A COAT OF MANY COLORS IS MUSICALLY GRAND AT IVORYTON PLAYHOUSE

Just for the sheer fun of seeing Elvis pop up smack dab in the middle of a Bible story is worth the time to travel to Ivoryton Playhouse. But there is so much more!

When composers Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice were mere teenagers, they collaborated on a truly delightful musical that has withstood the test of time and held up splendidly. You have the opportunity to journey to the land of Canaan, by way of Ivoryton, to attend the joyful unto the Lord musical “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.”

The Ivoryton Playhouse has set up a glorious set on the stage of one of the oldest theaters in the country until Sunday, July 27 to share this delightful story with the whole family. The Biblical tale of Joseph and his eleven brothers is narrated by a harmoniously blessed Alanna Saunders who helps the story come to life. All does not bode well when the father of the clan, Jacob (Al Bundonis) singles out one son, Joseph, a gifted lad in the hands of Kyle Dalsimer, as being superior among his siblings. Green eyed jealousy consumes the neglected eleven: Cory Candelet, Michael Charles, Galen Donovan, Cooper Hallstrom, Drew Hope, Tyler Jung, Tony Melson, William Pazdziora, Jack Saleeby, Henrique Sobrinho and Zane Zapata.

Things change when two events occur: Joseph boasts of his superiority when he interprets dreams where his brothers bow down to him and Jacob presents Joseph with a most beautiful coat of rainbow hues. To rid themselves of Joseph, the lads sell him off to a band of traders traveling to Egypt and tell a brokenhearted father that his favored son is dead.

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How Joseph lands on his feet, finds himself a slave and escapes the clutches of his owner’s wife (Sarah Warrick) and becomes indispensable to the Pharoah, a gyrating Ryan Knowles, is beautifully told and sung through a series of great songs that spin from country western to rock and roll, calypso and ballads, and even acquire a French accent along the merry way. Each of the almost two dozen songs is a gem, thanks to the musical direction of Dan Gibson.

The direction and choreography by Todd L. Underwood is over-the-top grand, on a clever set designed by Cully Long, with a trunk full of costumes created by Sean Spina, all lit magically and mysteriously by Marcus Abbott. The wonderful cast is assisted by an ensemble as well as an eager-to-please chorus of ten children.

For tickets ($60, seniors $55, students $25, with Thursdays 50% off after 6 p.m. if available), call Ivoryton Playhouse, 103 Main Street, Ivoryton at 860-767-7318 or online at ivorytonplayhouse.org Performances are Wednesday and Thursday and Saturday at 2 p.m., Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Watch for the After Party Gala on Saturday, September 13.

Follow the favored son as he learns being singled out as special can be greatly dangerous and dangerously great.

MUSIC THEATRE OF CT HONORS THE LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY IN STORY AND SONG

Of course, you remember with affection the Frank Loesser musical that pits a gambling sinner Sky Masterson against a pious and pure Miss Sarah Brown, the head of the Save-A-Soul Mission in “Guys and Dolls.” Get ready for a gender flipping concert at Music Theatre of Connecticut where musical stars perform Broadway tunes that are traditionally sung by the opposite sex. Eight theatre professionals will turn the musical tables in a most delightful way, in honor of LGBTQ+, with stories and songs in amazing reimagined ways this Saturday, June 28 at 8 p.m.

This PRIDE Celebration will feature the talents of Brianna Bauch, Elissa DeMaria, Michael Fasano, Frank Mastrone, Scott Mikita, Constantine Pappas, Jessie Janet Richards and Jodi Stevens, all musical stars well known to MTC audiences. Billed as a gender-bending Broadway evening, it will be followed by a post-show reception with complimentary hors d’oeuvres from Romanacci and an open wine bar. All proceeds will benefit MTC’s programming.

“Dolls and Guys” is sponsored by Circle Care Center, a center of excellence for the treatment and prevention of HIV, founded in 2011. It is a beacon of hope and health in Connecticut.

