Scwartz Jr. too is super in his rendition of the powerful showstopper “All Good Gifts,.”
Not to leave anyone out of this fine ensemble group, Brent Barker sings the closing first act song, the rousing “Light of the World,” and Patrick H. Dunn is potently energetic singing “We Beseech Thee.”
Starting the second act with a bang is Nicole Heriot who does a campy, vampy bit singing the sultry “Turn Back, O Man.” Jorie Janeway sings the lovely and melancholy “Where Are You Going?” with backup by the perky and pert Hillary Ekwall.
Just as in the original production, at intermission the cast members gather near the stage and offer wine to the audience — a nice touch.
The set, designed by Daniel Nischan, is dominated by a massive, impressive chain link fence, a simple but useful backdrop for the actors to variously play with, struggle against, and climb.
What a great way to say goodbye to winter and welcome in spring in this upbeat, life-affirming, timeless production of “Godspell.”

GODSPELL

3½ Stars
Location: Ivoryton Playhouse, 103 Main Street, Ivoryton, CT
Production: Written by John Michael Tabela. Music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. Directed by Lawrence Thelen. Choreography by Lisa Niedermeyer. Musical direction by John S. DeNicola. Scenic designer Daniel Nischan. Lighting designer and production manager Doug Harry. Costume designer Pam Puente.
Running time: 2 hours plus one intermission.
Show Times: Wednesday and Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturdays at 8 p.m., with Wednesday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. through Apr. 5.
Tickets: $35 for adults, $30 for previews and seniors, $20 for students, and $15 for children 12 and under. Call the box office at 860-767-7318, or visit their website at www.ivorytonplayhouse.org
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Joshua Isaacs … Jesus
Chris Gleim … John/Judas
Tiana Checchia … Tiana
Patrick H. Dunn… Patrick
Elisabeth Cernadas … Elisabeth
Jorie Janeway … Jorie
Robert W. Schultz Jr. … Robert
Hillary Ekwall … Hillary
Brent Barker … Brent
Nicole Heriot … Nicole

SOMERS — What a treat it is to attend the Somers Village Players’ 32nd annual dinner theater production, held at Joanne’s Café and Banquet House.
Their spring production is a 1988 award winning comedy by Neil Simon called “Rumors.”
For $33 you get a delicious banquet meal of succulent roast beef with gravy, salad, pasta, garlic and butter green beans, roasted red new potatoes, plus coffee or tea and dessert, followed by a effervescent play by a skillful, energetic group of talented actors.
The great thing about dinner theater is, you don’t have to stress out about getting your bill from the waiter to make it to the show in time.
In this play, which is set in present-day suburban New York, guests arrive to the house of the city’s deputy mayor, to celebrate he and his wife’s 10th wedding anniversary.
One by one his guests learn that the deputy mayor shot himself in the ear, the servants have all disappeared, and the wife is missing in action.
First to discover the earlobe situation are the deputy mayor’s lawyer, Ken Gorman, played energetically by stage veteran Ron Blanchette, and his wife Chris Gorman, played by the Kathy Welsh.
Welsh looks remarkably like Imogene Coca from the old Sid Caesar television show, and is every bit as talented as the famous comedian.
When she calls her husband an idiot, you really believe it. Also funny is when Welsh, as Chris Gorman, exclaims in exasperation, “I can’t believe I shaved my legs for this!”
“Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive,” as Sir Walter Scott says, and nothing could be truer, or sillier, in this witty, wild romp of a farce, where attempts to dissemble unweave almost as quickly as they are created.
This is a true ensemble character-driven play. Each actor gets to have his or her moment in the sun to indulge in silly banter.
Included in the slapstick fun is the jealous crystal-worshipping wife, Cassie Cooper, played with a sexy pout by Linden Ela; her officious, ambitious politico husband Glenn, played with believable stiffness by Alexander Crowell; the sarcastic wife Claire Ganz, played by Darlene LaPointe; and her stiff-necked, starving accountant husband Lenny, played by the Mark Depathy.
Also amusing is the know-it-all therapist Ernie Cusak, played by David Crowell, and his kooky wife Cookie, played by Trish Urso. Urso practically steals the show in her ridiculous 60-year-old Polish outfit, her ditzy, dazed smile, and her periodic back-spasms — she’s hysterical.
Urso and Crowell make an amusingly unctuous and overbearing couple when they refer to each other as “popsy and puppy,” then “cupcake and monkey.”
The play is a mishmash of slapstick, mystery, character humor, and more one-liners than you can shake a Q-tip at (you must see the play to understand that one.)
Be forewarned that there is plenty of profanity in this scandalous farcical play, so it is not recommended for young children.
The show on Saturday, Mar. 28 is already sold out, but other evenings still have seating available, so be sure to call for tickets to attend this fun and complete night of entertainment.

