Dreamgirls comes to Downtown Cabaret

The Downtown Cabaret Theatre is a direct descendent of the Sacred Heart University Cabaret. After several successful seasons in an academic setting, the entire company, under the artistic direction of Claude McNeal, moved to its present home in 1975.  Today, this venue has hosted well over one million adults and children that  have enjoyed musical productions in the unique "Bring Your Own Picnic" cabaret atmosphere.

"Dreamgirls" will kick off the 2014 Season. It will be presented by the Bridgeport Theatre Company (Downtown Cabaret's Community Theatre Project) on January 16-18, 24-26 and January 30 - February 1.  Shows begin at 8 p.m. on Thursday (Jan. 30 at 7:30), Friday at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 5 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. and Sunday, Jan. 26 at 5 p.m.

Dreamgirls is a smash Broadway musical and an award-winning motion picture that captures the spirit and hope of Motown when a girl group from Chicago makes it big. In a business controlled by men, the female trio fights for recognition, fellowship and love as superstardom challenges their musical and cultural identity. A rich, glowing spectacle about the price of show-biz success, Dreamgirls sizzles with sparkling dance and R&B soul.

Based on the story of Diana Ross' rise to fame, the show has made stars of Tony Award-winner Jennifer Holliday and Academy Award-winner Jennifer Hudson. Featuring such hit songs as "Dreamgirls," "And I am Telling You I'm Not Going" and "One Night Only".

Reserved tickets for performances: $28. Tickets may be reserved: By Phone: Box Office: 203.576.1636 or In Person: at box office located 263 Golden Hill Street, Bridgeport, Connecticut Online at www.downtowncabaret.org (24/7), 

By US Mail: The Man In Black, c/o Downtown Cabaret Theatre, 263 Golden Hill Street, Bridgeport, Ct. 06604.

Box Office Hours: 10:30am to 4:30pm – Mondays thru Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays - Box Office opens 90 minutes prior to scheduled performance times

Theatre seating begins 30 minutes prior to performance times.

For area information www.visitfairfieldcountyct.com

Rudolph and the Reindeer Games through Dec. 30

Just in time for the coming holidays it is Rudolph and the Reindeer Games presented by Bridgeport's Downtown Cabaret Children's Theatre.

Family-friendly performances on Saturdays and Sundays continue through December 30 (2012) at the Downtown Cabaret Theatre, located at 263 Golden Hill Street in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

The 73rd annual Reindeer Games feature familiar names, characters and the well known basic story, but with just enough added twists and turns along with lots of music and dance to make this a memorable holiday event.

Santa's North Pole Team is hoping the odds are in their favor for the Games. Rudy, the young, new contestant who's a "chip off the old buck," looks like he may "sleigh" the competition, but five-time Champion Donner isn't giving up his title without a fight!

Spunky Rudy has everything going for him – but then he's disqualified because of his bright red nose! Even worse, it appears he's betrayed Dancer, the doe who "lights up his life." Humiliated, he runs off just as the worst blizzard to ever hit the North Pole is about to strike.

Now, not only is the North Pole Team in jeopardy of losing the Games, but it appears that due to the pending blizzard Santa may have to cancel Christmas for the first time in history! The storm's knocked out his GPS, and the Reindeer can't see a paw in front of their faces to guide his sleigh. So it's up to Rudloph...can he find the courage to win the games, get the doe of his dreams, and save Christmas?

Don't miss this all-new, modern, funny, heartwarming holiday take on the story of Santa's reindeer. It's a rollicking adventure highlighted by a montage of unique winter sports never before seen at the Olympics with a score of pop songs that will make everyone in the audience want to get out of their seats to sing and dance along!

