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New Musicals, Reality Home Shows, Something Loverly, And More

New Musicals: January 2020 was the last time Goodspeed’s Festival of New Musicals was held. It’s a weekend showcasing three musicals in development and various talks and panels and now it is back, running Friday, March 18 to Sunday, March 20. This year’s festival, the 16th, will feature three staged readings of new musicals written by women. The three are A House Without Windows about an author whose disappearance mimics that of one of her characters; HoT, a feminist adaptation of Helen of Troy; and The Gunfighter Meets His Match about a young ranch hand who wants the truth behind the myth of a brilliant gunfighter. Saturday will feature seminars and a symposium. Plus, there will be cabarets of new songs are on Friday and Saturday nights. Students from the Hartt School at the University of Hartford work with the creative teams and professional directors on the staged readings. For more information about the festival, ticket packages, and individual tickets, visit Goodspeed.org.

Reality Home Shows: Long Wharf’s next play, Dream House, imagines what it would be like to be on a HGTV-style show. Two Latinx sisters find the experience challenging, highlighting the conflicts between heritage and cash. The world premiere play runs Tuesday, March 15 to Sunday, April 3. For tickets, visit LongWharf.org

Loverly: Wouldn’t it be loverly if you could see a top-notch production of one of America’s best musicals? You can. The wonderful Bartlett Sher-directed revival of My Fair Lady is at the Bushnell from Tuesday, March 8 to Sunday, March 13. If you’ve never seen this show or only the movie, you owe it to yourself to make it to the Bushnell. Visit Bushnell.org for tickets.

Masks Will Continue: While wearing masks may be optional in more and more locations, theaters will continue to require audiences to wear masks. Why? Actors Equity, which represents professional actors and others, still requires that theaters employing their members ensure that audiences are masked. This is for the safety of the actors. Until the union policies change, Connecticut’s professional theaters will have to require masks. Most will also require proof of vaccination and usually boosters, too. You can check each theater’s website for full details.

Up-Coming Tours: A number of current and recent Broadway shows have announced tour plans. This reflects the demand by audiences throughout the country. Tours have been doing good business since their return. Among the shows that will launch sometime this year are Aladdin, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, Les Miserables, and Annie (directed by Jenn Thompson, who has directed frequently at Goodspeed.) I’m not yet sure which of these will play Connecticut in the next year.

Webber-Rice Favorite: Next up at ACT-CT in Ridgefield is the Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice show Jesus Christ Superstar from Thursday, March 24 to Sunday, April 17. The show will coincide with the Lenten season. It is billed as ACT-CT’s biggest production to date. For tickets, visit ActOfCT.org.

Masked Singers: If you are a fan of the TV show, you might want to tune in to the Broadway Cares/Actors Equity YouTube site beginning Monday, March 21 for Broadway’s Masked Singer. This is the second season for the show, which features eight Broadway performers singing to win the title.

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.