“SPELLING BEE” EARNS AN “A” ON ITS REPORT CARD

 Not everyone thinks of a dictionary as a best friend, but the si misfit teens competing in “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” certainly do as they qualify as therequisite number of eccentrics already in attendance.Two Planks Theater Company will be bringing this delightfulmusical competition to the United Methodist Church515 Cutlers Farm Road, Monroe weekends until Sunday, March 6.

Conceived by Rebecca Feldman, with book by Rachel Sheinkin, music and lyrics by William Finn and additional material by Jay Reiss, “Spelling Bee” oozes with charm as you pick one of the nervous Nellies or Neds to root for as trophy material.

Marcy Park (Amanda Friedman) is the dedicated parochial school entry who speaks five or six or seven languages and determines for herself whether she will win or lose. Chip Tolentino (C.J.Landgrebe) is the perpetual Boy Scout who has a physical problem that erupts on stage and ultimately determines his fate. With a handkerchief and a magic foot, William Barfee (Jason Michael Maur) dances his way into spelling stardom.

Also hot into the competition is Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre (Alexandra Petrova) with two pigtails and two papas and a whole lot of pressure. In Olive Ostrovsky (Catherine Gomez), we find a bouncing bundle of enthusiasm who only wishes at least one of her parents were there for encouragement. Sporting a bike helmet and wearing his self-designed clothes, Leaf Coneybear (Nathan Borum) is the home schooled speller. Four lucky volunteers from the audience are also invited on stage to prove their spelling prowess...or not. Apparently Senator Richard Blumenthal was up to the challenge recently.

In addition, Miss Peretti (Priscilla Squiers), Mr. Panch (Michael P. Cartwright) and a felon doing community service named Mitch (Torey Thomas) deliver the words, the rules and the comfort. Susan Halliwell directs this Tony award-winning musical comedy with a fine cast of eager participants who joyfully bring the musical’s charms to life.

For tickets ($20 adults, $18 students & seniors in advance, or $25 and $20 at the door), go online to twoplankstheater.org/buy-tickets/ or email  boxoffice@twoplankstheater.org. Performances are Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 5 p.m.

This production is dedicated to The Jesse Lewis Choose Love Movement whose mission is to provide free Social and Emotional Learning curriculum to school districts worldwide.  It embodies the positive goals of courage, gratitude, forgiveness and compassion in action in light of the Sandy Hook tragedy.  

Grab your dictionary and be prepared to join the p-a-n-d-e-m-o-n-i-u-m when “Spelling Bee” rings your bell.

LET "BURNING DESIRE" LIGHT YOUR FIRE OF LOVE

 TARA FRANKLIN (EVAN) AND RYAN WESLEY GILREATH (ANDREW)
WITH LOU DIAMOND PHILLIPS (LUCIFER)
PHOTO BY PAUL ROTH

Did you know the Devil has a wicked sense of humor? He is also light on his feet and loves a challenge.  Whether he answers to the name Satan, the Lord of Darkness or the Devil, he has been portrayed in movies and theater by any number of actors from Al Pacino to Peter Fonda.  This time around think the boyish charms of a George Burns or Robert DeNiro and the scheming plots of a Jack Nicolson or Harvey Keitel and you have an idea of the newest Lucifer in town: Lou Diamond Phillips.

Seven Angels Theatre in Waterbury is heating up the fire and brimstone (or not) for the world premiere of “Burning Desire,” a clever comedy written by and starring the man of machismo and mystery, Mr. Phillips in the flesh, until Sunday, March 13.

“Burning Desire” tells the seductive tale of the Devil encountering a modern day Eve and Adam and his master manipulations in the magic of love.  With the help of his two graceful and adorable dancing minions, Jackie Aitken and Sophie Lee Morris, he arranges a meeting between the perfectly pure Evan, a delightfully earnest and honest Tara Franklin and the sincere but cautious Andrew, a handsome and hunky Ryan Wesley Gilreath.

