ONLY 30 YEARS IN THE MAKING: MY NEW BOOK!

Long ago and far away, I started writing random thoughts about my life and about the world. My husband had just died and I wanted to remember anecdotes and incidents to keep his memory fresh and alive. Now thirty years later, thanks in part to all the time I collected during the pandemic, I have finally published LITTLE THOUGHTS ON A BIG PLANET on Amazon. It is a book about love, loss, laughter and life. It is filled with the humor and sunshine as well as a few raindrops. It is also filled with reasons to be grateful. Hopefully it will bring you pleasure. My husband's simple philosophy of life, despite his fourteen years battling a rare, chronic, ultimately fatal liver disease, was "Don't postpone joy." I believe it is a wonderful way to live. A portion of the proceeds from the book will benefit the American Liver Foundation. To see a previdew of the book and read a few pages, click on the link below. Happy reading! “Little Thoughts on a Big Planet” Go to AMAZON and search for amazon.com Little Thoughts on a Big Planet A picture of a world with a magnifying glass should appear. Click on it. Or try this link https://www.amazon.com/Little-Thoughts-Planet-Bonnie-Goldberg/dp/0930904052/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2TL5ROQYKIP4R&keywords=bonnie+goldberg&qid=1648482763&sprefix=bonnie+goldberg%2Caps%2C780&sr=8-1 Make every day count. Appreciate all you have and bring happiness to others. We only travel this way once. Make it a good trip.

COME MEET "DEAR EVAN HANSEN" AT THE BUSHNELL

Evan Hansen is a troubled, unhappy teenager who feels invisible and he desperately wants to be accepted, one of the gang. When another student at his high school commits suicide, Evan is swept into a web of lies not of his own making. These untruths have the power to change his life and give him all the acceptance he so desires. Will he use this unexpected and unanticipated chance or will he admit the truth of his fabrications? Songs like “So Big/So Small.” “Requiem” and “Sincerely Me” propel the action. One misplaced letter assumes a powerful catalyst in Evan’s life, one he quickly loses control over. Deeply emotional, “Dear Evan Hansen” by Steven Levenson for book and Benj Pasek and Justin Paul for music, the musical follows Evan and his need to be part of the community and the mistakes he makes trying to fit in and find friendship. The Bushnell for the Performing Arts, from now until Sunday, April 3, will carry you along in Evan’s journey of self-discovery. He works to achieve the life he so dearly wants to live. Will he repair the bridges he needs to cross to become the young man he wants to be? Will he accept the undeserved gift that has fallen mysteriously upon him? Stephen Christopher Anthony stars as our reluctant hero who is thrust, unprepared, into the center of a drama. The cast will include Jessica Sherman, Claire Rankin, John Hemphill, Nikhil Saboo, Stephanie LaRochelle, Alessandro Costantini and Clara Alyse Harris. Michael Greif, a four-time Tony Award nominee, will direct. For tickets ($52 and up), call the Bushnell, 166 Capitol Avenue, Hartford at 860-987-5900 or online at bushnell.org. Performances are tonight 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. Please bring your vaccination card or recent negative COVID test and a mask. Evan Hansen is an outsider, always looking in, until a surprise event offers him everything he would ever desire. The Washington Post calls it “one of the most remarkable shows in musical theatre history.” Don’t miss this grand opportunity.

ARE YOU READY TO BUY YOUR "DREAM HOU$E"?

Sisters Patricia and Julia Castillo have grown up in a section of Los Angeles that has achieved a level of gentrification now when they view it as adults. Their personal history has not always been simple and savory and all those differences are ready to explode as they decide to sell that childhood home, their legacy, now that their mother has died. They each have glorified ideals as to how the massive amounts of money from the sale will enhance and change their lives. To manifest those dreams, Patricia has convinced Julia to sign a contract with a television reality show “Flip It and List It,” with dynamic host Tessa Westbrook. The millions Tessa promises depend on her crew of workers demolishing and renovating their childhood home, stripping it of its personal charms and streamlining it for today’s demanding buyers. Scenic designer Stephanie Osin Cohen has created a lovely welcoming set at the play’s outset. To enter into this often surreal and exceedingly personal emotional drama, head to Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven by Sunday, April 3 for Eliana Pipes’ intriguing “Dream Hou$e.” This new play is a collaboration between a trio of theaters in Atlanta, New Haven and Baltimore. Come meet Renata Eastlick’s Patricia and Darilyn Castillo’s Julia as they try to reconcile their problems. Patricia struggles to forgive her sister for “escaping” their home and leaving her to care for their mom during her lingering illness. Julia is six months pregnant and dealing with issues with her partner that are clearly not resolving well. She wants any house proceeds to benefit her child. Laurie Woolery directs this compelling conflict of differing desires. Into this emotional cauldron strides Marianna McClellan’s Tessa with her own agenda, complicating the situation with games and challenges, sledgehammers and dollar signs, working diligently to make compelling television no matter the toll on the victims, or rather participants. Blood literally flows in the process. For tickets ($59, students $10), call Long Wharf Theatre, 222 Sargent Drive, New Haven at 203-693-1486 or online at www.longwharf.org/shows-events/dreamhouse. Performances are Tuesday at 7 p.m., Wednesday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., Thursday at 7 p.m., Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. You need your vaccination card or a recent negative COVID test and a mask. Come watch how family and cultural history wage a battle with goals and dreams and discover if love and forgiveness can conquer personal desires.

