"Satchmo" Beguiles and Engages

"Satchmo at the Waldorf"  -- Long Wharf Theatre -- Thru Nov. 4

                            John Douglas Thompson. Photo: T Charles Erickson


So Santa Claus is standing there, going “Ho, ho, ho,” a big smile on his face, hands patting his round, red belly, and then all of a sudden he lets loose with a string of expletives that would make a sailor blush. Your eyes widen, your jaw drops. After you recover from the shock, the first thing that comes to mind is, what the hell, this ain’t the Santa you know. Could it be Santa isn’t the saint you thought him to be?

That’s the initial effect John Douglas Thompson has on the audience at Long Wharf as he, portraying Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong, cuts loose. This ain’t the Satchmo we remember, the smiling, laughing icon, sweat rolling down his forehead as he sings and plays his way into our hearts, rasping a “Hello, Dolly” greeting. This is Satchmo the man, a man who sleeps with whores, a man who has a long standing relationship with Mary Jane, a man who curses his manager, Joe Glaser, for having screwed him, a man who once worked for Al Capone, a man who, as the child of a whore, delivered coal to the New Orleans whorehouses to put bread on the table, a man who, at the top of his career, lovingly known as “Pops,” is bedeviled by slurs from members of his own race. He is called a “clown,” an Uncle Tom.

“Satchmo at the Waldorf,” by Terry Teachout, directed by Long Wharf’s artistic director, Gordon Edelstein, is a no-holds-barred look at a man whose stage persona belied the reality of his life, and is a tour-de-force for Thompson, who brings not only “Satchmo” to life at the end of the star’s career in 1971, but also creates his manager, Glaser, in one of those great stage transformations that requires an actor, using only body language and voice, to create an entirely different persona, in this case that of a hard-nosed Jewish businessman with mob connections. Assisted by lighting designer Stephen Strawbridge, Thompson does this so flawlessly that, the first time it occurs on stage it almost takes your breath away.

In chronicling Satchmo’s life, the play also chronicles the life of our country during most of the 20th century, for Armstrong was born into an era when segregation, both de facto and de jure, was a fact of life -- for much of his early career Armstrong couldn’t stay at most of the hotels where he played. It also captures the complicated relationships imposed on whites and blacks by society, a relationship that would have a race in general held in contempt but have a specific member of that race looked kindly upon.

This conundrum is at the heart of the connection between Glaser and Armstrong, and Teachout relies on dramatic irony to limn the nature of the relationship and its misunderstandings, for Glaser, whose company Armstrong was pivotal in building, dies without leaving Satchmo a share. Hence the curses Satchmo calls down upon the dead man’s head, but there’s more to the story, and in a pivotal scene near the end of this one-act play, Thompson rapidly switches back and forth between the two characters to reveal the disconnect and, in the process, capture the essence of the two men and their long-standing yet troubled relationship.

Was Satchmo’s stage persona totally fabricated? The play would say no, for Teachout returns again and again to Armstrong’s innocence and good heart, and Thompson is such a nuanced actor that even when Satchmo is in full-curse mode, calling down fire and brimstone on Glaser, there is a sense that there’s a part of Armstrong whose heart is not really in it, that no matter what he thinks Glaser did to him, he still loves the man.

And then there’s the music, Satchmo’s music, or storytelling, as Pops would have it. Here the playwright, who is the theater critic for the “Wall Street Journal” and the author of “Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong,” is at his best, allowing Satchmo to describe, in vivid, loving prose, what music means to him, what the sounds he has created over the years evoke, and how his heart soars when the trumpet’s mouthpiece touches his lips.

That the play is set in the last years of Armstrong’s life (he comes off stage and immediately goes to an oxygen mask), and that as the trumpet player looks out at the Waldorf audience during one of his his final appearance and sees not a black face in the crowd (the audience looks like a carton of eggs), makes for a bittersweet mood, for Satchmo lived in the times that were given to him and when the younger generation of black jazz musicians turned against him -- Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis (another persona Thompson artfully, if somewhat chillingly, creates) are two who demeaned Satchmo -- Pops was hurt, confused, and just a bit bitter.

Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong lived his life in troubled times, and perhaps, confronted by “how things were,” went along to get along, but that judgment is hindsight, for the man worked with what he was given, played the cards dealt him at the table he was told to sit at, and in the process made millions of people happy, something he cherished…and was condemned for by those who followed in his footsteps and vilified him for selling out. This conflict Thompson captures in his rendering of Armstrong’s delight in moving an audience with his music and Davis’s wish that, should he have but one hour left to live, he would spend it strangling a white man...slowly. You believe Satchmo, and you believe Davis, and that’s because Thompson makes you believe.

“Satchmo at the Waldorf” runs through Nov. 4. For tickets call 203-787-4282 or go to www.longwharf.org

A Talking Yield Sign, Dung Beetles, a Morose Bartender and…It’s TAW’s Annual Playwright’s Festival

            Julie O'Neill, Joe Rinaldi and Carolyn Marble in "An Other Engagement"

Norwalk’s Theatre Artists Workshop is entering its 30^th year, and part of the reason for the group’s longevity is the festival of one-act plays it has been producing for over two decades. The Annual Playwright’s Festival, which this year runs Oct 19 – 21, is avidly looked forward to by many playgoers who appreciate both the quality and diversity of the work presented, and this year, although the quality is a given, the diversity may very well be at an all-time high.