Reserved tickets are: $18 & $24
Reserved tickets can be reserved:
By Phone: Box Office: 203.576.1636
In Person: at box office located 263 Golden Hill Street, Bridgeport, Connecticut
Online at downtowncabaret.org (24/7)
By US Mail:
Rudolph and the Reindeer Games
c/o Downtown Cabaret Children'sTheatre
263 Golden Hill Street
Bridgeport, Ct. 06604
Box Office Hours: 10:30am to 5pm – Sundays thru Saturdays
Box Office opens 90 minutes prior to scheduled performance times
Theatre seating begins 30 minutes prior to performance times
Closed Mondays

The Downtown Cabaret Theatre is wheelchair accessible. Please inform the box office of any special needs when ordering tickets.

For more information and up-to-date news about the Cabaret, upcoming performances, the performers, seating chart, parking and reserving tickets visit downtowncabaret.org

Tri-Arts Theatre's Patio Cabarets July 21-27

Fun at The new Patio at Sharon Playhouse Photo credit: Sean Bemand

TriArts Sharon Playhouse has announced a new venue for summer fun...Patio Cabarets!  The entertainment will take place on the new covered patio attached to the Sharon Playhouse. Patio cabarets will feature the talented production cast members from The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and Altar Boyz. Cabarets will commence after the regular main stage performance on selected dates. The performers will be singing material of their own: Broadway, standards, pop, country...you'll hear it all!

Tri-Arts is always looking for new ways to make the Sharon Playhouse a place that people can enjoy and with this new beautiful patio and bar area it is a winning combination.  Patrons are encouraged to arrive at the Playhouse early for a bite to eat and then (on certain nights) stay late to enjoy the tremendous talents of the casts.

Fun At TriArts Photo credit: Sean Bemand

As all theatre goers know, sometimes actors don't have the ability to showcase their full talents in any given production role. The conviviality inspired by patio cabarets will both allow incredible performers to impress with their myriad skills, as well as continue to find ways for audiences and artists to mingle."

The environment is casual and the bar will be open; stay for a few minutes or for the entire hour.
Patio Cabarets will take place on Saturday July 21st, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, July 25th; 26th and 27th. There is no charge and you will have the chance to meet the cast.

Photo credit: Sean Bemand

Upcoming Shows
The 2012 Summer Season at TriArts Sharon Playhouse continues with The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas starring Adinah Alexander, the award-winning musical Altar Boyz (July 20-29) and Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music (August 9-26).

About TriArts Sharon Playhouse

TriArts Sharon Playhouse (Alice Bemand, Executive Director; Michael Berkeley and John Simpkins, Artistic Directors) is a not-for-profit theatre, located in Litchfield Hills, Sharon, CT.  In addition to producing mainstage musicals and many special events each summer season, TriArts also offers a summer youth theatre program, workshops and readings of new musicals, concerts, and special events throughout the year in its Bok Gallery.  For more information on TriArts Sharon Playhouse, please visit www.triarts.net or call 860-364-SHOW (7469).

Westport Country Playhouse Opens Season With “Into the Woods"

Into the Woods Laren Kennedy, Erik Liberman and Danielle Ferland

A 25^th anniversary production of the imaginative, fractured-fairy tale musical “Into the Woods” by James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim will be staged at the theater where Sondheim was an apprentice in 1950, Westport Country Playhouse, in Westport, CT, May 1 through May 26.  Directed by Mark Lamos, the Playhouse’s artistic director, the musical will open the historic theater’s 82^nd season. It is co-produced with Baltimore’s CENTERSTAGE.

A multiple Tony Award winner, “Into the Woods” takes the audience to a beguiling and dark place inspired by the Grimm fairy tales. Among the classic characters that wander the woods searching for fulfillment of their wishes are Cinderella and her wicked stepsisters, Little Red Ridinghood and the Wolf, Rapunzel and her Prince, and Jack of beanstalk fame.  As their fanciful tales intertwine, they are forced to confront the harsh reality of what actually happens after “happily ever after.”

