PLAYWRIGHT ARTHUR MILLER CELEBRATED AT WESTPORT

FELICITY JONES AS SYLVIA IN "BROKEN GLASS"    PHOTO BY CAROL  ROSEGG

The Westport Country Playhouse is honoring the prolific and well respected playwright Arthur Miller, who lived in Roxbury, Connecticut for many years, on the occasion of what would have been his hundredth birthday.  To salute his gifts to twentieth century American theater, the Playhouse is mounting a production of his intense play "Broken Glass," until Saturday, October 24.

In the Jewish religion, the marriage ceremony takes place under a canopy, or chuppah, and includes many prayers and blessings.  It culminates with the groom stomping on a cloth-covered glass, shattering it, a tradition that has many interpretations.  One is that we remember the destruction of the First Temple in Jerusalem, to note that there is sadness even in times of great joy.  Marriage can be as fragile as glass and love must be protected.  The hope is also that a marriage will last as long as it would take to repair the broken glass and make it whole again.

For Sylvia Gellburg, the broken glass has another meaning:  it conjures up the brutal images of Jews in Germany being persecuted by the Nazis during Kristallnacht, the "night of broken glass," on November 9, 1938.  As Sylvia reads about these horrors in the newspaper, she internalizes them and through her fears finds she is paralyzed and cannot walk. Felicity Jones' Sylvia is overwhelmed by this disturbing new medical issue and in her conversations with her worshipful husband Phillip (Steven Skybell), her caring sister Harriet (Merritt Janson), her incredibly solicitous doctor (Steven Schnetzer) and even his wife Margaret (Angela Reed), we learn that her obvious symptoms have a long history.

Phillip and Sylvia have a marriage that is equally as paralyzing as her legs.  Their problems with intimacy are decades in the making.  Phillip, while professing great love for his wife, is conflicted about many issues.  He is proud of their son, the only Jewish captain in the military at West Point, and his position as the valued Jew at his mortgage company, run by Stanton Case (John Hillner).  Yet he sabotages himself with his mixed messages of pride and guilt.  Mark Lamos directs this dark play which comes across like an intense session with a psychiatrist.

For tickets ($30 and up), call Westport Country Playhouse, 25 Powers Court, route 1, Westport at 203-227-4177 or 888-927-7529 or online at www.westportplayhouse.org.  Performances are Tuesday at 7 p.m., Wednesday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., Thursday and Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.. and Sunday at 3 p.m. Go online to view a complete calendar of special community events to honor Arthur Miller at One Hundred.

Miller is quoted as saying, "Maybe all we can do is hope to end up with the right regrets."  Come discover how Sylvia and Phillip might respond to that challenge.

COME SHAKE HANDS WITH “INDIAN JOE”

INDIAN JOE (GARY FARMER) AND ELIZABETH DAVIS AS HERSELF
PHOTO BY DIANE SOBOLEWSKI

When theater director and college professor at Wesleyan University Kim Weild was a teenager, her father spoke words to her that would resonate for years afterward:  “How you walk in the world speaks volumes.”  He wanted her to appreciate all that she had, but also to realize that it is transient and could so easily be lost or taken away.  His message was essentially “There but for the grace of God, go I,” to encourage her to be kind, caring and helpful to the people she encountered in life.

Those words, especially if that walk is in a pair of moccasins, are prophetically coming true now that Weild has been involved in the world premiere musical “Indian Joe” at Goodspeed’s Norma Terris Theatre in Chester from Thursday, October 22 to Sunday, November 15.  As the director of this new work, with book by Elizabeth A. Davis and Chris Henry, music by Ms. Davis. Luke Holloway and Jason Michael Webb and lyrics by Ms. Davis, Kim Weild was immediately drawn to the story of this unusual and true relationship that emphasized the “beauty of the human condition.”