TAW’s membership is composed of both writers and actors (with many also having directorial credentials), which allows for a certain symbiosis in the writing and staging of new plays. The process that eventually leads to a play being selected for the festival is a somewhat arduous one, beginning with a reading of a submitted play (often a cold reading) by one or more of the actors, followed by comments and critiques by the members, with the playwright sitting silently (unless asked a question), taking it all in.

“You don’t always hear what you want to hear,” said Darien resident Kathy Rinaldi, TAW’s president, whose “Happy” was selected for this year’s festival, “but you hear what you need.”

After the first reading, the playwright takes the critiques and suggestions under consideration and makes alterations, both large and small, to his or her work. Two weeks later, the playwright is back for another reading and more comments and critiques. Finally, the manuscript is submitted to the board, which makes the final decision on what will be produced. This year, of the thirty or so submissions, seven have been selected and, if nothing else, they are eclectic.

“We look for the best quality,” said Barbara Rhodes, this year’s festival producer, “but time is also a consideration. We want to present an entertaining evening but not too long. Sometimes a play has some additional weight depending on the actors who are in it. It’s the playwright’s discretion as to how the play is cast. Often the actors who are used in the readings, when the plays are being developed, are the ones used in the actual production.”

Rosemary Foley, a Pelham, NY, resident, is one of the playwrights fortunate enough to have had her work, “An Other Engagement,” given the nod. In a recent phone interview, Foley described the gestation of the play and her association with TAW.

“The play was inspired by an article I read years ago about a very wealthy woman, a Protestant woman who became a nun and she did something very inspiring for other women with her money,” Foley said. However, that was just the jumping off point – there’s no nun in the play, but there is a family that gathers for an engagement party only to be confronted with the possibility that there might just be another engagement no one ever knew about.

“Writing plays is a strange business,” Foley said. “You read one line in a newspaper article and it inspires something, or you overhear a conversation. Things start from some strange places and sometimes the play starts at the end.”

Foley related a story about her brother, “a very emotional guy,” who urged the family to be in control when the father passed away. Foley, quoting her brother: “’We all cannot fall apart; we must be steadfast.’” Out of this, since she knew very well that her brother was, inevitably, going to fall apart, she wrote a play, “a comedy about a father who, even in death, can’t escape his family.” Foley is often accused by her family members of “using them” in her work. Her stock response is: “Do you think you’re that interesting?”

Given her close association with TAW’s membership, Foley admits that she often writes with certain TAW actors or actresses in mind. “I can hear the voice of one of the actresses; when I’m writing I can really hear her, so the tempo and the choice of words – what the character is going to say -- can be prompted by what I’m hearing.”

Foley also commented on the nature of the one-act plays she and others have written for the festival. The basic structure of a play, whether it’s a full two- or three-act play or a shorter one-act play – the rise, the climax, the falling away -- must remain, but with only 10 or 12 minutes to tell a story, the playwright “cannot waste anything,” Foley said. “In a one-act play you have to be tight, everything has to lean towards the action of the play. You can’t mess around.”

Jim Gordon, another of TAW’s playwrights and a Norwalk resident, knows full well you can’t mess around when crafting a one-act play. Gordon has two entries in this year’s festival, “A Stranger Calls” and “Joe & Eddy’s,” both of which are distinctly Gordon-esque in that they focus on people living on the fringe of life, the semi-losers and small-time grifters, the shut-ins seemingly shut out of life.

In a phone interview, Gordon talked about his own two plays, which he is directing, as well as a play by Vanessa David that he is also helming. Like Foley, Gordon often gets his ideas from articles he reads in the paper, though he also draws on a childhood spent in Mt. Vernon, NY.

In “A Stranger Calls,” a con-man thinks he’s hit on the score of a lifetime, only to have the tables turned on him. “You know, we get these phones calls,” Gordon said, “people wanting to sell us things or scams, and this elderly guy…I’m using an actor, Herb Duncan, who has a lot of TV experience, but he’s blind, so I changed the play – originally it was about a woman – so it works for him. So this guy gets a phone call from someone who wants to get into his checking account. The guy’s immediately wise to what’s going on, but he’s going to have some fun with this. He leads the con man on and slowly drives him absolutely bonkers.”

“Joe & Eddy’s” is quintessential Gordon, since it is based on the people he knew when he was growing up, a time when he admittedly spent more time around bars than was probably good for him. “A lot of my stories harken back to the people I knew at the time, the wise old bartenders who probably were not all that wise and the people down on their luck. So, in the play, this young woman walks into a bar and this bartender…” Gordon went on to describe the plot in detail, offering “spoiler” after “spoiler.” Suffice it to say, there’s a certain melancholic hope to the story about the past haunting the present.

Like Foley, Gordon often writes his dialogue based on the actors he’s familiar with at TAW. “I lock onto certain players because they know my characters,” he said. “I seem to end up with a lot of the same character types, kinda hard-edged, you know, people you’d meet in bars, and there are some actors and actresses at TAW, well, for example, there’s this one actress, a very good actress, and to me she seems like someone I’d order a beer from.”

