THE PALACE IN WATERBURY INVITES YOU TO LISTEN TO "STEREOPHONIC"

Can you ever imagine living life on the cusp? The cusp is where you balance precariously on the edge, of either victory and defeat, success or failure, triumph or disaster? It is not a comfortable place to be, but oh, how exciting and nerve wracking. To experience the agony and the ecstasy of this dangerously exciting predicament, settle back with a young up and coming band on the verge of superstardom or utter oblivion in “Stereophonic” coming to Waterbury’s Palace Theater for one night, Wednesday, March 25 at 7:30 p.m.

Put yourself in a music studio. It’s 1976. Imagine you are a member of a rock and roll band recording your second album and anything and everything is ecstastically possible. Will you soar to greatness? Will you crash and burn, miss the spotlight and fade into obscurity to never be heard from again?

For three hours and ten minutes your fate and future hang in the balance. Will creativity consume you and lead you heavenward or will it abandon you and force you to desert all your hopes and dreams? Written by David Adjmi with original music by Will Butler of Arcade Fire, “Stereophonic” follows a ficticious 1970’s band recording a rock and roll album in Sausalito, California. Praised for its energy and realistic depiction of the creative process, with all its messy and emotional aspects, the play exposes the interpersonal conflicts, and the ambitions and anxieties of the band members, as they seal their own fate. What is at stake is highlighted, balanced against the pressure of success, the sexual tensions and the detrimental effects of drug abuse, like cocaine and alcohol. This, the most Tony-nominated play of all time, is directed by Daniel Aukin.

For tickets($49-89), call the Palace Theater, 100 East Main Street, Waterbury at 203-346-2000 or online at palacetheaterct.org.

Engage yourself emotionally and intimately with an exciting new musical group that could easily reach stardom or just as easily explode into nothingness, trapped as it is in a creative process of its own making.

THE BUSHNELL INVITES YOU TO DON SOME "KINKY BOOTS"

Family businesses rarely survive to the second generation, especially when the son does not want what his father created. Just ask Charlie Price who inherited his dad’s shoe factory as it was three shoelaces away from bankruptcy. Luckily for the audience “Kinky Boots”gets a first rate resurrection, thanks to a powerhouse book by Harvey Fierstein and sensational music and lyrics by Cyndi Lauper and the great National Touring Cast bringing it to the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts until Sunday, March 22.

Think quirky, exotic, bizarre, slightly deviant, provocative and definitely unconventional. Hold on to your shoe horns because “Kinky Boots” is strutting into town with all its high heeled splendor and The Bushnell in Hartford will be decked out in red sequined glamor and open for business, kinky business that is.

With on fire direction and choreography by Jerry Mitchell, this winner of 6 Tony Awards including Best Musical is based on the motion picture of the same name written by Geoff Deane and Tom Firth. Come meet Charlie who is less than thrilled by the inheritance he receives when his father dies: a shoe factory on the verge of bankruptcy. He had thought he was successful running off to London for a new career with his girlfriend Nicola (Emma Dean) when he is pulled back to Northampton and Price and Son.

As conscientious Noah Verman’s Charlie walks on wobbly feet trying to rescue the family business, he quickly realizes that the old standby oxfords and loafers are now passe. Gentlemen’s shoes are the footwear of the past and Charlie needs an infusion of new life if he is to succeed. Based on a true story, “Kinky Boots” follows the miraculous transformation that happens when Charlie meets a truly creative one-of-a-kind Omari Collins ‘Scarlett D. Von’Du” Lola. Lola, a cross dressing performer of spectacular height and talents, can’t find a pair of sturdy and stylish stilettos to dance in for her/his act.

Lola’s problems are solved when the two conceive of a unique plan: retool Price & Sons to make a line of high heels for the mature male performer parading in boas, bustiers and beads. Tucked into every tall and tapered red patent leather boot is a tale of friendship, of stamping down hard on stereotypes and giving a firm kick to prejudices. This eye-opening, pop-up celebration of life, through extraordinary music and dance, is uplifting and super energized and packed with the spirit of joy. Put on your mile thigh high boots and practice moving to the magnetizing beat.

For tickets ($36-132), call the Bushnell, 166 Capitol Avenue, Hartford at 860-987-5900 or online at www.bushnell.org. Performances are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

Watch how Charlie, with a lot of help from his new best bud Lola, reinvents his business and sends it into the stratosphere of shoe heaven, with an angel of a girlfriend Sophia Gunther’s Lauren in the process.

A GRAND IRISH MUSICAL AT MUSIC THEATRE OF CT UNTIL MARCH 22

Without packing a suitcase or buying a ticket to the Emerald Isle, you can bring Ireland right to your doorstep. That magical land of leprechauns and pots of gold can all be yours without kissing the Blarney Stone even once. Forget counting sheep or hunting for a four leaf clover. After all isn’t this the best time of year to put an O’ in front of your name and pretend to hail from that glorious greenery?

What better time than St. Patrick’s Day to enjoy a hearty corned beef and cabbage dinner, a riotous parade of frivolity all dressed in green and a merry musical about the Emerald Isle. Thankfully Music Theatre of Connecticut is providing a charming version of Frank McCourt’s love letter to his homeland in “The Irish and How They Got That Way” until Sunday, March 22 for your enjoyment and edification.

Author and playwright Frank McCourt has woven the history, traditions and music of his people through letters, paintings, journals, folk songs and memories to create a charming and ironic portrait of 150 years of the Irish struggle to succeed in America. Come enjoy songs like “Danny Boy,” "Finnegan’s Wake, “Galway Bay,” “Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye,” “Mother Machree," “No Irish Need Apply,” “Who Threw the Overalls in Mrs. Murphy’s Chowder” and “Give My Regards To Broadway” to mention a few.

