SAY A BIG HELLO TO "BYE BYE BIRDIE" AT SEVEN ANGELS THEATRE IN WATERBURY

Think James Dean Meets Elvis Presley. Think bad boy merges with heartthrob. Think wild teenage girls mooning and moaning over singing sensation with swivel hips and sassy lips aplenty. Come meet Conrad Birdie, the star of the smash musical “Bye Bye Birdie” flying high at Seven Angels Theatre in Waterbury until Sunday, August 4 by a spirited Summer Community Theatre troupe, with dozens from ages seven to seventy.

Sweet Apple, Ohio and its residents will never be the same again after it is announced that Conrad Birdie will go there to plant a big kiss on Kim MacAfee, the president of one of his biggest fan clubs, as a farewell gesture before he goes into the army. This prominent press publicity stunt is the brainchild of Conrad’s manager’s secretary Rosie and getting it televised on the Ed Sullivan Show nationwide is a five-star bonus.

With a book by Michael Stewart, music by Charles Strouse and lyrics by Lee Adams, “Bye Bye Birdie” is a “happy face” happening from the first party-line telephone hello to the last railroad station goodbye. Ben Dressel is great as the man of the hour, about to enter the military, trying to be brave and obedient as he follows the letter of the law set down by his manager Albert, an overwhelmed mama’s boy masterfully portrayed by Jimmy Donohue, who also co-directs this fun fest with Marcia Maslo.

Albert only wants the best for the boy, but he is being pulled in different directions by his domineering mother, a tenacious pit bull captured hysterically by Michelle Gotay, one who is dedicated to her son’s well-being and to her aging fur coat. On the other side of the rope pull is Rosie, the faithful, loving and versatile Whitney Rogers, who wants Albert to abandon show biz, marry her and become the English teacher he was meant to be.

Beyond the orange blossom bouquet is sweetheart Tori Sperry’s Kim, thrilled to be the lucky girl chosen to receive Conrad’s kiss but conflicted because she has just been pinned by boyfriend Hugo, a not-so-willing-to-share Matthew Brough. Kim’s parents, Jonathan Ross as a perplexed dad, a supportive Veronica Gelormino as a helpful mom and a great little kid brother Randolph, Ella Perrotti, all add to the comic chaos.

Grand songs pop up, like “The Telephone Hour,” “One Last Kiss,” “Put on a Happy Face," “Kids,” “A Mother Doesn’t Matter Any More” and “Spanish Rose,” keeping the action merry and dizzying at the same time, as everyone tries to get their heart’s desire. You can’t help but smile and cheer them all along, especially with swell choreography by Brittany Mulcahy and animated music direction by John R. “Rusty" Koenig.

For tickets ($32), call Seven Angels Theatre, 1 Plank Road, Waterbury at 203-757-4676 or online at boxofficesevenangelstheatre.org. Performances are Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. with specialty nights with treats like Fascia’s Chocolates and Angelina’s Apizza and more.

It’s the 1960’s and young girls are going crazy for Conrad Birdie who is well worthy of their admiration and adoration. Watch out and you’ll find yourself in his fan club in no time at all.

"THE GREAT AMERICAN MOUSICAL" SCAMPERS INTO BRANFORD'S LEGACY THEATRE

You’ve heard of Mickey and Minnie Mouse of Walt Disney fame, mice who enjoy cheese snacks and brag about their big ears and long tails and even a trio of three blind mice who run up and down a clock. All mice do not enjoy being chased by unfriendly cats. But I would bet you a dozen catnip treats that you’ve never heard of a troupe of theatrical mice who reside in the basement of a New York City Broadway theater and have enjoyed a long run in front of the spotlights. Am I right?

Thanks to Dame Julie Andrews and her daughter Emma Walton Hamilton for penning a children’s book, with a new book adapted by Hunter Bell, you are now offered the delightful opportunity to make their acquaintance in “The Great American Mousical” thanks to Branford’s lovely intimate Legacy Theatre until Sunday, July 28. The show, directed by Ms. Andrews herself, has music by Zina Goldrich, lyrics by Marcy Heisler and choreography by Christopher Gattelli, music direction by Cameron Moncur, scenic design by Anna Louizos and costume design by Jimmy Johansmeyer, both set and costumes originally inspired by Tony Walton.