There are some playwrights who feel that writing is writing and directing is directing and never the twain should meet, but Gordon isn’t bothered by that. Not only is he directing his own work, he’s directing David’s “The Tale of Yield and Tire.”

“It’s about a yield sign,” Gordon said, laughing, “and another person plays a tire. It’s about an accident that takes place in Westport and the tire rolls up – the tire’s played by Joe Rinaldi – and he lands at the base of this yield sign and they have this conversation about life and irresponsible drivers.”

As for directing his own plays, early on – not necessarily at TAW – he had the experience of turning over his work to directors and then experiencing a lack of collaboration. “They would take the piece” he said, “and they would just lock into a certain idea; they were not listening. Look, if I’m gonna go down with a play I’m gonna go down with my own play and my own direction. Should everyone direct his own play? Probably not.”

Rhodes, who is also an actress, is of two minds about a playwright directing his or her own work. “A playwright already knows what he wants to hear,” she said in a phone interview, “it’s already set in his mind, and as an actress that keeps me from doing things, from trying things out. That’s my job as an actress. However,” she added, “in a situation like this – we have time constraints – I guess it’s okay. We haven’t had any problems.”

Kathy Rinaldi, a Darien resident, is another playwright who also enjoys directing, but given the demands on her time right now as president of TAW she has ceded staging responsibilities for “Happy” to Jo Anne Parady of Norwalk, a director in whom Rinaldi has total confidence.

“Happy” is about a woman of a certain age who falls in love with a much younger man, much to the consternation of her friends. “It’s probably the most ‘absurd’ play of the bunch,” Rinaldi said, referring to the Theater of the Absurd genre. “It’s a little less linear than the others. You’re really not sure whether you’re seeing and hearing the woman’s friends or are they just voices in her mind. We’re also using drums – you know, a heart beat, beating fast at the start of the relationship and then slowing down as things start to cool off.” Whether Rinaldi’s play wins the “absurd” award remains to be seen, since Steve Bellwood’s offering is titled “Dung Beetles” and, yes, features two of the insects dealing with hard times, and, of course, there’s the talking yield sign and tire.

As mentioned, Rinaldi trusts Parady implicitly to stage the work as the playwright envisioned it. “She really knows how to put on a woman’s play,” Rinaldi said. “She understands the nuances of women’s emotions.”

When asked about the range of the plays being presented, and the possibility that the audience might become a bit confused as it is asked to shift gears from play to play, Rinaldi said, “Our belief is that we’re not going to play to the lowest common denominator. If the audience can put its trust in what we are doing, is willing to go along for the ride, then it really doesn’t matter what kind of play we present as long as we show we know what we are doing. What I love about the plays this year,” she added, “is that every one is individually strong. If anything, people will want more, they won’t want them to end. We trust our instincts and we believe people are really going to enjoy the journey we will take them on.”

Rhodes was asked the same question and responded in kind. “They’re not alike at all,” she said. “They’re the oddest little collection of plays I’ve ever seen.” However, she has confidence that TAW’s audience will respond. “We have a very faithful audience that has been coming to us for years,” she said. “They know what to expect.” She paused a moment and then added. “I’m always impressed with how knowledgeable our audience is.”

For tickets ($20) or more information call 203-854-6830 or go to www.taworkshop.org. 

John Denver, Marie Antoinette...and more

Tribute to John Denver at DCT

                                                  Ted Vigil as John Denver

A "Tribute to John Denver," starring Ted Vigil, with special guest Steve Weisberg, John Denver's lead guitar player during Denver's touring years, will play Bridgeport's Downtown Cabaret Theatre for two performances only -- Saturday, Oct. 27, at 5 and 8 p.m.

Tickets ($33): 203-576-1636 or go to www.downtowncabaret.org

Yale Rep Stages World Premiere of "Marie Antoinette"


The Yale Repertory Theatre will host the world premiere of David Adjmi's "Marie Antoinette," directed by Rebecca Taichman.

The young queen Marie Antoinette delights and inspires her French subjects with her three-foot tall wigs and extravagant haute couture, but times change and even the most fashionable of queens goes out of style as idle gossip turns insidious and the country revolts.

The play begins previews on Oct 26, opens on Nov 1 and runs through Nov. 17. Tickets or more information: 203-432-1234 or go to www.yalerep.org.

Hartford Stage Hosts College Night Bash


Hartford Stage invites college students to a night of theater including free pizza, games, prizes and a chance to see the world premiere of "A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder" on College Night, Tuesday, Oct. 23.

College Night will take place in the venue's upper lobby and will feature a murder mystery game, a photo booth, a raffle, a Twitter review contest, free pizza and the show, all for $15.

Tickets or more information: 860-527-5151.

"Deadly Murder" Opens Square One's New Season


Square One Theatre, Stratford, opens it s 23rd season with "Deadly Murder," by David Foley. It's an intricate thriller that tells the story of Camille Dargus, a beautiful, successful woman with a penchant for young men. She meets a young waiter and takes him home, only to find that there's more to the man than meets the eye and that he seems frighteningly familiar with her past. The play opens Nov 2 and runs through Nov. 16 on weekends.

