ANGRY, RAUCOUS & SHAMELESSLY GORGEOUS

What options might you have if you are an acclaimed avant-garde performer who has left America, the land of your success, for a quarter of a century and now want to make a triumphant return? For Anna Campbell who flamboyantly secured her career performing “Naked Wilson,” a recitation of the male voices of playwright August Wilson while unclothed, the time is ripe. Now she has an invitation to perform at an Atlanta arts festival and she views it as a welcome gift. To enter the fascinating world of Ms. Campbell, as brought to compelling life by the talents of Terry Burrell, run to the Hartford Stage by Sunday, February 6 for Pearl Cleage’s highly entertaining “Angry, Raucous & Shamelessly Gorgeous.” Anna has excitedly returned to Atlanta with her good friend and confidante Betty, played by a supportive and realistic Marva Hicks. They are busy dreaming of all the accolades to come when Anna returns to the spotlight. Having lost her fortune to poor investment advice, Anna is eager to reestablish her financial well being as well as secure her place in theatrical history. Enter Cynthia D. Barker as Kate, the competent woman who is orchestrating a tribute to Anna, not a return to the stage as Anna believes. Kate has hired a newcomer, Pete, an openly opportunistic Shakirah Demesier, to recreate Anna’s roles. To say Anna is upset about the change in plans is an understatement. She is furious and outraged, ready to attack Pete verbally and physically, Their confrontation and ultimate resolution are wonderful to behold, especially on Collette Pollard’s inviting set, with Kara Harmon's lovely costumes and Susan V. Booth’s outstanding direction. For tickets ($30-100), call Hartford Stage, 50 Church Street, Hartford at 860-527-5151 or online at HartfordStage.org. Performances are Tuesday to Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. There is a Saturday matinee at 2 p.m. February 5 and an open captioned show Sunday, January 30 at 2 p.m. You must show your vaccination card and wear your mask. Take a bumpy and boisterous ride with Anna as she resumes control of her life, one that is suddenly running in wild directions in the rain.

COME DISCOVER "WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME" AT THE BUSHNELL

In this day and age when our country is more divided than united, where the civil rights of citizens to vote are questioned, when a woman’s reproductive rights are under attack, and the necessity for climate control is debated, Americans need to reinforce their common heritage and traditional belief in democracy. Just like immigrants to our shores must study our history as a nation in order to become citizens, it is incumbent upon us to acknowledge our heritage and reinforce our basic principles, lest they be lost. What better time for the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts to present “What the Constitution Means to Me” by Heidi Schreck, the true accounting of her experiences as a high school student participating in a series of debates on citizenship playing until Sunday, January 30. A finalist in the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Heidi Schreck uses her own particular lens and filter to tell her personal story as a teenager competing in Constitutional debates. She alternates between her fifteen year old self and the woman she is today. She focuses on such topics as immigration, women’s rights, domestic abuse and the history of our nation. Cassie Beck stars as Heidi, with Michael Iveson and high school students Jocelyn Shek and Emily Toffler. Come relearn what it means to be an American as the playwright relates tales of her own family and significant legal cases in our history. She does not hesitate to reveal the domestic abuse her own mother and grandmother suffered. She also raises the question of whether or not the Constitution protects all its citizens and whether it should be abolished and replaced. For tickets ($32-99), call the Bushnell, 166 Capitol Avenue, Hartford at 860-987-5900 or online at https://bushnell.org. Performances are Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m and 6:30 p.m. Bring proof of your vaccination and wear your mask. Plan a visit to this fascinating analysis of our Constitution as written by our Founding Fathers and discover for yourself how well it is working in 2022.

