Collective effort
New partnership with National Asian Theater Company will distinguish Long Wharf ’s final show in its permanent space
“Queen” is about women. “Queen” is about bees. Behind the scenes, it’s about new ways of working together.
The play by Madhuri Shekar marks the start of a new collaboration between the Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven and New York’s National Asian American Theatre Co., also known as NAATCO.
“Queen” — a play about two doctoral students who discover an error in a major paper on bee populations that they are about to publish — will also be the last regular show that the Long Wharf will produce at 222 Sargent Dr., the space it has called home since the company was founded in 1965.
Mia Katigbak, the founder and producing artistic director of NAATCO, is best known in Connecticut as an actor — she was in TheaterWorks Hartford’s internationally acclaimed virtual political drama “Russian Troll Farm,” the world premiere of “The Plot” at Yale Repertory Theatre and Long Wharf ’s production of the
Lucas Hnath hit “A Doll’s House Part 2.”
Katigbak is not performing in “Queen.” As part of NAATCO’s exciting new partnership with Long Wharf, she is one of its producers.
Katigbak says she and Long Wharf Artistic Director Jacob Padrón “laid the seeds for a partnership” a while ago.
They met when Padrón was senior line producer for, and Katigbak was starring in, the New York Public Theater’s all-Asian-American revival of “Awake and Sing” in 2015. By the time Padrón, who is also the founder of the Latinx theater initiative the Sol Project, took over the Long Wharf, Katigbak says, “I was already thinking of starting a partnership project.”
“Partnership” is a significant word here. Many theaters commonly enter into “co-productions,” which simply means sharing costs and resources for a show that will then play at more than one theater. Katigbak, whose company advocates for greater representation of Asian theater practitioners, is looking for
5:30 p.m. All the events are free. twhartford.org.
Summer in the city
Novelist Jennifer
Weiner, who grew in Simsbury and has written some of the best beach reads in recent years, has set her new book “The Summer Place” in Cape Cod.
There’s a beach house in it, an impending wedding and lots of good and bad family interactions. Weiner appears live at the Mark Twain House, 351 Farmington Ave., Hartford on May 17 at 7 p.m. to discuss “The Summer Place” and her other works. $35, $30 Mark
Twain House members. marktwainhouse.org.
Queen bees
“Queen” by Madhuri Shekar is about women scientists, the environment and bees. The bees also serve as a metaphor for humans. May 17 through June 5 at the Long Wharf Theatre, 222 Sargent Dr., New Haven. Performances are Tuesday through Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m., plus a Wednesday matinee May 25 at 2 p.m. $59, $10 students. longwharf.org.
Osborne and Greene
Two accomplished singer-songwriters, each with over a dozen albums to their name — Anders Osborne (“Louisiana Gold”) and Jackie Greene (“Honey I Been Thinking About You”) — have teamed up for a pair of concerts, one at each of the two Infinity Halls May 18 at 8 p.m. at 20 Greenwoods Road West, Norfolk ($55$75), and May 22 at 8 p.m. at 32 Front St., Hartford ($48-$58). infinityhall. com.
Spring jazz
Melinda Rose Rodriguez, a Miami-based jazz singer who’s appeared on “The Voice,” does two sets for the Spring Jazz series at the Palace Theater, 100 East Main St., Waterbury on May 20 at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m., $32. palacetheaterct. org.
Poetic chorale
It’s Hartford Chorale’s 50th anniversary, and the ensemble is marking the occasion by premiering a new work commissioned from Connecticut composer Scott Perkins called “Alive Poems: Stories of Our American Heritage.” Also being sung are works by Brahms and Vaughan Williams. The chorale will be accompanied by the Hartford Symphony Orchestra. The show takes place May 20 at 8 p.m. at The Bushnell, 166 Capitol Ave., Hartford. $33-$71. bushnell.org.
Funny times five
Foxwoods is the funniest place to be this week. On May 20 at 8 p.m., Mike Epps (from the “Friday” and “Hangover” movie series) and B. Simone are at Foxwoods’ Premier Theater ($32-$92) while Kareem Green is at the Centrale Fox Tower ($10), which has comedy from 8 to 10 p.m. On May 21 at 8 p.m., Nikki Glaser, who has a new reality show about moving back in with her parents, is at Foxwoods’ Great Cedar Showroom ($40), while both Kareem Green and John Moses are at Centrale Fox Tower. foxwoods.com.
Golden ticket
“Oompa loompa doompety doo! I’ve got a perfect puzzle for you.” The Broadway version of the musical “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” which played The Bushnell back in early 2019, returns to Connecticut for a weekend May 20-22 at the Oakdale. Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 1 and 7 p.m. and Sunday at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. $24.50-$89.50. concerts.livenation.com.
En pointe
There are two days of kid-friendly Eastern Ballet concerts, May 21 and 22, at the Garde Arts Center, 325 State St., New London. On Saturday, young dancers do “The Magic Doll Shop” at 1:30 p.m. ($15) and an “All-School Performance” at 5 p.m. ($30, $20 children). On Sunday at 1 p.m. is an adaptation of the children’s book “Ballerina Swan” ($22-$42). gardearts.org.