“Welcome to Katz Reviews. This is Ed Katz of Katnip Marketing- marketing consultant by day; theater critic by night- with my weekly review segment, Katz Reviews, here for you on WICC 600.
It’s that time of year- the holidays are upon us! And that means there is a proliferation of shows that pop up just in time for the holiday season.
I’m going to attempt to do you a favor here and give you My Guide to the Holiday Shows in the region. I will tell you upfront: Don’t think this is a full and complete list- it isn’t. It’s subjective but, if you have been listening to my reviews this year, I hope you agree that I haven’t steered you wrong yet.
Here I’ll just give you an overview of some noteworthy shows I found. I can’t pass judgment as I haven’t seen them yet but I will mention which ones I’ll be reviewing, too. And I’m giving you plenty of advance notice to catch these shows!
Let’s start with Bridgeport. Downtown Cabaret Theatre has ‘Phantom’ running through December 10th, which just started performances this past weekend. They are also having an ‘In the Heights’ concert on December 16th to benefit victims of the hurricanes in Puerto Rico.
Westport Community Theater, fresh off their excellent production of ‘A View From the Bridge,’ has ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’ starting November 24th and running through December 10th. I am planning to review that one and report back to you so stay tuned!
Speaking of Westport, Westport Playhouse just finished ‘Romeo & Juliet’ but they have ‘The Nutcracker’ the weekends of December 9th and 16th and, on December 17th, they will present two performances of ‘A Christmas Carol’ (well, you knew SOMEbody would be doing it, right?).
Four more holiday shows- In Norwalk, Music Theater of Connecticut, MTC, also has ‘A Christmas Carol’- but the radio play version, weekends from December 1st thru 17th. Fairfield Theatre Company has a Broadway Holiday Show December 17th. The Ridgefield Theater Barn presents their ‘Wreck the Halls’ from December 1st through the 30th. They bill it as a “raucous holiday revue”- and who am I to doubt them? And Goodspeed has ‘A Connecticut Christmas Carol’ at their Norma Terris Theater, which is their venue for new works- so this is a revised treatment of the classic, and it runs until December 24th.
And don’t forget Goodspeed’s ‘Rags,’ which is running until December 10th, and which I reviewed here and gave it 4-and-a-half stars out of 5, making it the best reviewed musical I saw in Connecticut this year.
Curtain Call in Stamford has the light-hearted musical comedy, ‘Sister Act’ running through December 16th and, of note, they will present Mark Twain’s ‘Is He Dead?’ from January 11th through January 28th.
I’ve read the script and it’s a rollicking, funny comedy.
Meanwhile, in New Haven, The Shubert has ‘The Santaland Diaries’ Thanksgiving Weekend, November 24th through 26th. I also want to remind listeners that The Shubert has ‘Amazing Grace’ January 19th through 21st. ‘Amazing Grace’ is a terrific, heart-warming story that had too short a run on Broadway so now you have a chance to catch it in New Haven this January, but just for that one weekend.
And Long Wharf has ‘The Chosen’- from the classic Chaim Potok novel- and that runs November 27th through December 17th. I will be reviewing that one early next month for you.
Catch my reviews right here this time each week and on my Facebook page and website, Katz Reviews dot com, that’s K-A-T-Z Reviews dot com, where you will find all my WICC 600 reviews.
This is Ed Katz talking theater for WICC 600!”
