Matt Austin News

Happy Holidays! The latest wave of standings have been announced as of Monday, November 27th for the 2023 BroadwayWorld Connecticut Awards! Don't miss out on making sure that your favorite theatres, stars, and shows get the recognition they deserve!

The latest wave of standings have been announced as of Monday, November 20th for the 2023 BroadwayWorld Connecticut Awards! Don't miss out on making sure that your favorite theatres, stars, and shows get the recognition they deserve!

Brookfield Theatre concludes its 3x3 One-Man Show Festival with the award-winning Misterman by Enda Walsh. See photos from the production.

For this production, tables and chairs have been pushed to the perimeter, lining the parallel side walls that face each other. That leaves the middle of the room and the fore and aft walls for the performers to move about, and move they do, in constantly fluid motion, under the sure-handed and sure-footed direction of Matt Austin and Jessica Chesbro. The effect is engagingly kaleidoscopic in a way proscenium staging is not.

On Friday, June 2, I had the pleasure of seeing NEXT TO NORMAL presented in the absolute most phenomenal way possible!  The Ridgefield Theater Barn in Ridgefield, CT, has maximized the potential of this emotionally deep and powerful musical!  Directors Matt Austin and Jessica Chesbro combine their strong directing talents with their brilliant set design skills to create an immersive experience that draws the entire audience into the show!  This stellar cast of six first-rate performers brings their characters to life!  The stage presence of all six cast members and dynamics between them all yield authenticity that makes the audience feel the characters’ emotions, in this intimate setting.   The audience was truly moved by this story with book and lyrics written by Brian Yorkey, coupled with the music written by Tom Kitt, as performed by this amazing cast and live band, in this perfectly arranged venue for this show!

The latest standings as of Monday, December 19th, have been released for the 2022 BroadwayWorld Connecticut Awards! Nominations were reader-submitted and now our readers get to vote for their favorites.

The latest standings as of Monday, December 12th, have been released for the 2022 BroadwayWorld Connecticut Awards! Nominations were reader-submitted and now our readers get to vote for their favorites.

Celebrate the season and enjoy the nostalgia of the golden age of live radio as the Sherman Players perform IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE -  A LIVE RADIO PLAY by Joe Landry, directed by Steve Stott. The producers are Matt Austin and Michael Schaner. Performances continue through December 18th at the Sherman Playhouse. Check out the photos here.

The latest standings as of Monday, December 5th, have been released for the 2022 BroadwayWorld Connecticut Awards! Nominations were reader-submitted and now our readers get to vote for their favorites.

The first live standings have been announced for the 2022 BroadwayWorld Connecticut Awards! Nominations were reader-submitted and now our readers get to vote for their favorites.

The Sherman Players presents its final show of the 2022 season, IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: A LIVE RADIO PLAY, by Joe Landry. The show will be produced by Matt Austin and Michael Schaner and will be directed by Steve Stott of Brookfield. This production replaces the previously announced PRIDE AND PREJUDICE by Kate Hamill.

On Friday, September 30, The Sherman Playhouse will open its third production for the 2022 season, CARRIE: THE MUSICAL, directed by Bradford Blake (2021's WRECK THE HALLS and 2019's CABARET) with music direction by Charles Smith. Produced by Al Chiappetta, the curtain rises at 8:00 p.m. for a four week run.

The show made a splash on Broadway a dozen years ago, garnering several Tony Awards, mainly in the craft categories (scenic design, sound, lighting, choreography). The sketchy book is like a sketchbook of rapid-fire episodes that leans heavily on the strength of the ensemble to pull it off. This ensemble is more than up to the task.

On Friday, June 3, I had the pleasure of seeing PETER AND THE STAR CATCHER at the Ridgefield Theater Barn in Ridgefield, CT.  This play with music was written by Rick Elise.  This stellar cast’s talents come alive under the first-rate team of director Katherine Ray, assistant director Rae Janeil Sutherland and choreographer Sharon Houk.   It is not a musical in the traditional sense, but the use of song is incorporated throughout, resembling a musical in certain parts.  It is obvious that these cast members are having a wonderful time up on stage, bringing positive energy that radiates throughout the audience, with excellent stage chemistry between the cast. 

On February 27th, The Sherman Players, in conjunction with Shakespeare in Sharon will present AN EVENING OF SHAKESPEAREAN MONOLOGUES, compiled and directed by Jane Farnol.

The Sherman Players return for their first full theatrical season in nearly two years. The 2022 mainstage season was announced at the close of the final production of the 2021 season, WRECK THE HALLS by Sherman Players President, Steve Stott.

A holiday classic with a fun twist, 'What the Dickens?' takes the audience on a unique journey that is destined to delight and entertain!

Here is your first look at cast members Michael Mullen, Randy Oppenheimer and Bruce Schroffel in THE ULTIMATE CHRISTMAS SHOW (ABRIDGED) by Kentwood Players at the Westchester Playhouse. This festive and fun holiday comedy revue by Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor, directed by Alison Boole with Assistant Director Jeremy Palmer, and produced by Rhonda Yeager-Hutchinson by special arrangement with Broadway Publishing Inc., opens Friday, December 3 through Sunday, December 19 on Friday/Saturday at 8pm and Saturday/Sunday at 2pm.

On December 3,  TheatreWorks New Milford will present the hilarious original comedy, What the Dickens? by Matt Austin of New Milford.

The Sherman Players return to their home, onstage at the historic Sherman Playhouse, this September with 'A Doll's House, Part Two' by Lucas Hnath.