Weekend of New Musicals: Goodspeed’s 2023 Festival of New Musicals is Friday, March 17, to Sunday, March 19. In addition to seminars and a symposium, the festival will feature the 2023 Terris Theatre season announcement. The Chester stage features musicals in development. In addition, cabarets will be presented at the Gelston House on Friday and Saturday evenings. Friday night features Brett Ryback & Eric Ullola, the writers of the hit musical Passing Through, which was showcased at the 2018 Festival and during the 2019 Terris Theater season. On Saturday evening, Letters to the President imagines songs inspired by different letters from that archive. Three shows will receive readings. On Friday is Double Helix, about discovering the structure of DNA and the young researcher Rosalind Franklin. Saturday evening is The Great Emu War about when Australia waged war on emus. Sunday afternoon is Little Miss Perfect, based on the hit single about Noella and her senior year of high school. The seminars include the art of dance arranging, what it is like to be a “swing” or a performer who substitutes for anyone in the ensemble, a discussion about the Dramatist Guild of America and its work protecting playwrights, and the role of the League of Resident Theaters, of which Goodspeed, Hartford Stage, Yale Rep, and other Connecticut theaters are members. For more information, tickets to individual events, or packages, contact goodspeed.org.

Obie Awards: The off-Broadway awards program, the Obie’s, presented awards for 2020-’22 covering the pandemic seasons. The Sol Project, co-founded by Long Wharf’s Artistic Director Jacob G. Padrón was honored, as well as TheaterWorks Hartford’s online production of Russian Trolls. Congratulations!

Cult Classic: The Rocky Horror Show, a cult-classic musical, is at Music Theater of Connecticut in Norwalk from Friday, March 17, through Sunday, April 8. It is a send-up of horror movies about sweethearts Brad and Janet, who have a flat and discover the mansion of Dr. Frank-N-Furter and his household of wild characters. MTC stresses that this is a production of the original musical; it is not a showing of the film with a “shadow cast.” Audience members are encouraged to wear costumes. The show is for adult audiences. No bringing or throwing props will be permitted. For tickets, visit MusicTheatreofCT.com.

Neo-Nazi Protest: Audience members for the first Broadway preview performance of the musical Parade had to walk through a group of neo-Nazi protesters. The group carried hate-filled signs, tried to distribute antisemitic flyers, and shouted at theater-goers. The musical is based on the true story of Leo Frank, who was falsely accused of rape and later lynched when his sentence was commuted to life in prison in 1915 Georgia.

Pictures from Home: This new Broadway play has a stellar cast that includes Nathan Lane, Danny Burstein, and Zoë Wanamaker. It’s based on a photo book of the same title by Larry Sultan that explored the issues of image and reality through photos–both posed and candid–of his parents over a 10-year period. The play imagines the conversations that go on during these weekend-long visits. While it owes a debt to A Death of a Salesman, the play is beautifully acted and explores how we put on masks to cover our insecurities and our fears.

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.