COME TO GOODSPEED MUSICALS FOR A DELIGHTFUL HOLIDAY TREAT: "A CHRISTMAS STORY"

Forget Ebenezer Scrooge and the Grinch. Don't invite Clara and her Nutcracker friends. Let Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer take a well deserved snooze. Now it is time to concentrate all your efforts on one good little boy, well mostly good, named Ralphie Parker. He has set his heart and his mind on only one present to make his Christmas holiday complete. Ralph wants an official Red Ryder Carbine-Action-200-Shot Range Model Air Rifle, a BB gun if you will. One that has his mother fearing he will shoot his eye out.

Come to East Haddam’s Goodspeed Musicals for that classic tale of childhood desires "A Christmas Story: The Musical" by Bert Pasek and Justin Paul for music and lyrics, based on that perennial favorite movie of 1983, with book by Joseph Robinette.

Ralphie, an adorable and focused Christopher Riley, is nine years old and a determined little son of a gun (pun intended). He is willing to go to great lengths to ensure that he will find what he desires under the Christmas tree. Clearly he doesn't want socks or an Erector set, a toy train or underwear. His list to Santa is short and sweet and has only one item. If he has to scheme and finagle getting it, he is up for the challenge. With his glasses firmly lodged on his nose, he has his eye on the prize and his dad, Jim Stanek, and his mom, Jenn Gambatese, have to decide if the rewards are worth the risks. His little brother Randy, Camilo Velasquez Escamilla, is busy trying to put on and take off his snow suit while the class bullies Oliver Logue and Jack Casey are busy double and triple daring everyone in sight and their teacher Miss Shields, an enthusiastic Rashidra Scott, may hold Ralphie’s fate in her capable hands. John Scherer does a lovely job narrating the action.

Stuffed like a Christmas stocking with musical numbers and tap dancing routines like "It All Comes Down to Christmas," "Ralphie to the Rescue," "Parker Family Singalong," "You'll Shoot Your Eye Out" and "A Christmas Story," this family show will be one big giant gift wrapped present for young and old alike.

Get the tinsel ready, look out for the infamous pink bunny pajamas (what kind of gift is that for a boy?), the quirky lamp that resembles a lady's leg and a dare that involves a frozen flagpole. If you meet a Santa Claus, Ian Knauer, who is cranky, you'll know you're in the right place. Come cheer Ralph on in his quest for the best (or the worst) holiday ever. hunter Foster directs this merry marry-go-round of a holiday treat, with scenic design by David L. Arsenault, choreography by Mara Newberry Greer and music direction by Adam Souza.

For tickets ($37 and up), call the Goodspeed Musicals, 6 Main Street, East Haddam at 860-873-8668 or online at goodspeed.org. Performances are Wednesday and Thursday at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

It's Indiana in 1940 and the Parker family has set a place for you at the kitchen table. Plan to come for a feast of guaranteed holiday delights. Don't for a moment try to resist the banquet coming your way. Watch for the Old Man’s prize winning lamp, the mischievous dogs, Gus and Jethro, the roasted turkey, and the childhood fun of dreams and wish fulfillment.

"DISNEY'S THE LION KING" STRUTS MAJESTICALLY TO THE BUSHNELL FOR THREE WEEKS

Since 1997, "Disney’s The Lion King” has presented an ode to the animals of Africa, in intense story and lyrical song, magnificent parades of puppetry, creativity of costuming, making the savannah come alive in your imagination, winning a slew of awards and thrilling millions of viewers. Now, thanks to the Hartford’s Bushnell Center for the Arts, you can be present at the incredible journey of one small lion cub Simba as he learns what his purpose is in life: to ascend the throne at Pride Rock and be King. For three weeks, until Sunday, December 1, you can witness the beauty of this tale as only Disney can tell it.

The intriguing role of the young lion prince is shared by Bryce Christian Thompson and Julian Villela, rambunctious as a young pup as each tries on the mantle of leadership and tests his limitations. The role of Simba’s best friend Nala is shared by Ritisha Chakraborty and Jaxyn Damasco, as each investigate their own adventure into forbidden territory, the land in the dark shadows in the elephant graveyard, lured there by Simba’s menacing and jealous uncle Scar, a diabolical Peter Hargrave. As brother of the King Mufasa, a caring Darnell Abraham, Scar is on a mission to destroy Mufasa, and also Simba, so he can ascend Pride Rock as ruler.

This incredible musical extravaganza is stuffed with color and creativity. The masks, costumes and puppetry have to be seen to be believed as the aisles and the stage are filled with elephants, giraffes, gazelles, ostriches, flying birds, a rhinoceros, hyenas, lions and even a lovable warthog named Pumbaa created by Danny Grumich and his best pal Timon created by Nick Cordileone. A lot of the humor can be found in the opinionated Zazu, a bird feathered well in the hands of Nick LaMedica.

After a frightening incident orchestrated by Scar, the young Simba runs away, meets Pumbaa and Timon, and returns as a fully grown adult lion, strongly created by Erick D. Patrick. He is reunited with his childhood pal Nala, now grown into the lovely Thembelihle Cele who convinces Simba to challenge Scar for his rightful place as monarch. Elton John and Tim Rice deserve credit for music and lyrics, with book by Roger Allers and Irene Mecchi. Julie Taymor is responsible for much of the costume and puppetry magic as well as directing this fantastic feast of fur and feathers. The incredible choreography is due to the talents of Garth Fagan.

For tickets ($41 and up ), call the Bushnell, 166 Capitol Avenue, Hartford at 860-987-5900 or online at www.bushnell.org. Performances are Tuesday and Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., Thursday at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

You will feel the love tonight as you join the circle of life and let Mukelisiwe Goba’s Rafiki guide you into this mysterious and magical world where the kingdom of magnificent African animals roam free. From buffalo to baboons, antelopes to aardvarks, hyenas and hawks, wildebeests to warthogs, hippos and hornbills and giraffes to gazelles, listen for the chirps, bleats, bellows, brays, roars, chatters, laughs and trumpeting in a memorable happening you will not soon forget. After all, the message is: Hakuna Matata, No Worries, No Troubles. Remember this is the place where you definitely feel the love tonight and all afterward.

SEVEN ANGELS OFFERS A LESSON IN DOO-WOP MUSIC IN "UNCHAINED MELODIES"

In the late 1940’s in America, a new genre of music, originating in rhythm and blues, jazz and gospel, emerged. It was created by African American artists but soon gained popularity with white performers and audiences. It became known as doo-wop, and such groups as the Drifters, the Platters. the Temptations and singers like the Mills Brothers, the Ink Spots and the Moonglows encouraged its growth and popularity. This unique style of harmony, identified by a series of nonsense words like tutti fruit, be-bop-a-lula, ooby dooby, drip drop, rama lama ding dong, ooh-poo-pah-doo, ting-a-ling and da-doo ron ron, are ready to entertain you thanks to a quartet of guys eager to share their musical skills in “Unchained Melodies” at Waterbury's Seven Angels Theatre until Sunday, November 24.

Come welcome local boys Joseph Torello, Michael Ricciardone, Raul Calderon and Tanner Sperry to the stage as they offer an interesting historical and musical view of the era, inserting tidbits about the performers and their place in the journey as they happily warble all the great tunes that mark this time. Wonderfully nostalgic are the parade of songs they offer for the audience’s enjoyment, songs that were made popular in New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Detroit, Washington D.C. and Los Angeles.

You will soon find yourself humming and tapping along to such hits as “Life Could Be a Dream,” “Blue Moon,” Yes, I’m the Great Pretender,” “Why Must I Be a Teenager in Love?,” “Little Darlin', “ “Charlie Brown,” “Dance With Me” and “My Mother Told Me You’d Better Look Around.” These were songs of first love, lost love, the perils of dating, the songs of Kander and Ebb, the music of Lieber and Stoller, the influences of the Beach Boys and the Beetles, the changes instigated by the Four Seasons and Frankie Valli and how each curve and turn took place along the way. It’s like a historical music class where there are no final exams, just listening pleasure.

“Unchained Melodies” was written by Rebecca Hopkins,Richard Hopkins and Jim Prosser, directed by Russel Garrett, musically directed by Mike Wilkins on Keyboard, with Dan Kraszewski on bass and Mark Ryan and Bob Nolte on percussion. For tickets ($30 for those under 40, or $45, call Seven Angels Theatre, Plank Road, Waterbury at 203-757-4676 or online at SevenAngelsTheatre.org. Performances are Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Flex passes for prescriptions are now available. Watch for specialty food nights. Also canned goods for Thanksgiving are requested by St. Vincent DePaul for donation.

Remember the past as you travel down the highway musically with this foursome who are anxious to entertain you the sweetest way they know how in their New England premiere.

TRAVEL "IN THE HEIGHTS" FOR A WONDERFUL MUSICAL ADVENTURE AT THE DOWNTOWN CABARET

Lin-Manuel Miranda, long before his stunning success with “Hamilton,” crafted an enthusiastic and energetic musical tale of a community thriving in the shadow of the George Washington Bridge, in New York City.

Written while he was a student at Middletown’s Wesleyan University, with book by Quiara Alegria Hudes, “In the Heights” speaks to diversity and cooperation in the Washington Heights section of the city, where people from the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Cuba and other Latino nations live together in hope, filled with dreams, and prepare for change.

At the Downtown Cabaret of Bridgeport weekends until Sunday, November 24, this musical speaks to people helping people and the common goals of improving the way of life for everyone. At the center of the community is the bodega, or grocery store, run by Usnavi, a caring but unsatisfied Manny Gonzalez. He has dreams but they are unfulfilled. Will he win the heart of Vanessa (Juliana Rivera)? How can he best protect Abuela Claudia (Jane Prieto) who is like a grandmother to him? Should he return to his homeland to find what his present life is missing?

Around Usnavi swirl the stories of Nina (Olivia Rivera) whose parents (Cintia Maio and Martin Garcia) will sacrifice everything to guarantee their daughter get a college education, Benny (Everton Ricketts) who works for her parents and loves Nina, his cousin Sonny (Nick Nunez) who helps in the bodega but wants more, and Piragua Guy (Jay Reyes) who sells iced drinks to the neighborhood. Who can predict how his sweet grandmother, who is exceptional in the role, will have the good fortune enough and power to change all their lives.

On the fourth of July when a blackout occurs, change is poised on the horizon. With energized dancing choreographed by Olivia Rivera, the gifted director Ben Tostado, as well as songs like “In the Heights,” “Breathe,” “Sunrise,” and “Alabanza,” the heartfelt message of the people speaks to their joy, led by music director Mark Ceppetelli. The colorful set by David Klevit is the launchpad for the story.

For tickets ($30.50 and up), call the Downtown Cabaret, Golden Hill Street, Bridgeport at 203-576-1636 or online at www.dtcab.com. Performances are Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 3:30 p.m.and 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 3:30 p.m.This is cabaret so don’t forget to bring tasty food and drink to share at your table or plan to visit the concession stand.

Come celebrate with this wonderful and passionate cast the vibrant life of a community where preserving the past is equally as important as laying the groundwork for the future, all thanks to the genius of Lin-Manuel Miranda as he was just getting started in his adventurous and powerful ways.

