"Our production is going to show people the resilience of artists, but also carry those messages of resilience and maybe have a little bit of shock factor too." The worries of 2020 – isolation, masks, social distancing – make their way into this production as well, with actors donning face-coverings, giving new meaning to songs like "Touch Me."
Read More“TheatreWorks has yet to unveil the last few shows in their season, but Duggan hints at exciting things to come: "It will be a new kind of partnership for us in terms of the playwright we're working with. I think it's going to be really transformative for Hartford, something that hasn't really been done on the scale that TheaterWorks can bring.""
Read MoreJust a block off the New Haven green you’ll find EBM Vintage, a market that specializes in all sorts of antique goods from the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s. If you go past the typewriters and kitchen gadgets, rotary phones, books, home décor and a few racks of clothes, you’ll find a small, cozy black box theater that’s home to the New Haven Theater Company. About 40 seats are lined up in three or four rows. The stage, only raised a step off the ground, is currently split into two settings; a homey apartment complete with couch sits to the right with a dilapidated and dirty living room to the left. The New Haven Theater Company [NHTC] is gearing up for the first show of their season, “Love Song” by John Kolvenback, which will be followed by Jordan Harrison’s “Marjorie Prime” and Dale Wasserman’s “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest.”
Read MoreDeveloping new musicals often happens outside the shiny marquee lights of New York City. Recently, Chicago and Boston have played host to a number of new shows while a few theaters in Connecticut have done similar work, both recently and as far back as “Annie” and “Oklahoma.” But even further away in Alberta, Canada a new musical is taking the stage for the first time.
Read MoreWhen actor Dan Lauria was asked to return to his alma mater Southern Connecticut State University to perform the play “The Guys,” it seemed like the perfect timing to revisit his roots.
Read MoreFor actress Gabrielle Beckford, starring in “Crowns” is both the start of her professional career and a full circle moment. The recent Rider University graduate grew up in New York City and, while she was involved in all types of art from visual to culinary, her first experience as a performer was singing in church. But after a high school teacher cast in “Hair,” Beckford switched her attention from the pulpit to the proscenium. She started studying voice and dance, eventually completing a BFA in musical theater. It seems to be serendipity that her first professional role after college is in “Crowns,” a gospel-infused play Beckford says hits close to home. To learn more about the show and her experience playing Yolanda, both at McCarter Theatre Center and currently at Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut, I spoke to her over the phone. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
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