GO TO PLAYHOUSE ON PARK FOR A COMIC, FEMINIST SLANT ON HOLMES AND WATSON

Who doesn’t love a good mystery? But what if it is stuffed with duels and umbrellas, smoke bombs, skeletons, red herrings, assorted dead people (even in bathtubs) at least a pair of villains and a doctor with a very obvious aversion to blood? Get your magnifying glasses and finger printing kits ready for a workout as Playhouse on Park playfully produces Kate Hamill’s funny and slightly frustrating “Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson -Apt.2B” ready for clues and evidence gathering until Sunday, February 18. Be sure you get a good night’s sleep before you venture forth as the speed of the action and dialogue is full fast forward.

An American doctor desperately needs a change of scene and she innocently enters the apartment of one Sherlock Holmes, yes it can be a female name without surcombing to Shirley, to rent a space as a roommate. Kelly Letorneau’s Joan Watson is spunky and adventurous enough that she doesn’t run screaming at the first sight of adversity when the accommodating landlady Mrs. Hudson, a fast talking Megan McDermott, first opens the apartment door. The audience already knows it is in for an interesting encounter when Nick Nudler lays the groundwork for an unusual series of events soon to transpire.

Think mayhem and merriment and chaos and comedy. Enter the enigmatic master detective played by an intriguing Kirsten Peacock and the game is quite quickly afoot. Soon bodies are splayed and displayed all over London and Holmes and Watson are awash in victims with plenty of clues to examine. To add a bit of mystery to the confusion, Nudler and McDermott assume various villains from Holmes’ past to add an urgency to finding solutions. Thanks to Kelly O’Donnell’s clever direction, on Lindsey G. Fuori's charming set, with a playroom of playful props assembled by Amber Gebert Goldsmith, in addition to a lobby full of footsteps to set up the plot, this production is delightful detective distraction.

For tickets ($42.50 for seniors, students and military on tiers, to $55.00 ), call Playhouse on Park, 244 Park Road, West Hartford at 860- 523-5900, ext. 10 or online at playhouseonpark.org. Performances are Tuesday at 2 p.m., Wednesday and 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 with the cast.

On Sunday, February 18 from 6-9 p.m., Tracy and Darlene, two of the theater’s artistic directors, are celebrating their birthdays and you are invited. The caveat is that you must bring them a gift from the Playhouse’s Wishlist. Fun, games, food and drink will be added to a reunion cabaret performance by the original Falcetti Four, featuring Colin Britt on piano. The Playhouse is also working to meet its goal of raising $30,000 and would welcome your financial support. If you donate $5 or more in February, they will add your name to their Wall of Love.

Who said murder can’t be fun? Don your deerstalker cap and jump feet first into the fray!

GO TO HARTFORD STAGE TO HELP "SIMONA'S SEARCH"

Life is complicated and messy, even if you believe there are no deep secrets to discover in your family’s past. For a young girl Simona, a curiously obsessed Alejandra Escalante, an incident at the first sleepover for her girl friends starts her on a journey of unfolding all the secrets that her father Papi, a stubbornly silent Al Rodrigo, is shielding her from. His past in Latin America is his business and not hers, as he guards it from her prying eyes. Hartford Stage is offering this world premiere production “Simona’s Search” by Martin Zimmerman until Sunday, February 11and you will be quickly swept along in her imagination and trauma.

Simona and Papi share a dedicated love for all things science, as he compulsively clips articles he thinks will spark her love of learning. Their tiny apartment is stacked with boxes meant to inspire her knowledge. While he openly offers Simona these educational moments to treasure, he is compulsively quiet about any facts of his childhood before he immigrated to America.

With her scientific mind on high alert, Simona knows that dark shadows frame his past, disturbing events that are affecting him emotionally and physically and she feels compelled to know the answers. Along the way she meets Christopher Bannow’s Jake who shares her love of learning and tries through his love for her to help her through the mental health crisis she has created for herself.