START THE HOLIDAY SEASON RIGHT AND BRIGHT WITH THE CTGMC

What would the Christmas holidays be without a joy filed musical concert from the Connecticut Gay Men’s Chorus to light up your spirits and ignite your heartstrings? The Connecticut Gay Men’s Chorus promises not to disappoint by offering a quartet of golden opportunities for celebration: the Sacred Heart Community Theater, 1420 Post Road, Fairfield on Sunday, December 8 at 3 p.m., and three invitations to the Katharine Hepburn Center for the Performing Arts, 300 Main Street, Old Saybrook on Saturday, December 14 at 8:30 p.m. and again at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Sunday, December 15.

As the world hungers for hope and stability, what better way to grab a stocking full than to take family and friends to a traditional present to yourself with “Just Believe.” This troupe of merry man will be primed and ready to set their glad tidings aflame and offer up old and new holiday favorites. Expect the unexpected with surprises and holiday treats marrying the traditional with the unusual and original gems these talented men are so famous for finding.

For tickets ($38), fair warning they’re going fast like hotcakes fast, so go online to www.ctgmc.org. Don’t forget the monthly fundraising bingo games, like Saturday, November 16, with doors opening at 6 p.m. and games at 7 p.m. You buy your cards for the games, this time it’s with Kiki Lucia in “Baste My Butterballs BingoMania!”.The fun takes place at The Annex Y M A Club, 554 Woodward Avenue, New Haven.

Mark your calendars for the fun, frolic and festivities that the Connecticut Gay Men’s Chorus promises to produce with tinsel, toys, and talent as only they can. Since 1986, the CTGMC has been a center as a choral arts organization and an agent for social change, led by spirited conductor Greg McMahan. Support their good works by celebrating Christmas in their welcoming membership. Just believe!

OPEN THE LYRICAL LETTERS IN "DEAR ELIZABETH" AT NEW HAVEN THEATER COMPANY

When playwright Sarah Ruhl was on bed-rest, pregnant with twins, she received a book of poetry and letters, “Words in Air,” chronologing a thirty year friendship and deeply personal relationship between the poets Robert Lowell and Elizabeth Bishop. That book would profoundly change Ruhl’s life as the more than 450 letters dramatically and lyrically channel the course of their lives, when they were together but even more so when they endured long separations.

Sarah Ruhl’s play “Dear Elizabeth” is being given a lovely airing at the New Haven Theater Company until November 16 at the EBM Vintage Market at 839 Chapel Street in New Haven and if you are a devotee of poetry and love a sensitive story of enduring friendship, do not miss this offering. In today's world, letter writing is a lost art, where few take a pen to paper and put words on heavy vanilla cream vellum. In a rush to communicate, we now rely on instant messaging, emails, tweets and texts, abbreviating our thoughts to send them swiftly and succinctly. Not so Robert and Elizabeth. They indulge their feelings, relishing in the written word and they are masters at their craft. Both are gifted in their own right, he having won a Guggenheim Fellowship, National Book Award and both earning a Pulitzer and both serving as the equivalent of what would be Poet Laureate today. Their paths crossed often but more likely they were at opposite sides of the globe. He suffered from bi-polar depression and she from alcoholism, asthma and depression.

Over the years they sent each other letters, postcards, manuscripts, telegrams, hundreds of which survive, They met in 1947 and continued their correspondence until Lowell died of a heart attack in 1977. At one point they almost married. Ralph Buonocore and Sandra E. Rodriguez bring Robert and Elizabeth to sensitive life, with Abby Klein as Brigit acting as a facilitator, under J.Kevin Smith’s sterling direction.

For tickets ($25), contact the theater at newhaventheatercompany.com. Performances are Thursday at 7:30 p.m , Friday at 8 p.m. and Saturday at 8 p.m.

Follow their tender memories, their tragic losses, as they mastered the art of communication, establishing an enduring friendship, hinting at what might have been and securing what was to be all they ultimately had.

"PAUL ANKA ALL THE HITS - HIS WAY" AT WARNER THEATRE NOVEMBER 13

For a young teenage heartthrob, look no further than singer/songwriter Paul Anka who is still, at the tender age of 83, just as swoon worthy as he was as a confident lad with big dreams. He admits he was “pretty precocious, a pretty aggressive kid. I think my parents knew they had an unusual child.” He honed his big charismatic personality as he worked the crowds at his father's Canadian restaurant, the Locanda, helping out in the kitchen and kibitzing with the politicians, businessmen and journalists who frequented it.

At the age of 15, he set his sights on Los Angeles, with $100 in his pocket, with the goal of making his name as a singer, staying with his uncle at the time. Before long, he wanted to try for New York City. His father agreed on one condition: he had to return to Ottawa if he didn’t succeed. The rest, as they say, is history. Only days later, his father was singing a contract at ABC/Paramount Records, as Paul was too young to sign it himself.

To catch up with all the years in-between then and now, bop on over to the Warner Theatre in Torrington on Wednesday, November 13 at 7:30 p.m to get up close and personal with ”Paul Anka All the Hits - His Way.”

As a mere 16 year old, Anka wrote a song for a hometown girl he had a crush on, a little tune called “Diana” that would launch his career, selling more than 20 million copies and become the number one song in the world. Soon the whole globe was dancing to hits like “Lonely Boy,” (All of a Sudden) My Heart Sings,” and “Put Your Head on my Shoulder,” and he hadn’t even hit the big 2-0 yet.

When the world of music changed, Anka adapted himself into a “Rat Pack-style writer,” composing little successes like the theme song to Johnny Carson’s The Tonight Show, “My Way” his tribute to Frank Sinatra and the Tom Jones’s hit “She’s a Lady.” It’s reported the royalties from Jones’s hit alone earned him close to a million dollars in one year.

In collaboration or alone he has written about 900 songs, appeared in films and on television, toured across the globe, released more than 120 albums, placing singles in the Top 50 in five different decades and he is still going strong.

For tickets ($69-109), call the Warner Theatre, 68 Main Street, Torrington at 860-489-7180 or online at warner theatre.org.

For Paul Albert Anka, he has always done it “his way,” living a life that is full. Come discover that exciting life for yourself. Watch for the world premiere of “Paul Anka: His Way,“ a documentary of his incredible career as “one of Canada’s most successful exports."

WATCH WHERE YOU WALK ON "THE 39 STEPS" AT WESTPORT COUNTRY PLAYHOUSE

Even though Alfred Hitchcock was noted for his suspenseful and mysterious movies, as the master of the macabre he probably would have relished the farcical humor endowed on this fast paced suspenseful and silly slapstick ride, an adaptation by Patrick Barlow, based on an original concept by Nobby Dimon and Simon Corble, from the novel by John Buchan and the 1935 movie of the same name. Clearly Alfred Hitchcock would have gotten a hoot from the clever doings of the four stars who play a whole mine field of characters, donning wigs and hats, aprons and uniforms, leaping off bridges and trains, as the grand pursuit unfolds.

Think of a game of CLUE that has run amok. Think of it aa a humorous homage to the great film maker Alfred Hitchcock. Think of a spy film with secret agents of decidedly German ancestry. Think practically autumn entertainment with a sense of humor and a special spoof in the making. All these clues spell out “The 39 Steps” and the Westport Country Playhouse can’t wait for you to come, until Saturday, November 9, to solve the comical adventurous game afoot.

There's an old saying "Be careful what you wish for" so when Richard Hannay, a resourceful and resiilent Joe Delafield, complains one day in his London apartment in 1935 that he is bored, what happens next sends him fleeing for his life, accused of murder. Not so bored any more, eh Richard.

When he attends a performance at the London Palladium, he triggers a series of episodes that begin with a German damsel in distress, Annabella (Sharone Sayegh) being murdered in his bed. Before she dies, she warns Hannay that there is a dastardly plot being brewed to smuggle documents out of the country that will lead to disaster for England. She also cautions him to beware of a man with part of his little finger missing.

Soon Hannay is jumping on and off trains, running from spies, hiding out on farms and in hotels, a fugitive from justice, giving speeches in double talk for unknown politicians and falling in love with Pamela (Sharone Sayegh), one of his chief accusers. A versatile fleet of only two more, Seth Andrew Bridges and Evan Zes, play a plethora of roles from milkman to mothers, motormen to Mr. Memory, adding spice to a veritable stew of characters. Mark Shanahan directs this merry and mysterious romp in Alfred Hitchcock Land with aplomb.

For tickets ($40-80), call the Westport Country Playhouse, 25 Powers Court, Westport at 203-227-4177 or online at boxoffice@westportplayhouse.org. Performances are Tuesday at 7 p.m, Wednesday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.,Thursday at 7 p.m. and Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m.

Come discover for yourself how biscuits and bagpipes, haddock and handcuffs, underwear salesmen and undercover agents, play a significant role in this whistle-while-you-work theatrical tour de force event. Be sure to have your ears tuned to pick up all the references to Hitchcock hits sprinkled liberally throughout this wild and wooly whodunit.

NEW HAVEN THEATER COMPANY SHARING LOVE LETTERS IN "DEAR ELIZABETH"

New Haven Theater Company member J. Kevin Smith is a decidedly patient man. Way back in the theater season 2023-2024 Sarah Ruhl’s invitingly intimate play “Dear Elizabeth” was selected to be the first production of the company’s new season. One week before opening a bad accident to a cast member cancelled the show. Now J. Kevin Smith is indulging in second chances and will direct the series of letters, 80 out of the original 450, penned between two famous poets Robert Lowell and Elizabeth Bishop, that track their close relationship, a friendship that lasted for thirty years.

New Haven Theater Company will open with “Dear Elizabeth" on Thursday, November 7 and run for the next two weekends, entering their personal lives, from the time they were introduced by a fellow poet at a dinner party and realized they’d like to spend more time together indulging in their mutual love of poetry. Only Robert’s death ended their special connection.

Two newer troop members Sandra Rodriguez and Ralph Buonocore, with visiting artist Abby Klein, will portray Elizabeth and Robert, both Poet Laureates and Pulitzer Prize winners. Even though they were often geographically apart in different countries their friendship spanned years and separation but was always warm and sentimentally close. Letter writing may seem to be a lost art today but for these two their connection with pen and paper was a valuable lifeline between their minds and hearts. It didn’t seem to matter if he was in Italy and she in Brazil or if he was in Maine and she in Key West, their spirts were united. They both spoke in poetry, she writing traditionally of her own experience and he revealing his soul for all to see, like a father’s confessional. She was not a big fan of his way of communicating.a

J. Kevin Smith hopes audiences will come away with a sense of the beauty of friendship, one inspired by love. As our current political angst grows, he wants them to see it as a sense of escape, a way to feel better about the world. He wants their intimate stories, how they supported each other through their problems and boosted each other’s spirits, to leave the audience feeling better than when they came in the door.

For tickets ($25), go online to www.newhaventheatercompany.com. Performances are Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. at the back of EBM Vintage, 839 Chapel Street, New Haven.

Calling upon the elements of nature, from water to planets to the moon, Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell promise each other a starry eternity.

"FALCON GIRLS" RUNNING FOR THE FINISH LINE AT YALE REP

Teenage girls and puberty can be a deadly combination of hormones. Just ask the eighth grade girls bonded together in a horse judging competition who experience all the great and grotesque diary entries of their age and gender. Yale Rep is currently exposing all the various body parts and peculiarities of one group of active participants in this true tale memoir of "falcon girls” by Hilary Bettis playing at its theater at 1120 Chapel Street in New Haven until Saturday, November 2.

