Goodspeed Musicals has released details of its 12th annual Goodspeed Festival of New Musicals, held Jan. 13-15 at the Goodspeed Opera House and the next-door Gelston House in East Haddam. The fest, which presents staged readings of musicals-in-progress, also serves as a wintertime gathering place for the musical theater community. This year, the shows are: “Picnic at Hanging Rock,” adapted from the creepy Joan Lindsay novel by Daniel Zaitchik (the singer-songwriter whose other musical “Darling Grenadine” is receiving a full production at Goodspeed’s Norma Terris Theatre in August); “ZM,” a satire featuring fast food and zombies by “Urinetown” creators Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis; and “Row,” based on Tori Murden McClure’s quest to row across the Atlantic Ocean, with a book by frequent Goodspeed director Daniel Goldstein (“Damn Yankees,” “Anything Goes”) and music and lyrics by Southern-born, Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Dawn Landes.
Other events: “Festival Cabarets,” with Matthew Lee Robinson on Friday and Mark Sonnenblick on Saturday; Saturday seminars with producers of Cirque du Soleil’s “Paramour”, theater owner/producer Jack Viertel, Broadway stage manager Chris Zaccardi, producer Michael Rubinoff, dialect coach Gillian Lane-Plescia, Sean Cercone of Theatrical Rights Worldwide and lighting designer Ken Billington; “New Musical Previews” of the three shows at the Norma Terris Theatre in 2017 (“Darling Grenadine” among them), special meals, a tour of the Goodspeed and a “Meet the Writers Reception.” Tickets run from $25 (to see a reading) to $139 (for the all-inclusive “Gold Package”). Details at goodspeed.org.
Christmas Stories
My Christmas theater-going binge began merrily on Nov. 18 with “A Christmas Story —The Musical” at the warm-spirited Palace Theater in Waterbury. This was a two-night stand of a non-Equity seasonal tour of a show that’s been around a few years, so low expectations would be excused. Yet this was an unexpectedly grand and giddy production, with large sets and backdrops that filled the stage. The many children in the cast all hit their marks, though one of the two large dogs who ran regularly across the stage did not, sticking around for another bite of Christmas turkey. It just added to the fun of a loose, silly production in the best tradition of the Jean Shepard stories and Bob Clark movie on which the the musical is based.
Christmas cheer continues throughout the state. The Shubert in New Haven found a local performer, Ian Galligan, to present David Sedaris’ snarky monologue “The Santaland Diaries” in the theater’s mezzanine area Nov. 25-27. The show is a way of testing out the space, which is generally used as an upstairs lobby and bar but is slated to become a full-blown cabaret-type performance area when the Shubert enters its next phase of renovations. Details at shubert.com.
Ivoryton’s 2017 Season
The cozy Ivoryton Playhouse has announced its 2017 season, beginning in late March and running into mid-November. It includes a musical tribute to Frank Sinatra, as well as a musical about the type of rock ‘n’ rollers whom Sinatra once generally referred to as “cretinous goons,” plus a disco story and the premiere of “I Hate Musicals: The Musical.” Here’s the list:
March 22 to April 9: “My Way: A Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra,” the well-established multivocalist revue of hits associated with the Chairman of the Board.
April 26 to May 14: “Biloxi Blues” by Neil Simon, the middle play in the playwright’s “Eugene Trilogy,” in which Eugene serves in the Army.
May 31 to June 25: “Million Dollar Quartet,” the popular musical about the historic jam session involving Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley.
July 5 to 30: The Bernstein/Robbins/Laurents/Sondheim classic “West Side Story.”
Aug. 9 to Sept. 3: “Saturday Night Fever: The Musical,” the deft stage adaptation (by playwright Nan Knighton) of John Travolta’s dance-fever film.
Sept. 27 to Oct. 15: “I Hate Musicals: The Musical,” another Ivoryton premiere from Mike Reiss, one of the original writers for “The Simpsons” and the creator of “Queer Duck.” Reiss brought the musical “I’m Connecticut” to the playhouse in 2013 and the comic play “Comedy is Hard” there in 2014.
Nov. 1-9: “The Game’s Afoot!”, a comical Sherlock Holmes adventure by Ken Ludwig (“Lend Me a Tenor”) in which the Holmes figure is William Gillette, the actor who played the detective onstage in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Gillette’s Connecticut home, now a state park, is just across the river from Ivoryton.
Another ambitious season for the Ivoryton Playhouse, which had an illustrious history as a star-studded summer stock theater from the 1930s into the ’70s, hosted summer shows by the River Rep troupe throughout the 1980s and ’90s, and became a year-round endeavor in 2006. Details at ivorytonplayhouse.org.
Mann For The Job
Broadway star Terrence Mann has performed at Connecticut Repertory Theatre in “My Fair Lady,” “Man of La Mancha,” “Peter Pan” and “Les Miserables.” He has directed CRT’s Nutmeg Summer Series productions of “Les Mis” and “Pirates of Penzance.” Now he’s taking on yet another role at the theater, as the Nutmeg Summer Series’ Artistic Director.
Mann, who originated the roles of Rum Tum Tugger and Javert in the Broadway productions of “Cats” and “Les Miserables,” respectively, has most recently been seen on Broadway in “Tuck Everlasting,” “Finding Neverland,” “Pippin” and “The Addams Family.” He has been the artistic director of the Carolina Arts Festival, the North Carolina Theatre and the long-running outdoor symphonic drama “The Lost Colony.”
The previous artistic director of the Connecticut Repertory Theatre Nutmeg Summer Series was Vincent J. Cardinal, who first brought Mann to the theater in 2010. Cardinal also served as artistic director of the Connecticut Repertory Theatre’s school-year season and as head of UConn’s Department of Dramatic Arts; those two posts are now held by Michael Bradford.
Shows in the 2017 Nutmeg Summer Series have yet to be announced. Connecticut Repertory Theatre’s website is crt.uconn.edu.
