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03/30/2017 12:01 AMNo Hamilton Next Season: Connecticut theater goers who want to see Hamilton will have to wait until the 2018-’19 season for it to arrive at the Bushnell in Hartford. In the meantime, the Bushnell has lined up an exciting Broadway series plus some other shows. The season opens with Finding Neverland (Aug. 1 to 6), then School of Rock–The Musical (Oct. 24 to 29), and The Color Purple (Dec.5 to 10). 2018 will include Something Rotten! (Jan. 30 to Feb. 4), The Bodyguard–the Musical (Feb. 20 to 25), and Love Never Dies-the Phantom Returns (May 29 to June 3) and concludes with On Your Feet!–The Story of Emilio and Gloria Estefan (June 19 to 24). Subscriptions will be available beginning in May at 860-987-5900; tickets for individual shows will go on sale at a later date.
Acclaimed Solo Show: Next up at Hartford Stage is The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey, which runs Thursday, March 30 to Sunday, April 23. The show stars and was written by James Lecesne and is based on his young novel of the same name. Lescene says, “It’s the story of a Jersey Shore town where a 14 year-old boy disappeared. The play is about trying to figure out what happened to him and why. I play all the people in the town to whom this boy was connected. Really, the play is about how we’re all connected to one another, the effect of one person’s life on many other people.” Last season, the show won several major awards in New York for best solo performance. For tickets, visit hartfordstage.org or call 860-527-5151.
More Judy Garland: Earlier this year, Goodspeed gave us a new musical about the early years of Judy Garland’s life. Now Music Theatre of Connecticut in Norwalk is present End of the Rainbow, a musical about the last years of Garland’s life. The show was hit in London and had respectable Broadway run. It runs Friday, April 7 to Sunday, April 23. The show is set in London in December 1968 when Garland was about to make another comeback attempt. With her are her new young fiancé and her accompanist. For tickets, visit musictheatreofct.com.
Jesus Christ Superstar: You have your choice of two productions of this Tim Rice–Andrew Lloyd Webber musical during this Lenten season. Seven Angels Theatre in Waterbury is promising a full stage production from Thursday, March 23 to Sunday, April 23. Remember, the show was originally staged as a concert. This production is based on the original 1971 production and features a cast of 30. For tickets, call 203-757-4676 or visit SevenAngelsTheatre.org. The Theater Arts program at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield is promising a “re-imagined” version of the show, which tells the story of Jesus’ final days. This production, which runs Thursday, April 6 to Sunday, April 9, will take place in modern times. For tickets, call 203-371-7908 or visit EdgertonCenter.org.
Come from Away: I am raving about the new musical that opened on Broadway, Come from Away. It isn’t based on a famous book or movie, it does not have well-known authors, it doesn’t have big name stars, but what it does have is a beautiful, uplifting story that is told without sentiment or sentimentality. On Sept. 11, 2001, when U.S. airspace was closed to air traffic, 37 planes full of passengers landed at Gander, Newfoundland, a small town. The citizens of Gander and the surrounding area provided housing, food, clothing, and company for days to the more than 7,000 passengers, who outnumbered the population. The stories of some of the residents and some of the passengers is told beautifully by a talented cast. Contact Ticketmaster and get tickets, now. You will be glad you did.
Karen Isaacs is an East Haven resident. To check out her reviews for New York and Connecticut shows, visit 2ontheaisle.wordpress.com. She’s a member of both the Connecticut Critics Circle and New York’s Outer Critics Circle.