"Deadly Murder" is followed by "Distracted," a comedy by Lisa Loomer, which looks at a modern family and asks the question: "Are we so tuned into ourselves and our sound-bite world that we've lost touch with what really matters?" The play runs March 1 through March 16.

Square One's final offering is tentatively scheduled to be "4000 Miles," by Amy Herzog, which deals with how two outsiders might find their way in today's world. After a major loss while on a cross-country bike trip, 21-year-old Leo seeks solace from his feisty 91-year-old grandmother. The play will run May 17 - June 1.

Tickets: 203-375-8778 or go to www.squareonetheatre.com

Theatre Fairfield Offers "An Enemy of the People"

                                   The cast of "Enemy of the People" rehearsing



Fairfield University's resident production company, Theatre Fairfield, opens its 2012-2013 season with Henrik Ibsen's "An Enemy of the People," translated by Richard Nelson.

The play explores what happens when a doctor discovers his town's water supply is polluted, and he believes his findings will turn him into a hero. Instead, local businessmen, politicians and family turn against him in an attempt to silence him.

The play opens Oct. 31 and runs through Nov. 3. Tickets and more information: 203-254-4010.

A Cri de Coeur From Spirit of Broadway's Bernardini

The following is an email received from Brett A. Bernardini, founding artistic director and CEO of The Spirit of Broadway:


Okay, okay, okay...I must be doing something wrong. I cannot seem to find a legit soprano leading lady (must be able to play 60's, hair and make-up can do wonders!) and a supporting male actor for one of the most powerful, haunting and moving pieces of musical theater ever created! (I have been casting this show for 2 weeks!)

I know. I know the leading lady is a demanding role vocally, but isn't it the kind of role every soprano dreams of: amazing acting challenges, incredible vocal challenges, a true "tour d'force" role? Yes, it is not musical theater in the sense of today's standards: no belting, no power numbers, no orchestra swells into a "American Idol" key change moment. However, it is a "role of a lifetime" for a legit soprano who can sing and act for 80 minutes of a 90 minute show!!!

I also know that there are not many "women over 40" looking for a challenging role anymore. But clearly, there have to be SOME!! How about woman in their 30's who are strong legit singers, have serious acting chops and are comfortable with stage makeup? Anyone???

There are only two male actors in this piece. One role has been cast with an exceptional actor, one that SBT audiences have missed over these past few years! Are there no other actors who are looking for work right now? Granted, like all the parts in this show, the vocals are very challenging. The leading lady is truly the LEAD and all others play supporting roles. This is a life-changing 90 minute musical that screams for exceptional talent...men...anyone???


I am starting rehearsals tomorrow (Tuesday) at SBT. If you are interested in either of these 2 remaining roles, please contact me ASAP! These are paid positions and housing is available!!!

Namaste,

Brett A. Bernardini

The Shows Go On

"Theatre of Illusion" at The Palace

                                    Kevin Spencer performs in his "Theatre of Illusion"

Illusionists Kevin and Cindy Spencer will perform their extensive repertoire of magical mysteries in "Spencer's Theatre of Illusion" at The Palace on Friday, Oct. 26, at 7 p.m.

Today's magic is about spectacle, drama, danger and personality, and the Spencers, winners of the "Performing Arts Entertainers of the Year" award, are the masters of this new genre, offering a magical concert for the eyes that combines suspense, romance, drama and comedy with elaborate stage illusions and dazzling special effects.

Tickets: ($25 anjd $50): 203-346-2000 or go to www.palacetheaterct.org.

"Carmen" Celebrates CT Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra's 15th Season

The Connecticut Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, in conjunction with the Connecticut Lyric Opera, kicks off its 15th anniversary season with Bizet's classic opera, "Carmen." The performance will be at Naugatuck Valley Community College Fine Arts Center on Saturday, Oct. 20, at 8 p.m.

Carmen will be portrayed by the rising Polish mezzo star Alexandra Kaminska, who has performed at several international festivals.

                                                       Alexandra Kaminska
Tickets: ($50, $35, $20): 203-346-2000 or go to www.palacetheaterct.org.

TAW Opens 30th Season with Playwright's Festival

Julie O'Neill, Joe Rinaldi and Carolyn Marble in "An Other Engagement"


The Theatre Artists Workshop of Norwalk enters its 30th season with its acclaimed Annual Playwright's Festival, which has run for over two decades.

The festival, which runs Oct 19 - 21, will feature seven short plays written by members of the company. The works range from the inner turmoil of a woman of a certain matrue age romantically involved with a much younger man to Edgar Allan Poe spending time with a social worker and a put-upon couple dealing with life's hardships, including loss of property (oh, yes, the couple happen to be dung beetles).

Tickets ($20): 203-854-6830 or go to www.taworkshop.org


"A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder" to Premiere at Hartford Stage

Hartford Stage recently announced the cast for its upcoming premiere of the musical "A Gentleman"s Guide to Love and Murder." with book by Robert L. Freedman, music by Steven Lutvak and lyrics by Freedman and Lutvak.

