Connecticut Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 25

BWW Reviews: New MISS SAIGON Tour Hovers Over Hartford's Bushnell for One of Only Four Stops
by Lauren Yarger - September 18, 2013

This new tour makes the second of four stops in Hartford, at the Bushnell, one of the production's producers....

BWW Reviews: Hole in the Wall's WHISKEY TANGO Explores the Sordid Lives of New Britain Trailer Park Denizens
by Jacques Lamarre - September 15, 2013

Hard hittin' New Britain mobile home mavens get a visit from Jesus....

BWW Reviews: Broad Brook's COMPANY Leaves Us Sorry-Grateful, Regretful-Happy
by Jacques Lamarre - September 10, 2013

Sondheim's metrosexual musical gets a rural revival....

BWW Reviews: When TheaterWorks Looks Through the Lens of Love and War, TIME STANDS STILL
by Lauren Yarger - August 19, 2013

Director Rob Ruggiero brilliantly focuses on the domestic tension between Sarah and her long-time, live-in boyfriend and fellow foreign correspondent, James (Tim Altmeyer), giving the play depth beyond its obvious question about the ethics of journalists being voyeurs on the sidelines of tragedies....

BWW Reviews: Little Theatre of Manchester Takes a Tour of the American SONGBOOK - with Some Detours
by Lauren Yarger - August 12, 2013

Music Director Kim Aliczi puts together a selection of more than 30 musical numbers from members of the great American Songbook like Duke Ellington, Cole Porter, George Gershwin and Irving Berlin with medleys featuring tunes from one composer or themes, like songs about trains....

BWW Reviews: Strong Cast, Big Band, Profusion of Costumes Turn Ivoryton's DREAMGIRLS into a Dream
by Lauren Yarger - August 12, 2013

Director Lawrence Thelen proves himself up to the challenge, however, with the casting of terrific nonEquity actress Sheniqua Denise Trotman from Huntsville, AL. Her 'I'm Not Going' puts focus on the emotional pain felt by the character and is a powerhouse exploration of the lyrics. In between all t...

BWW Reviews: Capital Classics' THE WINTER'S TALE perfectly at home during the summer
by Jacques Lamarre - July 29, 2013

Shakespeare gets the royal treatment with Capital Classics' THE WINTER'S TALE...

BWW Reviews: Hole in the Wall's ANYTHING GOES Is a Pleasure Cruise on Choppy Seas
by Jacques Lamarre - July 29, 2013

Cole Porter classic sails on some rough waters....

BWW Reviews: Get On Your Dancing Shoes! GREASE Hits New Canaan
by Sherry Shameer Cohen - July 28, 2013

Get out your dancing shoes!...

BWW Reviews: Well, Hello, Klea! Blackhurst Creates a Charming, Feisty Dolly
by Lauren Yarger - July 23, 2013

t's one of those old musicals with a few memorable tunes and a ridiculous plot that would find it difficult to stand on a modern stage otherwise, but solid performances anchored by Blackhurst make Goodspeed's production an enjoyable romp through turn-of-the-century New York. Goodspeed announced a we...

BWW Reviews: THE MUSIC MAN Always Was Robert Preston, Till There Was You, Barrett Foa
by Lauren Yarger - July 15, 2013

In a break from playing Eric Beale on the CBS television series "NCIS: Los Angeles," Barrett Foa is spending part of his summer charming audiences and a certain librarian as The Music Man, which wraps up CT Repertory Theatre's Nutmeg Series on the UConn campus....

BWW Reviews: Good Message, Strong Vocals Shake Out Enjoyabe Entertainment in Ivoryton's FOOTLOOSE
by Lauren Yarger - July 08, 2013

A predictable plot and disjointed musical elements might have brought FOOTLOOSE down, but deeper messages, good character development and -- at least in the production running over at Ivoryton Playhouse -- a strong vocal ensemble, turn the show around into an enjoyable romp through rebellious youth ...

BWW Reviews: The American Dream, Immigration Woes, Super Heroes Converge in a STUCK ELEVATOR
by Lauren Yarger - June 25, 2013

They tell the story (based on a true one) of Guang (Julius Ahn), an illegal immigrant who gets stuck in a Bronx elevator for 81 hours while making deliveries for the Happy Dragon Chinese Restaurant....

