“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

“Coming Home” relevant but heavy-handed play at Long Wharf

NEW HAVEN — The statistics are horrific. Over 27 percent of the South African population is infected with the AIDS virus — 40 percent of pregnant women were HIV positive in 2008, and in 2007 an estimated 1.4 million South African children were orphaned.
Even more horrifying was the government cover up that intentionally mislead millions. In the program notes we learn that up until 2004 South Africa’s Minister of Health, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, with the support of then-president Thabo Mbeki, insisted that the AIDS virus could be effectively treated with a diet of bananas, garlic, and olive oil.
The play “Coming Home” premiering at the Long Wharf Theatre, is a personal story of this national tragedy told by acclaimed playwright Athol Fugard.
A young woman leaves her hometown to try to make it as a singer in Cape Town, South Africa. She returns years later infected with the AIDS virus, with a child in tow, trying to secure a future for her AIDS-free child.
At the beginning of the play Veronica Jonkers, played by Roslyn Ruff, returns to the one-room shanty, well designed by Eugene Lee. Her South African accent is all over the place at first, and then it settles down. Ruff portrays a feisty, fiery character, fighting till the end for a secure future for her child.
The end, almost from the beginning, is never in doubt.
The son, Mannetjie Jonkers, is played by two young actors, and they are both terrific. The younger Mannetjie Jonkers, played by an adorable Namumba Santos, only has a few lines, but he is convincing and sweet. The older Mannetjie Jonkers played by Mel Eichler, has the most convincing and consistent accent of the group, and just the right balance of fear and indignation.
Colman Domingo, was fine and believable as the concerned and loving childhood friend Alfred Witbooi. Lou Ferguson who plays the grandfather, Oupa Jonkers, was also solid.
The play is unfortunately over long in exposition. The adult characters each tell story after story. The stories are good ones, but probably read better on the page.
The pace of the play picks up near the end when the conflict and resolution between Alfred and the older Mannetjie Jonkers is explored.
The seed analogy, with the implication that words are like seeds and if nurtured, they will grow, is fine and good, but it is heavy-handed, obvious, and over-played.
The deux ex machina near the end, when the long-hidden money is revealed, feels contrived for plot-resolution purposes. Like the definition of deux ex machina, it is an unexpected, artificial event introduced suddenly to resolve a situation.
“Coming Home” is well meaning and an important, relevant, and tragic story about real poverty and appalling suffering, but talking heads get old after a while.

COMING HOME
2 Stars
Location: 222 Sargent Drive, New Haven
Production: Written by Athol Fugard. Directed by Gordon Edelstein. Set design by Eugene Lee. Costumes by Jessica Ford. Lighting by Stephen Strawbridge. Sound design by Corrine Livingston. Dialect coach Amy Stoller.
Running time: 2 hours with one 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 Feb. 8.
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
Roslyn Ruff … Veronica Jonkers
Namumba Santos … younger Mannetjie Jonkers
Mel Eichler … older Mannetjie Jonkers
Colman Domingo … Alfred Witbooi
Lou Ferguson … Oupa Jonkers

HSC’s “Dying City” complex, compelling

HARTFORD — Although this complex, compelling play “Dying City” is just one act, so many traumatic, disturbing issues are exhumed, dissected, and revealed, it feels longer.
Love, death, a possible suicide, homosexuality, war, politics, and heartbreak along with other twists and turns are delivered in a flashback motif that works.
Written by Wethersfield native Christopher Shinn, the play centers on three characters played by two actors. Kelly the wife, who is a therapist, is played by Diane Davis. The other characters are her husband, Craig, who died in the Iraqi War, and his identical gay twin brother, Peter, a famous actor starring in a play in New York, where the play takes place. Ryan King plays both Peter and Craig.
Craig has died a year previously in Iraq in an accident at a practice range, and his twin, Peter, comes to Kelly’s apartment as she is getting ready to move away.
The dialog is emotionally charged and spoken in naturalistic, abrupt sentences that start and stop and change direction second to second. It must have been challenging for the actors to memorize and be able to deliver the dialog naturally, but both Davis and King make it seem organic and in the moment.
Davis switches scene to scene, from playing one brother to the other, and is completely convincing. Playing identical twins with different sexual orientations even touches on the nature vs. nurture argument of homosexuality.
The set, by Wilson Chin, is reminiscent of the television show “Friends” set, with a huge loft-like window that looks out on what appears at first to be the city sky line. The décor is minimalist Ikea-like.
Hearing about the Iraqi War in this poetic, serious play, written in 2006, is both disturbing and relevant. It is an important play, not without some humor, that is thought provoking and promising for the future of modern theater.

