Author Archives: Christopher Arnott

(Saturday night performance; there’s one show left, 8 p.m. tonight—Sunday the 23rd—at Lyric Hall) Tony Juliano sounds exactly like Tony Bennett. Oh, he’s lip-synching. And he looks exactly like a knife-wielding maniac. Oh, he’s acting. “It’s not easy to tape an egg to your forehead.”’Coney Island Chris. Or to smash it with a sledgehammer while … Continue reading »

The Universoul Circus is in town through the weekend. My daughter Mabel went yesterday morning on a field trip with her fourth grade class. Here’s her report: They were giving elephant rides for money; I’m not sure if it was for two dollars or ten dollars. I couldn’t hear. Right before anything, a guy came … Continue reading »

Play With Matches Through Nov. 6 at 446A Blake St. in the Westville section of New Haven. Conceived and created by A Broken Umbrella Theatre. Directed by Ian Alderman. Written by Jason Patrick Wells. Set Design/properties: Jen McClure. Set Design: Brandon Fuller. Lighting Design: Jason Patrick Wells. Costume Design: Jacy Barber. Composer/pianist: Dana Astmann. Sound … Continue reading »

Creation 2011 Through Oct. 22 at the Yale Cabaret. Written and performed by Inka Gudjonsdottir, Rosa Gudjonsdottir, Ilya Khodosh, Sarah Krasnow, Daniel Putnam and Annew Seiverath. Directed by Sarah Krasnow. Featuring songs by Howard Ashman & Alan Menken, Joe Darion & Mitch Leigh, Martin Charnin & Charles Strouse, Henri Contet  & Norbert Glanzberg.Accompaniment by Jenny … Continue reading »

“It’s not a big stage, but we really don’t have a lot of big stage things. “Contortionists don’t take up a lot of room.” Such simple truths spring effortlessly from the mouth of Tony “Baloney” Juliano, who’s marking his fifth annual Forgot to Laugh Sideshow and Animation Festival with yet another change of venue. Juliano … Continue reading »

Bert Bernardi, Hoo Hah! He’s the quirky, campy king of children’s theater in Connecticut. Bernardi staged his loose adaptations of fairy tales and holiday legends at Bridgeport’s Downtown Cabaret Theatre for nearly three decades before deciding to investigate other venues in the state, forming Pantochino Productions with his partner Jimmy Johansmeyer. After 28 years perking … Continue reading »

The Arts Council of Greater New Haven has announced who’s getting its 2011 Arts Awards. These awards are cool. There’s always a loose theme—this year it’s “Great Adaptations”—but the recipients are chosen for deep and longstanding commitment to the local arts community. (Objectivity prize: I was given one of these sweet statuettes in 2001, and … Continue reading »

A Broken Umbrella theatre is named after a common household object. The company’ s latest show is performed in a factory. One of ABT’ s founding members runs a scrapyard. But there’s nothing prefabricated, assembly-line or disposable about the troupe’ s work, which in recent years has been developed through originall research into Intriguing footnotes … Continue reading »

Have you noticed how almost none of the reviews of the Footloose film remake have bothered to mention that, between the original 1984 Kevin Bacon movie and the new Kenny Wormald one, Footloose was also a long-running Broadway musical? This is an egregious oversight, since some of the elements which have been ballyhooed as virtues … Continue reading »

Every season the Shubert has at least one amazing booking that demonstrates how hard the place works to maintain its unique reputation in American theater history. In recent years, the Shubert has hosted the construction and rehearsal of the national tours of Jersey Boys and Hair. This year the Shubert nabbed Fela!, the cutting edge … Continue reading »