WALT DISNEY: THE MAN AND THE MYTHS AT NHTC

               WALT DISNEY AND HIS FRIEND MICKEY

For many of us, Walt Disney is the epitome of creative genius, a masterful entrepreneur, a pioneer in the world of animation, and a lover of making children happy, special and cherished.  The originator and voice of Mickey Mouse, the legions of Technicolor cartoons like Cinderella and Bambi, the impetus behind theme park magic, Disney was a force like no other in the entertainment world.

To take a peek inside the darker version of this complicated man and the swirl of myths that surrounded him, you’re invited to the New Haven Theater Company’s intriguing production of “A Public Reading of an Unproduced Screenplay about the Death of Walt Disney" by Lucas Hnath, as if it were written by the great man himself.  Hurry, for shows are only November 15-18 at 8 p.m. at EBM,(English Building Markets), 839 Chapel Street, New Haven.

While the public persona of Walt was all lollipops and cotton candy, behind the Mickey Mouse ears was a man who demanded perfection, an egomaniac, a master puppeteer who manipulated family, friends and colleagues to get his own way.  He was not above blackmail.  J. Kevin Smith has assumed the cloak of this dynamo himself, dramatically portraying Walt, flaws and warts and all.  Steve Scarpa plays his scapegoat brother Roy whom Walt often bullied to take the blame for his own mistakes.

Completing the cast are Melissa Smith as his daughter, one who fears him for his control and threats and Trevor Williams as her husband Ron who is so busy ingratiating himself to Walt that he is capable of caving under pressure.  The dialogue is staccato, shotgun fast, David Mamet-like, with no thought being completely expressed.  Even with that rat-a-tat shorthand, it is quickly clear that Walt had a mean streak, under all the sugar coated public surface. Drew Gray directs this behind-the-curtain revelation with dedication.

For tickets ($20), contact the New Haven Theater Company at nhtcboxoffice@gmail.com.  Performances are 8 p.m. Wednesday to Saturday.

One can not dismiss the grandiose visions that Walt Disney gave to the world, even if some of his motivations were ill-fated and flawed.  His contributions in the arenas of animation and entertainment will happily live on in perpetuity for generations to come.

MTC ENTERS “THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY” UNTIL NOV. 19

Music Theatre of Connecticut is celebrating its 31st season with a bittersweet tale of love and longing. Twenty five years ago. Robert James Waller wrote a novel about a lonely woman who, although married with a family, felt something missing in her sensitive soul.  Her accidental meeting with a National Geographic photographer from the state of Washington changes her life forever.  He is in Madison County, Iowa doing a photographic essay on the covered bridges in the area.  Their relationship sparks flames of kinship and love.

Recently  the novel was  adapted into a new musical, "The Bridges of Madison County,"  with music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown and book by Marsha Norman, and MTC is giving it a lovely airing until Sunday, November 19. A film had also been made starring Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood.

Juliet Lambert Pratt is the searching for love and fulfillment Francesca who sings her heart out with a rich and vibrant poignancy that will almost bring you to tears while Sean Hayden's Robert Kincaid is the handsome stranger who invades her quiet life and churns it into glorious possibilities.

Greg Roderick plays Bud Johnson, Francesca's husband, the staid and serious man who cares deeply for his family.  Now he is traveling with his kids Carolyn (Megan O'Callaghan) and Michael (Matt Grasso) to the Indiana State Fair for three days to show Carolyn's steer Stevie in the hopes of winning a blue ribbon in the 4H National Finals. Mia Scarpa plays assorted females in the storyline.

Eighteen years before, Bud had been a soldier in the Army, stationed in Italy, where he met Francesca. She was still reeling from the death of her fiance and she clung to Bud, as her chance for a new life.  While Francesca has security,  a loving family and good neighbors like Marge (Kirsti Carnahan) and Charlie (Frank Mastrone ), she knows something is lacking in her life in the level and plain Iowa corn fields.