Imagine you have been deliriously happy acting in any number of wonderful productions like “Annie,” “A Chorus Line,” “Fiddler on the Roof.” “The Music Man,” ”My Fair Lady” and countless others, all renamed to feature the starring mice, and suddenly your Technicolor world is turned upside down because the theater owners want to tear it down with a wrecking ball. What will your friends and fellow thespians do? Further imagine that you, Adelaide, are a diva, and you have never wanted to do anything but entertain and claim the spotlight.

This "sweet, funny book with lots of love is a celebration of theater the whole family can enjoy," according to Mr. Bell. "It is a real show, not a children's show, although it would be a wonderful 'first' show for a child to see." Ms. Andrews calls it a "Valentine to Broadway musicals" as it concerns a troupe of mice who have been making their home in the basement of a stately old theater for years. They put on their version of the shows that are performed upstairs in the historic Broadway house they call home.

When the theater is condemned, panic ensues and the mice mobilize to save it. All might have worked out but their leading lady mouse Adelaide, played by an incredible Anne Runolfsson, a famous and temperamental leading lady, goes out for a nibble of cheese and is kidnapped. How to rescue her from a trap in Brooklyn becomes the challenge of the moment.

Even the mice have show business inspired names that echo great characters like Wendy, Adelaide, Sky, Curly and Pippin. Pippin (Hayden Elefante) sings a charming tune, "What Do You Think of That?” when he comes to the theatre as an intern to his Uncle Harold (Josiah Rowe), and his partner Emile (David Garrison). The show is filled with "Rodgers and Hammerstein moments," with music that is laced with humor and wit, both fresh and familiar, like “Why I Love the Theatre” and “How to Handle a Leading Lady,” and many more.

The message is clearly that "no matter how small you are, you can make a difference" as they enjoy this "celebration and love letter to the American musical.” Come meet the performing mice Hysterium (Thomas Beebe), Rose (Michelle E. Carter), Toby (Megan Hasse), Curly (Stephen C.Kallas), Wendy (Julia Lennon), Ping (Angeleia "Angel” Ordonez), Sky (Zach Williams), Chelsea Dacey and Jackson Glenn as well as Henry (David Beach), Addie’s gallant rescuer.

For tickets ($26.50-51.50), call the Legacy Theatre, 128 Thimble Island Road, Branford at 203-315-1901or online at https://www.legacytheatrect.org/. Performances are Thursday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.

Can’t help lovin’ those mice of mine! Come encourage them to victory as the fur flies in a most delightful way.

THEY ARE MAKING A MUSICAL ABOUT X/?%&?/!?

If you’ve been paying attention, you may have noticed that composers are fully capable of crafting a musical about ANYTHING, from green skinned ogres called Shrek to people who have tried and succeeded in assassinating the president (or presidential hopefuls) to stories about ships that hit icebergs and sink. No topic seems to be out of bounds or totally unmentionable. To prove that point the Westport Country Playhouse is offering up a behind the curtain look at how and why these musicals have hit the spotlights. In “They Made It a Musical!” you are invited to unwrap the origins and inspirations for a number of surprising stories and the songs they birthed from July 18-20, in a quartet of performances that are sure to amaze and delight you.

According to the Playhouse’s Artistic Director Mark Shanahan, with a concept he developed with Broadway historian Laurence Maslon, all lovers of musical theater will be delighted to enter the genius minds of a variety of composers to glean where these unique and different ideas sprang. To Shanahan, the evening will offer “a treasure trove of surprising tales…a perfect, fun-filled, moving night of summer entertainment at the Playhouse!”

Imagine learning the backstory to such wonders as “Fiddler on the Roof” and “Annie,” “Sweeney Todd” and “Hamilton.” You already know that the tragic tale of “Romeo and Juliet” has already given rise to “West Side Story” and many other stories of star-crossed lovers, while George Bernard Shaw’s little flower girl of “Pygmalion has grown up to become “My Fair Lady.” But how many intriguing stories like these exist waiting to expose their roots and wings.

Maslon confidently boasted “Great Broadway shows began as puzzles until our most esteemed writers, such as Rodgers and Hammerstein, Lerner and Loewe, and Lin-Manuel Miranda, to name just a few, unlocked their secrets and beautiful shows sprang out to enchant us all.” The performers waiting eagerly to reveal these secrets in stories and song are Broadway stars Christian DeMarais, Guy Lockard, Kristen Hahn, Maria Bilbao, John Rapson and Sophia Tzougros.