With laughter and emotion and sentiment, three men and two women, Zachary Anderson, Hillary Ekwall, Jeff Raab, Joseph Torello and Erin Margaret Williams take you on a journey thanks to Frank McCourt’s memories in both story and songs showing both his wit and his pride. Called "a fiting tribute to everything Irish,” you will note the blarney, the magic of leprechauns, the toll of the Potato Famine, the pride of everyone from James Cagney and George M. Cohan to John F. Kennedy, even if you can’t taste the flavor of a pint of Guinness.

The Irish migrant story is captured with reverence revealing the injustices suffered both in the homeland and in their adopted country, all with honesty and humor, knowing in your heart that being Irish is not an easy fate. Each of the actors is skilled at a slew of instruments from guitars to tambourines, violins to piano, spoons to washboards, complete with Irish jigs, in great thanks to the Irish director Kevin Connors.

For tickets ($ 50-60), with a special Guinness and such available at the bar, call MTC, 509 Westport Avenue, Route 1, Norwalk at 203-454-3883 or online at admin@musictheatreofct.com.

Performances are Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.

Even if your name isn’t Danny, Paddy,Timothy or Shawn, everyone is Irish, thanks to Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “Angela’s Ashes” Frank McCourt and the “honey lips” of these enthusiastic and energetic performers who wish a Top o’ the Morning to you.

"RHINOCEROS" ON THE LOOSE AT YALE REP

You’ve probably heard of the dangers of a bull in a china shop and the chaos it can cause but have you ever witnessed what damage a rhinoceros in a cafe can deliver. Just ask Reg Rogers’s Berenger as he meets for a drink with his good friend Phillip Taratula’s Gene. The pair tease and ridicule each other as only old friends can, with Gene accusing Berenger of having a hangover before noon. Their squabbling is rudely interrupted by the appearance of a dangerous rhinoceros running pell mell through the cafe, scaring the waiters and patrons who quickly run for cover. Is it a dream, an animal from the circus or the zoo who escaped or an inhabitant from a nearby swamp? Gene and Berenger are perplexed and flabbergasted. How can this happen in their great town on a Sunday morning of all times?

Enter the Theater of the Absurd created by Eugene Ionesco when he wrote his tragicomic “Rhinoceros” in 1959,about a small French town, where this wild animal crushes everything in its path. Yale Repertory Theatre at 1120 Chapel Street in New Haven will entertain you until Saturday, March 28 in this intriguing play directed by Liz Diamond, with text translated by Derek Prouse, adapted by Frank Galati and choreography by Emily Coates, According to Liz Diamond who has been at the theater for thirty four years and directed twenty productions, this play is “insanely funny and terrifying.”

To Berenger’s dismay, soon friends and neighbors and even his co-workers are quickly sprouting hides and horns. He must determine where his own fate lies: should he join the rampage or stand up, indepentently, to fight the invaders? In Ionesco’s mind, he must resist the urge to follow the crowd. In this cautionary tale, Berenger becomes disoriented and the comedy turns stark and dark. Even his good friend Eugene gets caught in the transformation. The dangers of power loom large. How easily the townspeople accept these new political ideologies, like Nazism and Communism and all except Berenger, who remains human in the face of great odds. How can one man, one who drinks too much and secretly loves his co-worker Elizabeth Stahlmann’s Daisy, warn the villagers and safely survive?

For tickets ($15-65), call the Yale Rep at 203-432-1234 or online at yalerep.org. Performances are Tuesday at 8 p.m., Wednesday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., Thursday at 8 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., and Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Come make the acquaintance of this endangered species, native to Asia and Africa, whose name means horn on the nose. They are valued on the black market for their horns in China and Vietnam for use in traditional Chinese medicine. One of the largest living land animals, they average 1700 pounds and are mainly vegetarians. Witness how Berenger courageously stares down his giant foe and refuses to give up being human.

SEVEN ANGELS THEATRE WELCOMES ST. PATRICK'S DAY WITH A MOVING IRISH PLAY

What better time of year than St. Patrick’s Day to conjure up the flavor of Ireland and the Emerald Isle than a new play by Joseph Bravaco, in its New England premiere. Waterbury’s Seven Angels Theatre is proudly presenting “The One Good Thing or “Are Ya Patrick Swayze?” until Sunday, March 22. Have a hearty corned beef and cabbage dinner with a side of Irish soda bread, and wash it down with a pint of cold Guiness and come enjoy this tale of two brothers, set in rural Enniskillen.Ireland in the present day.

Tommy, a conflicted John R. Howley, and Jamie, a revealing Nick Roesler, enjoy a nice companionable relationship as they live together, that is until the morning Jami declares he is a ghost. This is a clear reference to Patrick Swayze’s acting tour in “Ghost.” They have both just endured and barely recovered from their mother’s death, a loss Tommy feels he didn’t deal with well which Jamie helped more successfully and handled much better.

Tommy’s guilt is troubling him and he prays for Jamie to forgive him. He should have helped more with their ma. He also feels that he will not be a good father to the baby he and his wife Josie are expecting. They have already lost one child before it was even born, so Tommy is allowing his grief and guilt to overwhelm him.

This is a play about life and death, compassion and forgiveness, the memories we hold on to and the love that connects us. Once the baby arrives, a little girl they name Jamie, Tony finds his heat fills with love and he works to rescue himself from sadness. Meanwhile Jamie is comforted by his relationship with his lover Gabriel and their eventual reuniting in heaven.

Their father is a hard man to love wut his new wife Margaret is wonderful with the baby and although Tommy finds the little one’s crying makes it hard for him to complete his painting of portraits, the way he makes his living, he is so glad she is in his life. The cycle of life and death continues. In the end, Jamie hugs Tommy and all is forgiven. The play is sensitively directed by Sasha Bratt.

For tickets($ 30-45), call Seven Angels Theatre, 1 Plank Road, Waterbury at 203-757-4676 or online at boxoffice@sevenangelstheatre.org. Performances areFriday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Check for specialty nights.

