"HURRICANE DIANE" EXPLODES AT HARTFORD STAGE UNTIL JUNE 29

Depending on the part of the world you inhabit, you might fear, on a daily basis, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, fires, floods and landslides. How reassuring is that? People exist without adequate food, water, or shelter, not to mention fear of deportation, arrest, loss of freedoms, and absence of democracy. What if you reside on a quiet New Jersey cul-de-sac, a peaceful housewife going about your days, caring for your family, pursuing your career, without a care in the world for your daily survival. How lucky are you?

Playwright Madeleine George is about to upend your carefully controlled world in her new play “Hurricane Diane” at the Hartford Stage until Sunday, June 29 and life as you know it might be changed forever. Hold on to your gardening hat and trowel and prepare for a bumpy ride in the dirt.

Come meet four friends Carol (Katya Campbell), Pam (Christina DeCicco), Beth (Alyse Alan Louis) and Renee (Sharina Martin) who have no warning that their lives are about to change, when they encounter a Greek demi-god Dionysus or Bacchus, Diane to you, who crashes with boldness and purpose into their kitchens. Bernadette Sefic’s Diane is a force to be reckoned with whether you are ready or not to play her compelling game: Save the Earth. Diane has picked you for her team and there is no choice in the matter.

As a powerful lesbian queen and landscaper, Diane insists the quartet help her save the planet by worshipping her and following her complex landscaping design in their backyards. She wants them to return their land into a primeval forest, a green paradise, with no lawn, but with a permaculture and paw paw plants, a Garden of Eden if you will. Diane coaxes each woman out of their comfort zone, to change their path, with a taste of her honey, encouraging them to worship her and follow her every mood and move. Only Carol resists her charms but how long can she hold out? Is the end of the world coming and can Diane control the outcome? Let director Zoe Golub-Sass guide you on this fantastic journey planted with surprises.

For tickets ($30 and up), call the Hartford Stage, 50 Church Street, Hartford at 860-527-5151 or online at HartfordStage.org. Performances are Tuesday to Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m.and 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.

Batten down the hatches as Diane, the Greek demi-goddess of wine, song, orchards, fruits and vegetables, fertility, insanity, religious ecstasy, hunting, agriculture, and theatre, is ready to invade your sacred space and claim it for her own. Don’t say you weren’t forewarned.

STROLL DOWN "AVENUE Q" WITH CENTER STAGE FOR FUN AND FRIENDSHIP

Graduating college, finding an apartment, one you can afford, securing a job, one you are qualified to perform, and growing up are all the responsibilities and requirements facing an anxious young puppet named Princeton. He starts his search for housing on New York City's Avenue A and by the time he reaches the 17th street of possibilities, he is not sure he will ever find a roof to call his own.

Happily for Princeton and for the audience, he finds the perfect place on "Avenue Q," a delightful puppet/people graced musical with music and lyrics by Jeff Marx and Robert Lopez, with book by Jeff Whitty. Center Stage in Shelton will be entertaining Princeton and his friends until Sunday, June 15 and you don't want to miss their highly special and spirited world. It’s pure delicious fun!

If you’ve grown up on “Sesame Street” and call Mr. Rogers a friend, and you’re a mature teenager or older, this is the show for you. “Avenue Q” is a musical that began life at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in Waterford at an International Musical Conference and went on to great acclaim. Now the puppets and their puppet masters are ready for some colorful and off- color entertainment.

Pop over to Center Stage for this smash-hit Broadway musical about making your way in life. Jacob Marcus stars spectacularly as Princeton, a recent college graduate, with big dreams and a small wallet. He finds his way to Avenue Q because it’s the only street in the Big Apple he can afford. Soon he determines he must find and identify a PURPOSE in life.

There he meets some unique neighbors, friendly and not so much, like Kate Monster (Cora Welsh), a cute kindergarten teaching assistant, a possibly gay couple Rod (Isaiah Rodriguez ) and Nicky (Hunter Smith ), Lucy Slut (Maya Jennings Daley ), Trekkie Monster (David Kaminski), an internet addict, Christmas Eve (Perseis J. Grant), a therapist, Brian (Justin Zenchuk), an out-of-work comedian, two bad bears (Alyssa Grosso) and their plucky landlord Gary Coleman (Briana Dawson).

