Gerry Goodstein News

Connecticut Repertory Theatre debuts far-from-bland comedy that gets Connecticut laughing at itself.

The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey concludes its 49th season with Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, adapted for the stage by Neil Bartlett.

Known primarily for their excellent work with the Prospect Theatre Company (of which she is Producing Artistic Director and he is Resident Writer), the husband and wife team of director/bookwriter Cara Reichel and composer/lyricist/bookwriter Peter Mills are responsible for some of the most exciting and innovative musical theatre New York has seen since the company was founded in 1998.  And I daresay that with Iron Curtain, they and their inspired cohorts fully succeed in presenting one of their most difficult and risk-taking concepts yet; a fast, loud and funny 1950s-style musical comedy.

Just like Pope Paul VI figured when The Vatican told followers to go ahead and celebrate mass in the vernacular, John-Michael Tebelak figured that if the musical he penned with Stephen Schwartz, based on the Gospel According to St. Matthew, was going to connect with young people, it had to be done in their language.  So when Godspell premiered Off-Broadway forty years ago, the son of God and his disciples were depicted as soft pop and folk singing flower children who were too busy learning how to spread love to be bothered with sex, drugs and burning their draft cards.  Arriving on Broadway after Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar, it was the first major rock musical that didn't scare the hell out of parents.

Molière's unique blend of neurosis and knockabout is never more hysterically evident than in his comic masterpiece, The Miser. Old Harpagon is a penny-pinching miser who loves his hidden fortune more than his own children. When he gets in his mind that there is a penny to be made by marrying off his son and his daughter, both son and daughter foil their father's plan by falling head over heels for suitors of their own. A timely and horrifyingly funny look at the dark side of thrift at home.

The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey will present the highly anticipated To Kill A Mockingbird beginning on October 12th and continuing through November 20th at The Theatre's Main Stage -the intimate F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre.

The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey continues the summer portion of its 49th season with Dario Fo's wincingly funny Accidental Death of an Anarchist. Performances begin August 3rd and continue through August 28th at The Theatre's Main Stage - the intimate F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre. For tickets or for more information, call the box office at 973-408-5600 or visit www.ShakespeareNJ.org. The F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre is located at 36 Madison Avenue (at Lancaster Road), in Madison.

Terrence Mann is a fairly ideal Henry Higgins in Connecticut Repertory Theatre's more than fair MY FAIR LADY.

For the first time under the 21-year leadership of Bonnie J. Monte, The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey will present William Shakespeare's rarely produced work, Timon of Athens. Performances of Timon of Athens begin on July 6th and continue through July 24th at the Theatre's Main Stage - the intimate F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre. For tickets or for more information, call the box office at 973-408-5600 or visit www.ShakespeareNJ.org. Five-play, 4-play and 3-play discount ticket packages are also available. The F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre is located at 36 Madison Avenue (at Lancaster Road), in Madison.

With 'Seussical' CRT has a hit even the Grinch could enjoy.

Connecticut Repertory Theatre (CRT), the professional producing arm of the Department of Dramatic Arts at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, continues its 2011 Nutmeg Summer Series with Seussical The Musical. It's the summer event that's a family 'must-do', featuring The Cat in the Hat and Horton Hears a Who! Tickets for children and students are just $10! Seussical The Musical runs June 16-26 in the Nafe Katter Theatre on the UConn Storrs campus. The preview performance takes places this Thursday, June 16 at 7:30 p.m. and Opening Night is this Friday, June 17 at 8:00 p.m.

Under Artistic Director Cara Reichel, the Prospect Theater Company has earned a reputation for presenting unconventional musicals that explore interesting topics and their newest entry, I Married Wyatt Earp, co-produced with New York Theatre Barn as part of 59E59 Theater's 'Americas Off Broadway' series, is no exception.

Director Vincent Cardinal wins big with classic revival of GUYS AND DOLLS at CRT.

Two fixtures of the Manhattan comedy scene put their own twist on Cat in the Hat and Horton Hears a Who with CRT Seussical revival.

Writer Damon Runyon invented Broadway and Broadway invented the American Musical! Connecticut Repertory Theatre (CRT) will open its 2011 Nutmeg Summer Series with the classic American musical, Guys and Dolls based on Runyon's comic tales of Broadway running June 2-12 in the Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre (Lower Jorgensen).

A continent away and exactly 345 years to the day after it premiered at the Theatre du Palais-Royal in Paris, The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey will officially open its production of Molière's The Misanthrope, translated into English verse by Richard Wilbur.

Filipino actor and Obie Award winner Arthur Acuña shares the stage with Michael Louis Wells and Charlie Hudson in Ensemble Studio Theatre's (EST) repeat of Qui Nguyen's 2007 one act dark comedy play Bike Wreck. The play is part of EST's "Marathon 2011: The 33rd Festival of 1Act Plays - Series A" running from May 20 to June 18 at the EST Theatre on West 52nd Street.

THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS, the provocative and wickedly funny theatrical adaptation of the C.S. Lewis novel about spiritual warfare from a demon's point of view, will be presented at The Knight Theater at Levine Center for the Arts, 430 South Tryon Street, Charlotte, NC, in a limited engagement on Saturday, March 26 at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday, March 27 at 3 p.m.

THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS, the provocative and wickedly funny theatrical adaptation of the C.S. Lewis novel about spiritual warfare from a demon's point of view, will be presented at The Knight Theater at Levine Center for the Arts, 430 South Tryon Street, Charlotte, NC, in a limited engagement on Saturday, March 26 at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday, March 27 at 3 p.m.

THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS, the provocative and wickedly funny theatrical adaptation of the C.S. Lewis novel about spiritual warfare from a demon's point of view, will be presented at The Knight Theater at Levine Center for the Arts, 430 South Tryon Street, Charlotte, NC, in a limited engagement on Saturday, March 26 at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday, March 27 at 3 p.m.