Hartford Stage Awarded CONNECTICUT AT WORK Grant to Support Today's SOMEWHERE Community Discussion

Hartford Stage has been awarded a Connecticut at Work grant to support the Community Panel Discussion, "Inspired to Succeed - Connecticut Latinos/as at Work," which will take place today, April 17, following the 7:30 p.m. performance of Matthew Lopez's Somewhere.

The community panel will discuss, in conjunction with the themes of Somewhere, finding success in both life and career during today's trying economic times. The discussion will be moderated by Bessy Reyna, poet, member of the Connecticut Critics' Circle and Arts Editor for Identidad Latina. The panelists include Dr. Julio Morales, Jr., Executive Director of Connecticut Latinas/os Achieving Rights and Opportunities; Yanil Teron, Executive Director of the Center for Latino Progress; Marilyn Alverio, CEO of Ethnic Marketing Solutions; Werner Oyanadel, Executive Director of CT Latino and Puerto Rican Affairs Commission; and Priscilla Lopez, Tony Award-winning actress and star of Somewhere.

This program is part of Connecticut at Work, a year-long conversation on the past, present and future of work life in Connecticut created by Connecticut Humanities.

Connecticut at Work travels across the state through December 2014. The program features the Smithsonian Institution's The Way We Worked exhibition with stops in seven communities: New Haven, Torrington, Hartford, Waterbury, Coventry, Stamford and Groton. Surrounding communities are adding local focus with community history exhibits, book and film discussions, author talks, performances and more. Connecticut at Work is an initiative of Connecticut Humanities, a non-profit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. In the Hartford area, Connecticut at Work is a partnership with Hartford Public Library and Greater Hartford Arts Council. The Connecticut tour of The Way We Worked is made possible by Connecticut Humanities and Historic New England. For a calendar of events and more information, visit cthumanties.org/ctatwork.

Now its 50th Anniversary season, Hartford Stage is one of the nation's leading resident theatres, known internationally for producing classics, provocative new plays and musicals, and neglected works from the past, as well as a distinguished education program that reaches 21,000 students annually. Currently under the leadership ofArtistic Director Darko Tresnjak and Managing Director Michael Stotts, Hartford Stage has earned many of the nation's most distinguished awards, including a Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre, the Margo Jones Award for Development of New Works, OBIE awards, two New York Critics Circle Awards, a Dramatists Guild/CBS Award and an Elliot Norton Award, and has produced nationally renowned titles, including the Broadway productions of Enchanted April and Our Country's Good and the Off-Broadway productions of The Orphans' Home Cycle and The Carpetbaggers Children.

The 2012 Hartford Stage production of A Gentlemen's Guide to Love and Murder is now playing to rave reviews on Broadway at the Walter Kerr Theatre (www.agentlemansguidebroadway.com), and the 2013 production of Man in a Case is currently on national tour.

The leading provider of theatre education programs in Connecticut, Hartford Stage's offerings include student matinees, in-school theatre residencies, teen performance opportunities, theatre classes for students (ages 3-18) and adults, afterschool programs and professional development courses.