Hold on to your bobby socks and horse’s pommel as you make the intimate acquaintance of six young girls as they reveal the true story of their ascent toward adulthood. These are supposed to be the best and golden years of youth but are they? Each budding flower is dealing with a full hand of issues, from jealousy to Jesus, rivalries to romances, horses and hostilities and sex and serial killers.

In this world premiere play directed with skilled hands by May Adrales, we encounter a bevy of personalities and problems in a rural Colorado ranch land in the early 1990’s. When H (or Hillary or Hillary Clinton) arrives in town, she tries to find a place for herself as a member of the Future Farmers of America (FFA) to indulge her love of horses and her desperate need to fit in and not to just be the new girl. She has to settle for being an alternate to an alternate, but waiting for her turn on the team can be tiresome.

The tribe of troubled teens includes Alexa Lopez’s April who wants to be a Hollywood star married to an even more famous Hollywood star, Alysssa Marck’s Carly who is saddled with an abusive father and some strict rules of behavior, Anna Roman’s Mary who leads the fan club for Jesus and continually asks WWJD (What Would Jesus Do in every situation), Annie Abramczyk’s Rebecca who has been indoctrinated to believe, courtesy of her mom, that winning at all costs is the prize and Sophia Marcelle’s Jasmine who has plunged herself into phone sex and online chats no matter the danger of being thrown off her mount. At the heart of this saga is Gabrielle Policano’s H who learns more lessons than she bargained for before and after she revealed her big secret.

This sisterhood enjoys a patient coach (Teddy Canez) as Mr. K who tries to reign them in and set them on a comfortable trotting path, Juan Sebastian Cruz’s Dan who just likes to be considered part of the team no matter what job he needs to do and Liza Fernandez’s Beverlee who as H’s mom tries to protect her from all the evils of her world. The girls prefer to gallop often out of control as they drop their leads and adventure off the path into pregnancy, abortion, guns, race, murder mysteries and, of course, their beloved horses. Evaluating the horses and their finer points is given a whole new perspective when H humorously applies the same terms, unflatteringly, to her potential teammates. Meanwhile one brave boy, Dan, serves as their male mascot and erroneously seeks dating advice when he fancies a relationship with H.

Think Mean Girls on Horseback to capture or lasso some of the angst of these talented performances. These adolescents are not likable, as they hug each other one moment and spit venom the next. For them, growing up is a gigantic challenge, one many of their parents make incredibly harder. If only Mr. K. could make them believe in themselves and their intrinsic value.

For tickets ($15-65). call the Yale Rep at 203-432-1234 or online at yalerep.org. Performances are Tuesday to Saturday at 8 p.m. with occasional matinees at 2 p.m. on Wednesday and every Saturday.

Take a startling ride, often bareback, as these girls struggle to find their identity in a world that is often confusing and hostile, where even their beloved stallions can not always carry them cross the finish line into adulthood.

"A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE AUDITION" COMES TO NELSON HALL ON NOVEMBER 8TH

PRESS RELEASE

Calling all “Opera, Broadway and Comedy Lovers.” After a run of sold-out performances, Award-Winning Director, Martin Marchitto brings the madcap musical cabaret “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Audition” for one special encore performance to Nelson Hall at Elim Park.

Join us for a hilarious evening featuring talented singers and Opera professionals lamenting about audition mishaps, mayhem, and miracles through hits from the Opera, Operetta and Broadway stages. With action taking place in the audience everyone is part of the show.

Friday, November 8th 7:30pm. Tickets are only $15 https://www.nelsonhallelimpark.org

"JERSEY BOYS" LIGHTS UP THE CONNECTICUT SKIES AT A.C.T.

Four guys singing under the streetlamp on a New Jersey corner enjoy the saving grace of redemption when they each could have been destined for a jail cell. Music helped them to escape the fate as juvenile delinquents and led, in a round about fashion, to their amazing success, ultimately, as the Four Seasons, Venture to A.C.T. of CT in Ridgefield for the mostly joyful story of Frankie Valli and friends in the exuberant “Jersey Boys” delighting audiences now extended until Sunday, November 17.

Rarely has a musical the ability to raise the rafters quite like this show about a quartet of young guys, blue-collar workers, from the Garden State. With book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, and music by Bob Gaudio and lyrics by Bob Crewe, “Jersey Boys” tells the tale of how Frankie Valli becomes lead singer of The Four Seasons. The transformation is not an easy one, and the four have some hard choices to make along the way, but that "rocky road” is a spectacular journey you won’t want to miss.

You definitely want to cheer on this smash 2006 Tony Award winning show. With a sweet, honey-dipped sound and a dazzling dream, these young kids flirt with crime and the wrong side of the law but, eventually, set their careers straight toward stardom. Finding members who fit their sound was the first hurdle. Claiming a name that suited their voices was the second. Avoiding arrest by the cops, reconciling family life with long stints on the road, a gambling addiction and burden of debt all conspire to almost bring them down.

But Gian Raffaele Dicostanzo’s Frankie Valli, Christian Engelhardt’s Bob Gaudio, Matthew Stoke’s Tommy DeVito and Anthony

Cangiamila’s Nick Massi persevere and go on to sell 175 million records worldwide, all before they hit thirty, with Gaudio and Justin Michael Duval’s Bob Crewe, their producer/lyricist writing many of the show’s thirty three songs, including five #1 hits and 11 that made the Billboard’s top ten. Come snap your fingers and hum along to “Sherry,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Walk Like a Man,” “Oh, What a Night,” “My Eyes Adore You,” “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You” and “Working My Way Back to You,” and so many more.

Watch how the brash and bold Tommy DeVito takes full credit for forming the group, discovering the angelic voiced Frank Valli, and steering them to stardom but never claims the ultimate sin that almost destroys them. Christopher D. Betts directs this great gift of momentum, motives and music.

For tickets ($72 and up), call A.C.T. of CT, 38 Old Quarry Road, Ridgefield at 475-215-5433 or online at www.actofct.org. Performances are Thursday at 7 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.and Sunday at 2 p.m., with no performance Thursday, October 31 and an additional performance Wednesday, October 30 at 7 p.m.

Let a quartet of wildly talented guys adore you with their eyes and serenade you with their great voices as they work their way into your heart. Oh, what a night! Join the multiple millions who have loved this show as they reunite to enter the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, an honor they cherish and deservedly so.

"DR. JEKYLL AND MR HYDE" SET TO SCARE AT HARTFORD STAGE

To celebrate the spookiest time of the year, the Hartford Stage has conjured up a new, novel and scary version of that Victorian classic by Robert Louis Stevenson penned in 1886, the result of a nightmare that is the origin of the macabre tale. Screw up your courage and venture into the dark and dangerous world of “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” scaring audiences until Sunday, November 3. This new adaptation by Jeffrey Hatcher and skillfully directed by Melia Bensussen, confronts the age old question of good and evil, are we all one or the other or rather a mixture of each in a varying degree.

Nathan Darrow’s Dr. Henry Jekyll is a physician consumed with the conscious mind, with research, with experimental drugs, with the struggle of good impulses fighting off impulses of evil. When he swallows a tincture of ingredients, he creates a variety of alter egos, depending on the combination of drugs taken and the amount of each in his system. This inability to control the results of his experiment leads to uncontrollable and often disastrous results. Yet in each a variation on a theme, a differring version of Mr, Edward Hyde, is created.

On a majestic thrust stage created by Sara Brown, we encounter the characters who people Jekyll’s world, those who support him and those who oppose him: Peter Stray’s Dr. H. K. Lanyon, Omar Robinson’s Dr. Gabriel Utterson, Nayib Felix’s Sir Danvers Carew and also The Inspector, Sarah Chalfie’s Elizabeth Jelkes and Jennifer Rae Bareilles’ Mr. Poole. Do not for an instant believe you are safe from murder just because you once were on Dr. Jekyll’s good side. Anyone and everyone is fair game in this tale of dual consciousness, of lightness and darkness, of salvation and condemnation, sanity and madness. Dark desires are clearly not easy to control, when appetites and impulses range out of command.

For tickets ($30 and up), call the Hartford Stage, 50 Church Street, Hartford at 860-527-5151 or online at boxoffice@hartfordstage.org. Performances are Tuesday to Saturday at 7:30 p.m with matinees Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. Added shows are Thursday, October 31 at 1 p.m. and Sunday November 3 at 7:30 p.m.

The theater has just announced that $9,000,000 of its $20,000,000 Set the Stage Endowment has already been reached for this nationally recognized live theater where stories are told.

Witness this macabre dance nightmare where psychological repercussions reign and good impulses and bad impulses run amok, where a potion has the power to create evil and the beast in man’s nature can be so easily unleashed.

JOHN O'HURLEY: A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS AND STANDARDS

If you answer to the name John O’Hurley, actor, comedian, singer, author, game show host and television personality, you have been blessed with a resume any Hollywood personality would be proud of and rightly so. His smooth and distinguished voice, where he is noted for playing characters from villains to knights, doctors to politicians, captains to professors and kings to God, would be treasure enough to brag about endlessly. Don’t forget his roles as King Arthur in “Spamalot,” and as the fast talking lawyer Billy Flynn in “Chicago,” his stints on soap operas like “All My Children” and “The Young and the Restless,” his two dozen movies and numerous television shows, his decade doing commercials for Coors Light beer, and his controversial but ultimate win in the dance off on “Dancing with the Stars” in its first year winning for his sister Carol who at 17 lost her life to epileptic seizures as he played for the Epilepsy Foundation and the list rolls merrily along.

You have the unique opportunity to hear from John O’Hurley live and in person as he brings his one man show to two venues, with his band: Waterbury’s Palace Theater on Saturday, October 26 at 8 p.m. and West Hartford’s Playhouse on Park on Sunday, October 27 at 4 p.m. In a 90 minute retrospective of his fascinating life he will regale the audience with storytelling as he sings from the Great American Songbook “A Man with Standards.”

The idea for the show began seven years ago when his pianist and friend Michael Feinstein called John and asked if he had a one man cabaret show. Feinstein had a new hotel and he wanted John to open it for him in three weeks. John said he did and then began to write one and that was the impetus that pushed him over the edge to write the story of his life, with music from the 1950’s and 1960’s. The first iteration was two and a half hours but even John was sick of talking about himself for that long and a 90 year old gentleman who saw the first show commented in the best way possible when he said “I listened to your show and didn’t have to go to the bathroom once.” The show has been nominated twice by Broadway World as the “Best Celebrity Show."

Even though he was born in Kittery, Maine, he has ties to Connecticut and West Hartford where he moved to when he was 5 or 6 and in the second grade. He always loved being on stage and live theater was always his favorite. "The interaction with the audience where I need them as much as they need me always led to the applause, which I deemed time well spent.” At home, his mom hummed everything all day long so John always had a song in his head and a rock band in the garage. “My parents had a dinner/date every Saturday and went dancing which put the Great American Song Book as a constant memory in my head." He taught himself the piano and is a classically trained vocalist and started composing music as a teenager, with two albums that reached the Billboard charts and three books on the Amazon and New York Times Best Sellers list. Growing up in a house filled with music and melody influenced his life.

