"THE CHER SHOW MUSICAL" SOARS INTO THE BUSHNELL

When you are instantly known by your first name alone, and you are surely one of a kind, you should recognize you’re star quality, royalty if you will. Just ask an almost eighty years young singer, dancer and actress, a fashion icon, the “Goddess of Pop," who is constantly reinventing herself: the one and only Cher. How did she overcome a difficult childhood with a father suffering from drug and gambling problems to accomplish the mighty task as the only solo artist for seven consecutive decades, from the 1960s to the 2020s, on the Billboard charts?

To follow Cher’s roller coaster career, her struggles and her triumphs, plan to attend the Bushnell’s Center for the Performing Arts in Hartford’s sparkling and exciting production of “The Cher Show Musical” from Tuesday, March 5 to Sunday, March 10. A trio of actresses will play Cher at different moments in her turbulent life in this jazzy jukebox musical that captures all the drama and delights of her outstanding show business life.

With her partnership with Sonny Bono on stage and in marriage, her distinctive singing voice that adapted itself to a bevy of musical genres, her desire to act as well as create albums, her fascinating fashion sense and her desire to be famous, Cher has sold over 100 million records and garnered awards including a Grammy, Emmy, Academy Award, a trio of Golden Globes, Kennedy Center Honors and the list marches masterfully on. Cher is also noted for her philanthropy and support of the LGBT rights and HIV/AIDS prevention, trend setting, political views, outrageous fashion statements and ability to bounce back from adversity.

Come hear such favorites as “I’ve Got You Babe,” “Believe,” “Baby Don’t Go,” “All I Ever Need Is You,” “The Way of Love,” “Take Me Home,” and more than a dozen more. For tickets ($36-138), call the Bushnell, 166 Capitol Avenue, Hartford at 860-987-5900 or online at bushnell.org. Performances are Tuesday-Thursday 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. Come early for ‘Cher-aoke' when you can grab a mic and belt out your favorite Sonny and Cher tune and sip a Max Wine Bar selection from sommelier Brian Mitchell, with your favorite cheese.

From a young girl placed in an orphanage for weeks when her mom needed to find a job to a famous pop legend on television and in the movies, come meet the incomparable, super star-studded Cher.

ATTEND OSCAR NIGHT AT THE KATE ON SUNDAY, MARCH 10

Whether the stars of Hollywood stroll down a carpet that is red or gold, the fashion parade will be shockingly wonderful. The gallery of illuminati will set the stage for one of the film world’s most exciting nights: the 96th Oscars and you can feel like you’re in the middle of the cinematic magic. This event beginning at 6 p.m. Sunday, March 10 honors the 12-time Oscar nominated Kate and supports the Katharine Hepburn Museum and education programs. The evening is hosted by the Kate’s Volunteer Guild and is presented by Jaguar North Haven and Land Rover North Haven. Emcees for the evening are Brett Elliot, executive director, and hopefully State Representative Devin Carney, a Kate trustee and grandson of Academy Award winning actor Art Carney.

For the 14th year, the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center will be going over the top to make the night spectacular so plan your glittery outfit now. Start by watching all the prestigious nominations. Will best picture go to “Oppenheimer,” “Barbie.” or “American Fiction?” Or could the tide turn and select “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Poor Things,” or “Past Lives?”

Could best actress go to Annette Bening as the super swimmer “Nyad” or to Casey Mulligan as Leonard Bernstein’s wife in “Maestro?” For best actor, will the nod go to Cillian Murphy for “Oppenheimer” or Paul Giamatti for “The Holdovers?” Who will take home Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Song, Best Costume, Best Animation and Documentary, and the list goes on. With Jimmy Kimmell as host for the fourth time be sporting a pink tux that night?

Maybe you won’t be at Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood but the Kate has all the razzle dazzle you could want from walking the red carpet, photos with cutouts of the stars, special guest hosts Ann Nyberg and Illeana Douglas as honorary co-chairs who both are big film fans, spectacular food from appetizers to desserts catered by Fresh Salt of Saybrook Point Resort & Marina, a fun candy shoppe for nibbling, a cash bar, a stuffed with goodies silent auction, a bevy of raffle treats, and so much more.

