Comedians, musicals and family favorites hit the stage
Spring is a time of newness, rebirth, brightness and joy, and Connecticut’s theaters are happy to accommodate.
Some shows are well-timed to the end of the school year, like the pride-filled high school-set musical “The Prom” or the perenially popular “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.” Others seem like precursors of the spring concert season, with whole musicals built around the songs of Tina Turner, The Temptations, Alanis Morissette and Gloria Estefan, and children’s shows proliferate, most of them bringing hit TV shows or movies to life with big colorful costumes or puppets.
Here are some of the top theater events to watch out for this spring in Connecticut.
Family favorites
There’s a spate of stage versions of popular kids’ TV shows such as the “Blippi: the Wonderful World Tour” on March 24 at 6 p.m. at the Warner Theatre in Torrington (warnertheatre.org) and “Bluey’s Big Play” at the Oakdale Theater in Wallingford March 25 and 26. (livenation.com).
For young readers, Playhouse on Park has a new show based on the classic children’s book Dandelion on April 25 through May 14 as part of the world premiere of its Theater for Young Audiences series (playhouseonpark.org), and Downtown Cabaret in Bridgeport has a fresh adaptation of “The Wizard of Oz” April 8 through May 21 (dtcab. com).
Stage versions of big cartoon movies include “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” (based on the Disney version, with songs by Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz) May 5-21 at Opera House Players in Enfield (operahouseplayers.org) and the jumpy animal story “Madagascar the Musical” May 20 at the Shubert Theater in New Haven (shubert.com).
While the school year is still in session, the Garde Arts Center in New London has several more shows in its SchoolTime Performance Series: “Junie B’s Survival Guide to School” and “The Lightning Thief ” on May 11 and “The Magic School Bus” on May 19 (gardearts.org).
New shows bloom in springtime
There are readings, world premieres, workshops and other events intended to shift new writing from the page to the stage.
Music Theatre of Connecticut in Norwalk has “New Voices Playreading” events for two local playwrights: Robert Schneider’s “Heading Out” on March 21, and Jack Rushen’s “Taming the Lion” on April 11 (musictheatreofct.com).
The Legacy Theatre in Branford has the world premiere of a new play about pro wrestling, “Masters of Puppets,” on May 25 through
June 11, with an all-star cast including Amanda Detmer, Dana Ashbrook, Kurt Fuller and Michael Hogan (legacytheatrect.org).
Playhouse on Park in West Hartford offers the premiere of Jacqueline Bircher’s new play about vulgar words and the people who define them called “Webster’s Bitch,” which the playhouse developed previously with a public reading. The show runs May 31 through June 18. (playhouseonpark.org)
The Westport Country Playhouse (westportplayhouse.org) has expanded its long-running Script in Hand playreading series with a spin-off series called “Mic in Hand,” which lets performers develop their own one-person shows. First up is Ari Axelrod’s “A Place for Us: A Celebration of Jewish Broadway” on May 15. The June 12 Script in Hand playreading is a new version of the Agatha Christie mystery “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd,” adapted by Mark Shanahan. There’s also a yet-tobe-announced new play being read on June 5 under a whole other series, “New Works at the Playhouse.”
At the end of spring, the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in Waterford starts up its 2023 conferences of theater creators. First on the calendar is the National Puppetry Conference June 2-11 (theoneill.org/pup).
Music to your ears
Musical theater gets more joyous in springtime, anchored by national tours featuring female pop stars, including “On Your Feet! The Story of Emilio & Gloria Estefan” March 23-26 at the Shubert Theater in New Haven (shubert.com) and “Tina: The Tina Turner Musical” April 11-16 at The Bushnell in Hartford (bushnell. org). The musical based on Alanis Morissette’s album “Jagged Little Pill” is at The Bushnell May 9-14 (bushnell.org).
Male pop stars join the Bushnell schedule on May 30 through June 4 with the musical “Ain’t Too Proud” about The Temptations and written by acclaimed playwright Dominique Morisseau (bushnell.org).
