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Awards Season, Summer Stock Return

Awards Are Back: The Connecticut Critics Circle is holding an in-person award ceremony on Monday, June 27 at Long Wharf Theatre. The public is invited to attend the event, which honors the best in Connecticut’s Equity theaters. For more information or to attend the ceremony, visit the organization’s website CTCritics.org. The ceremony is free and the theater lovers are encouraged to attend.

Award Nominations: Long Wharf Theatre’s co-production of The Chinese Lady earned eight award nominations from the Connecticut Critics Circle including acting, directing, costumes, and outstanding production of a play. The Hartford Stage production of Lost in Yonkers also garnered eight nominations, with Long Wharf’s co-production of Dream House gaining six nominations, as did MCT’s production of Falsettoland; Westport Country Playhouse earned four for Next to Normal and four for Doubt and TheaterWorks’ outdoor presentation of Walden had four. Also getting four nominations was Goodspeed’s Cabaret, Playhouse of Park’s Five Guys Named Moe, and Ivoryton’s The Porch on Windy Hill. Ivoryton received three nominations for Star of Freedom, while Goodspeed got two nominations for It’s a Grand Night for Singing. The Tom Killen Award will be presented to Kevin Connors, artistic director of MTC in Norwalk, in recognition of his lifetime dedication to Connecticut theater. TheaterWorks and its Artistic Director Rob Ruggiero will receive a special award for its innovative productions during the pandemic.

Be transported: Summer Theater of New Canaan is returning with its annual musical in Waverly Park. The show, which runs Thursday, July 7 to Sunday, July 31, features outdoor seating. You’ll be transported to a Caribbean island for Once on This Island, a fairy tale of a peasant girl who saves a rich city boy from drowning. For tickets and more information, visit stonc.org.

Great for Summer: Sharon Playhouse, in Sharon, Connecticut, makes a perfect destination for a summer day’s outing. The scenery is beautiful, and the theater is small and quaint. Sharon Playhouse is planning a season that includes Guys & Dolls from July 29 to Aug. 14, Shear Madness from Aug. 27 to Sept. 11, and A Raisin in the Sun from Oct. 7 to 16, just in time for foliage season. For information or tickets, visit SharonPlayhouse.org.

Into the Berkshires: Day or overnight trips to the Berkshire can provide lovely scenery, shops (antiques and books), museums, and terrific theater. Barrington Stage Company, which performs mainly in Pittsfield, is offering two high-powered productions of classic musicals. Ain’t Misbehavin’, based on Fats Waller and the music he made famous or wrote, runs through Saturday, July 9. In August (6 to 28) it’s Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music, one of my favorite Sondheim musicals. In addition, Berkshire Theater Company, which offers productions in Pittsfield and Stockbridge; Shakespeare & Co. in Lenox; and Williamstown Theater Festival in Williamstown are all planning in-person productions.

World Premiere Comedy in Hartford: It’s unusual for the Bushnell to have a world premiere, but this summer the new Matthew Lombardo comedy When Playwrights Kill will run Monday, July 25 to Sunday, Aug. 7. The cast is top-notch, including Tony award-winners Harriet Harris and André De Shields as well as nominee Jeremy Jordan. It’s about a playwright, a difficult actress, an experienced director, and a play’s out-of-town production. For tickets, visit Bushnell.org.

O’Neill Center: See plays and musicals while they are still in development and discover new talents. The Eugene O’Neill Center in Waterford offers staged readings of six new works as part of its National Playwrights Conference Wednesday, June 22 to Thursday, July 14. Staged readings of three new musicals will be presented Saturday, July 16 to Friday, Aug. 5 including one by Broadway star Gavin Creel.

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, the League of Professional Theater Women and the American Theatre Critics Association.