This is a compelling tale that will capture your sympathy and concern as you watch Simona risk everything for the answers. Her genetic research threatens to overwhelm her mind as she refuses to stop her search. Go on this journey with her and learn if she ever unlocks the mysterious clues she seeks so compulsively, thanks to the fine direction by Melia Bensussen.

For tickets ($30 and up), call the Hartford Stage, 50 Church Street, Hartford at 860-527-5151 or online at boxoffice@hartfordstage.org. Performances are Tuesday to Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., with matinees on Saturday and Sunday and a select Wednesday at 2 p.m.

We are all curious about our family’s history and heritage but Simona carries that quest to great lengths to help her Papi deal with his demons and finally put them to rest.

SKI INTO GOODSPEED FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS FOR WINTER DELIGHTS

For some people, winter signals a time for sledding, skating, snowboarding and snowman making. For others, like me, the highlight of the cold weather months is a special weekend, this year Friday to Sunday, January 12-14, when music theater lovers gather in East Haddam for the 2024 Goodspeed Festival of New Musicals. Come join this magical celebration. Hopefully the weatherman will cooperate and there will be no need for snow shoes or skis, just for open hearts and minds to the wonders that musical theater offers in abundance.

For the 18th year, Goodspeed is presenting a weekend with a trio of new musicals in play reading form, a pair pf exciting cabarets, and a whole day, on Saturday, stuffed with seminars, a symposium, a special announcement about the Terris Theatre season in Chester, and a festive dinner at the Gelston House next door as an added option.

First up at 7 p.m. Friday is a staged reading with book. music and lyrics by Claudine Mboligikepelani Nako. Enter the plant world created by Nike, a hard working Black owner of Miss Nika’s Awesome Blossoms, who feels pressure and a growing resentment maintaining her status as a community role model in “Photosynthesis.” When her ancient Volkswagen Beetle desperately needs repairs, she discovers that her car is not the only one with broken parts.

At 9:30 p.m., come listen to the compositions of Nevada Lazano, a pianist, lyricist, composer, professional music director, arranger, and orchestrator, who will share some of his latest works in a cabaret at the Gelston House.

On Saturday, gather at the Gelston House from 9 a.m. to noon, to select your tickets for three seminars at 10 a.m., 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. that are sure to feature talks by people significant in the musical theater world. At 3:30 p.m. there will be the Terris Theatre announcement followed at 4:30 p.m. by a special presentation and at 5:30 p.m. a Festival Dinner at the Gelston House.

At 7:30 p.m. prepare to be entranced by “Letters to the President” conceived by Michael Bello and Jessica Kahkoska, the latter the researcher and letter curator of the piece. A tradition began in 1783 when George Washington took office for citizens to send missives no matter their political party, race, age or background of their hopes, dreams and fears for our country. These letters have been enhanced by the works of multiple composers for inspiration.

With an emphasis on mental health, and her own personal experiences, Nikki Lynette will share excerpts from her autobiographical musical “Get Out Alive” at the Gelston House in a 9:30 p.m. cabaret. She will also debut selections from her new documusical “Happy Songs About Unhappy Things” which she just finished filming and is currently adapting into a live theatrical experience.

On Sunday, at 1 p.m., enter a world created with book and lyrics by Scott Gilmour with music by Claire McKenzie, based on a novel by Paul Gallico. An injured animal, "The Snow Goose," unites two unlikely people in friendship as they try to restore it to flight. A young girl Fritha bonds with Rhayader, a recluse, as the threat of a world war looms ever closer.

At 3:30 p.m., the weekend will culminate in a fascinating discussion by the three sets of composers on the sources of their work, the inspirations and challenges in a question and answer forum.

A Festival Package for $100 can be purchased that includes a ticket for all three staged readings, three seminars, a symposium, the Terris Theatre announcement, and meet the writers. You can add the festival dinner at Gelston House for $42, and either of the cabarets for $15. Single tickets for the readings are $30, students $15. Call the Goodspeed box office at 860-873-8668 to order. Friends of the Festival can also be purchased for $500 by calling 860-873-8664, ext. 366.

Make the Goodspeed Festival of New Musicals the highlight of your winter season as you ski, sled, snow shoe or snowboard into musical theater heaven.