Elizabeth Davis has lived the story of Joe Lightfoot Gonzales, their fourteen year friendship, as well as written it, composed the music for it and is now starring as herself in this highly personal piece.  As a college student at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, Liz was only 18 when she met Joe in a church basement.  The friendship that developed between this unlikely pair, a homeless Native American man who was down on his luck and a privileged young girl who had won several beauty pageants and wanted to do a good deed, is at the heart of the story.  Her struggles as an artist teeter tottered with his bouts of living on the streets and alcoholism, but, despite their differences, they created a deep and enduring bond.  They became family.

It was not uncommon for Liz, as part of the charity she created “Bridging the Gap,” to cook a hundred meals every Sunday in her apartment and then take them to Mission Waco, which serves this under- helped population. She wanted to be of service, but Joe, proud and often irascible, resisted that assistance. Her boyfriend Jordan at the time, helped Joe make the transition from stranger to one of the family. Jordan, an African-American who plays a mean acoustic guitar, is played by Jahi A. Kearse and is part of the unlikely triangle with this Choctaw Indian aching for a good fight and Caucasian girl who writes songs and is on a mission.  Gary Farmer is making Joe his own creation, bringing Joe to life in spirit and in deed.

After college, as the years and miles separated them, Liz and Joe continued their relationship with words and emails that echo in this sensitive story.  Kim Weild relates that a collage of images of Joe fill a theater wall of real places they shared so “it’s like Joe is in the room and we hear his voice.”  This is “not a docu-drama.”  Rather it is a “theatricalized story” that creates the world of the play.  It began as an essay and grew to be the extraordinary full length musical it is today.

Liz wrote this musical to celebrate Joe’s life.  He died August 15, 2014 at the age of 68 after a courageous bout with prostate cancer.  She even wrote his obituary.  Even though his formal education only extended to the seventh grade, he was “gifted with street smarts” and held positions in a funeral home, restaurants and newspaper offices.  He enjoyed walking the great outdoors and reading inspirational books.

Joe Lightfoot Gonzales was known as a giving and loyal friend, blessed with a great sense of humor and an equally strong temper.  He considered Elizabeth his unofficially adopted daughter.  For her part, Liz still works with the homeless, now at Covenant House in New York which offers help for homeless teens.  She hopes her musical will help young people and she has created a memorial scholarship in his name at Baylor, the Joe Lightfoot Gonzales Memorial Fund, at www.baylor.edu/give or indianjoethemusical.com/takeaction, hoping to raise $50,000 for Native American students. “It’s good that Joe’s life and struggle could help the lives of first-year college students.  An education was something Joe never had and he was very aware of that,” according to Liz.

To come meet Joe, Liz and Jordan and their friends, call Goodspeed at 860-873-8668 for tickets ($48) or online at www.goodspeed.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 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. at the Norma Terris Theatre, 33 North Main Street, Chester.

Discover the colorful tapestry that Liz and Joe created together as the song “Sewn Together” illustrates, the bond they forged and stitched with strong and sturdy thread for a lifetime and beyond.  She gave him roots and he gave her wings.

"THIRD" COMES IN FIRST AT THEATERWORKS

KATE LEVY IN "THIRD"  PHOTO BY LANNY NAGLER

Plagiarism is an ugly word and being accused of it is a terrifying prospect.  Just ask Woodson Bull III who finds himself in the cross hairs of his professor of  Elizabethan drama, Dr. Laurie Jamison.  For years, Jamison has created a niche for herself at this elite New England college, holding court on feminist issues she feels are relevant.  Despite dealing with a father who has Alzheimer's, a daughter who has declared her sexual preference for women, a husband who is obsessed with physical fitness, a best friend battling breast cancer, the Bush administration's unrealistic treatment of Iraq and a daily multitude of hot flashes, the good professor has a certainty about Woodson.

To discover her preconceived notions and the lengths she will go to to prove them, head over to Hartford TheaterWorks for an introductory course in Wendy Wasserstein's involving drama "Third" holding classes until Sunday, November 8.

