“SMOKEY JOE’S CAFE” IS SMOKING HOT FARE

Welcome back ACT, A Contemporary Theatre in Ridgefield, to the center stage with live theatre! The sensational sounds of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller are once again giving pleasure to local audiences and you’re invited to be front and present. Jerry Leiber has been accused of convincing his soulmate Mike Stoller into becoming a songwriter, something Stoller was not anxious to become. Whatever Jerry said, that unique partnership lasted for six decades, with Jerry as the witty lyricist and Mike as the talented composer. Along the way, they helped a little unknown singer like Elvis Presley find his voice, gifting him with tunes like "Loving You" and "Jailhouse Rock." Rock and roll was their forte and humor was often their trademark, although rhythm and blues crept into their extensive repertoire. This producing partnership wrote "Hound Dog" for Big Mama Thornton and a string of R and B tunes for Charles Brown, Jimmy Witherspoon and Floyd Dixon. Almost three dozen of their greatest hits are on display until Sunday, October 24 as the ACT of Ridgefield presents "Smokey Joe's Cafe: The Songs of Leiber and Stoller" for your sizzling listening pleasure. This musical revue is equal to Jack Benny’s age, 39, and the pair wrote lyrics for the likes of Elvis, Ben E. King, The Coasters and The Drifters, winning Grammys and Tony awards along the way. As the architects of rock and roll, Leiber and Stoller knew no rivals. If you’re looking for a good time that ping pongs back and forth from snappy scomebacks to mellow yellow, then “Smokey Joe’s Cafe” is the perfect place to park yourself for a musical interlude. A talented cast of eight - Albert Guerzon, Arnold Harper II, Avionce Hoyles, Jordan Fife Hunt, Keyonna Knight, Courtney Long, Kelly MacMillan and Juson Williams - is perfectly poised and polished to light up the skies with hits from the musical pens of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. In responding to the duo’s wild success, as two nice Jewish boys who met in 1950 and embraced black culture, Jerry Leiber noted “We don’t write songs. We write records." Turn up the heat for this retrospective of hits that are reminiscent of decades ago that swing and sway and shimmy into rhythmic magic land with such numbers as “Dance With Me,” “Searchin,’” “On Broadway,” “Yakety Yak,” and “I’m A Woman.” They will tickle your fancy with their comic twists performing “Poison Ivy,” “Don Juan,” “D. W. Washburn,” and “Love Potion #9.” Elvis will enter the building as they blast out “Hound Dog,” “Treat Me Nice,” and “Jailhouse Rock.” You’ll love the verbal Valentine of “Falling,” the fun of the dancing in “Teach Me How To Shimmy” and the power of “Stand By Me.” Their invitation to “Dance With Me” will be too hard to resist while you might be tempted to confess and repent just to be ”Saved.” No matter what the mood or tempo, this lively group will wrap you up with a slithery red boa as they dance and sing. They’ve got all the right moves and you might find yourself on your feet on stage helping them along the way. Stephanie Pope Lofgren is both director and choreographer. For tickets, call the ACT, 36 Quarry Road, Ridgefield at 475- 215-5497 or online at boxoffice@actofct.org. Performances are Thursday at 7 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Let the mighty spirit move you as you take a musical journey along this friendly and famous road paved by the good works of Leiber and Stoller. Discover first hand why Leiber and Stoller have been called the Rodgers and Hammerstein of Rock and Roll.

COME SIT A SPELL ON "THE PORCH AT WINDY HILL"

Whether you call it a hootenanny, a shindig, a pickin’ party or a wing ding, the Ivoryton Playhouse has a foot stomping’ bluegrass musical jamming session that will get your blood pumping and your feet tapping nonstop. Settle back for the world premiere of “The Porch on Windy Hill” until Sunday, October 17 and let the country western music carry you to North Carolina country for a current tale born in the pandemic. The idea came from Ivoryton Artistic Director Jacqui Hubbard who encouraged Sherry and David Lutken to write a play with music as a tenth anniversary production and inspiration struck the Lutkens. With the collaborative efforts of fellow masterful musicians Lisa Helmi Johanson and Morgan Morse, this sentimental story took wing. Come meet David M. Lutken as Edgar Wilson, better known as Gar, who has let personal prejudice color his family relations. His stint in the army in the Vietnam War makes him mistrustful of his daughter Ruth’s love for Daniel who is from Korea. Those unhappy feelings create disharmony in the home and a riff in his relationship with Ruth and Daniel and their daughter Mira, so much so that after Gar’s wife dies they move to New York and close the door with Gar. Now it is seventeen years later and a gulf exists that will be next to impossible to bridge. Mira, Lisa Helmi Johanson, has been traveling with her young man Beckett, Morgan Morse, and their musical journey has brought them unexpectantly to Gar’s home on Windy Hill. Is it possible that their mutual love of bluegrass music will bring them together to heal? Can each forgive and forget the pain they share? With banjo, violin, guitar, harmonica, mandolin and dulcimer, the trio play “Little Log Cabin in the Lane,” “Birmingham Blues,” “Blackberry Blossom,” “Down in the Valley” and "Columbus Stockade Blues” among many others. The true meaning of being an American is explored through the traditional tunes, as family values are reconnected and hearts are mended. Sherry Lutken directs this fine and sincere song fest that is sure to touch your heart. Understudy for Mira is EJ Zimmerman. For tickets ($55, seniors $50, $25 students), call the Ivoryton Playhouse, 103 Main Street, Ivoryton at 860-767-7318 or online at http://ivorytonplayhouse.org. Performances are Wednesday and Sunday at 2 p.m., Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. Social distancing is practiced. A hootenanny will be held every Sunday after the matinee at no charge, outdoors for an hour, so come with your musical instruments. Journey to North Carolina to help a family heal, using music to charm and soothe the savage breast.

