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09/13/2018 12:01 AMIt All Comes Falling Down: The Broadway show, The Play that Goes Wrong is at the Bushnell, Tuesday, Sept. 25 through Sunday, Sept. 30. The premise is simple: a group of not-very-talented college and community actors are putting on a murder mystery. Everything goes wrong—more and more wrong, including parts of the set falling down, people running into things, and more. For those who like broad, almost-Burlesque style humor, it is very funny. For tickets, visit Bushnell.org or call 860-987-6000.
Ready, Set, Go: Hartford Stage is the first of Connecticut’s regional theaters to open its new seasons. The world premiere of Make Believe begins previews tonight and will run through Sunday, Sept. 30. The play is by Bess Wohl, who wrote the award winning Small Mouth Sounds that opened Long Wharf’s season last year. As the press materials describes it, Make Believe is “set in the 1980s, [it] follows four young siblings as their childhood is upended by the mysterious problems of the adults in their lives and tracks how moments from our childhood resonate with us forever.” For tickets, visit hartfordstage.org or call 860-527-5151.
Rehearsals Underway: Goodspeed is in rehearsals for its final main stage show of the year, the Tony-winning The Drowsy Chaperone, which runs Friday, Sept. 21 through Sunday, Nov. 25. This delightful show is a valentine to old-time musicals told in a whimsical and respectful way. Among the cast are a number of Goodspeed veterans including John Scherer, Jay Aubrey Jones, Tim Falter, and Jennifer Allen. A variety of special events including a ticket and drink special for the first performance, kids nights (this is a good show for kids), meet the cast performances, and many other are scheduled. For information on these or tickets, visit goodspeed.org or call the box office at 860-873-8668.
More Peter Pan: Playhouse on Park in West Harford is celebrating the start of its 10th season with Peter and the Starcatcher, which is described as a prequel to Peter Pan. This show uses a small cast and some ingenious stagecraft to tell the story, which is suitable for all ages. It runs through Sunday, Oct. 14. For tickets, call 860-523-5900 or visit playhouseonpark.org.
Broadway Discounts: You still have time to take advantage of New York City Broadway Weeks 2 for 1 ticket sales. A number shows are offering tickets (often with limitation as to dates) through Sunday, Sept. 16. Some of the shows that are offering at least some tickets are hits Come from Away, My Fair Lady, Aladdin, Anastasia, even Frozen, plus more. Visit NYCGo.com for info.
Saying Goodbye: The last weeks have been tough on theater lovers—too many outstanding contributors to the theater have died. If you have watched any of the live musicals on TV or the series Smash, it was thanks to producer Craig Zadan, who got NBC to do the first live TV musical, Sound of Music. He was also responsible for Bette Midler playing Mama Rose in Gypsy in a TV musical; he died at 69. The talented musical actress Barbara Harris, who starred in On a Clear Day You Can See Forever and The Apple Tree as well as movies and TV shows, was 83 when she passed away.
Four others have Connecticut ties. Neil Simon, who died at 91, opened a number of his shows in New Haven. Many are still staple of our state theaters; a production of Barefoot in the Park just closed at Sharon Playhouse.
South African actor Winston Ntshona originated the title role in Sizwe Banzi Is Dead and one of two characters in The Island (John Kani was the other). Both pieces were co-written by Athol Fugard. This production about apartheid had its American premiere at Long Wharf before it went to Broadway where Kani and Ntshona shared a Tony award for best actor.
Brian Murray, an actor whose name you may not know but if you were in the profession you admired, died at 80. Murray appeared many times in Connecticut most recently in Nöel Coward’s Song at Twilight, which was a joint production of Hartford Stage and Westport Country Playhouse. He was in the Broadway cast of Da and Noises Off. All of these will be sorely missed.
Carole Shelley, who originated the roles of Madame Morrible in Wicked and one of the Pigeon sisters in the Broadway, film, and TV series The Odd Couple, died at 79. She, too, appeared frequently in Connecticut including the American Shakespeare Festival in Stratford.
Another So-So Musical: The Broadway musical version of Pretty Woman may be doing great business for now, but this show is only enjoyable for those who really liked the film. In transferring to the stage, the producers/director tried to make the leading couple lookalikes for the movie’s stars, Richard Gere and Julia Roberts. It doesn’t work. Add to it uninteresting music, some costuming errors, and you have a show that even at a performance that saw many theater people attending got only tepid applause. I wish it had been so much better. But if you loved the movie, or you can get a discounted ticket, you will have a pleasant time. Tickets are available through ticketmaster.
New York Notes: Not much is opening on Broadway this fall that excites me. Do we need a “drama with music” version of King Kong, a jukebox show on the life of Cher? Some dramas seem interesting—Janet McTeer as Sarah Bernhardt in Bernhardt/Hamlet, a new adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird, the revival/revision of Torch Song Trilogy, and more. But off—Broadway seems more interesting. I’m looking forward to seeing Shaw’s Heartbreak House by the Shaw Project, a rare Lillian Hellman play, Day to Come, and more. Not only do these seem interesting, but the prices are lower.
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.