"THE DROWSY CHAPERONE” WON’T CATCH YOU SLEEPING

   
“The Drowsy Chaperone” is no sleeper.  It is a musical tucked carefully inside a comedy, a tribute to the glorious age of jazz, and it prides itself on being stuffed with clichés and dedicated to all the old musicals it delights in spoofing.
    The Connecticut Repertory Theatre on the campus of the University of Connecticut at the Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre will entertain this Broadway hit, that has sailed off to London, Australia and Japan, from Tuesday, June 6 to Saturday, June 15 and you’re invited to join in the musical fun.  “The Drowsy Chaperone” began its stage life as an entertainment for a stag party for the wedding of theatrical couple Bob Martin and Janet Van De Graaff in Canada and has grown, after several reincarnations, into the show that will delight you and your family now.   
     The show begins nostalgically with The Man in Chair, who puts on his phonograph to recreate his favorite musical, a 1928 stage show “The Drowsy Chaperone.”  He then serves as the commentator and narrator as the show comes gloriously to technicolor life, complete with seashell footlights, dazzling peacocks, trees of sugarplums and costumes that Halloween fanatics would envy.
    And just who is The Man in Chair you might ask?  None other than Pat Sajak, who has spent three decades “standing” as the charming host of “Wheel of Fortune” and he will be joined by Liz Larsen who stars in the title role.
    With book by Bob Martin and Don McKell, music and lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison, winner of two Tonys for best score and best book and four Drama Desks for outstanding musical, book, lyrics and music, this is a show-within-a-show, centering around a conceited showgirl who decides to marry a man she’s known for two New York minutes and a producer who sees his meal ticket waltzing away.  The show depends on every campy device known to musical comedy and happily exploits them all.  Meanwhile The Man in Chair comments as he tries hard not to jump into the action and save the day and the damsel.
    The ditzy Mrs. Tottendale is just one of the eccentric and memorable characters who lead us on a merry parade to the wedding day as gangsters who double as pastry chefs try to intrude and simultaneously threaten.  At the same time, wedding planners, the all-important chaperone, the Latin lover and even the butler insinuate themselves into the bride and groom’s big day and into the pleasure filled plot.
    For tickets ($10-45), call the Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre at 860-486-2113 or online at www.crt.uconn.edu.  Performances are at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday to Thursday, Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. The Summer Nutmeg Series also includes “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” and “The Music Man.” A three play subscription is $30-99.
    Come to the wedding and no gifts are required on your part.  You'll be the recipient of a gift of laughter and joy and musical merriment as “The Drowsy Chaperone” bursts into life magically before your eyes.

"MY SON THE WAITER" A COMIC LESSON IN PURSUING DREAMS

Many parents, especially mothers and in particular Jewish mothers, are famous for holding the bragging rights on the accomplishments of their children.  Frequently it's a game of can-you-top-that. The ultimate prize is usually awarded to the mom who can brag with ten pounds of pride in her voice about "my son, the doctor" or "my son, the lawyer,"

For Brad Zimmerman's mother, her declaration of prominence for almost three full decades has been "my son the waiter."  Zimmerman who has long had aspirations as an actor/comedian has fashioned his mother's angst into a theater piece he longingly calls "My Son The Waiter: A Jewish Tragedy."  The Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center in Old Saybrook will welcome this one man show on Friday, June 7 at 8 p.m.

Arriving in New York City as a fresh faced youth in 1978, he expected to pay his dues doing odd jobs until his dream of becoming an actor was realized.  He will be the first to admit that waiting 29 years was definitely more than the norm for him to experience and certainly much more for his mother to endure.

With a conversational style and laid-back perspective, much the same way he practiced his skills waitering, Zimmerman confesses he wasn't the most service oriented employee,  The restaurant was casual and low pressure and so was he.  He prided himself on knowing next to nothing about wine and for being virtually invisible in his job,  With honesty and a wry sense of self-deprecating humor, he reflects in his seventy minute show about the downs and little ups of his journey of plateaus.