"TWO JEWS WALK INTO A WAR..." AT PLAYHOUSE ON PARK

What might it feel like to be responsible for a cause, that if you fail you could be responsible for the end of an era, the death of a tradition, the demise of a heritage? Even if you are not Don Quixote, you will surely feel an obligation to test your mettle and hope to succeed in your mission. Come meet Ishaq and Zeblyan who have the unique distinction of being the last two Jews in the city of Kabul, Afghanistan. They are busy burying their third compatriot Yakob and now there are only two. The Taliban is busy conducting a war around them and have already destroyed their synagogue and stolen their Torah. The future, if there is one, is solidly in their hands. And, wait, did I forget to mention the two men hate each other, passionately and vociferously. Until Sunday October 10, Playhouse on Park in West Hartford is inviting you to a front row seat for the altercation as Seth Rozin’s vaudeville style play “Two Jews Walk Into A War…” takes center stage with Mitch Greenberg as the polished professor and purist Ishaq who matches wits with the more secular and skeptical business man Bob Ari as Zeblyan. The two bicker like old fish wives over everything from how to save the Jewish population, all two of them, to who had the worst experience surviving the Holocaust. Ironically their families lived to see another day only to come to Afghaniston for resettlement rather than go to Israel or America. A poor decision indeed. The big question is can they work together long enough to save the Jewish people by creating a community in Kabul. Think of “The Odd Couple” meets the Borscht Belt. They need a plan, one they can agree on if such is possible. After discarding many unacceptable solutions, they decide that they need a synagogue and a Torah. Reluctantly Zeblyan becomes a scribe and records every word Ishaq dictates, down to each comma and period. After many false starts and interruptions as Zeblyan questions God, it appears they may actually accomplish their goal. What happens next is more sorrow than shtick. The playwright conceived this story from an actual newspaper account of two Jews in this religious predicament so it is based on reality. How he injected humor into their situation, one based on mutual hostility, is interestingly problematic and worthy of a discussion, one that takes place after the Sunday matinees. For tickets ($40-50), call Playhouse on Park, 244 Park Road, West Hartford at 860-523-5900 ext.10 or online at tix.com. Performances are Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m., Tuesday at 2 p.m., and Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m. David Hammond directs this 90 minute show, with no intermission. Masks, a government issued ID and proof of vaccination are required. Watch how two men who only agree on their mutual hatred of each other grow in their faith and learn to respect and understand.