RUMORS

3 stars
Theater: Somers Village Players
Location: Joanne’s Café and Banquet House, 145 Main Street, Somers
Running time: About 2 and ½ hours with one intermission.
Show Times: Friday and Saturday though Apr. 4. Social hour starting at 6 p.m. Dinner at 7 p.m. Show at 8 p.m.
Tickets: $33, including dinner, with cash bar. Call 860-749-0245 for reservations. Tickets still available for all nights except Saturday, Mar. 28.
Production: Written by Neil Simon. Directed by Gus Rousseau. Produced by Betty Domer. Stage manager Sue Moke.
Actor …. Character
Kathy Welsh … Chris Gorman
Ron Blanchette … Ken Gorman
Darlene LaPointe … Claire Ganz
Mark Depathy … Lenny Ganz
David Crowell … Ernie Cusak
Trish Urso … Cookie Cusak
Alexander Crowell … Glenn Cooper
Linden Ela … Cassie Cooper
Cheryl Samborski … Officer Welsh
Peter Desaulinier … Officer Pudney

“Arsenic and Old Lace” good old-fashioned fun

MANCHESTER — If good old-fashioned fun is what you’re after, look no further than the Little Theatre of Manchester’s production of “Arsenic and Old Lace,” running at Cheney Hall through Sunday.
This play started as a huge hit on Broadway beginning in 1941, and then was made into a wacky film by the same name, directed by Frank Capra and starring the inimitable Cary Grant.
It was based on a real murderess who lived right here in Windsor, Conn. Playwright Joseph Kesselring had heard of a case where a woman was convicted of poisoning elderly gentlemen and taking their money.
Hardly the stuff of comedy, but Kesselring wrote the play, somewhat based on the case, moving the locale to Brooklyn, New York.
Two sisters, Abby and Martha Brewster, harmoniously played by Debi Freund and Sara Logan, live alone in a large old home next to a church and cemetery. Their nephew, Mortimer Brewster is played with curmudgeonly sarcasm by Daniel Gilbreath.
What starts out as sarcasm raises to the level of astonishment and incredulity when he learns that his aunts have developed the nasty “habit” of knocking off lonely old men with arsenic and strychnine-laced elderberry wine, with “just a pinch of cyanide,” Martha says with glee.
Mortimer, who visits his aunts, has the unhappy profession of having to review plays for a newspaper, which he explains accounts for his miserable attitude. He is also in love with the girl next door, the parson’s daughter, Elaine Harper, played by Alysa Auriemma, who manages to squeeze every possible inch of life out of a rather feckless role.
Into this mix comes the long-lost elder brother, a real bad guy recently escaped from a mental institution for the criminally insane in Indiana, Jonathan Brewster, played with evil menace by Nick Demetriades.
He along with his alcoholic plastic surgeon sidekick, Dr. Einstein, played by Charles Merlis, attempt to move back into Brewster’s childhood home. Merlis, with his German accent and wild standup hair, captures the wacky, almost surrealistic over-the-top kookiness of this play.
The set is solidly designed by Fred T. Blish, who makes a stairway that any home would be proud to have.
It needs to be solid, too, because Mortimer’s other brother, Teddy Brewster (Sal Uccello) regularly charges up the stairs, blowing a trumpet at the landing, and digging Panama canals in the basement, thinking he is President Theodore Roosevelt. Uccello is funny and believable as the delusional, harmless Teddy.
A painted backdrop out the bay window stage left oddly features a mountain scene, which seems out of place considering the play is set next to a cemetery and a church in Brooklyn, N.Y.
The lighting, by Meghan Ryan, and the sound, by Adam Hartley are fine and well timed, with musical interludes enhancing the scary parts and the intense exchanges. Often music can be a distraction in plays when in the middle of a scene, but it works here, probably because it is such a farcical premise.
Occasional dated references to people such as Judith Anderson, an Australian actress well known when the play was written, left the audience behind, but the character humor in this black comedy will always be timeless.
“Arsenic and Old Lace” which runs through this weekend, is one funny, frivolous frolic down memory lane.

ARSENIC AND OLD LACE

3 Stars
Location: The Little Theatre of Manchester, Inc. at Cheney Hall, 177 Hartford Road, Manchester.
Production: Written by Joseph Kesselring. Directed by Michael Forgetta. Stage managed by Lee Hammitt. Produced by Chuck Burns. Set designed by Fred T. Blish. Sound designed by Adam Hartley. Lighting designed by Meghan Ryan.
Running time: 2 1/4 hours, with one 15-minute intermission
Show Times: Friday, and Saturday at 8 p.m. Sunday at 2 p.m. through Mar. 15.
Tickets: $16 — $23. Call the box office at 860-647-9824, or visit their website at www.cheneyhall.org
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Debi Freund … Abby Brewster
Sara Logan … Martha Brewster
Daniel Gilbreath … Mortimer Brewster
Alysa Auriemma … Elaine Harper
Nick Demetriades … Jonathan Brewster
Charles Merlis … Dr. Einstein
Sal Uccello … Teddy Brewster
Michael May … Officer O’Hara
Jim Ryan … The Reverend Dr. Harper/Lt. Rooney
Timothy M. Rowe … Officer Brophy
Keith Giard … Officer Klein
Jared R. Towler … Mr. Gibbs/Mr. Witherspoon