For tickets ($25), call The Kate, 300 Main Street, Old Saybrook at 877-503-1286 or online at www.katharinehepburntheater.org.

Brad Zimmerman credits his mother for providing the impetus for his storehouse of comic material.  Hopefully now she is bragging to her Boca Raton, Florida neighbors about her son, the successful comic.

"LUCKY ME" A REVEALING LOOK INSIDE TWO CULTURES

You might think at first blush that splitting your childhood between Hollywood, California and Tokyo, Japan would be an exciting and enviable one, and going to boarding schools in England and Switzerland would be filled with international flavor?  If you then went on to teach skiing in New Zealand, to waitress in Hawaii, to be a stewardess on Qantas Airways and an au pair in Paris, then the glitz and glamor might be overwhelming.  Just ask Stephanie Sachiko "Sachi" Parker, the only daughter of Shirley MacLaine and Steven Parker, and she will have a lot to say about her growing up years on multiple continents.

Not many girls get to call Warren Beatty uncle or grace the cover of Life Magazine as a child or make ads for Diet Pepsi with their mom.  Lest you start turning a glorious shade of green with envy over Sachi Parker's life, reflect on the singular fact that at age two her mother put her on a plane, several in fact, alone with only stewardesses to care for her, to fly to Tokyo to live with her father, an abusive man who was living with a mistress.  Sachi got to spend summers and holidays with her star actress mom, whose maternal concerns for her had a maximum duration of four hours.

Yet Sachi, in a recent interview, confessed her childhood and life as the daughter of a mega-personality was often unbelievable, caught as she was between two cultures, the star power of Hollywood and the tranquil beauty of Japan. In her new show "Lucky Me" and her new book, with Frederick Stroppel that grew from it, "Lucky Me: My Life With-and Without- My Mom, Shirley MacLaine," she reflects on the "colorful, eccentric and geographically challenging life, of dramatically bouncing around the world."

If nothing else, it has made her a decidedly different mother to her two teenage children, a hands-on mom, without babysitters or nannies.  Writing and preparing the show has also brought her greater understanding of her mother "as a woman who was betrayed by her husband, a woman in love, who believed in the fantasy."  Sachi can now identify with her and forgive her and take a greater control of her own life.  She also hopes as her children get older, they will enjoy a closer relationship with their grandmother, as she "isn't a little child person."

As for the reaction to her autobiographical memoir, it has ranged from "Who do you think you are?  A horrible Hollywood spoiled brat" to a lot of rave notices, thanking her for her honesty and for helping them, readers who loved it, advising her to forgive and move on.  "There's a lot of great reaction for its sheer entertainment.  They give it either one star or five stars, with no grey area in between."

Her play "Lucky Me" will have its world premiere from Thursday, May 30 to Sunday, June 9, at New Haven's Off-Broadway Theatre, 41 Broadway, entrance on York Street behind Toad's Place.  For tickets ($30, preview night Thursday, May 30 $20), email luckymetickets@yahoo.com or write the director at: Joanna Keylock, 1 Elderslie Lane, Woodbridge, CT 06525, 203-305-7762.

The play has enjoyed three staged readings and everyone who attended them responded: "There should be a book."  Since it was impossible to put all the stories in the hour and a half performance, the book allowed her to put more in and really explore her emotional life. Helping her on her journey from page to stage to page has been playwright Fred Stroppel who is "so close he is like a brother and we spend hours talking it over in a safe, supportive environment.  We have a deep, rare relationship and his wife Liz is so generous in spirit that she allows us to work."  Sachi is also lucky in her "fabulous director" Joanna Keylock.  "We go way back together, wow:  she's lovely to work with as we're both actresses so we've met long ago."  For Keylock, "it’s a bittersweet love letter to a mother who is at once universally beloved and an enigmatic puzzle, a larger-than-life figure who commands the spotlight and yet seems always beyond reach."  Doug Moser will direct this exciting new venture.