COME MEET ROSEMARY CLOONEY AT MTC

From her humble beginnings in Maysville, Kentucky, growing up in a broken home, in poverty, Rosemary Clooney had the unique ability to open her mouth and allow pure sunshine to sing forth with joy. Until Sunday, October 3, Music Theatre of Connecticut in Norwalk is issuing a gracious invitation to “Come on- a My House” to personally meet this sweetheart of a songbird. Rosemary Clooney began her career singing with her younger sister Betty when she was just a teenager and grew in stature and popularity until she called Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Bobby Kennedy and Merv Griffin close personal friends. A portrait of her life, the sunny days and the lunar eclipses that darkened many of her nights, is being displayed in all its trials and triumphs in grand musical style. Come learn about a simple girl with a big dream, who looked for laughter and love and found loneliness and loss, who sang like a nightingale with warmth and honesty, and experienced more ups and downs in life than the carnival's roller coaster. Music is woven in, out and around this personal story by Janet Yates Vogt and Mark Friedman, "Tenderly: The Rosemary Clooney Musical" and it is revealing in all its intimate details. Susan Haefner is Rosie, an outstanding artist who brings her to life with truth, sincerity and grace. She sings like an angel and creates her with poignancy and power. The daughter of a mother who abandons her and an alcoholic father who was also absent, Rosemary and her sister Betty were forced to support themselves at an early age. Entering and winning a talent contest saved them from starvation and started them early on a career that for Rosie would span decades. We learn about her big band time, her love affairs and marriages, her successes on the stage and in films, and her addiction to pills that threatened everything she had. Along the way we are blessed with a multitude of songs, like "Sisters,” “I Get Along Without You Very Well," "Botch-a-Me," "How About You?" and "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?" John Tracey Egan does a yeoman job as a multitude of characters in Rosie's life, from her personal therapist, Dr. Victor Monke, after she has a nervous breakdown, to her mother, her sister Betty, her husband Jose Ferrer and more, all the “family” who peopled her dramatic life. An onstage orchestra led by David Wolfson provides great backup for the parade of tunes. Kevin Connors directs this involving show that showcases Rosemary Clooney’s personal bravery and optimism when she sings “Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep” and her advice to herself in “Straighten Up and Fly Right.” For tickets ($40-$70), call the Music Theatre of CT, 509 Westport Avenue, Norwalk (route One) at 203-454-3883 or online at ct.ovationtix.com. Performances are Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. Proof of vaccination is required and safety procedures are in place. Come learn the legacy, the challenges and the courage that Rosemary Clooney gathered around her and gave so generously to the world. She will be well remembered and loved so tenderly.

BROADWAY IS COMING TO EAST HAVEN

Broadway is coming to East Haven so get ready to celebrate cabaret Saturday, September 25 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. and Sunday, September 26 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. courtesy of WISP, the Wagner Iovanna Studio Performances. WISP is a non-profit arts initiative started in 2017 by gifted performers Robert Iovanna and wife Karen Wagner-Iovanna who have dedicated their talents to encouraging actors, young and old, to develop their skills on stage in the performing arts. To that end, the husband and wife team have provided the training and experience to showcase each one’s potential, resulting in many past and present participants going on to careers in the music industry as well as film/TV, Broadway, print, voice overs and have been accepted into top theater and conservatory programs across the country. They successfully incorporate professionals in the worlds of acting and singing with the new young talent they are cultivating, including special guest performers like the show’s narrator iheart radio’s John Cadillac Saville and New York City Opera’s Erich Simo as Jean Valjean. At the show, you will be treated to a trio of Broadway favorites. “Dear Evan Hansen” tells the tale of a boy who feels invisible and desperately wants to be accepted. When another student at his high school commits suicide, Evan is swept into a web of lies not of his own making but which have the power to change his life and give him all the acceptance he so desires. Will he accept this unanticipated chance or admit the truth of the fabrications? Songs like “So Big/So Small,” “Requiem,” and “Sincerely Me” propel the action. Venture next into the cellblocks of the 1920’s when women are celebrated for the brazenness of their murders as Roxie and Velma vie for top billing, belting out tunes like “Cell Block Tango,” “Mister Cellophane” and “All That Jazz.” Completing the program are the majestic melodies of “Les Miserables,” the tale of an honest man who steals a loaf of bread and is imprisoned for years. Even when he is finally released Jean Valjean is haunted by a determined policeman Javert who wants him never to know freedom’s sweet taste. Every song like “I Dreamed a Dream,” “One Day More,” “Master of the House” and “Castle on a Cloud” are memorable. The show’s directors are Rob Iovanna and Karen Wagner-Iovanna, with Lauren Celentano as choreographer and James Teti as musical director. For tickets ($25, $20 for children under 7), to the performances at the Old Stone Church, 251 Main Street, East Haven, call 203-494-1633 or go online to https:/buy.tututix.com/WISP or visit www.wisperformances.org. The Fellowship Hall at the church is newly renovated, air conditioned, wheelchair accessible and provides socially distanced seating. This show is dedicated to their beloved cast member Shauna Clifford who was in an auto accident that prevents her from being Heidi Hansen, Evan’s mom. They look forward to her being back on stage in October for “Spooktacular Halloween Cabaret.” Come to the cabaret and cheer on the WISP stars of today and tomorrow as they bring Broadway right to your table.

