“The critic has to educate the public; the artist has to educate the critic.”
From the rising of the sun to the setting of the same, Disney’s The Lion King musical is brought to life in fantastic fashion at The Bushnell’s enchanting Mortensen Hall. This production makes it clear that no matter how familiar a story is, there’s always potential to create awe in young and elderly alike. Produced by Peter Schneider and Thomas Schumacher and directed by Julie Taymor, this musical taps into the heart of the African culture surrounding the original and timeless story.
Read MoreHeartBeat Ensemble offers us a peek, even if only by way of musings, into the lives of James Baldwin and Lorraine Hansberry in Jimmy & Lorraine. The convergence of art, love, and politics is a camp fire by which Black revolutionaries sat in the company of other brilliant, bar-raising, freedom-fighting, creative spirits. We honor their contributions and all of their sacrifices in the fight that should not have been— in their tenacity in keeping the baton of the struggle for longer than anyone should ever have to embody the vitriol of vehement and baseless rejection. We’ve gone as far as romanticizing the fight, given its own resilience. But, Jimmy & Lorraine romanticizes the sacrificial lives of two of Black History’s own in a new way. This production imagines what the love and camaraderie between these two civil rights visionaries could have been in a visual salve that attempts to heal the wounds created by the relentless battles they fought for a better America.
Read More“He who fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster.” — Nietzsche
Hartford Stage sets ablaze the black and white notion of good and evil with a shrill and provocative interpretation of Dr.Jekyll & Mr.Hyde. This production, under the direction of Melia Bensussen, opens Hartford Stage’s 24/25 season with Robert Louis Stevenson’s Dr. Henry Jekyll and Mr. Edward Hyde like you’ve never seen them before. This iteration of Stevenson’s gothic psychological thriller warns us of the danger of labeling the worst of humanity in ways that shelves our own innate propensity for darkness.
Read MoreTheaterWorks Hartford kicks off its 24/25 season with a gripping production of Jeffrey Leiber’s Fever Dreams, directed by Rob Ruggiero. Set present day, somewhere in the Pacific Northwest, Fever Dreams pulls at the threading of the ties that bind in the tangled mess that is the connection between characters. This production explores the emotional range of grief, and the animalistic tendencies of human survival that give truth to the idea that, “it's not love on which the strongest foundations are built. It's the decency of merciful lies.”
Read MoreCenter Stage Theatre’s production of RENT, directed by Liz Muller, captures the timelessness of the original production, reminding us of all the things that truly matter in a world that seems set on actively contributing to the tear in the fabric of humanity. The story, set in New York City’s East Village in the late 80s to early 90s, tackles themes that still resonate today. Themes of love, life, hopelessness, and collective loneliness permeate the production, while characters with vibrant dreams and relatable gripes battle mental and emotional turbulence, as well as addiction and illness.
Read MoreHartford Stage presents Tony Award-winning playwright Lisa Kron’s 2.5 Minute Ride, directed by Zoë Golub-Sass. This story fuses a retrospective exploration of Lisa’s history by way of her father’s life with happenings from her family’s present. 2.5 Minute Ride is an emotional rollercoaster that allows us to try on a lens of personalized grief to view stories we only received glimpses of though the histories we’ve heard recounted over and over again— but with an understanding that life goes on despite all those things “we thought we could walk alway from.”
Read MoreTheaterworks Hartford’s production of Sandra, directed by Jared Mezzocchi, is a masterpiece of a love story, where love, as we know it, is as rare and elusive as the “birds that never show up if you go out looking for it.” Sandra is a one-woman psychological thriller that plays like a cautionary tale of the dangers of the impulsivities surrounding our restlessness.
Read MoreShelton Connecticut’s Center Stage Theatre presents a laugh-out-loud funny production of The Play The Goes Wrong directed by Betsy Kelso. With an Inception-like depth, The Play That Goes Wrong is a play within a play where the cast and crew’s ‘who dun it’ becomes a ‘who’s doing what’ as the lights and sound glitch, the set falls apart, and roles are confused. This production is a picture of Murphy’s Law where everything that could possibly go wrong absolutely did.
Read MoreThe borrowed lives of American immigrants are honored in the visually stunning and remarkably layered story that is Sanctuary City. TheaterWorks Hartford, in partnership with Long Wharf Theatre, presents Sanctuary City, written by Martyna Majok and directed by Jacob G. Padrón and Pedro Bermúdez.
Set in Newark, New Jersey on the heels of 9/11, this production plays on the non-linear nature of memory, exposing excerpts of two intertwined lives in a fragmented back-and-forth as they recall defining moments of their connection. As Dreamers with an acute awareness of the disconnect that exists between them and the country they call home, B and G are tasked with the impossible—planning for their respective futures in a place that is provisional at best, without the security of belonging.