Here is a play of tenderness and compassion and love, that melds the memories of the dead with the joys os new life, how we need kindness to each other to survive, and how our existence is a blessing of pain and pleasure, grief and gratefulness, and how we need to acknowledge that life is a measure of both with family and friends who support us.

TAKE AN ADVENTUROUS SAIL ON AUGUST WILSON'S "GEM OF THE OCEAN"

The playwright August Wilson has been called “theater’s poet of Black America” for his stories of his home in Pittsburgh and most especially his cycle of ten plays that chronicle decade by decade his Century Cycle of the twentieth century. Thanks to Long Wharf Theatre, you have the privilege of witnessing the first play of this Pittsburgh Cycle with “Gem of the Ocean” at the Canal Dock Boathouse, 475 Long Wharf Drive in New Haven until March 15.

Come make the acquaintance of Aunt Ester, a majestic Denise Burse, who lives at 1839 Wylie Avenue in Pittsburgh's Hill District and has been a matriarch in the community for all her 285 years, a former slave and known for her ability to cleanse souls, a keeper of traditions and guardian of her people’s history. As ruler of the household, she is revered and respected. Aunt Ester has not left her home in two decades but people in need continually knock on her door seeking help. The latest one to ask for her assistance is Citizen Barlow (Matthew Elam) who has a troubled soul that is crying for release so he is no longer haunted by guilt. Aunt Ester will eventually lead him to travel on the legendary slave ship Gem of the Ocean so he can visit the City of Bones but only after he has proven himself worthy of her aid.

Living with Aunt Ester is her housekeeper and likely successor Black Mary (Grace Porter) who tries to do everything right but never seems to please her mistress and Eli (Thomas Silcott) Aunt Ester’s protector and caregiver who served in the Union Army and the Underground Railroad. Frequent visitors are Black Mary’s brother Caesar Wilkes (Bjorn Dupaty) who fancies himself the official upholder of the law, a strict policeman who has no problem killing a man even if he only committed a petty crime. Rutherford Selig (Mike Boland) is a peddler and friend of Ester’s who sells rocks and cobblestones, pots and pans and crockery, and powerful SollyTwo Kings (Terrence Riggins) who is no longer an Alabama slave, has been a conductor on the Underground Railroad, a scout in the Union Army, and now collects “pure,” dog debris he uses to tan leather. Solly carries a large walking stick as well as a love of Aunt Ester, bearing a name that refers to both King David and King Solomon.

This intriguing tale concerns a man accused of stealing a bucket of nails who didn’t do it, the man who actually stole the nails, a mill that holds the city together and is burned down and the hunt for the person who committed that crime, the role played by the slave ship the Gem of the Ocean, a visit to the City of Bones, the deadly search for the arsonist, a wall that is built, how Citizen Barlow’s soul is cleansed, and Aunt Ester’s verdict that love goes a long way to make you a good person, with the profound hope that God keeps you in the palm of his hand. Cheyenne Barboza directs this amazingly involving tale where trouble is manmade and follows you to the grave, where truth, confession and forgiveness live side by side and you die by how you live.

For tickets ($45 and up), call Long Wharf at 203-693-1486go to long wharf.org. Performances are Wednesday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.,Thursday at 10:30 a.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. and 7 p.m. Allow extra time for parking.

Discover who is really free and how citizens survive the injustice in the community, how to travel with Aunt Ester on a mystical journey to the City of Bones, with the poetic dance of Citizen Barlow as he finally finds love and forgiveness. It is a tribute to August Wilson’s incredible storytelling. Thank you, Long Wharf Theatre, we’re ready now for the next nine in the Century Cycle.

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"DEATH OF A SALESMAN" A LITERARY CLASSIC AT HARTFORD STAGE

Expectations and unrealized dreams are disappointments that can shadow a world with gloom. Just ask Willy Loman, a sixty year old stockings salesman who considers himself hopelessly inadequate and a failure in life. In Arthur Miller’s Tony Award-winning and Pulitzer Prize-winning maserpiece “Death a Salesman” now gracing Hartford Stage until Sunday, March 29th we meet Willy and the Loman family as Willy struggles with his life in Brooklyn in 1949 and why he is so desperately unhappy. Despite the comfort and support of his loyal wife Linda, Willy can’t seem to overlook his troubles and find pleasure in his work or in his family.

Once upon a time Willy’s son Biff seemed to be on top of the world, poised for success as a high school football star but his big chance was lost and his opportunity to grab the gold ring on the merry-go-round was gone forever. Now Willy is struggling to travel for his sales job but his ambitions are going unrealized and he wants and needs to settle at a desk and quit the road work. He is sure his boss will grant his request, but he is devastated when he gets fired instead of being granted his wish. His worries for himself spill over to his ambitions for his sons Biff and Happy and color his dreams for their success. With unrealistic hopes for them. Willy compares them to the triumphs of his friend’s sons and finds himself wanting by comparison.

Biff has been out west, working outdoors, in an occupation Willy disapproves of, but Biff doesn’t see himself in business. Willy feels both boys have turned their backs on him and all Willy wants is for them to be “just a little boat looking for a little harbor,” finding a modicum of success to make Willy proud. Willy envies the achievements of his friends and longs to share in his own success. Desperately he wants good news, to have his life add up to something, because he feels more dead than alive. Linda fears he will do something terrible like kill himself. In flashbacks, we see how Willy sabotages himself with the wrong dreams, feeling if he is only well liked his problems will be over.

Peter Jacobson is strong in the role of Willy, a man who agonizes over what he cannot have, despite the love of Adrienne Krstansky as his wife Linda and the best efforts of his sons Biff, Samuel H. Levine, and Happy, Max Katz. He looks with envy at the choices of his brother Ben, Michael Cullen, who takes risks and adventures in his life choices. Director Melia Benussen helps Willy grab your soul and squeeze it with compassion. The excellent cast includes Stephen Cefalu, Jr., Nora Eschenhelmer, Paul Michael Valley, Rebecca Strimaitis and Patrick Zeller.