For tickets ($45-65), call Westport Country Playhouse, 25 Powers Court, route One, Westport at 203-227-4177 or 1-888-927-7529 or online at westportplayhouse.org. Performances are Thursday and Friday at 8 p.m., and Saturday at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Musical theater lovers unite and learn together about the histories and legends surrounding some of your favorite Broadway shows and how they came to be. Fascinating!

"MARY POPPINS" MAGICALLY FLIES IN THANKS TO SUMMER THEATRE OF NEW CANAAN

When she was a kindergartener, P. L. Travers picked a giant sunflower from a neighbor’s garden thinking the great golden face was the face of God. She would go on later in life to delight the world in a series of books with a fanciful figure named “Mary Poppins.”

Summer Theatre of New Canaan will open its roof and rafters to welcome our favorite nanny “Mary Poppins The Broadway Musical” as she majestically flies in until Sunday, July 28 and you’re invited to hold on to her umbrella for a bucket of fun.

To get in the proper spirit, STONC is offering photographs with a penguin or three as you enter the venue.

As nannys go, Mary Poppins, a clever and smart and delightful Emily Grace Tucker, is one of the magical best. Hailing from England, she unexpectedly arrives at number Seventeen Cherry Tree Lane when the Banks family is in desperate need of her services. A strong wind delivers her, carpetbag in hand, to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Banks, Sean Hannon and Jazmin Gorsline, and their children Jane and Michael brought to life by Avery Jackson and Cate Panagrossi as Jane and Camilo Velasquez Escamilla and Carlos Velasquez Escamilla as Michael. Flying in with an umbrella is only one of Mary's fanciful feats.

Jane and Michael Banks are thoroughly terrible and have chased their current nanny right out the door. Mere minutes after the children pen their advertisement for a new one, sung delightfully as “The Perfect Nanny,” who should arrive but Mary Poppins, on a lovely set that changes with the mood of the wind.

Here is a woman who can make statues come to life, whose best friend is a chimney sweep named Bert, a dynamic Stephen Petrovich, who can befriend unusual people like Janet Dickinson's Bird Woman and Janelle A. Robinson who runs a magical sweet shop and who can even encourage toys to dance. The musical and dance numbers thanks to choreographer Douglas Shankman are supercalifragilisticexpialidocious special, like “Let’s Go Fly a Kite,” “Step in Time,” “A Spoonful of Sugar,” “Jolly Holiday,” and so many more. This wonderful Walt Disney musical is brought beautifully to magical life by director Melody Meitrott Libonati for your whole family’s immense pleasure.

While trying to teach the children life lessons, Mary P. inadvertently puts their father’s job at the bank in jeopardy. But, never fear, all will come out right in the end, especially with the practically perfect Mary Poppins in charge, and P.L. Travers’ endearing stories, Walt Disney and Cameron Mackintosh at the helm.

For tickets ($29-93), call STONC at 203-966-4634 or online at boxoffice@stonc.org. Performances are at 11 Farm Road, New Canaan in air conditional comfort Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. On Friday, July 26 at 3:30 p.m. come see “Mary Poppins JR, with tickets at $17-27. For a rousing escapade join two actors as they, with hockey sticks and basketballs, present “The Adventures of Robin Hood” on Saturday, August 3 at 2 p.m., tickets $28-38.

Travel with Jane and Michael as they learn that “a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down in the most delightful way,” when a most amazing Mary Poppins has the spoon and the magic firmly in her capable hands.

"WOODY SEZ" HAS A LOT OF MUSICAL COMMENTARY AT THEATERWORKS HARTFORD UNTIL JULY 28

Ready for a good old fashioned hootenanny? Grab a musical instrument and mosey on over to TheaterWorks Hartford to strum and strut your stuff with some of the best fiddlers in the hollow Sundays July 21 and 28 after the fun rip roaring matinee production of “Woody Sez,” the intimate music and story of Woody Guthrie.

