Tea at Five - Ivoryton Playhouse

A one-woman show about Katherine Hepburn for the Ivoryton Playhouse schedule is a natural fit.  The legendary Hollywood and Broadway performer starred in some of the theater’s early shows.  Her family estate was just a stone’s throw away in Old Saybrook.

 

Carlyn Connolly as Katherine Hepburn in Tea at Five.

 

Playwright Matthew Lombardo, a Hartford native, has taken material from Hepburn’s book about her life, Me:  Stories of My Life, and worked it into Tea at Five, a breezy, two-act play.  The first part of the show occurs in September 1938.  Even though the Hepburn has won her first Oscar and appeared on Broadway, her recent string of movie flops has labeled her “box office poison.”  During this time, the actress playing Hepburn, winningly portrayed by Carlyn Connolly, looks at her life, her upbringing, and the individuals and events that helped shape her.  There is a continuous thread about the role that escaped her – that of Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With the Wind.

Carlyn Connolly as Katherine Hepburn in Tea at Five.

Act II takes place years later, in February 1983. The actress, hobbled by an injury from a car accident and the onset of a neurological disorder called essential tremor (not Parkinson’s), reflects on, among other matters, her now-legendary career and her tempestuous relationship with her father.  The emphasis, though, is on her heartbreaking and tumultuous romance with Spencer Tracy.

Carlyn Connolly as Katherine Hepburn in Tea at Five.

Ms.  Connolly breaks the fourth wall in a continuous monologue to the audience.  Entertaining and sometimes informative, Tea at Five is an intimate portrayal of a true star.  Lombardo provides just enough tantalizing details to keep the work interesting.  However, the play sinks or swims on the strength of the actress playing Hepburn.  Carlyn Connolly more than meets the challenge.  She effortlessly embodies the famed thespian, showing her passions and shortcomings, especially when she appears in the second act as the older Hepburn, suitably costumed by designer Sean Spina.  Connolly’s mannerisms and vocal inflections are spot on. 

Carlyn Connolly as Katherine Hepburn in Tea at Five.

Director Jacqueline Hubbard keeps the pacing snappy and employs enough movement and theatricality to keep the show appealing.  Scenic Designer Starlet Jacobs has crafted an inviting sitting room of the Fenwick estate.  Lighting Designer Marcus Abbott baths the set with warmth, and Sound Designer Jonathan White provides the ominous thundering of an impending storm.

 

Tea at Five, playing at the Ivoryton Playhouse through June 8.  Click here for dates, times, and ticket information.

Fool's Paradise - Thrown Stone

Fool’s Paradise, receiving its world premiere at the Thrown Stone theater company, begins with an interesting premise.  Two couples, vacationing at an eco-friendly, all-inclusive resort in the Caribbean, are suddenly plunged into chaos when a nuclear disaster occurs on a nearby island.  Communication to the outside world becomes non-existent.  The extent of the catastrophe is unknown.  How do they handle their new reality?  For the most part, without that much of a sense of urgency.  That is my main issue with the show.  With the way playwright Jonathan Winn has set the stage, only one character, Lorraine (Dana Eskelson), the wife of the older couple, is at all horrified as she continually frets about the safety of her son on the mainland.  The other characters are more at ease with the upheaval in their lives.  Bill (Steven Hauck), Lorraine’s husband, and owner of the travel agency that booked the excursion, believes (maybe pretends) there’s not much to worry about.  Wendy (Julia Atwood), the young wife of Marc (Alan Hayhurst), who scrimped for a year to afford the trip, is levelheaded until a momentous announcement late in the show.  Marc, who has been out-of-work for over a year and wants to save the world – literally – pivots from contentment to naïve espousements.

 

As the play progresses, Winn has not introduced much drama among the foursome even though the fate of the world may be at hand.  They snorkel, play cards.  Towards the end of the play, there is a twist, but that only leads to marital discord and discussions of changes in domestic life.  There are too many incongruities in the plot and situation that keep popping up.  What is going on with the other guests and staff in the hotel where there still might be hundreds of people?  Is anarchy breaking out?  There is not a sense of danger until the abrupt conclusion.  Characters appear in hazmat suits.  Where did these garbs come from?  If there is radiation, wouldn’t their suits possibly irradiate the others upon their return to the hotel suite?  A birthday cake is whipped up by the pastry chef three weeks into the catastrophe.  Wouldn’t food start to be rationed?  The uncertainty of time is always at the fore, which makes it hard to follow the events that are unfolding. 

 

Director James Dean Palmer lets the action evolve at a steady, yet nondescript pace.  He incorporates characters in costumes – the aforementioned hazmat suits and snorkeling attire – to add diversion.  Sometimes characters, most notably Lorraine, speak away from the audience, making it hard to hear.

 

The cast is fine, but come across as more two-dimensional persons.  Their performances would have benefitted with more of a backstory or complexity they could latch on to. 

 

The set design by Marcelo Martinez Garcia is lavish and worthy of a well-heeled resort, but it is almost too large for the stage. 

 

Even with all the issues with the production, Fool’s Paradise does deserve more developmental work.  There is a show of substance lurking behind what is currently on the stage.

 

Fool’s Paradise runs through May 10 at Thrown Stone theater in Norwalk.  Click here for dates, times, and ticket information.

33rd Annual Connecticut Critics Circle Awards - Monday, June 23, 2025

The 33rd Annual Connecticut Critics Circle (CCC) Awards Ceremony will take place on Monday, June 23, 2025 at the Event Center at Housatonic Community College (HCC).  The Awards period covers shows that opened between June 1, 2024 – May 20, 2025. Due to budgetary constraints, we will not be holding a reception this year.

 

The annual awards show is the only event in the state which brings the theater community together.  It is a powerfully moving evening with artists —many who have devoted their careers to regional theater — receiving an all-too-rare tribute. It’s also an opportunity to promote the vast talent and productions our famously theatrical state has produced, from its Tony Award-winning regional theaters to well-established venues to emerging professional groups making new names for themselves.

 

Our event is free and open to the public and annually attracts hundreds of theatergoers from all corners of the state. The ceremony and awards recipients receive press attention in media outlets in Connecticut and beyond.  Click here to reserve tickets.

 

Additionally, the Awards Ceremony will be live streamed for individuals that cannot attend the event.  More information will be posted on the CT Critics Circle website later this month.

 

There is free parking on the floors in the enclosed HCC parking garage, 870 Lafayette Blvd., which is next to Beacon Hall where the Event Center is located.  Parking on the right side will bring you closest to the elevator.

 

We hope you will join us in helping the CCC, a not-for-profit organization, celebrate theater in Connecticut.