For tickets ($20 and up), call Hartford Stage , 50 Church Street, Hartford at 860-527-5151 or online at hartfordstage.org. Performances are Tuesday to Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m.

Witness this American tragedy as Willy Loman struggles to overcome the disappointments that mark his failures and inability to realize his dreams when others so clearly achieve theirs.

COME TO "THE MOUNTAINTOP" WITH DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. left his mark on the world: a civil rights leader who devoted his life to advancing the plight of his people. He marched for the right to vote, using nonviolent resistance to advance his dreams of racial justice.

He stood tall as a champion of his people and of the Civil Rights Movement for change. The world became his pulpit as he gave speeches and led marches in his quest to improve the fate of African-Americans in a white dominated country. Room 306 of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee is now a museum and has been one almost since April 4, 1968 when it became immortal. It was the motel balcony that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stood on when he was fatally shot.

Playhouse on Park in West Hartford is recreating the momentum and majesty of the man as he climbed to "The Mountaintop" to proclaim his dream of freedom and equality for his people. Until Sunday, March 22, come and be inspired and educated about the Civil Rights leader who preached a peaceful resolution for the advancement of African-Americans. Like Moses who never lived to see the Promised Land, Martin Luther King, Jr. tragically never lived to see his dream become a reality. "The Mountaintop" by Katori Hall, taken from his impressive and impassioned speech "I've Been to the Mountaintop," imagines the night before he was killed.

From the moment a charismatic and gifted Torrey Linder's King picks up his motel room phone, at midnight, to order a cup of coffee through room service, a fantasy unrolls as to what might have occurred that fateful night. Outside a storm of biblical proportions is raging, while in the room a conflicted Dr. King is trying to calm his jitters, find a cigarette, write his next speech and reach his wife Coretta to ask about his missing toothbrush.

As thunder strikes a fever pitch, a young African-American motel maid delivers his order. Her first day on the job, she is, nonetheless, eager to please him as well as being quire open and honest, outspoken and feisty in her treatment of this revered motel guest. She knows who he is and she is not awed but empowered to speak her own mind. Jasmine Shanise's Camae is a woman on a mission, but that mission will remain a mystery for the moment. Shanise is brilliant as she baits and comforts King, massaging his ego and his neck, as she provides coffee, his favorite cigarettes and a little "Irish" to his brew. With the skill of an interrogator, Camae allows an exhausted public leader to expose his fears and weaknesses while pointing out his triumphs and successes.

She cloaks his doubts with the promise of hope, that even if he does not live to see his dream come to fruition others will carry on in his name. Jamil A. C, Mangan directs this highly emotional journey that carries the audience to the summit and over the top. For tickets ($38.50-58.50), call Playhouse on Park, 244 Park Road,West Hartford at 860-523-5900, ext. 10 or online at www.playhouseonpark.org. Performances are Tuesday at 2 p.m., Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. followed by a talkback, plus 10:30 a.m. 3/12 and 3/20 for $28.50.

Meet the man who pledged to preach until the day he died. Even though that day came much too soon, at only 39, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. left an enduring legacy on America's conscience. Surrender yourself to witness his immense effect on the world.

"LITTLE WARS" A LITERARY LIBRARY OF WIT AND WISDOM

If anyone ever asked you whom you would want to have lunch or dinner with, living or dead, you might pick a favorite author, Hollywood star, politician, or historian. Taylor Swift, Michelle Obama and Mother Teresa, Elvis, Abraham Lincoln and Bill Gates come to mind. Playwright Steven Carl McCasland has created his own set of unique guests when he wrote the intriguing and entertaining play “Little Wars" set in World War II France in 1940 and being brought beautifully to life at the New Haven Theater Company weekends until Saturday, March 21 at 7:30 p.m.

The pleasure of your company is requested by literary luminaries Gertrude Stein and her long time romantic partner Alice B. Toklas in their country home in the French Alps as World War II looms nearby. They are entertaining their friend Agatha Christie who surprises them by inviting two guests of her own: Dorothy Parker and Lillian Hellman. They are all stars in the world of writing: Gertrude (Deena Nicol-Blifford) a sparkling hostess known for her wit and for entertaining artists like Picasso, Alice (Ash Lago) serving as Gertrude’s life partner as well as cook, housekeeper, typist, secretary and friend and known for writing cookbooks and being a memoirist, Agatha (Margaret Mann) regarded as the Queen of Mysteries starring Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple in some of her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, Dorothy (Jodi Williams) noted for her sharp witted poetry, satire and commentary, and as a voice of humor and social critique, and Lillian (Sandra Rodriguez) for her success on Broadway with such plays as “The Children’s Hour” and as a political activist.

In addition to these famous literary notaries, there are two other attendees, their housekeeper Bernadette (Lynnette Victoria) whom they rescued from a terrible situation and a mysterious woman named Mary (Abby Klein) who has a dangerous mission she conducts between France and America. What a remarkable assemblage of women to converse with and learn from for an evening. Although no food seems to be served at this dinner party, alcohol flows freely and loosens tongues.

We learn how Gertrude dislikes Lillian, especially as her play "The Children’s Hour" features two headmistresses who are accused of being lesbians, Agatha remembers the infidelity of her first husband, Dorothy relives the agony of a long ago abortion, Alice is still hurting by being called "abnormal,” and Bernadette was traumatized by being attacked by Nazis. Despite all the drama and secrets revealed, the play is sardonic, sarcastic, sassy and quite humorous.

These exceptionally gifted women are all talented actresses telling a remarkable story under the direction of John Strano as they use their distinct voices to cope with how to survive the war, especially after they learn that the prime minister of France Marshal Philippe Petain has surrendered his country.

