Something For Everyone

In New Milford

Marking 33 years of live theatre in New Milford, TheatreWorks’ new season will once again build on its commitment to presenting quality dramas, musicals and comedies to area audiences.

“Over the past year, things have improved dramatically as the old Advent Church that is our home has been almost completely restored,” said TheatreWorks president Richard Pettibone. “Thanks to the continued support of the community over the past year, we will be able to fund a few more projects that will make the facility more accessible and comfortable to all our patrons.

“For the upcoming season, we will present six shows that have a little something for everyone,” Mr Pettibone continued. “The pieces selected are fresh, different, and a bit provocative. Simply put, if you don’t see them here, chances are you won’t see them.”

Opening the season will be Ken Ludwig’s comedy Moon Over Buffalo, which will run from January 28 through February 19. The comedy, which is in rehearsals and is being directed by Joseph Longo, is a wild backstage farce about an aging theatre couple who has perhaps one last shot at greatness.

In March, TheatreWorks will present John Longo’s courtroom drama Never The Sinner. To be directed by Mr Pettibone, the off-Broadway hit takes its audience back to 1924 Chicago, where the Leopold and Loeb murder stunned and fascinated the nation.

In late spring, the comedy T-Bone n’ Weasel will roll onto the stage under the direction of Jocelyn Beard. The high-spirited comedy follows the antics of two ex-cons as they make their way across South Carolina in search of a hot meal or an easy mark.

As the lazy days of summer arrive, the theatre will help turn up the heat with the Tony Award-winning musical Cabaret, by Joe Masteroff, Fred Ebb and John Kander. Set in a sleazy Berlin nightclub just prior to Hitler’s rise to power, the breathtaking revival reveals the decadent complacency of Nazi-infested Berlin.

Under the direction of Bradford Blake, Cabaret promises to be a gritty and insidiously decadent production of a Broadway classic. Definitely not for the kiddies.

The fall production at TheatreWorks will be How I Learned To Drive, a Pulitzer Prize-winning, controversial play by Paula Vogel. Directed by Alixia Dempster, the wildly funny, surprising and devastating tale tells the story of how a woman survives her relationship with an uncle who sexually abuses her. The scene is rural Maryland in the 1960s and 70s, and the question of guilt is thrown into confusion by the emotional makeup of the girl and her uncle.

Wrapping up the season in November will be a bawdy holiday gift, The Taming Of The Shrew. To be directed by Jane Farnol, Shrew promises to be a fast, funny and physical production that would have left master Shakespeare himself both pleased and laughing.

TheatreWorks is a 100-seat, non-profit, award-winning theatre located at 5 Brookside Avenue, off Route 202 in New Milford. For additional information, call 860/354-6863.

Back To The Sixties

The Ridgefield Theatre Barn will kick off its millennium season in February with The Fabulettes, written and directed by Bradford Blake. The musical, which runs through March, captures the spirit of the sensational Sixties — the days of girl groups, the space race, and L.B.J.

Beginning in April and running through May, The Theatre Barn will present Greater Tuna, a work by Jaston Williams, Joe Sears and Ed Howard which will be directed by David Roth. Set in a small Texas town where two actors portray the entire population, Greater Tuna is a tour de farce, a send-up of small town stereotypes.

The season will continue with Below The Belt, which is scheduled to run in June and July. Written by Richard Dresser and to be directed by Kyle Minor, Below The Belt is a surreal story of three men caught up in the system.

Special Of The Day, to be directed by John Grissmer, is scheduled to run in August and September. Set in a diner, the light drama mixes in a touch of comedy.

“The hills come alive” in November and December as Season 2000 concludes with a revival of Rogers and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music, to be directed by Jacki DeRoeck-Garver.

Founded in 1965, the non-profit, community-based Ridgefield Theatre Barn at 37 Halpin Lane maintains a production schedule of five to six shows per year. For additional information, including details on season subscriptions, call 203/798-6490.

A Time Line In Sherman

Four plays set in times ranging from 1400 to the 1990s have been scheduled by The Sherman Players to be produced in 2000. A poetic English love story set in 1400, an outrageous musical spoof of films in “The Bad Seed” genre, a classic American drama that focuses on the spiritual plight of an office worker, and an award-winning play that explores a theory on how people and events are linked will all be presented in Sherman.