“Pericles” a melodramatic morality tale for the ages

STORRS — “Pericles” is one Shakespeare play even regular Shakespeare-goers are unlikely to have seen. Playing at the Connecticut Repertory Theater at the University of Connecticut, this play has it all — incest, murder, passion, fighting, poverty, treachery, and even a resurrection with a touch of Frankenstein.
It is really a morality play of black and white, good versus evil, with Perciles, played by the ultra-fit Michael Sharon, as the virtuous prince enduring tragedy after tribulation, kind of like Hercules meets Job.
At the Connecticut Repertory Theater they use a combination of student actors with professionals, and here Sharon and the narrator, played by Clark Carmichael, fill the bill more than adequately.
Let’s face it — Shakespeare’s language is pretty dense stuff, but CRT, here under the direction of Dale AJ Rose, does a laudable, at times remarkable job of making sense of the convoluted action and plot.
In this play Pericles travels to a the land of Antioch to attempt to marry king Antiochus’ daughter, the king played by Brooks Brantly, bedecked in many red feathers, while his daughter is played by Caroline Gombe.
Pericles discovers the secret that the king is having an incestuous relationship with his daughter, and before they kill Pericles for discovering their secret, he flees. He goes to Pentapolis where he falls in love and marries Thaisa, played by Meghan O’Leary. He fights to win her hand in a terrific match against three suitors, wrestling, battling, and engaging in a spectacular sword fight with real sharp, heavy swords, with fight direction by Greg Webster.
Additionally in the same scene the four combatants participate in a rhythmically choreographed piece with wooden poles that defies description, but is intricate, perfectly timed, and incredible to see — choreography by Hillel Meltzer.
Then it’s off to Tyre, but not before his wife dies in childbirth, or at least appears to die, on the high seas. The child, Marina, is given to the care of Dionyza and her husband Cleon in Tarsus. When Marina grows up, the evil Dionyza becomes jealous of her, tries to have her killed, but not before Marina is abducted by pirates who sell her to a brothel.
Here the brothel has a distinct exotic Bertolt Brechtian air, with wild costumes, designed by Sachiko Komuro, and fabulous wigs. In fact all of the clothing would look very much at home in any Star Trek episode.
There are other twists and turns in the plot, but suffice it to say, this is one melodrama to end all melodramas, and this large and capable cast does it’s best to help make the complex and intricate language come to life with larger than life visualizations of what is transpiring.
When Sharon’s Pericles, who really couldn’t be better or more intense, is caught in an ocean tempest, a huge white cloth, like a giant sail, is waved down from the ceiling onto the ground to become the ocean, half drowning him.
Similarly when the narrator, John Gower, naturalistically played by Clark Carmichael, explains that many a suitor was decapitated, we see the heads. Thanks for that.
The set, with its half-moon near the ceiling, and simple blue floor, was unostentatious, by Michael Franklin-White, and was a perfectly suitable backdrop for the varied and intricate lighting effects, by Chad Lefebvre. The music too was well timed and heightened the dramatic moments, composed by Spencer Emanuel.
As well-acted and directed as the show is, it is strangely not at all emotionally engaging — perhaps because of the melodramatic, larger-than-life sweep of the morality tale.
However, the entire cast worked beautifully together, many playing multiple roles, to make this rather obscure Shakespeare play one that any Shakespeare lover should not miss.

PERICLES

3½ Stars
Theater: Connecticut Repertory Theatre
Location: Nafe Katter Theater, 802 Bolton Rd., Storrs
Production: Written by William Shakespeare. Directed by Dale AJ Rose. Scenic design by Michael Franklin-White. Costume design by Sachiko Komuro. Lighting design by Chad Lefebvre. Music composed by Spencer Emanuel. Movement and fight choreography by Greg Webster. Choreography by Hillel Meltzer.
Running time: 2 1/2 hours plus one 15-minute intermission.
Show Times: Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., and Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., with matinees Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. through March 8.
Tickets: General admission $11 to $29. Call 860-486-4266 or visit their website at www.crt.uconn.edu.
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Michael Sharon … Pericles, Prince of Tyre
Clark Carmichael … John Gower, the presenter
Brooks Brantly … Antiochus, the king of Antioch
Caroline Gombe … King Anitochus’ daughter; a Bawd
Ryan Guess … Cleon, the governor of Tarsus
Gretchen Goode … Dionyza, Cleon’s wife
Ali Periwitz … Marina, Pericle’s daughter
Philip AJ Smithey … Simonides, the king at Pentapolis
Meghan O’Leary … Thaisa, Simonides’ daughter
Phillip Korth … Lysimachus, the governor of Mytilene
Robbie Thompson, Jr. …. A Pander

