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08/01/2019 12:01 AMDon’t Miss It: I am encouraging everyone who wants thoughtful theater to see Kander & Ebb’s The Scottsboro Boys at Playhouse on Park in West Hartford. The show runs through Sunday, Aug. 4, with an extra matinee on Saturday, Aug. 3. For tickets, visit playhouseonpark.org or call 860-523-5900 ext. 10.
Musical Evenings: Music Theatre of Connecticut in Norwalk is presenting this summer a series of Saturday evening concert/cabarets featuring American popular standards. On Saturday, Aug. 3 it’s Jeff Harnard (an award-winning cabaret performer) with The 1959 Broadway Songbook; Saturday, Aug. 10 is Willy Falk with Mostly Love; Saturday, Aug. 17 is Natalie Douglas with Sammy-the Songs of Sammy Davis Jr.; and Saturday, Aug. 24 Mark Nadler (another winner of numerous cabaret awards ) performs Cole Porter After Dark. For tickets, visit musictheatreofct.com.
Coming Home: TheaterWorks will be returning to its own theater—but bigger, more comfortable, and better this fall. The 2019-’20 season includes the drama American Son, The Who and the What by Pulitzer Prize-winner Ayad Ahktar, The Cake by Bekah Brunsletter, and the Tony award-winning musical Fun Home. One show will be announced later, as will the dates for each show.
Wilkommen: Ivoryton Playhouse is welcoming everyone to Cabaret opening on Wednesday, Aug. 7 through Sunday, Sept. 1. This award winning Kander & Ebb musical about a seedy cabaret in 1931 Berlin as Hitler was coming to power has proven relevant in any decade since its premier in the 1960s. For tickets, visit invorytonplayhouse.org or call 860-767-77318
Two Family Favorites: Take a drive into northwest Connecticut (it is gorgeous countryside) to see Sharon Playhouse’s last two musicals of the summer. Beauty and the Beast runs through Sunday, Aug. 4. Following is Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat, which runs Friday, Aug. 9 to Saturday, Aug. 24. For tickets, visit SharonPlayhouse.org.
Added Performances: Goodspeed has added six performances for Because of Winn Dixie. It will now run through Thursday, Sept. 5. From Tuesday, Sept. 3 to Thursday, Sept. 5, there will be two performances each day. For tickets, visit goodspeed.org.
NY Notes: Two long-running musicals have announced closing dates: Beautiful-the Carol King Musical will close Oct. 27 after nearly 2,500 performances. The national tour will continue and a film version is in the works. Waitress, the Sarah Bareilles musical, will close on Jan. 5 after about 1,600 performances. Again, the tour will continue.
Jake Gyllenhaal and Tom Sturridge are bringing Sea Wall/A Life to Broadway after a successful off-Broadway runs last spring. The show officially opens Thursday, Aug. 8. Each man performs a one-character, one-act play.
Apparently Paul McCartney is following in the footsteps of several other British stars (Elton John to name one) and is writing a musical. It’s a version of It’s a Wonderful Life. At least one other musical of the popular film exists; it has lyrics by Sheldon Harnick and music by Joe Raposo. It was performed several years ago at Goodspeed.
Slave Play, a controversial and well received off-Broadway play, is moving to the Big White Way this fall. Performances will begin Tuesday, Sept. 10 at the Golden Theatre. It’s described as “Fear and desire entwine as three couples navigate the complicated meaning of race, history, gender, and sexuality in 21st-century America.”
Tom Hiddleston (The Avengers series) is making his Broadway debut in the revival of Harold Pinter’s Betrayal. Performances begin Wednesday, Aug. 14. Charlie Cox and Zawe Ahton complete the three-person cast.
Coming to PBS: You can see Broadway productions at home thanks to the Great Performances series on PBS. Starting in November, the following shows will air (sometimes in the London production but featuring American performers in the main roles: 42nd Street, The King & I (with Kelli O’Hara and Ken Wantanbe), the play Red, Shakespeare in the Park’s Much Ado about Nothing, and the London production of the Tony-winning Kinky Boots. These usually air on Friday evenings.
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 the Connecticut Critics Circle, New York’s Outer Critics Circle and the American Theatre Critics Association.