Director Mark Lamos, who also serves as Westport Country Playhouse artistic director, has helmed Playhouse productions of “Twelfth Night, or What You Will”; “Lips Together, Teeth Apart”; “Happy Days”; “She Loves Me”; “The Breath of Life”; “That Championship Season”; and “Of Mice and Men.” His extensive New York credits include “Our Country’s Good,” for which he received a Tony Award nomination. A former artistic director at Hartford Stage, he received the 1989 Tony Award for the theater’s body of work.

The performance schedule is Tuesday at 8 p.m., Wednesday at 2 and 8 p.m., Thursday and Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 3 and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m.  Special series feature A Taste of Tuesday, Previews, LGBT Night Out, Opening Night, Thursday TalkBack, Sunday Symposium and Backstage Pass. In addition, the Playhouse will offer an open captioned performance on Sunday, May 13, 3 p.m., for the hearing impaired.
For more information or tickets, call the box office at (203) 227-4177, or toll-free at 1-888-927-7529, or visit Westport Country Playhouse, 25 Powers Court, off Route 1, Westport. Tickets are available online 24/7 at www.westportplayhouse.org.

About the Playhouse


Westport Country Playhouse is a nationally recognized, not-for-profit, professional theater under the artistic direction of Mark Lamos and management leadership of Michael Ross.  The Playhouse creates five live theater experiences, produced at the highest level, from April through November. Its vital mix of works—dramatic, comedic, occasionally exploratory and unusual—expands the audience’s sense of what theater can be.  The depth and scope of its productions display the foremost theatrical literature from the past—recent as well as distant—in addition to musicals and premieres of new plays.  During the summer, the Playhouse is home to the Woodward Internship Program, renowned for the training of aspiring theater professionals.  Winter at the Playhouse, from November through March, offers events outside of the main season—Family Festivities presentations, Script in Hand play readings and a Holiday Festival.  In addition, businesses and organizations are encouraged to rent the handsome facility for their meetings, receptions and fundraisers.

Waterbury's Palace Theatre Shines Spotlight on American History

American History will be brought to new life when Pushcart Players presents Let Freedom Ring at the Palace Theater in Waterbury, on Tuesday, November 15, at 9:30am and 11:30am. Tickets are $10 for individuals, $8 for groups of ten or more, and on sale now at the Palace Theater Box Office, 100 East Main Street in Waterbury.

Part of the Palace’s Education Series sponsored in part by Big Y World Class Market, Let Freedom Ring is a spirited musical review that celebrates America’s birth and development throughout the decades. The musical begins with the beginning of time and quickly moves to the arrival of the first Americans from Asia, covering approximately 30,000 years of history in less than five minutes. The rest of the musical follows America’s second settlers and focuses on four main characters-- Sam, Sarah, Jennie and Ginny -- who transcend time, distance and circumstance to lead audiences chronologically and geographically through two centuries of America’s past.

Like a colorful quilt, Let Freedom Ring is a compilation of authentic folk songs and significant moments in history embroidered with humor and drama and framed with the energy, determination and courage of the pilgrims, pioneers and immigrants, who helped shape America’s history. Recommended for grades K-8, the play highlights curricular integration in the subjects of American History, Civics and Music.

Pushcart Players is currently celebrating its thirty-eighth season of stirring up serious fun throughout the U.S. The dynamic company is the recipient of an Emmy nomination for two prime time specials on WCBS-TV, as well as numerous awards for excellence and innovation in the development of theatre for young audiences.

Endorsed by the Connecticut Association of Schools, the Palace Theater Education Series invites students to reflect on their academic lessons in a venue that encourages thought and imagination. All presentations and programs are selected for students, Grades K-9, and include in and after-school smART initiatives, design to enhance the theater experience while addressing state curriculum standards.

Administrators and teachers interested in booking a field trip can call the Group Sales Hotline at 203-346-2011. Individual tickets can be purchase by phone at 203-346-2000.