“To Kill a Mockingbird” moving interpretation of a classic at the HSC

HARTFORD — Just about everyone has read the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird,” written in 1960 by Harper Lee, or has seen the movie by the same name starring Gregory Peck. It really is a story of our American heritage.
Matthew Modine stars as Atticus Finch, in the Hartford Stage Company’s production, and he does an admirable job filling some pretty big shoes as the honorable, good man and single father doing his best to be fair and hopeful, against the majority who believes that racism is right.
Set in the south during the great depression of the 1930’s, it’s a tale of poverty, racism, and the justice system, told through the eyes of a young tomboy nicknamed Scout.
In this adaptation by Christopher Sergel, the grown up Scout, played by Hallie Foote, narrates the story, where her father, the lawyer Atticus Finch, defends a black man, Tom Robinson, accused of raping a young poor white woman, Mayella Ewell.
Finch says he feels sorry for Mayella, wellplayed by Virginia Fell, but not sorry enough to allow her lies to ruin a black man’s life. That man being Tom Robinson, played with quiet integrity by Douglas Lyons, whose only crime was being kind to a woman whose life is so miserable and lonely.
Mayella’s racist father, Bob Ewell, is played by Mike Boland is completely believable as the ignorant, arrogant, self-important bigot.
Little Scout is spunky and forthright, earnestly played by Olivia Scott. When she pulls on the barrette she is forced to wear, or beats up a schoolboy because he insults her, she is convincing and full of life. And when the men attempt to lynch Robinson and Scout stops them by simply talking about one of the men’s children and her friend, it is powerful and moving.
Also notable was little Dill played by Andrew Shipman. Based on the real life Truman Capote who was Harper Lee’s next door neighbor as a child, Shipman’s Dill is precocious and a little trouble-maker, adorable in a bow-tie and Dennis-the-Menace hair.
Some of the actors play more than one role, which is fine, but when Nafe Katter plays both Judge Taylor and Boo Radley’s father, Nathan Radley, the two characters don’t look different enough from each other, and it is momentarily confusing.
The southern accents are all fine for the most part, but the problem is that the drawal naturally begs for a slower, more laid back pace, and that is not what we get here.
Perhaps director Michael Wilson is concerned about keeping the show moving, but whatever the motivation, the pace is New York City fast, making the play feel rushed at times, and sometimes difficult to understand.
Moments worth pausing for are steam-rolled over. When Robinson’s wife, played by Daralyn Jay, receives some devastating news, her one moment of agony and despair is swept away before it has a chance to fully unfold.
Better to have the confidence in the material that the story deserves, and slow down some to fully flesh out the emotional intensity inherent in the play.
Probably also for time considerations, the closing statements of the defense during the court scenes are the only ones heard. While they are powerful, and well presented by Modine’s Finch, still it would have been worth it to hear what the prosecutor had to say.
The set in first act was the front of the Finch home and a courtroom in act two. It is a simple clean design that works, by Jeff Cowie.
Even though Modine is the star attraction here, this is really Scout’s show, and Scott, with her earnest innocent performance, makes this show shine.

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

3 Stars
Location: Hartford Stage Company, 50 Church Street, Hartford.
Production: Adapted by Christopher Sergel from the novel by Harper Lee. Directed by Michael Wilson. Scene design by Jeff Cowie. Costume design by David C. Woolard. Lighting design by Rui Rita. Original music and sound design by John Gromada.
Running time: 2 hours with one 15-minute intermission.
Show Times: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., with matinees performances Sundays, selected Wednesdays and Saturday s at 2 p.m. through April 4.
Tickets: start at $23. Call 860-527-5151 or visit their website at www.hartfordstage.org.
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Matthew Modine …Atticus Finch
Hallie Foote … Jean Louise Finch
Olivia Scott … Scout
Henry Hodges … Jem
Virginia Kull … Mayella Ewell
Mike Boland … Bob Ewell
Charles Turner … Reverend Sykes
Douglas Lyons … Tom Robinson
Pat Bowie … Calpurnia