Celebrate the Oscars at the Kate with tickets at $85 and a special Oscar in a Box if you want to celebrate at home. Call 860-510-0453 or go online at www.thekate.org. The event is sponsored by H & R Block of Old Saybrook, Comcast, FromYouFlowers.com, WMNR Fine Arts Radio, Stratton Partners Advertising, Grey Ledge Advisors, Patricia Lynn Toner and Saybrook Point Resort & Marina. Oscar Night takes place at the Kate at 300 Main Street, Old Saybrook.

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Add sparkle to the advent of spring by supporting the good works of the Kate and having a wonderful evening in the process.

"MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET" AT ACT OF CT: PRICELESS

Rock ’n Roll history was recorded for prosperity one fine day almost eight decades ago and you have the great pleasure and privilege of being in the ACT studio when it is recreated once again. Don't miss the joy and excitement!

Is your music wedded to the 1950's? Do you identify with swivel hips and wild gyrations? Would you like to return to yesterday for your listening and dancing pleasures? If so, then do I have a musical marathon designed just for you. The date is December 4, 1956 and the sacred place is Memphis, Tennessee at a small recording studio named Sun Records run by Sam Phillips. On that memorable day four icons of the music world wander in and Mr. Phillips, the Father of Rock 'n Roll, realizes the significance of that event.

ACT of CT in Ridgefield invites you to be front and center at Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux's "Million Dollar Quartet" rocking the rafters until Saturday, March 23 when Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley perform an impromptu jam session, one that was smokin' hot and unforgettable. "Million Dollar Quartet" recreates that one and only legendary day in the history of rock 'n roll.

Think of it as a personal playlist of your favorite hits as these great tunes come tumbling out. Listen to "Great Balls of Fire," "Sixteen Tons," "Blue Suede Shoes," "Whole Lot of Shakin' Goin' On," "Hound Dog," "Folsom Prison Blues," "I Walk the Line," "Long Tall Sally" and "See You Later, Alligator,” and lots more. You’ll be speechless with delight!

Carl Perkins (Christopher Wren) had come to Sun Records that day with his brother Jay (Nathan Yates Douglass) and Fluke (Matt Spencer) as back up and Sam Phillips, (Bart Shatto) the owner of Sun, added Jerry Lee Lewis, (Nat Zegree) a recent acquisition, to the mix as pianist. When Elvis Presley (Alessandro Gian Viviano) dropped by with his girlfriend (Megan Reinking), he added his voice to the cauldron and it was the final arrival of Johnny Cash (Scott Moreau) that made the magical witch's brew complete.

These guys, all at different stages of music fame, sat down and sang like a group of old friends, without rehearsals or formal plans, and Cowboy Jack Clement, the engineer, was smart enough to record it. There were jealousies and recriminations among the four, but music was the uniting element that made the day so memorable. It happened that day and never again.

Country music, rockabilly and rock 'n roll merge and marry as these fellows sing just for the pure pleasure of the sound. For Sam Phillips, these four men were like his four sons and this show reveals a lot about their relationship, where they came from and where they were going. Sam gave each of them their chance and then promoted them to fame and success. It is a sensational staged recreation of the actual event. Director Hunter Foster brings us front and center to the excitement on a versatile studio set designed by Josh Smith. Jeff Sherwood's sound rocks, under the sizzling lighting by Kirk Bookman and the costume and wigs by Lauren T. Roark.

For tickets ($79, senior, student, military $71), call ACT, 36 Old Quarry Road, Ridgefield at 475-215-5497 or online at actofct.org. Performances are Thursday at 7 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. Purchase a $50 raffle ticket to a glorious Viking River Cruise for 2 from Expedia Cruises and Viking valued up to $7798 being sold until March 24 at all performances. On June 7, ACT will hold a GALA from 6 p.m. on, go to actofct.org/gala for more information. Watch for “Kicky Boots” strutting in May 23 to June 16.

