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05/11/2017 12:01 AMDiscovering a Composer: Seven Angels Theatre is closing its season with the Connecticut premiere of Trav’lin—The 1930s Harlem Musical. What makes it particularly interesting, is that the music and lyrics are by Harlem Renaissance composer J. C. Johnson. Most of us won’t recognize the name, but he wrote Bessie Smith’s signature song and worked with Fats Waller, Chick Webb, and George Whiting, among others. This isn’t a review but a book musical about the romantic escapades of three couples of different ages. It runs through Sunday, June 11. For tickets, call 203-757-4676 or visit SevenAngelsTheatre.org.
Classic Shaw: Hartford Stage is ending its season with one of George Bernard Shaw’s classic plays, Heartbreak House through Sunday, June 11. Artistic Director Darko Tresnjak is directing the play. Press materials says it “features the venerable Captain Shotover, his daughters—one liberal, the other conservative—and a household full of bickering guests in a home that’s like a ship, or a country, charting uncertain waters. When the beautiful but impoverished Ellie Dunn arrives, she gets a lesson in romance, politics, and the art of navigation.” Tresnjak has assembled a stellar cast for this ambitious project. For tickets, visit hartfordstage.org or call 860-527-5151.
New Musical about an Unusual Road Trip: The first of three new musicals to receive productions at Goodspeed’s Terris Theatre in Chester, Deathless, runs Friday, June 2 through Sunday, July 2. It’s set in a future where no one dies. The Serling family is taking its annual road trip to Niagara Falls and the family must say goodbye to Mom. Book, music, and lyrics are by Zack Zadek, who was a 2017 finalist for a Jonathan Larson Grant. For tickets, visit goodspeed.org or call 860-873-8668.
No Classics: I am increasingly puzzled by the Long Wharf selections for its seasons. In the past, it had a long tradition of combining exciting new work with excellent productions of classic plays and some lesser known older plays. But for a number of years, all the plays have been written in the last 60 years, with only a rare exception, and those often are new and sometimes radical adaptations. (Think of setting Ibsen’s A Doll’s House in modern times.) The 2017-’18 season will continue that. The season opens with Small Mouth Sounds a 2016 Obie award winner (Aug. 30-Sept. 24) followed by a world premiere romance, Fireflies (Oct. 11 to Nov. 5), then an adaptation of Chaim Potok’s novel The Chosen (Nov. 22 to Dec. 17). The new year includes Julia Cho’s Office Hours (Jan. 17 to Feb. 11), Ken Ludwig’s Baskerville—a Sherlock Holmes Comic Mystery (Feb. 28 to March 25), and ends with Crowns, a gospel musical from April 18 to May 13. If area residents want to see classic plays besides the one on the Yale Rep schedule, they’ll have to travel to Hartford Stage. Subscriptions are available at longwharf.org or 203-787-4282.
New York Award Nominations: The Tonys, the Outer Critics Circle, and the Drama Desk have all announced the nominees for the 2016-’17 theater season. As usual there were some differences, in part because of different criteria and dates. But the three agreed on the outstanding plays of the season: Sweat, Indecent (which began at Yale), Oslo, and A Doll’s House–Part 2. Multiple nominations went to musicals Come from Away and the revival of Hello, Dolly. The Tony nominating committee ignored Anastasia (which began at Hartford Stage) while it garnered multiple nominations in the other awards programs. Among actors that all agreed were worthy (besides almost the entire cast of Hello, Dolly) were Kevin Kline (Present Laughter), Danny DeVito (The Price) Laura Linney (The Little Foxes), Patti Lupone (War Paint), Christine Ebersole (War Paint), Andy Karl (Groundhog Day), Laurie Metcalf (A Doll’s House–Part 2), Johanna Day (Sweat), Richard Thomas (The Little Foxes), Jenn Colella (Come from Away), and Mary Beth Piel (Anastasia). You can see the entire lists of each of these at 2ontheaisle.wordpress.com.
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.