The first show of the Players’ 74th season will be The Lady’s Not For Burning. Written by Christopher Fry and being directed by Jane Farnol, The Lady’s Not For Burning concerns an ex-soldier who desires to be hanged. Instead, the soldier meets a beautiful woman declared a witch by the residents of a small English market town.

The woman is sentenced to be burned at the stake, but she wants to live. The soldier in turn cannot convince the town fathers that he deserves to die. The impassioned characters breathe life and humor into Fry’s tale of the redeeming power of love.

The season’s second production, to run June 16 to July 8, will be Ruthless! Based on a book and lyrics by Joel Paley and music by Marvin Laird, the production will be directed by Brian Feinberg with choreography by Doreen Rafferty.

Reckless! concerns an 8-year-old girl who wants the lead in her school play so badly she is willing to do anything for it, including murder. When the play opened off-Broadway in the early 1990s, critics calls the musical “aggressively outrageous,” “a demented pleasure” and “a malicious, delicious, total joy.”

The Adding Machine, Elmer Rice’s expressionistic masterpiece which will be directed by Kevin Sosbe, will be The Players’ summer production, August 11 to September 2.

The Adding Machine, a thought-provoking drama with comic overtones, is as timely in today’s fast-paced computer society as it was when it was first produced by The Theatre Guild in 1923. The story shows in outline the life history — and eventually the death — of Mr Zero, a minor cog in the vast machine of modern business. The success of the original play brought its playwright to the forefront of the new American drama of his era.

The final play of the season will be John Guare’s Six Degrees of Separation. Viv Berger and Carol Haines will co-direct the production, which is scheduled to run October 6 to November 4.

Six Degrees of Separation, the winner of the New York Drama Critic’s Circle Award, is another comic, fast-paced piece. It opened at Lincoln Center in 1990 starring Stockard Channing (who later starred in a film version with Donald Sutherland and Will Smith).

The title refers to the statistical theory that any two people in the world can be connected through only six other people. The play is an examination of the threads of chance that link one person to another.

Sherman Playhouse is at Routes 37 and 39 in the center of Sherman, behind Sherman Firehouse. For information about season or single tickets, group sales, or other prices, call 860/354-3622.

Home To Haddam

Originating at Goodspeed 35 years ago, Man of La Mancha went on to win four Tony Awards including Best Musical and Best Composer and Lyricist. After transferring to Broadway, where it played an astounding 2,329 performances, the show made its mark in musical theatre history and has garnered international acclaim.

Based on Cervantes’ 17th Century novel Don Quixote, Man of La Mancha is a powerful blend of tragedy, romance, comedy and adventure. A special 35th anniversary production, playing April 7 to July 1, will open Goodspeed’s new season.

George M. Cohan and his songs of Broadway patriotism will follow when George M! parades into Goodspeed July 7-October 7. Based on a book by Michael Stewart and John and Fran Pascal, and songs from a variety of Cohan’s flag-waving shows, George M! gives its regards to the original musical comedy man — from his boyhood in Providence, to his family’s song-and-dance days as The Four Cohans, and finally his triumph on Broadway.

Cole Porter’s “De-Lovely” rarity Red, Hot and Blue! will conclude the 2000 season, October 13 through December 31. Written by the same team that created Anything Goes, Russel Crouse and Howard Lindsay, the swinging 1930s rediscovery overflows with hilarious comedy and Porter’s exuberant songs such as “It’s De-Lovely,” “Ridin’ High” and “Red, Hot and Blue.”

Originally starring Ethel Merman, Jimmy Durante and Bob Hope, the plot centers around the search for a missing heiress whose identity can only be determined by a waffle-iron mark on her behind. To assist in the search, a new millionairess arranges the parole of several prison inmates, the leader a sentimental jailbird who resents his release since he has risen to the rank of captain of the prison polo team.

With Cole Porter’s inventive and upbeat score highlighting one outrageously comical situation after another, Red, Hot and Blue! promises to be a Goodspeed favorite of wonderful tunes and fabulous dancing.

Goodspeed Opera House, on Route 82 in East Haddam, can be reached by contacting its box office at 860/873-8668. Advance season subscriptions are already available, and single tickets will go on sale February 13 for all shows.