The impressive national tour of “Jesus Christ Superstar” comes to the Shubert Theater April 21-23, just a couple of weeks after Easter (shubert.com).
The small Chestnut Street Playhouse in Norwich is doing the recent Broadway hit “The Prom,” appropriately scheduling it during high school prom season, April 13-30 (chestnutstreetplayhouse. org), while another local amateur company, Center Stage in Shelton, has a different school-centered musical, “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” June 15-25 (centerstageshelton.org).
Ridgefield’s ACT of CT marks spring with the musical version of the classic children’s story “The Secret Garden” May 18 through June 11 (actofct. org).
Somewhat less thematically geared to spring, but no less lively: a national tour of “Fiddler on the Roof ” at Waterbury Palace April 15 and 16 (palacetheaterct. org) and a homegrown production of the musical “Cabaret” April 21-May 21 at Downtown Cabaret (dtcab.com). The Christmas-set “Rent” is the big spring musical at UConn’s Connecticut Repertory Theatre April 20-`30 (crt. uconn.edu). The theater is staging it in its smaller Nafe Katter Theater space rather than the grander Jorgensen Theater where it usually puts its musicals.
Westport Country Playhouse has a lively revival of the Fats Waller revue
“Ain’t Misbehavin’”
April 11-29 (westportplay house.org), a co-production with Barrington Stage in Massachusetts, which staged it last summer.
A modern immersive music theater work about water, “Ocean Filibuster” by Katie Pearl and Pearl Damour, has its Connecticut premiere May 4-6 at the Wesleyan Center for the Arts (wesleyan.edu).
Small local theater
companies are getting creative in June, with Brookfield Theatre for the Arts doing the musical comedy political economics lesson “Urinetown” June 9-24 (brookfieldtheatre.org), New Britain’s Connecticut Theatre Co. is going Go-Gos over “Head Over Heels” June 9-25 (connecticuttheatrecompany.org). The adventurous Hole in the Wall Theatre in New Britain is attempting Ntozake Shange’s classic “for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf ” June 16 through July 1 (hitw.org).
Finally, spring is when Goodspeed Musicals begins its main season at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam. “Gypsy,” the classic musical about stripper Gypsy Rose Lee and her indomitable stage mother Rose, is at the Opera House April 28-June 18 (goodspeed. org). Goodspeed Musicals is also reopening its Norma Terris Theater in Chester this year, where it develops new musicals through workshop productions.
From murder mysteries to class dramas
There are two local productions of the modern mystery “Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime” this spring: March 31 through April 16 at Little Theater of Manchester (cheneyhall.org) and
April 29 through May 7 at the Warner Theatre in Torrington (warnertheatre. org).
Hartford Stage is doing the non-springy Shakespeare play “The Winter’s Tale” April 13 through
May 7 (hartfordstage.org). It’s one of the bard’s more intriguing blends of drama and comedy and is directed by Hartford Stage’s artistic director Melia Bensussen.
TheaterWorks Hartford exhibits the time-shifting, mind-expanding Jessica Dickey play “The Rembrandt” April 21May 14 (twhartford.org).
Yale Rep ends its 202223 season with Christina Anderson’s “the ripple, the wave that carried me home,” a Black family-based drama set in the American midwest in the 1990s.
Ivoryton Playhouse begins its 2023 season with Matthew Lopez’s great comedy about a reluctant drag queen, “The Legend of Georgia McBride”
April 6-30 (ivorytonplay house.org).
Drama Works Theatre, a small theater company in Old Saybrook that specializes in small-cast dramas, is doing Lee Blessing’s “Independence” April 28-May 7 (dramaworkstheatre.org).