Being named after a President might be daunting for a baby boy, but if your moniker is Woodrow Wilson Guthrie you are able to strive for perfection and then some. Your life has to be meaningful and special, even if it means walking from one end of the country to the other. When he boasted about making a joyful noise unto the Lord, Woody did so with his treasure trove of 3000 songs, novels, short stories, poems, oil paintings, political cartoons, children’s books and sketches of everyday life. He is considered one of America’s greatest songwriters and cultural icons and you have the privilege of making his unique acquaintance at the TheaterWorks Hartford until Sunday, July 28 in “Woody Sez,” a musical portrait devised by David M. Lutken and Nick Corley, with Darcie Deaville, Helen J. Russell, and Andy Teirstein.

Woody Guthrie wrote folk tunes about his growing up years in Oklahoma's Dust Bowl, through the Great Depression, political, children's, songs of wanderlust and traveling, songs of peace and against war, social justice and even songs with a Jewish flavor. None of his verses is more well known than "This Land Is Your Land," that he penned in 1940, considered one of folk music's most famous tunes. Even that was a protest against the sentiment he heard in Irving Berlin's "God Bless America."

Sam Sherwood stars as the prosaic philosophizing guitar playing guy who was compelled to ramble across the country and write about all he saw and all the people he met along the way. Nick Corley sets his hand to directing this impassioned yet humble tale, of a man and the music he had to make.

Guthrie was a social commentator, a radical with an advocacy for truth, who believed “all you can write is all you can see.” He has been described as “a three chord picker with a poet’s brain” and his tale has been brought to dozens of cities, thanks to Sam Sherwood and his comrades on fiddle, bass, guitar, banjo, harmonica and more, Nyssa Grant, Helen J. Russell and David Finch.

Think of Woody Guthrie as an amalgam of Will Rogers and Pete Seeger, a man filled with words and sentiments which he put into poems, plays, letters, a newspaper column called "Woody Sez," song lyrics as well as novels and artwork. He suffered many tragic losses in his life as well as great happiness. They translated into his writings. As Woody says himself, "There's a feeling in music and it carries you back down the road you have traveled and makes you travel it again. Sometimes when I hear music I think back over my days - and a feeling that is fifty-fifty joy and pain swells like clouds taking all kinds of shapes in my mind.”

Some highlights include "This Train Is Bound for Glory,” “Jack Hammer Blues,” "Sinking of the Reuben James," "The Ballad of Tom Joad," "Riding In My Car," and, of course, "This Land Is Your Land."

For tickets ($35-50), call TheaterWorks Hartford, 233 Pearl Street, Hartford at 860-527-7838 or online at twhartford.org. Performances are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m.and Saturday at 2:30 p.m. and 8 p.m.and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. The Sunday hootenanny follow.

Guthrie died at a young age, 55, from Huntington’s Disease, the same ailment that took his mother. On opening night, David Lutken introduced the volunteer head of the Huntington's Disease Society of America Susan B. McCann MSW whose husband is actively fighting the disease. Go to Connecticut.hdsa.com or call their helpline at 800-345-HDSA (4372) for support. A new Center of Excellence at UCONN Health Center for Huntington’s patients has recently been opened. This year is the 50th anniversary of its founder Woody’s wife Marjorie. It is a brain disease, transmitted from generation to generation that, due to a small error in one gene, called huntingtin, can lead to physical, mental, and emotional disabilities. It currently has no cure. A portion of the sale of David Lutken’s recordings is donated to this worthy cause.

Come meet this home spun, down home country boy named after our 28th president, with his guitar and his friends in this special and moving tribute to the Oklahoma Troubadour. They are all bound for glory.

"RENT" WITH SEASONS OF LOVE COURTESY OF SHELTON'S CENTER STAGE

Composer and playwright Jonathan Larson accumulated a veritable treasure chest of awards including the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Book and Best Original Score as well as the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical, Book and Lyrics, all for his seminal work “Rent.” Unfortunately, tragically, Larson died the day before the first preview of “Rent” Off-Broadway at the age of 35 in New York City.

A musical adaptation of Puccini’s opera “La Boheme,” “Rent” shadowed much of Larson’s life as he too lived in a rundown New York apartment with many roommates, including having a love affair on and off with a female dancer. He used an illegal wood- burning stove to combat the building’s lack of heat, with everyone a struggling artist trying to create a bohemian life style. One of Broadway’s longest running shows, you now have the unique opportunity to experience Jonathan Larson’s opus “Rent” at the Center Stage of Shelton until Sunday, July 28.

