Inside Notes and Comments About Connecticut and New York Professional Theater

World Premier Comedy: The Art of Burning will make its world premiere at Hartford Stage from Thursday, March 2 to Sunday, March 25. The production is in association with the Huntington Theatre Company of Los Angeles. It’s billed as a comedy about love, rage, and the responsibilities that are part of marriage and parenting. For tickets, visit HartfordStage.org.

Tony Winner in Hartford: Hadestown, which won eight Tony awards, including for Best Musical, is making a stop at the Bushnell in Hartford, Tuesday, March 7 through Sunday, March 12. The show features the music of Anais Mitchell; the original cast recording also won a Grammy. Hadestown intertwines two Greek myths: the love story of the young dreamers Orpheus and Eurydice and that of King Hades and his wife Persephone. For tickets, visit Bushnell.org.

New Leadership: Legacy Theatre in Branford has named Jeff Provost as managing director, joining Keely Baisden Knudsen, the artistic director. Provost has previously worked at Hartford Stage, Westport Country Playhouse, and other theaters.

Updated Greek Tragedy: Medea, the Greek tragedy by Euripides, tells the story of a woman who murders her ex-husband’s new wife and her own two sons. Yale Repertory Theatre presents Mojada–A Medea in Los Angeles, which resets the story to the present. Medea is now a Mexican seamstress. She and her family are undocumented immigrants who find adjusting to a new culture difficult. It runs from Friday, March 10, to Saturday, April 1. For tickets, visit YaleRep.org

New Theater Company: Connecticut has a new theatre company, Pa’lante Theater Co., which describes itself as the only Afro-Latine black box theater company. It is premiering Calling Puerto Rico: For the Island and to Hope, a drama about a Puerto Rican family grappling with the effects of Hurricane Maria both on the island and in New York. The production runs through Sunday, Feb. 26 at Seven Angels Theatre in Waterbury. The two companies are working together. For tickets, visit SevenAngelsTheatre.org.

Controversy: Just as groups call for certain books to be removed from school libraries or not be assigned, student performances have been canceled, often just before opening night, even though school leadership had approved the selection. It has happened before, but it seems to be happening more frequently. In the last month, three productions were stopped. One was a production of Indecent in Florida, another a production of the musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee in Ohio, and this month, the docu-drama The Laramie Project was removed by a Kansas school board. It was part of the curriculum in a Social Justice English class. The irony is that Spelling Bee is about preteens participating in a spelling bee; The Laramie Project is about the murder of the teenager Matthew Shepherd. The play is based on interviews with residents in the Wyoming town where the murder occurred.

More Up-Coming Shows: Those who loved the slapstick The Play That Goes Wrong can look forward to Peter Pan Goes Wrong by the same playwright. It starts performances on Friday, March 17. Off-Broadway has a new play, The Rewards of Being Frank, billed as a sequel to Oscar Wilde’s classic comedy The Importance of Being Earnest. It opens Friday, March 3. A new musical inspired by the film New York, New York will feature the music of Kander and Ebb (Cabaret, Chicago) with additional lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Kander and Ebb wrote most of the new music for the film, including the classic title tune. The new musical begins previews on Friday, March 24.

Karen Isaacs is an East Haven resident. To check out her reviews for New York and Connecticut shows, visit 2ontheaisle.wordpress.com. She’s a member of the Connecticut Critics Circle, New York’s Outer Critics Circle, the League of Professional Theater Women and the American Theatre Critics Association.