Prepare for an explosion and fireworks as this quartet hits all the right notes, with fancy flying fingers on guitars, bass, drums and piano, and voices close to heaven. Come and enjoy every perfect moment. These guys are great! Oh, what a night!

"CRY IT OUT" AS THE JOYS AND PANGS OF CHILDBIRTH EMERGE

There can be few more life-altering occasions then welcoming a baby into your world. Creating a family is exciting, overwhelming, rewarding and, in mostinstances, an experimental learning trial depending on how well prepared you are for the changes that occur. It’s kind of a ready-or-not event.

Without the pains of childbirth, the New Haven Theater Company invites you to “Cry It Out” by Molly Smith Metzler, directed by Marty Tucker, weekends until Saturday, March 2, which takes us literally out of the warm comforting womb and into the realities of birth. Two new moms, with no one but their babies to coo to, meet over melons at Stop and Shop. Their instant recognition of need for support brings them to their shared backyard for more than friendship: a sisterhood. Deena Nicol-Blifford’s sassy Lina with her frazzled home life and economical needs is a wonderful contrast to Jenny Schuck’s privileged lawyer/mom Jessie, yet the two snap together faster than a small size infant onesie.

Jessie had a traumatic time at delivery that makes going back to the corporate world virtually impossible. How can she leave Allison, her miracle child? Lina, for all her smart wit, is terrified to leave her Max with her almost mother-in-law who drinks and lies about it. But she has no choice financially.

Enter into the backyard koffee klatch Ruben Ortiz as Mitchell who literally lives above them on a cliff of wealthy homes. His wife, Melissa Andersen’s Adrienne, is a successful jewelry designer who seems to be having great difficulty bonding emotionally to motherhood. He wants Jessie and Lina to help her cope.

Molly Smith Metzler writes from personal experience as a new mom so you will identify with many of the issues. The title refers to the practice of letting babies “cry it out” when put to sleep. For tickets ($20), go online to www.newhaventheatercompany.com. Check performances at the English Building Market, 839 Chapel Street, New Haven Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., and Saturday at 8 p.m. Come a little early and browse all the shelves of the market before you settle in the back in the theater’s intimate setting.

Explore the pangs and joys of motherhood, counting ten precious fingers and toes, hugging powder scented little ones, changing countless diapers, sleepless nights and adjusting to life with a miraculous gift. Let this talented quartet create a world well worth remembering.

MUSIC THEATRE OF CT UNDRESSES “THE LEGEND OF GEORGIA MCBRIDE"

Whether you’re a surgeon or a hair dresser, a teacher or a librarian, some times your profession finds you. Earning a living by impersonating The King, Elvis Presley, is not the easiest way to pay the bills, but for young show biz performer, Clint Hromsco’s Casey, it is all he knows how to do. In the world of entertainment, an actor can transform from one character or persona to another with a change in voice, a wig or a costume. With skill and talent, a complete metamorphosis can occur right before the audience’s eyes. When Casey finds his Elvis days are over, he is overwhelmed with financial issues, from unpaid rent to buying a pepperoni pizza on the installment plan. He has a moment of revelation: he must change, his name, his dress, his attitude and his act.

Norwalk’s Music Theatre of Connecticut is inviting you to that moment of Casey’s epiphany in Matthew Lopez’s “The Legend of Georgia McBride” stripping down to its bare essentials until Sunday, March 3. In the hands and other body parts by Hromsco, we see Casey struggle to support his wife Jo, an understanding and newly pregnant Teagan La'shay, with an optimistic outlook and a new wardrobe. With the encouragement and mama mentoring of Miss Tracy Mills, a helpful Russell Saylor, Casey finds himself on stage at a club, Panama City Florida’s Cleo Bar, as a drag queen. Cleo’s is run by Eddie, an enterprising and successfully evolving Scott Mikita.