When Robert Kinciad walks into her world, with an air of mystery and adventure, of danger and of caring, Francesca is faced with a momentous decision.  Can she leave what she knows and holds dear, her husband and children?  Can she grab the gold ring on Robert's merry-go-round that is so tempting?  Kevin Connors directs this wonderfully schmaltz story of longing and fulfillment, devotion and promise, on an interesting road map set designed by Jordan Janota. Michael Biagys’ lighting sheds emotion at every turn.

Songs like "Falling Into You" and "Before and After You/One Second and a Million Miles" soar with emotion, with almost operatic intensity.

The musicians play on stage, adding to the poignancy of the story, piano/conductor Nolan Bonvouloir, cello Susan Jiminez, violin Jennifer Brown and guitar Michael Mosca.

For tickets ($30-55), call MTC, 509 Westport Avenue, Norwalk, (behind Nine West Shoes) at 203-454-3883 or online at www.musictheatreofct.com.  Performances are  Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.

A lifetime of love is captured in a few days of wonderfully intense desire as a chance encounter has far-reaching consequences and an incredible sweetness.

"MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET:” A BILLION DOLLAR CONCERT

JERRY LEE LEWIS: Dominique Scott, CARL PERKINS: Jeremy Sevelovitz, ELVIS: Cole, JOHNNY CASH: Sky Seals & DYANNE: Teresa Danskey 

Sam Phillips of Sun Records has been deemed the Father of Rock and Rock.  He earned that title honestly by discovering and shepherding the careers of four unknowns and making them mega-watt stars.  Maybe you’ve heard of them: Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley.  Back on December 4, 1956, each of these sensations dropped in to see Sam and what happened in that studio became rock and roll history.  A jam session like no other took place in Memphis, Tennessee and it was recorded for posterity.  The happy result is “Million Dollar Quartet” with book by Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux, with original concepts and direction by Floyd Mutrux and Seven Angels Theatre in Waterbury is raising its rafters until Sunday, November 26 to bring it to a startling singing sensation.

Prepare to hear the house ring with some of your favorite hits like “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Hound Dog,” Folsom Prison Blues,” “Memories Are Made of This,” “Long Tall Sally,” “Let’s Have A Party,” “See You Later, Alligator” and “Whole Lotta Shakin.”  Guitars electrify the stage as they strum out the devil’s own music.  The studio that was once an auto parts shop is now the breeding ground for the revolution that is rock and roll.

Sam Phillips has taken his “boys” and made them the macho fabric of a new musical sound. He took a chance with them and now, at the tail end of 1956, they are each ready to walk the line out the door of Sun Records, all except his newest stallion Jerry Lee Lewis, a crazy and uncontrollable sass and steam Louisiana boy, captured in all his upstart style by Dominique Scott, pi-an-o man extraordinaire.

Jason Loughlin’s Sam Phillips is a good ole boy himself who prides himself on his good ear to recognize the next best stars in his personal firmament. To date, he has discovered Cole’s Elvis, Jeremy Sevelovitz’s Carl Perkins and Sky Seals’ Johnny Cash. Each is a genuine winner in this rarefied world, which marks the undisputedly best era of music known to man or woman.  When Elvis walks in, he has his current squeeze Dyanne on his arm, a gifted Teresa Danskey, who can belt out a song like nobody’s business.  Completing the cast are Perry Organelle on bass and Mark Ryan on drums.

These are all exceptional musicians who can also act and command the stage. You will be exhausted and exhilarated at the same time, as you are swept away in this era of monumental memories.  Seminar DeLaurentis goes all out in this masterful concert to ensure authenticity and truefervor.  When these men got together for that one concert, on that one memorable day, like old friends, without rehearsals or a formal plan, Cowboy Jack Clement, the studio engineer, was smart enough to record it.

Rockabilly, rock and roll and country music merge and merry as these great guys sing for the pure pleasure of the sound. Along the way, we learn a little of their down home history and how Sam made them each a son.  For tickets ($45-60), call Seven Angels Theatre, 1 Plank Road, Waterbury at 203-757-4676 or online at www.sevenangelstheatre.org. Performances are Thursday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m.