In Jamison's eyes, Woodson, who is known as Third, after his father and grandfather, is preppy and privileged.  The fact that he is a scholarship student and a wrestler doesn't shake her convictions.  When he submits a paper on the psychological aspects of King Lear's character, she is so sure that he couldn't possibly have written such a fine piece of scholarship that she formally accuses him of plagiarism and forces him to defend himself in front of the college's Committee for Advanced Academic Standards. 

Accusing Third of being white, straight and a Republican, she refuses to back down, even when the committee, including her good friend and fellow professor Nancy, absolve him of any wrongdoing.  She is positive any one who wants to be a sports agent could not possibly have penned a paper of that intellect.

Kate Levy is the opinionated and conflicted Professor Jamison, with a hardened heart like Pharoah of Egypt, dealing with her dad's (Edmond Genest) mental problems, her daughter Emily's (Olivia Hoffman) maturity issues, her friend Nancy's (Andrea Gallo) health problems she wants to keep private and her unusual student Woodson Bull III, an eager to learn and inquisitive Conor M. Hamill.

Rob Ruggiero directs this fine cast in this tightly wound drama, with moments of sparkling wit, with a firm and entertaining hand.  Michael Schweikhardt's clever revolving set smoothly changes scenes seemingly without effort.

For tickets ($50-65, senior matinees $35), call TheaterWorks, 233 Pearl Street, Hartford at 860-527-7838 or online at www.theaterworkshartford.org.  Performances are Tuesday to Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., with matinees Saturday and Sunday at 2:30 p.m.  Come early to travel through past productions courtesy of Lanny Nagler, the resident photographer for the past two decades.

Let Wendy Wasserstein, in her last play before her untimely early death, issue commentary about the feminine movement, mental and physical illness, academia, aging and relationships with family and friends.  You'll be all the better for listening.

THE PALACE IS DANCING DELICIOUSLY WITH “42ND STREET”

CAST OF "42ND STREET"   PHOTO BY CHRIS BANNION

You’ll wish you had a pair of tap dancing shoes and a gift certificate to an Arthur Murray studio when you experience the razzle-dazzle spectacular of “42nd Street,” the musical comedy powerhouse coming to the Palace Theater in Waterbury for three performances only, Friday, October 9 at 8 p.m. and Saturday, October 10 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. With book by Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble, who also directs, and choreography by Randy Skinner, the story follows a sweet, young and naive girl fresh off a bus from Allentown, PA as she tries to take a giant bite out of the Big Apple. 
Come meet Peggy Sawyer with all her eager enthusiasm and talented feet.  The fact that she arrives too late for the dance audition for the new Julian Marsh musical “Pretty Girl” doesn’t stop her from landing a coveted spot in the chorus line.  Being on Broadway means Peggy will put in twelve hour days, seven days a week, for five weeks of rehearsal, and earn the princely sum of $32 a week.  It’s the depression and times are tough, but that doesn’t discourage this bright eyed optimist from practicing her shuffle, pivots, pull backs, wings and two steps with gusto.

As luck would have it, Peggy accidentally bumps the leading lady, a fixture in show business, star Dorothy Brock and knocks her literally off her feet, breaking her ankle.  With the help of Marsh, and co-stars Billy Lawlor and Maggie Jones, Bert Barry and Anytime Annie, Peggy finds herself with thirty-six hours to learn the dance routines to take over for the lead. 
This pretty bright and bouncy show, with music by Harry Warren and lyrics by Al Dubin, features such great numbers as “You’re Getting to Be a Habit with Me,” “We’re in the Money,” “Forty-Second Street,” “Shuffle Off to Buffalo” and “Lullaby of Broadway.” Come see how the newest star in the firmament comes through to save the day.

For tickets ($47-64), call the Palace Theater, 100 East Main Street, Waterbury at 203-346-2000 or online at www.palacetheaterct.org.  Performances are Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. A festive dinner in the Poli Club precedes the show at 6 p.m. Call for reservations.

Put on a pair of tap dancing shoes and hoof on over to the Palace Theatre for a happy time of show business glitz and glamour when the shiny as a new copper penny, Peggy Sawyer, uses her fancy footwork to get her name in lights.

