Author Archives: Christopher Arnott

As in the Peter Cook and Dudley Moore film Bedazzled, the magic words at Goodspeed Musicals are… Juuuuuuulie Annnnnndrews! She’s primarily known for her one-two-three-four punch in the 1960s as Broadway’s Eliza Doolittle, cinema’s Mary Poppins and Maria Von Trapp and the concert foil for Carol Burnett. In the 1970s and ‘80s she became a … Continue reading »

ReWilding Through Jan. 14 at the Yale Cabaret. Remaining performances are tonight (Saturday the 14th) at 8:30 and 11 p.m. By Martyna Majok. Direction and set design by Dustin Wills. Lights by Solomon Weisbard. Costumes by Seth Bodie. Sound by Ken Goodwin. Producer: Shane Hudson. Dramaturg: Tanya Dean. Stage Manager: Catherine Costanzo. Technical Director: Nicole … Continue reading »

This just in: Long Wharf Theatre has decided not to do the world premiere of a new stage adaptation of William Styron’s novel Sophie’s Choice, which was to star Carla Gugino and be directed by Long Wharf Artistic Director Gordon Edelstein. Instead, the theater’s final mainstage production of its 2011-12 season will be a stage … Continue reading »

Goodspeed Musicals’ 2012 Festival of New Artists kicks off tomorrow, a weekend of readings, screenings, cabaret performances, talks and other events which demonstrate the complex, fraught yet fun process of developing new musical theater projects. Highlights include readings of three new musicals (Harmony, Kansas; Not Wanted on This Voyage; and The Dogs of Pripyat), Nancy … Continue reading »

Yale Rep’s released the cast and details of Christina Anderson’s Good Goods, a play which blurs the natural and supernatural. The show plays Feb. 3-25 at 1120 Chapel Street. Some of us were lucky to see the play when it was given an afternoon Yale School of Drama production, with a student cast, last year. … Continue reading »

New York City Opera musicians have been locked out, rehearsals have been cancelled and the the 2012 spring season may well be postponed. Easy to understand the stand-off. The NYCO is millions of dollars in debt and had to pull out of its longterm home at Lincoln Center a couple of years ago. Yet the … Continue reading »

The Long Wharf’s announced the cast of its world premiere musical February House, a co-production with New York’s Public Theater. The new musical, with script by Seth Bockley and music/lyrics by Gabriel Kahane, is inspired by Sherill Tippins’ non-fiction book of the same title, about when a klatsch of major 20th century artists all happened … Continue reading »

Connecticut Heritage Productions has announced the submission deadlines and general rules for its third annual Connecticut Stories on Stage playwriting competition. This is a fine project. We need more awards and contests which acknowledge the many writers who, in the overbearing shadow of New York, continue not just to live and work in Connecticut but … Continue reading »

Paul McCartney, who’s been impersonated in a host of Broadway and Off-Broadway shows, from Beatlemania and Rain to Liverpool Fantasy, is releasing a “Songbook”-style album on February 7, covering early 20th century pop standards. It’s not a huge stretch for McCartney, who crooned Meredith Willson’s “Till There Was You” from The Music Man on the … Continue reading »

The latest Disney on Ice show, which was in Bridgeport this weekend and hits the Hartford XL Center for nine performances Jan. 12-16, goes by the title “100 Years of Magic.” In fact, “100 Years of Magic” has been a steady slogan of a whole nostalgic subset of the Disney universe. But how do they … Continue reading »