Connecticut Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 4

Review: SECONDO at Theaterworks Hartford
by Ariana Straznicky-Packer - August 15, 2022

Featuring a picture frame with perfect timing and a judgmental Alexa, Secondo is a heartwarming and clever comedy not to be missed. ...

Review: CLUE at Castle Craig Players
by Sean Fallon - July 31, 2022

The Castle Craig Players have done it, with a first-rate cast, in Meriden, CT! On Saturday, July 30th, I had the pleasure of seeing a show that I had been looking forward to ever since it was first announced. As someone who has been a fan of the board game Clue since 1985, Clue the movie since 198...

Review: PIPPIN Spreads Sunshine, Bringing the Party to West Hartford at Playhouse On Park
by Ariana Straznicky-Packer - July 28, 2022

What did our critic think of Pippin Playhouse on Park? It's the final production in the Playhouse on Park 13th season and runs from July 6th - August 21st. Come for the show, stay for the great dancing, fun music, and comedy....

Review: THE SOUND OF MUSIC at Musicals At Richter
by Sean Fallon - July 24, 2022

On Saturday, July 23rd, I had the pleasure of seeing a truly first-rate production, a phenomenal performance of one of the greatest musicals ever written!  Musicals at Richter, in Danbury, continues with their legacy of providing audiences what we yearn for in live theater, the right shows with the ...

Review: Oh, What a Night! JERSEY BOYS Rocks the House at The Palace Theater
by Ariana Straznicky-Packer - July 01, 2022

I thoroughly enjoyed the production alongside an equally energetic crowd who delightfully sang along and met the cast with an enthusiastic standing ovation. ...

Review: HAMILTON Brings the Revolution to The Bushnell
by Ariana Straznicky-Packer - June 30, 2022

June 22nd through July 10th, The Bushnell is The Room Where It Happens. On Tuesday evening, I had the pleasure of seeing the Hamilton National Tour alongside a fully packed house of diehard fans, who bopped along in their seats with delight and delivered a well-deserved standing ovation. I know it’s...

Review: THE SPONGEBOB MUSICAL at Fairfield Center Stage
by Sean Fallon - June 18, 2022

I was fascinated from the moment I first heard that Fairfield Center Stage was going to perform a musical called THE SPONGEBOB MUSICAL, as I did not previously know that such a musical existed.  What I knew, however, is that if it is being put on by Fairfield Center Stage, it is going to be a phenom...

BWW Review: KISS MY AZTEC! at Hartford Stage
by Ariana Straznicky-Packer - June 14, 2022

Kiss My Aztec! Is a hilarious musical based on Latin American history “…. Very loosely!” This upbeat show is a real party with entirely original music, bold and bright-colored sets and costuming, as well as an exceptionally multitalented cast that keeps the energy up from start to finish. ...

BWW Review: PETER AND THE STAR CATCHER at Ridgefield Theater Barn
by Sean Fallon - June 04, 2022

On Friday, June 3, I had the pleasure of seeing PETER AND THE STAR CATCHER at the Ridgefield Theater Barn in Ridgefield, CT.  This play with music was written by Rick Elise.  This stellar cast’s talents come alive under the first-rate team of director Katherine Ray, assistant director Rae Janeil Sut...

BWW Review: QUEEN at Long Wharf Theatre
by Brooks Appelbaum - May 31, 2022

QUEEN, by Madhuri Shekar and playing at Long Wharf Theatre through June 5th, is a timely investigation of ideas that centers on women in STEM (who are underrepresented onstage as in life). Unfortunately, cryptic writing and a misguided set design lessen the impact that the production might have achi...

BWW Review: ZOEY'S PERFECT WEDDING at TheaterWorks Hartford
by Ariana Straznicky-Packer - May 25, 2022

Zoey’s Perfect Wedding is a hilarious play about love and relationships with a deeper message about the pressures we endure from societal expectations. Set at the most disastrous wedding reception of all time, the title is assuredly ironic, featuring drunken speeches, an incompetent wedding planner ...

BWW Review: AN AMERICAN IN PARIS at Shubert Theatre
by Ariana Straznicky-Packer - May 20, 2022

The national tour of An American in Paris is making its final stop at Shubert Theatre, New Haven, now through May 21, 2022. Based on the Academy Award winning 1951 film starring Hollywood legends Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron, the production features the iconic music of George and Ira Gershwin, includ...

BWW Review: THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS AND CURLEW RIVER at Madison Lyric Stage
by Ariana Straznicky-Packer - May 17, 2022

Madison Lyric Stage Presents Double-Feature of Two Rare Works: The Seven Deadly Sins and Curlew River...