"NEWSIES:" ALL THE GOOD NEWS FIT TO PRINT

 "NEWSIES" ON PARADE   PHOTO BY DEEN VAN MEER

At the turn of the twentieth century, it was not uncommon to see a rag-tag gang of boys peddling the news at every corner of cities like New York, scrambling to earn a penny to keep their families from poverty's door. All the way back to colonial times, these energetic and enterprising youth shouted in your face trying to be the first one to thrust a paper in your hand.  In 1899, the newspaper giants like Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst decided they could squeeze a little more profit by reducing the pennies the boys earned. No child labor laws protected these kids and their pittance was put in jeopardy.

This true David and Goliath story birthed a new musical "Newsies" with book by Harvey Fierstein, music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Jack Feldman, and it has been making its own headlines, winning Tony Awards in 2012 for Best Choreography and Best Original Score.  Hold on to your reading glasses and run as fast as you can to the Hartford's Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts from Tuesday, October 13 through Sunday, October 18 as "Disney's Newsies The Musical" marches into town. 

"Newsies" centers on child labor practices, when the kids united to change the way the big powers compensated them.  In the two weeks the boys refused to sell newspapers, circulation dropped from 360,000 to 125,000 and the kids were victorious in having their voices heard. These boys were often homeless and orphaned.  They were not employees and had no one to protect them but themselves.  They fearlessly took on the giants and won, even though the newspapers wouldn't let them return unsold goods.  Working from early morning often to late in the night, they typically earned 30 cents a day.

Come meet Jack Kelly, an enthusiastic hard working lad, who rallies his gang when he realizes the cost of the papers from the publisher has been raised.  Jack gathers his force to protest and finds unexpected support from a reporter named Katherine.  With the help of Davey who is helping the family when his dad is disabled, the boys are encouraged to "Seize the Day."  The police and strikebreakers try to snuff their spirit but, ultimately, Jack's championing of their cause prevails and Pulitzer backs down on his monetary demands.  Even Governor Theodore Roosevelt rides in to help save the day.

For tickets ($25.00 and up), call the Bushnell, 166 Capital Avenue, Hartford at  860-987-5900or online at www.bushnell.com  Performances are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m.,  Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m and Sunday at 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

Join Jack and his pals as they carry the banner of truth, justice and the American way,  hitting the streets of 1899 New York City as pint-sized heroes to battle the giants and win the day.

COME SPEND SOME QUALITY TIME "TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE"

GANNON MCHALE AS MORRIE AND CHRIS RICHARDS AS MITCH,
PHOTO BY JOEL ABBOTT

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The thought is that giving of yourself, your time and talents, to others is rewarding for both the giver and the receiver.  Mark Twain is credited with saying:
"the two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why." For Mitch Albom, that realization was brought home to him when he reconnected with a special professor at Brandeis University, Morrie Schwartz, after a sixteen year absence.  His sociology teacher had been a mentor to Albom  and when Albom graduated he promised to keep in touch.  He didn't and the years passed.  Now a chance sighting of his old friend on the Ted Koppel television show brings Mitch to Morrie's door to visit him as he battles with ALS, Lou Gehrig's disease, and makes peace with his impending death.

For a poignant and meaningful conversation, seize this unique opportunity for wonderful theater by listening in on "Tuesdays with Morrie," written by Albom and Jeffrey Hatcher, and being offered at the Playhouse on Park, 244 Park Road, West Hartford until Sunday, October 18. Mitch is our narrator,
explaining about how his career as a jazz musician morphed into a profession as a sports writer, now housed in Detroit, and why he is flying every Tuesday to visit Morrie in his Massachusetts home. 

This man whom Mitch calls "coach" is still providing life lessons, even though his thirty years as a teacher are over.  As Morrie faces death, he wants Mitch to discover the wonders of love, work. aging, family, community, forgiveness and even death. His muscles may be degenerating but his mind is sharp.  What starts as a one time visit of an hour quickly changes into a commitment to come every week...until the end.