ABOUT THE PALACE THEATER

The Palace's primary purpose is to revitalize the Greater Waterbury community through the presentation of the performing arts and educational initiatives in collaboration with area cultural and educational institutions. Its mission is to build a strong sense of community and an appreciation for the arts by operating, maintaining and sustaining itself as a financially viable not-for-profit performing arts center that generates a positive artistic, educational, social and financial impact on the Greater Waterbury area. For more information, visit: www.palacetheaterct.org.

The Palace Theater gratefully acknowledges support by: Bank of America, Comcast, Crystal Rock, City of Waterbury, Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism, Naugatuck Savings Bank, Republican-American, Waterbury Hospital, Webster Bank, and WTNH/MyTV9.

A Riddle Wrapped In a Mystery at The Sherman Playhouse Sept. 9 - Oct. 1

The Sherman Playhouse will debut the classic mystery-drama, AN INSPECTOR CALLS, by J.B. Priestly on Friday, September 9 at 8:00 p.m. The play is scheduled for a four-week run.

AN INSPECTOR CALLS takes place in 1912 in an English industrial city, where a young girl commits suicide and an eminently respectable British family is subject to a routine inquiry in connection with the death. An inspector calls to interrogate the family, and during the course of his questioning, all members of the group are implicated lightly or deeply in the girl's undoing. The family, closely knit and friendly at the beginning of the evening, is shown up quite differently by the night's end in the play's strange and mysterious conclusion.

"When the play is set, prior to World War I, big business and the upper-class – represented by the Birling family – run the world’s mightiest empire," said director Laura Gilbert of New Milford. "And then the mysterious 'Inspector' shows up, a working-class girl is found dead, and that's when the mysterious questions arise: Is the girl in all the characters' confessions the same girl? Is there in fact a dead girl at all? And is the inspector really a policeman? The play just keeps you guessing."

"The play is brilliant because it's a political statement disguised as a melodramatic thriller," said producer Katherine Almquist of Sharon, who also portrays Mrs. Sybil Birling. "The play opened in Moscow in 1945 at the end of World War II. And [playwright] Priestly was an avowed socialist. So there is definite social commentary here, but first and foremost it's a classic drama that provokes audiences to leave the theater talking, and even more importantly, questioning."

Along with Almquist, the cast features some of the region's finest actors: David Fejes (New Fairfield), Quinn Uniacke (Sherman), Ben Grinberg (New Preston), Heather Mock (Danbury), and Robin Frome and Alex Echeverria (both New Milford).

In addition to producer/performer Almquist and director Gilbert (who also designed the set), the show's crew includes lighting designer Peter Petrino, costumer Terry Hawley, and stage manager David Almquist.

AN INSPECTOR CALLS was first performed in 1945 in two Moscow theatres. The play had its first English production in 1946 at the New Theatre in London starring a young Alec Guinness. The play opened on Broadway at the Booth Theatre on October 21, 1947 and was also adapted into a 1954 film starring Alastair Sim as Inspector Goole. Variety called Priestly's work "An engaging play…Its mood is sustained throughout, so that it is practically always interesting."

AN INSPECTOR CALLS runs September 9,10 16,17,18 23,24 30 and October 1. Curtain time is 8:00 p.m. Fridays & Saturdays, with a 2:00 p.m. Sunday matinee on September 18. Tickets for all shows are $20 for general seating.

On Thursday, September 8, all patrons are invited to attend a "Half-Price Preview Night" at 8:00 p.m. where all tickets are only $10. Students may see any performance for only $10 if they pay in cash only at the door and carry a valid student ID. Students may not make reservations in advance for a performance. On September 9, an opening night party will be held after the show, complete with wine and hors d'oeuvres.

Reservations can be made online at www.shermanplayers.org or by calling the box office at (860) 354-3622. The Sherman Playhouse now accepts credit card payments both online and at the door.

The Sherman Playhouse is a local, non-Equity theatre company located on 5 Route 39 North (next to the firehouse) in Sherman, Conn.