Follow the life and loves, the downs and ups, of this bunch of young adults as they work their way to find a job, a companion and a purpose, with a lot of singing and dancing along their journey, thanks to the skilled direction and choreography of Betsy Kelso.

With life-size puppets personally created by the cast as well as people, “Avenue Q” celebrates the angst of growing up and facing responsibilities, challenges like how to get and keep employment and how to get a date, in addition to more intense issues like full-puppet nudity, alcohol and internet porn and gender identity. Set designers Scott Sheldon and Vinny LaVigna add a special artistic touch and musical director Paul Keegan leads a super live band belting out hit songs like “It Sucks to Be Me,” “Everybody’s a Little Racist,” “If You Were Gay,” "What Do You Do With a B.A. in English?,” and “Live on Avenue Q."

For tickets ($20-39), call the Center Stage, 54 Grove Street, Shelton at 203-225-6079 or online at centerstageshelton.org or boxoffice@centerstageshelton.org. Performances are Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m., and 6:30 p.m. Because of the adult themes, the show is best suited for ages 14 and up. Check out Center Stage’s summer camps for acting in June and July and their next production of their 20th anniversary season “Sister Act” coming July 18 to 27, where a night club singer witnesses a mob murder and has to hide out as a nun.

Laugh as you stroll along with Princeton as he bops down "Avenue Q," the show that won the 2004 Tony Award for Best Musical, and hope that he finds his purpose along the way.

COME MEET "THE BARONESS" WHOSE NAME CONVENIENTLY RHYMES WITH VILLAINESS

“The Sound of Music” is one of Broadway’s classics, a nearly perfect theatrical event complete with adorable children who are musically gifted, their stern and authoritarian father, the fear of the Nazis, the looming threat of World War II threatening Austria and one clever and delightful novice nun who becomes the family's reluctant nanny. into this mix add one determined woman, a baroness, who has set her marital sights on the honored sea Captain Von Trapp, the father, and will not countenance anyone interfering with her wedding plans, certainly not an upstart, naive nun named Maria. How you might inquire, will she solve the problem of Maria?

Just ask playwright Jacques Lamarre in his world premiere answer. He has studied the question and has prepared a clever and highly entertaining answer in “The Baroness” currently whirling with revenge filled answers at West Hartford’s Playhouse on Park until Sunday, June 22. Come be entertained with Lamarre’s wild and wacky views on Sarah Street’s delicious options as Elsa Schraeder, who plans how to get what she wants to keep her rightful place in Austrian society and keep the Captain as her worthy mate. She’ll worry about what to do with his dreadful children tomorrow.

As she paces and plots, situating herself firmly in the Captain’s guest bedroom, a young Nazi youth, Nick Apostolina’s Rolf, an ambitious messenger boy who insinuates himself by her side, ready, willing and all too able to aid the Baroness in her scheme to succeed. Rolf is on the verge of manhood and has abandoned his infatuation with the Captain’s oldest daughter, Liselle, going on seventeen, for the more mature and challenging Elsa.

Rolf has a new plan. He wants to marry Elsa. As he rises in the Nazi ranks, he feels her status in Austrian society will help promote him in stature and benefit them both. As they exchange secrets about their past, neither one is adverse to a little betrayal and blackmail. Each is determined to be the victor but are they both doomed to failure? Will Rolf’s allegiance to Hitler be the determining factor in his scheme? Will the children enter the Saltzberg Sausage Festival and sing their way to freedom as they climb every mountain? Let Jacques Lamarre take you along on a rocky and romantic journey that only his inventive genius mind could so cleverly create. Director Michael Schiralli minds every humorous moment along this newly investigative trail, on a lovely set by Kim Zhou, with elegant costuming by Jimmy Johansmeyer.