DYING CITY
3 Stars
Location: Hartford Stage Company, 50 Church Street, Hartford.
Production: Written by Christopher Shinn. Directed by Maxwell Williams. Scenic design by Wilson Chin. Costume design by Alejo Vietti. Lighting design by Traci Klainer. Sound design by Fitz Patton.
Running time: 1 1/2 hours with no intermission.
Show Times: Tuesdays, Thursdays, and selected Wednesdays 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 Feb. 8
Tickets: $23 — $66. Call 527-5151 or visit their Web site at www.hartfordstage.org.
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Diane Davis … Kelly
Ryan King …Peter/Craig

“Avenue Q” is A-Okay

HARTFORD — For anyone who was grew up with Sesame Street and Jim Henson’s Muppet show, “Avenue Q” hits the sweet spot.
The 2004 Tony-award winning musical’s sweet and straightforward story teaches lessons in how to live a meaningful life full of purpose and direction.
Although not sanctioned by either The Jim Henson Company or Sesame Street, the similarities are unmistakable, with the floozy Lucy filling the Miss Piggy roll, Trekkie Monster, played by the fine David Benoit, filling Cookie Monster’s spot, and Bert and Ernie represented by Rod and Nicky, played by Robert McClure and Benoit.
The story follows the life of college graduate Princeton, also played by the energetic and upbeat McClure, who moves to an outer borough of New York City, to the low-rent district along a street called Avenue Q There he finds other good-natured losers like him who are just trying to make ends meet.
The plot such as it is, follows Princeton’s life as he tries to find what his “purpose” is — just the kind of quest an English Literature major would be searching for.
Some of the actors, like the Holiday-named “Christmas Eve,” played by Sala Iwamatsu and her husband, the near-do-well comic Brian, played by Cole Porter, have no puppet characters. Danielle K. Thomas plays Gary Coleman, a parody of the same-named child actor who in this musical is reduced a building superintendent.
In case anyone is wondering, the real Coleman is not too happy with the musical’s characiture of him.
Iwamatsu has a heavy Japanese accent that is part of her character, but is difficult to understand at times.
The other actors, dressed in black, play multiple puppet roles, with half-bodied puppets — a conceit that takes a little getting used to, and is probably more effective from the balcony seats.
In addition to Benoit and McClure, Anika Larsen was outstanding as the puppeteer and voice of both the innocent kindergarten assistant teacher Kate Monster and the sexy Mae West-like Lucy.
The opening song “It Sucks to be Me,” is definitely the show’s best musical number and the funniest, while the song about racism is an interesting examination of the everyday stereotypes that hurt, told with humor.
While the program notes say that the show is appropriate for children as young as 13, that may be pushing the envelope some.
There is lots of profanity, which is amusing to hear from puppets, but there are also naked puppets having graphic puppet-sex, so perhaps 16 years old would be the youngest age that should attend the show.
The musical also uses two projection flat screens that flash cartoon images along with little lessons, like the meaning of the word “Schaudenfreude” — a German word for experiencing happiness at the misfortune of others. The screens showed its proper pronunciation, etymology, and even examples of how it is used in a sentence.
“Avenue Q” offers grown-up lessons in tolerance and matters of the heart that go down more easily since they are told from the perspective of puppets.


AVENUE Q
Three Stars
Theater: The William H. Mortensen Hall at the Bushnell Memorial Center
Location: 166 Capitol Ave. Hartford
Production: Music and lyrics by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx. Book by Jeff Whitty. Directed by Jason Moore. Choreographer Ken Roberson. Music supervision, arrangements, and orchestrations by Stephen Oremus. Set design by Anna Louizos. Costume design by Mirena Rada. Lighting design by Howell Binkley. Puppets conceived and designed by Rick Lyon.
Running time: 2 hours, plus one 15-minute intermission
Show Times: Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m., with Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. through Jan. 18.
Tickets: $20 — $65. Call 860-987-5900 or visit their Web site at www.bushnell.org. Recommended for ages 13 and up.
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Robert McClure … Princeton, Rod
Anika Larsen … Kate Monster, Lucy, and others
David Benoit … Nicky, Trekkie Monster, Bear and others
Sala Iwamatsu … Christmas Eve
Cole Porter … Brian
Danielle K. Thomas … Gary Coleman
Maggie Lakis … Mrs. T., Bear, and others

“Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas” a silly sweet new musical

EAST HADDAM — Enter a fantastic world of Frogtown Hollow, where dreams come to life, and gifts from the heart are the most important things in the lovely tale of Jim Henson’s “Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas.”
Adapted from the HBO television show with all Jim Henson puppets, which was based on an illustrated book by Russell and Lillian Hoban, this musical uses a clever combination of fabulous animal puppets and real people dressed as the animal menagerie, with music.
Emmet Otter, played with wide-eyed sweetness by Daniel Reichard, wants to give his mother a present, while the mom, Mrs. Alice Otter, played with nurturing kindness by Cass Morgan, wishes to give her son a gift, but neither has enough money.
They decide to enter the talent contest and win the $50 prize. This story begins as a story read to a little girl named Jane by her father. Jane is played by a petite and sweet Kate Wetherhead. In an Alice-in-Wonderland-like turn, she falls asleep and dreams she is in their animal world.
There are the bad Nightmare Band characters, including a funny Stan Weasel, played by Stephen Bienskie, who looks like a psychedelic version of the AC/DC guitarist Angus Young. Beware the catfish puppet, played by Tyler Bunch, that squirts the first few rows with water during the show.
The songs, with lyrics and music by Paul Williams, are either bluegrass, ballads, perky happy tunes, or the wild rock and roll song of the Nightmare Band. Some are from the televion show production, while others are new, and are all fine.
The most memorable is the song that Ma Otter and Emmet sing — “When the River Meets the Sea,” which is reprised again at the end, so they must know it is the money song of the show too.
The humor is puny and silly, such as when the fine Mrs. Mink played by Madeleine Doherty, starts to do a strip tease during her talent contest number, and the Mayor, played by the excellent Kevin Covert, ends it abruptly and then thanks her for her “revealing” number. Covert is so good, as is his wife, played by Lisa Howard, that it would have been great if they had bigger roles in the show.
That isn’t a criticism, but a complement to the volume of overwhelming talent of the whole cast. The puppets are terrific too, including the hyper flying squirrels that twittered and tumbled about, played by Tyler Bunch, Anney McKilligan, James Silson, and David Stephens.
The make up and wigs, which are uncredited, but are truly remarkable, particularly for Mayor and Mrs. Fox. The costumes, which are a riot of bright colors and imaginative textures, by Gregg Barnes, are lots of fun, with tons of padding for just about everybody. They must be incredibly hot to wear under the stage lights.
The set of the fairytale-like town and cottages is excellent, by Anna Louizos, and the forest trees are detailed with quirky pine needles on oak tree-like trunks.
The dad, played by Alan Campbell, has a fine voice, but he looks about a decade too young to play the teenage Jane’s dad.
It is difficult to tell who is having more fun, the audience or the actors, but that doesn’t really matter. What does is this sweet and delightful Christmas treat of a musical for all ages.

EMMET OTTER'S JUG BAND CHRISTMAS

Three Stars
Location: Goodspeed Opera House, Route 82, East Haddam
Production: Music and lyrics by Paul Williams. Book by Timothy A. McDonald and Christopher Gattelli, who also directed and choreographed the show. Musical direction by Larry Pressgrove. Scene design by Anna Louizos. Costume design by Gregg Barnes. Lighting design by Brian MacDevitt.
Running time: 2 hours, with one 15-minute intermission
Show Times: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and select Fridays, and New Years Day at 2 p.m.; Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 7 p.m. with Saturday matinee at 3 p.m.; and Sunday matinee at 2 p.m., with Sunday evening performance at 6:30 p.m. through Jan. 4. There are no performances Dec. 25,.
Tickets: $39 — $49. Call the box office at 860-873-8668 or visit their website at www.goodspeed.org
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Kate Wetherhead … Jane
Daniel Reichard … Emmet Otter
Cass Morgan … Mrs. Alice Otter
Robb Sapp … Wendell Porcupine
Lisa Howard … Mrs. Gretchen Fox
Kevin Covert … Mayor Harrison Fox
Madeleine Doherty … Mrs. Mink
Madam Squirrel … Sheri Sanders
Tyler Bunch … Doc Bullfrog and others

"It’s a Wonderful Life" makes a wonderful musical play


IVORYTON - Whether you have seen the Frank Capra film "It’s a Wonderful Life" or are one of the few who has not, this sometimes sentimental seasonal favorite translates well into a musical play.