"DIVAS" DANCING UP A SPRING STORM AT PLAYHOUSE ON PARK

You don’t need any more excuses to dance than to acknowledge this week is the long awaited and much desired advent of SPRING. But for West Hartford’s Playhouse on Park’s stop/time dance theater, now celebrating its 17th year, this talented resident dance company needs no excuse to execute a song and dance extravaganza. Until Sunday, March 27, you are invited to pay homage to such favorite stars as Tina, Dolly, Cher, Gloria, Shania and Whitney to name drop a few in “DIVAS: DOUBLE OR NOTHING.” Darlene Zoller is the founder, director and choreographer of stop/time dance theater as well as the co-founder and co-director of Playhouse on Park. She originates these unique productions featuring eighteen amazing troupe members who will tap, swing, jazz and funk their way into your hearts. Be sure to eat your Wheaties and take your vitamins so you can fully experience the high-energy experience of “DIVAS.” For tickets ($30-40), call Playhouse on Park, 244 Park Road, West Hartford at 860-523-5900, ext.10, or online at www.playhouseonpark.org. Performances are 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. Remember to check if vaccination cards, proof of a recent COVID negative test and a mask are required. Get your dancing shoes on so you can catch the groove of this wonderful production just in time to do a welcoming rites to spring.

"ELTON UNDRESSED" AT THEATERWORKS HARTFORD

Reginald Kenneth Dwight was born in 1947 in England to a supportive mother and a disinterested father. It wasn’t until his mother divorced and remarried that he was encouraged to pursue a musical career. At seven years of age, after performing for family and at parties for several previous years, he was given formal piano lessons. Early on, he admitted to being inspired and influenced by Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis. After hearing them, he stated “I didn’t ever want to be anything else.” This singer, composer and pianist who has enjoyed a spectacular six decade career, sold over 300 million records and raised millions of dollars for HIV/AIDS research, started his first band Bluesology when he was just a teenager. His restrained and conservative childhood led him to become bigger than life on the stage, with flamboyant costumes, including platform boots, and wild glasses in imitation of Buddy Holly. He even changed his name in homage to two members of that original music group, Elton Dean and Long John Baldry. Welcome Sir Elton Hercules John. Since 1967 he has enjoyed a collaboration with Bernie Taupin and together they have produced 30 albums. Taupin writes the lyrics and sends them to John who then composes the music. Interestingly, they are never in the same room working. You now have the unique opportunity to get an up close and intimate look into the heart and soul, life and music, of Elton John at TheaterWorks Hartford from Friday to Sunday, April 1-3 with “Elton Undressed” a new one man show starring Todd Alsup. A native of Detroit and now a proud New Yorker, Todd Alsup’s extensive and intensive immersion into the world of contemporary music and his familiarity with Top 40 artists, makes him the perfect musician to delve deeply into Elton John’s legendary charisma and character. His skills on the piano and his distinctive voice will carry the audience into a magical and colorful kaleidoscope of joy. As a well established singer, songwriter and keyboardist, with the endorsement of Yamaha as a Corporate Artist, Todd Alsup is the ideal man to open vistas into the life of the Rocket Man. Plan to enjoy such favorites as “Bernie and the Jets,” “She’s Always a Woman to Me,” “Goodbye Yellow Brick Man,” “Tiny Dancer” “My Gift is My Song” and “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me,” as well as many others. Be prepared for fresh and flamboyant, original and outrageous and daring and decadent. For tickets ($30-45), call TheaterWorks Hartford, 233 Pearl Street, Hartford at 860-537-7838 or online at www.TWHartford.org. Performances are Friday, April 1 at 8 p.m., Saturday, Apri 2 at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday, April 3 at 2:30 p.m. Proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID test within 24-48 hours, depending on the test, and a mask are required. A portion of each ticket will benefit the Connecticut World AIDS Day Committee. Come meet Todd Alsup whose fans are known as “The Todd Squad.” Remember to wear your most wild eye wear! Learn more about Sir Elton and revel in the spectacular music he has gifted to the world.

