SHAKESPEARE ON THE SOUND DEALS WITH PRINCELY PROBLEMS

When the honorable and loyal son Hamlet returns to Denmark, he discovers, to his great dismay, that his father has been murdered and his mother, the Queen, has remarried his uncle, all in the space of two short months. Already suspicious, the strange appearance of a ghost or apparition of his father (Justin Cunningham) only strengthens his resolve that his uncle, the newly anointed monarch, is guilty of this grievous transgression and Hamlet must seek revenge.

To enter the bewilderingly tragic world of the hero Hamlet, bring blankets and chairs and a picnic to Shakespeare on the Sound's probing production of surely the Bard's most revealing tragedy until Sunday, July 3 at Pinkney Park in Rowayton, evenings at 7:30 p.m. Sitting under the stars by the river is a glorious way to experience Shakespeare, especially with the wonderfully nuanced Joey Santia as the suspicious son set on revenging his parent and unmasking his uncle (John Pasha) and his mother (Simone Moore) and their guilt.

With his trusty friend Horatio (James Hesse) ever at his side, Hamlet feigns a cloak of madness, causing his lady love Ophelia (Haley Robinson), her brother Laertes (Alexander Shaw) and their father Polonius (Wynn Harmon) to question his actions.  Hamlet determines "the play's the thing by which I'll catch the conscience of the King" and he hires a troupe of passing actors to trick the king into revealing his sins.

When Hamlet confronts his mother for remarrying with “wicked speed,” he sets off a tumbling turn of troubles. How can he as a devoted son let his father’s poisoning go unavenged? The crown and queen have been unnaturally stolen and it falls to Hamlet to balance the scales.  Hamlet accidentally slays Polonius, mistaking him for the traitorous King, and the tragedy only deepens. This stirring drama is directed by Claire Shannon Kelly who sets the action in the 1950's with a definitely jazzy tone.

Come out and enjoy the summer breezes as this high drama unfolds right before your astonishing eyes.

CURTAIN UP, LIGHT THE LIGHTS ON “GYPSY”

                                         KAREN ZIEMBA AS MAMA ROSE IN "GYPSY"

If you looked up “stage mother” in Webster’s, you’d likely see a photo of Mama Rose. When it comes to pushy, aggressive mothers and show business you’ve nailed her: she’s the maternal pit bull, overseeing the careers of her young daughters June and Louise. As the queen of smothering stage mothers, Mama Rose was uniquely suited to her task, advancing the marketing of her two little princesses of song and dance, with the goal of making them stars.

To meet Mama Rose and her darlings of vaudeville, let the book by Arthur Laurents, the music of Jule Styne and the lyrics of Stephen Sondheim entertain you in the colorful musical “Gypsy,” prancing across the spotlights of the Sharon Playhouse until Sunday, July 3.

The incomparable Karen Ziemba  is the perfectly passionate parent, the guiding force and iron ruler of her precious progeny. Serafina Fauci and Julia Hemp portray Baby June and Dainty June respectively while Olivia Santiago and Kyra Kennedy capture Baby Louise and grown up Louise. June and Louise will later be better known as June Havoc and Gypsy Rose Lee. 

Both girls rebel as they grow older, June running off at a young age to marry and Louise abandoning vaudeville for burlesque, establishing herself as a stripper at Minsky’s. Using humor and song as she shed her clothes, Louise reinvented herself as Gypsy Rose Lee and a queen of her genre, with a furl of feathers and flashy costumes. 

 Rufus Collins does an admirable turn as Herbie, the group’s agent and Rose’s love interest.  Richard Stafford takes credit for direction and choreography.   “Gypsy” is based on the book written by the star who was born in Seattle, Washington in 1911, performed in movies as an actress and dancer, wrote murder mysteries and called Otto Preminger her boyfriend. Songs like "Some People," "Small World," "Let Me EntertainYou," "Everything's Coming Up Roses," "Together Wherever We Go"and "Rosie's Turn" propel the plot. 

 For tickets ($15-47), call the Sharon Playhouse, 49 Amenia Road, Sharon  at 860-364-7469 or online at www.sharonplayhouse.org. Performances are Thursday at  2 p.m.and  7 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m., and Sunday at 1 p.m.and 5:30 p.m., with extra shows  Wednesday, June 29 at 7 p.m. and  Sunday, July 3  at 3 p.m.