While his wife Lisa is a beautiful singer, his son William at 17 has been a pilot for the last two years and shows no sign of wanting a career in show business. He does, however, enjoy two week jaunts aboard the Regent Cruise line touring the world to twenty different countries to expand his “geographical dimensions” when his dad performs. His own childhood helping his parents entertain guests was great preparation for his stints hosting Family Feud and To Tell the Truth that he viewed as an extension of his West Hartford life talking to the adults who frequented their home. His job was “moving the party along” which he found “a wonderful experience.”

His interaction with people might have prepared him unintentionally for another gig when since 2002 and for the next 23 years he has hosted Purina’s National Dog Show following the Macy’s Parade on Thanksgiving, that he calls “the greatest piece of tv success.” This is even though a Great Dane once circled the arena. looked him right in the eye and stopped, squatted, and left a twelve pound editorial comment for his approval.

One of John O’Hurley’s most memorable achievements is his 20 episodes as J. Peterman, Elaine’s neurotic boss on ”Seinfeld,” as a catalog company entrepreneur. Ironically, a year after the show ended the real J. Peterman called John, and said the romantic clothing wear company was in financial trouble and asked him to buy it. As John relates,”It’s an odd transition. I liked the role so much I bought the company…(he said) let’s put the company back together again,,,So since 1999, I’ve owned the J. Peterman Company with the real J. Peterman.” Go to peterman.com to check out the great clothing line with Hemingway-like commentary and pastel drawings.

As to his dreams of the future, John O’Hurley would like to tackle the role of the idealistic but fumbling Don Quixote with its great musical score as well as the role of the elegantly overwhelming physician in the startling play “Equus,” the monologue from which he recites to warm up before going on stage.

For tickets, call the Palace Theater, 100 East Main Street, Waterbury at 203-346-2000 or online at palacetheaterct.org or call Playhouse on Park, 244 Park Road, West Hartford at 860-523-5900, ext. 10 or online at playhouseonpark.org. A reception is available to meet John after the West Hartford show for an additional premium.

Of one thing that is absolutely assured, at both venues John O’Hurley will definitely razzle dazzle ‘em! After all, People Magazine did name him “sexiest man alive."

THEATERWORKS HARTFORD EXPOSES YOU TO "FEVER DREAMS"

Mark Twain famously said “If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything” and “A mine is a hole in the ground with a liar on top.” It would have been prudent if the trio of characters, Zach, Addie and Miller, in Jeffrey Lieber’s intriguing and suspenseful “Fever Dreams” had heeded that warning. Enter at your own risk to TheaterWorks Hartford’s latest offering in honor of their 35th anniversary season of intoxicating theater, until Sunday, November 3 with “Fever Dreams (of animals on the verge of extinction).

Luke Cantarella’s set design of a lovely cabin in the woods, somewhere in the Pacific Northwest, complete with exposed beams, an enclosed screen porch and a canoe, gives no clue, except for a broken cabinet door, that any one or any thing is amiss. That is deceptively untrue. Three decades ago Doug Savant’s Zach and Tim DeKay’s Miller were best buds and college roommates, until Lana Young's Addie asserts her sensual self into their midst. She ends up marrying Miller and carrying on a clandestine affair with Zach for thirty years, meeting infrequently in the inviting cabin in the woods.

There are many secrets lurking in their chosen sanctuary, too many secrets that are bubbling up to the surface just waiting to be exposed. As an environmentalist, Addie weaves her tale of animals, from bears to beetles, on the verge of extinction into her complicated relationship with both men. The level of danger is heightened when Miller suddenly makes his appearance. Will all three survive the encounter? Can they resolve their now revealed deceptions? Will the rules of reality destroy their fragile connections? Rob Ruggiero directs this convoluted triangle of friendship that is tested to the last degree.

For tickets ($33-78), call TheaterWorks Hartford, 233 Pearl Street, Hartford at 860-527-7838 or online at twhartford.org. Performances are Tuesday to Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2:30 p.m. and 8 p.m., and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. Be sure to explore the photographs in the gallery and treat yourself to a cup of Mezzie’s delicious ice cream in the lobby.

Discover how life can hang by a thread, how friendships can be undone, why relationships are so fragile, and how a gun can complicate any situation so quickly and irrevocably.

COME SEE WHAT'S COOKING IN NONI'S KITCHEN THANKS TO PANTOCHINO PRODUCTIONS

All the world over, food and family, customs and traditions unite us. Generations of families lived in the same multi-level house, on the same street as aunts and uncles and cousins and gathered together for a feast after church at grandma’s house on Sundays. Tragically many of those sacred days are lost as people spread across the land and only get close on chosen holidays or, worse yet, on family reunions every few years.

Luckily in 1974, the Cimino family has not caught up with the changing times and practically live in each other's apron pockets, especially if it concerns the matriarch of the clan, Noni. Italians have long recognized these important factors and have melded them in every layer of lasagna and morsel of meatball. To learn about the importance of breaking bread and dipping it in gravy, the proper term for tomato sauce, come running to Pantochino Production of “Noni Cimino’s Kitchen” weekends until Sunday, October 27as this not-for-profit theater celebrates its 15th season.

This original production, created and performed seven years ago, was written by Pantochino’s Artistic Director Bert Bernardi for book and lyrics, with music by Justin Rigg, and costumes by Jimmy Johansmeyer and focuses on a wonderful and warm grandmother, affectionately called Noni by her close knit clan. It is played with heart and spirit by Donna Vinci who is at the center of this sweetheart of a tale. Excitement is in high gear when the unsuspecting Noni wins the opportunity to make her famous dish, chicken pizziaola, on national television with the master chef Graham Kerr, better known as the Galloping Gourmet.

Thanks to a letter penned by Noni’s daughter-in-law Lori (Valerie Solli), whose own recipe for gefilte fish was rejected, Noni is now the center of attention, with recognition she doesn’t want. Her daughters (Mary Mannix, Maria Berte and Shelley Marsh Poggio) as well as her granddaughters (Charlotte Thomas and Alice Saunders), nosy neighbor (Tracey Marble), her niece (Marlena Ascher) and son (Jimmy Johansmeyer) are all aflutter at the news.

Noni’s tiny kitchen, created in great detail by Von Del Mar, is soon stuffed like manicotti, with everyone who wants to be part of the excitement. When the television show’s lead man Jerry (Justin Rigg) arrives, the kitchen is in happy chaos as everyone wants to help. Noni even offers Jerry a slice of heaven, her special dessert bianco mangia, affectionately termed “blah,” an all white with cherries marvel of cake and creme.

Will Noni get her moment on the television screen? Will her chicken pizziaola become world famous? Be sure to eat a hearty helping of Italian fare so you won't starve as the daughters give cooking lessons on stage. The show is set up like a cabaret so you can bring food and drink to share at your table. For tickets ($35), go to www.pantochino.com. Performances are Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m., with two Saturday matinees October 19 and 26 at 2 p.m. All shows take place at the Milford Center for the Arts, 40 Railroad Avenue South, Milford, on the east bound side of the Metro-North train station.

Come be Italian for at least a few hours and let Noni embrace you as one of the family as, to her, la familigia is everything. Bon appetito.

PLAYHOUSE ON PARK REVISITS "JAWS" IN THE COMIC "THE SHARK IS BROKEN"

When Steven Spielberg, the Academy Award winning filmmaker, created his 1975 film portraying great white sharks that attacked and killed swimmers in a fictional town like Martha’s Vineyard, he never imagined the impact it would have on the shark population. Not only did “Jaws” terrify beach goers, it inspired many fishermen to hunt sharks for sport, causing their numbers east of North America to be cut in half. For this, Spielberg regretted the effect his blood thirsty movie had on the shark survivors.

You now have the unique opportunity, today until Sunday, October 20, to make the acquaintance of the trio of actors who made the movie, with frustrating experiences every day for nine weeks as they realized “The Shark Is Broken.” “The Shark Is Broken” is written by Ian Shaw and Joseph Nixon and directed by Joe Discher.

Thanks to Playhouse on Park in West Hartford, you will find yourself aboard the ship the Orca where a police chief (Roy Scheider) played by Nicholas Greco, a marine biologist (Richard Dreyfuss) played by Jake Regensburg and a ship captain (Robert Shaw) played by John D. Alexander while away the hours. They drink whiskey and rye, play card games, and bicker and badger each other about their careers as they wait for the shark, named Bruce, to be repaired.

Ironically, the problem fixing the shark creates more suspense and terror as it is rarely viewed in the film, just introduced by ominous music, and builds anticipation. Spielberg actually called the continued mechanical problems as “good luck because it's a scarier movie without seeing so much of the shark.” Come judge for yourself as you seek a comfortable and comic seat on Johann Fitzpatrick’s realistic ship, awaiting “Bruce’s” arrival. Spoiler alert: he never makes it.

For tickets ($27.50-57.50), call Playhouse on Park, 244 Park Avenue, West Hartford at 860-523-5900, ext. 10 or online at playhouseonpark.org. Performances are Tuesday at 2 p.m., Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m, Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 pm. and 8 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m., followed by a talkback. Coming soon are "A Man with Standards: An Evening with John O’Hurley” on October 24 at 4 p.m., “An Evening with Rossi, the Punk Rock Queen of the Jews” on October 29 at 7 p.m. and “Mother (And Me) A Daughter’s Story of Love, Loss and Goulash" by Melinda Buckley on November 2 at 7:30 p.m. and November 3 at 2 p.m. Check the website for more theatrical adventures.

Watch these actors portraying actors survive the tedious delays as they question whether this movie, filmed on a real ocean for the first time, is really worth their time and talents.

TERRIS THEATRE SHARES SENSITIVE AND SOUL SEARCHING SCOTTISH "NO LOVE SONGS"

If your life was a playlist of music, what would it feel like if there were “no love songs” to gladden your heart and warm your nights. Come sojourn to Scotland and enter the moment Lana frequents a tavern and sees the singer entertaining there, Jessie, who would soon color her world with sunshine and starlight.

The Terris Theatre in Chester welcomes you to share their days and nights together, in the poignant and often heartbreaking “No Love Songs" from an original idea by Kyle Falconer and Laura Wilde, with songs by Kyle Falconer, book by Laura Wilde and Johnny McKnight, with John McLarnon and Anna Russell-Martin. It will serenade you until Sunday, October 20. Be prepared to tune your ears to catch all the inflections of their lilting Scottish brogue.

When Anna Russell-Martin’s Lana encounters John McLarnon’s Jessie at a gay bar in Dundee, Scotland, the attraction is immediate and dynamic. She is attending college and he is striving to create a successful music career. After a rocket courtship and marriage, they welcome parenthood with open arms. In a series of songs like “Monsters,” “Still Here,” “Listen Lana,” “Don’t Call Me Baby” and “Wait Around,” we follow the exhilaration and excitement of a new son, quickly extinguished by the reality of the spiral of mounting responsibilities, from nappies and feedings, bouts of incessant crying, loneliness and feelings of inadequacy, Lana experiences being broken as Jessie departs on a month long tour to America to perform.

Their separation at this critical moment in their marriage sends Lana into a traumatic spin, what one in five women and one in ten men experience after the birth of a child: post-partum depression. With no one nearby to lean on, no husband, no mother, no friend or neighbor, Lana’s struggle to cope results in her despair when she fails. You cannot help but want to lessen Lana’s burden and encourage her to keep her faith and her love strong. Gavin Whitworth serves as conductor and keyboardist while Andrew Panton and Tashi Gore direct this soul searching and sensitive song fest.