A UNIQUE NEW IMMIGRANT STORY COMES TO HARTFORD STAGE

Actor and comedian Alaudin Ullah has been influenced and inspired by Reuben Santiago, George Carlin, Richard Pryor and August Wilson, in addition to his own father. In his thought provoking original one man show “Dishwasher Dreams” currently lighting up Hartford Stage until Sunday March 20, he focuses on his own history as a Muslim living in the Spanish Harlem section of New York City. In it, he strives to “wake up minds, imbue a sense of gratitude and focus on humanity and the beauty of the immigrant journey and their sacrifices.” He performs to honor the histories of his parents and their ancestors. In “Dishwasher Dreams,” Alaudin Ullah uses the lens of different generations to examine who he is, where he came from and, ultimately, where he is going. With humor and a little frustration, he reminisces about how his father came to America and struggled to find his way in a strange land. Along the way he loses his dad and manages to discover his mother, a woman who learned English by watching Sesame Street and had a view of the world that was uniquely her own. Coming from a family in Bangladesh, he unveils his trek discovering sports like his beloved Knicks, using graffiti to create the art of his Muslim world, trying to battle the stereotype of himself as a terrorist, going to college, pursuing his comedic talents, and bringing an original voice to the American theater by focusing on diversity. Along the way, he juggles the many people in his world with stories that need to be told, plucking mangos from his family tree, and paying tribute to the ghosts in his past. Accompanying him in his journey is Avirodh Sharma, a musician who plays the tabla drum from the West Indies with an ancient history. The pair share a shorthand in musical terms in a language that speaks to a common voice. Lighting designed by Anshuman Bhatia uses squares or boxes of white light to focus on the action, on a minimalistic wooden set created by Yu Shibagaki. Chay Yew directs this intense dramatic immigrant experience, a melting pot of influence, with humor and spirit. For tickets ($30-100), call Hartford Stage, 50 Church Street, Hartford at 860-527-5151 or online at HartfordStage.org. Performances are Tuesday to Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m., with a Saturday matinee March 19 at 2 p.m. Proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID test must be shown and a mask must be worn. Attend “Dishwasher Dreams” for an intimate monologue with music that goes deeper than comedy to create a dramatic and vulnerable immigrant story that honors his ancestors and his own unique voice.

TRIBUTE BAND RAIN BRINGS THE BEATLES BACK FOR ONE NIGHT ONLY

Granted it’s been a long time since Sir Paul McCartney wrote his first song at the tender age of fourteen, but the shining success of the Beatles lives on. The “Hard Day’s Night” is happily over as “Rain” offers a one night tribute to this iconic group at the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts on Tuesday, March 15 at 7:30 p.m. Be sure to shout out “Hey, Jude” to all your friends so no one misses this iconic presentation of all the factors that have made the Beatles so beloved, from their haircuts to costumes to music to special look and sound. It’s been a long time since these Four Lads from Liverpool appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show and causes a sensation but I’m sure “You Were Only Waiting for this Moment to Arrive.” And here it is. Formed in Liverpool, England in 1960, the band is considered the most influential in history, combining traditional pop with classical music. They pioneered new sounds for those who were to follow their iconic footsteps. From their first hit in 1962 with “Love Me Do,” they were off and running, becoming fan favorites in “Beatlemania” craze. They topped the Rolling Stones lists of greatest artists of all time in 2004 and 2011. The group “Rain” will recreate all the marvelous tunes that made Paul, Ringo, George and John so famous, those relevant songs that are stuffed with “positivity and joy.” These “Words of Wisdom” are sure to please, whether it’s to sing “Let It Be” or “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” Hop aboard “The Yellow Submarine” and plan to connect rhythmically with “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club Band.” Be prepared to travel down “Abbey Road” as well as “Penny Lane.” The “Rooftop Concert” is also on the entertainment agenda. For tickets, call the Bushnell, 166 Capitol Avenue, Hartford at 860-987-5900 or go online to www.bushnell.org. Be sure to bring your proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID test and a mask. Relearn the valuable lesson that “All You Need is Love” when the power group Rain brings the legendary group The Beatles to the Bushnell stage for one sensational evening only on Tuesday, March 15.

