"SOUTH PACIFIC" SOARS MAJESTICALLY TO GOODSPEED MUSICALS

From the first notes of the orchestra’s overture, you will be whisked away to the exotic Pacific islands where magic flourishes.

Picture swaying palm trees, soft island breezes, coral dotted waters, lush green mountains, bouquets of tropical blossoms and endless Pacific ocean waves and you will be set to experience the enchanting production of "South Pacific" until Sunday, August 11, courtesy of Goodspeed Musicals. This classic musical is a splendid way to spend a summer evening under the stars.

In 1949, three short stories of James Michener, taken from his Pulitzer prize-winning novel “Tales of the South Pacific,” were transformed into a musical called by many the finest ever composed for the stage. Two serious stories about couples whose love is threatened by the war and by their own prejudices were balanced by a third story about Luther Billis, a womanizing but lovable sailor, to provide comic relief.

The result was “South Pacific,” a royal treat by Rodgers and Hammerstein, with book by Hammerstein and Joshua Logan that has been revised and enhanced seven decades later with its themes of racial prejudice strengthened and sensitized for today’s audiences. Regrettably the world we inhabit has not learned empathy and kindness and still clings to hatred of those we do not know as well as the evils of antisemitism.

The primary story swirls around a middle-aged French plantation owner Emile de Becque, brought to charming and romantic life by Omar Lopez-Cepero, who meets a naïve young United States Navy nurse from Arkansas, Nellie Forbush, an engagingly sweet and effervescent Danielle Wade, at an officers’ club dance and they fall in love “one enchanted evening.” The second story involves United States Marine Lieutenant Joe Cable, a strong and committed Cameron Loyal, who comes to the island to carry out a dangerous spy mission and becomes infatuated with Liat, a Tonkinese girl, played by a lovely Alex Humphreys. Both Nellie and Cable experience bigotry and suffer from deep-seated prejudices, feelings that are revealed in the telling song “You’ve Got To Be Carefully Taught.”

Some of the other beautiful tunes that have come out of this production include “This Nearly Was Mine,” “Some Enchanted Evening,” “Bali Ha’i,” “Younger Than Springtime” and “I’m in Love with a Wonderful Guy,” as well as the light hearted “Happy Talk,” “Bloody Mary,” “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair,” “There is Nothing Like a Dame” and “Honey Bun.”

While the play deals with World War II and the conflict in the Pacific against the Japanese as well as the reactions in the United States, some of the production’s lighter moments are provided by Luther Billis as an entrepreneurial sort who finds himself in a new world and tries to make the best of it, even if it involves bending the rules. He epitomizes the great American ethic of inventiveness based on necessity, providing services to relieve his men’s boredom and loneliness. Believing in the greater good, Luther is ready and able to meet his sailors’s needs, be it for a laundry service, island trinkets or female companionship. Kevin Quillon brings this role to comic life.

Also outstanding in her part is Joan Almedilla as Bloody Mary, who like Luther is trying to earn a good living by being enterprising as well as finding a suitable husband for her daughter Liat. She focuses on Joe Cable as being the right man.

Sky Vaux Fuller and Emjay Roashare take on the role of Emile's daughter and son. Chay Yew directs a large and talented cast in this wonderful production who dance with glee thanks to Parker Esse’s energetic choreography and inspiring music directed by Adam Souza.

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For tickets ($30 and $42 and up), 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.

Start off your summer on a high note, beautifully sung, by attending a performance of "South Pacific," a universal favorite in the world of musical theater.

SEVEN ANGELS THEATRE IN WATERBURY REVEALS "JBKO THE LIFE. THE LEGEND. THE LEGACY."

All too often famous people like Princess Diana, Greta Garbo, Howard Hughes and Harper Lee lose their privacy as the price for being in the spotlight. The more elusive they become, the more desirable their photos are for the ever present cameras of the paparazzi. To protect their glamorous and mysterious mystiques, the women often wear dark sunglasses to shield their face and, ultimately, their soul.

Receding from public scrutiny can become an art form and no one managed that skill more than Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, the subject of a revealing one woman show, a world premiere, at Waterbury’s Seven Angels Theatre in “JBKO The Life. The Legend. The Legacy” until Sunday, June 30.

