Our 33rd Season
2023-2024 Season of Musicals and Plays
MOST EVENING PERFORMANCES BEGIN AT 8:00 pm unless otherwise noted*Sunday matinees are at 2:00pm
Doors open one half hour before performances in The Kweskin Theatre
Doors open one hour before performances in The Dressing Room Theatre
AND AWAY WE GO - THE DRESSING ROOM THEATRE
September 8 - 24, 2023
Terrence McNally’s love letter to the theatre and a laugh-out-loud theatrical romp through two millennia of theatre history kicks off our new season in the Dressing Room Theatre. Starting with the Greeks in 458 B.C. Athens, it hurtles us to Shakespeare’s England, jogs on over to French Versailles, visits late 19th century revolutionary Russia, lands in Coconut Grove in the 1960s and then on to today. Six actors play thirty-six characters in this time-traveling, time bending, zany, funny peek backstage throughout the ages. The more things change, the more they stay the same! (Some adult language; may not be appropriate for under 18.)
BEAUTIFUL, THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL - THE KWESKIN THEATRE
September 22 thru October 14, 2023
Celebrate a Legend with Beautiful: The Carole King Musical! Before she was Carole King, she was Carole Klein, a spunky young song-writer from Brooklyn with a unique voice that changed music. Beautiful is a Tony and Grammy Award-winning musical phenomenon filled with the songs you remember and a story you'll never forget. For six years, Beautiful, The Carole King Musical, thrilled Broadway audiences with the inspiring true story of one woman’s remarkable journey from teenage songwriter to Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. With a stirring book by the late Oscar and Tony-nominated Douglas McGrath and the music and lyrics of icons Carole King, Gerry Goffin, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, Beautiful is the inspiring tale about a girl who became King.
THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK - THE DRESSING ROOM THEATRE
October 26 thru November 12, 2023
The Diary of Anne Frank is the winner of the 1956 Pulitzer Prize and Tony award. This lovely, tender drama is based on true events. Anne Frank is a Jewish girl in hiding during the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam in World War II. She, along with seven others, survive for two years in the sealed–off upper rooms of the annex of her father’s office building in Amsterdam. This is a story of courage, hope, and the triumph of the human spirit. It's one you don’t want to miss!
IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, A LIVE RADIO PLAY - THE KWESKIN THEATRE
November 17 thru December 9, 2023
This beloved American holiday classic comes to captivating life as a live 1940s radio broadcast – so don’t touch your dial! This holiday tale is live on stage at a snowbound radio station, with every memorable character, wacky sound effect, and the heartwarming conclusion of the iconic film recreated live before your ears—and eyes! With humor and humanity, George Bailey’s tale of love, loss, and redemption mixes an exuberant cast and a wealth of seasonal songs into a radio days hit come to life! A heaven-sent gift for the entire family. "Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life is a classic that'll never be surpassed by any
remake. But what this play has to sacrifice, it makes up for with its original twist, its clever use of props, entertaining voices and a love story that you want to witness over and over again." Teresa Errico, Fairfield County Weekly (Connecticut)
A MERRY MULBERRY STREET MUSICAL - THE DRESSING ROOM THEATRE
December 7 thru 17, 2023
A local favorite back by popular demand! Since its premiere in 2009, A Merry Mulberry Street Musical has played to sold-out crowds at nearly every performance each time it has played here (2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018 & 2021). For more than 75 years, audiences have laughed along with Stamford’s most-produced romantic comedy, Mulberry Street. Now, the same families are back for a heart-warming and riotous musical romp featuring a terrific score by Jeffrey Lodin and William Squier. Join the Morello and Baccolini families during the 1944 holiday season and watch what happens while the boys are overseas and an outcast sister-in-law comes back into their lives! Book early before we sell out again.
THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE - THE DRESSING ROOM THEATRE
January 11 thru 28, 2024
Watch an eclectic group of six awkward, mid-pubescents vie for the spelling championship of a lifetime. While candidly disclosing hilarious and touching stories from their home lives, the tweens spell their way through a series of (potentially made-up) words, hoping never to hear the soul-crushing, pout-inducing, life un-affirming "ding" of the bell that signals a spelling mistake. Six spellers enter; one speller leaves a champion! At least the losers get a juice box. A riotous ride, complete with audience participation, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is a delightful den of comedic genius. (May not be appropriate for those under 16.)
ARSENIC & OLD LACE - THE KWESKIN THEATRE
February 2 thru 17, 2024
Elderly sisters Abby and Martha Brewster are sweeter than their homemade elderberry wine. But all isn’t as prim and proper as it seems. There’s a whole lineup of family skeletons in the basement and the sweet red wine is laced with strychnine. The Brewster family has all gone insane, and the spinsters’ nephew, Mortimer, must save them all from themselves. The play — written by Joseph Kesselring in 1939 and made famous by the 1941 film starring Cary Grant — parades out the eccentricities and murderous antics of elderly sisters. When Mortimer comes home to announce his recent engagement, he stumbles onto a basement full of his aunt’s dark-but-well-meant deeds, and drives himself nearly batty trying to cover up the crimes and save his loopy aunts and two
insane brothers from the “big house.”
THE MOUSETRAP - THE DRESSING ROOM THEATRE
February 29 thru March 24, 2024
The world's longest-running play! After a local woman is murdered, the guests and staff at Monkswell Manor find themselves stranded during a snowstorm. It soon becomes clear that the killer is among them, and the seven strangers grow increasingly suspicious of one another. A police detective, arriving on skis, interrogates the suspects: the newlyweds running the house; a spinster with a curious background; an architect who seems better equipped to be a chef; a retired Army major; a strange little man who claims his car has overturned in a drift; and a jurist who makes life miserable for everyone. When a second murder takes place, tensions and fears escalate. This record-breaking murder mystery features a brilliant surprise finish from Dame Agatha Christie, the foremost mystery writer of her time.
THE SOUND OF MUSIC - THE KWESKIN THEATRE
March 29 thru April 20, 2024 (Evening performances at 7:30pm)
One of our FAVORITE THINGS! This Rodger and Hammerstein classic has been an audience favorite for many years. Set in Austria on the eve of the Anschluss in 1938, the musical tells the story of Maria, who takes a job as governess to a large family while she decides whether to become a nun. She falls in love with the children, and eventually their widowed father, Captain von Trapp. Many songs from the musical have become standards, such as "Edelweiss", "My Favorite Things", "Climb Ev'ry Mountain", "Do-Re-Mi", and the title song "The Sound of Music".
MAY 2024 - DRESSING ROOM THEATRE
To Be Announced
FIDDLER ON THE ROOF - THE KWESKIN THEATRE
June 7 thru 29
The award-winning tale of Tevye the Dairyman and his family’s struggles in a changing Russia is a true musical theatre tradition. Winner of nine Tony Awards when it debuted in 1964, Fiddler on the Roof is the brainchild of Broadway legends, Jerome Robbins and Harold Prince; songwriters, Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick; and bookwriter, Joseph Stein. Set in the little village of Anatevka, the story centers on Tevye, a poor milkman, and his five daughters. With the help of a colorful and tight-knit Jewish community, Tevye tries to protect his daughters and instill them with traditional values in the face of changing social mores and the growing anti-Semitism of Czarist Russia. Rich in historical and ethnic detail, Fiddler on the Roof's universal theme of tradition cuts across barriers of race, class, nationality and religion, leaving audiences crying tears of laughter, joy and sadness.