For tickets ($60), call Music Theatre of CT, 509 Westport Avenue, Norwalk (Route One), at 203-454-3883 or online at admin@musictheatreofct.com. All summer long, MTC will host Hot Summer Nights with special guests in concert.

Listen how "Dolls and Guys” musically shakes up tradition in a most delicious way, all to recognize and support the LGBTQ+ community. Join the deserving salute.

HONORING CT THEATER THIS MONDAY JUNE 23: TUNE IN AT 7:30 P.M.

The 33rd Annual CT Critics Circle Awards – which honors productions from the Equity theaters in the state - will be available for viewing via live-stream. The link goes live on Monday, June 23, 2025 at 7:30pm EST. “We are very excited to be able to offer real-time viewing,” said Stuart Brown, President of the organization. “We know many of the nominees are working throughout the country and cannot attend the ceremony. This will allow them to be part of our 33rd annual event.” In addition to the live-stream, a recording of the ceremony will also be available for viewing after the program has concluded at the CT Critics Circle website.

LEGACY THEATRE PRESENTS WORLD PREMIERE "LONG DAYS" AS ODE TO EUGENE O'NEILL

Eugene O’Neill is credited with writing a magnificent saga, a magnum opus, one of the greatest American plays of the 20th century, entitled “Long Day's Journey into Night.” It takes place in the seaside home of the troubled Tyrone family in a Connecticut cottage called the Monte Cristo and it centers on a quartet of characters that resemble O’Neill’s real family: Eugene, his older brother and his parents, including his father the classical actor James O’Neill. Their story deals with the painful addiction to morphine by his mother, unrealized dreams, bitterness, jealousy, emotional stress and family disappointments. A long day indeed. It all takes place on one fateful day in August 1912.

Playwright Gabe McKinley has sought in his world premiere play to mine humor in this tragic drama by penning his questionings in “Long Days” at the Legacy Theatre in Branford until Sunday, June 29. He takes the audience back stage with the actors and their egos and angst and lets it all hit the fan or in this case the rain water cascading into the room through the ceiling. Think rain drops are falling on my head and I’m angry I’m getting wet.

It’s closing night of the run and the actors are making plans. Susan (Stefanie E. Frame) who plays Mrs. Tyrone with the drug addiction has, in reality, given up her dependence on alcohol and cigarettes, but a prank by a cast member has put booze in her welcoming hands again. She is on her way back to New York City and a much younger Wes, (Dan Frye) one of the sons, has professed his love for her and wants to go back to the city with her. Unfortunately, he was drunk himself last night and, he swears it was a mistake, took the stage manager and actress Victoria (Aniya Taylor) to bed.

The other son Bobby (Thomas Rudden) is consumed with a cough, just like his counterpart in the play, and wants to pursue his acting studies,not realizing the man who plays his father on stage, Jack, (Rob Brogan) is entertaining strong feelings for him romantically. The father figure is, in reality, the father of Wes and the pair don’t see eye to eye which causes fiction. The news that Jack has had a relationship with Susan long ago doesn’t make wither man happy. These painfully human characters struggle to overcome their failures and find if they can forgive themselves and each other. This “family” back stage is little better than the family that stresses to understand each other in front of the curtain. Michael Hogan directs this intense interaction.

For tickets ($36.50 - 56.50) call the Legacy Theatre, 128 Thimble Islands Road, Branford at 203-315-1901 or online at LegacyTheatreCT.org. Performances are Thursday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.,and Sunday at 2 p.m. Check the website.

In this literary ode to Eugene O’Neill, recognize that all families have difficulties understanding each other’s roles in life that can cause troubles and sadness and minor and major disagreements that change the temper of their behavior.