"FIRES IN THE MIRROR" REFLECTED AT LONG WHARF THEATRE

Thirty years have passed since Anna Deavere Smith conducted dozens of interviews surrounding the tragic incidents in Crown Heights, a suburb of New York City, that highlighted an accident that resulted in the death of a seven year old black child Gavin Cato and the deliberate stabbing of a Jewish scholar visiting from Australia. Smith has woven these interviews, using the participants own words, into a personal and powerful reflection of the actions that became the Crown Heights riots in 1991. ”Fires in the Mirror: Crown Heights, Brooklyn and Other Identities” will be unveiled and revealed dramatically at Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven until Sunday February 6 and it is a disturbing portrait of the racial differences that divide us. On a distinctly African set by Diggle with sand as a continuum of black culture and its grounding, the remarkable actress Cloteal L. Horne creates the identity of twenty-six people from both the black and Jewish community who are intimately involved in the tragedy. From well known personalities like the Reverend Al Sharpton and activist Angela Davis to Orthodox Jewish women and revered rabbis, the story of the events unfolds in dramatic fashion, as each participant explains their position in the difficult events from their unique perspective. With bare feet and only a few props like glasses and clothing, with a change in accent and personality, Horne is able to skillfully make each voice distinct and state their message of responsibility clearly. The whole picture becomes clear as so many tragedies are wrapped into one. Each member of the community has been deeply affected by loss, from the Jewish driver who accidentally kills the little boy to the brother of the Jewish scholar who is the unfortunate victim of retribution by a gang of black youth. Along the way slavery is revealed as a crime against humanity where 250 million are lost over 300 years and contrasted with the Holocaust and its toll of six million lives taken by the Nazis. Anti-Semitism is exposed as a deep seated hatred. The play ends with a communal call that “We deserve a better world” and “Healing is possible.” Nicole Brewer directs this emotional outpouring of testimony. For tickets ($59), call Long Wharf Theatre, 222 Sargent Drive, New Haven, at 203-693-1486 or online at www.longwharf.org. Performances are Tuesday at 7 p.m., Wednesday at 2 p.m, Thursday at 7 p.m., Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 2 pm. and Sunday at 2 p.m. You must show proof of vaccination an wear your mask while in the theater. Be part of the audience that honors the lives lost in Crown Heights Brooklyn and ensures that the anger and rage that prompted it never happens again.

IN TRIBUTE TO STEPHEN SONDHEIM

Stephen Sondheim has been hailed as an icon, genius and legend. As a composer and lyricist who worked until his recent death at 91, he has been credited with ”reinventing the American musical.” Now he is making his remarkable music in heaven solely for the angels. Ironically in a recent interview he was asked “If heaven exists, what would you like your greeting to be?” His answer: “Welcome.” As a Jewish child growing up in Manhattan, he was often isolated and emotionally neglected. When his parents divorced, his situation did not improve. His mother moved him to a farm in Bucks County, Pennsylvania and manufactured a relationship with a celebrity neighbor who had a son Stephen’s age, Oscar Hammerstein II who became the surrogate father and mentor to the struggling boy. From Hammerstein, Sondheim learned the fundamentals of composition, lessons he used for a lifetime. As a teenager, he proudly brought him a completed musical, sure that Oscar would offer to transport it directly to Broadway. Unfortunately the brutally honest composer told the lad it was terrible, but gave him clues to writing that would serve him for decades. Most of all, Stephen Sondheim wanted to write theater music. His early work included the lyrics for such projects as “West Side Story” and “Gypsy.” He continued to seek Hammerstein’s approval for which productions to tackle. Hammerstein always said each was a learning experience and to do it. The first musical he wrote the music and lyrics for was “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.” He continued with “Follies,” “A Little Night Music,” “Company,” “Sweeney Todd,” “Merrily We Roll Along,” “Sunday in the Park with George,” “Into the Woods,” and “Assassins,” among many others. What you might not know about Stephen Sondheim is his love of puzzles and games, introducing the British cryptic crosswords to American audiences. He also continued the tradition of Oscar Hammerstein II by mentoring up and coming composers like Jonathan Larson with “Rent” and Lin-Manuel Miranda with “Hamilton.” He earned an Academy Award, 8 Tonys, 8 Grammys and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for “Sunday in the Park with George” as well as the Kennedy Center Honors for Lifetime Achievement in 1993. Sondheim has stated "I'm interested in the theater because I'm interested in communication with audiences,” ... "Otherwise I would be in concert music. I'd be in another kind of profession. I love the theater as much as music, and the whole idea of getting across to an audience and making them laugh, making them cry – just making them feel – is paramount to me.” Rest in peace, Stephen Sondheim, for the worlds of music you have gifted us.

