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06/18/2020 12:01 AMNext Year: Ivoryton Playhouse has canceled its 2020 season. They hope the lights will be back on in 2021.
Shubert: The Shubert in New Haven is looking ahead to 2021. January is when its Broadway series will start. The four shows include Fiddler on the Roof (Feb. 28 to 28), Anastasia (April 30 to May 2), Waitress (June 4 to 6), and Hairspray (June 25 to 27. Tickets for the series are on sale at Shubert.com.
Virtual Camps: Elm Shakespeare Company (ESC) has moved its two camps online for this summer. Teen Camp is for those between 13 to 18; campers work with theater professionals. Each camper receives two private coaching session each week with an ESC artist. For children aged 7 to 12, Player’s Camp is a two-week program exploring Shakespeare. It runs Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. At the end of each week, there is a Shakespeare performance created with the ideas of each camper. The camps will be free to families of essential works or those unemployed. For information, visit elmshakespeare.org.
Long Wharf Reimagines Season: Long Wharf Theatre Artistic Director Jacob G. Padrón has developed a new concept for the 2020-’21 season. The season will celebrate New Haven in One City, Many Stages, which is described as “rooted in community partnerships, innovative and emergent programming, and productions in open spaces throughout New Haven.” Details of what this will look like were not announced. The press release added that the season “acknowledges the fatal devastation of a novel coronavirus and the virus of racism.”
Arts & Idea Festival Management: Shelley Quiala is the new executive director of the International Festival of Arts & Ideas. Tom Griggs and Liz Fisher, who have served as co-directors since 2017, are stepping down this year. Quiala has been vice president in programming, education, and community engagement at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in St. Paul, Minnesota. She also was at the Flint Hills Family Festival for more than 20 years.
No Surprise: It should not be a huge surprise that the Bushnell in Harford has announced that the first two productions in its 2020-’21 Broadway series are postponed or delayed. Wicked was scheduled to return in September; it has canceled its tour. Hadestown is postponing its national tour and the Bushnell’s October engagement will be rescheduled. Contact the Bushnell box office at 860-987-5900 for refunds, etc.
Theater Fix: The schedule of online theater events changes so rapidly that it is difficult to set up to date on specific events, but I can point out some of the most active online sites that you should check frequently to see the ever-changing calendars.
• Stars in the House and Plays in the House offer interviews, conversations, reunions of cast members and readings of musicals and shows. Stars in the House has new material at 2 and 8 p.m. daily. For both, visit starsinthehouse.com or actorsfund.org. Old episodes are also available.
• PBS (your public television channel) airs a number of Great Performance productions of Broadway and London plays and musicals. Some will stream on PBS.org.
• Check out Lincoln Center at Home which offers plays, musicals, and also ballets from the New York City Ballet and operas from the Met. Lincolncenter.org will let you go to your favorite.
• The IrishRep.org is offering a number of productions. There is a cost; after purchase, you are sent a link to the performance. Among those scheduled are the world premiere of The Gifts You Gave to the Dark as well as The Weir, The Irish and How They Got That Way, and Love, Noel, a cabaret-style program of Noel Coward’s songs and letters.
• Of course, you should check our local theaters; many are doing events including Goodspeed (Goodspeed.org) and TheaterWorks (TWHartford.org).
• One way to keep track is to visit Playbill.com frequently. It has a weekly calendar. Most things stay available for a limited time after the initial release.
• Most theaters have either YouTube channels or Facebook pages or both. Check them out for news.
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.