The fruit and vegetable aisle of the local supermarket becomes the breeding ground for romance as Lucifer masterminds their accidental cart crash (symbolically) and eventual love connection.  With clever dialogue and witty banter, the pair proceed quickly from awkwardness to actual affection.

Once the devious Devil has them trapped like flies in a sticky and honeyed web, he is delighted to design obstacles to drop in their path and test them to commit dastardly deeds.  His goal is to win their souls, or at least Andrew’s, in this engaging game we call life.

“Burning Desire” first sparked to flame while Lou Diamond Pillips was traveling on the Long Island Railroad to perform his award-winning role as the King of Siam on Broadway in “The King and I.”  With the help and encouragement of actor Dan Lauria, the Playwrights Kitchen Ensemble, the show’s director Richard Zavaglia and Seven Angels’ Artistic Director Semina DeLaurentis, Waterbury now has the bragging rights to being the first of many sites to welcome and bring this fickle fated fun fantasy to fruition.

For tickets ($38-57), call Seven Angels Theatre, Hamilton Park, Plank Road, Waterbury at 203-757-4676 or online at www.SevenAngelsTheatre.org.  Performances are Thursday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m, Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.

Watch how the charming, sophisticated and charismatic leader of the underworld lures an unsuspecting pair down the garden path, straight to H-E- double celery and carrot sticks.  While Lou Diamond Phillips is not playing the King of Siam this time around, he certainly knows how to perform royally.  After all, the Devil is surely in the details.

LEAD A CHEER FOR “VANITIES”

Dust off your pom poms, gold and maroon if possible, hiding in the back of your closet, from your cheerleading days way back in high school.  They are guaranteed to get you in the right frame of mind for a pep rally, an energetic good spirit fest to marshall the troups.  It’s November 22, 1963 and for Kathy, Joanne and Mary, it’s crucial they perfect their movements on the field for maximum popularity, their own first of all, and for the footmball players too if time permits.

Jack Heifner has fashioned a peek into the lives of a trio of Dallas High School cheerleaders who are consumed with their own image and interests in the comedy “Vanities” happily ensconced on the stage of the Connecticut Cabaret Theatre in Berlin weekends until Saturday, March 26.

The girls, brought to vivacious life by Kristin Iovene, Maria Pompile and Meagan Palmer are totally involved by who and what they are. The play opens with them sitting at a dressing table, one definition of the title. They also possess the qualities of being vain and compulsively buried in self-interest, with no evidence of real values or charitable traits, the other two explanations of vanity.

Even the sudden assassination of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy barely touches their psyches, except if it means the football game, God forbid, will be cancelled.  After all, Kathy, with the help of her best buds, has spent the entire afternoon perfecting their cheers and planning dances, with decorations elaborately composed of chicken wire, rainbows and Kleenex flowers.

Five years later, they are still bonded like Elmer’s Glue, only now they’re finishing college, sorority sisters at Kappa Kappa Gamma.  Joanne is eager to accept her MRS. degree that comes with being a wife and mother, Kathy still thinks being a physical education teacher is her fate, while Mary, always a little promiscuous, is waving her ticket to freedom from her parents, and will soon be off to Europe.

When they reunite six years later, they are each struggling to find a balance and their friendship, framed by a fragile chicken wire structure, is pulling apart at the seams.  There is a definite touch of sadness as we witness their disillusions and disappointing dreams.  They need rallying cries of give me a J, give me an O, give me a Y, but they are silent.

The three actresses are wonderfully true to their personalities and shine under Kris McMurray’s fine direction.  It’s too bad that their fragile companionship didn’t have any “steel magnolias” resilience.  Still visiting with Joanne, Kathy and Mary is an enjoyable education all on its own.

For tickets ($30), call CT Cabaret Theatre, 31 Webster Square Road, Berlin at 860-829-1248 or online at www.ctcabaret.com.  Performances are Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., with doors opening at 7:15 p.m.  Remember to pack goodies to share at your table or plan to purchase cake and drinks on site.