Set in the Edwardian era, the musical traces the trajectory of Monty Navarro, a charmer, seducer and avenger who is on a quest for recognition and family fortune. Developed at the Sundance Institute Theater Lab, the musical is based on the 1907 novel "Israel Rank" by Roy Horniman. The cast includes Tony winner Jefferson Mays, Heather Ayers, Ken Barnette, Rachel Izen, Chilina Kennedy, Lisa O'Hare, Kendal Sparks and Price Waldman

The show opens Oct. 11 and runs through Nov. 11. Tickets: 860-527-5151 or go to www.hartfordtsage.org.


"Underpants" On Stage in Newtown

In lieu of its scheduled presentation of "The Haunting," the Town Players of Newtown will be showcasing "The Underpants" as its November production. Written by Carl Sternheim and adapted by Steve Martin, the play deals with a petty German bureaucrat who has an unusual problem: his pretty wife's underwear just won't stay on. After the underwear fall off the lady in the middle of town, her husband is determined to keep his wife at home until the problem can be solved. At the same time he is also trying to rent a room in their flat, which introduces prospective renters with surprises of their own.

The play opens Nov. 16 and runs through Dec. 8. For more details go to www.newtownplayers.org


Broken Umbrella Offers "The Library Project"

This fall, A Broken Umbrella Theatre will be presenting "The Library Project" at the Ives Main Library in New Haven. A commission of the the New Haven Free Public Library Foundation, the project allows visitors to travel from room to room over the library's three floors to experience seven original works in one evening that capture, in song, dance, puppetry and spectacle, literature's vast range of fictional worlds. Beer and wine are available before the show and guests can speak with artistic director Ian Aldermand and historian Colin Capian about the show.

The Library Project will be performed Saturdays and Sundays, Oct 20-21, 27-28, and Nov 3-4. Tickets are "pay-what-you-can;" box office at the library will open one hour before the shows. For a sneak peek, go to www.abrokenumbrella.org. Reservations are recommended.


Yale School of Drama Presents "Iphigenia Among the Stars"

From Oct. 30 through Nov. 3, the Yale School of Drama will present "Iphigenia Among the Stars," adapted from the Euripides play by Benjamin Fainstein; conceived and directed by Jack Tamburri. The production will be at the Iseman Theater at 1156 Chapel St., New Haven.

A king sacrifices his daughter to a goddess so he can wage an interstellar war, but the goddess intervenes and instead exiles the girl to a life of servitude light years from home. Years later, Princess Iphigenia, like her father, must choose between duty and desire -- and her choice will have consequences beyond the bounds of space and time.

Tickets (starting at $10): 203-432-1234 or at the box office: 1120 Chapel St.


Hartford Stage Hosts Readings of New Works

The Hartford Stage will host a reading of new works in its "Brand:NEW Fall Festival of New Works" program at its Rehearsal Studio 2, 942 Main St. (the Residence Inn building). The festival includes readings of new plays by Octavio Solis, Bess Wohl, Dan O'Brien, Matthew Lopez and Janine Nabors. The festival will run from Oct. 25 through Oct.28, with a Playwrights Panels scheduled for Oct. 28 at 4:30 p.m.

Tickets ($10 for each reading): 860-527-5151 or go to www.hartfordstage.org.

The New Season Fast Approaches

Kathleen Turner Directs/Stars in "Killing of Sister George" at Long Wharf

                                                    Kathleen Turner

Kathleen Turner, star of stage and screen, returns to Long Wharf to direct and star in "The Killing of Sister George," which opens Nov. 28 and runs through Dec. 23 on Long Wharf's newly renovated Claire Tow Stage.

The play: By day, June Buckridge (Turner) plays Sister George, tending to the sick and poor on the radio hit "Applehurst." By night, she chews on cigars, swills gin and lets nothing stand in her way, including her long-suffering secretary Childie (Clea Alsip). When "Applehurst"'s ratings tumble, the good Sister is axed, but Buckridge refuses to go quietly. Betsy Aidem and Olga Merediz also star.

Tickets: 203-787-4282 or go to www.longwharf.org

"Breaking Up..." at Ivoryton

                                         Leah Monzillo stars in "Breaking Up..."

"Breaking Up is Hard to Do," a tribute to Neil Sedaka, opens at the Ivoryton Playhouse on Sept. 26 and runs through Oct. 14.

The revue is set at a Catskills resort in 1960, where Lois brings her best friend Marge to help her recover from being jilted. Will she fall in love with crooner heartthrob Del DelMonaco, or will the geeky cabana boy Gabe win her heart, and how will Borscht Belt comedian Harvey finally deal with his secret love, Esther? Answers will be found in some of Sedaka's most famous songs.

Tickets, call 860-767-7318 or go to www.ivorytonplayhouse.org.


"Seussical: The Musical" at DCT

Many of Dr. Seuss's belove4d characters -- Horton the Elephant, Gertrude McFuzz, Lazy Mayzie and Jojo -- come to vivid like in this delightful musical penned by Tony winners Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty. Travel from the Jungle of Nool, to the Circus McGurkus and the world of the Whos.