Sachi Parker, the actress, will take the stage in her new one -woman show "Lucky Me" starting tonight.  If you see a woman in the audience, draped in scarves, sporting a large hat and even larger dark glasses, she just might be related to the star on stage.

"A COUPLE OF BLAGUARDS" WILL DELIGHT WITH IRISH WIT

With blarney and blather and even a wee bit of blashemy, the Brothers McCourt, Frank and Malachy, have penned an Irish tale about themselves entitled "A Couple of Blaguards."  New Haven's Long Wharf Theatre is offering up this charming and irreverent series of vignettes and anecdotes, songs and limericks, about their life growing up poor and Catholic in the Emerald Isle and their fate after crossing the pond to the promised land.

Until Sunday June 2, you will laugh and titter and guffaw as the talented antics of Howard Platt as Malachy and Jarlath Conroy as Frank take you on an autobiographical journey of all things McCourt.  Kissing the Blarney Stone is strictly your choice.

First raise a pint of stout and drink to the health of these two dauntless lads who rose above the poverty of their childhood in the oldest city in Ireland, Limerick, a handsome and holy city where seven siblings crowded into the home at the end of School House Lane.  With colorful images and picturesque phrases, the adventures of the boys are revisited.  Proper respect is paid to Frank's First Communion, "the happiest day of my life," where he donned a black velvet suit and new shoes and experienced God in unexpected ways.

The quaint storytelling includes visits from Mr. Higgins who came once a week to collect pennies for the life insurance and visits to the library where Malachy took out his first book, one on operas, and how the pair formally conducted contests on who made the best insulting remarks.

Off to America, the two brothers engaged in a variety of jobs, Frank finally settling in as a teacher after attending New York University and Malachy becoming a saloon owner and actor.  From the dance halls to the drinking holes, they caroused and dappled in activities bordering on the criminal.  Through it all, they never lost their sense of the ridiculous and here as a couple of blarney-laced blokes and rogues, with equal parts charm and mischief, they share it all.  Howard Platt directs this rollicking romp with spirit.

For tickets ($40), call Long Wharf Theatre, 222 Sargent Drive, New Haven at 203-787-4282 or online at www.longwharf.org.  Performances are Tuesday at 7 p.m., Wednesday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., Thursday and Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.  On Friday, June 7, "Mandy Patinkin: Dress Casual" a fundraiser at 6 p.m. and concert at 8 p.m. will be held.  For more information on the Gala, call the box office.

Take this opportunity to visit Ireland's Great Hunger Museum at Quinnipiac University, 3011 Whitney Avenue, Hamden, open Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.,Thursday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Friday and Saturday from10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free.   Visit www.ighm.org or call 203-582-6500 for more information.

Take a lesson in learning to laugh at your troubles.  It won't make them go away but it will soften the rough and tough edges and make them easier to swallow.

"HEAR WHAT'S IN THE HEART" A SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY HOME

A 32 ounce can of Tuttorosso Tomatoes almost sidelines a funeral wake when one can't be found to make the required red sauce that Rosetta Scionti must cook.  A pox on the heads of her sons Steven and Antonio if they try to pawn off a can of Progresso as a substitute.  The boys have to risk the verbal abuse of Jerry, the pizza maker, once they determine that none of the grocery stores in the entire Middletown, Connecticut area have the Tuttorosso brand in stock.  Thankfully, Jerry, despite his grumbling and garlic-tinged temper, relents when he hears the tomatoes are for the boys' grandfather's wake, Angelo Morello.

Come take a sentimental journey with grandson and actor Steven Scionti as he pays loving tribute to the man who gave his life direction and meaning, an immigrant from Sicily who owned Angelo's Shoe Repair on Main Street in Middletown and who taught a young boy  what is important in life.  "Hear What's in the Heart A Shoemaker's Tale" written by Steve Scionti and Anthony Crivello, and directed by Anthony Crivello, will play at the Oddfellows Playhouse, 128 Washington Avenue, in Middletown Thursday evenings at 7:30 p.m. until June 20.

