Lauren Yarger - Page 8

This production, helmed by Paul Mullins, is delightful in every way, with wonderfully full portrayals, a fanciful set (designed by Joe Keener III) and costumes (designed by Tiffany Delligatti) that are to die for.

In Noel Coward's time, and when one of his last plays, A SONG AT TWILIGHT was written in 1966, it must have been shocking to have the possible outing of a closeted gay man be the driving force of a plot. In 2014, when such a play is just one of a plethora of stories written by men, featuring male characters and very often, gay men's issues, we have to wonder why two of Connecticut's theaters have chosen to include a revival of it on their stages this season (currently it's at Hartford stage through March 16. It moves to Westport Country Playhouse April 29), especially when there are so many other great plays out there just begging to be produced.

Ropes become rooms and oceans, people become doors, gloves become birds and some very clever staging, directed by Roger Rees and Alex Timbers.

Once upon a time we could go to the theater and enjoy a play that made sense, challenged our thinking, moved our hearts and made us feel enlightened when the curtain fell.

A sweeping tale of friendship and devotion amidst the horrors of war combines with spectacular puppetry to bring Michael Morpurgo's children's novel WAR HORSE, to life on stage. It reins in for a tour stop at The Bushnell through Sunday.

The Dow may be plunging, but angst is at an all-time high at the pharmaceutical advertising company of Sutton, Feingold and McGrath where recent layoffs have the remaining employees pinning their hopes to an all-important presentation coming up by Jun Suk (Nelson Lee).

How can a person with keen intelligence believe in a God that can't be proven?

As always, Connecticut's professional theaters offerered a bountiful selection of excellent theater in 2013. It's hard to pick just a few, but here are some of the year's standouts from the theaters I cover for BroadwayWorld.com:

Actor Steven Epp and Director Christopher Bayes who teamed up for A Doctor in Spite of Himself and The Servant of Two Masters at Yale Rep join forces again for Dario Fo's bizarre political farce Accidental Death of an Anarchist - and count on Epp to interject a whole lot about the modern US economic and political situation.

Apparently quite a few (more than 250,000 have seen the Michael Wilson adaptation getting its 16th run at Hartford Stage). This year's annual holiday tradition gets a bit of an update, all supervised by Wilson and directed by Maxwell Williams, that includes redesigned costumes; enhanced flying effects and choreography for the ghostly apparitions; the introduction of additional characters; and the latest in lighting design technology.

With the success of THE 39 STEPS, a spoof of the Alfred Hitchcock film, it is no surprise that other similar shows would find their way onto the stage. Playhouse on the Park in west Hartford is hosting a run of one wannabe, THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES.

The customers are grown up versions of children from holiday classics. Bringing them together here is the brainchild of Artistic Director Rob Ruggiero, who expertly directs a three-actor team: Carroll as the bartender and Harry Bouvy and Christine Pedi, who bring to life male and female characters in shorts by seven different playwrights.

It's the age-old story: young D'Artagnan (Will Haden) arrives in Paris looking for adventure and to pursue his father's place as one of the king's special guard. He is befriended by The Three Musketeers, Athos (Thomas Brazzle), Porthos (Anthony J. Goes) and Aramis (James Jelkin) and soon finds himself in the middle of swashbuckling swordfights, treason and romance.

Publisher Richard Sherman (David Conaway) is left on his own at their Gramercy Park apartment when his wife, Helen (Emma O'Donnell) and son, Ricky (Carson Waldron) leave for to the summer at the beach....

The conflict of two perspectives on ownership: the "western imperative to own everything: meets the "Eastern acceptance of owning nothing.

Dale Hodges and Raymond McAnally reprise roles as etiquette expert Mrs. Mannerly and her 9-going-on-10-year-old student in Jeffrey Hatcher's brisk and funny memoir play opening the 2013-2014 season at TheaterWorks, Hartford.

This revival is a sweet romance made delightful by Nolte's portrayal of Tony Esposito and a strong performance from Mamie Parris as his love interest, Rosabella.

Marisa Desa as Olympia (lower left), Briana Maia as Lydia (right) and Olivia Saccomanno as Thyona (rear). Photo: Gerry Goodstein.

A lighthearted musical romp through relationships gets a nice production as Off-Broadway's longest running music revue, I LOVE YOU YOU'RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE, comes to Ivoryton Playhouse.