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08/17/2017 12:01 AMLots of Musical Bios: Seven Angels Theatre in Waterbury has planned a 2017-’18 season that is heavy on musicals and in particular musical bios, but the season starts with The Male Intellect: An Oxymoron? (Thursday, Sept. 21 to Sunday, Oct. 15), which is billed as a combination of theater and stand-up comedy. Next up is Million Dollar Quartet (Thursday, Oct. 26 to Sunday, Nov. 19) about the night that Elvis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis had a jam session. Then from Feb. 15 to March 11 is Red Hot Mama: The Sophie Tucker Story (by the way, Tucker was born in Hartford). From April 5 to 29 is a comedy, Second Chance, about a widower moving to assisted living and finding romance. The season ends with The Wanderer (May 17 to June 17) about Dion DiMucci, better known as Dion, a ’60s rock and roll star. For tickets, call 203-757-4676 or visit sevenangelstheatre.org.
Nutcracker Composer: Everyone knows The Nutcracker, a ballet holiday staple. Now you can learn more about its composer, Tchaikovsky (he actually wrote a great deal more than just that) at Our Great Tchaikovsky, at Hartford Stage, Saturday, Aug. 19 to Sunday, Aug. 27. Hershey Felder, a pianist, actor, and playwright, developed and performs this piece, which won acclaim in San Diego. Felder has performed at Hartford Stage in his shows George Gershwin Alone and Monsieur Chopin. For tickets, visit hartforrdstage.org.
Opening Long Wharf’s Season: Instead of a local production, Long Wharf is presenting the premier of the national tour of Small Mouth Sounds by Bess Wohl and directed by Tony-nominee Rachel Chavkin (Natasha Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812). It runs Wednesday, Aug. 30 through Sunday, Sept. 24 at Stage II. The Obie-award winning play is described in press materials thusly: “In the overwhelming quiet of the woods, six runaways from city life embark on a silent retreat. As these strangers confront internal demons both profound and absurd, their vows of silence collide with the achingly human need to connect.” For tickets, visit longwharf.org or call 203-787-428.
Long Wharf News: It hasn’t exactly been a great summer for Long Wharf productions and director Gordon Edelstein. The production of Napoli, Brooklyn, which began at Long Wharf last spring, moved to Roundabout’s Laura Pels Theatre in New York City. The off-Broadway production got tepid reviews and, despite the Roundabout having a huge subscription base, is closing a week early. And now the rumors are true: Steve Martin’s new play, Meteor Showers, which was at Long Wharf last fall directed by Edelstein, will open on Broadway officially Nov. 29, but the show has a new director, Jerry Zaks, and an entirely new cast: Amy Schumer, Laura Benanti, Alan Tudyk, and Keegan-Michael Key.
A New Scrooge: Hartford Stage has announced that Michael Preston will be Scrooge in its annual production of A Christmas Carol–A Ghost Story of Christmas. Bill Raymond, who had played the part for most of its 19 years, retired from the role last year. Preston has been in the cast for six years playing Mr. Marvel. The show will start performances Nov. 24. Tickets are available at Hartfordstage.org.
New York Notes: Tickets are now on sale for Farinelli and the King, which will star Mark Rylance, a three-time Tony winner. It will begin performances Dec. 5 for a limited run through March 18. The play won raves in London. It’s inspired by the story of the Italian castrati opera singer in the 1730s. Telecharge is handling tickets. The Band’s Visit, a musical based on an independent film will move from off-Broadway where it won raves last winter to Broadway this fall. Tony Shalhoub and Katrina Lenk will reprise their roles. Music is by David Yazbek. It begins performances Oct. 7. Tickets are through Telecharge. Ayad Akhtar’s new play Junk will begin performances Oct. 5 at Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theater. Productions of Akhtar’s plays Disgraced and The Invisible Hand have won acclaim in Connecticut. Steven Pasquale stars and former Long Wharf Artistic Director Doug Hughes directs.
Midler’s Final Bow: Bette Midler will leave Hello, Dolly! on Jan. 14. The show has been selling out and getting premium prices with Midler; when she was on vacation for a week, attendance and prices fell sharply even though Tony winner Donna Murphy took over. By the way, Murphy got fabulous reviews for her performance. But can the show survive without Midler?
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.