The show runs from Oct. 6 to Nov. 4. For tickets call 203-576-1636 or go to www.downtowncabaret.org


"Lend Me a Tenor" Opens in Goshen

Opening its 65th season, the Goshen Players presents "Lend Me a Tenor," a delightful farce that opens Oct 5 and runs through Oct. 20. The play focuses on a Cleveland Opera Company fund-raiser that goes comically awry when the lead in "Otello," self-described as "Il Stupendo," gets slipped a mickey and his assistant is coerced into taking on the role...but Il Stupendo wakes up...and enters stage right. Desdemona is, if nothing else, nonplussed -- will she have to be killed twice?

Tickets call 860-491-9988 or go to www.goshenplayers.org.


Dracula Dances at the Palace

The Woodbury Ballet Theatre presents "Dracula" at the Palace Theater in Waterbury on Saturday, Oct. 20. at 8m p.m. Based on Bram Stoker's classic novel, the ballet captures the essence of the chilling story, reflecting the age-old theme of good and eveil while capturing Dracula's innate, if perverse, romantic side. Thus, "goodness," and its loss, as strange as it may seem, is the choreographic thread that runs through the piece.

There will be a post-show champagne reception and fund-raiser.

For tickets, call 203-346-2000 or go to www.palacetheaterct.org.

Suffield Players to Offer "Regrets Only

                                           Jen Rawlings stars in "Regrets Only"

The Suffield Players are offering Paul Rudnik's "Regrets Only" as its 60th anniversay fall production. The play is a fizzy comedy about Manhattan manners and mores, focusing on Tibby, a Manhattan socialite who seems to have it all: a best-friend fashion designer, a high-powered lawyer for a husband, and a daughter who's caught the "perfect" man. But life tosses in some lemons, and Tibby has to figure out how to make lemonade. The play runs Oct. 11 - 27.

For tickets call 860-668-0837 or go to www.suffieldplayers.org

Pantochino Brings "The Little Dog Laughed" to New Haven

                      Justin Rigg and Jimmy Johansmeyer star in "The Little Dog Laughed"

Pantochino Productions inaugurates its After-Dark series with Douglas Carter Beane's biting comedy, "The Little Dog Laughed," playing at Arts Hall, 55 Audubon St., in New Haven. The play opens Oct. 5.

The play, which was nominated for a Tony in 2007, is about Hollywood's dirtiest secrets. There's a screen idol in the closet, an ambitious male prostitue and his naive girlfriend, and a brash female Hollywood agent. The show runs through Oct. 13.

For tickets go to www.pantochino.com


CRT Stages Regional Premiere of "O Beautiful"

Connecticut Repertory Theatre is presenting the regional premiere of Theresa Rebeck's "O Beautiful" from Oct 4 through Oct 14.

The play, directed by Joseph Hanreddy, presents a theatrically inventive mash-up of contemporary American life and the history that got us to this politically polarized age. "O Beautiful" focuses on high school students and there teachers and parents floundering in a world of personal problems and ideological rhetoric. To help make sense of it all, the contemporary folks are visited by, among others, Jesus, St. Paul, Joan of Arc, John Adams, Patrick Henry and Benjamin Franklin.

For tickets, call 860-486-2113 or go to www.crt.uconn.edu


"The Ballad of Juan Jose" Opens at Yale Rep

Yale Repertory Theatre opens its 2012-2013 season with Richard Montoya's "American Night: The Ballad of Juan Jose."

The play: As Juan Jose studies for his U.S. citizenship exam, his obsession to pass sends him on a fantastical odyssey through U.S. history, guided by a handful of unsung citizens who made courageous decisions in some of the country's toughest times. The play, under the direction of Shana Cooper, opens Sept. 21 and runs through Oct. 13

For tickets call 203-432-1234 or go to www.yalerep.org.

"November" Opens at TheatreWorks New Milford








David Mamet's satiric take on politics American-style opens at TheatreWorks New Milford on Sept. 14 and runs through Oct. 16.

The play unfolds just before a national election with incumbent President Charles Smith fighting for his corrupt political life. Possible obsracles to reelection include a lesbian speechwriter who wants to marry her sweetheart on national television, a cynical chief of staff, turkeys waiting to be pardoned, and an American Indian lobbyist who wants to turn Nantucket into a gambling resort. It's politcally incorrect comedy at its funniest.

For tickets call 860-350-6863 or go to http://theatreworks.us/

Wise Beyond Her Years…Yet Still 17

                     Alexis Molnar as Lottie in "Harbor." Photo By T. Charles Erickson

What’s it like to drive around the country with your mother, living out of a van? What’s it like to not know who your father is but know only too well who your mother is: a brash, irritating, conniving, self-serving sleep-around gal who’s currently pregnant by a man whose name she can’t recall. What’s it like to be a teenager searching for a home, any home, which will provide, for the first time in your life, some safety, some sanity? These, and more, are the questions Alexis Molnar had to answer after she landed the role of Lottie in Chad Beguelin’s new comedy, “Harbor,” which is having its world premiere at the Westport Country Playhouse.