We know the high and low points of Jackie’s role as “queen” of her Camelot, her famous marriages, her status as First Lady, the tragic death of J.F.K., her protective arms around her children, her careers early on and again later as book editor and yet very little about Jacqueline the woman.

Playwright Tom Santopietro has long been fascinated by the Kennedys, beginning when Jack was a candidate for president in 1960. Santopietro was among the tens of thousands in the crowd when, two days before the election, J.F.K visited Waterbury. As a writer, he was always intrigued by Jackie, the woman who was “famously private,” who did not grant interviews, and he wanted to give the world his personal look behind the sunglasses. And what a look it is!

Marina Shay embodies Jackie and, for the first time, is sharing her story with an audience, with her real thoughts and reactions revealing a delightful sense of humor, a love of the dance, a little mischief, a sense of all the painful moments she survived, her guilt over not being able to save Jack from an assassin’s bullet, her need for affection after he died, her honesty in living life as she knew it with no compromises, taking no prisoners. Marina Shay captures the spirit of a woman who still searched for the joys even when she lived in what she termed at times '‘a fancy prison.”

Semina De Laurentis directs this beautiful portrait of a First Lady with sensitivity and style, on a lovely living room set by Kimberly Jackson. For tickets ($37.00), call Seven Angels Theatre, Hamilton Park, 1 Plank Road, Waterbury at 203-757-4676 or online at boxoffice@sevenangelstheatre.org. Performances are Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Many performances come with speciality treats like apizza, candy or ice cream.

Let Marina Shay do her magic as your intimate and charming guide, not of a tour of the White House, but into her private world as she discovers herself and her complicated world called Camelot.

"CELEBRATE SUMMER" AT WATERBURY'S PALACE THEATER JUNE 21

How often do you get to go dining and dancing, experience an elaborate beach party, take over every nook and cranny of an entire beautiful theater and celebrate summer all in the same fantastic evening? Well, Waterbury’s Palace Theater has one super golden ticket that is unlocking all the treasures of the season, just when it magically begins.

As the sunset turns to a luminous twilight at 6 p.m., the Palace Theater will open its ivory and gold magnificent doors to welcome you to a lavish buffet dinner provided by D’Amelio’s Italian Eatery, featuring such delicacies as platters of charcuterie, stuffed breads and pineapple glazed meatballs, followed by buffet stations for BBQ chicken, pulled pork, cavatelli and broccoli, eggplant parmigiana and a medley of vegetables. If you prefer your salads tossed and dressed, line up for apple slaw, orzo salad, tossed salad, potato salad, rolls and cornbread.

Save some room for Cavallo’s Deli and Italian Imported Foods with platters of fabulously sweet desserts, while you listen to DJ Jim O’Rourke from the Greater Waterbury YMCA spin some summer hits from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s for your listening and dancing pleasure.

For tickets ($75), that include dinner and one drink, call the Palace Theater, 100 East Main Street, Waterbury at 203-346-2000 or online at palacetheaterct.org. A guaranteed table of 10 will include two bottles of wine for $1000. For sponsorship and more information, contact Natalie Lawlor at 203-346-2009 or lawlor@palacetheaterct.org.

Help the Palace Theater with its glorious fundraiser and have a wonderful time in the process, with no worries of catching any beach sand in your flip flops.

GO FOR "BROKE" WITH CENTER STAGE THEATRE'S GAME NIGHTS

You are all familiar with Alex Trebek, of blessed memory, and the current host of JEOPARDY! Ken Jennings, where contestants can win tons of money by providing the questions to the show's answers. What you probably are not familiar with is a game show where the players are told to give the wrong answers to the questions and then in order to win, have to lose all their money. Welcome to BROKE The Game Show Show created by C. E. Simon for book and music, with lyrics and direction by Liz Muller and video design by C. E. Simon, produced by Center Stage Theatre of Shelton June 14 at 6:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. and June 15 at 7:30 p.m. Seating will be cabaret style so bring your own food and liquid libations to share at your table.

Games to be played range from charades to word associations, hangman and trivia. The less you know might be to your advantage, because you may find yourself on stage before you can say VANNA WHITE three times. Leading the action and fun and frolics are Ashley Rube’s Alex who is in charge of everything technical and Ryan Myers’ Hank who runs the actual show as master of ceremonies. Assisting them are Liz Muller’s VANNA, Scott Sheldon at the controls and The Brokettes who dance quite delightfully, Kayna Banez, Zola Kneeland, Julia Murphy and Sophia Perrone. Zany and wild does not begin to describe the action.

