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Tony noms are often an occasion for gloating at the  Yale Rep, Long Wharf Theatre, Goodspeed Musicals and Hartford Stage—the regional theaters that often develop new works which evolve into Broadway hits, or encourage artists that later make it big in New York, or share in the same talent pool of actors and designers that … Continue reading »

It’s kind of a pity that Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson had to go up against The Book of Mormon, The Scottsboro Boys, Priscilla Queen of the Desert and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown for Tony Award nominations this year. On the other hand, who’s complaining? Those of us who perpetually worry that … Continue reading »

Stratford Ct.’s Square One theater, whose offerings are usually anything but square, is ending its 2011-12 season with Art. Like the off white canvas its plot draws from, Art has never gone out of style. The Elm Shakespeare company did Art (in an actual gallery setting) around a year ago, and the play’s still a … Continue reading »

Varla Jean Merman is known hereabouts for her fundraising concert for Hartford’s Mark Twain House last June, her appearance in Charles Ludlam’s quickchange farce The Mystery of Irma Vep at both Hartford Stage and the Long Wharf Theatre in 2004, her multiple collaborations with playwright/Connecticut theater-marketing guy Jacques Lamarre, and for purporting to be the … Continue reading »

Mad Magazine has added a “Theatres of the Absurd” department to its table of contents for June. The feature is “Similarities & Differences Between the Spider-Man Musical and the War in Afghanistan.” Among the ten shared traits on the Mad checklist: “Millions of dollars blindly poured into it”; “Largely performed by disillusioned twentysomethings”; “A textbook … Continue reading »

PHOTO BY T. CHARLES ERICKSON OF BEYOND THERAPY AT THE WESTPORT COUNTRY PLAYHOUSE Beyond Therapy By Christopher Durang. Directed by David Kennedy. Scenic design by Lee Savage. Costume design by Jennifer Caprio. Lighting design by Jeff Croiter. Sound design by John Gromada. Stage manager: Matthew Melchoirre. Performed by Jeremy Peter Johnson (Bruce), Nicole Lowrance (Prudence), … Continue reading »

Just came back from the New Haven Green, where some Bread-and-Puppet-esque pageantry figures towered over the marchers in a pro-immigrant parade. Lots of music performances and speechifying too. International Workers’ Day. Good time to reread: 1. The Admirable Crichton by J.M. Barrie 2. The Servant of Two Masters by Carlo Goldoni 3. Mr. Puntilla and … Continue reading »

The Adventures of Little Red Riding Hood Presented by the Yale Children’s Theater through May 1 at Dwight Hall, 67 High Street, on the Yale campus. Produced by Ethan Jefferson and Kyle vanLeer. Written and directed by Deborah Garcia and Cassandra Kildow. Performed by Bianca Rodriguez (Little Red), Cooper Wilhelm (Wolf, Emily Howell (Hansel), Jessica … Continue reading »

Sinatra in Hollywood By Tom Santopietro. Thomas Dunne Books (St. Martin’s Press), New York, 2008. 530 pages. He’s been the subject of several, but Frank Sinatra never acted in an actual Broadway musical. His status as a musical theater legend came from the other coast: he starred in the films of On the Town (parts … Continue reading »

As the British ska band The Specials proclaimed in 1980: Are you ready for this? I told you he was coming. Who? J.B., and he’s ready to sock it to you one time. The Long Wharf Theatre could break into a similar chant. Of course, The Specials were singing about James Bond (“Unh! Spy Who … Continue reading »