"THE LAST FIVE YEARS" AT THE NEW LEGACY THEATRE

Relationships are tricky business as two individuals learn the intricate steps to becoming a couple. Their dance of new footwork may be graceful or awkward or bittersweet as they learn together. The initial “hellos” may be easy but the ultimate “goodbyes” are clearly not. Goodbyes may be tinged with regrets for words not spoken or deeds not done. There is a finality to a goodbye that denotes sadness and an ending. For Cathy Hiatt and Jamie Wellerstein, the scenes of their relationship are poignant and tender thanks to Jason Robert Brown’s intriguing take on a marriage that fails in his musical offering “The Last Five Years.” The Legacy Theatre in Branford will be presenting all the missed opportunities and mistaken steps in this couple’s search for love and happiness until Sunday, September 26. Unfortunately we are not gifted with a crystal ball or hindsight. We learn our lessons the hard way, first hand. Cathy is a struggling actress wannabe and Jamie is a budding novelist and they meet on equal and common ground, both striving to succeed, as they each try to find their voice. Tess Adams is Cathy, an ambitious looking ahead with hope and promise gal who tells their story from the ending to the beginning while Emmett Cassidy's Jamie starts at the beginning when everything is fresh and new and travels five years to the unhappy ending when they part. Jason Robert Brown uses his own failed marriage as a starting point to tell the tale, with tuneful messages couched in every verse, from Jamie’s exuberant “Shiksa Goddess” all the way to the tearful “I Could Never Rescue You.” Cathy expresses her feelings and doubts in such songs as “Still Hurting” and “See I’m Smiling.” As Jamie’s career launches straight to the stars with a best selling novel, Cathy continually hits roadblocks with auditions that don’t work, landing in far away Ohio to get a role. Their separations take a toll and they lose the joys that once brought them together. With honesty and only a little name calling and blame, the pair examine their wrong turns and mistakes. Didn’t they believe in themselves or each other enough? Did they move too fast in trying to make it work? The expectancy of new love is all too soon eclipsed by recriminations as a whole gamut of emotions characterize their musical tribute to the time. The music beautifully captures all the exact moments where love blooms and fades, from first date and Jamie’s reluctance to tell his mother that Cathy doesn’t share their religious background to his wildly successful book signing and pressures of fame to Cathy’s angst at not getting the roles she hoped for, their first Christmas, to the time of farewell when they admit it is not working. Keely Baisden Knudsen directs this refreshingly candid look at love. For tickets ($45, student rush $10 day of show), call the Legacy Theatre, 128 Thimble Islands Road, Stony Creek Branford at 203-315-1901 or online at LegacyTheatreCT.org. Performances are Wednesday at 7 p.m, Thursday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Now is the time to sign up for theater classes for children and adults for the fall and also to reserve tickets for the holiday show December 1-12 of Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol." Come watch two fine actors showcase their talents in this intimate and heartfelt tale of romance on a merry-go-round that spins out of control with no brass ring for either one.

SEVEN ANGELS THEATRE OFFERS A MENU OF TREATS

A parade of stars marches by as the famous Edwards Twins perform their unique magic by transforming themselves into everybody from Rod Stewart to Barbra Streisand, Cher to Celine Dion. On Saturday, September 11 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, September 12 at 2 p.m., Seven Angels Theatre in Waterbury will be making musical magic happen. Don’t let Las Vegas's number one impersonators pass you by. Tickets are $55. Next up are the zany and wild guys, known as Coconuts, bringing their special blend of comedy and music to the stage. For more than four decades, they have been spreading joy along the Eastern Seacoast, from Cape Cod to the Florida Keys, and now they are in the neighborhood for your entertainment pleasure. Called the “Ultimate Baby Boomer Party Band,” these guys promise to celebrate Rock ’n’ Roll with a hefty frosting of fun. Tickets are $20. The music continues on Saturday, September 25 at 8 p.m. when the Connecticut Transit Authority sails in for a spectacular pit stop, recreating the sounds and songs of Chicago, one of the greatest American bands ever. Take a seat for such hits as “Beginnings,” “Just You ’n Me,” “Old Days,” “Make Me Smile,” and “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is,” and many more. Tickets are $29. Our favorite nuns are back again from Friday, October 1 to Sunday, October 10 but with a twist. The Little Sisters of Hoboken have returned with a vengeance, guaranteed to provide a hilarious and heavenly time, with our own Semina DeLaurentis as Sister Amnesia leading the charge. Until September 15, use code NUN to save $5, otherwise tickets are $30. Come help officially re-open Seven Angels Theatre with “Nonsense with a Twist!" Ready to be wowed? On Saturday, October 16 at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m., The Amazing Kreskin willl unveil his bag of mental tricks as a stage magician. Not a psychic, Kreskin does “predictions” and hypnotic suggestions, He has appeared on “The Late Night with David Letterman,” “The Tonight Show,” “The Howard Stern Show,” and “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.” Tickets are $30. Mark your calendar for Willy Wonka Jr October 3-17, Great Balls of Fire October 23 and Earlene’s Christmas Show December 3-16. For tickets to all these shows call 203-757-4676,1 Plank Road, Waterbury or online at SevenAngelsTheatre.org/calendar. Light up your autumn entertainment season with a visit or three to Waterbury’s Seven Angels Theatre.