First a short story then a film and now a musical play, "It’s a Wonderful Life" is a classic. The play centers on George Bailey, played by Chris Solimene, who is a remarkable incarnation of Jimmy Stewart who played the role in the movie.

George has dreams of going to college, traveling around the world, and becoming a famous architect, but instead stays in his small hometown of Bedford Falls and runs his family’s struggling Home Savings and Loan, marries his childhood friend Mary Hatch, played by Amy D. Forbes, and has four children.

Set in 1945 at the end of World War II, George struggles to make a success of the business, while Henry Potter, played with villainous greed by Donald Shirer, who owns the bank and just about everything else in town. He does everything he can to shut down George’s business, including trying to buy George out.

George’s Uncle Billy, played with befuddled ditziness by George Lombardo, loses $8,000 that he was supposed to deposit in the bank and George, facing ruin, scandal, and bankruptcy, considers committing suicide. Potter tells George with glee, "you are worth more dead than alive."
An angel second class who has yet to get his wings, Clarence Odbody, (played by Todd Little) comes down from heaven to help George. George gets his wish that he was never born, and sees what the people in his life, and his little town, would have been like without his generous and good influence.

The musical, told mostly in flash-backs, with a fine small orchestra lead by director and musical director John Sebastian DeNicola, never overpowers the actors, which is quite an achievement.

The choreography by Francesca Webster, with the Charleston, waltzes, and tangos, is admirable.

There is an interesting cacophony of Christmas carols at the start and then the familiar songs, along with some written for the show, are woven throughout. The theme song throughout is Irving Berlin’s "Puttin’ on the Ritz."

The actors are well cast, with the young George, played by Carlin Morris, who saves the drunken pharmacist, played by Aaron Tessler, from accidentally poisoning a child, and high school George, played by Jesse Eberl, who dreams of an exciting future.

Usually the Ivoryton Playhouse’s productions are predominately cast with professional actors, but this is their once a year community production with local actors. In this show, only Forbes, who plays Mary, is an Equity actor.

Here perhaps it is a disadvantage to have seen the film, because comparisons good and bad are inevitable. While Forbes does a fine job overall, when playing the younger Mary she seems too confident, and is missing the vulnerable anxiety and intense uncertainty that Donna Reed had playing Mary in the film.

At other times, it is an advantage to have seen the movie. For example, when they are dancing on the gym floor that opens up to reveal a pool underneath. In the play that scene was implied, but if you hadn’t seen the film, it wouldn’t make much sense.
The idea of sacrificing your dreams for the greater good of your community, and choosing integrity and ethics over personal wealth and enrichment is a beautiful morality tale that will never go out of style. The Ivoryton Playhouse’s production of "It’s a Wonderful Life" is a wonderful rendition of the touching and timeless story.

IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE - THE MUSICAL
Three Stars
Location: Ivoryton Playhouse, 103 Main Street, Ivoryton, CT
Production: Adapted for the stage by James W. Rodgers from the film by Frank Capra. Story by Philip Van Doren Stern. Directed and musical direction by John Sebastian DeNicola. Choreography by Francesca Webster. Lighting design by Doug Henry. Set design by Dan Nischan. Costume design by Vivianna Lamb. Wig and hair design by Joel Silvertro.
Running time: 2 hours with one intermission.
Show Times: Friday and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., with Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. through Dec. 21.
Tickets: $25 for adults, $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
Chris Solimene ... George Bailey
Todd Little ... Clarence Odbody
Mary Hatch ... Mary Bailey
Donald Shirer ... Henry F. Potter
George Lombardo ... Uncle Billy
Carin Morris ... Young George
Jesse Eberl... High School George
Ryan Zanoni ... Harry Bailey
Divinna Schmitt ... Mother Bailey
Lindsay Mamula ... Violet Peterson

"Legally Blonde, The Musical" cute with a captial "C"

HARTFORD - OhmyGod! "Legally Blonde The Musical" at the Bushnell Memorial Theater is like totally cute with a great big capital "C."

The musical, based on a novel by Amanda Johnson and also the movie starring Reese Witherspoon, takes well to the musical format, with music and lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin and book by Heather Hach.

