Ivoryton Playhouse Stages I'M CONNECTICUT, Now thru 6/23

A brand new play from one of the writers of The Simpsons, I'm Connecticut - opening at the Ivoryton Playhouse tonight, June 5th - is a wacky, fast-paced, sweet, romantic comedy about Marc, a Connecticut native who struggles with relationships and feelings of inadequacy - why? Because he comes from Connecticut - land of steady habits, sanity and politeness. A must-see comedy for anybody from the Nutmeg State!

First produced at the Connecticut Repertory Theatre, part of the School of Fine Arts at the University of Connecticut, in 2011, I'm Connecticut became the biggest selling non-musical ever produced in CRT's Main Stage Series. The Hartford Courant called the romantic comedy "hysterically funny" and named it one of the top ten productions of the year. It was also named Best Play of 2012 by Broadway World Connecticut and it won a Special Recognition award from the Connecticut Critics Circle.

Emmy Award winning writer Mike Reiss will be joining us for the performances on June 6th, 7th and 8th and will be participating in a talk back with the audience. Mike was born in Bristol, CT but his career now spans both coasts. Mike has been a writer and producer of The Simpsons from its beginning and is currently working on season 24. He received a Peabody Award in 2006 and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Animation Writers Caucus. He also co-wrote The Simpsons Movie, The Lorax, Horton Hears A Who! and Ice Age, Dawn of the Dinosaurs. He has published 17 children's books, including seven Christmas tales.

The cast will include two actors from the original production - Harris Doran and Jerry Adler. Harris is a talented young actor who, just last year, won the Best Supporting Actor award at the Long Island International Film Expo for his work in the feature film, Junction.

Jerry Adler, a Connecticut resident, is a veteran of over 50 Broadway productions as Producer, Director and Production Stage Manager, including the original My Fair Lady (the revival of which he directed), Coco, The Homecoming, Annie and many more, as well as the Tony Award-winning Good Evening which he directed with Dudley Moore and Peter Cook - before he began his new career as an actor. He then appeared in Woody Allen's Manhattan Murder Mystery and The Public Eye with Joe Pesci. He has since been seen on many teleVision Productions, including The West Wing, Law and Order, Northern Exposure, CSI: Miami and was a regular on Mad About You. He is an original cast member of The Sopranos and was "Hesh", Tony's mentor/advisor throughout that award-winning HBO Production's run.

His recent films include In Her Shoes opposite Shirley MacLaine and Cameron Diaz, Prime with Meryl Streep and Uma Thurman, Find Me Guilty, directed by Sidney Lumet, Synecdoche playing Philip Seymour Hoffman's father, and the soon-to-be-released Last Angry Man in Brooklyn with Robin Williams. On TV, he was the Fire Chief on Rescue Me with Denis Leary and is presently Howard Lyman on The Good Wife.

Directed by Jacqueline Hubbard, the cast includes Gwen Hollander*, Bill Mootus*, Rebecca Hoodwin*, Gino Costabile*, and Elizabeth Talbot. The set design is by Daniel Nischan, lighting design by Marcus Abbott, and costumes by Kari Crowther. *member of Actors Equity

I'M CONNECTICUT opens in Ivoryton on June 5th and runs through June 23rd. Performance times are Wednesday and Sunday matinees at 2pm. Evening performances are Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30pm, Friday and Saturday at 8pm. Tickets are $40 for adults, $35 for seniors, $20 for students and $15 for children and are available by calling The Playhouse box office at 860-767-7318 or by visiting our website at www.ivorytonplayhouse.org (Group rates are available by calling the box office for information.) The Playhouse is located at 103 Main Street in Ivoryton.

Pictured: Mike Reiss