This super advanced game show is having technical difficulties and the host and his assistant are scrambling to fix what is wrong before air time. Meanwhile Hank is trying valiantly to warm up for the action but the virtual artificial neural network association (VANNA to you) is not cooperating. Will Alex and Hank develop a more personal relationship in the midst of all the production troubles? Will any one of the contestants be able to answer all the questions incorrectly? Will innocent bystanders find themselves in front of a microphone without knowing how they got there?

For tickets ($18-36), call Center Stage Theatre, 54 Grove Street, Shelton at 203-225-6079 or online at boxoffice@centerstageshelton.org.

If you thought you weren’t smart enough to be a contestant on JEOPARDY!, have no fear. You will surely be up for the task as a participant on BROKE. All you have to do is get every answer wrong!

LET THE BUSHNELL LEAD THE PARADE TO "FUNNY GIRL"

Don’t let anybody rain on your parade. If you have a dream, even if it is to want to be a star on Broadway, don’t listen to anyone who tells you it shouldn’t happen, it won’t happen or it can’t happen. For forward and independent thinking Fanny Brice, who grows up on the less than ritzy Lower East Side, it is quite wonderful she had her ears closed to all the naysayers of discouragement who surrounded her. To glory in her story of optimism and indomitability tap your way to the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts from Tuesday, June 18 to Sunday, June 23 for a tour on the sunny side of the street in “Funny Girl.”

With a sterling and song studded silver score by Jule Styne and lyrics by Bob Merrill, an updated book by Harvey Fierstein based on the original classic by Isobel Lennart, tap choreography by Ayodele Casel, choreography by Ellenore Scott and direction by Michael Mayer, “Funny Girl” has been hailed as a love letter to the theatre, with a shining envelope containing one of Broadway’s brightest lights: Fanny Brice.

Be prepared for a sensational and spectacular Katerina McCrimmon as Fanny and Melissa Manchester as her controlling and discouraging mother. This semi-autobiographical story showcases the life and career of a comedian and show business star who has an off-and-on difficult and stormy relationship with the powerful entrepreneur and gambler Nicky Arnstein. Their affair informs much of the passionate action. Set in New York City just before and following World War I, the show features such numbers as “Don’t Rain on My Parade,” “You Are Woman. I Am Man,” “People,” “Who Are You Now,” and “I’m the Greatest Star.”

The musical is set as a flashback, as Fanny is a star-struck teenager, her first vaudeville job as a chorus dancer, her complex relationship with the handsome gambler Nicky, her stardom as a Ziegfeld performer in his follies, ending in the present day with the realization of all she has gained and lost and regained as a beautiful woman.

For tickets ($38 and up), call the Bushnell, 166 Capitol Avenue, Hartford at 860-987-5900 or online at bushnell.org. Performances are Tuesday to 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.

Follow the intriguing path led by Fanny Brice as she sets her steps determinately to lead her own parade straight to Broadway and beyond.

WESTPORT COUNTRY PLAYHOUSE INVITES YOU TO "WHEN THE SLEEPING DRAGON WOKE" JUNE 14

Actor and writer Sharon Washington may have had what many would consider a fairy tale childhood: she and her family lived in three different New York City libraries as their home. Her father got the job of custodian, stoking the huge coal fire to keep the building warm. From the age of three or four, Sharon, thanks to a love of literature from her grandmother, had access to any book on the premises once the front door was closed to the public. Of course, books became magical creatures and her life took a fanciful turn.

Even in a fairy tale life, however, there is no guarantee of happily ever after. A little girl has to beware of monsters lurking around every corner, If she wants to stay safe. For Sharon Washington, growing up in a New York apartment tucked in the top if a public library had the potential to be a fantasy come true, but as in all tales of imagination, one must constantly be on guard for the unexpected. It was only much later, when Sharon was urged by fellow friends in the theater to write about those years that she realized, sadly, that there were dragons hiding among the treasures.

In 2018 Hartford Stage created a fanciful set for Sharon Washington to share her unique childhood in “Feeding the Dragon,” a story she lived, wrote about and performed in an engaging one woman show. In telling her story, Ms. Washington took on the personas of almost two dozen personalities who peopled her world, who made it so dramatic and real. Not the least of which was her father, the flawed man who literally and figuratively fed the dragon, the giant furnace in which he stuffed coal to keep the mammoth building warm and safe. His addiction to alcohol often made him the scary monster in her autobiographical tale.