BWW Review: VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE at Castle Craig Players
by Sean Fallon - May 14, 2022

On Friday, May 13th, I saw a play I was previously not familiar with.  VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE was performed by the Castle Craig Players at the Almira F. Stephan Memorial Playhouse in Meriden, CT.  This is a modern (about ten years ago) play written by controversial playwright Christophe...

BWW Review: PRETTY WOMAN: THE MUSICAL at The Bushnell
by Ariana Straznicky-Packer - April 29, 2022

I had the opportunity to see PRETTY WOMAN: THE MUSICAL, during its visit to The Bushnell in Hartford. Based on one of Hollywood’s most beloved 1990’s movies that launched America’s sweetheart, Julia Roberts, into stardom. Fans of the movie will be happy to see that the story hasn’t dramatically chan...

BWW Review: SPIRIT OF THE SIXTIES at Downtown Cabaret Theatre
by Sean Fallon - April 23, 2022

On Friday, April 22, 2022, I had the pleasure of seeing another phenomenal production at the Downtown Cabaret Theatre in Bridgeport, CT.   I have been looking forward to SPIRIT OF THE SIXTIES since I first heard of it, and even more when I found out that it has the same stellar cast as their previou...

BWW Review: LOST IN YONKERS at Hartford Stage
by Ariana Straznicky-Packer - April 15, 2022

Lost in Yonkers Finds Standing Ovation at Hartford Stage Opening Night Hartford Stage presents Neil Simon’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Lost in Yonkers, featuring four-time Academy Award-nominated, two-time Golden Globe Award winner, Emmy Award-nominated actor and director Marsha Mason (co-dire...

BWW Review: CHOIR BOY at Yale Repertory Theatre
by Brooks Appelbaum - April 11, 2022

Tarell Alvin McCraney's CHOIR BOY, playing at Yale Repertory Theatre through April 23, is directed by the prodigiously talented Christopher D. Betts; Betts has created a terrific production, for the most part, with outstanding acting, singing, and scenic, lighting, and costume design. The play itsel...

BWW Review: BEAUTY AND THE BEAST at Downtown Cabaret Theatre
by Sean Fallon - April 03, 2022

On Saturday, April 2, at 2:30 PM, I had the pleasure of seeing BEAUTY AND THE BEAST at the Downtown Cabaret Theatre in Bridgeport, CT. Directed by Andrea Pane, this tale as old as 1740 is reinterpreted by Phill Hill for a modern, young audience and features music primarily from the 1990s....

BWW Review: DEAR EVAN HANSEN at The Bushnell
by Ariana Straznicky-Packer - April 02, 2022

Dear Evan Hansen is an award-winning show that explores deep, dark themes and intricate relationships which I’ve never seen so well-defined on a musical stage. The new National Tour’s performances felt raw, real, and powerful. While the script has brief moments of comedy to balance the dark with lig...

BWW Review: JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR at ACT Of Connecticut
by Sean Fallon - April 02, 2022

On Friday, April 1, I had the pleasure of seeing the ACT of CT’s unique adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR.  This 1971 musical that is primarily told through music with lyrics by Tim Rice has been redesigned and reinterpreted by the director, Daniel C. Levine who has incorpor...

BWW Review: 'THE EXTREMISTS?' 'Exactly...' at TheatreWorks New Milford
by Jared Reynolds - March 30, 2022

What does 12 Angry Men and The Extremists have in common? Did you guess politics? Because if so, you would be right. On the set of a politics talk show, “Issues in Focus,” Dick Hedgerow brings on a guest, Norman Krieger, to discuss his upcoming book on battling extremism in the world. What was set u...

BWW Review: DREAM HOU$E at Long Wharf Theatre
by Brooks Appelbaum - March 26, 2022

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BWW Review: AN EVENING OF ONE ACTS 2022 at Ridgefield Theater Barn
by Sean Fallon - March 19, 2022

Every year, one of my favorite annual theater traditions is seeing the evening of one acts at the Ridgefield Theater Barn, in Ridgefield, CT.  I had the pleasure of continuing that wonderful tradition on Friday, March 18, with AN EVENING OF ONE ACTS 2022 which continues with the consistent first-rat...

BWW Review: SHIRLEY VALENTINE Lightens Up The Season at Brookfield Theatre Of The Arts
by Jared Reynolds - March 15, 2022

The village came together to raise a child, putting all of their skills to the stage to blow the audience away with a light-hearted, uplifting, and hilarious story that brought us all to the sunny shores of Greece; or, at least how we imagine that would feel....