For tickets ($45-57.50), call Playhouse on Park, 244 Park Road, West Hartford at 860-523-5900 ext.10 or online at BoxOffice@PlayhousTheatreGroup.org. Performances are Tuesday at 2 p.m., Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. followed by a talkback. There is also a 10 a.m. show for $25 on Friday, June 13.

Come laugh at the hi-jinks and escapades one desperate woman is willing to pull to get what and who she wants, even if it means deceiving a young lad who has big dreams of his own.

THE AGING PROCESS IS EXPLORED IN "YOUR NAME MEANS DREAM" AT TWH

Anyone over the age of sixty is sure to agree that aging is not for sissies. As the years pass, we discover that our dexterity is escaping, our independence is being questioned, our abilities are waning and life is like a final exam where you no longer know all the answers, if you ever did. As you climb into the seventies and eighties and beyond, if you are lucky enough to get there, daily challenges meet us at every turn and body parts start to betray us. Medications are all too frequent and you find yourself planning trips around the number of stairs you must climb and where the benches and bathrooms are located. What you eat may be troublesome and staying home and not venturing out into the world may be the easiest course of inaction. Are you depressed and unhappy yet? It’s easy to color the grey out of your hair but that does not solve the numerous problems of growing old.

For a unique and innovative solution to the aging game, hobble over to TheaterWorks Hartford before Sunday, July 6 for an intriguing look at the future of health care in Jose Rivera’s “Your Name Means Dream” that he has written and directed. It is thought provoking and a little disconcerting, especially if your age is pushing the edges of the elderly envelope.

Come meet Anne O’Sullivan’s Aislin, a feisty senior citizen whose Irish name means dream, who lives alone in a New York apartment, loves her possessions and in fiercely independent. She has already fired five female aides in the last year and is none too pleased with the latest arrival, an almost human robot named Stacy, quite capable in the guise of Sara Koviak, who only wants to help. The two get along like angry cats, with an astounding vocabulary of curse words that would make long showman proud.

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Stacy is a gift from Aislin’s son, one she rejects out of hand, and stirs up the poor relationship they endure together. It also reminds Aislin of her deceased husband and their unusual marriage and its problems over the years. While Stacy tries to help her bring peace into her memories, the two fight rather than form a friendship. This is AI at work, an echo of a humanity of the future, where Stacy knows that if she fails in her care of Aislin she will be destroyed. To Aislin, Stacy is like a toaster, someone who tells jokes and dances, makes healthy foods, encourages her to exercise and wants to transform her into a loving companion, even if she can’t make toast. Will the two ever establish a peace and build a history together? Will Stacy be able to sustain her goals of improving Aislin’s life? Is this an experiment destined to fail or succeed?

For tickets ($43-78), call TheaterWorks Hartford, 233 Pearl Street, Hartford at 860-527-7838 or online at www.twhartford.org. Performances are Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. with talkback and pizza, Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. (July 5 4 p.m.), and Sunday at 2:30 p.m.

It’s the 2050’s. Can Aislin reconcile her past and see Stacy as the daughter and loving family member she never had? Can Stacy become a caregiver with a soul and the ability to love? Attend this thought provoking tale of the future and discover where your sympathies and empathy lie.

"JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR" IN A DIFFERENT SPOTLIGHT AT THE ARTS AT ANGELORIA'S

Few composers are the equal of Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber. He was never one to take the road more traveled. Even as a teenager, when he was just starting to test out his literary pen, he chose a topic less main stream and more creative: he wrote a musical about a boy in the Bible who receives an unusual gift from his father. That became the world famous rock musical “ "Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat."

In the years to come, Lloyd Webber continued his unorthodox choice of subject matter by composing musicals about a gang of backyard felines (CATS), a poor woman who rises to become a powerful figurehead in her country of Argentina (Evita), teams of train engines who race on roller skates (Starlight Express) and a disfigured young man hiding in the bowels of a Paris opera house (The Phantom of the Opera).

Now you have the opportunity to experience another record breaking musical about another boy in the Bible: “Jesus Christ Superstar,” playing until Sunday, July 22 at the Arts at Angeloria’s, 223 Meriden Waterbury Turnpike, in Southington.