Enter Georgia McBride and learn that Elvis has, indeed, left the building. With bows to Bette, Liza, Pink and Lady Gaga and others, Casey emerges in full feathers and flamboyant fashion. The drag queens strut triumphantly, with the addition of Rexy, an outspoken and sassy Diva Lamarr, who doubles as Casey and Jo’s accommodating landlord Jason. So what’s the problem with this picture? Casey forgets or neglects to tell Jo of his new career choice. Could he be ashamed of his new enterprise?

While Jo is responsible and realistic, Casey is optimistic and full of potential. With the green light from Eddie, and the encouragement and assistance of Miss Tracy, Casey sees the future through his rose colored glasses. Being kind, wise and dependable, Casey discovers that tolerance and diversity and being open to change and opportunity can be life altering. When he lip syncs a host of great songs, he is just hitting his stride. Kevin Connors directs this peek under the wig and inside the dress of a drag queen, with help from costumes by Diane Vanderkroef, sound by Jon Damast, lighting by RJ Romeo, and set by April M. Bartlett.

For tickets ($45-60, with special seats on stage), call MTC, 509 Westport Avenue, Norwalk at 203-454-3883 or online at musictheatreofct.com. Performances are Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Exciting news! MTC is growing with a capital campaign to expand its building. Go to www.musictheatreofct.com/newspace to donate your gift now.

For lessons in makeup, wig styling and drag queen dress, look no further than Casey and Tracy’s dressing room for a behind the curtain peek at a unique area of show business lore. You’re sure to be transformed.

CENTER STAGE SHELTON INVITES YOU TO SADDLE UP FOR A GRAND "OKLAHOMA !"

Howdy, neighbors, have I got a super duper, special show for you.

Grab your cowboy hat and enjoy! There’s plenty to love! If it had been about Michigan or Mississippi, history would have been quite different. If the title hadn’t been changed from “Green Grow the Lilacs” and “Away We Go,” it might not have won a Special Pulitzer Prize for Drama or become the first Broadway musical honored with a commemorative U.S. stamp. If millions of people hadn’t flocked to see it, it might not have been translated into over a dozen languages from Hebrew to Hungarian.

Now celebrating over eight decades of popularity is Rodgers and Hammerstein’s gift to American musical theatre, one of Broadway’s longest running shows, “Oklahoma!” Center Stage of Shelton will be decorating surreys and picking elephant high sweet corn until Sunday, February 25th in an effort to make this a remarkable theatrical experience, one not to be missed. This is pure Americana at its best.

This production, beautifully directed and enhanced by Liz Muller and choreographed with spirit and spunk by Brandy Bailey and Michael “Beetle” Bailey is guaranteed to present the sunshine of the Oklahoma prairie from the dawn of each “Oh, what a beautiful mornin’ ” as farmer battles the cowman for supremacy in the territory trying to reconcile how both can be friends and become a state at the same time.

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Love swirls around the Box Social as Will Parker (Paul Keegan) bargains for the picnic basket made by Ado Annie (Sandra Fernandes) and Curly (John Corraro) and Jud (Scott Sheldon ) try to outbid each other for Laurey’s (Maggie Kruse) offering. While Ado Annie has to deal with the fast talking salesman Ali Hakim (Marc Garofalo), Laurey’s dilemma with the sullen farm hand Jud and the energetic and engaging Curly poses the show’s real conflict in an otherwise sunny and optimistic landscape. A kindly Aunt Eller (Tammy D'Auria) and a feisty Andrew Carnes (Ram Gordon) try to keep the folks peaceful.

Songs like the show stopping title “Oklahoma!,” "The Surrey with the Fringe on Top," the lovely duet “People Will Say We’re in Love” and the comic “I Cain’t Say No!” attest to why this show is a classic family favorite. A intriguing ballet poignantly ends the first act. The cast is awesome and the festivities abound with joy tinged with sorrow.