Although the play has received mixed reviews, there has been nothing but praise for Molnar’s work. One critic wrote: “The most successful performance of the evening is delivered by young Miss Molnar, who also has the best-written role in the play.” Another commented: “Lottie’s character … seems carefully drawn, and Ms. Molnar does a great job of showing her smarts and her despair.” In my review, I praised her by writing that her “poise and timing are a marvel.” Of the character Lottie, another critic wrote: “Alexis Molnar captures her portrayal perfectly.”

High praise indeed for a 17-year-old actor who, she says, “came late to acting.” I met with Molnar in one of the Playhouse’s dressing rooms after a recent matinee performance of “Harbor” to talk with her about her background, her experiences in creating Lottie, and what it felt like to be working with such seasoned professionals as Kate Nowlin, Bobby Steggert, who was nominated for a Tony for his work in “Ragtime” on Broadway, Paul Anthony Stewart, and Beguelin, a two-time Tony nominee for “The Wedding Singer” and the man who wrote the lyrics for “Elf.”

                                                             Alexis Molnar

Molnar is a Jersey girl, born in New Brunswick and raised in Bedminster. She attends Gill St. Bernard’s high school in Gladstone, N.J. “It’s the whole suburban town thingy…rich kids, preppy,” she said, curled up comfortably in a chair, her legs, sheathed in tight-fitting gray slacks, crossed beneath her in quasi-Yoga fashion. “I just started my senior year yesterday. It’s not fun going back. I like the whole social aspect of it but then there’s academics on top of this,” referring to the play. “It was such a fall back down to reality. I’m still 17 and I have to go to school.”

Molnar’s life has not been as insular as she would first lead you to believe. After all, she did spend a month attending the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London after her sophomore year in high school. “It was one of the most life-changing experiences I’ve ever had,” Molnar said. “It was so phenomenal, but I was really intimidated because I thought, I’m American, I’m not going to compare…even be in the same rank with these other kids, these English kids, but I pulled my way through and came out one of the top in my class. I’m really proud of myself for that.”

Being at RADA also had other benefits. Molnar laughed, rearranged her legs, and explained, “I felt sort of grounded. I don’t know if that’s the best choice of words but I felt so much more confident. RADA really brings things out in you. It just opened me up. I guess the freedom of it all. And then, my parents allowed me to be an adult in London. There was also the freedom to explore the work (RADA) gave you. I gained so many new perspectives.”

Molnar’s initial intimidation in attending RADA might have stemmed from the fact that, as noted, she believes she has come somewhat late to this particular party. “Normally, child actors start doing this when they come out of the womb, but I started professionally when I was 13 years old,” she said. “I tried to be a sports kid but I really didn’t know where I fit it. I was on the soccer team, I tried tennis, I tried track, I tried it all but I never really got the chance to fully indulge myself and enjoy it.”

However, there was another talent lurking in the background, one that would soon blossom. The seed was planted when Molnar was in the fourth grade. She got to sing a song in a school concert and after the show the music teacher commented to Molnar’s mother that her daughter had a pretty good voice. Soon, Molnar was taking singing lessons, and then acting and dance lessons.

“I didn’t know about the business then,” Molnar said – she was in fifth grade at the time – “I just thought, recreationally, something will come out of it. Then I started getting involved in workshops in the city,” she said, referring to New York City, “and I got a different insight into this crazy world of performing and that’s when I decided, this is what I want to do.”

Molnar got her first professional job appearing in a Nike commercial. It was filmed on the day of her fifteenth birthday. She recalls that before the shoot she was on the phone with her mother in tears – she was so excited. “Now, looking back on it, it was only a commercial, but for starting off so late I thought I had lucked out.”

Molnar has continued to luck out. She acted in “The Tempest” at RADA, has made numerous appearances on TV shows, appeared in minor roles in feature films and acted in high school productions of “The Dining Room,” “Tartuffe” and Kiss Me, Kate,” and is now in “Harbor.”

In just a few short years she has learned how to approach a role and make it her own, as is evidenced by her work in “Harbor.” With the help of an acting coach, who is also a friend, she does a lot of “back story” work to prepare. “First I read the whole show and then I write down everything my character says about people and what people say about my character, and then I write down qualities about myself and just build this whole entity, and then I kind of mold this all into what type of character I am, what type of girl. Then I just start thinking about things that are relatable, that can help me, that will give me some insight.”

One of the things she did in preparing to play the role of Lottie was watch “Paper Moon” and “Annie.” She also started reading Edith Wharton’s “House of Mirth,” which is mentioned several times in the play and features in a touching moment when Lottie pulls back and gives her mother some undeserved dignity. But first, Molnar had to land the role, which was a process. As she remembers it, she had just returned from a trip to Florida when she got an e-mail from her manager telling her she had an audition the next day.

“Things weren’t landing,” she said, meaning that she hadn’t gotten any roles recently, so she went in without any great expectations. “I had just gotten my hair straightened and I looked all pretty and then I noticed every single girl there was 18 and older. Okay, I said to myself, I’m obviously not going to get this. I went in and I read and they liked it and they said, ‘We’ll let you know,’ and that can mean anything. About 20 minutes after, I’m walking to the car and my manager calls and tells me I have a call-back the next day to meet with Chad,” the playwright. “It’s a call-back,” Molnar said. “That’s pretty cool.