The plot centers on the Barbie blonde from Malibu, Elle Woods, played with pixy intelligence by Becky Gulsvig. Elle is in blissful love with her boyfriend Warner Huntington III (played by the handsome and fine-voiced Jeff McLean), and thinks he is going to ask her to marry him. Instead Warner dumps her in UCLA on his way to Harvard Law School, so she decides to get into the law school too, to win his heart back and prove to him she can be serious.

Like any good fairy tale, she gets in to the inconceivably competitive law school with nary a problem, just by cutting down on a few extracurricular beach parties and boning up on her LSAT studies. Fantasies really do make the world go round. Once in Harvard, where she is accepted for "cultural diversity" reasons, she who wears pink like the new black puts her own particular fashion-forward twist on higher education.

Along the way she brings her old sorority friends with her, as her own personal Greek chorus, and meets an earthy-crunchy nice lawyer guy (you can tell he’s nice, because he wears a corduroy jacket) Emmett Forrest, played with sweet sincerity by D.B. Brown. Forrest takes one look at Elle’s pink powder-puff dorm room and amusingly says "Hello Kitty." To help her save time he buys her Pert - the shampoo and conditioner in one.

She also has run-ins of various flavors with the lecherous and privileged Professor Callahan, played with superiority by Ken Land, as well as Warner’s new girlfriend, Vivienne Kensington, played by Megan Lewis, who asks Elle "All that pink you are wearing - is that even legal?"

Elle makes new friends too, with the hairdresser with a big heart, Paulette, played with down-to-earth energy by Natalie Joy Johnson. Paulette also supplies the subplot, with her budding romance with a hysterically funny UPS delivery man, played by Ven Daniel, who gives a whole new meaning to package delivery.

There are four dogs (two are understudies) who play two dogs in the show, one a bulldog named Rufus, and the other a tiny pooch named Bruiser, trained by Bill Berloni. Berloni got his start with show animals in the musical "Annie" and has been using only rescued dogs ever since. One of the canine actors, Frankie, who plays Bruiser, was found as a stray in Meriden.

As silly as the premise is, there are some interesting and true observations about how insane our collective world of appearances is. Success isn’t all about a dog-eat-dog world, as they sing in "Blood in the Water" where "The thrill of the kill is in the blood," but listening and helping others.

This show is a physical workout that includes lots and lots of energetic cheerleader-type dancing and singing, with well-rehearsed and delivered choreography by director Jerry Mitchell.

The show began a bit rushed and disjointed, with the chorus singing much too fast and not enunciating enough to be understood, while the orchestra ran over them. Once things settled down, however, and the leads came on stage, all improved.

The whole "gaydar" trial thing was crude and dated, and the Irish fantasy songs were kind of weird and could have been eliminated without being missed. This lawyers-in-love perky musical feels like an updated homage to the old big budget movie musicals like "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" with Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell, which puts it in pretty good company.

LEGALLY BLONDE, THE MUSICAL

3 Stars
Theater: The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts
Location: Mortensen Hall, 166 Capitol Ave. Hartford
Production: Directed and choreography by Jerry Mitchell. Music and lyrics by Laurence O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin. Book by Heather Hach. Based upon the novel by Amanda Brown and the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer motion picture. Scenic design by David Rockwell. Costume design by Gregg Barnes. Lighting design by Ken Posner and Paul Miller. Sound design by Acme Sound Partners.
Running time: 2 and ½ hours, plus one 15-minute intermission
Show Times: Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m., Sunday at 7:30 p.m., with Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. through Dec. 14.
Tickets: $25 - $75. Call 860-987-5900 or visit their website at www.bushnell.org

ACTOR...CHARACTER
Becky Gulsvig ... Elle Woods
Jeff McLean ... Warner Huntington III
Megan Lewis ... Vivienne Kensington
D.B. Bonds ... Emmett Forrest
Ken Land ... Professor Callahan
Natalie Joy Johnson ... Paulette

"A Civil War Christmas" a walk down history lane at Long Wharf

NEW HAVEN - It’s Christmas Eve, 1864 in Washington, D.C. in Paula Vogel’s ambitious musical play "A Civil War Christmas," making it’s impressive world premiere at Long Wharf Theatre.

Abraham Lincoln has just been re-elected president, the tide of war has turned in favor of the northern forces, and is nearing the conclusion of the country’s devastating Civil War, which ended in April, 1865. Five days after the war’s end, the actor John Wilkes Booth assassinated Lincoln.