Clearly everything’s coming up roses for this delightful summer theater production set in a corner of the state at the foot of the Berkshires, perfect for a scenic afternoon or evening drive.

“MY MOTHER HAS 4 NOSES,” A PERSONAL MUSICAL THAT TOUCHES THE HEART

                                               JONATHA BROOKE SINGER/SONGWRITER

Singer/songwriter Jonatha Brooke writes about the world around her, what interests and intrigues her, what inspires her sense of curiosity and love of adventure. Little did she realize that when she invited her mother into her life, after her diagnosis of Alzheimer’s, how dramatically her world would change and how much the two years caring for her would impact her life.

With the bewildering and humorous title, “My Mother Has 4 Noses,” billed as a comedy and a tragedy, but mostly a love story, Jonatha Brooke tells the journey of a mother and a daughter and their travels together from life to death. Her mother was her biggest fan and source of strength and in this highly personal musical, we venture along the bumpy path they traveled as Jonatha cared for her during her last two years.  With a series of funny stories and poignant songs, this relatively new work will create emotion and empathy, feelings of affection and regret, as Jonatha shares the intimate details of life as nurse, caretaker, daughter and friend.

The Kate in Old Saybrook will welcome this gifted singer/songwriter for three performances on Friday, July 1 at 7:30 p.m. and on Saturday, July 2 at 2 p.m.and 7:30 p.m. 

Their adventure together beams with love and caring, a musical journey about holding on and letting go.  As a performer, with her guitar, Jonatha had always thanked her mom on stage for being the source of all her good material.  In "My Mother Has Four Noses," her mom is literally on stage with her, sharing her insights and humor.  An every day occurrence was mom calling out "Boolie (her nickname).  That's good!  Are you getting this down?  We should make a play out of it!!"

Call the Kate, 300 Main Street, Old Saybrook at 860-510-0453 or online at www.thekate.org for tickets ($35)."My Mother Has Four Noses" is not a Cubist painting by Picasso.  Come and let Jonatha Brooke reveal the fascinating portrait of a mother she loved and whose memory she is celebrating. The production is electrified with a current of love, one that will inspire laughter and tears, as the circus that is life takes center stage, with Jonatha as the ringmaster.  After all, her mom was a poet and a clown and she did in fact have four noses plus her red clown one.

"A CHORUS LINE” IS RHYTHM PERSONIFIED

                                                  THE CAST OF "A CHORUS LINE"

Even if you have two left feet, answer to the name of wallflower and have never anticipated going to an Arthur Murray Dance Studio, you can’t help being engaged in the energetic and exciting production of “A Chorus Line” currently kicking up its heels at West hartford’s Playhouse on Park until Sunday, July 31.

Michael Bennett gets full credit for the original idea, direction and choreography, with book by James Kirkwood and Nicholas Dante, music by mavin Hamlisch and lyrics by Edward Kleban.  “A Chorus Line” takes you into the hearts, minds and bodies of Broadway wannabes who are at an audition. a cattle call to find eight dancers for a brand new musical.  The hopefuls are soon pared down to seventeen in number, all praying “I Hope I Get It.”

They know their shelf life is a short one because of he intense demands on their physicality, and they all dream of bing a success, Ginger Rodgers or Fred Astaire.  As they learn their step. kick, kick, touch, turn pivot steps with Larry (Spenser Pond), they know they have to impress Zach (Eric S; robertson) if they have any chance of being selected.  First he interviews each one, needing to know personal details about each one of them, how Mike (Alex Polzun) followed his sister to dance class and earned himself the name Twinkle Toes, why the aggressively self-assured Sheila (Tracey Mellon) pursued her mother’s toe shows into the ballet, when Diana (Bobbi Barricalla) realized that an improvisational acting class wasn’t for her, how Mark(Jared Starkey) let a little medical knowledge confuse him and Val (Andee Bucchen) who realizes early on that no matter how well she dances she needs the looks to clinch the deal.