For tickets ($25-59), call the Terris Theatre, 33 North Main Street, Chester at 860-873-8668 or online at goodspeed.org. Performances are Wednesday and Thursday at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m and Sunday at 2 p.m.

Come witness this intensely personal story, inspired and emotionally invested intimate love story of Lana, Jessie and their new little man as they ultimately face the future with hope.

IVORYTON PLAYHOUSE DEFENDS BOOKS AND READING IN "ALABAMA STORY"

Did you know that you can ban a book simply because you think it may be racial or radical to students, even if you’ve never taken the time to read it yourself? Concerns and fears are behind these challenges for censorship and they have been escalating each year at alarming rates, supposedly to promote children’s morality, about race, gender, history and sexual orientation. For example, the Washington Post found in a 2023 analysis that only eleven people were responsible for filing book challenges in over 100 school districts while in a survey by PEN that Republican-led censorship laws in the 2023-2024 academic year resulted in about 10,000 books being banned.

Censorship started early in the Puritan colonies in 1650 and continued with slavery issues in the Civil War, with the publication of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” unfortunately rising each year to being front and center today. In recent years, books from “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” and Harry Potter, Anne Frank’s Diary and Shakespeare have been in the foreground for challenges. Back in 1959 in Alabama a school librarian faced her own censorship obstacles. Thanks to Ivoryton Playhouse, until October 20, you are invited into the center ring of the debate with Kenneth Jones’s “Alabama Story,” a true account of this issue at a pivotal moment in American history.

Come make the acquaintance of Ivoryton’s Executive Director Jacqueline Hubbard starring as Emily Wheelock Reed, a fierce defender of her beloved books and freedom of speech, and her fiery opponent in bigoted men like Michael Irvin Pollard’s Senator E. W. Higgins. With eloquent and flowery disguised language, he attacks a children’s book “The Rabbits’ Wedding” by Garth Williams, author and illustrator, who dared to have a black bunny wed a white bunny. Higgins viewed it as an attack on whites and segregation, and the sacred principles of the South. For her part, Emily had the protection and dedication of her library assistant Nicholas-Tyler Corbin’s Thomas Franklin for support in her battle against censorship.

In a compelling side story, the long term relationship and termination of that friendship are illustrated by a wealthy socialite teen Allie Seibold’s Lily who develops an unacceptable affection for the African-American son of the family’s cook, Anthony Vaughn Merchant’s Joshua Moore. Their reunion later in life illustrates the long approved division among racial lines clung to by Southerners. Daryll Heysham portrays Garth Williams among other characters and narrator. This is a compelling tale, told with fervor and authenticity by the talented actors, a true story, a love story, an historical story, and one that resonates today in school board conference rooms across our great land. You need to acknowledge the dangers that loom over our library shelves and be educated about the risks that threaten our children, no matter which side of the printed page you stand on.

For tickets ($60, seniors $55, students $25), call the Ivoryton Playhouse, 103 Main Street, Ivoryton at 860-767-7318 or online at ivorytonplayhouse.org. Performances are Wednesday at 2 p.m. and 7:30 pm, Thursday at 7:30 p.m, Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 8 p.m, and Sunday at 2 p.m.

Last week was Book Banning Week so this is a timely reminder of the need to protect our freedoms, the importance of books and our libraries, and our need to educate ourselves and be curious about our world all the days of our lives.

"A BEAUTIFUL NOISE" EXPLODES AT THE BUSHNELL THIS WEEK

If you love Neil Diamond, the man and his music, even half as much as I do, as a faithful fan with genuine credentials and long standing admiration, have I got a red, white and blue recommendation for you. This tip has an expiration date of Sunday, October 5 and can be redeemed at only one place, Hartford’s Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, when the life story and musical treasure trove explodes on stage as “A Beautiful Noise.”

Follow the musical trail of this Brooklyn boy, born eighty one years ago, who fought the challenging fight to be judged by his peers and the world as “so good, so good, so good.” He is no imitation, no zirconia, no diamond in the rough but a true “believer,“ worthy of wonderment and fascination. But for a quirk of fate, he might have become a doctor, but lucky for us, his music heals and elevates, and aren’t we the lucky ones.

His first big hit “Solitary Man” was an outgrowth of his despair as a struggling songwriter, one striving for some sign of success and it was the initial validation he needed to keep working. This show that was created with the man himself in command is the work of producer Ken Davenport, Bob Gaudio and NETworks Presentations and stars “American Idol” winner and Broadway star Nick Fradiani as Neil Diamond, a role he played on Broadway since October 2023. Come see this Connecticut favorite son in this stirring role.

Glory in such immortal favorites as “Sweet Caroline,” “Forever in Blue Jeans,” “America,” and “I’m a Believer” and so many others. Learn how he has sold 120 million albums, been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame and took home the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and has sold out more concerts around the world than the King himself, Elvis.

As Diamond himself said, “Some of my most thrilling nights have been while I was on tour, bringing my music to audiences across the world. Having "A Beautiful Noise” go on tour is an honor and I can’t wait for audiences across North America to experience this show. I hope they enjoy it as much as I have.”

For tickets ($48 and up), call the Bushnell, 166 Capitol Avenue, Hartford at 860-987-5900 or online at bushnell.org. Performances are Tuesday to Saturday at 7:30 p.m. with a 2 p.m. matinee on Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Come two hours early to experience a Fall Festival outdoors before the show, with fall-themed food and drinks, games and fun for the family.

Let Nick Fradiani entertain you as the legendary Neil Diamond with story and song, history and legend, to astound and delight.

EASTBOUND THEATRE INVITES YOU FOR A CUPPA IRISH TEA "OUTSIDE MULLINGAR"

The Eastbound Theatre in Milford has the kettle on for an intriguing cuppa Irish tea until Saturday, October 5 and you are cordially invited for a sip or three. It is 2008 at a cattle and sheep farm outside Killucan, in Ireland, and the funeral for Aoife Muldoon’s husband has just taken place. Now Aoife has sought comfort in the kitchen of her old friends Tony Reilly and his son Anothony, while her daughter Rosemary prefers to wait outside and smoke. In John Patrick Shanley’s “Outside Mullingar,” we are quickly drawn into the sensibilities and shenanigans of these neighbors, who have adjacent farms and decades of history.

The occasion of a funeral can easily spark conversations and thoughts about mortality and the preciousness and precariousness of life. Decisions can be questioned and fate evaluated, mistakes can be admitted and problems, long buried, can raise disturbing possibilities. John Bachelder’s Tony is opinionated and sure of himself. He sees his time on this earth is numbered and he is set on denying his son, Johnny Liszewski's Anothony. his rightful inheritance of the family farm, and giving it instead to his brother’s son Adam in America. Elise A. MurphyMulligan's Aoife is quite sure this is a tremendous mistake, one he will regret if he makes it.

Decades before Anothony made the dire mistake, accident or not, of pushing down a six year old Rosemary on her birthday no less and Molly McCullough’s Rosemary has never forgiven him. To punish him, she made her father purchase the strip of farm land from Tony where the embarrassing incident took place. Now Tony wants and needs that piece of land back so it will be intact for his nephew. To add a little spice to the story, Rosemary for all she is still angry at Anothony also harbors a strong affection for him, a singular love that he is unaware of existing. For his part, Anothony years before was traumatized when his own confession of love was rejected by a young villager Fiona. He has never recovered from that emotional hurt.

This sweetly sentimental tale of rejection, forgiveness, anger, misunderstanding, secrets, and affection is beautifully told, with dollops of creamy laughter to balance the bitterness of mistaken mischief. Will Tony ultimately deny his son his rightful property? Can Rosemary persuade Anothony to acknowledge all she has to offer him? Will true love triumph? This all too familiar family feud is sensitively directed by Richard Mancini.

For tickets ($35), call Eastbound Theatre, 40 Railroad Avenue South, Milford at 203-878-6647 or online at info@milfordarts.org. Performances are Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. A selection of treats are available for purchase.

Pull up a rocking chair and settle back for the revelations and relationships that slip like fog into the lives of the Reilly and Muldoon families as Eastbound Theatre celebrates its thirtieth season as a valued part of the Milford Arts Council in its mission of presenting quality theatrical performances.

JUST IN TIME FOR HALLOWEEN "HOCUS POCUS LIVE!!!" ALL OVER CONNECTICUT

What better time of year than Halloween to conjure up the trio of sisters, Winnifred, Sarah and Mary Sanderson, who way, way back in 1693 in Salem Massachusetts met a sad fate. It seems a young lad named Thackery Binx interfered with the witches and their witching business and caused them to be hung. For his troubles he was turned into an immortal black cat through a magic spell and he has waited patiently and impatiently for three centuries to be released from their powers. Now is the day of reckoning and you can witness everything.

Come enter the fascinating, frightening and funny tale all this autumn when “Hocus Pocus LIVE!!!” flies into a variety of venues all over Connecticut for your spooky and spectacular pleasure. This all new parody musical is the gift of Summer Orlando Productions, starring Summer Orlando, Barbra Joan Streetsand and Miranda Miranda. These sisters three will bewitch and amaze you, thrill and entertain you and scare and astound you.

On Halloween Eve, 300 years later, the sisters return for trick and treat madcaps and mischief to Salem and only one force can stop them on their broomsticks: a black cat. With spells, curses, potions and evil hearts, the trio have a mission that will affect Salem forever. Be careful not to call them “ugly” if you meet them in the dark of night.

“I Put a Spell on You” is the magical tune that casts a spell on all the children at the holiday party and brother and sister Max and Emily and their cohorts know the danger the town is facing. Can the children escape the curse? Will the black candle burn long enough for the coven of witches to win their revenge and regain their youth?

Choose your venue…first at the Torrington Warner Theatre, 68 Main Street on Friday, September 27 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, September 28 at 7 p.m., next in East Haven at Cabaret on Main, 597 Main Street with “immersion” on Friday, October 4 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, October 5 at 7 p.m., in Colchester at Priam Vineyards, 11 Shailor Hill Road on Saturday, October 26 at 8 p.m., and witches will fly at both Waterbury’s Palace Theater, 100 East Main Street on Wednesday, October 30 at 7:30 p.m. sponsored by Apex Community Care and again with flying witches in New London at the Garde Arts Center, 325 State Street on Friday, November 1 at 8 p.m. and Saturday, November 2 at 11 a.m. Go to HocusPocusLiveOfficial.com for prices and reservations.

Start planning your costume, brewing your potions and practicing your cackles, as this original spoof of songs, jokes and surprises flies all over Connecticut to make your family’s Halloween celebration extra special.

ROMANTIC ENTANGLEMENTS DELIGHT IN "I LOVE YOU, YOU'RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE"

As soon as God created Adam and Eve and mixed in an apple and a snake, problems began. In the beginning, God peopled the earth, which was then confined to the Garden of Eden, with Adam and Eve, and that is the precise moment when complicated romantic relationships began. Fast forward a few millenniums and playwright Joe DiPietro, with music by Jimmy Roberts, continues the story in his fascinating and funny musical series of vignettes “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change.”