“MY FAIR LADY” IS STUNNING PERFECTION

For decades “My Fair Lady” by Lerner and Loewe has been hailed as one of the most remarkable musicals ever created and this week you have the awesome opportunity to visit the newly produced Lincoln Center Theater’s beautiful and thrilling new revival. From Tuesday, March 8 to Sunday, March 13, Hartford’s Bushnell Center for the Arts will introduce you to a simple flower girl Eliza Doolittle and the experiment she becomes with a linguistics professor. Come make the acquaintance of Professor Henry Higgins (Laird Mackintosh) of 27A Wimpole Street, London, England who is confident, arrogant and supremely knowledgeable about phonetics and languages. He is equal parts curmudgeon and charmer. When his colleague Colonel Pickering, (Kevin Pariseau), challenges him to take a Cockney flower girl, a guttersnipe, and in six months time transform her into a duchess, the egotistical Higgins can’t resist. Such is the delightful premise of this classic family musical “My Fair Lady,” originally based on George Bernard Shaw’s play “Pygmalion.” This scalawag of a professor plucks a “squashed cabbage leaf,” a piece of “baggage,” namely one Miss Eliza Doolittle, off the London streets where she is innocently trying to sell her violets and posies and earn an honest shilling or three. Shereen Afmed's Eliza is “loverly,” dirty face, scruff and all and she rises beautifully to the task, under Higgins’ tutelage. Despite the interfering of Eliza’s old dad, (Martin Fisher), Eliza manages to win the favor of Henry’s mama (Leslie Alexander), his housekeeper (Gayton Scott) and a socialite admirer Freddy (Sam Simahk) who serenades her with the lilting melody “On the Street Where You Live.” The music is spot-on marvelous from Eliza’s daydreaming “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly?” to her papa’s ruminating “With a Little Bit of Luck” to Higgins’ observations in “I’m an Ordinary Man” to Eliza’s “I Could Have Danced All Night.” Each one is a gem. Bartlett Sher gets full credit for a smashing sensation of a show, with sophisticated choreography by Christopher Gattelli, enchanting costuming by Catherine Zuber and thoroughly top notch sets by Michael Yeargan. For tickets ($42 and up), call the Bushnell, 166 Capitol Avenue at 860-987-5900 or go online to www.bushnell.org. Performances are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., with matinees Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.and 6:30 p.m. Remember to bring proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID test and a mask. Dance all the way to the box office and purchase a little bit of theatrical heaven, with a flower cart full of glorious music, a brilliant professor and his deliciously fair lady of a pupil.There are a multitude of reasons why this musical that began 66 years ago, won 6 Tony Awards and played originally for over 2500 performances is still worthy of bouquets of applause today.

GOODSPEED FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS RETURNS IN TRIUMPH

A “Sweet 16” is being celebrated with joy at Goodspeed’s Festival of New Musicals in East Haddam, even if it had been delayed by the pandemic that is COVID. From Friday, March 18 to Sunday March 20, this much beloved weekend dedicated to new musicals and the theater arts will once again trumpet this fine tradition. The trio of days will feature three staged readings performed by students from the Hartt School. Friday’s offering at 7:30 p.m. will begin with the literary mystery “A House Without Windows” with book by Anna Ziegler and music and lyrics by Anna Jacobs,. As a child prodigy author, Barbara Newhall Follett wrote a revealing novel about a young girl who abandons her family to find her way in nature. What causes Barbara a dozen years later at the age of twenty five to walk out of her home and literally vanish? Is reality mimicking fantasy? A cabarets with composer Timothy Huang will follow at the Gelston House next door at 10:00 p.m. On Saturday at 7:30 p.m., after a full day of symposiums on Racial Equity in the Theatre, and a Symposium, the second staged reading will be “ HoT” with music by Lynne Shankel and words by Sara Cooper. A cast of women will examine the fate of Helen of Troy from her feminity and unparalleled beauty to her dismissal as a paragon of her sex. Watch how Helen rises to the challenge to assert and recapture her powers. A Saturday night cabaret will follow at 10:00 p.m. with the music of Joriah Kwame. On Sunday at 1 p.m., adventure to the Wild Wild West to enter the world created by Abby Payne for book, music and lyrics with “ The Gunfighter Meets His Match.” When a young ranch hand decides to examine and possibly debunk the myths surrounding a legendary gunfighter, the man in question is forced to return to his mysterious roots to defend his honor. All three musicals have been composed by women. Single tickets for each are $25 or $15 for students, Special packages are available: the GOLD for $155 includes all three readings, three seminars, a Symposium that is free and needs no ticket at 3:30 p.m., and dinner Saturday night at either the Gelston House or La Vita and either the Friday or Saturday cabaret and a concluding Meet the Writers Q and A on Sunday afternoon ; the SILVER package for $100 includes three readings, a Symposium, three seminars and a Meet the Writers Q and A at 3:30 p.m.. Call the box office at 860-873-8668 or go online at www.goodspeed.org to purchase tickets. Since 2002 the Festival of New Musicals has been produced by the Max Showalter Center for Education in Musical Theatre. All who attend must show proof of vaccination and wear a mask at all events. According to Goodspeed’s Artistic Director Donna Lynn Hilton, “ The Festival of New Musicals is the cornerstone of Goodspeed’s new works development program.” With Managing Director David B. Byrd, they “ invite all who enjoy musical theatre to join us for a weekend that will enlighten, entertain and educate all who attend.” For lovers of musical theatre, what better way to watch a trio of new productions gain their theatrical legs and strut down a path into show business history.