On his death bed, Angelo Morello tells Steven "I am proud of you."  He cautions him to lead a rich life, blessed with family and acknowledge the good in everyone.  His life lessons began years before when Steve , whom he affectionately called "Stevenchello,"  started exhibiting a love for dance. His grandfather, who took great joy in opera by Rossini and Verdi, would conduct in front of his shoe making machines so it was only natural that he would make Steve his first dancing shoes and pay for his first dancing lessons.  Angelo was always his chief cheerleader and supporter, defending him when he was teased by his peers for preferring dancing to basketball. Being called "Tina Ballerina" is not easy.

With the message "A man has no dreams, he has no heart" from his grandfather, Steven watched this simple, hard working man establish a life so strong and true that two thousand people gathered in Sicily and at the St, Sebastian Church in Middletown to say farewell on December 5, 1990. In this one man show, Steven Scionti plays everyone in his grandfather's world with amazing skill and humor, making them come alive right before our eyes.  Whether it is his womanizing Uncle Manny from Florida who has a reputation as a lover of women, food and women or Brother Connolly from Xavier High School who tried to teach the secret to sex education was abstention or his Uncle Amo whom he likened to a "dancing banana," Steve has the profound talents to bring them each individually and memorably to life.  Anyone who doesn't see the Soup Nazi from "Seinfeld" in Jerry, the pizza man, isn't looking hard enough.

Whether he is doing disco, playing basketball, or channeling Fred Astaire, Steve Scionti is adhering to a code of honor and respect his grandfather taught him. To come meet his mother Rosetta, his father Sebastiano, his brother Antonio, his Uncles Amadeo and Manny, the pizza man Jerry and Brother Connolly and, of course, his dear Angelo, call the Oddfellows Playhouse at 860-347-6143 or online at www.oddfellows.org.  Tickets are $20.

Let Steve Scionti dance his way into your heart as he shares the wisdom he learned at his grandfather's knee.

"SEVEN" A LITERARY SISTERHOOD OF HOPE

Women can form a sisterhood across the span of ages, geography, racial backgrounds, cultures and religions.  There is a universality to their desires and dreams, basic principles they share that make them kindred souls.  Nowhere is that more evident than in the powerful documentary drama, a staged reading, of "Seven," penned by seven American women playwrights as witnesses to the stories of seven courageous women from around the world.

With the encouragement of the Vital Voices Global Partnership, an organization devoted to raising the visibility of extraordinary females around the globe by enhancing their leadership potential, the writing skills of Paula Cizmar, Catharine Filloux, Gail Kriegel, Carol K. Mack, Ruth Margraff, Anna Deavere Smith and Susan Yankowitz were enlisted.Interviews began in 2006 and the tapestry of tales of "SEVEN" is the literary result.

On Sunday, April 28 at 2 p.m., the Stray Kats Theatre Company, under the leadership of Artistic Director Kate Katcher, gave a powerful voice to seven incredible women in the Alexandria Room of Edmond Town hall in Newtown, Connecticut and their voices will ring resoundingly in the ears and hearts of all those fortunate enough to bear witness.  The only disappointment was that it was only one performance.

Those present learned about  Marina Pisklakova-Parker who created the first women's hotline for victims of domestic violence, Center ANNA in Russia;  Mu Sochua who conducted door-to-door visits to hundreds of villages in her native Cambodia to win one of two seats granted to females in her country's cabinet;  Mukhtar Mai who was gang-raped in Pakistan because her brother committed the crime of holding hands with a woman of a higher caste and turned her tragedy into triumph;  Inez McCormack who worked in northern Ireland to secure human rights and social justice for women and minorities; Annabella DeLeon who pulled herself and her family out of poverty in Guatemala to become a congresswoman striving for women and the poor; Farida Azizi who stood up against the Taliban in her native Afghanistan working for peace and has had to seek asylum in the United States because of death threats; Hafsat Abiola who, after her parents were murdered, continued their activist work to build bridges of skills and democracy in her native Nigeria as well as between African and Chinese women.