Effervescent, kibitzing “Bad Dates” at Long Wharf


NEW HAVEN — The trials and tribulations of the single life are examined and dissected in Long Wharf Theatre’s production of “Bad Dates.”
It is an amusing and mostly honest view from one woman’s perspective of what it is like to be a single mom of a teen-age girl trying to earn a living in New York City, while taking a chance and jumping feet first into the deep end of dating pool.
It’s not always a pretty picture, but realistic and often funny. For example, rather than calling some of her dates by their names, Haley Walker gives them by nick-names, such as “the bug man.”
She also goes on a blind date her mother arranges with a gay Columbia law professor who she says is “the least fun homosexual on the planet,” is “snotty and kind of mean,” “on a pretend date with a girl.”
Another date disaster asks her what she is wearing and tells her it makes her look old. Why she continues to torture herself with that lout after those insults is a mystery.
Haley is competently and effervescently played by Haviland Morris. She speaks directly to the audience, in this one-woman show, like she is kibitzing with one of her girlfriends.
Not an easy feat to pull off, delivering a 90 minute monologue about her love life, or lack of one, plus a rather rocky work situation, running a trendy restaurant which turns out to be a front for a group of Romanian Mafia-type criminals.
The play, written by Theresa Rebeck, is wholly set in a rent-controlled apartment’s bedroom, over-run with wild designer shoes, in New York City. Originally written in 2004, it is amazing how much the world has changed in that time. How many upwardly mobile urban professionals still use a phone book to look up a telephone number? Cell phones are talked about, but no computer is in sight.
The bedroom is cozily cluttered, and looks like designer Frank J. Alberino popped next door to IKEA for the décor.
The costumes designed by Jessica Wegener, were many and appropriate for the play, with lots of dresses, and tons of high high heels. The red shoes in particular were lovely — some others, not so.
During the few scene changes in this play they added a fun interlude by having the two set changers, dressed like the blues brothers, do a little dance sequence while moving shoe boxes about. It is a clever idea, with direction by Long Wharf Theatre’s associate artistic director Eric Ting.
Haley’s self-effacing charm and her willingness to take responsibility for her actions, and reactions, make this show engaging and entertaining, as does her engaging the audience in a direct conversation about her love life, or lack of a love life.
Of her relationship with her former husband, she admits, “I was just another person who married a moron.”
Pretty much every woman at one time or another has experienced some of what she goes through in her effort to find companionship with other fellow travelers in the uncharted relationship waters.
A bit of a combination of “Sex and the City” with “Brigit Jones Diaries,” “Bad Dates,” while at times feels a little dated, is a light-hearted romp through the odd and strange world of dating.

BAD DATES

3 Stars
Location: 222 Sargent Drive, New Haven
Production: Written by Theresa Rebeck. Directed by Eric Ting. Set designed by Frank J. Alberino. Costumes designed by Jessica Wegener. Lighting designed by Josh Epstein. Sound designed by Corrine K. Livingston.
Running time: 90 minutes with no intermission.
Show Times: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Sundays at 7 p.m., Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8 p.m., with Wednesday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. and Saturday matinees at 3 p.m. through Mar. 22.
Tickets: $32 to $62. For more information call their box office at 203-787-4282, or visit their website at www.longwharf.org
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Haviland Morris …. Haley Walker
By Kory Loucks
Journal Inquirer

Evocative intricate “EVITA” at the Broad Brook Opera House


EAST WINDSOR — Theatre, just like nature, abhors a vacuum and after the recent demise of the Connecticut Opera, perhaps the Broad Brook Opera House Players can help fill the void.
They certainly went a long way towards that achievement with their fine production of “EVITA,” the modern opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice, which is running through Sunday.
The show really belongs to Eva Peron, the real-life Argentinean film star who became a political leader, marrying Juan Peron, who was to become Argentina’s president in 1946.
Eva Peron, well-played by the powerhouse singer, Nicole R. Giguere, is on stage just about every minute of the show, when she isn’t changing costumes, and even sometimes when she is.
In real life Eva Peron started out as Maria Eva Duarte. She came from dirt poor, lower class illegitimate obscurity, having “every disadvantage you need if you’re gonna succeed,” as the narrator and admiring critic, Che, sagely observes and sings.
Christopher deJongh, who plays Che, has a beautiful voice and hits all the right notes, musically and theatrically, with the sarcasm and anger, tinged with fascination and admiration, that gives the show so much of it’s depth.
Paul DiProto’s Juan Peron is a finely-etched performance of a weaker man who sees the advantages of a strong charismatic smoke screen in Evita, who single-handedly put Argentina on the map like no one before or after her.
In life, Evita, which means little Eva, died of cancer at 33 in 1952 before she was able to fulfill her ambition and become the country’s vice-president.
She hated the middle classes in Argentina because they had treated her with contempt and ridicule as the illegitimate child of a middle-class man. She also championed the poor, making her a lightening rod for divergent opinions, as Giguere sang derisively in one of her many songs, “The actress hasn’t learned the lines you’d like to hear.”
Caroline Zocco plays Juan Peron’s mistress, and gives a fine performance as the out-of-luck ex, singing “Another Suitcase in Another Hall.”
Also fine and funny is Eva’s first of many lovers, Paul Aherne, who plays the smarmy crooner Augustin Magaldi, wearing an amusing Rod Blagojevich-like toupee — it’s acting with hair.
The supporting cast members are all terrific, animated, and involved, while the choreography, by Todd Saint Maria, was surprisingly intricate, diverse, and the cast did a great job of delivering, particularly on such a small stage.
The musicians, lead by Bill Martin, were sensitive to the various performers, and never overwhelmed them,
The Broad Brook Opera House Players really outdid themselves in this production with the inclusion of two projection screens showing archival photographs of Eva Peron. The technical touch, with video design by Barbara Arnold, added depth and sophistication to this heart-felt show.
One of the delightful aspects of this community theater is that they have a hold a fundraising raffle during intermission, the winner of which gets to split the proceeds with the house. They previously held the raffle before the show, but switching it to intermission is a much better choice.
Director Philip D. Vetro promised the audience before the sold-out show Saturday that the Broad Brook Opera House Players are financially sound for the coming season. All the more reason to continue to support their consistently fine and impressive productions.