Can they remain silent and complacent or must they speak up to stop the injustices? The stranger in their midst Mary sparks sympathy and compassion moving them to act in the face of moral wrongdoing and help her rescue Jews and get them to freedom and safety. Their story is well worth hearing, as it blends humor and history in a compelling way.

For tickets ($25), go to nhtc.ludus.com/select.php or newhaventheatercompany.com. The play is performed at the EBM Vintage Store, 839 Chapel Street, New Haven on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights at 7:30 p.m.

Come be entertained by these literary giants who gather for conversation on a fateful evening in June 1940 for a dinner party, focusing on the “little wars” that tear us down and the “big wars” like the newest one with Iran as a relevant reminder of how little the world has learned from what has gone before.

THE STARS ARE SHINING AT THE KATE IN SPLENDOR MARCH 15

There is no need to travel across country to the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood for the 98th Academy Awards when the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center has its own red carpet gala and festivities ready for the grand event Sunday, March 15 at 6 p.m. in Old Saybrook right here close to home.Dress in your glamorous outfit and start selecting among the incredible nominees. You can select best movies like “Hamnet,” “Frankenstein,” “Sinners,” ”Marty Supreme,” “Song Sung Blue,” and “Bugonia” and more. Will the leading actor be Timothee Chalamet or Leonardo DiCaprio, leading actress Kate Hudson or Emma Stone? The theme this year is humanity, focusing on individual stories that unite us, unbelievably human films with heartbeat that focus all around the globe.

Conan O’Brien will once again be the Oscars’ host, proving that dreams do come true, while here at the Kate Volunteer Guild President and event chairwoman Diane Hessenger will be joined by Kate Vice President Ann Nyberg, emcee Executive Director Brett Elliott and Kate Trustee Devin Carney, the grandson of Academy Award winning actor Art Carney.

The Kate will roll out its traditional red carpet at 300 Main Street in Old Saybrook, followed by a lavish banquet of delicious hors d’oeuvres, culminating with tables full of Oscar themed desserts. Fresh Salt of Saybrook Point Resort and Marina will provide all the elegant entrees, while guests will be entertained in surround sound on the Kate’s jumbo screen, perhaps visit the yummy candy shop room, pose for photos with a replica Oscar statue, and bid on a luxurious prize online auction of great presents to win.

Presenters of the glamorous night will be Jaguar North Haven and Land Rover North Haven, with sponsorship by H & R Block of Old Saybrook, California Closets Connecticut, FromYouFlowers.com, JMG Insurance Corporation, MJP Wealth Advisors, WMNR Fine Arts Radio, the Old Saybrook Lions Club, Shoreline Appliances, Inc and Saybrook Point Resort and Marina. WTNH is the official media partner.

For information and tickets, visit www.thekate.org or call 860-510-0453.

Although Katharine Hepburn was nominated for an Oscar a dozen times and won four times, she never attended the ceremonies in person to accept. Her illustrious wins were for Morning Glory in 1934, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner in 1968, The Lion in Winter in 1969 and On Golden Pond in 1982. This gala fundraising event supports the museum and education programs. This will be the Kate’s 16th annual Oscar Night Party. Join the Hollywood stars and party in grand style.

"SHUCKED" A FARM FABLE MUSICAL AT THE BUSHNELL TILL MARCH 1

Two of the most glorious summer treats are eating a fresh ear of sweet corn, slurping with salt and butter, followed by an ice-cold wedge of watermelon. They both speak summer delight and they are the epitome of pleasure. Even though it is far from this favorite season, it wouldn’t hurt to relish in the memories that summer provides. Luckily the Bushnell Performing Arts Center has just the silky solution with the novel musical “Shucked” from Tuesday, February 24 until Sunday, March 1 in Hartford.

This tall grass produces sugary kernels that can be eaten cooked or raw, straight from the cob or removed, as a vegetable, in salads, as a side dish, even in ice cream. It can grow as high as three floors tall, each ear has 800 kernels in even rows, and its leaves were once chewed as gum by Native Americans. It first appeared in Brazil about 1000 years ago and, if you're betting, yellow corn is sweeter than white corn.

This “corny” Tony Award winning musical comedy has book by Robert Horn, score by Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally, and is directed by Tony Award winner Jack O’Brien. This farm to fable country tale centers on Cobb County where Maizy and Beau try to save a failing corn crop, work on securing their true love and keep the community safe. The Wall Street Journal called it “flat out hilarious” so put on your overalls, stick an ear of corn in trusty holders, and plan to come at 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. to learn to line dance on the third floor of the Belding lobby Tuesday to Friday night. This may be the only musical where calling it “seedy” is a compliment.

For tickets ($ 48.50-191. ), call the Bushnell, 166 Capitol Avenue, Hartford at 860-987-5900 or online at bushnell.org. Performances are Tuesday to Saturday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m., and Sunday at 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

Celebrate summer a few months early with a sweet corn festival that honors the season and the best food as well as love and community. Ah, shucks it’s special!

WESTPORT COUNTRY PLAYHOUSE PRESENTS "MOTHERS KNOW BEST"

If your memory is good, assuming you were already alive way back when, you can conjure up a radio show from 1949 that found a new home on television in 1954. It starred Robert Young as Jim Anderson and Jane Wyatt as his wife Margaret, and became a classic American sitcom about their three children Betty, Bud and Kathy (or Kitten to you), their daily challenges, in a middle class family living happy under one roof in a fictional Midwestern town Springfield.

As the series “Father Knows Best,” the show portrayed family life, the dynamics between parents and children, was highly-rated, ranked in the top ten Neilsen ratings, won several Emmy Awards and achieved high marks in telling character driven stories. Now move over “Father Knows Best,” and make room for a new team in town: Laura and Linda Benanti.