Follow the journey of girls who detour on the way to adulthood to discover some disturbing truths about themselves and about life along the bumpy road of life.

JOIN THE STARS AT OSCAR NIGHT AT THE KATE

With glamorous designer gowns by Oscar De La Renta, Gucci and Versace, millions of dollars worth of diamonds draping necks, arms and ear lobes, spiffy starched and suave tuxedoes, a long ruby red carpet and an array of glittering star power, the 88th Annual Academy Awards are ready to explode on the big screen, the big screen of the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Center in Old Saybrook that is.  On Sunday, February 28, starting at 6:30 p.m., The Kate will unroll its own red rug of royalty to welcome guests in their elegant finery to pose first of all with a real live Oscar statue and then proceed to the festivities upstairs.

Hosted by WTNH’s own TV anchor Ann Nyberg and the Vice President for Public Relations and Community Investment at Comcast Kristen Roberts, you are encouraged to dress in your own Hollywood Cocktail Attire.  For tickets ($75, members $65), call the Kate at 860-510-0453 or online at www.thekate.org to this gala 6th Annual Benefit for the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center.  Watch the excitement live on the HD big screen, while you enter the raffle, bid at the glorious Silent Auction on such items as a Golf and Lunch Outing at the Black Hall Golf Course in Old Lyme, tickets to hear Josh Groban at Mohegan Sun on July 29, great artwork and a special “Katharine Hepburn" basket with four dozen roses, chocolates from her favorite chocolatier Mondel’s and a copy of her book “Me,” enjoy hearty hors d’oeuvres and delectable desserts courtesy of Fresh Salt at the Saybrook Point Inn and Spa  and its new chef John  Cortesi and a cash bar.

Start making your selections now.  For Best Picture, will it be a brutally honest look at the abuses in the Catholic Church captured in “Spotlight,” the tale of a brave but naive Irish lass who leaves home to cross the pond to settle in “Brooklyn,” the fierce and brutal story of a man who fights beasts and seeks revenge in “The Revenant” or an astronaut who against all odds proclaims his courage in “The Martian?”  Also up for recognition are a political thriller, a real estate and financial scheme, a futuristic adventure and a compelling drama of kidnapping and survival.

For leading man, could the choice be Bryan Cranston as the screen writer who stands up to Senator McCarthy in “Trumbo,” Michael Fassbender as the aggressively arrogant computer genius “Steve Jobs” or Eddie Redmayne as the courageously transformative Lili in “The Danish Girl?”   Will the Oscar go to Cate Blanchett in the times defying and defining film “Carol,” Brie Larson as the woman held captive for seven years and the son she bears in “Room” or Charlotte Rampling as the trauma-confronting wife who faces disturbing revelations in “45 Years?” 

Other categories include best supporting actor and actress, best animated featured film, cinematography, costume design, directing, documentary, film editing, makeup and hair, music score and song and the list rolls on in 24 distinct categories.

Come to The Kate and hand select your hopeful list of contenders, including that great former contender Rocky, now captured by Sylvester Stallone in “Creed.”  Actor Chris Rock will do the honors, for the second time, after 2005.

At this private and special tribute evening, you will have a chance to hold your own Oscar statuette, courtesy of Art Carney’s nephew Devin Carney who will also serve as master of ceremonies. His uncle won the coveted award way back in 1974 for his portrayal of Harry Coombes, who takes his cat Tonto and travels cross country after his Manhattan apartment is demolished in “Harry and Tonto.”  According to the Kate’s new Executive Director Brett Elliott,  “The Kate’s Oscar Party continues to be a highlight of our year.  With 4 Oscars and 12 nominations,  how can we not celebrate our legendary namesake.  As we do every year we look forward to creating a memorable night for all, and this year we are excited to extend some new surprises mixed in with the festivities of five incredible years gone by.”

The Dolby Theatre in Hollywood will be ablaze with celebrities as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences salutes its finest and The Kate will have its own share of star power capable of a high gloss shine.  Come add to the glow!  It’s guaranteed to be first rate at The Kate!