Come early to hear tunes and listen in the intermission to Ike Skidmore’s Otter Jug Band. Also be amazed by the wonderful projections created by CE Simon and the creative use of tables for the cast to sing, dance and perform on throughout the show. The tables can be purchased. Premium ticket holders sit around these tables and enjoy their own box social.

For tickets($18 and up, premium $25 and up) call the Center Stage, 54 Grove Street, Shelton at 203-225-6079 or online at www.centerstageshelton.org. Performances are Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2:00 p.m.

If you weren’t lucky enough to be at the show’s premiere at New Haven’s Shubert Theatre on March 15, 1943, don’t compound the mistake by missing this outstanding opportunity to climb aboard the most famous surrey with the fringe on top and merrily ride into musical history. This talented cast will take you on a grand journey, you betcha!

LONG WHARF THEATRE STRIKES QUITE A PRODUCTION WITH "A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE"

Long ago and far away, former President Jimmy Carter admitted to the world infamously having looked upon “a lot of women with lust. I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times.” Famously Rodney Dangerfield built his comic career with the saying, “I don’t get no respect.” These two disparate announcements are tied together with strong rope in a strangely unique way in Arthur Miller’s dramatic production “A View from the Bridge” by Long Wharf Theatre until Sunday, March 10. If you are a lover of extraordinary theatre, you shouldn’t miss this opportunity.

Long Wharf has started a new tradition, matching the play with where it is produced. In an ideal pairing this play about the obsession of a longshore- man is being staged at New Haven’s Canal Dock Boathouse with a view of New Haven Harbor, with scores of seagulls swirling overhead, on a set designed by You-Shin Chen. Come meet the strong minded Eddie, powerfully portrayed by Dominic Fumusa, who is proud of his work ethic and demands respect for how he lives his life. His wife Beatrice, a caring and devoted Annie Parisse, loves him but sees his flaws and is quite aware that her sister’s daughter Catherine, a lovely and obedient Paten Hughes, is an obsession to Eddie. They have been raising here for years and now his hold on her has not matured now that she is grown young woman.

When Beatrice invites her two cousins from Italy to move in with them, so Marco, a grateful Antonio Magro who needs to support his wife and three children one of whom has tuberculosis, and a young and eager Rudolpho, ambitious in the hands of Mark Junek, who loves to sing, cook and make dresses, the Carbone household changes forever. The cousins are entering the country illegally and must watch their behavior so they are not discovered and arrested. If so, they will be sent back to their homeland.

When Eddie sees the influence and growing affection between Catherine and Rudolpho, he jealously tries to stop it, even consulting a neighborhood attorney, receiving Patricia Black’s cautioning advice, to see how he can legally stop their relationship. Eddie decides Rudolpho is using Catherine to ensure he can marry her and be a legal citizen and at the same time disguise his true sexuality. Eddie’s friends at work. played by Mike Boland and Todd Cerveris, weave in and out of the story.

Storm clouds are brewing and threaten to explode in violence. Eddie, in clinging to his demand for respect and control, commits an act destined to change lives. Catherine tries to declare her independence while Beatrice recognizes her fate and the condemning truth. The cousins are forced to watch their new worlds implode. This drama directed by James Dean Palmer will sear your brain with its stranglehold for a long time to come.

For tickets ($49-59, K-12 $0, college $10), call Long Wharf Theatre at 203-693-1486 or online at boxoffice@longwharf.org. Performances are Wednesday at 7 p.m., Thursday at 10:30 a.m., 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m.

Do not miss this tale of family, connections, immigration, home and the needs for control, respect and love and how this cauldron can boil out of its vessel instead of simply simmering with a mixture of flavors seasoned to taste.

DISCOVER THE TREASURE HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT IN "THE GARBOLOGISTS"

Whether you call them sanitation workers, trash men, refuse scientists, garbage men or by the more loftier term of garbologists, the people who collect your discards perform a most necessary task each week. They diligently take away items of paper and plastic, broken debris, discarded waste, that you no longer need or want, and carry it for burial at a dump site. Your trash men can clearly translate your junk into their newly discovered treasure. Have you ever thought about these dedicated servants? Have their lives ever intrigued your imagination? What are their backgrounds and their stories?