EVITA

3 Stars
Theater: The Broad Brook Opera House
Location: 107 Main Street, Broad Brook
Production: Lyrics by Tim Rice. Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Direction by Philip D. Vetro. Musical direction by Bill Martin. Choreography by Todd Santa Maria. Set design by Peggy Messerschmidt. Lighting design by Diane St. Amand. Sound design by Devon Gamache, and Bruce Banning. Video design by Barbara Arnold.
Running time: 2 hours, plus a 15-minute intermission
Show Times: Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m. through March 1.
Tickets: $20, seniors over 60 and youth under 12 pay $16. Call 860-292-6068 or visit their website at www.operahouseplayers.org
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Nicole R. Giguere … Eva Peron
Christopher deJongh … Che
Paul DiProto …Juan Peron
Paul Aherne … Augstin Magaldi
Caroline Zocco … Peron’s mistress
Ensemble …. Deb Brigada, Adam Fancher, Gene Gramarossa, Dallas Hosmer, Khara C. Hoyer, Reva Kleppel, Brenda Koboski, Erik Landry, Amy Szczepaniuk Meek, Brianna Mello, Chris Papa, Sara Papa, Jerilyn Rae, Gary Rhone, James Rhine, Julianne Rhone.
Children’s ensemble … Sarah Banning, Maureen Baron, Erin Fields, Pearl Matteson, Casie Pepe Winshell

"Four Dogs and a Bone" a carnivorous, risqué delight at the Suffield Players

SUFFIELD — For anyone who’s ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes of film, you won’t find a more compelling, back-stabbing, witty, or profanity-ridden example than “Four Dogs and a Bone,” playing at the Suffield Players through Feb. 28.
This is an interesting daring production, because the dialog is definitely on the far side of propriety. Let’s just say, this isn’t your typical community theater comedy of manners.
If you can handle the very adult profanity, however, it is hysterical. It is also a terrific cautionary tale for anyone who has ever dreamed of working in the film industry. There are high dollars and future careers at stake every step of the way.
Written by John Patrick Shanley, who is no stranger to stage or screen writing, having written the films “Moonstruck,” and “Joe Versus the Volcano,” among many others.
Most recently Shanley directed the film version of his 2004 multiple award-winning play “Doubt: A Parable,” starring Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman.
In this play Robert Lunde plays Victor, Shanley’s alter ego, who has written a screenplay everyone wants to change.
That includes the seasoned, stressed-out movie producer, Bradley, played with world-weariness by Josh Guenter; Brenda the ingenue, “with no talent but lots of personality” played with wide-eyed steeliness by Megan Fish; and the stage actress with “dead-eyes” who is desperate to be the ingenue and not a character actor, well-played by Lea D. Oppedisano.
Oppedisano gets to over-act, and overact she does — reminiscent of the old Hollywood actress Gloria Swanson. While showing she can be sarcastic with the best of them, she also has crashing experiences of occasional vulnerability.
You really never know what these characters are going to say or do next, which is a big part of the play’s appeal.
No question that Shanley experienced much of the insanity of film making in his screen writing and directing career, and in this play, written in 1993, he got to have his wicked comeuppance.
If creating films is anything like this, which they undoubtedly must be, it is a “monkey miracle” any of them ever gets completed.
Sometimes background music, which is so essential in establishing mood in films, is distracting and jarring in plays, but because this show is so over-the-top and dramatic, in a good way, the occasional musical interludes work very well.
When in the second act Colette appears at the producer’s glass door, and a track from Sergio Leone’s spaghetti westerns is played, it enhances the scene, illiciting laughter from the audience — because the two women, bubble-headed Brenda and Kabuki theatre-queen Colette, are headed for a showdown.
The set, with the producer’s office, the women’s dressing room, and the bar, all work great, quite an achievement in such a small stage space — Kudos to set designer Konrad Rogowski.
This show is definitely not for kids and even adults might find it offensive, so be forewarned. That being said, the actors are all excellent, well cast, and move comfortably and easily about the stage, with fine direction by Meghan Lynn Allen.
Every character in this show has his or her own agenda, and it is a feast of fun to watch them all get what they deserve in this biting tale of double-crossing, maneuvering, manipulation, and gargantuan egos — “Four Dogs and a Bone” is a carnivorous risqué delight.