                 

MAKE THE ACQUAINTANCE OF THE MYSTERIOUS GATSBY

Jay Gatsby is a man of mystery.  Where is he from and how did he acquire his enormous wealth?  Why does he host lavish parties in his grand mansion on Long Island?  Is he a bootlegger?  Did he graduate from Oxford? Does he own a chain of pharmacies?  Could he be a German spy?  Did he really kill a man?  Does he in actuality run an underground pipeline from Canada and, if so, why?  Gatsby enjoys his unorthodox status and lets all the rumors and innuendoes swirl.  He has a plan, but for the last five years it has not come to fruition.

To learn all of the answers, plan to attend the Downtown Cabaret Main Stage Theatre production of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s "The Great Gatsby," adapted for the stage by Simon Levy, by Sunday, February 21.  The time is the summer of 1922, in the heart of the Jazz Age, and the place is Long Island, New York. The Roaring Twenties choreography staged by Joshua Cardoza, with fancy costumes of the times designed by Jessica Camarero, on a mansion set created by Kevin Pelkey, all set the mood for the action.

Eric Regan stars as Nick Caraway, the honorable man who witnesses and narrates the tale.  As the cousin of Daisy Buchanan, an ethereal Chelsea Dacey, Nick is invited to help Jay, an intriguing Chris Kozlowski,  in his plot to win her back.  Before the war they were in love, but she could not wait four long years for his return and, instead, marries Tom Buchanan (Stanley Geter). Tom is less than faithful, now securely in the arms of Myrtle Wilson (Lisa DeAngelis).  The fact that both are married to someone else seems irrelevant.  At Daisy’s home, which is within viewing distance of Gatsby’s estate, visible by a glowing green light at the edge of her dock, Nick meets the famous golfer Jordan Baker (Kristin Gagliardi) and feels he has found his soulmate.

It is an age of wild excess and Gatsby’s parties illustrate the elaborate disregard for truth and faithfulness. A car accident sets off a trail of falling dominoes that makes the stage reminiscent of a Shakespearian tragedy.  By the end, only Nick is left to exit stage left a disillusioned man, one who has never let go of his principles. Julie Bell Petrak directs this tale of misguided love and unhappy dreams, with dramatic original music by Christopher Cavaliere..

For tickets ($ 23), call the Downtown Cabaret Theatre, 263 Golden Hill Street, Bridgeport at 203-576-6163, option 0 or online at www.MyCabaret.org. Performances are Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 5 p.m. and 8:15 p.m. and Sunday at 5 p.m.  Remember this is a cabaret and bringing food and drink is encouraged. Coming next will be Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s story of a girl of the slums who becomes royalty, “Evita,” from March 11-26.

Enter the decadent world of Jay Gatsby but beware you may find yourself like an innocent fly caught in a dangerous web.

FALL IN LOVE WITH GEORGE AND KAY

What better way than Valentine’s Day to discover a love affair that was “an open secret,” one that lasted over a decade until one of the pair died suddenly.   The celebrated composer George Gershwin, a force to be reckoned with in the music world that spanned Tin Pan Alley to Broadway, had a heart that expressed a “Fascinating Rhythm” when he met the vivacious socialite Kay Swift.  The fact that she was married, the mother of three daughters, had a classical music background and was a great fan of the music of Irving Berlin, were in no way deterrents to how he felt.

Gershwin’s immediate thoughts were “ 'Swonderful” while Swift’s were “Can This Be Love?”  On Friday, February 12 at New Haven’s intimate Lyric Hall, one lucky audience got to experience all the joy, bittersweet though it might have been, of the world premiere of “Let’s Call the Whole thing Off:  George Gershwin’s Romance with Kay Swift.”

The brain child of Aaron Gandy, with the vital input of Katharine Weber, Kay Swift’s granddaughter and the author of “The Memory of All That: George Gershwin, Kay Swift and My Family’s Legacy of Infidelities” (Crown Publishers $24), the product of their efforts is delightful and charming and a tribute to their long ago romantic entanglement.