Living in a library had some distinct advantages for her: while the furnace devoured coal, she devoured books. Her love of learning was encouraged by her love of the written word. She traveled many times a day and night up the five long marble flights to her tower, a fairy tale world that was strictly her own. Her view of the stars out the top windows was remarkable, as was the freedom of journeying through the stacks of books below. She often felt like a king’s daughter, until the demons arrived unannounced.>/p>

When those demons descended and forced her away from her beloved childhood playground, we witnessed a frightened little girl facing a real world of racial issues and injustice. Sharon Washington was revelatory in both milieus, always charming and lyrical, sincere and honest in her portrayal of her innermost secrets. Her storytelling was personal and passionate.

Now Westport Country Playhouse is welcoming you on Friday, June 14 at 7 p.m. to another version of her tale, ”When My Sleeping Dragon Woke,” a film that reveals the flip side of her family life , more like a Grimm fairy tale, that was 85% wonderful and 15% sprinkled with darkness, when her father drank. At those times, she and her mother and family friends from the church found themselves using heavy metal shovels to feed the furnace. In those moments, her father’s demons won. The film will be followed by a Q and A conversation with Ms. Washington and her husband and director/producer Chuck Schultz.

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As an only child with older parents, she loved to create characters from the books she devoured, being an accomplished storyteller with a good ear for voices, an actor who loved literature. In doing research on her mother’s family’s history, she discovered an event in 1917 that she is now researching for a new play with ten characters, about black women on Broadway. She loves research and, even though she is a little overwhelmed, is anxious to get started writing. She terms it “going down a new rabbit hole,” grounding her words in fact with a fictionalized lens of reflections. A Princeton Library Fellowship and a three week residency from MacDowell to write are exciting opportunities for her right now.

For tickets ($25), call Westport Country Playhouse, 25 Powers Court, Westport, route one at 203-227-4177 or online at westportplayhouse.org.

Come be enchanted by Sharon Washington’s documentary tale and help her squeeze a nugget of shiny black coal so hard she is sure she will create a diamond. She, herself, is the diamond she creates.

DANGER LURES AT THEATERWORKS HARTFORD IN "SANDRA"

If you love mystery and theater, then TheatreWorks Hartford has a ticket with your name engraved on it, a play by David Cale “SANDRA,” extended now until Thursday, June 27. What might you do is you were Sandra? Your best friend Ethan has disturbingly announced that he needs to get away. With that cryptic pronouncement, he flies off to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, leaving her with a solo tape of his piano creations. But he never returns.

Sandra is not exactly the most balanced of individuals. She is contemplating leaving her husband Richard after thirteen years of marriage, and, to make matters worse, she has a difficult relationship with something else: alcohol. But, being a true friend to Ethan, she immediately leaves her Brooklyn cafe in the hands of her assistant Sarah and boards a plane to Mexico to search for him.

Soon we are on a traumatic ride with Sandra as she follows clues to Ethan’s disappearance, with only a little help from the police. Soon Sandra finds herself at risk, meeting people whose lives have touched Ethan’s, especially Luca, an Italian student (or Lothario) who intrigues Sandra so much that she engages in a steamy sexual relationship without knowing exactly who he is or pretends to be.

Accompanying Sandra on this dangerous mission are the fantastic projections that visually surround her and illuminate her venture, created by Camilla Tassi. This video design envelops Sandra with immediacy and chronicles her journey. Felicia Curry’s Sandra is captivating as she continues her search, delving deeper into Ethan's psyche and problems.

Will Sandra succeed in her quest, to not only find her friend but to also uncover her true self. As the danger heightens its grip, will Sandra be able to read the clues correctly, especially when dead bodies are discovered on the beach? Matthew Dean Marsh’s music adds a pulsating rhythm to her growing concerns, while Jared Mezzocchi’s direction catches up the tension and fear.

For tickets ($25-70), 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.

Leap into the fray, feet first, for an 80 minute ride at the edge-of-your-seat suspense as Sandra risks everything in her uneven life to find and rescue her best friend, and possibly rescue herself in the process.