For an intimate, charming and revealing look at dating, courtship, marriage, divorce, birth and death, the whole megillah, head directly to Center Stage in Shelton weekends until Sunday, September 29. In almost two dozen tales, you will be privy to the anxiety and angst, the preparation and the preening, the fuss and the futility of all the love drenched situations that have forever made the world go round and round and round. You’ve probably experienced a goodly number of them yourself.

Hop aboard the bus with Joelle Cote, Jen Beveridge, Nick Nunez and Jaxon Beirne as the quartet become your trusty tour guides on the often rocky path to true wedded bliss. From those awkward first dates when you want to skip right to the good stuff all the way to providing great pick-up lines at funerals, DiPietro doesn’t leave any possibility for romance stuck under any rocks. This troupe is worthy of venturing down all the bumpy paths for maximum humor and delight in the laughter department.

DiPietro deals with such pressing issues as “Men Who Talk and the Women Who Pretend They’re Listening,” a visit with new parents who are fixated on their recent arrival, lawyers who guarantee sexual satisfaction, a family drive in the car where everyone arrives alive and how not to make a dating video.

This talented quartet play studs and babes, men who cry at chick-flicks, women who offer to cook lasagna but really want to give themselves as the main dish, what happens when a man who promises to call actually does and the complicated tango dance of a married couple with children always under foot. Justin Zenchuk directs this engaging courtship cha-cha-cha with finesse. John Morrow on keys and music director, Allegra Pin on bass and Jose Bastardes on violin keep the pace moving forward with spirit.

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

No matter what stage of the romance meter you measure yourself on, you’ll find a lot to enjoy on this highway of love. Come and abandon yourself to the varied parameters of romance and all the charms and chaos trapped within.

DOWNTOWN CABARET THEATRE SETS "SWEENEY TODD" ON FIRE

Are you a fan of beef pot pies, with their flaky crusts and yummy insides, the ones that warm your tummy on cold winter nights? Might you fancy one in the immediate future? Well, the Downtown Cabaret Theatre in Bridgeport has a cautionary note for your perusal that you might want to heed. Weekends until Sunday, October 13, a man bent on vengeance is wielding a razor in London for his personal amusement in “Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” with book by Hugh Wheeler and music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and it is sharp, memorable, and on target wonderful.

You might ask where do the beef pot pies fit into the story? The answer is that Sweeney Todd has returned from years in an Australian prison where he was sent, unjustly, by an unscrupulous Judge Turpin and his untrusty aide the Beadle Bamford. The Judge fancied Sweeney’s wife and “stole” her and her infant daughter for his own disreputable desires and sent Sweeney away for life.

When Sweeney escapes, he is rescued at sea by a good Samaritan, Anthony Hope. Now Sweeney needs to set his plan of vengeance in motion and he finds a willing Mrs Lovett who aids him in his momentous task.

Mrs. Lovett’s pie business was once a flaky failure until she teams up with a certain mad barber in London’s Fleet Street to create a sensational savory of unusual and peculiar flavor. You’ll figure out the pies' distinctive secret ingredient if you are paying attention.

This is a musical adventure set in concert form as the barber becomes a barbarian in this passionate tale of revenge. Perry Liu is superb as Sweeney Todd, the alias he assumes who blames Judge Turpin (Mark Feltch) and his liege The Beadle (John Michael Whitney) for the treachery which led his wife to kill herself and the Judge to claim their infant daughter Johanna (Maddy Flagg) as his ward.

Now Todd, played with a steely determination and macabre manner, has returned to the scene of the crime to right the wrongs his family has suffered. With the aid of the lusty Mrs. Lovett, played delightfully by Priscilla Squiers, and a naval man Anthony (Charles Romano), Todd sets his diabolical scheme in place. Complications in the form of an old beggar woman (Carly Jurman), a blackmailer Pirelli (Elias Levy) and a wide eyed lad Tobias (Isabel Sonnabend) threaten his plans. Bradford Blake directs this involving dark tale plagued with the “chill of ghostly shadows.” The concert form features an orchestra of three on stage, conducted by Mark Ceppetelli on piano, with Harry Kliewe on reeds and Phoebe Suzuki on violin, magical lighting by Johanna Jackson and period costumes designed by Lesley Neilson-Bowman. The projections are dramatic.A

For tickets ($43.50 and 49.50) call the Downtown Cabaret Theatre, 263 Golden Hill Street, Bridgeport at 203-576-1636 or online at tickets@dtcab.com. Performances are Friday at 7:30 p.m.and Saturday at 3:30p.m. and 7:30 p.m., and Sunday at 3:30 p.m.

Return to nineteenth century London, if you dare, but be careful to have witnesses if you go to a local barbershop for a trim or a neighborhood pub for a succulent beef pot pie.

BRANFORD'S LEGACY THEATRE PRESENTS "DRACULA" FOR LAUGHTER AND LUNACY

With Halloween just around a trick or treat corner, it might be wise to check your supply of wooden stakes, mirrors, holy water and garlic cloves. You might also like to avoid spending a night in the company of anyone who fancies sleeping in a coffin and prefers Bloody Marys over water, coffee or tea. If you’re feeling especially courageous, Branford’s Legacy Theatre has just the terror filled and laughter driven entertainment for your screaming pleasure with the Connecticut premiere of “Dracula A Comedy of Terrors” by Gordon Greenberg and Steve Rosen, with tongue in cheek and better yet fangs in neck, until Sunday, September 29.

Do you like a good ghost story, married to a farce, stuffed with timely current references and just plain fun and adventurous? Come watch a mild mannered realtor Jonathan Harker as he travels to Transylvania, with some degree of trepidation to get the signature and check from a new client, one ready to purchase four London locations, a mystery man of wealth, one Count Dracula. Harder has traveled, not without anxiety and angst, to a dark land to complete this lucrative deal.

His commissions are so huge, Harder is willing to abandon his new fiancee Lucy right before their engagement party planned by Lucy’s father Dr. Westfield, who manages a hospital for the mentally challenged. What follows is a maniacal and monumentally funny mishap when five talented miscreants portray a dozen characters, so pay attention to the antics and activities, the chases and the chaos, the mystery and the mayhem.

Mario Haynes’ single minded Dracula adds a new love fixation to his unquencible appetite for a liquid ruby elixir, while Jimmy Johansmeyer alternates between being a man-starved Mina, Lucy’s sister, to a medical expert diagnosing rare and uncurable disorders Add in Allison Miller as the lovely sought after Lucy who also plays Kitty, a servant, and the coach driver and her intended, the meek Harker, the bosun on the ship and the gravedigger all portrayed by Josiah Rowe and Stephanie Stiefel Williams who transforms herself seamlessly from Lucy’s father to his prime patient Renfield as well as to a Sea Captain who goes down with his ship in a storm.

You may need a score card as the action travels from Transylvania to London and beyond, but the laughter and lunacy will carry you along, under the scintillating direction of James Andreassi. For tickets ($26.50-51.50), call the Legacy Theatre, 128 Thimble Islands Road, Branford or online at LegacyTheatreCT.org. Performances are Thursday at 7 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.

Watch for the 2024 Independent Film Festival on September 23-25, a children’s special The Carrot Salesman on September 28, a Sunday concert on October 6 with Howard McGillin of Phantom of the Opera fame, with John McDaniel on piano and the classic A Christmas Carol with James Andreassi as Scrooge from December 4-15.

Get ready to scream with terror and laughter as the inmates of the asylum are let out for a blood thirsty romp on the English moors.

MUSIC THEATRE OF CT INVITES YOU TO TAKE A "MASTER CLASS"

The famous Greek soprano Maria Callas exhibits perfection in her presence, pronunciation and performances as she will modestly admit as she explains her heavenly status, one in which her “rivals” hide in her giant shadow. As one of the most renown and well gifted opera singers of the 20th century, she is noted for her temperament as well as her talents, her successes as well as her scandals.

Nicknamed "La Diva," Callas has been praised to the roof of the Metropolitan Opera House and La Scala for her voice, her technique and her dramatic gifts, especially as she sang the works of Puccini, Verdi, Bellini and Rossini. She is noted for her personal triumph of transforming herself into a svelte and beautiful woman, forsaking her heavy build, as well as for her tumultuous love affair with Aristotle Onassis.

Now you have the unique opportunity to get up close and personal with Maria Callas in Terrence McNally's "Master Class" now gracing the stage of Music Theatre of Connecticut until Sunday, September 29. A master class is a gathering of students in a particular discipline, in this case opera, with a teacher of great skill and fame. Unfortunately patience is not a requirement so be sure to be attentive and adoring.

Imagine the fear and delight of a trio of students who are appearing in the auditorium of the Juillard School of Music. It is the early 1970's and they are in awe of Callas' greatness and also petrified they will be found personally and artistically lacking. Hers is the only ego allowed to encompass the space and lo to the uninitiated who forgets it.

Irene Glezos is truly superb as the grand diva who is loath to admit she is past her prime, that others have usurped her musical sphere, that upstarts like Jackie Kennedy could supplant her in Onassis' world. She is alternately kind and vicious in her treatment of Sophie, Emily Solo, Sharon, Heidi Giberson, and Tony, Constantine Pappas, as she encourages and destroys dreams. Each is waiting to be blessed by Callas and told they are worthy. She demands their total obedience as each one portrays their audition in a sincere, skilled and honest manner.

Even though she is at the end of her illustrious career, she still commands attention, alternating between advising and criticizing her students while reliving some of the highest and lowest moments in her life. Zachary Anderson accompanies on piano while Jim Schilling portrays the inept stagehand. Kevin Connors directs this personal portrait in the great intimate space that is MTC.

For tickets ($55-65), call MTC, 509 Westport Avenue, Norwalk at 203-454-3883 or online at admin@musictheatreofct.com. Performances are Friday at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m., with Thursday performances at 7 p.m. on September 19 and 26. Check out the many special ticket options and note that MTC has a new partnership with the Norwalk Symphony Orchestra debuting soon.

Let Irene Glezos conjure up the fiery and brutally honest Maria Callas as she reflects on her incredible life and tutors some of the upstarts who may one day take her place, or, heaven forbid, surpass her. Come capture her passion and watch it soar!

A TON OF TREATS AT SEVEN ANGELS THEATRE IN WATERBURY

Seven Angels Theatre in Waterbury has a plethora of pleasures coming your way this autumn.

If you want to talk about a parade of Hollywood stars, look no further than the fascinating impersonations by The Edwards Twins. On Saturday, September 14 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, September 15 at 2 p.m., you will be amazed to experience the talents of such luminaries as Cher and Celine, Billy Joel and Bette Midler, Barbra and Bocelli and so many more. Get your rose colored glasses ready. Tickets are $55.

Hold on to your giant hairdos and psychedelic garb as The Future Heavies light up your night on Friday, September 20 at 8 p.m. for some rocking 1980’s magic. Stars of the era will be in the spotlight from Cyndi Lauper to Journey, Madonna to Prince, Paul Simon to Survivor, and you can bask in all that musical glory. Tickets are $20.

Tune in for a tribute to Herb Albert and Sergio Mendes, who recently died, on Saturday, September 21 at 8 p.m. when Seven Angels rolls out the multi-colored carpet for Rob Zappulla and his orchestra. Rob Zappulla blowing brass bubbles from his famed trumpet, with his renowned 10-piece orchestra, will bring the best of Brazil, thanks to sensational singers Atla De Champlain and Leala Cyr. Tickets are $35.

