All stories by Christopher Arnott on BroadwayStars

Thursday, October 7, 2021

Goodspeed makes a grand, intimate return with ‘A Grand Night for Singing’ by Christopher Arnott

"A Grand Night for Singing" is the first live show at the Goodspeed Opera House since COVID. It's a relatively low-key revue of Rodgers & Hammerstein songs, given conceptual twists by a …

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 12:24PM
Wednesday, October 6, 2021

Hartford Public Library’s Big Read of ‘House on Mango Street’ includes art, activities and workshops by Christopher Arnott

Hartford Public Library's Big Read for 2021 is Sandra Cisneros' novel "The House on Mango Street." The library has planned weeks of events around the book (as well as this year's youth selec…

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 03:20PM
Tuesday, October 5, 2021

‘Everyone Invited’ to 10th Night Fall as community arts pageant by Christopher Arnott

The puppet-filled community arts spectacular Night Fall returns outdoors for its annual celebration of fall, Oct. 9 at the Ridgefield St. entrance of Hartford's Keney Park. There are pre-sho…

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 05:03PM
Friday, October 1, 2021

Matt Amodio’s latest milestone: Second most consecutive wins in ‘Jeopardy!’ history by Christopher Arnott

Matt Amodio has now won the second most consecutive games in "Jeopardy!" history: 33.

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 07:30PM
Wednesday, September 29, 2021

‘Two Jews Walk Into a War’ a clever, tragicomic philosophical argument at Playhouse on Park by Christopher Arnott

“Two Jews Walk Into a War...” is a clever, uncompromising, relentlessly comic and catastrophic 90-minute philosophical argument is at Playhouse on Park through Oct. 8.

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 09:08PM
Tuesday, September 28, 2021

Connecticut performing arts venues form coalition to promote reopening, safety protocols by Christopher Arnott

Six Connecticut performing arts centers, including The Bushnell, have formed a new coalition in order to cross-promote their shows and announce that live theater has returned to the state.

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 01:30PM

Largest exhibit of Sol Lewitt’s prints events ever fills New Britain Museum with color and fine lines by Christopher Arnott

The largest exhibit of Sol Lewitt prints ever mounted is at the New Britain Museum of American Art through Jan. 9. The artist, who died in 2007, grew up in New Britain, and the museum has th…

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 10:49AM

Former Hartford Stage leader gets shout-out at Tony Awards by Christopher Arnott

Former Hartford Stage Associate Artistic Director Elizabeth Williamson was acknowledged by name for her contributions to the Best Play Tony winner "The Inheritance" Sunday night, by playwrig…

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 10:14AM
Monday, September 27, 2021

UConn filmmaker’s documentary telling story of Connecticut immigrant family stricken with COVID at baby’s birth earns Emmy nominations by Christopher Arnott

Oscar Guerra, a human rights activist and documentary filmmaker who teaches at the University of Connecticut at Stamford, is nominated for two national Emmy Awards this week.

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 01:52PM

Stowe Prize winner Eddie Glaude Jr. discusses the legacies of James Baldwin and Harriet Beecher Stowe by Christopher Arnott

Scholar and TV political commentator Eddie S. Glaude Jr. accepted the 2021 Stowe Prize from the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center in Hartford. The Sept. 23 presentation, which includes a discussi…

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 12:03PM
Thursday, September 23, 2021

Goodspeed returns to live performance in cast-driven show that brings representation to Rodgers and Hammerstein by Christopher Arnott

"A Grand Night for Singing," comprised of songs from Rodgers & Hammerstein musicals, is the first live show at the Goodspeed Opera House since COVID. Director Rob Ruggiero has assembled …

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 12:43PM

Office of the Arts awards hundreds of grants, including new social-issue Artists Respond by Christopher Arnott

The Connecticut Office of the Arts announced three separate groups of awards on Tuesday: the first round of the new Artists Respond grants, the 15 people who will receive free training for t…

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 12:01PM
Wednesday, September 22, 2021

For 66 years, Bob Steele was the voice of Connecticut radio. His biographer seeks to keep his memory alive by Christopher Arnott

Known as the voice of Southern New England, radio broadcaster Bob Steele died nearly 19 years ago, but Paul Hensler is determined to keep his memory alive. Hensler will discuss Steele’s li…

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 02:25PM
Monday, September 20, 2021

Hartford in the 1980s sets the mood for West Hartford author’s new novel ‘The Liability of Love’ by Christopher Arnott

Susan Schoenberger's new novel "The Liability of Love" uses Hartford, and its insurance industry, as a backdrop for a literary romance set in the 1980s.

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 06:00AM
Thursday, September 16, 2021

TheaterWorks postpones live return due to worker shortages and COVID concerns; will stream haunted house show by Christopher Arnott

Changes in the TheaterWorks season: The first show of the 2021-22 season, "Monster Songs," will be moved to 2022-23 but will hold a private workshop in Hartford this month that will be docum…

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 04:28PM

UConn’s Connecticut Repertory Theatre returning to live performances this month by Christopher Arnott

Connecticut Repertory Theatre has scheduled three shows for its fall semester, its first live shows since the COVID shutdown in the spring of 2020.

