Center Stage Theater of Shelton is celebrating a very special anniversary. In addition to Broadway shows for their subscribers, and educational programming all year long, every summer they created a significant production focusing on high school and college age performers…and they have been leading this Youth CONNection for four decades! On this their fortieth anniversary, they are inviting back to the theater their legion of alumni for a gala party and to view a performance of their current show “Catch Me If You Can” on Sunday evening, July 23. The lobby of the theater will be decorated with memorabilia from past productions and anywhere from fifty to one hundred former participants are expected to gather.
For the prize of traveling the furthest, the winner is definitely Stephen Friedfeld from California who spent a decade with the Youth CONNection. Currently he is the co-founder and COO of AcceptU, a highly rated admissions consulting firm but, back in the day, he fondly remembers his first summer as the Jet “Big Deal” in "West Side Story” and being Lon Smith in “Meet Me in St Louis.” "The Youth CONNection was a big part of my life back then and I am excited to reunite with many of them, like my next door neighbors, a brother and sister, in Shelton.” As to how he originally got the acting bug, he credits his mom who in 1964, when he was ten, took him to see “Bye, Bye Birdie" a show she had performed in years before and he was “hooked.”
Friedfeld looks at this anniversary as a “great excuse to come back to town. Forty years is a long run and a testament to how strong the productions were. My love of theater was sparked by my years with the Youth CONNection and the work of Fran and Gary Scarpa. They created a fantastic community and group of friends.”
Way back in 1983, Lynn Coffin and four other family members were a part of the first show the Youth CONNection ever did, “West Side Story." This year her daughter Tessa will be performing In “Catch Me If You Can” and also serving as a volunteer camp counselor. Lynn is a teacher of English at Shelton High School but her memories of those long ago days acting are still vivid. Lynn holds the distinction of being a three generation Youth CONNection member as her dad played a Police Officer in “West Side Story “ forty years ago.
She calls Center Stage a “wonderful legacy, with a great community that is so supportive and good to each other. It’s a great outlet for kids, a super opportunity, a family.” This reunion for her will be a “real family affair” and even though her dad passed away in August she knows he will be applauding from heaven.
Center Stage Theatre in Shelton will present “Catch Me If You Can” July 21-30, based on the hit film and the incredible true story, “Catch Me If You Can." It is the high-flying musical comedy about chasing your dreams and not getting caught. Nominated for four Tony awards, including Best Musical, this delightfully entertaining show was created by a Tony Award-winning "dream team," with a book by Terrence McNally and a swinging score by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman.
Seeking fame and fortune, precocious teenager, Frank Abagnale, Jr., runs away from home to begin an unforgettable adventure. With nothing more than his boyish charm, a big imagination and millions of dollars in forged checks, Frank successfully poses as a pilot, a doctor and a lawyer – living the high life and winning the girl of his dreams. When Frank's lies catch the attention of FBI agent, Carl Hanratty, though, Carl pursues Frank across the country to make him pay for his crimes.
Performances are Friday at 7:30pm, Saturday at 7:30pm, Sunday at 1pm and 6pm, Wednesday, at 7:30pm, and Thursday, 7:30pm until July 30.
Tickets are available at centerstageshelton.org. The show will be held at 54 Grove Street, Shelton.
Center Stage should be congratulated for its long standing theatrical accomplishments and its encouragement of theater opportunities for children and adults of all ages, beginning forty years ago with its founders Fran and Gary Scarpa and continuing with managing director Carla Sullivan and chairman of the board John Corraro. Cheers to the next forty years!
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