On Friday, September 27 at 8 p.m., get ready to welcome Bruce MacPherson on keys, Bill Calabrese on bass, guitar and vocals, and Dave Lasalata on drums and percussion, better known as MACALAS. If you’re a fan of the music of Emerson, Lake and Palmer and progressive rock tunes, this is the show for you. Tickets are $27.

If John Mayer’s unique style of rock, pop and blues lights your musical fires, then be sure you’re in the audience awaiting Greg Mattson when he and his 6 piece band perform “Someday I’ll Fly: A John Mayer Tribute” on Saturday, September 28 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $27.

For a total change of pace, enter the literary world of Phil Benevento and Linda Storms as The Chase Parkway Players present "Poetry, Prose and a Play” on Sunday, September 29 at 2 p.m. After a first act of original poetry and prose, settle back for an original play by Benevento, “The Opening of a Door,” set in Waterbury in the 1990’s involving a strange souvenir that may just change lives. Tickets are $10.

Wow, come explore the wonders of a night with Lisa Carter’s Cher in the "Ultimate Cher Experience" on Friday, October 4 at 8 p.m. as you travel through seven decades of a phenomenal musical journey. These years are marked by the glitz and glamour of one legendary icon, compete with trademark costumes that scream her name. Tickets are $35.

Ready for a trip to Ireland by way of Waterbury, compete with magical illusions, a few myths and tidbits of history, storytelling and comedy, and maybe even dangerous feats guaranteed to amaze. Bring the family along either Saturday, October 5 at 8 p.m. or Sunday, October 6 at 2 p.m. for “CELTIC MAGIC” courtesy of writer David Greenwolf, starring with Bella Greenwolf, all to benefit World Tang Soo Do Association Region 9 Scholarship Fund. Tang Too Do is a Korean martial art. Tickets are $25.

These are just some of the treats Seven Angels Theatre has in store for your entertainment. For tickets, call Seven Angels Theatre, Plank Road, Waterbury at 203-757-4676 or online at SevenAngelsTheatre.org. Watch for construction on Plank Road. Use Harper’s Ferry Road to enter.

Let your autumn come alive with glorious entertainment opportunities courtesy of Waterbury’s Seven Angels Theatre. You can’t just watch the colorful fall leaves pirouette to the ground! Grab some tickets instead of a rake!

COME EMBRACE THE AMERICAN MUSICAL PREMIERE OF "MAGGIE" AT GOODSPEED

Too many citizens in too many countries of the world are suffering from famines and floods, unrest and unemployment, clashes of cultures and of the cross, just struggling to survive another day. Come meet one woman caught and trapped in a fight not of her own making, “Maggie,” with music by Johnny Reid, Matt Murray and Bob Foster, and book and lyrics by Johnny Reid and Matt Murray, in its United States premiere. Maggie will soon share your heart with her perilous plight until Sunday, October 20 in this musical based on a true story.

Enter Lanark, Scotland in the 1950’s where we first meet Maggie, pregnant with her third child, as she learns the devastating news that her husband has been killed in the coal mines. Follow her as she raises her three sons, beautifully portrayed by Wes Williams, Jeffrey Kringer and Sam Primack, working so hard to preserve their dreams, with the help of family, friends and neighbors.

Christine Dwyer is a magnificent Maggie who is forced by life to need to harden her spine as she struggles to raise her boys, one who yearns to be a musician, one a soccer star and one an engineer. With courage, humor and resilience, Maggie pledges to make their dreams reality. As 3000 Scots abandon their homeland every week to emigrate to kinder places and a better future, it becomes harder and harder to be optimistic and cling to hope.

Tunes like “Unbreakable,” “Everyone’s Gone,” "Gettin’ Outta Here,” "Queen for a Day” and “Walk Away” alternate the joys and sorrows that mark each day and event. Yet Maggie and her clan of women friends, Sophia Clarke, Kennedy Caughell, Terra C. MacLeod, mine their memories for the sake of humanity. Even as the Catholics and Protestants clash, and tension and violence rise, and it’s so easy to feel like you are an empty house with broken windows.

For tickets ($35-91), call Goodspeed Musicals, 6 Main Street, East Haddam at 860-873-8668 or online at goodspeed.org. Performances are Wednesday at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., Thursday at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

Through it all, Maggie’s love stays true and strong, a protective cloak that she so generously wraps around her sons and her community, proving she is wondrously unbreakable.

COME HEAR A "HONEY HONEY" OF AN ABBA TRIBUTE SHOW AT TORRINGTON'S WARNER THEATRE

Who doesn’t love the music of ABBA, that sensational Swedish troupe that has thrilled thousands and thousands and captured hearts with its greatest hits thanks to the movies “Mamma Mia!” and “Mamma Mia! Here She Goes Again.” As far as tribute bands are concerned the Warner Theatre in Torrington is set to deliver one of the best, for one night only, Sunday, September 22 at 7:30 p.m. and you’ll be solidly square if you’re not there!

Come welcome “Arrived from Sweden: The Music of ABBA” so you can personally say “Thank You For The Music” and celebrate “Knowing Me Knowing You” as you morph into a delicious “Dancing Queen” or King for one incredible night. Backed by a 10-12 piece band, one founded in 1995 by Vicky Zetterberg-Norback and ABBA’s own musician Rutger Gunnarsson, this talented quartet will personally present the musical goods so true to the original, you’ll be hard pressed to believe they are not the genuine article.

A parade of ABBA’s greatest hits including your favorites like “Does Your Mother Know,” “Take a Chance,” “SOS,” “The Winner Takes It All,” “Super Trouper,” “Money Money Money,” “Gimme Gimme Gimme” and “Waterloo” will wow you as these incredible four, complete in dazzling costumes, entertain you all the way to the rafters. After all, this group has energized their souls in over 80 countries, almost 120 United States tours alone, to sold out stadiums of up to 50,000 screaming fans and now you are in for a “Honey Honey” of a treat.

With arrangements by ABBA’s original string and bass player the late Rutger Gunnarsson and the famed arranger Tommy Hansson, you are guaranteed a spectacular evening of exceptional entertainment. For tickets ($39 and up), call the Warner Theatre, 68 Main Street, Torrington at 860-489-7180, ext.1, or online at www.warnertheatre.org.

Let “Arrival from Sweden: The Music of ABBA” generously lay all their love on you!

DINERS AND DINOSAURS AND DESTRUCTION, OH MY!

You might seek comfort in an all night diner for a great cup of java, a slice of yummy coconut cream pie and a conversation with good friends. Or you might seek sanctuary if you knew in advance that a giant asteroid was hurtling toward earth on a crash course and the whole world was in grave danger of extinction. Thanks to playwright Darcy Parker Bruce, you have the opportunity to do both, courtesy of New Britain’s Hole in the Wall Theater until Saturday, September 7 for “Always Plenty of Light at the Starlight All Night Diner." If you are ready for a sci-fi adventure, with nods to Dr. Who, The Hitchhiker’s Guide, and Back to the Future, and a foreshadowing to the new television show Quantum Leap, you are invited to go time traveling back eons to when T-Rex and friends ruled the earth.

Guiding you on this journey into the unknown are the diner’s very pregnant waitress Jessa, a long suffering Mallory Spencer, who tolerates her boorish and unsupportive husband Johnny, and the diner’s trusty janitor Sam, a dependable Katie Ciurleo who doesn’t have the courage to confess her love for Jessa and desire to help her with her pending new arrival. Also on the scene are a frantic Dr. Moxie who knows what is going to happen and is alternately thrilled and frightened by what is looming on the horizon and his anxious assistant Danni, a boisterous Erin Walsh, who loves to collect specimens to study. Due to the illness of Robb Ecker, the play’s director Matthew Benjamin Horowitz stepped in to the role as the capable scientific advisor.

This quirky dinosaur play delights in a campy atmosphere while dealing with issues of love and lesbian relationships, trying to resolve whether the characters will choose to be true to themselves. Will Jessa admit that hubby Johnny is wrong for her and the new baby? Will Sam feel safe enough to tell Jessa how she feels? Can Danni reconcile with her parents and find comfort and acceptance? Will Dr. Moxie find a solution to their other worldly problems? How will a special cup of coffee at a special time help resolve their future?

The playbill is a diner menu…so clever. Tony Palmieri’s set design is welcoming as he believes in “building a beautiful place to invite people in.” The theater is a 50 year old all-volunteer organization that would love new members to come on board.

For tickets ($25, seniors and students $20), call the Hole in the Wall Theater, 116 Main Street, New Britain at 860- 229-3049 or online at www.hitw.org. Performances are Friday at 8 p.m. and Saturday at 3 p.m and 8 p.m., with a talkback with the playwright after the Saturday, 8 p.m. show. The show is 75 minutes with no intermission.

If you are ready for a time travel adventure where Jurassic Park is right outside the Starlight Diner, then look no further than the Connecticut premiere of “Always Plenty of Light at the Starlight All Night Diner.” Leap into yesteryear at your own risk.

CHRIS FULLER SHOOTS FOR THE STARS

What might it be like to learn how to curse from a pro, a famous movie star no less, one who has invited herself to move into your family’s home without actually stepping on a welcome mat. If your name is Chris Fuller, you know exactly how it felt because you lived it, four letter words and all. And to think you were only four years old at the time.

The actress Bette Davis not only gave Chris Fuller his first indoctrination in the colorful world of curse words, she inadvertently set him on a life long course loving the game of golf. The fact that she beat him did nothing to dissuade him from his obsession for the game. His dad fueled that sports passion and encouraged it to grow, until he died when Chris was only eight. By age 12, Chris was competing competitively and he went on to participate in tours such as The New England Golf Tour and the Pepsi Tour. His goal, however, was always the prestigious PGA Tour.

For Chris, overcoming timing and swings, sand traps and putting, were all complicated by a diagnosis of Bipolar Mental Disorder that set challenging obstacles directly in his path. With honesty and openness, Chris has fashioned a revealing look inside himself, willingly revealing what is in the golf bag he carries so heavily around the course with him. In an original one man play, directed by Mark S. Graham, now renamed “Cheese Fries and Chili Dips,” he tells his personal story that is one of the highs and lows, twists and turns of a roller coaster ride.

Chili dips are short shots that hit the ground before your club hits the ball, much like the way Chris often feels his game fails him. Tonight he will perform at the Lucille Lortel Barn at the Westport Country Playhouse at 7:30 p.m., with a pre-show party at 6:30 p.m.

With the support of the International Mental Health Foundation and of The Golf Performance Center, Chris will become seventeen different people who influenced him along his often difficult journey, from his golf coach Mike, his mother and step father, people who believe in Buddhism and ballet, and even Martha Stewart, with projections to illustrate the high and low points.

With self deprecating humor, Chris deals with jittery zombie nerves, depression, medication, frustration, and trying to stay centered as his problems follow him through a series of jobs like being an Uber driver, working at Five Guys, selling insurance, being a bug inspector, all while trying to find himself and a career. He even wore a Cheese Fry costume as a restaurant mascot, but no matter what he did he always felt like a Humpty Dumpty getting ready to fall.