Westport Country Playhouse is offering up “Mothers Know Best” for your entertainment pleasure on Saturday, February 28 at 8 p.m. as a charming cabaret show from this mother/daughter duo. Laura, the daughter of Linda Wonneberger, a vocal coach and former actress and Martin Vidrovici, a Broadway actor and singer, is a Tony Award-winning actress and singer of Irish, German, and Serbian origin. Her credits include playing Maria von Trapp in “The Sound of Music” and Louise in "Gypsy” for which she won a Tony for Best Featured Actress. In addition, she was Tony-nominated for her roles in "Swing,” “Into the Woods,” “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown,” and “She Loves Me.”

Laura has also had appearances on series and sitcoms like “Go On,” “Nashville,” “Laura,” “Supergirl,” “The Detour,” “Gossip Girl” and “The Gilded Age.” You may remember seeing her, since 2016, on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert as First Lady Melania Trump. Laura Benanti has played everyone from Eliza Doolittle to Cinderella to Tallulah Bankhead. She is a big fan of Stephen Sondheim, has written a comedic board book for mothers M is for Mama (and also Merlot): A Modern Mom’s ABCs and toured around the world performing concerts. She is currently filming the Sony Pictures comedy NO HARD FEELINGS opposite Matthew Broderick and Jennifer Lawrence as well as The SHADE based on the award-winning short of the same name. Her performance in all forms of media have been called “a revelation,” “almost steals the show,” "one of our finest stage actresses,” a bold and energetic impression,” "stylish, witty and sneaklily funny,” and “show-stealing performance.”

Billy Stritch provides musical direction when Laura joins her mom Linda focusing on mother-daughter relationships in a sweet and touchingly humorous way. Mom has been seen in such shows as “The Odyssey,” “The Fantastics,” “Camelot,” “The Music Man,” “A Little Night Music,” “No, No, Nanette,” and “Guys and Dolls,” and many more. Now she has a vocal studio in New Jersey where she teaches local students to Broadway stars.

Linda is happily postponing retirement to go across country with Laura in a new entertainment endeavor with prior stops at 54 Below and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. For tickets ($95, 85, and 75), call Westport Country Playhouse, 25 Powers Court, Westport at 203-227-4177 or online at box-office@westportplayhouse.org.

Come hear these two special ladies share meaningful parenting stories and styles, Linda's love of Judy Garland, sing duets like “Children Will Listen,” Laura sing a medley of songs from “My Fair Lady,” and originals songs she wrote herself and gift the audience with a rare present of their true affection as mother/ daughter, proving over again that “Mothers Know Best.” Sorry, Robert Young, you’ve been replaced.

NEED A LAUGH? YALE REP OFFERING "HA, HA, HA, HA, HA,HA, HA"

Imagine you are in a large auditorium, with a diversity of other people, and a complete stranger looks you right in the face and asks you if you have a Problem what might you say? If your name is Julia Masli, a clown from Estonia, you might not allow the stranger to be mute and not reply, You’d better come up with a “problem”pronto. Hopefully it’s a difficulty that can be solved in seventy interesting moments at that, especially if you are at the Yale Repertory Theater in New Haven and the evening is entitled “Ha, Ha, Ha,Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha” until February 7.

Julia appears as a Geisha personality, a soft spoken clown clad in a royal blue gown with an abundance of arms and legs, part psychologist , part entertainer, part conversationalist. When she walks, bells ring. She cares about people and what makes them tick and ticks them off. If she can solve their problems, all the better. If a member of the audience is cold, Julia will seek to warm them up by encouraging neighboring patrons to share their coats, scarves and sweaters. If she takes your chair, she promptly breaks it into pieces and then challenges you to put it back together.

If you are feeling sorry for yourself and missing your mother Mindy in Chicago, she will conveniently find a phone and treat you to a friendly phone call. It is even funnier when mom isn’t home and has to call you back. At least one graduate student in theater is plagued with money trouble, while another is hungry. A large pizza magically falls from the sky to feed the masses. Two sisters switch identities while a whole family tries to solve disagreements in a peaceful manner. A young man who experiences writer’s block is encouraged to sit at a desk on stage and contemplate a change of study. He needs to research a topic more intriguing than statistics.

While the man hammering his chair back together is annoyingly noisy, a debate rages on about colonialism and capitalism and how best to rebuild a broken world by giving things away. One tired girl is tucked into a toasty bed and told to take a restful nap while an evil man is sent to the showers to cleanse his soul. He is a symbol of the bad things we are to let go of tonight along with our stress and our worries. If you can spare one sock, Julia would like you to donate it to her cause and she proceeds to burn it. The engineer then reviews all the “problems” of the evening to show how successful Julia is with her tasks, in solving all she tackled. Clearly the world is not without its needs and if we work together so much can be accomplished. Kim Noble directs this unusual form of entertainment presented by A Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company Touring Production.

For tickets ($15-65 limited availability), call the Yale Rep, 1120 Chapel Street, New Haven at 203-432-1234 or online at yalerep.org. Friday 8 p.m. and Saturday 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. are virtually sold out.

Let Julia Masli invite you to enter her world of improvisation and examine your personal problems with the hope of making your individual world a better place to live and to play.