FOUR DOGS AND A BONE

3 Stars
Location: Mapleton Hall, 1305 Mapleton Ave. Suffield.
Production: Written by John Patrick Shanley. Directed by Meghan Lynn Allen. Lighting design and technical direction by Jerry Zalewski. Set design by Konrad Rogowski.
Running time: 2 hours, including one 15-minute intermission.
Show Times: Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. through Feb. 28.
Tickets: $17, $15 for seniors and students. Call 800-289-6158 or visit their website at www.suffieldplayers.org.
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Megan Fish ... Brenda
Josh Guenter ... Bradley
Robert Lunde ... Victor
Lea D. Oppedisano ... Colette

“Dead Man’s Cell Phone” an existential romp at TheaterWorks
HARTFORD — “Dead Man’s Cell Phone,” produced by TheaterWorks and running through March 15, is a quirky, existential, absurdist romp through a metaphysical park of the mind.
Existentialism deals with the individual’s ultimate isolation, freedom of choice, and responsibility for the consequences of one’s actions — a conceit the play, written by Sarah Ruhl, jumps into with both feet.
Ruhl leaps into the deep end of the dysfunctional family gene pool, sweeping the audience along for the inquisitive ride, where Ralph Waldo Emerson, Charles Dickens, and John Dunn are quoted with equal felicity, and questions of connection and alienation in an electronically wired world are dissected.
It is rather ironic that the more we are connected via cell phones and the like, the more isolated and emotionally disconnected we feel.
Finnerty Steeves plays a woman, Jean, in a café who discovers a man, Gordon, who has quietly but most assuredly died. Gordon is played with cold charisma by Craig Wroe, while Steeves plays a frumpy gal, who tries to help everyone, including herself, by lying in a good way about a history she invents between Gordon and herself.
The play sometimes feels like a cross between the film “While You Were Sleeping,” and “The Royal Tenenbaums,” where a lonely woman meets a highly dysfunctional family and insinuates herself into their lives.
That family consists of, an anemic, meat-eating, and metaphorically man-eating matriarch played by the fine Anne-Lynn Kettles, Gordon’s stiff-backed, unhappy widow Hermia (Lee Heinz), and the meek brother who loves stationary, Dwight (Mark Shanahan).
The white, austere set, designed by Michael Schweikardt, is a perfect blank slate for the various scenes in the café, the Gottlieb’s dining room, the stationary store, and South America. The set is exquisitely enhanced by the washes of intense colored backdrop lighting, including the deep reds and warm yellows, kudos to lighting designer John Lasiter.
Director Rob Ruggiero is inventive and unobtrusive as always, making choices that feel at once organic and compelling, such as when he has Hermia and the mistress speak from the audience isle, or when Jean is knelling at the church using the stage as the railing.
The fight scene between Jean and the other woman, choreographed by Matthew Scott Campbell, feels self-conscious and inauthentic.
Where have all the phone booths gone? What a different world we live in today, with iPhones and Blackberries and who knows what else next. The answers to questions are at our fingertips, but does that make our need to retain information superfluous? We really don’t need to remember anything, or rely on our own brains for information, because it can always be found in an instant outside ourselves.
TheaterWorks has added a new component to their theater experience — with a terrific art gallery and bistro on the first floor. In conjunction with the New Britain Museum of American Art, the gallery has a stunning collection of original oil paintings from pulp magazines of the 1940’s with gangsters and criminals, along with other fine original works.
TheaterWorks Executive Director Steve Campo has created an artistic marriage between theater and the visual arts that synergistically enhances both — something your cell phone will never do.

DEAD MAN'S CELL PHONE

3 Stars
Theater: TheaterWorks
Location: 233 Pearl St. Hartford.
Production: Written by Sarah Ruhl. Directed by Rob Ruggiero. Set designed by Michael Schweikardt. Costumes designed by Katherine Hampton Noland. Lighting designed by John Lasiter. Sound designed by J. Hagenbuckle. Fight choreography by Matthew Scott Campbell.
Running time: 2 hours, plus a 15-minute intermission
Show Times: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., with matinees on Saturdays and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. The show is scheduled to run through March 15.
Tickets: Unassigned seating is $37; $47 on Friday and Saturday nights. Center reserved seats $11 extra. $10 student rush tickets at showtime with valid ID (subject to availability). For tickets call 860-527-7838 or visit their website at www.theaterworks.org.
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Finnerty Steeves … Jean
Craig Wroe … Gordon
Anne-Lynn Kettles … Mrs. Gottleib
Joey Parsons … The other woman, a stranger
Lee Heinz … Hermia
Mark Shanahan … Dwight