In 1989, when Larson was only 29, he began working on the musical “amid poverty, homelessness, spunky gay life, drag queens and punk.” The title “rent” stands for lives “torn apart.” Puccini’s work more than 100 years earlier centers on young wannabe artists and the devastation of tuberculosis while Larson introduced HIV/AIDS, Puccini’s Paris became New York’s East Village, and many of the characters’s names stayed close to the same.

For example, Mimi the seamstress sick with TB is now Mimi (Grace Lupoli/Megan Loaicano) the exotic dancer with HIV. The poet Rodolfo is now Roger (Isabel Sonnabend/Harry Rosenay), a song writer/musician who is HIV positive and Mimi’s boyfriend. Roger’s roommate is Mark (Ian Rosenay/Jacob Marcus), a filmmaker, adapted from Marcello, a painter. The singer Musetta becomes Maureen, (Ashley Carpp/Macie Cox) a bisexual performance artist who loves Joanne, (Lauren Wienenmann/Alyssa Grosso) a lesbian lawyer, while the musician Schaunard is now the drag queen Angel. Angel (Ryan Romero/Jacob Ebert) is dating Tom Collins,(Carlos Perez/Nolan Young) the earnest philosopher Colline who teaches his theories of life at college.The landlord Benoit is now Benny. (Spenser Fiske/Nick Gugliotti).

Larson wrote “Rent” in part to celebrate the achievements of the artists stolen by illness so young and to show how the community copes with a tragedy within its ranks.

In “Rent,” we meet Mark the narrator cinematographer who is chronicling the activities of his friends as he adjusts to his ex- girlfriend Maureen’s new relationship with Joanne . Meanwhile his roommate Roger is trying desperately to compose one “glory” song before AIDS takes him. His chance meeting with another AIDS patient Mimi may be just the impetus and candle of inspiration he needs.

The time is Christmas eve and there is no holly and no heat, no mistletoe and no money, but the motley group have gathered to celebrate with the natural exuberance and hope that the youth cling to so promisingly. Sexual gender blurs as this questioning generation musically explores the seasons of love contained in the 525,600 minutes that make up a year, contemplate the death of the soul in “Without You” and do a dance of protest in “Tango: Maureen.”

For tickets ($18-36), call the Center Stage, 54 Grove Street, Shelton at 203-225-6079 or online at www.centerstageshelton.org. Performances are Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.

Explore this spirited and high decibel Tony and Pulitzer Prize winning musical, wonderfully staged by Liz Muller, with talented principles, understudies, red and blue casts that explodes to the rafters with a hunger for love, life and art.

PLAYHOUSE ON PARK INVITES YOU TO DANCE AT "THE PROM" UNTIL AUGUST 18

In your high school years, you may remember being grateful you survived your turbulent freshman year with your bobby sox intact as well as the glory day you received a diploma when you finally graduated. In between those two monumental events, you might rank the end of the year dance as a significant milestone stuffed with special moments. West Hartford’s Playhouse on Park is rolling back the calendar by inviting you to grab your dance card for "The Prom,” a great musical with book and lyrics by Chad Beguelin, book by Bob Martin and music by Matthew Sklar, based on an original concept by Jack Viertel, bopping in until Sunday, August 18.

Be prepared to buy a dance ticket, order a limo and corsage, purchase a lovely dress or rent a tuxedo and plan every delicious detail. But what if your date was forbidden to attend and you were not allowed to be there. Enter the medieval town of midwestern Edgewater, Indiana where one girl wanting to date another girl is out of the question.

Come meet Emma, a sweet and sincere Lucy D’Addario, who only wants to be able to go with her new love Alyssa, a shy and secretive Kendyl Grace Davis, who is not ready to declare who she is to the unwelcoming world. The school board and parents would rather cancel the prom than let Emma and her date attend, which makes Emma ostracized from her classmates and community.

Meanwhile far way in New York City a troupe of thespians is putting on a play about their heroine Eleanor Roosevelt and, on opening night, discover to their dismay, that despite their incredible acting credits they are a dismal flop. What to do to restore their celebrity status? The answer: find a good cause to champion and put their narcissistic leanings aside for a moment in time. So before you can say LGBTQ+ three times, the troupe of thespians set off to Indiana to save a lesbian…and the fun and frantic times begin.