With a sparkling Merrill Grant as Kay and a debonair Sean Doherty as George, the pair warble more than two dozen tunes written by one or the other or both.  Aaron Gandy has created inspiring arrangements from shows like “Lady, Be Good,” “Funny Face,” “Tip Toes,” “Fine and Dandy,” “Of Thee I Sing,” and "Porgy and Bess” and then peppers the evening with insightful anecdotes from the time they meet in 1925, in the height of the Jazz Age, until his tragic death of a brain tumor at the age of 38.  Gandy is the personable pianist/narrator who gushes with enthusiasm about his subject matter, sharing intimacies and insights into the “Embraceable” duo.  Mark York has directed a “Fine and Dandy” overture to love that will “Jig Hop” it’s way straight to your heart.

Hopefully John Cavaliere, Lyric Hall’s dedicated producer and owner, will schedule “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off” again quickly and often for “this whole thing” shouldn’t be taken away from you or me.  Even Cole Porter would be swift to admit that it’s “Delightful, Delicious and Delovely."

HUMOR LURKS ON THE GLOOMY MOORS

                     MIRIAM SILVERMAN AND KELLY MCANDREW IN "THE MOORS"

                     PHOTO BY JOAN MARCUS

Take one dark and gloomy castle, set it smack on a bleak and desolate moor, add swirls of fog and wisps of smoke, people it with a gaggle of women all in varying stages of unrequited desires and you have a start at capturing Jen Silverman’s world premiere Gothic romantic mystery comedy.

New Haven’s Yale Repertory Theatre will have a whole lot of melodrama pulsing through its veins until Saturday, February 20 as “The Moors” entices you to explore its dangerous depths. Think the Bronte Sisters Meets Lizzy Borden.  “The Moors” is definitely deliciously devilish and devilishly delicious, but be careful if any one of the maids Marjory, Mallory or Margaret (all portrayed by a rebellious Hannah Cabell) offers you a cuppa tea.

As with all good Gothic tales, there are unexplained incidents, romances that are not what they seem, hidden passageways, an elusive (possibly deceased) hero (or villain), an abiding sense of danger and females in various pangs of peril.  Two unwed sisters, the dominant elder Agatha, captured in the severe, judgmental and exacting aura of Kelly McAndrew, and the flighty and frivolous younger Huldey, portrayed with panache by Birgit Huppuch, are trapped in the family estate.  Agatha has a master plan which she is not going to share with the less than mature Huldey who spends her days sighing and writing fiction in her diary, one she hopes will be scandalously read by everyone in the household, or even the world.

The arrival of a governess, the accommodating and eager to please Emilie, a delightful Miriam Silverman, sets Agatha’s plot in motion.  Why has she been brought here?  Is there a child for her to instruct?  Who actually sent her the packet of letters that lured her to leave her current position to venture to the desolate and forbidding land?

Into this bleak household of women romps a giant dog, a mastiff, anthropomorphized by Jeff Biehl into a philosophizing pet who seeks the meaning of happiness.  In his quest for answers, he meets and falls in love with a Moor-hen, a feathered and flying Jessica Love, who fears all that ails him is indigestion.  Absurd events, that are bizarre and often brutal, punctuate the plot under the skillful manipulation of director Jackson Gay.  Alexander Woodward’s intriguing set encompasses both castle and moor in a satisfying split scenery, with suitably Victorian garb created by Fabian Fidel Aguilar.

For tickets ($20-98), call the Yale Rep, 1120 Chapel Street (near York), New Haven at 203-432-1234 or online at www.yalerep.org.  Performances are Tuesday at 8 p.m, Wednesday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m, Thursday at 8 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m and 8 p.m  The play is a product of encouragement by the Yale’s Binger Center for New Theatre.

Enter the lonely world where sisters and pets seek love and happiness, a nest for security with the adventurous ability to fly free.