UPSTAGED!: “THE PLAY’S THE THING” BY STUART BROWN SATURDAY, MARCH 7, 2026, PALACE THEATER

WATERBURY, CT – On Saturday, March 7 at 2:00 p.m., West Hartford theater critic and playwright Stuart Brown will share his ideas on how to structure a 10-minute play for the stage and how inspiration plays a key role in the writing process. Following Brown’s presentation, actors Cheyenne Walent and Dan Willey will perform two of his works. There will be a talkback afterward to help audience members better understand the creative process and the craft of writing for the stage. “Stuart Brown has a remarkable ability to distill human experience into powerful, compact storytelling,” said Sheree Marcucci, Palace Theater’s Director of Special Projects & Curated Programs. “His work exemplifies what the Upstaged! series is all about—intimate, thoughtful theater that sparks conversation and invites audiences inside the creative journey.” Brown’s 10-minute plays have been praised for their emotional clarity, sharp observation, and understated humor. Audiences and critics alike have noted his skill in creating fully realized narratives within a compressed format, often highlighting his ability to balance warmth and wit while exploring deeply personal moments. His work has been described as accessible yet resonant, offering insight without excess and leaving a lasting impression well beyond its brief runtime. Tickets are $15 and available on a first-come, first-served basis due to limited seating. For tickets and information, visit palacetheaterct.org or call 203-346-2000. This performance is made possible through the generous support of Mary Ellen & Tim Rourke and Thomaston Savings Bank. About Stuart Brown Stuart Brown, who retired after 32 years as Director of Student Services at UConn Waterbury, began writing 10-minute plays in 2023. His works are rooted in personal experience and observation, often infused with humor. Each 10-minute play features a fully realized arc with a beginning, middle, and end—mirroring the structure of a full-length play. Brown has also written three one-act plays. His play Lady Jigsaw was presented at the Chestnut Street Playhouse New Playwrights Festival in September 2025. He is an active member of the CT Critics Circle and is a member of the Outer Critics Circle. Brown also produces the online radio program ”Sounds of Broadway (SoundsofBroadway.com). About the Upstaged! series Part of the Palace Theater’s Spotlight Series, Upstaged! is an eclectic collection of theatrical experiences presented in an intimate setting. Each performance centers on the art of storytelling, inviting audiences to engage, connect, and explore. About the Palace Theater Located in Downtown Waterbury, Connecticut, the Palace Theater is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit performing arts center with a mission “to preserve and operate the historic Palace Theater as a performing arts center and community gathering place that provides a focal point of cultural activity and educational outreach for diverse audiences.” The Palace Theater gratefully acknowledges the ongoing support for the Spotlight Series by the Connecticut Community Foundation, Mary Ellen & Tim Rourke, The United Way of Greater Waterbury, Thomaston Savings Bank, The Village at East Farms, and Bluebird Counseling. For more information, visit: www.palacetheaterct.org. # # #

OPEN THE SACRED SCRIPT TO "GUTENBERG! THE MUSICAL!” LAUGH and LEARN

Are you familiar with that inventive man from Germany Johannes Gutenberg who long ago created the printing press and produced the first copy of the Bible. This all happened way, way back in 1454 and, according to records, only 180 copies were engraved and stamped, with color added by the purchasers. Just 49 remain of this first large-format typographic book printed in Mainz, Germany, with just 42 lines on a page. Moveable type in Korea accounts for the first printed book nearly a century before.

If you are naturally curious and want to know more about Johannes, then Playhouse on Park in West Hartford has just the answer for you. Before Sunday, February 8, plan to visit "Gutenberg! The Musical” created by Anthony King and Scott Brown for a history lesson courtesy of two energetic and enthusiastic men Jeremiah Michael Ginn and John Wascavage as Bud Davenport and Doug Simon with Miles Messier on piano as Charles and Jimmy Donohue as swing.

You are comically invited to the mostly imaginative journey to the world of Johannes Gutenberg, without benefit of Wikipedia or Google or any historical documents. “Gutenberg! The Musical!” originally written in 2005, centers on Bud and Doug who deliberately and determinately want to create a play about this guy named Gutenberg who is the only one in his depressing German town named Schlimmer who can read. One night this inventive lad decides to turn his wine press into a printing press and Bud and Doug find themselves off and running making stuff up, from A to Z, to create a highly fictional version that may or may not have a page or fact of truth.

Bud and Doug want to become producers on Broadway and set about “selling” their concept to any one with money enough to fund it. They stretch their talent and their truth, overlooking the facts as minor in significance. With a limited amount of talent, the pair are forced to play all the cast, using a series of hats with their characters’ names on them and switch the caps like Dr. Seuss’s story about Bartholomew’s 500 hats.

Aiding Gutenberg is his less than brainy but beautiful assistant Helvetica (note the pun on a printing type) and Monk, the villain of the piece, who is determined to foil Johannes in his quest by distorting the Bible verses and destroying the printing press. In this musical spoof, they sing all the songs and enthusiastically play all the parts. Their hope and dream is to persuade the producers to fund their crazy project straight to stardom.

For tickets ($ 55 adults, $52 students and seniors,$25 10:30 a.m.), call Playhouse on Park, 244 Park, West Hartford at 860-523-5900 ext. 10 or online at http://www.playhouseonpark.org. Performances are Tuesday at 2 p.m., Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.,Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8 pm., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. followed by a talkback.

Show your ticket for a 10% discount at Gather 55, a theater dining partner.

A hearty Bravo and Hats Off to Bud and Doug for their exciting new adventure, and hope they break a leg or three along the way to Broadway.

A ROMP WITH ROMANCE OR INCIDENTS WITH INFIDELITY; YOUR CHOICE

For playwright Sandy Rustin, a beautiful 1920’s English cottage is the perfect setting to plant tulips, daisies and secrets. She is focusing her sense of humor on affairs, extra marital relationships and infidelity and manages to create a charming and hysterical comic farce. Husbands, wives and lovers run amok as partners exchange keys, reveal and confess intimacies, and question their choices in marriage and in cheating. Get your scorecard ready or dance card if you prefer as Hartford Stage, until Sunday, February 8, lets Cupid’s arrows fly hither and yon, striking wherever and whomever they may in “The Cottage.”

Sylvia (Mary Cavett) and Beau (Jordan Sobel), her husband's brother, have been rendezvousing once a year, for seven years, and now she has determined all by herself that they really should have married each other long ago. To that end she has determined to make that happen, without discussing it with Beau, by sending her husband Clarke (Craig Wesley Divino) and Beau’s wife Marjorie (Kate MacCluggage) telegrams confessing that divorces are in their future. Needless to say, the spouses in question, one nine months pregnant arrive at the cottage door.