For Paul (Tino Ardiente), dance is a way for him to reinvent himself even though it becomes emotionally wrenching for him, while Cassie (Michelle Pruiett) has to overcome a long ago personal relationship with Zach and beg him to give her a chance.  Others in this talented troupe includeRichie Ronnie Bowman, Jr,),Bebe (Kyla  Starr Bryan), Don (BenCoooley), Kristine (Mallory Cunninghe=am), Maggie (Sarah Kozlow), Connie (Rina Maejima), Bobby (Peej Mele), Judy (Cara Rachkin), Al (Jeremy Seiner) and Greg (Max Jacob Weinstein).

While the dance is spectacular and sensual, electric and energizing, with the group’s strong unison steps, songs like “Hello Twelve,” “Dance: Ten, Looks: Three,” “What I Did For Love” and “One” are clearly singular sensations, as directed by Sean Harris and Darlene Zoller, who also choreographs the smash numbers.  Musical direction is set at a synchronized pace set by Emmett Drake and Michael Morris.

For tickets ($   ), call Playhouse on Park, 244 Park Road, West hartford at 860-     or online at www.playhouseonpark.com.  Performances are

Prepare to slide and glide, kick and cartwheel, as these eager dancers, with determination and dedication, show “what they did for love."

SET SAIL TO THE STRATOSPHERE WITH THE CT REPERTORY THEATRE

RAEGAN ROBERTS AS MOLLY AND NATE WHIPPLE AS PETER

Adventure with a Capital A sets sail in the year of our Lord 1885 when Queen Victoria commands her trustworthy Lord Aster, a heroic Mark Blashford, to get her trunk of treasure safely to the island of Rundoon. To insure the goal is reached, Lord Aster arranges for a second stash, one filled with sand, as a decoy to travel on a second ship, a slower vessel, the Neverland, and he sends his precocious daughterMolly, a plucky Reagan Roberts, to accompany it on its journey.

The Connecticut Repertory Theatre will be commandeering the ships until Saturday, July 2 as “Peter and the Starcatcher” flies through storms and harsh seas at the Jorgensen Theatre on the campus of the University of Connecticut to 

a safe destination. Pirates and other such villains are always a danger.

 Based on a novel by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, in a play by Rick Elice, with music by Wayne Barker, “Peter and the Starcatcher“ is the prequel to the tale of Peter Pan. Prompted by Elice's son who asked his dad, “How did Peter Pan get his name?”, this intriguing tale ventures into the origins of our favorite orphan lad who refuses to grow up.

Long before  Peter Pan  flies into the bedroom of the Darling children, there were many adventures in his life. To learn about a young Peter, who didn't even have the privilege of a name and was known simply as The Boy, travel straight to the UCONN campus  to make his acquaintance and discover his fascinating and complicated history.

We all know the Peter Pan iwho never wants to grow up.  He flies to Neverland and encounters a mean-spirited Captain Hook, a devil of a crocodile, an Indian Princess and a whole passel of Lost Boys who look to him as their fearless leader.  He entices Wendy Darling and her brothers Michael and John to leave their 

comfy home and learn to fly to Neverland with him.

But what happened before Peter Pan and Wendy meet?    A dozen talented actors will create over a hundred different roles, with a minimum of fuss and props, from pirates to villains, mermaids to Molly, the only female in the cast and clearly the courageous and self assured heroine.

Imagine, and you're called upon to rev up your creative juices, a treasure chest that you must guard as a commission from the Queen.  You are Lord Aster
and you are traveling with your young daughter Molly and her nanny, Mrs. Bumbrake, (Jason Bohon) to the Kingdom of Rundoon and it is your responsibility to make sure the chest arrives safely to its destination.  To fool the pirates, a similar chest, filled with sand, is being sent as a decoy but the sinister captain, Bill Slank, (Forrest McClendon) uncovers the ruse and switches them.  He is piloting the wreck of a vessel, the Neverland, with Molly and her nanny aboard, while the real treasure was supposed to be on the fastest ship of the fleet, the Wasp, with Lord Aster.

To further his nefarious scheme, Slank purchases a trio of lads, from the Orphanage for Lost Boys, (Ryan Shea and Scott Redmond) and one of whom will later claim the name of Peter.  Watch for a magic amulet that glows when there is danger, a group of mermaids who think they belong in Vaudeville, plots and counter plots to claim and reclaim the treasure, ships that sink, pirates and passengers who go overboard, a quite hungry crocodile Mr. Grin who has a taste for humans, a strange language known only to Dodo birds and a magic material known as starstuff that everyone covets.  And that's just a little appetizer of the plot!  Michael Doherty's Black Stache is devilishly and deliciously evil as he traits capture the treasure for himself and, instead, earns the moniker Captain Hook.

