Theater News

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Backstage Buzz -- as heard on WPKN 89.5/88.7 FM

-- Listen to recorded interviews with people involved in the theater and allied arts.

NEXT UP: An interview with Frank Piazza and Julie O Neill, two members of the Theater Artist Workshop, who will be performing in a TAW production of Tennessee William's 'The Rose Tattoo.' The program will be aired this Sunday, March 10, at 10 pm on WPKN 89.5 FM

Click here to learn more about the show

Click here for: Backstage buzz

High School Musical Awards

The nominations for the 2013 High School Music Awards have been posted.

Click here to see the nominations.

The awards ceremony will be held on June 4 at the Palace Theater in Waterbury.

Summer Youth Theater at Broad Brook Opera House

The Opera House Players announces its Summer Youth Theater program at the Broad Brook Opera House, 107 Main Street, Broad Brook, CT. This program welcomes children ages 7-18 with no previous theater experience necessary. Participants will be introduced to theater, acting, scene study, creative movement, vocal exercises, set design, costume, and program design, dance, improvisation and more.

This 8 week program runs Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday from 5:00 - 7:00pm beginning with auditions (June 4 at 5pm for 7-12 year olds; June 5th at 5pm for 13-18 year olds; callbacks on June 6). Rehearsals will begin the following week on June 11th and culminate in a staged production on July 26th and 27th.

Registration forms for the program are now being accepted. Registration fee is $250. Everyone registered gets a part. Enrollment is limited to 25 participants so registration should be done as soon as possible. Registration form and further details are at www.operahouseplayers.org.

Sherman Playhouse to Offer "Anne of Green Gables"

The Sherman Playhouse will debut a production of "Anne of Green Gables," by Lucille Montgomery, adapted by Joseph Robinette.

The classic tale follows the adventures of Anne Shirley, an orphan who finds a new home, and many challenges, on Prince Edward Island in Canada.

The play runs weekends from June 29 through July 27.

Tickets: 860-354-3622 or www.shermanplayers.org

Long Wharf Announces 2013-14 Season

Long Wharf Theatre has just released its 2013-14 season offerings. The season will start with "The Underpants," by Carl Sternheim and adapted by Steve Martin (10/16 - 11/10). This will be followed by August Wilson's "Fences." (11/27 - 12/22). "The Consultant," by Heid Schreck wil be up next (1/814 - 2/9/14).

The season will be rounded out with Amy Herzog/s "4000 Miles" (2/19/14 - 3/16/14), Athol Fugard's "The Shadow of the Hummingbird" (3/26/134 - 4/27/14) and "The Last Five Years," with music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown (5/7/14 - 6/1/14)

Tickets: 203-787-4282 or www.longwharf.org

Pantochine Offers Two New Works

Pantochino Productions will present "Celebrate Ridiculous" with two new one-act plays on Friday, May 24, at the Milford Fine Arts Center.

The first play will be "The Wicked Stage" by Joe Landry. It's set in the dressing room of a vauldville theater and speculates on the origins of Fred and Ethel Mertz (of "I Love Lucy" fame). The second production will be "Special Breakfast," a musical by Bert Bernardi and Justin Rugg that focuxes on a teenage stoner and his mother who gain notoriety after an altercation over a plate of bacon.

Tikcets: 203-937-6206

CRT Announces 2013 Nutmeg Summer Series

Connecticut Repertory Theatre, located on the UCONN campus in Storrs, will once again offer its Nutmeg Summer Series, kicking off with "The Drowsy Chaperone," starring Pat Sajak and Liz Larsen (June 6 - 15). This will be followed by "A Funnything Happened on the Way to the Forum," starring Steve Hayes (June 20 - 30). The series will end with "The Music Man," starring Barrett Foa (July 11 - 21).

Tickets: 860-486-2113 or go to www.crt.uconn.edu

"Little Dog Laughed" Opens at Town Players

The comedy "The LIttle Dog Laughed," by Douglas Carter Beane, opens May 3 at Town Players of Newtown.

The play deals with well-known actor Mitchell and his relationship with a hustler, Alex. Concerned about the actor's image, his agent, Diane, tries to put the best spin on the relationship.The play runs through May 25

Tickets: 203-270-9144.

Music of Johnny Cash at Broad Brook Opera House

"Cash is King," a full-band Johnny Cash tribute show, will be presented at the Broad Brook Opera House on June 15 and June16 as a benefit for the Opera House Players.

The band, in full costume, will present such classic Cash songs as "Folsom Prison Blues," "I Walk the Line," "Ring of Fire," plus 30 other Cash hits.

Tickets ($20) 860-292-6068 or click4tix.com

Yale Rep Announces 2013-2014 Season

The Yale Repertory Theatre has just announced its upcoming season, which will begin with a production of Tennessee Williams' "A Streetcar Named Desire," which opens Sept. 20. This will be followed by Caryl Churchill's "Owners," about a London real estate agent who's totally unaware that her husband wants her dead. This will open Oct. 25

Dario Fo's "Accidental Death of an Anarchist" will open on Nov. 30. The play deals with an investigation into the death of an anarchist whose body was found on the ground beneath a fourth-floor police station window.

Moving into 2014, the first production of the new year will be "The Fairytale Lives of Russian Girls" by Meg Miroshnik. The play, which opens Feb. 6, deals with a young girl who returns to Russia from America to find that beneath the posh surface of the new Russia lurks a land filled with evil stepmothers, wicked witches and ravenous bears.

A world premiere is up next, an adaptation of Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing" by Rolin Jones entitled "These Paper Bullets." The show, which opens March 20, 2014, deals with the Quartos, a British pop quartet attempting to cut an album in only seven days.

The season wraps up with another world premiere: "The House That Will Not Stand" by Marcus Gardley. Set in New Orleans in 1836, the play deals with a free woman of color who, after the mysterious death of her whire lover, goes into extended mourning, only to find that the world cannot be kept at bay. The play opens April 24.

For tickets or more information call 203-432-1234 or go to www.yalerep.org.

Patinkin to Perform at Long Wharf Gala

Mandy Patinkin

Tony and Emmy-Award winner Mandy Patinkin will perform his theater concert at Long Wharf Theatre for one performance only on Friday, June 7, headlining the theater's annual Gala.

The evening will offer elegant cocktails, small plate tastings and a silent auction. Patinkin will begin his performance at 8 p.m., after which there will be a dessert reception at 9:30 p.m.

Suffield Players Offer the Bard

Yes, spring will eventually arrive, and when it does the Suffield Players will celebrate its arrival with a production of William Shakespeare's "As You Like It" at Mapleton Hall. Director Chris Rohmann describes the play as follows: "It's a little like 'The Wizard of Oz' meets 'Alice in Wonderland.' We travel through two opposijg worlds -- from the black-and-white coldness of a treacherous court into the colorful, festive Forest of Arden. There, as in Wonderland, the normal rules don;t apply. Everything's topsy-turvey, unexpected, enchanting."

The play opens May 2 and runs through May 18. For tickets call 860-289-6148.

A Look at the Season

Here's what the season looks like for some of the state's major theaters:

The 2013 Connecticut Theater Season

(Please note: Schedules subject to change)

MAY

3-5: “American Idiot” (Shubert)

8-June 2: “Clybourne Park” (Long Wharf)

9-June 9: “Next to Nortmal” (Seven Angels)

16-June 16: “Twelfth Night” (Hartford)

18-June 2: “Catch Me If You Can” (Bushnell)

31-June 1: “Dream Girls” (Palace/Waterbury)

31-June 2: “West Side Story” (Shubert)