Now that Chris has mastered writing his storytelling in such a revealing and seriously sensitive humorous fashion, a movie of his life is in the works. Watch closely for details about this exciting future event. His message is “You can do anything so never give up!” Go to www.intlmentalhealth.org for more information. Let Chris inspire you to tackle life’s problems and develop your talents as opportunity offers you a hole-in-one shot. Don’t be afraid to Swing!

COME HEAR SUSAN GRANGER AND HER MOVIE MAGIC AT WATERBURY'S PALACE THEATER

What might it be like to be the product of a glamorous Hollywood life style and invest decades as a renown movie and drama critic, one recognized around the world? You have the unique opportunity to learn the inside scoop on Susan Granger’s extraordinary career at Waterbury’s Palace Theater in the intimate Poli Lounge, on Saturday, September 7 from 1-3 p.m.

Susan Granger will be appearing as part of the Palace’s Spotlight Series “I Wrote That!” as she expands on her childhood and career, talking about her two books “Don’t Take It Personally” and “150 Timeless Movies.” Imagine as a youngster from ages 3 to 12 working in the movies, thanks to her director father, with the likes of Abbott and Costello, Red Skelton, Lucille Ball, Margaret O’Brien and, believe it or not, Lassie. She wasn’t the star, but an extra on set but still the stories she will tell.

Now at the enlightened age of 85 and living in Westport, she is sure to regale the audience with tales such as how her beloved horse King Charles was slated to star in a movie with Liz Taylor, how she began her journalism career as a teenager writing a neighborhood newspaper in Beverly Hills about who got a new refrigerator or color television, how her stepfather’s life was saved by a dentist appointment when two men had planned to kidnap and kill him as a perfect murder plot, how she began as an early contributor to the film measuring monitor called Rotten Tomatoes, how her son became strategically involved in the movie hit Top Gun Maverick, and so many more.

This radio and television anchorwoman entered the movie world when she realized she could review films better than the current critics and she never looked back. Recent reviews show her giving “Mother of the Bride” a sad 3 and “Deadpool and Wolverine” a sassy 7.

For tickets ($22), call the Palace Theater, 100 East Main Street, Waterbury at 203-346-2000 or online at www.palacetheaterct.org.

Come hear Susan Granger, an insightful and syndicated critic recognized worldwide for her passionate critiques in the theater and movie industries. Just don’t forget the buckets of popcorn, with or without the hot butter.

THE WAGNER IOVANNA STUDIO JUST HELD AUDITIONS FOR A NEW OPERETTA

Karen Wagner Iovanna,company producer, and Martin Marchitto, production director, created a clever and new theatrical conceit as the basis of Karen's recent weekend production for her company WISP held at the Old Stone Church in East Haven: “A Funny thing Happened on the Way to the Auditions.” The director Michael Cocchi and the producer Alan Wagner are excitedly planning a new operetta, and although funds are limited, they are hopeful, with the help of their assistant Heidi Manley, to hold auditions and assemble a talented cast.

One by one, the eager thespians are ready to strut their stuff and win a coveted role. The audience is privy to all the angst and anxiety, the nerves and the nausea that can occur at any time. The what-if-I-forget the words is a constant worry as is what if I don’t get a callback or make it to the cast? Each hopeful took center stage and gave it their all, starting with Ariana Simo singing “Much More” where she pleaded with God not to be normal. At the other end of the spectrum, Lexi Kinniburgh feared she would be bashful until she belted out I’ve always been “Shy.”

Brittany Kammerer did a dramatic number,”Audition Sequence,” while climbing uphill and an accidental appearance of the church’s trusty custodian brings Victoria Reid to center stage for a stand out performance. Poor Brayden Esler, the recent victim of a girlfriend catastrophe, belts out “Falling in Love with Love,” and then providently bumps into Allison Bradshaw who while offering “Alto’s Lament” provides Brayden with a glimmer of hope. The sweet duet of Ruby Iovanna and Kate Simpson provide a little tune from “The King and I” as they “Whistle a Happy Tune,” while Kate takes back her courage in a brave song “I Have Confidence.” On to the stage wandered a guitar playing cowboy Art Longley who was hoping for a night of karaoke and settled for Viking horns and a cute rendition of the ad for J. G. Wentworth.

Amanda Maguire lamented about “What Do You Do With Your Arms” while you sing. Do you just let them hang there, useless? The director Michael Cocchi then gave a short lesson in how to “Gesticulate” while Amanda Maguire advocated about adopting “My New Philosophy.” The sad fate of a singer who never quite gets cast for the part was relayed with vigor by Marissa Salazar Nassar in “Whatever Happened To My Part (Diva’s Lament)” while a man delivering pizza, Erich Simo, spontaneously took center stage to deliver a rousing “Santa Lucia” and“Funiculi Funicula.” Michele Clay took a page from “Chicago” to give a big shoutout to the matron of the jail in “When You’re Good to Mama,” and the whole cast united in “Broadway Here I Come” to finish the first round of auditions.

The callbacks began with a hopeful “Impossible Dream” from the director, a ballad to love in “One Kiss” by Victoria Reid, a litany against the male gender by Brittany Kammerer in “I Hate Men,” a dismissal of her boyfriend George by Marissa Salazar Nassar when he has the nerve to gift her with “Vanilla Ice Cream,” a plea from the producer Alan Wagner about all the gifts he could provide “If I Were a Rich Man,”and a competitive number between Ariana Simo and Lexi Kinniburgh on how to be “Glitter and Be Gay.” The pizza man returned with Gina Consiglio to offer “O Solo Mio” and Gina offered “Chi’ Bel Sogno,", the new couple Allison Bradshaw and Brayden Esler united to sing “And This Is My Beloved.” while Marissa Salazar Nassar and Victoria Reid formed a duet to the operatic there “Sull' Aria,” Michele Clay passionates crooned “Make Them Hear You,” while the whole cast toasted the performance with “Champagne.”

Keep your eyes and ears open for the seasonal plans for WISP to reappear at Christmas with a whole host of innovative ideas, including a visit from Santa. Stay tuned.

GO TO THE WILD BEACH PARTY "MARGARITAVILLE" AT IVORYTON PLAYHOUSE

What better time for a beach party than the middle of August with the need for cool breezes and iced alcoholic drinks are so tempting. It’s time for some Caribbean casual, coconuts, cheeseburgers, chilling out, charm, comedy, clever catchy tunes and cheer that are all characterized in the sand and shores at Ivoryton Playhouse until Sunday, September 15.

Grab your flip-flops, an island flowered shirt and a frothy frozen drink to get in the leisure mood as Jimmy Buffett’s “Escape to Margaritaville” lures you to forsake work and play, play, play. Punctuating Buffett’s chatty tunes, the musical comedy is by Greg Garcia and Mike O’Malley and is semi-auto-biographical in nature. Buffett started out playing for drinks at a bar in Key West, Florida. Now the story is island-bound and revolves around Tully, a swinging Sam Sherwood, successfully singing and playing the guitar part-time while he pursues women full-time, whether they want to be caught or not.

His latest target is Rachel, a studious scientific Margaret Dudasik, who is focused on her potato and volcano project and her career and is resistant to his charms. A lack of romantic chemistry and Rachel’s uptight manner do nothing to dissuade Tully from his goal. Meanwhile Rachel’s best friend Tammy, Maggie Bera, is about to be married back home in Ohio and is using her island time to have a last fling and escape her culinary restrictions. She discovers Brick, Beau Bradshaw the bartender, may be the salty rim to her drinking glass. Get your frozen drink, a beach ball, a comfy lounge chair and a Parrothead hat, if you dare, and you’ll be ready for some island time relaxation. Best to keep an eye on LaDonna Burns’ Marley as she works hard to avoid the advances of Don Noble’s J.D. who may or may not be penning his memoirs and searching for some long buried treasure. Also keep an eye on the island's dormant volcano that may be ready to blow.

Tunes like “Cheeseburger in Paradise,” “License to Chill,” "It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere,” “Margaritaville,” “It’s My Job,” “Fins” and “Son of a Son of a Sailor” are sure to have your juices flowing. Jimmy Buffett’s music has appeared on many different charts. He’s been on the Hot 200, the Top Country Albums chart, the Easy Listening chart, and more. Talk about being a bit of a musical chameleon! So how does Jimmy describe his music? Well, in the late 70s he called it “Drunken Caribbean Rock ‘n’ Roll!” These days, however, “Gulf and Western” is the preferred descriptor for fans—and even Buffett himself! So what is Gulf and Western music? Well, it combines elements of rock, pop, folk, and country with Caribbean music and adds in a dash of tropics-inspired lyrical themes. Sounds like perfection to me!

Clint Hromsco designed the fun choreography and also directs the romantic action. For tickets ($60, seniors $55, students $25), call the Ivoryton Playhouse, 103 Main Street, Ivoryton at 860-767-7318 or online at 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 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.

Your ticket to fun in the sun in the tropics awaits you.

COME FOR A STUNNING "LOVE AFFAIR" AT BRANFORD'S LEGACY THEATRE

Romance is clearly in the air in Branford, thanks to a world premiere at the Legacy Theatre, when two strangers meet on a cruise ship and, although they are both engaged to marry someone else, fall in love. For over eight decades in film, in black and white and in Technicolor, in film and in plays, we are now ready to welcome them in a new musical as “Love Affair” heats up the stage until Sunday, August 25. What could be more wonderful than the promise of love and a long future together, even if obstacles challenge that union?

Credits for book, music and lyrics to Joseph J. Simeone, who also co-directed, choreographed and did the production design with Matthew Couvillon, with additional lyrics by Ethan Kanfer and additional book by Annaliese Jakimides, “Love Affair” is definitely a Valentine to the emotion that rules our hearts, one we all strive to capture and embrace.

When Michelle Aravena’s Terry McKay meets the notorious playboy Michael Starr’s Michel Marnet, we already have witnessed her kindness. Terry graciously rescued a fellow cruise passenger, Emily Steinhardt’s Phyllis Knoeflier from an embarrassing situation and a new and special friendship has developed. Both admire the world of music and dance and entertaining, and even though Terry is a secretary she has aspirations to be on the stage. Terry’s recent engagement to her boss Mr. Crowley is one of convenience and her desire for stability in her life while the suave Michel sees his bride-to-be Lois Clark as a ticket to wealth and luxury.

Can these two overcome the challenges of romance and succeed in life? How will the influences of Phyllis and of Michel’s favorite aunt Madeleine, a concerned and helpful Janet Dickinson help the pair resolve their differences? Can Terry and Michel trust they can build a future on their own merits? Will fate throw an unforeseen obstacle in their plans for happiness? Tunes like “Could You Wait for Love” and “How to Make a Dream Come True” swirl through the ocean air. Additional cast members include Amber Emerson, Dominic Pagliaro and Steve Taylor. Bill Speed on piano keeps the music rolling merrily along.

For tickets ($26.50-51.50), call the Legacy Theatre, 128 Thimble Island Road, Stony Creek, Branford at 203- 315-1901 or online at legacytheatrect.org/love-affair. Performances are Thursday at 7 p.m. (8/15 at 2 p.m.), Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. (8/24 at 8 p.m.) and Sunday at 2 p.m.

On opening night, the audience was treated to a wonderful example of love when the play’s creator Joseph J. Simeone at curtain call asked Matthew Couvillon, his partner for a decade, to marry him. What better symbol of devotion could there be. Toast them with a glass of bubbly pink champagne.