Morrie poses difficult questions to Mitch:  Are you at peace with yourself? Are you as human as you can be? The message is clear that every day is a gift, that's why they call it the present.  Morrie posits that, like the Buddhists, there is a little bird on his shoulder that asks him every day if he is ready, ready for death.  Mitch learns that the truth that when you learn how to die, that is when you learn how to live.  Morrie urges Mitch to go after life and embrace it, a lesson we can all profit from.

Chris Richards is a wonderfully sensitive Mitch, a man who cares deeply and is open to expanding his heart in meaningful ways.  Gannon McHale is exceptional as the transitional professor facing the most important class in his life, and facing it with wisdom and humor and courage.  We literally see
his disintegration in front of us, sensing his pain and trying to hold him in a healing hug.

For tickets ($22.50-35.00), call Playhouse on Park at 860-523-5900, ext. 10, or online at www.PlayhouseOnPark.org. Performances are  Tuesday at 2 p.m., Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.

Watch for the next Comedy Night, promising 90 minutes of laughter, at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m., ($15) on Saturday, October 31 and Wednesday, November 25.

Come discover, like Mitch, that without love, we're birds with broken wings and we need to forgive everyone for everything. Also learn what Morrie asks for as extra credit.

COME SEE THE STRANGE PLANT BLOOMING IN IVORYTON

AUDREY (LAURA WOYASZ) CONFRONTS THE DEVILISHLY HUNGRY AUDREY II

PHOTO BY ROGER U. WILLIAMS

With  a watering can, a green thumb and a box of Band-aids, anything can happen in the world of strange growing plants. Just ask Seymour Krelborn, a potential botanist in the making, who purchased an unusual potted plant from a Chinese man when the world is undergoing some different astrological and weather related events.  Whatever the cause, Seymour soon finds himself the caretaker of a plant he names Audrey II, in honor of the girl he works with who has stolen his heart.  Audrey II has some strange cravings, ones that don't include water, sunshine, fertilizer or plant food.

To discover what Audrey II desires, just head over to the Ivoryton Playhouse by Sunday, October 11 and meet Seymour (Nicholas Park) and the gang at Mushnik's Skid Row Flower Shop, like Mushnik (David Conaway) and Audrey (Laura Woyasz) and their funky Greek chorus of delicious flower children (Azarria White, La'Nette Wallace and Danielle Marie Gray). Come enter the exotically entertaining world of "Little Shop of Horrors" cleverly created by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken where  Mr. Mushnik is about to close up shop permanently.  The arrival of Audrey II changes everything.

Love will motivate even the meekest of men to move mountains and molehills for their sweethearts, even if it means making a pact with a fiendish plant. In order for Seymour to woo and win Audrey, the girl of his dreams, he must supply “the plant” with its favorite growth elixir: human blood. As “the plant,”  flourishes and flowers, Seymour realizes what a money making monsterpiece he has created and the potential fame it can bring to Mushnik's modest Skid Row florist shop. He also realizes that as carnivore grows, so does its thirsty need for the red stuff and its cries of “feed me” echo louder and louder.

Songs like "Somewhere That's Green," "Dentist," and "Suddenly Seymour" set the tantalizing tone.

Martin P. Robinson take credit for this Jack-in-the-Beanstalk and Venus Fly Trap combination conundrum, with voice provided by Steve Sabol and puppeteering by Austin Costello. Also starring in the show are Carson Higgins as the mad dentist,  a sadistic man who punishes his girlfriend Audrey in increasingly painful ways.  Lawrence Thelan directs and Apollo Smile choreographs this new production that opened on Broadway in 2003.

For tickets ($42, seniors $37, students $20, children $15), call Ivoryton Playhouse, 103 Main Street, Ivoryton  at 860-767-7318 or online at www.ivorytonplayhouse.org. Performances are Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., with matinees at 2 p.m. Wednesday and Sunday.

You don’t need a green thumb to enjoy “Little Shop of Horrors” but if Seymour offers you a Band-Aid put on your gloves and run for the nearest exit.