Hips will swivel, guitar strings will be set aflame and history will be recorded whenanimpromtu jam session become an instant legend making event. Prepare to levitate right out of your seat as this quartet of wild men of move rattle and roll, move and groove, and enter a special hall of fame.  Memories are truly made of this.

A JOURNEY OF INSIGHTS AND COURAGE: “THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK”

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ISABELLE BARBIER AS ANNE FRANK   PHOTO BY CURT HENDERSON

Can you imagine the unimaginable:  having to flee the safety of your home, with a minimum of belongings, because you are in danger of being arrested for your beliefs? Unfortunately this has happened all too often and we need to guarantee it never happens again.  The Playhouse on Park in West Hartford  is providing a sterling look into one such event with an outstanding production of  “ The Diary of Anne Frank” by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, and adapted by Wendy Kesselman, playing until Sunday, November 19. 

Come meet Anne, beautifully realized in the hands of Isabelle Barbier, a young actress born to play this role.  Her sensitivity and luminescence make Anne achingly real. On the occasion of her thirteenth birthday, Anne is gifted with a red plaid diary in which she recorded all her personal thoughts and dreams, an adolescent girl who wrote about the incredible circumstances forced upon her as one Jewish victim of the Holocaust. 

 She and her family, and her father’s business partner’s family were all forced to hide for two years.  To escape capture and persecution by the Nazi Germans during World War II, they lived in the attic of her father’s office building in Amsterdam.  With the help of two righteous Gentiles (Elizabeth Simmons and Michael Enright), they avoided detection, being silent while the building employed workers from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and getting food and supplies from their rescuers, Miep Gies and Mr. Kraler.

On a multi-layered set designed by David Lewis, you will have the unique experience of feeling like you are in the crowded attic with Anne, her father Otto (Frank van Putten), her mother Edith (Joni Weisfeld), and her sister Margot (Ruthy Froch).  Sharing their secret annex are Otto’s business partner the Van Daans, (Allen Lewis Rickman and Lisa Bostnar) and their teenage son Peter (Alex Rafaela). Later a dentist, Mr. Dussel (Jonathan Mesisca) is given sanctuary with them.

Anne’s diary pages are filled with the everyday life in their hideaway, their squabbles, the constant diet of kale and potatoes, the blossoming romance between Anne and Peter and the ever-present fear of detection and deportation. They all lived for the periodic visits by their guardians who risked their own lives to hide them, and brought them hope and a sense of fresh air and the little necessities to make their lives more palatable. This production is beautifully directed by Ezra Barnes, with an outstanding cast, with Christopher Bell’s lighting, Joel Abbott’s sound and Kate Bunce’s period clothing adding to the experience. 

After the families were betrayed and arrested, it was Miep who found the pages of Anne’s intimate reflections and saved them, giving them to Otto Frank, the sole survivor.  He worked for years to make Anne’s dream a reality, of making an everyday account of “our struggle for freedom be painted in its full depth and glory.” Today it has been translated into over 67 languages in 30 million editions worldwide. 

For tickets ($25-40), call the Playhouse on Park, 244 Park Road, West Hartford at 860-523-5900, ext. 10, or online at www.PlayhouseOnPark.org. Performances  are Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Watch for the next Play Reading Series on Tuesday, November 7 at 7:30 p.m. with Dog Whistle by Michael Kimmel ($10) and Comedy Night at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, November 22 ($15).  

Learn how one voice speaking for the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust could still insist “I still believe inspite of everything people are truly good."

                                                                                                                                       

LOVE AND LOSS ABOUND IN “ROMEO AND JULIET”

FRIAR LAURENCE MARRIES JULIET AND ROMEO  PHOTO BY CAROL ROSEGG

Two hearts are set on each other when Juliet, from the house of the Capulets, gazes for the first time on Romeo, from the feuding house of the Montagues. Their love burns with a fiery flame, one that is too hot not to consume their passion. Tragically their families bear each other an ancient grudge that dooms their romance as told in the tale  by William Shakespeare, "Romeo and Juliet," illuminating the stage of the Westport Country Playhouse until Sunday, November 19.

