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06/22/2017 12:01 AMYou Are Invited: Each year the Connecticut Critics Circle awards program has gotten bigger and better—and it’s free! So if you are a theater lover, put this date on your calendar: Monday, June 26 at 7:30 p.m. at Edgerton Auditorium on the Sacred Heart University campus in Fairfield. Multiple-Tony-nominee Terrence Mann is hosting.
Connecticut Theater Nominations: With the awards ceremony in two weeks (see above item), the Connecticut Critics Circle has announced its list of award nominees. More than 45 productions were eligible from the theaters that produce works (rather than simply promote touring shows). TheaterWorks’ production of Next to Normal received the most nominations (10) including best musical, competing with Assassins (Yale), Bye, Bye Birdie (Goodspeed), Man of La Mancha (Ivoryton), and West Side Story (Summer Theatre of New Canaan). Westport’s production of The Invisible Hand received seven nominations including best play. Others in that category were The Comedy of Errors (Hartford Stage), Mary Jane (Yale), Scenes from Court Life (Yale), and Midsummer (TheaterWorks.) For a list of all nominees, visit 2ontheaisle.wordpress.com
Tony Wrap-Up: It was a Dear Evan Hansen night winning best musical and Tonys for the leading actor and supporting actress, but it wasn’t a run-away. Christopher Ashley took the Tony for directing the musical Come from Away, and Bette Midler and Gavin Creel won Tonys for Hello, Dolly! which was also the best musical revival. The play Tonys were more scattered. Oslo was best play, Rebecca Taichman best director for Indecent and acting awards went to Laurie Metcalf (A Doll’s House-Part 2), Cynthia Nixon (The Little Foxes), Kevin Kline (Present Laughter), and Michael Aronov (Oslo). August Wilson’s Jitney was named best revival.
Condensed Shakespeare: Playhouse on Park is closing its season with The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) from Wednesday, June 28 to Sunday, July 30. This is perfect for young people who have experienced a bit of Shakespeare or anyone who thinks the Bard is dull. It is 97-minute romp through all of his plays. It is funny even if you don’t know all the references. Two of the original authors have revised the show for 21st-century audiences. For tickets, visit playhouseonpark.org or call 860-523-5900 x10.
New Productions: The Broadway season has just ended, but the 2017-’18 is already starting. Napoli, Brooklyn will open officially at Roundabout’s Laura Pels Theatre on Tuesday, June 27. Only a few of the Long Wharf cast remain with the production. Just opening on Broadway is a play based on George Orwell’s 1984. Tom Sturridge, Olivia Wilde, and Reed Birney star in this adaptation. Tickets are available at Telecharge. Opening Thursday, June 29 is the Broadway premiere of Marvin’s Room, which I saw many years ago here in Connecticut. It’s another Roundabout production this time at the American Airlines Theatre. Tickets are at roundabouttheatre.org. Off-Broadway, the Irish Rep presents Aran Islands adapted from works by John Millington Synge as well as the Woody Guthrie musical Woody Sez, which had a successful run at TheaterWorks.
Controversy: New York Public Theater opened its first production in Central Park this year, and the response was immediate and controversial. The play is Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, which has often been adapted to make references to current events. I remember a fascinating production at the American Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford in the ‘70s in which it was set in a South American dictatorship with Julius Caesar as the dictator. In this production, Caesar bears a striking resemblance to President Trump. That caused the controversy with some believing that the production is encouraging his assassination. The Public Theater released the following statement in response: “We stand completely behind our production of Julius Caesar. We recognize that our interpretation of the play has provoked heated discussion; audiences, sponsors, and supporters have expressed varying viewpoints and opinions. Such discussion is exactly the goal of our civicly-engaged theater; this discourse is the basis of a healthy democracy. Our production of Julius Caesar in no way advocates violence toward anyone. Shakespeare’s play, and our production, make the opposite point: those who attempt to defend democracy by undemocratic means pay a terrible price and destroy the very thing they are fighting to save. For over 400 years, Shakespeare’s play has told this story and we are proud to be telling it again in Central Park.” The fallout has been that several major corporations have withdrawn their support of the theater. I remember the MacBird play of the ‘60s in which MacBeth was recast as President Lyndon Johnson and First Lady Lady Bird was Lady MacBeth. In 2012, the respected Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis had a production with an Obama-like Caesar.
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.