Many familiar, along with some less usual Christmas carols are seamlessly woven in among the various vignettes and subplots of the play, including "Peace on Earth," "Rise up Shepherd," "Tidings of Comfort and Joy," "God Rest Yea Merry Gentlemen," "What Child is This?" "O Christmas Tree," and "Silent Night."

The actors all do a excellent job of making the iconic archetypal characters feel personal, such as Jay Russell as the generous and languid Abraham Lincoln, and Diane Sutherland as the complex and troubled historical scapegoat, Mary Todd Lincoln, who famously wore kid gloves once and then tossed away. Guy Adkins plays a self-possessed and determined John Wilkes Booth.

The play’s 14 actors work double-time playing many roles, including mules and horses, giving faces to actual people and events, with some artist license taken by Vogel to make it all fit into one evening. Some of the actors also impressively play musical instruments, such as Brain Tyree Henry who plays an accordion, Drew McVety plays the violin.

The production also highlights the less well-known contributions of African Amercians, as well as Jewish men who fought in the Civil War.

Ora Jones does an outstanding job playing the heartbroken stoic Elizabeth Keckley, a former slave who worked as a seamstress and confidant to Mary Todd Lincoln. Keckley had purchased her freedom and was able to send her son to college, only to learn he died in the war.

Also intense and fine was Marc Damon Johnson who played Decatur Bronson, an African-American Union sergeant, who is a composite of two historic figures, Decatur Dorsey and James Bronson. Johnson plays a decorated hero who is tormented with grief because raiders kidnapped his wife, and he vows to find her and kill them.

The solid multi-level wooden set, designed by James Schuette, is intricate and works well, and is well-used by director Tina Landau. It manages to represent many scenes, from a river, to a blacksmiths forge, to the White House, with ease. The cast moves smoothly as a dynamic whole around the stage.

Mentioned at the beginning and the end of the play, ‘the hope of peace, which may be sweeter than peace itself’ is perhaps true.

The famous and not-so-famous all share a common humanity, and this time of year, and in this fine play, it is a good time to remember that we are all in this life together, and if we don’t learn from history, we are doomed to repeat it.

It would be great to see this American original become an annual tradition because it is our story, and one that deserves to be heard over and over again.

A CIVIL WAR CHRISTMAS

3 Stars
Location: 222 Sargent Drive, New Haven
Production: Written by Paula Vogel. Directed by Tina Landau. Music supervised, arranged, and orchestrated by Daryl Waters. Musical director Andrew Resnick. Set designed by James Schuette. Costumes designed by Toni-Leslie James. Lighting designed by Scott Zielinski. Sound designed by Josh Horvath. Dialect design by Amy Stoller. Hair, wig and makeup design by Wendy Parson.
Running time: 2 hours with one 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 Dec. 21.
Tickets: Start at $32. For more information call their box office at 203-776-2287, or visit their website at www.longwharf.org

ACTOR...CHARACTER
Guy Adkins ... John Wilkes Booth, Robert E. Lee, William Tecumseh Sherman, and others
Justin Blanchard ... Chester Manton Saunders, Hay, John Surratt, and others
Susanna Flood ... Raz, Anna Surratt, and others
J.D. Goldblatt ... Ely Parker, Silver, Frederick Wormley, Moses Levy, and others
Brian Tyree Henry ... Willy Mack Walker Lewis, Jim Wormley, and others
Marc Damon Johnson ... Decatur Bronson, James Wormley, and others
Bianca Laverne Jones ... Hannah, Rose, Aggy, and others
Ora Jones ... Elizabeth Keckley, Mrs. Thomas, and others
Drew McVety ... Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Ulysses S. Grant, Ward Hill Lamon, and others
Jay Russell ... Abraham Lincoln, Walt Whitman, and others
Rachel Shapiro Alderman ... Nicolay, Mary Surratt, Clara Barton, Widow Saunders, and others
Diane Sutherland ... Mary Todd Lincoln, Secretary of War Stanton, and others
Scott Thomas ... Lewis Payne, Mosby Raider, and others
Faith Philpot, Malenky Welsh ... Jessa, Little Joe

HSC "A Christmas Carol" familiar festive holiday treat

HARTFORD - Perhaps because of the more somber economic mood this holiday season, the Hartford Stage Company’s beloved production of Charles Dickens’ "A Christmas Carol- A Ghost Story" seems to carry an even more important statement of what is most precious in life - family, friends, and love.