For tickets ($12 to 55), call the CT Repertory Theatre, at 860-486-2113 or online at www.crt.uconn.edu.  Performances are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 

7:30 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., and Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. 

Creativity,  imagination and the spirit of adventure soar as this storytelling extravaganza flies free and far in a theatrical experience like no other, thanks to the talented cleverness of director Vincent J. Cardinal.

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”BUYER AND CELLAR” A SIGN OF STELLAR DESIGN

MICHAEL URIE AS ALEX MORE IN "BUYER AND CELLAR"  PHOTO BY CAROL ROSEGG

Imagine you have a shopping mall, complete with European boutiques, in your basement. Imagine it contains all your favored collections, like your vintage clothing, doll houses, dolls, antiques and even your best treats like frozen yogurt and pop corn.  Further imagine it is all for your personal pleasure, to wander and admire, to browse and purchase. Playwright Jonathan Tolins has done more than imagine it, he has created a play that highlights the possibilities and he based it on the real, actual, honest to God basement crafted by one Barbra Streisand  at her Malibu, California home.

All Streisand worshippers are invited to the Westport Country Playhouse until Sunday, July 3 for fun, fashion and fictional fantasy in Tolins’ highly entertaining one-man show “Buyer and Cellar.” Barbra’s cellar is the real deal as evidenced in her coffee table book “My Passion for Design” where Tolins discovered his story line.  The twist is that he has put an out of work actor as the hired “caretaker” of the shops, one who cleverly takes all the roles from the diva herself to her husband, assistant, son and his own personal male partner Barry who is only slightly jealous of the job.

Michael Urie is the impressionable and eager to please Alex More, the young man hired to accommodate his mistress when the mood and fancy takes her on a shopping tour. He serves her to indulge her every whim and he has a wonderful time doing just that.  Does she desire a cup of coffee frozen yogurt with sprinkles?  No problem. Does she need a hostess gift of flowery smelling soaps? Select your favorite.  Not just everyone (or any one else) has a basement worthy of admiration, one that makes a fashion statement.  Alex’s job is to keep it free of dust and sparkling clean. Initially not thrilled with his new position, Alex soon rallies to the cause and embraces the job with relish.

When ”Sadie” deigns to shop (she has to learn to trust Alex before she becomes Barbra), their encounters are humorous and memorable, especially when she wants to purchase a French doll FIFI wholesale. No retail prices for this shopping maven.  Stephen Brackett directs this charming foray into sacred territory while Urie is exceptional as the worker bee buzzing around the queen.

For tickets ($30 and up), call Westport Country Playhouse, 25 Powers Court, off route 1, Westport at 203-227-4177 or 1-888-927-7529 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.

Confess,  Wouldn’t you just love to shop in Barbra Streisand’s basement, even if you couldn’t afford to buy anything. Well, maybe, you could purchase a giant cup of frozen yogurt. Sprinkles are optional.

MTC ENTERTAINS AN EVENING OF NEW VOICES

Music Theatre of Connecticut welcomes your participation in an evening of musical joy.  These new voices  will share scenes and songs from new musicals that are getting unwrapped for your listening pleasure.   For one night only - Monday, June 20 at 7:30 p.m. - the intimate space at MTC will let the audience enjoy excerpts from a quartet of offerings:  LOVE ON ICE, a cryogenic love music by Jeffrey Lodin and book and lyrics by Bill Nabel and William Squier, ONEIDA with music by Lizzie Hagstedt and book and lyrics by Beth Blatt, ODETTE/ODILE with music by Randy Klein and book and lyrics by Joan Ross Sorkin and TRIGGER with music by Byron Au Yong and libretto by Aaron Jafferis. Your will earn bragging rights at the water cooler when you are the first to hear these brand new offerings.  The creative process will be an open book for you to enjoy.  Your opinion would be welcome.  This Page to Stage fundraising event is only $20.  Call MTC, 509 Westport Avenue, route 1, in Norwalk, behind  Nine West, and reservations can be made by calling 203-454-3883 or online at www.musictheatreofct.com. Meet the composers and their new musicals and be there at the beginning of the creative process.