Composed by Lloyd Webber with Tim Rice, this over five decade old musical concerns the last week in the life of Jesus Christ and it is an emotional and moving experience. This is true punk rock, a biblical retelling of a savior who wants to cleanse the world of corruption and sin becoming known as The King of the Jews. This last seven days in the life of Jesus Christ, who is portrayed by a memorable Tom Oliveira, is told through the eyes of his betrayer, one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, played with a mountain of anger and confusion evident by Kiersten Bjork, in a surprisingly powerful role by a woman.

There is much that is unique and different about this rendition of the show as seen through the eyes of Lori Holm, the visionary director and producer at Angeloria's. She sets Jesus’s life in 2225, a post-apocalyptic time not so unlike the disturbing social climate we experience today, with rockets and poverty and destruction and so many obstacles to survival. She experiments with genders and attempts to develop the apostles into a family unit, disciplines who faithfully continued Jesus’s work for him after he is gone.

Tender moments are underscored by Jen Colella’s Mary Magdelene as she confesses to Jesus “I Don’t Know How to Love Him” while the passion and suffering are momentarily alleviated by the antics of a song and dance Vaudeville routine by Queen Herod, a mischief making Diana Bruenn, belting out “King Herod’s Song” as Trump. The high powered political naysayers who have banned together to end Jesus’ reign as the King of the Jews are led by Chris Bushey’s Caiaphas, The High Priest of Israel, Kevin Pelkey’s Pontius Pilate, The Governor of Judea, and Frank Baron’s High Priest.

Among those supporting Jesus are his disciple Peter, Robert Wiener, Nancy Sasso Janis’s Maid by the Fire, Eric Chubet, Lucy Bushey, and Megan McKenney’s Simon Zealotes. Other cast enthusiastic members on both sides of the question include Jennifer Gianelli, Rachel Glander, Lauren Hyne, Angela Jackson, Mark Lewis, Luisa Olah, Dylan Ryan, Gary Rinauld and Kate Simpson.

This spectacular rock musical that separates the myth from the man has a three piece band led by Ed Rosenblatt that supports the fully sung story.

For tickets ($32.30), call the box office at 860-426-9690 or online at THEARTSATANGELORIAS.COM or ANGELORIAS.LUDUS.COM. Performances are Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.

Enter the emotional whirlwind as Jesus Christ realizes that those closest to him are determined to witness his destruction. After three years of trying to teach his beliefs as the son of God, he is sad and tired and prepared to die for his cause. Little does he realize the emotional impact his teachings will have on the world. For you, it will be a new vision of an ancient story to revisit and experience again with a different set of eyes and heart.

GREAT SCOTT! "BACK TO THE FUTURE THE MUSICAL" FLYING INTO THE BUSHNELL

Fascination with time travel, going backward to Greek tragedy or the Civil War or forward to embrace Star Trek’s science fiction magic, is fairly universal in its appeal. Most people, even though with a heathy dose of skepticism and fear, would jump at the opportunity to experience it if offered the chance. Just ask Marty McFly, a brave teenage Lucas Hallauer, who jumps at the prospect when his friend, David Josefsberg’s scientific minded Doc Brown offers him the ride of a lifetime.

To witness this incredible journey through time and space, run as fast as you can to the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts in Hartford for “Back to the Future The Musical” with book by Bob Gale and music and lyrics by Alan Silvestri and Glen Ballard, based on the wildly successful movie by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale until Sunday, June 8.

One minute it’s 1985 and Doc Brown has created a real genuine, honest to goodness time machine, in a magical DeLorean car, with a flux capacitor and plutonium for a nuclear reaction power source, needed to travel 88 miles per hour. All Doc Brown needs now for his giant science experiment is someone to drive the car and make it happen. Fortunately it looks like Marty is the man for the job, his name is McFly for heaven’s sake.

Doc Brown has decided that traveling back thirty years is the best date to navigate which ironically lands Marty at a time when his parents George, Mike Bindemann, and Lorraine, Zan Berube, are in high school and haven’t yet met. Complications arise when George is bullied by Nathaniel Hackmannn’s Biff and Lorraine fancies herself infatuated with Marty. Meanwhile Marty has to be careful not to disturb or change anything that will influence the future and also the minor issue of how the heck does he get home, and back to 1985.