Several classic dramas are being staged this season: “On Golden Pond” at Ivoryton Playhouse
May 18-June 11 (ivoryton playhouse.org), the Black backstage drama “Trouble in Mind” directed by Christopher Betts May 25 through June 18 at Hartford Stage (hartfordstage. org) and the thriller “Dial M for Murder” May 30 through June 17 at Westport Country Playhouse (westportplayhouse.org).
From June 9-18, Madison Lyric Stage is tackling Tony Kushner’s epic “Angels in America Part 1: Millennium Approaches” at Madison Lyric Stage (madisonlyricstage.org).
The actor/writer Chazz Palminteri continues to tour the original one-man version of his “A Bronx Tale,” which later became a movie and a musical. He’s at Ridgefield Playhouse on June 4 (ridgefieldplayhouse.org).
Dance scene springs into action
Playhouse on Park in West Hartford has a resident dance company, Stop Time Dance, which gets a multi-week run of “Stop Time Dance Machine” March 22 through April 2 (playhouseonpark.org).
UConn’s Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts welcomes the touring company of the legendary Martha Graham Dance Company March 23 ( jorgensen.uconn.edu). Ballet Hispanico is at Ridgefield Playhouse March 26 (ridgefieldplay house.org). The National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica is at the Shubert Theater in New Haven June 2 and 3 (shubert.com).
Spring is also the time for student and faculty dance concerts. Wesleyan University has one of the best dance programs in Connecticut: Its spring senior thesis dance concert is March 22, its spring faculty dance concerts happen April 7 and 8 and its spring student dance concerts are April 21-22 (wesleyan.edu).
West Hartford’s Ballet Theatre Company has two shows at The Bushnell in Hartford this spring: a new staging of the ballet “Cinderella” on April 29 and 30 (dancebtc.org). Connecticut Ballet, which is based in Hartford and Stamford, dances “Coppelia” at The Bushnell on
May 20 and 21 (connecticut ballet.org).
It’s not exactly dance, but the percussive movement sensation “Stomp” is at the Waterbury Palace on
April 30 (palacetheaterct. org).
Ladies of laughter
Many of the top standups visiting the state this spring are women: Pinky Patel on March 24 at Ridgefield Playhouse (ridgefieldplayhouse.org), Kathleen Madigan on March 31 at Foxwoods Great Cedar Showroom (foxwoods. com), Massachusetts-based comic Jess Miller at Playhouse on Park on April 8 (playhouseon
park.org), the podcast team Girls Gotta Eat on April 15 at College Street Music Hall (collegestreetmusichall.com), Rita Rudner on April 26 at Ridgefield Playhouse (ridgefieldplayhouse.org) and the Ladies of Laughter tour on June 10 at the Warner Theatre in Torrington (warnertheatre. org).
Fans of the original American “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” improv series have a happy spring, with two tours featuring key members : “Whose Live
Anyway?” with Ryan Stiles, Greg Proops, Jeff B. Davis and Joel Murray on April 27 at Norwalk’s Wall Street Theater (wallstreettheater. com) and the ever-touring pair of Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood on April 29 at Ridgefield Playhouse (ridgefieldplayhouse.org).
Other top names in comedy heading our way include Shawn Wayans, April 7-8 at the Funny Bone in Manchester (hartford. funnybone.com), and three big shows at Foxwoods Resort Casino (foxwoods. com): Steve Martin and Martin Short May 12 and 14, Trevor Noah on May 26 and 27 and Kevin James on June 9.
Magic and illusions abound
The bizarre spooky/ funny storytelling podcast “Welcome to Night Vale” brings its latest live show, “The Haunting of Night Vale,” to College Street Music Hall in New Haven on April 30 (collegestreet musichall.com). It is the last date on the tour.
The Gazillion Bubble Show is at Ridgefield Playhouse on April 30 (ridgefieldplayhouse.org), Michael Moschen, whose juggling prowess earned him a McArthur “genius grant,” is also at the Ridgefield Playhouse on May 7, and illusionist Michael Grandinetti is at the Shubert Theater in New Haven on May 12 (shubert.com).