The next day she met with Beguelin, but also noticed a lot of other names on the call-back list, names of people with Broadway credits. “The other girls I saw were still much older, but I said to myself, I got a call-back so I must be doing something right.”

She obviously was doing something right. Again, the response to her call-back was, “We’ll let you know,” followed by another call-back, and then another with Beguelin and director Mark Lamos. “I read the same sides,” she said, referring to portions of the script used for auditions, “and then we just talked about the play and the kind of girl Lottie was.”

                     Director Mark Lamos. Photo by Bruce Plotkin Photography

Soon after she got a call that she was “on hold’ for the part, which meant negotiations were underway. “That lasted about two weeks and those were the most painful two weeks of my life. I just wanted to know if the deal was signed, and then, finally, the two weeks were up and I got a call that contracts were coming in.” She started rehearsals on Aug. 7.

Over the time of the rehearsals and the previews, Molnar has developed and deepened Lottie’s character. “During rehearsals I felt I had lost what was funny in certain places. I really needed an audience. With previews I kind of gained that back, of what landed where and how the audience reacted to when I said this or that. And then, Lottie and I are so related; if she was a real person I think we would be very good friends.”

Molnar said that in each performance she’s doing different things, trying to keep Lottie fresh. She wants to see what else she can discover about the character, but she feels that right now she is very comfortable with whom Lottie is.

Comfortable she has to be, for there is a pivotal, emotionally-charged scene in the second act that requires Lottie to have a phone conversation with the man who is, she believes, her real father. The audience hears only one side of the conversation, but Molnar has to, through both dialogue delivery and body language, convey a sense of what this man is saying to her. Of this extended moment one critic has written: "Her yearning phone call to her putative father is a highlight."

“At first, it was very difficult,” Molnar said, “but it felt so great the first time I did it completely off book,” meaning without script. She and an assistant director ran through the lines again and again and then she went back to her apartment and went through the lines, once again, to judge where were the best moments to insert beats – pauses – to heighten the emotion. She also envisioned the man she was speaking to. In fact, she wrote down lines for what he was saying to her that would evoke her spoken responses. Surprisingly, Beguelin had done the same thing, and it turned out that the lines were similar.

Rehearsals are done in dim, echoing theaters, but a play comes to true life only when there are bodies in the seats beyond the footlights responding to what is going on up on the stage. There’s the needed electricity. “The first preview audience we had was absolutely fantastic,” Molnar said. “They were laughing at things that we had no idea were funny. I think we rediscovered a lot of things we might have already known but forgot during the process.”

As opening night approached, Molnar decided to “Google” her fellow cast members. It was probably not the smartest thing to do. “I was so nervous,” Molnar said. “Everyone was such a big deal. I had to fight against getting really, really scared, but everybody has been so sweet and so nice, and what I like about them is that they don’t treat me as if I’m 17, they treat me like an adult and I love that. I couldn’t have asked for a better relationship with the cast. I love them all.”

                          Alexis Molnar and Kate Nowlin. Photo by T. Charles Erickson

During the “process,” as Molnar terms it, one of the hardest things to work on was her character’s relationship with Donna, her mother, played by Nowlin. Donna, as written, is a skewed force of nature, one of the walking wounded of the chemical wars, a woman who often flies off the handle, embarrassing her daughter. Molnar had to work on how to respond to the infantile rants and sulks of the “adult” in the family. “One thing I struggled with was my attitude towards Donna.” Molnar said. “I would normally use a lot of anger and Mark would always reassure me, you’re not angry with her, you’re just frustrated and you’ve had enough, but don’t play anger. Give her some of her own medicine back. That took a little bit for me to get because I would always come at her with such a force.”

                             Paul Anthony Stewart. Photo by T. Charles Erickson. 

Then there was the matter of how to deal with the final scenes of the play. Without providing a “spoiler,” suffice it to say that relationships change radically in the latter part of the play and Lottie finally finds the “harbor” for which she has been so desperately searching.

“The original way we had the last scene – everybody was crying. I was hysterical, Donna was hysterical. The first few times we did it everybody was crying. Mark finally said, ‘We need to lighten this up. There’s too much going on.’”

                           Bobby Steggert in “Harbor.” Photo by T. Charles Erickson 

Acting in “Harbor” has changed Molnar. As she puts it, she has “matured greatly.” The opportunity to work with her seasoned cast members in a venue that has, over the years, showcased just about every acting luminary in American theater is, she acknowledged, a chance of a lifetime. “This will be one of my greatest memories,” she said, “and I feel so confident in myself that I was able to accomplish this.”

And then…there is another reality. Once “Harbor” closes, it’s back to high school…and re-taking the SATs…and filling out all of those college applications, stuff that most 17-year-olds are dealing with. “I have to go back to being 17,” Molnar said, accented with a sigh. Then she perked up. “The auditions are just going to keep on coming in and we’ll see what hits.”

Given her work in “Harbor,” one can only imagine that there will be a lot of “hits,” for the young lady who couldn’t find a fit in tennis, soccer or track has found a harbor in acting.