Lauren Yarger - Page 10

Doctor Without Borders Zack (Greg Keller) and his yoga instructor/actress wife Abby (Maria Dizzia) seem like a typical, cozy American couple living in their Paris apartment, but theatergoers who really want any part of typical or cozy won't find it in this world premiere of BELLEVILLE, by Amy Herzog, commissioned by Yale Rep.

Here in Hartford, it's worth the trip for the excellent, humorous play and a stellar performance turned in by Royce Johnson as Ralph.

Darko Tresnjak, Hartford Stage's new artistic director, helms a stylish production of the complicated murder-mystery musical CITY OF ANGELS for Goodspeed Musicals, starring Nancy Anderson, Burke Moses and a fabulous set designed by David P. Gordon.

Things aren't always the way they look, and they might not be anything like you think, unless you can see them from the other side.

Catholic dogma might not rule the life of 12-year-old Rudy Pazinski, who to the horror of his parents and teacher-nun announces his decision to forgo Confirmation while he shops around for a religion, but Over the Tavern, Tom Dudzick's play opening the 21st season for Seven Angels Theater in Waterbury definitely is a good work with outstanding performances by the young people starring in it.

It's 1958 and The Marvelous Wonderettes, an all-female vocal group, is entertaining at the Super Senior Prom.

Just like the THREE SISTERS who find their way of life fading away, so many versions of Anton Chekhov's play find themselves forgotten in the face of modern theater. Not so, however, with Yale Rep's co-production with Berkeley Rep Theatre, for which playwright Sarah Ruhl finds a memorable balance between the classic and modern audiences.

What should be a simple 'put in' for a new understudy turns into a rehearsal from hell complete with romantic liaisons, life-changing movie deals, malfunctioning intercoms and a pot-smoking crew member that collectively make the bizarre Kafka play the characters are working on seem like a psychological breeze in comparison in Theresa Rebeck's delightlful comedy The Understudy playing at Hartford's TheaterWorks.

A musically gifted cast headed by co-director David M. Lutken playing multiple instruments gives a warm glow to the music of country music legend Johnny Cash, but it isn't enough to spark a real flame in the plotless Ring of Fire: The Music of Johnny Cash playing at Ivoryton Playhouse.