For a multitude of answers, follow the garbage truck directly to TheaterWorks Hartford by Sunday, February 25 for an intimate peek inside the vehicle in question as Lindsay Joelle's “The Garbologists” reveals the new relationship of veteran worker Danny, a dedicated to his job Jeff Brooks, as he explains in great detail the workings of his profession to recently hired Marlowe, created by Bebe Nicole Simpson.

As partners, Danny and Marlowe seem on the surface to be worlds apart. Yet, layer by layer, like a newly peeled onion, the audience is privileged to uncover their stories, that Danny is a father who is not allowed to see his son and Marlowe has lost her son to cancer. Danny has been a garbage man for years and lost the respect of his co-workers while Marlowe has significant college literary degrees that make her choice of occupation a mystery. How their lives cross in significant ways is at the heart and humanity of the play and is well worth unraveling.

Rob Ruggiero skillfully directs these talented actors to reveal how life has treated them and why they will forever be connected. For tickets ($25-70), call TheaterWorks Hartford, 233 Pearl Street, Hartford at 860-527-7838 or online at twhartford.org. Performance are Tuesday (with beer and pizza before) at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. Come early or stay late for a delicious cup of Mezzie’s ice cream.

Learn a lesson that these people who risk their lives keeping your streets and homes clean are too often viewed as invisible, yet they perform a necessary task that deserves our gratitude and respect and certainly appreciation.

WARM UP TO THE MAGIC OF "DISNEY FROZEN " AT THE BUSHNELL

Hands are especially wonderful for hugs. They are also quite useful for gripping knives, forks and spoons for eating, holding a five card straight in poker, embracing hands to dance a tango, writing illuminating lines of poetry, and any number of necessary every day tasks But what might you do if your hands were a source of danger, so powerful you had to wear gloves to protect others from your potential potency. Is it a curse, a hex or a magical gift?

To discover the answer, venture to the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts in Hartford to fall under the spell of the captivating musical “Disney FROZEN” until Sunday, February 18,with music and lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez and book by Jennifer Lee, based on the original movies. Like a fairy tale come to life, travel to a land where two sisters, Elsa and Anna, play happily in the castle. Young Elsa is played by Erin Choi and Savannah Lumar and young Anna by Annie Piper Braverman and Emma Origenes. As the two girls innocently play, Elsa accidentally injures Anna with her powerful spell. Because of that mistake, Elsa hides herself from Anna for fear that she will cause her more harm in the future.

Their parents, Queen Iduna, Katie Mariko Murray, suffers from the same fate as Elsa, and King Agnarr, Kyle Lamar Mitchell, travel from their kingdom and are lost at sea leaving their now grown up daughter Elsa to take the crown as Queen. Elsa is now portrayed by Caroline Bowman and Anna by Lauren Nicole Chapman, both spectacular in their roles, both protective of each other for fear of causing more harm.

Enter Hans, Preston Perez, who quickly professes his love of Anna, Evan Duff’s Weselton, who also has interesting desires, a humble ice man Kristoff portrayed by Dominic Dorset who wants to protect the sisters, Sven the reindeer in a role shared by Collin Baja and Dan Plehal who adds humor to the tale and the friendly Olaf the snowman captured sweetly by Jeremy Davis. The special effects are glorious as ice castles appear in striking color. The great direction is due to Michael Grandage, the choreography by Rob Ashford and music supervision by Stephen Oremus.

For tickets (from $34 and up), call the Bushnell, 166 Capitol Avenue, Hartford at 860-987-5900 or online at https://bushnell.org. Performances are Tuesday to Thursday 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. Encourage children to sign their name on a snowflake to benefit charity.

Your heart will melt as FROZEN casts a magic spell that is sure to mesmerize you with its message of love, hope and beauty.