Year after year the timeless tale of "Bah Humbug" Ebenezer Scrooge’s transformation from miserly, miserable, greedy old man to generous, loving, and happy old soul winds it’s way into thousands of hearts in hundreds of theaters across the country.

Directed by Michael Wilson, this interpretation of the classic tale uses just the right amount of gold dust and sparkles to entrance even the most hardened theatergoer. The choreography, by Hope Clarke is seamless, as always, with creative use of the cutout white umbrellas that help make the show a visual feast.

White grotesque ghosts, with blank scary masks, axes in their heads, and swords piercing their bodies dance with rigid grace - some flying through the air with rattling chains and lighting strikes, making this show too scary for very young children.

Alan Rust plays the mean skinflint Scrooge to perfection - hoarding every penny with glee, which makes his eventual transformation all the more uplifting and hopeful.
Scrooge’s nephew Fred, well-played by Curtis Billings, says to Scrooge: "You fear the world too much," and tells his family that he feels sorry for his uncle, since he recognizes that Scrooge’s mean behavior really only hurts the old man in the end.

The Spirit of Christmas Future is the scariest of the three ghosts, because the creature says nothing at all.

In the Hartford Stage Company’s production, the spirit is a metallic futuristic ghost, much like some nightmarish character out of a Tim Burton movie, riding an oversized tricycle, which makes it tower ominously over the trembling and ultimately humbled Scrooge.

At the end of the frightening night, Scrooge is thrilled to be alive and have the opportunity to help those closest to him.

His employee Cratchit, played with feeling by Robert Hannon Davis, his angry wife, Rebecka Jones, and their sweet family including the adorable Tiny Tim, played alternately by Brendan Fitzgerald and Jacrhys Dalton, are all benefactors of Scrooge’s cathartic transformation.

Bring your loved ones and share the heart and soul of what makes life worth living in this soaring, exuberant production of Charles Dickens’ "A Christmas Carol."

A CHRISTMAS CAROL - A CHRISTMAS GHOST STORY

3½ Stars
Location: Hartford Stage Company, 50 Church Street, Hartford.
Production: Story by Charles Dickens. Adapted and directed by Michael Wilson. Associate director Jeremy B. Cohen. Choreographer Hope Clarke. Scenic design by Tony Straiges. Costume design by Zack Brown. Lighting design by Robert Wierzel. Original music and sound design by John Cromada. Dialect coach Gillian Lane-Plescia. Music direction by Ken Clark.
Running time: Two hours with one intermission
Show Times: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and selected Sundays at 7:30 p.m. There is no evening performance Wednesday, Dec. 24; matinees are Saturdays Sundays and Wednesday, Dec. 24 and Friday, Dec. 26 at 2 p.m. through Dec. 28.
Tickets: $25 - $66. Call 527-5151 or visit their Web site at www.hartfordstage.org.

ACTOR...CHARACTER
Alan Rust ... Ebenezer Scrooge
Bill Kux ... Ghost of Jacob Marley, Mrs. Dilber
Robert Hannon Davis ... Bob Cratchit, Mr. Fezziwig
Curtis Billings ... Fred, Scrooge at 30
Jeffrey V. Thompson ... Spirit of Christmas Present, Bert the fruit and cider vendor
Johanna Morrison ... Spirit of Christmas Past, Bettye Pidgeon the doll vendor
Rob Cunliffe ... Mr. Marvel a watchworks vendor
Himself ... Spirit of Christmas Future
Rebecka Jones ... Mrs. Cratchit
Natalie Brown ... Mrs. Fezziwig, Fred’s sister-in-law, Old Jo, and others
Noble Shropshire ... first solicitor, undertaker
Gustave Johnson ... Second solicitor
Michelle Hendrick ... Belle
Deirdre Garrett ... Rich lady
Kurt Peterson ... Scrooge at 15
Tiny Tim Cratchit ... Brendan Fitzgerald or Jacrhys Dalton
Veronique Hurley ... Nichola, Fezziwig’s daughter
Ellenkate Finley ... Wendy, Fezziwig’s daughter
Amanda Karmelin ... Fiddler
Daniel Toot ... Dick Wilkins
Sarah Goosmann ... Martha Cratchit
Michelle Hendrick ... Fred’s wife
James DiMatteo ... Mr. Topper