Read MoreRepresentation matters in all things and we all want choices—chief among those options is the desire to choose who and where we call home. Hartford Stage transforms into a house on a journey to becoming a home for the characters of The Hot Wing King. This play, written by Katori Hall and directed by Christopher D. Betts explores themes of Black masculinity, love, identity and home in a heart-warming and comical production that ushers audiences through every emotion from frustration to joy. Hall asks us to set down our ideals and beliefs of what home and love should look like to see the humanity in a twice-marginalized group of people. If you focus enough on the heart of the characters, you might be able to find yourself in their shoes.
Read MoreLong Wharf Theatre transforms New Haven’s Canal Dock Boat House for their run of Arthur Miller’s A View From the Bridge, directed by James Dean Palmer. What we see is a classic tale of hope and betrayal unfolding against the collaborative backdrop of set design and nature. The brilliance of the production is heightened by the choice of venue, and theater goers are in for an incredible experience all around.
Read MoreOne man’s trash is another man’s mongo. Lindsay Joelle’s The Garbologists, set in the streets of New York, brings us through the grime of the other circle of life—the lifespan of a person’s stuff by way of that cycle’s end. This play champions themes of grief, invisibility, and the value of the discarded; from the people that society doesn’t have the eyes to see, to the things that make them luminous. Theaterworks Hartford’s intimate playhouse sets the stage for the unboxing of truths for sanitation workers across the nation as told by Danny and Marlowe.
Read MoreSimona’s Search is a deep dive into the languages of trauma that inspires us to take a more thorough look at how the pains of our past might be showing up in our present, and against our future. Playwright Martín Zimmerman’s words are the foundation for a beautifully layered production, under the direction of Melia Bensussen, set in the passage of time itself—by way of the lifespan of a memory. Hartford Stage’s theater transforms into what looks like a very simple set, compounded by time-moving projections, to bring us the captivating exposition of Simona’s Search—a story open-ended enough for each audience member to plug themselves into it, walking a mile in Simona’s shoes, or that of her father. This production successfully brings theatergoers into the fold.
Read MoreHertfordshire descends upon Hartford in this rendition of Kate Hamill’s adaptation of Jane Austen’s classic Pride and Prejudice put on by The Hartford Stage. The Regency receives a breathtaking reimagining in this production, fusing the old-world charm of a 1700s parlor with the vibrant Spanish-style decor of this "radical adaptation." Director Tatyana-Marie Carlo’s vision is a theatrical delight as she fortifies Austen’s place among the greats, confirming that the relevance of Pride and Prejudice goes beyond the propriety of the era in which it was first penned— it transcends tradition.
Read MoreWho needs enemies when you have a group of friends like that of Charlie and Myra Brock? Neil Simon’s “Rumors,” directed by Rob Esposito, shakes up Shelton, Connecticut's Center Stage Theatre. This uproarious production delves into the chaos and intrigue of an anniversary dinner party that quickly spirals out of control. In a world where the lives of the upper-class are examined through a lens of comedy, "Rumors" successfully reveals the double-edged nature of close friendships, where your nearest allies can become your fiercest foes.
Read MoreThe story of Jesus is a tale-as-old-as-time and it’s easy to lose the message of the cross and to relegate it to religion and or historical politics. The 12, ultimately refocuses that crucifixion story in a way that reminds us all what the purpose of the sacrifice was from the start —us.
Read MoreThe classics became classics at a time long before we had a say in what we liked. Much of what circulates in the literary world was forced on us in high school classrooms before the themes could take proper root in our lives— that includes the works of Jane Austen.
Read MoreRepresentation of Hispanic and Latine culture in the arts is a labor of love, according to Caraballo, one that she and the rest of the team gladly take on. Viva Broadway asks questions that can only be answered by time and progress. Among those questions are, what can the stories of Hispanic and Latine culture add to the culture of theater that Hispanic and Latine people can’t deliver themselves?
Read MoreThe recurrence of the perfect sandwich discussion, amid their respective and communal trials, is like a trick candle, reigniting each time we think their hope has been put out. The war between their “we leave the pain in the pan” and Clyde’s “don’t get too high on hope” resonates with us all.
You can catch a showing of Clyde’s at Theaterworks Hartford , extended through August 5th.
Read MoreBandstand shouts the boys are back in town. The progression of camaraderie through sadness and terror, the timely funny moments popping up again and again makes us feel like we are part of the show. This feel-good story is our hope for all of our soldiers that come back home, that there’s friendship, joy, and love to be found in their second act— despite what we know to be true.
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