CHANGING TIMES

There was a time when C.O.D. commonly meant paying for your mushroom pizza at your door when the driver bought it Cash On Delivery. Now adays C.O.D. stands for an entirely different set of circumstances Covid Omicron Danger and we are currently caught in its fearsome grip without any signs that it will loosen its hold on our lungs and throat any time soon. Attention, folks, we are in a pandemic and we are being forced to adjust our lives to the new disease in town. Order your masks in colorful patterns from Amazon because they aren’t going away any time in the foreseeable future. Carefully evaluate whether it is worth the risk to go to the grocery store, attend a family holiday celebration, go in person to a wedding or a funeral or sit in a theater for a live production of The Nutcracker. Bears hibernate in winter and maybe we need to adapt their furry climate culture. It is no longer safe to hug or, God forbid, kiss our loved ones. We are being forced to evaluate our every move. It’s back to Netflix and ice cream cones and isolation in the hopefully safe environment of our homes. Even opening the door for the Fed Ex delivery man can be a risk not worth taking. Getting back to normal is a dream that seems to recede every day. Right now I would embrace getting Next to Normal once winter is over and spring arrives. Annie promises that the sun will come out tomorrow but will tomorrow ever come? Let’s hope and pray it does. Amen.

THE BEST OF THE CONNECTICUT THEATER WORLD IN 2021

Even though the theater world precariously held its breathe in 2021, as it clung to being “next to normal” as Covid continued to rear its ugly head, there were still many productions that deserve to be mentioned and applauded during this challenging year. Music Theatre of Connecticut offered up a personal portrait of the amazing Dr. Ruth in “Becoming Dr. Ruth” that showcased her start being placed on the Kindertransport as a child and sent alone to a new land, never to see her family again. She is now reflecting, many decades later, on her remarkable life and plotting the new directions she must evaluate. Also looking back on a century of living are the Delany Sisters at the Ivoryton Playhouse, in “Having Our Say: The First 100 Years,” who review their distinctly different experiences as young black women growing up during the Civil Rights Movement and their accomplishments over those years. Looking to the future and beyond is “Walden” at Hartford TheaterWorks, set outdoors for realism, on a parcel of land outside Hartford as two sisters vie for the role of saving the earth and preserving its destiny. Their astronaut father places them on a path that is competitive and challenging. Stepping back in time to the age of Jane Austen is Playhouse on Park’s delightful visit with “Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberly” where the youngest Bennet sister Mary finds herself seeking love like her older siblings enjoy and finds herself in the arms of a handsome visitor to her home. The Hartford Stage introduced us to the literary musings of Eugene O’Neill who creates a comic portrait of his youth as he might have wished it to be. “Ah, Wilderness” provided a rare glimpse into a teenage boy who has a loving family to rescue him as he struggles to assert his independence and come of age. An unbelievably different fate awaits a young Chinese girl who at fourteen is plucked from her homeland to come to the United States in 1834 as a curiosity, one who is unfortunately exploited for her cultural differences and made a side show attraction for the curious to come to examine, at Long Wharf Theater. “The Chinese Lady” is based on a true incident. We went “Into the Woods” with a bevy of fairy tale creatures thanks to Playhouse on Park and experienced encounters with giants and golden hens, a baker and his wife who desperately want a child, a wicked witch, a Little Red Ridinghood look-alike and some insincere princes, to name but a few. The moral: Be careful what you wish for. A North Carolina fiddler takes center stage with a plethora of country and bluegrass music in Ivoryton Playhouse’s family tale “The Porch at Windy Hill.” A family reunion uncovers some unexpected long buried secrets. Thanks to Goodspeed Musicals the summer brought us a series of outdoor concerts with “Goodspeed by the River” with Broadway tunes, fiddle music, a little Pearl Bailey and a lot of Nina Simone. The concerts continued in December with evenings with the music of Bing Crosby and Karen Carpenter. Some of the best Christmas shows included the radio show at Hartford Stage, “It’s a Wonderful Life” where George Bailey realizes his worth and Clarence earns his angel wings, The Legacy Theater's production of “A Christmas Carol” with original music, and Music Theatre of Connecticut’s ode to Cindy Lou Who and the Grinch. So armed with masks and fully vaccinated, sitting socially distanced, Connecticut theaters welcomed back live productions and provided entertainment once again. Hopefully 2022 will continue and strengthen this tradition for the foreseeable future. Let the curtains rise again triumphantly.