A NEW MUSICAL "ABOUT TIME" AT THE TERRIS THEATRE IN CHESTER

Everyone knows there are 60 seconds in every minute and most remember that there are 525,600 minutes in a year, mostly thanks to the song Seasons of Love in the musical “Rent.” How often, however, do we pause for a reflective moment to think about our personal minutes, hours, days and years and calculate how they were spent, wisely or poorly, with kindness, with anger, with regret, or with love. David Shire and Richard Maltby, Jr. are encouraging you to set aside some of your precious moments to review your life and all its happenings and take score of how you’re doing in their new revue “About Time” completing its run at the Terris Theatre in Chester.

We all are born, go to school for scores of years, enter the work force, fall in love, marry, raise a family, help the community, make a circle of friends, adopt a pet, experience aches and pains, play pickle ball or golf, donate to charity, attend church or synagogue, concerts or theater, and effectively build a life. Along the way, we experience trials and tribulations, triumphs, tragedies, and learn the lessons that life doesn’t always prepare us adequately to face.

Come along with six gifted actors, Darius de Haas, Shinnerrie Jackson, Daniel Jenkins, Eddie Korbich, Issy van Randwyck and Lynne Wintersteller, with the piano skills of Deniz Cordell and Annie Pasqua, as they hopscotch through vignettes about life and take you along for the often bumpy ride. In a series of reflective show tunes, these singers turn life into a musical, complete with jazz hands and insightful thoughts. They look backward and encourage you to examine all you have achieved as the years fly by. The clock is running faster and faster, like from kindergarten to your college cap and gown. One moment you are accepting a plastic compass ring from your first love Buzz and the next he is just a pleasant memory you struggle to remember.

For example, one minute your children have left the nest and it is blissfully empty and the next those little birds are threatening to return. A trio of mature women are stretching their wings and dancing under a disco ball. With or without popcorn, a couple can have fun making up movie plots. Feeling no pain women can consider themselves pieces of ripe fruit even if they are yesterday's sweet cherries. These forever songs are set to convince you that you are unique in the universe, the only one of you that exists, even if you do have trouble remembering your password and dealing with Microsoft.

These songs encourage you to fill your life’s journey with possibilities and make your dreams come true, to embrace “coming out” when you discover your grandfather’s top hat and cane in a Vaudeville routine, whether you are Ken or Gwen. The message is to be who you are and be proud of it. To build your character and speak the truth, to complete your bucket list and regard time as more than just a clock. All through life you will have dreams and choices so don’t postpone joy along the way. It’s all “About Time” after all.

"HURRICANE DIANE" EXPLODES AT HARTFORD STAGE UNTIL JUNE 29

Depending on the part of the world you inhabit, you might fear, on a daily basis, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, fires, floods and landslides. How reassuring is that? People exist without adequate food, water, or shelter, not to mention fear of deportation, arrest, loss of freedoms, and absence of democracy. What if you reside on a quiet New Jersey cul-de-sac, a peaceful housewife going about your days, caring for your family, pursuing your career, without a care in the world for your daily survival. How lucky are you?

Playwright Madeleine George is about to upend your carefully controlled world in her new play “Hurricane Diane” at the Hartford Stage until Sunday, June 29 and life as you know it might be changed forever. Hold on to your gardening hat and trowel and prepare for a bumpy ride in the dirt.

Come meet four friends Carol (Katya Campbell), Pam (Christina DeCicco), Beth (Alyse Alan Louis) and Renee (Sharina Martin) who have no warning that their lives are about to change, when they encounter a Greek demi-god Dionysus or Bacchus, Diane to you, who crashes with boldness and purpose into their kitchens. Bernadette Sefic’s Diane is a force to be reckoned with whether you are ready or not to play her compelling game: Save the Earth. Diane has picked you for her team and there is no choice in the matter.

As a powerful lesbian queen and landscaper, Diane insists the quartet help her save the planet by worshipping her and following her complex landscaping design in their backyards. She wants them to return their land into a primeval forest, a green paradise, with no lawn, but with a permaculture and paw paw plants, a Garden of Eden if you will. Diane coaxes each woman out of their comfort zone, to change their path, with a taste of her honey, encouraging them to worship her and follow her every mood and move. Only Carol resists her charms but how long can she hold out? Is the end of the world coming and can Diane control the outcome? Let director Zoe Golub-Sass guide you on this fantastic journey planted with surprises.

