Big Notes, Smiles And Movement Give 'Dreamcoat' Bright Appeal by Frank Rizzo

The show: "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" at the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts in Hartford.

Hartford Stage's Young Hamlet Up For The Challenge by Frank Rizzo

To play the role of "Hamlet," one could quote from the Bard's title character and say, "The readiness is all."

Long Wharf's 'Our Town' Looks A Lot Like New Haven by Frank Rizzo

For the season opener of Long Wharf Theater's 50th anniversary season, artistic director Gordon Edelstein wanted a work that not only made an artistic statement about the theater but one tha…

Will Irving Berlin's 'Holiday Inn' Be A Hit Musical For Goodspeed? by Frank Rizzo

What makes a popular film a great musical?

'Evita' At Bushnell: Solid But Lacking Star Quality by Frank Rizzo

The show: "Evita" at Bushnell in Hartford.

UConn Hosts Fall Puppet Performance Series by Frank Rizzo

Giants, dinosaurs and circus performers are evoked in felt, plaster and shadows when the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at UConn in Storrs hosts its Fall Puppet Performance Series …

Hartford Stage Opens 51st Season With New Seats, Renovations for Patrons by Frank Rizzo

The seats are springier, the lobby is spiffier and the ambience is perfect for setting a scene — or a play.

Creator, Stars Of 'Comedy is Hard' Talk About Making People Laugh by Frank Rizzo

Comedy is not always a laughing matter.

A Monkee, A Simpson And A Famous Roomie Walk Into A Room... by Frank Rizzo

...to tell us the funniest person they've ever met.

Fall Theater Season Full Of Classics Such As 'Hamlet,' 'Our Town,' 'Holiday Inn' by Frank Rizzo

Smart and sexy: Tom Stoppard's "Arcadia" at Yale Repertory Theatre in New Haven (Oct. 3 to 25). When Stoppard visited New Haven last week he said: "I don't have a hidden agenda. My plays ar…

Hartford-Raised Actress Dies In Accident In Chicago by Frank Rizzo

Molly Glynn, 46Chicago-based actress Molly Glynn, who was born and raised in Hartford, died Saturday  after being struck by a tree while out cycling with her husband. She was 46.

Joan Rivers: My Afternoon At Her Manhattan Manse by Frank Rizzo

New Tourism Campaign Touts Connecticut's Theaters, Shows by Frank Rizzo

Call it "A Gentleman's Guide To Theater and Tourism."

'Shakespeare In Love''s Tom Stoppard To Give Free Yale Lecture by Frank Rizzo

Cast Set For His Play 'Arcadia' At Yale RepHis intelligence and wit are legendary. Now you can witness both for yourself when playwright and screenwriter Tom Stoppard presents a free lecture…

Indian Play 'Thook' In Hartford, New Haven by Frank Rizzo

How about some international theater? The Indian Ensemble of Bangalore is coming to Hartford and New Haven with the U.S. premiere of "Thook" ("Spit"). First stop is the HartBeat Ensemble's C…

Alan Ayckbourn's 'Things We Do For Love:' And Not Always So Gloriously by Frank Rizzo

The show: "Things We Do For Love" at Westport Country Playhouse

Hartford Stage Has Its Hamlet by Frank Rizzo

Ed Asner 'In Conversation' At Sacred Heart University Yale School of Drama grad Zach Appelman (Broadway's "War Horse," Julie Taymor's production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and the title …

If The Show's Not Ready For Critics, Should Tickets Be Cheaper? by Frank Rizzo

What Ever Happened To The Concept Of Previews?When I was a kid growing up outside Boston, I would make it a point to see "preview" performances of Broadway-bound shows, in part because the t…

Retired UConn Drama Director, Benefactor Nafe Katter Dies by Frank Rizzo

Nafe Katter, longtime Connecticut actor, retired director of the University of Connecticut's acting program died Wednesday at a hospice facility in Summerfield, Fla., following a stroke Aug.…

Hootenannies Follow Sunday 'Woody Sez' Performances by Frank Rizzo

I haven't heard the word "hootenanny" used since Lyndon Johnson was President, but there's some free-wheeling '60s-style jamming going on after Sunday matinee performances of "Woody Sez: The…

TheaterWorks' 'Woody Sez' An Uplifting Musical Tribute by Frank Rizzo

Bio-Musical of Folk Legend Woody GuthrieThe show: "Woody Sez: The Life and Music of Woody Guthrie" at Hartford's TheaterWorks.

A Fantastic Voyage With 'Pericles' At The Park by Frank Rizzo

Shakespeare Classic At Edgerton Park In New Haven The 19-year-old Elm Shakespeare Company of New Haven goes off the greatest-hits grid to present a work by the Bard that is beguiling, charmi…

1998 Interview With Robin Williams Before Release Of 'Patch Adams' by Frank Rizzo

Original Headline: Dr. Williams' Little Black Bag Holds Laughs Instead Of ProzacEditor's note : This interview with Robin Williams by arts writer Frank Rizzo ran Dec. 20, 1998. Williams was …

Hootenannies, 'Woody Sez' At TheaterWorks by Frank Rizzo

"Life's pretty tough," once said Woody Guthrie. "You're lucky if you live through it."

Greed, Vengeance And Chita Rivera In 'Visit' At Williamstown by Frank Rizzo

The show: The musical "The Visit" at Williamstown Theatre Festival.

Actress Elizabeth Wilson Has Many Film Credits (And Many Fans Who Can't Recall Her Name) by Frank Rizzo

There are actors whose name you instantly recognize, the stars you know by a single monicker: Meryl, Julia, Debbie. Liza, Shirley.

Theater A Family Business For The Naughton Clan by Frank Rizzo

Daughter Directs Dad In 'Cedars' At Berkshire FestYou might be tempted to call the arts as the Naughton family business, but to this group of — relatively speaking — well-adjuste…

'Fiddler On The Roof' At Goodspeed: An Intimate, Miraculous Classic by Frank Rizzo

The show: "Fiddler on the Roof" at Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam.

Broadway's Elaine Stritch Dies; Frank Rizzo Interview From 2008 by Frank Rizzo

Editor's note : Broadway actress and singer Elaine Stritch, 89, died on Thursday, July 17, at her home in Birmingham, Mich. Following is an interview by Hartford Courant theater critic Frank…

Linda Lavin Brings Her Cabaret Act To The Kate by Frank Rizzo

Linda Lavin, best known for the popular TV series "Alice" of the '70s and '80s — but a terrific Tony Award-winning Broadway and film actress, too — will be presenting her life an…

Leslie Uggams's Brings Wide-Eyed Madness in Summer Stock 'Gypsy' by Frank Rizzo

The show: "Gypsy" at the Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre on the UConn campus in Storrs