Have no fear, the Doc is on the case and has ideas about a clock tower, a lightning storm, a high school prom and Marty’s wicked good guitar playing skills. With fingers crossed, and toes too, Marty will get back to the future to his girl friend Jennifer, Sophia Yacap, and he will transform the lives of his family in positive and happier ways. Tunes like “Future Boy,” “Something About That Boy,” :For the Dreamers.” “The Power of Love,” and “Back inTime” keep the story sailing forward. John Rando directs this exciting and unique journey.

For tickets ($43.50 and up ), call the Bushnell, 166 Capitol Avenue, Hartford at 860-987-5900 or online at bushnell.org. Performances are today 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.

Come early and gaze with envy at the DeLorean car parked just outside the Bushnell’s doors so you can dream about where in the world you’d travel, backward or forward in time, if only given the chance.

A.C.T. IN RIDGEFIELD SERVING UP A DELIGHTFUL PORTION OF PIE IN "WAITRESS THE MUSICAL"

When you think of ingredients like butter, sugar, flour, eggs, vanilla , and oil, you are quickly in the kitchen plotting a pie and deciding whether to add heavy cream and chocolate or a pint of sweet blueberries. If your name is Jenna, you have been carefully taught by your mom to make magic in a pie shell every day at your place of employment Joe's Pie Diner.

Whether you’re ordering a gourmet five-course dinner or a simple slice of cherry pie with vanilla bean ice cream, your pleasure in your meal depends as much on the food as on the waitress who serves you. If you’re lucky enough to have Jenna as your server, and double lucky enough to be feasting on one of her heavenly perfect pie creations, you know what hanging out with the angels is all about. Come pull up a seat at Joe’s Pie Diner located at the A.C.T. in Ridgefield as “Waitress The Musical” comes to town until June 22.

With music and lyrics by Sara Bareilles and book by Jessie Nelson, “Waitress” boasts an all woman creative team. Come meet Jenna, a conflicted Abigail Sparrow, the sweet hearted server who is trapped in an abusive relationship with Cody Jenkins, her hubby Earl. When she discovers she is pregnant, she has to “clean up” her personal messes and get her act together.

Beginning more than a professional interest with Dr. Jim Pomatter, John Alejandro Jeffords, her gynecologist, is the first step Jenna takes to improve her life. A pie baking contest in a nearly county is the second step. With her recipes for such specialties as Mermaid Marshmallow, The Key (Lime) to Happiness Pie and “Betrayed By My Eggs Pie,” she views the grand prize as her big chance at a new life.

Jenna’s third step is to find the courage to abandon her loveless marriage and take a stand for freedom and happiness. That recipe is more elusive than most and harder to find the proper ingredients for, but with her sincere sister servers Becky and Dawn, Amma Osei and Shaylen Harger, her crusty boss Cal, Joseph Torello, and loyal customers, like David Sitler’s Joe, Jenna eventually finds everything she is seeking.

While much of the angst of the musical centers on Jenna and her difficult marriage situation, Dawn’s anxious attempts to enter the dating field and her first success with Wesley Slade’s hysterical Ogie provide a welcome divergence of delightful humor, plus another unexpected dalliance behind the mustard and ketchup bottles with Becky and you’ll never guess who. The adorable appearance of little Lulu, Maeve Marbury, is the cherry on the dessert. Sara Brians directs and choreographs with style.

Live music directed by Nicholas Connors like “What Baking Can Do,” “It Only Takes a Taste,” “A Soft Place To Land,” and “Everything Changes” keep the action baking to perfection.

For tickets ($79 and up), call the A. C. T., 36 Old Quarry Road, Ridgefield, at 475-215-5497 or online at boxoffice@actofct.org. Performances are Wednesday at 7 p.m., 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.

Plan to order a slice of perfection, like Mermaid Marshmallow pie, as you enjoy the heavenly treats on the stage. Don’t forget to leave a generous tip for your waitress.