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

Batten down the hatches as Diane, the Greek demi-goddess of wine, song, orchards, fruits and vegetables, fertility, insanity, religious ecstasy, hunting, agriculture, and theatre, is ready to invade your sacred space and claim it for her own. Don’t say you weren’t forewarned.

STROLL DOWN "AVENUE Q" WITH CENTER STAGE FOR FUN AND FRIENDSHIP

Graduating college, finding an apartment, one you can afford, securing a job, one you are qualified to perform, and growing up are all the responsibilities and requirements facing an anxious young puppet named Princeton. He starts his search for housing on New York City's Avenue A and by the time he reaches the 17th street of possibilities, he is not sure he will ever find a roof to call his own.

Happily for Princeton and for the audience, he finds the perfect place on "Avenue Q," a delightful puppet/people graced musical with music and lyrics by Jeff Marx and Robert Lopez, with book by Jeff Whitty. Center Stage in Shelton will be entertaining Princeton and his friends until Sunday, June 15 and you don't want to miss their highly special and spirited world. It’s pure delicious fun!

If you’ve grown up on “Sesame Street” and call Mr. Rogers a friend, and you’re a mature teenager or older, this is the show for you. “Avenue Q” is a musical that began life at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in Waterford at an International Musical Conference and went on to great acclaim. Now the puppets and their puppet masters are ready for some colorful and off- color entertainment.

Pop over to Center Stage for this smash-hit Broadway musical about making your way in life. Jacob Marcus stars spectacularly as Princeton, a recent college graduate, with big dreams and a small wallet. He finds his way to Avenue Q because it’s the only street in the Big Apple he can afford. Soon he determines he must find and identify a PURPOSE in life.

There he meets some unique neighbors, friendly and not so much, like Kate Monster (Cora Welsh), a cute kindergarten teaching assistant, a possibly gay couple Rod (Isaiah Rodriguez ) and Nicky (Hunter Smith ), Lucy Slut (Maya Jennings Daley ), Trekkie Monster (David Kaminski), an internet addict, Christmas Eve (Perseis J. Grant), a therapist, Brian (Justin Zenchuk), an out-of-work comedian, two bad bears (Alyssa Grosso) and their plucky landlord Gary Coleman (Briana Dawson).

Follow the life and loves, the downs and ups, of this bunch of young adults as they work their way to find a job, a companion and a purpose, with a lot of singing and dancing along their journey, thanks to the skilled direction and choreography of Betsy Kelso.

With life-size puppets personally created by the cast as well as people, “Avenue Q” celebrates the angst of growing up and facing responsibilities, challenges like how to get and keep employment and how to get a date, in addition to more intense issues like full-puppet nudity, alcohol and internet porn and gender identity. Set designers Scott Sheldon and Vinny LaVigna add a special artistic touch and musical director Paul Keegan leads a super live band belting out hit songs like “It Sucks to Be Me,” “Everybody’s a Little Racist,” “If You Were Gay,” "What Do You Do With a B.A. in English?,” and “Live on Avenue Q."

For tickets ($20-39), call the Center Stage, 54 Grove Street, Shelton at 203-225-6079 or online at centerstageshelton.org or boxoffice@centerstageshelton.org. Performances are Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m., and 6:30 p.m. Because of the adult themes, the show is best suited for ages 14 and up. Check out Center Stage’s summer camps for acting in June and July and their next production of their 20th anniversary season “Sister Act” coming July 18 to 27, where a night club singer witnesses a mob murder and has to hide out as a nun.

Laugh as you stroll along with Princeton as he bops down "Avenue Q," the show that won the 2004 Tony Award for Best Musical, and hope that he finds his purpose along the way.