Jersey Boys Rocks

HARTFORD — Oh what a show. First rate, unforgettable music, and lots of it, combined with a rags-to-riches-to-rags-to-riches story about a time in the 1950s when men were men, especially if they were Italian, and the only options to get out of poverty in inner-city New Jersey were either crime or singing, or in the case of the “Jersey Boys,” both.
“Jersey Boys” the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, won a well-deserved Tony for best musical in 2006. In this production at the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts running through Feb. 22, some of the actors are from the original Broadway cast, and it shows.
How many songs are there where all you have to do is say the title and you know the song? No matter how old you are or what your taste in music is, if you have been on this earth for at least a few decades chances are pretty good that you have heard “Sherrie,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Oh, What a Night,” Walk Like a Man,” “My Eyes Adore You,” “Working My Way Back to You,” “Let’s Hang on to What We’ve Got,” which are only a few of the many songs, most written by Four Season member Bob Gaudio, and performed in “Jersey Boys.”
It isn’t just the songs though, along with terrific choreography by Sergio Trujillo, and the plethora of period-perfect costumes by Jess Goldstein, that make this show so absolutely fabulous. It’s also how the songs are woven into the story of how three working class New Jersey boys who team up with a fourth from out west, found a sound and created a phenomenon, with their trials and tribulations along the way.
Let’s face it — No matter how talented a group is, after a while watching four guys singing song after song, no matter how varied their costumes are, can get a little old. But that is never a problem here. Almost every song had a different angle, including the scene when the group was on American Bandstand and the cameras videoed them in black and white and superimposed their singing onto a big screen, with archival footage of teens screaming on companion screens.
They did it a second time when they appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show. Super idea, especially for a large venue like the Bushnell, giving those audience members sitting far back to get a better look at the characters.
Also innovative and effective was when they turned the stage around and made it feel like the audience was at the back of the stage. Huge, whiteout spotlights focused on the group and spilled onto the real audience — lending a vicarious sensation of what it must be like to be literally in the spotlight of a huge venue.
The show started off with a strange rap song — the idea, to show that the Four Season’s music is still relevant today, but it wasn’t that good.
Joseph Leo Bwarie is an awesome talent. Not only looks like the diminutive Frankie Valli, who we learn changed his name from Castelluccio, but he sings like an angel, and even better, sounds just like Valli. Three of the original members, including Valli, are still alive, according to the show.
That fact is amazing in one instance in particular, considering that Tommy DeVito, the founding member of the group and one bad boy, played by the fine Matt Bailey, was heavily into gambling, drinking, and petty theft — putting him and his fellow group members in and out of jail and into deep financial debt.
Josh Franklin couldn’t be better cast as the young singer songwriter from out west who joins the trio and writes the music that Frankie and the group sing — a musical marriage that the world would be much poorer for without.
Steve Gouveia who was in the original cast and also on Broadway as the fourth member, Nick Massi, acted the part as the “Ringo” of the group well. When harmonizing with the others, he was excellent, but when heard alone, his voice was notably weaker than the others.
You can often tell the quality of the show not only by the leads, but also by how deep the bench goes. With that litmus test in mind, “Jersey Boys” supporting cast, including Joseph Siravo as Gyp DeCarlo, Renee Marino as Mary Delgado, Jonathan Hadley as Bob Crewe, and Courtier Simmons as Joe Pesci (yes that Joe Pesci) are all top notch.
If you can get through this show without a smile on your face or feeling joy in your heart, you may want to check to make sure you still have a pulse.
Seriously, if there is only one show you go to see this year, make it “Jersey Boys.” You will not be disappointed, and could end up besotted by this remarkably talented group.

JERSEY BOYS
4 Stars
Theater: The William H. Mortensen Hall at the Bushnell Memorial Center
Location: 166 Capitol Ave. Hartford
Production: Directed by Des McAnuff. Book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice. Music by Bob Gaudio. Lyrics by Bob Crewe. Scenic design by Klara Zieglerova. Costume design by Jess Goldstein. Lighting design by Howell Binkley. Sound design by Steven Canyon Kennedy. Choreography by Sergio Trujillo.
Running time: 2 1/2 hours, with one 15-minute intermission
Show Times: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., with matinee performances Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m., through Feb. 22.
Tickets: Start at $25. Call 860-987-5900 or visit their website at www.bushnell.org. Recommended for ages 13 and up.
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Joseph Leo Bwarie … Frankie Valli
Matt Bailey … Tommy DeVito
Josh Franklin … Bob Gaudio
Steve Gouveia … Nick Massi
Jonathan Hadley … Bob Crewe and others
Courter Simmons … Joey and others
Joseph Siravo … Gyp DeCarol and others
Renee Marino … Mary Delgado, Angel and others