The actors, headed by Susan Haefner’s Dee Dee Allen and Benjamin Howes’ Barry Glickman, aided by Zachary Kropp’s Trent Oliver, Carolyn Burke’s Angie Dickinson and Jordan Bunshaft’s p.r. man Sheldon, put aside their egos for a moment toenter the fray and defend Emma’s rights, win her acceptance and fight against the town’s intolerance. With songs like “Changing Lives,” “The Acceptance Song,” “Love Thy Neighbor,” “Zazz,” and “Unruly Heart,” they sing and dance energetically, thanks to Robert Mintz’s great direction and choreography and Kevin Barlowski’s spirited musical direction, hoping to change minds and prejudices. Aiding them is the school principal Cole Campbell while their opponents feature Leeanna Rubin, Julia Solecki, Riley Means, Katie Kallay, Connor Macchi and Mitchell Maguire.

Will Alyssa find the courage to stand up for her rights? Will the actors be able to actually do any good in their fight? Will a prom actually take place? Come root for the good guys to win a victory in this bittersweet battle for basic human rights.

For tickets ($45-57.50, student $15 available 15 minutes before curtain), call Playhouse on Park, 244 Park Road, West Hartford at 860-523-5900. ext. 10 or online at www.PlayhouseonPark.org. Performances are Tuesday at 2 p.m., Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m., and 8 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. with talk back after.

Come see if the disco ball will magically appear to light the night.

GET A DELICIOUS SLICE OF THE PIE FROM IVORYTON PLAYHOUSE'S "MYSTIC PIZZA"

The passage from awkward and uncertain adolescence to the independence and certainty of adulthood can be a rocky road, especially for a trio of young waitresses trying to forge a future for themselves at a pizza parlor in Mystic, Connecticut. We all remember Julia Roberts as adorable Daisy in the 1988 MGM movie, written about our state by Amy Holden Jones while she was summering here and frequented the small hometown pizzeria of the same name.The book was written by Sandy Rustin and is now a musical stuffed with all your favorite tunes of the 1980’s and 1990’s, like “Girls Just Want To Have Fun,” “Hit Me With Your Best Shot,” “Mad About You,” “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now,” “True Colors,” and “Take My Breath Away,” and a dozen others.

Kudos to the Ivoryton Playhouse for offering up this sizzling and spicy treat until Sunday, July 28 for our summertime fun and musical pleasure as we become acquainted with Alyssa Giannetti’s Jojo who may or may not be ready to commit herself to marrying her boyfriend Will Clark’s Bill Montijo, even when it’s her actual wedding day, Carina Hernandez’s Kat Arujo who is willing and able to work a multitude of jobs so she can earn her way to college but hits a major roadblock when she is intrigued by the married architect Michael Ferraro’s Tim Travers and lastly Ariella Kvashny’s Daisy who falls under the spell of the sophisticated and well-to-do Isaac Kueber ’s Charles Gordon Windsor, Jr. an artist who has already flunked out of law school.

No one promised young love was a bouquet of orange blossoms and each girl discovers the promise and the heartbreak coming her way. The pizzeria’s owner Leenya Rideout’s Leona Silvia has her own set of decisions to make but is the caring mother hen to her tender chicks. The sisters Daisy and Kat and their best friend Jojo all want something more from life and are willing to sacrifice and work hard to achieve it. Brian J. Freehan orchestrates the choreography and direction with a spirited hand of this fine and talented cast.

For tickets ($60, seniors $55, students $25), call the Ivoryton Playhouse, 103 Main Street, Ivoryton at 860-767-7318 or online at www.ivorytonplayhouse.org. Performances are Wednesday at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Now is the time to make reservations for Ivoryton's fundraiser “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere! Party on Saturday, September 14 at 5 p.m. with beach cocktails, a Cancion Tequila tasting, Surfridge Brewing Company's array of delicious food and beer, auctions, raffles, and live music and dancing…all a Jimmy Buffett style of living. For tickets, visit www.ivorytonplayhouse.org.

Show all your true colors as the power of love takes all your breath away as nothing is gonna stop us now. Come experience a delicious slice of heaven.