BWW Reviews: A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM: CT Rep Makes it Funny Again
by Lauren Yarger - June 25, 2013

With its sexist plot, A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM is one of those shows that probably was a riot in 1962, but seems like something is lacking when presented a half century later - until the CT Repertory version running as part of the Nutmeg Summer Series. This one, thanks to some ...

BWW Reviews: MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM at Festival of Arts & Ideas Includes Some Nightmarish Elements
by Lauren Yarger - June 19, 2013

You know that dream where you find yourself naked on a stage with everyone laughing at you? It's an unfortunate reality for Miltos Yerolemou, the actor who plays Bottom in Bristol Old Vic's production ofA MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM as part of New Haven's International Festival of Ideas....

BWW Reviews: BILLY ELLIOT Dreams Big, with Some Literal Leaps of Faith, at the Bushnell
by Lauren Yarger - June 19, 2013

Directed by Stephen Daltry, Dickenson (displaying a ribald belt), Perkins (a hoot), Garner and Hebert all give strong performances. Parets dances well with steps performed with precision and technical skill if not all the heart we expect. The same could be said of the special effects: fog and fly ri...

BWW Reviews: Playhouse on Park's CABARET is Delicious, Dark and 'Deja Vu'
by Jacques Lamarre - June 15, 2013

Kander and Ebb classic a well-performed redux at Playhouse on Park....

BWW Reviews: YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU at Little Theatre of Manchester Needs More Comic Fireworks
by Jacques Lamarre - June 12, 2013

Kaufman and Hart classic is a slow burn at Little Theatre of Manchester...

BWW Reviews: Farmington Valley Stage Co's DINNER WITH FRIENDS Dishes out Marital Distress
by Jacques Lamarre - June 10, 2013

Margulies' intimate look at the hidden cracks in marriage foundation reveals a very solid play at Farmington Valley Stage Company....

BWW Reviews: Nutmeg State Residents Will Recognize and Sputter While Laughing at Themselves in I'M CONNECTICUT
by Lauren Yarger - June 10, 2013

Bristol native son Mike Reiss, who has enjoyed success as a comedy writer for 'The Simpsons' among other shows, turns his attention to the root of his humor, his home state in the riotously funny I'M CONNECTICUT getting a slick production at Ivoryton Playhouse....

BWW Reviews: TheaterWorks' BECOMING DR. RUTH Reveals Woman Behind the Microphone
by Lauren Yarger - June 10, 2013

Rupp's power-house performance captures Ruth so effectively and in such detail, that we're convinced the much shorter, German accented woman must really be on stage....

BWW Reviews: Pat Sajak Spins Something New: The Tale of THE DROWSY CHAPERONE AT UCONN
by Lauren Yarger - June 07, 2013

Pat Sajak puts his spinning talents to work here in Connecticut this month, but this time turning records instead of a 'Wheel of Fortune' as he takes on the role of Man in Chair for CT Repertory's Nutmeg Summer Series production of The Drowsy Chaperone....

BWW Reviews: CATCH ME IF YOU CAN Flies its Over-The-Top Treatment into the Bushnell
by Lauren Yarger - May 29, 2013

The true story of a teenager who plays a game of Catch Me if You Can with the FBI is already larger than life, but this musical, making a tour stop at the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts in Hartford, takes it way over the top by adding full-scale musical numbers, kick-line choreography and g...

BWW Reviews: BLACK TIE at Square One Theatre in Stratford
by Sherry Shameer Cohen - May 29, 2013

Tradition! Tradition! Tradition!...

BWW Reviews: Delicious Staging of TWELFTH NIGHT at Hartford Stage Becomes Food of Love
by Lauren Yarger - May 27, 2013

Hartford Stage's presentation of TWELFTH NIGHT, directed by Darko Tresnjak, is so sumptuous, so pleasing to look at and so cleverly staged that it's possible our appetite for any other setting for William Shakespeare's classic might be slaked....