Innocence blinds the pair of star-crossed lovers momentarily as they meet at a masquerade ball and fall blissfully in love. The reality of their situation is quickly realized as they acknowledge neither set of their parents will ever agree to their match. Nicole Rodenburg's Juliet and James Cusati-Moyer's Romeo  are the teenagers who embrace love and each other, then steal off to marry with the help of Peter Francis James' Friar Laurence and Juliet's nurse, Felicity Jones Latta.  So brief the courtship and the tender bloom of their love.

The law of the land of Verona does not stop the feuding that causes Tybalt (Dave Register) from the house of the Capulets to slay Mercutio (Patrick Andrews) from the house of the Montagues.  Romeo is swept into the fray and revenges one death with another, killing Tybalt, and causing his own banishment.  Thus, the young lovers are doomed by their parents' animosity to a tragic end.  All this takes place on a beautiful tapestry-like set designed by Michael Yeargan, with a feast of costumes by Fabian Fidel Aguilar.  Mark Lamos puts his special touches and talents on this classic tale, "never was a story of more woe than Juliet and her Romeo."

For tickets ($30 and up), call Westport Country Playhouse, 25 Powers Court, off route 1, Westport at 203-227-4177 or 888-927-7529 or online at www.westportplayhouse.org. Performances are Tuesday at 7 p.m., Wednesday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., Thursday and Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. A special Directors Forum will be held after the Sunday, November 12th performance, at approximately 5:45 p.m., free.  Call the box office to reserve your spot.

The joy of wedding planning quickly turns to preparations for funerals as the two feuding families learn too late what their enmity has cost.

"CORE VALUES" A FUNNY FORAY INTO THE CORPORATE WORLD

DAVID VICTOR, LYNNETTE VICTORIA, DANIELLE SULTINI AND JIM BUFFONE

The corporate world is ever evolving, changing at a dizzying pace and a challenge for anyone caught in a position of authority.  If the buck stops here, at your desk, than the ability to adjust to the winds of progress can be daunting.  Take, for example, Richard, the head of a small, struggling travel agency who is velcroed to his trusty business beliefs: a strong team, company loyalty and good old-fashioned trust.  To meet Richard and a trio of his employees, look no further than Steven Levinson's  "Core Values," a corporate comedy, presented by Square One Theatre Company weekends until Sunday, November 19 at the Stratford Academy, 719 Birdseye Street, Stratford.

David Victor's Richard is akin to Sisyphus pushing a giant rock uphill.  He does not realize how close he is to being crushed by the boulderof competition, in a world he can no longer control.  in the spirit of building enthusiasm and improving work skills, he has invited his work staff to a weekend retreat.  Like a cheer leader, he is trying to inspire company loyalty with Nancy (Danielle Sultini) who is so pre-occupied with the problems at home and with her marriage that work is way down on her list of priorities, the IT tech guy Todd (Jim Buffone) who is dissatisfied with his lot and in busy shopping for greener (as in money) pastures and the new girl Eliot (Lynnette Victoria) who is literally lost as the job is unbelievably confusing. Her eye rolls and comic facial expressions are priceless.

Poor Richard.  He is newly divorced and has no more control of his business than he does of his failed marriage.  Yet he soldiers on and on and on, eager to  motivate  and take control.  Unfortunately, he is doomed in his task and destined to be disappointed...much like a gerbil who spins eagerly on his wheel but gets nowhere.  Tom Holehan directs this fascinating foray into the cutthroat financial world with trusty alliance on the core values of hard work by his talented cast and tried and true skills and goals.

For tickets ($20, seniors $19), call Square One Theatre Company at 203-375-8778 or online at www.squareonetheatre.com. Performances are Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.

Come hold Richard's hand as he struggles to find meaning in the workplace and push his troops to victory or, at the least, to show up on the field of battle for another day.