Not to worry, the second couple are carrying on an affair of their own and Clarke is the father of Marjorie's baby, in case you’re worried. Next in the door is Dierdre (Jetta Juriansz), there to surprise Beau but is the unknown prize package to Sylvia. Last to arrive is Sylvia’s long lost, supposedly dead, teen lover Richard (Matthew J. Harris) who is currently married to Dierdre and has a reputation for murdering all of her illicit suiters. With the twists and turns of the plot, you will have fun matching all the partners as they hop on and off the merry-go-round of beds.

Enjoy playing the games, hide and seek, it, spin the bottle, charades, here comes the bride, dueling with feather dusters as Hunter Kaczorowski’s elegant costumes flit and flounce up and down the stairs of Tim Mackabee’s countryside romantic retreat, with the fine timing of Zoe Golub-Sass’s direction.

For tickets ($20-115), call Hartford Stage, 50 Church Street, Hartford at 860-527-5151 or online at HartfordStage.org. Performance areTuesday to Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m.

No guilt required as you laugh at the antics of these deliciously decadent participants in indecent peccadillos where these entangled sexual games are hysterically afoot.

STUPENDOUS AND SPIRITED "SUFFS" AT THE BUSHNELL

For women, the right to vote was a sacred privilege, one that was fought for and significant to win. The 19th Amendment was passed by Congress on June 4, 1919, hard battled after decades of struggle for suffragettes. Not all women, particularly Black and native American. won this fight immediately. This milestone was achieved after generations of protest during which women wrote, lectured, marched and even practiced civil disobedience to achieve a permanent change in the Constitution. Their victory, that began in the 1800’s, took decades to achieve. Women worked tirelessly to pass specific legislation state by state, went to court to challenge men over voting laws, picketed, held silent vigils, suffered hunger strikes, and even went to jail to show their resistance.

When President Wilson finally changed his position in 1918 to support this amendment, the political balance shifted its support. It was not until long into the 20th century, in 1965 , that minority groups finally gained the right to equal voting rights. Come patriotically join the parade of fearless women at the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts when “Suffs”, with book, music and lyrics by Shaina Taub, unfolds its dramatic story from now until Sunday, February 1. Follow this powerful story as women from all walks of life risked their personal well being to gain the right to vote, even it meant the sacrifice of their lives.

A musical with a heartfelt message that mobilized females to fight for a captivating cause will excite and entertain and revolutionize. In the United States, these women followed the lead of their sisters in Britain, New Zealand and Australia to unite. With a motto "deeds, not words” they battled politicians and police, were attacked and sexually assaulted, smashed windows, and some, like 14 year old Emmeline Pankhurst began their dedicated campaign when only 14 years of age.

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With triumphant tunes like “Let Mother Vote,” “Wait My Turn,” “Show Them Who You Are,” “I Was Here,” “Finish the Fight,” and "Keep Fighting,” we meet heroines like Alice Paul (Maya Keleher), Inez Milholland (Monica Tulia Ramirez), Ida B. Wells (Danyel Fulton) and Carrie Chapman Catt (Marya Grandy) in this glorious all female cast, in this dedicated love letter to daughters, mothers, sisters and wives of history.

For tickets ($48.50-167.50), call the Bushnell, 166 Capitol Avenue, Hartford at 860-987-5900 or online at bushnell.org. Performances are at Wednesday to Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.,and Sunday at 1 p.m and 6:30 p.m. Visit the tables in the lobby dedicated to women and girls and voting.

Join the sisterhood and proudly carry the flag and march passionately for democracy, admiring and applauding the devoted women who dedicated their lives making the women’s right to vote a reality.

STOP AND APPRECIATE THE ROSES

The New Year 2026 is an open slate for beginnings and resolutions and opportunities. Appreciate and treasure life… Like the fragile beauty of a colorful butterfly flitting on a blazing star plant's petals. The glorious majesty of a single or double rainbow after a sunshower. The wagging of a velvet puppy dog’s tail symbolizing extreme affection. The sunshine of daffodils broadcasting a golden triumph of flowering perfection. The melodious tuffed titmouse announcing its presence sweetly in the New England branches. The joy of growing up in a neighborhood or community that embraces front porches and next door folks. Experiencing the togetherness of family and friends on holidays, happy and sad times, joys and sorrows. To recognize the pleasure of hugs, kisses and embraces, cherishing that you are never alone. To experience Christmas any month of the year thanks to Hallmark Movies,like Christmas in July, no snow. To pray for the day when peace will reign and everyone will enjoy enough to eat, clean water to drink, a sturdy roof over your head, worthy work earning enough money to pay bills and health insurance to cover medical needs. May no one suffer from need or want. To sustain education to guarantee learning across the playing field with equality for the world. May the world encourage learning and curiosity all the years of your life, for girls and boys. May everyone leave the world a little better than they found it. You have only to save one person to be credited with saving the whole world. May you be privileged to explore all the arts, hobbies, games, and sports that your heart desires…and never be picked last. May democracy reign peacefully across the globe with honest politician never being an oxymoron. VOTE. May freedom of religion rule supreme, and never be an excuse to wage war or to kill. May the immigrants who built countries be honored and valued for their contributions to our betterment. Let us all share the blessings we are able to enjoy and let no one suffer the wickedness of others. May everyone on earth know the glory of being loved, of earning a good name, of contributing to making this world a little better for having lived here, for enjoying good health and a long life. Whether you love nature’s magnificent sunsets or marshmallow frosted ice cream sundaes, glorious sunrises or intricate spider webs, may you imagine the beauty of nature bringing joy to your life. When you play the game of what the clouds look like- either elephant or egg or eagle- you have fun. May you perform random acts of kindness -anonymously- and never waste your days FOMO, with Fear of Missing Out. And, most of all, may you Never Postpone Joy!