Marina Pisklakova-Parker's story was brought to life by Jenny Polozov, originally from the Ukraine, she has worked in fashion design, music, finance and philanthropy.  Mu Sochua's tale was told by Dionelyn L. DeBorja, a wife, mother, and daughter who has studied zoology and received a law degree.  The difficult story of   Mukhtar Mai was captured by Bindu Subramanian, who is a writer, traveler and marketing expert.

Giving voice to Inez McCormack was Caroline Winterson, an Irish actress who has emigrated from the Emerald Isle and performed in theater and films.  For Annabella DeLeon, Artistic Director Kate Katcher gave her words meaning and momentum, thanks to her extensive theatrical expertise.  To tell Farida Azizi's life, Sarah Baroody, an opthalmologist from Danbury who resides in Newtown, was selected.  To relate the memorable moments of Hafsat Abiola,
Lisa Scails used her experience as a civil rights leader and advocate for youth and the disenfranchised.

Each of these incredibly moving stories was indelibly recorded.  Their acts of courage and determination to prove their personal worth are a testimony to the differences they made, one woman at a time, standing up to challenge the injustices of the world.

"PHILCO BLUES" A MUSICAL SEARCH FOR IDENTITY

The goal of Brett Bernardini and his Spirit of Broadway Theater is to be bold and innovative, to welcome and encourage new musical theater, and he's been doing just that for nineteen seasons.  He is proud to say "no one else does what we do, taking risks and not doing the tried and true shows like most other venues do."  To that end, the Spirit of Broadway Theater in Norwich is currently launching another novel work, "Philco Blues,  by Jan Warner and Kathe Green, until Sunday, June 9.

For Lara Jean McCallister, a housewife in Wahoo, Nebraska, real life is a disappointment.  Her relationship with her husband Roy is unsatisfying and leaves her yearning for more, a way to fill her loneliness and emptiness.  Jessica Kelly's Lara knows there's something missing in her life and she is willing to risk grabbing it.  Her solution is hidden inside her Philco television set, in the persona of a character on her favorite soap opera "Pine Ledge."  In Wade Jarrett (Nicholas Kochanov), Lara finds hope and promise and a fantasy to love.

In the reality that Lara tries to avoid, there is her deceased mother (Shawn Rucker) who delights in coming back to probe Lara's poor choices and remind her of her own pathetic existence.  Being haunted by a woman who is insane can breed delusions in her offspring.  Matthew Smolko's Roy freely admits he doesn't understand his wife, why she'd rather spend hours writing poetry and letters  to a stranger than do the laundry and how her obsession with her television world would allow her to miss her best friend Ginger's husband's funeral in favor of a soap opera episode.

Ginger (Jean Rykowski), with problems of her own, still supports Lara and tries to offer her good counseling.  Her poignant ballad "I Won't Let You Cry Tonight" reveals her deep feelings for her husband Chris who was wounded in the war and has suffered so.  She identifies with Roy's confusion over Lara's obsession.  As a beer drinking, weekend NASCAR racing mechanic, Roy is struggling to rediscover the woman he thought he married.

To Lara, Wade, who is Kipp off the screen, becomes the epitome of her dreams and she runs off to New York City in a brave but ill-conceived attempt to find her identity and love.  "Philco Blues" started life more than thirty years ago, but is coming into its own on the stage now, largely due to the efforts of Artistic Director Brett A. Bernardini.  He brought in local playwright Kato McNickle to jump start the process and many revisions and rewrites later it is now ready for viewing.

For tickets ($32), call the Spirit of Broadway Theater, 24 Chestnut Street, Norwich at 860-886-2378 or online at www.spiritofbroadway.org.  Performances are Wednesday and Thursday at 7 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.

Let Lara introduce you to her soap opera world where this "lonestar cowgirl" finally discovers a reality where "you taught me how to be."