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 11:14AM
Wednesday, September 15, 2021

Connecticut champion Matt Amodio on returning to Jeopardy!: It’s still ‘pure joy’ by Christopher Arnott

Connecticut's own "Jeopardy!" champion Matt Amodio shares his feelings about returning for the new season, being the face of the show on TV ads and his wish that they'd ask more math questio…

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 10:21AM
Thursday, September 9, 2021

New Britain Museum of American Art extends free admission for children year-round by Christopher Arnott

Kids can visit the New Britain Museum of American Art for free. Using its own resources, the museum will continue a policy begun over the summer through an initiative launched by the state o…

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 04:36PM
Tuesday, September 7, 2021

Westport Country Playhouse recovering after dressing rooms flooded due to Ida by Christopher Arnott

Westport Country Playhouse suffered flood damage to its basement level during heavy rains from Hurricane Ida on Sept. 1 as a concert performance was taking place upstairs. Cost for repairs a…

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 04:59PM
Thursday, September 2, 2021

Christina Forrer’s MATRIX exhibit lets Wadsworth art add context, contrast to her contemporary tapestries by Christopher Arnott

Christina Forrer's large contemporary conflict-ridden tapestries are juxtaposed with items from several Wadsworth Atheneum collections for the latest transcendent exhibit in the museum's MAT…

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 02:22PM

Courant arts picks for Sept. 5-11: ‘Soul’ in Bushnell Park, hitmaker Yung Bleu, Dominique Morisseau drama and choices return to Connecticut by Christopher Arnott

The Courant's arts picks for Sept. 5-11 include Ben Folds, Dead & Co., Yung Bleu and a new play at TheaterWorks Hartford.

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 06:00AM
Wednesday, September 1, 2021

Ed Asner kept coming back to Connecticut by Christopher Arnott

Ed Asner, who died Sunday, entertained Connecticut theater audiences for 60 years off and on, starting with a stint in the American Shakespeare Theatre company and ending with a slew of one-…

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 11:32AM
Sunday, August 29, 2021

New Haven’s International Festival of Arts & Ideas switches Labor Day weekend theme from ‘Arts for Labor’ to ‘Vaccine and Vibes’ by Christopher Arnott

A free New Haven Symphony Orchestra concert hosted by the International Festival of Arts & Ideas on New Haven Green for Labor Day weekend was switched to a "Vaccines & Vibes" event, …

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 06:00AM
Tuesday, August 24, 2021

Megan Monaghan Rivas to lead UConn Dramatic Arts department and Connecticut Repertory Theatre by Christopher Arnott

UConn's School of Fine Arts has named the new head of its Dramatic Arts department: Megan Monaghan Rivas, a playwright and dramaturg who has spent the last seven years at Carnegie Mellon Uni…

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 03:57PM
Monday, August 23, 2021

Cancellations, postponements sour start of fall arts season by Christopher Arnott

A spate of cancellations and postponements of concerts and shows — some due to COVID-19, others to Tropical Storm Henri — have marred the lead-in to the fall arts season and a general …

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 04:27PM
Friday, August 20, 2021

Connecticut author Chandra Prasad explores conflicts between teen girls in new YA novel of contrasts in race, gender and time by Christopher Arnott

Chandra Prasad's new Young Adult novel "Mercury Boys" is set in the fictional town of Coventon, Connecticut, but references many real-life places in the state in telling the story of a teen …

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 06:00AM
Thursday, August 19, 2021

Highly Caffeinated Festival in Bethlehem rallies local bands, runners to raise money for Make-A-Wish by Christopher Arnott

The first Highly Caffeinated 5K & Music Festival happens Aug. 21, with the 5K run happening at 10 a.m., followed at 11 a.m. by eight music acts, including the Connecticut-based national …

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 03:29PM
Monday, August 16, 2021

Xfinity Theatre, Oakdale, other Connecticut Live Nation venues to require proof of vaccination or negative COVID test by Christopher Arnott

Live Nation, which operates some of the largest concert venues in Connecticut, will implement a policy on Oct. 4 requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination for staff, artists and audience membe…

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 12:31PM

West Hartford’s Ballet Theatre Company is creating its own resident dance troupe; looking for dancers of diverse gender, race and body type by Christopher Arnott

Ballet Theatre Company in West Hartford is hiring dancers for a new resident dance company. Auditions are being held Aug. 27 and the dancers will allow BTC to expand its season and the range…

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 06:00AM
Thursday, August 12, 2021

Meet Laiona Michelle, who’s radicalizing the Goodspeed with her Nina Simone musical ‘Little Girl Blue’ by Christopher Arnott

"Little Girl Blue: The Nina Simone Musical" is being workshopped before attentive audiences as part of the Goodspeed by the River series at Goodspeed Musicals in East Haddam through Aug. 29.…

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 12:29PM

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