It was a movie. Now it’s a musical. It was a musical, now it looks different. It was new age piano, now it’s pure piano. Juice WRLD used to have lucid dreams; now he’s on a death race for love.
It’s spring, and the arts — like so many creepy crawly things in nature — have cocooned for a while, emerging in whole different forms. It’s a brave new WRLD.
Two Times Five
Hartford Symphony Orchestra is two-fifths there. From May 3-5, it’s performing Beethoven’s 5th symphony, and from May 31-June 2 it’s doing Mahler’s 5th symphony. All at The Bushnell, 166 Capitol Ave., Hartford. (The HSO has announced it’ll be doing Beethoven’s 9th this fall.) 860-987-5900, hartfordsymphony.org.
There Inside Your Mind
The lavish national tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “The Phantom of the Opera” is different from the decades-old Broadway production. Different director, diverse casting, new interpretations of some of the supporting characters … all in service of the music of the night. May 8-19: at the Oakdale, 95 S. Turnpike Road, Wallingford.
Flamingo Takes Flight
During his time as artistic director of Hartford Stage, Darko Tresnjak directed several musicals. His productions of “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder” and “Anastasia” ended up on Broadway. Tresnjak’s stepping down from Hartford Stage in June. His last production for Hartford Stage is “The Flamingo Kid,” May 9-June 2, 50 Church St., Hartford. 860-527-5151, hartfordstage.org.
Pure Brickman
In the 1990s, Jim Brickman was a superstar of the Windham Hill label’s “new age” genre of meditative, contemplative piano music. Over the years, Brickman has diversified. He’s worked with everyone from Lady Antebellum to Donny Osmond. He’s hosted his own syndicated radio show for over 20 years now. But he’s never forsaken the keyboard. Brickman’s “Pure Piano” is at Infinity Hall, 20 Greenwoods Road West, Norfolk, on May 10. 866-666-6306, infinityhall.com.
Cruel Makeover
“Cruel Intentions” was an earnest low-budget erotic thriller released in 1999. The movie’s quirkiness comes from it being a modern, high-school-set update of the “Les Liaisons Dangereuses.” Its ’90s trappings and rabid passions make it a natural candidate for a theater parody. “Cruel Intentions: The Musical” is at The Bushnell, 166 Capitol Ave., Hartford, May 10 at 7:30 p.m. and May 11 at 7 p.m. 860-987-5900, bushnell.org.
PAWs For Thought
For the kids, especially those who aren’t allowed to have real pets, “PAW Patrol Live!” is based on the dog fantasy series in which “rescue animal” means puppies in firehats, hardhats or police uniforms heading off on dangerous missions. May 10-12 at the XL Center, 1 Civic Center Plaza, Hartford. 877-522-8499, xlcenter.com.
Climb Every Mountain
The major touring revival of “The Sound of Music,” directed by Jack O’Brien, gives the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic some breathing room. The hills are alive, sure, but the convent that Maria is such a problem at, and the Von Trapp household that embraces her, are spacious and airy. All the better for the nuns and children to harmonize within. May 17-19 at The Bushnell 166 Capitol Ave., Hartford. 860-987-5900, bushnell.org.
New Plays
The second and third readings in HartBeat Ensemble’s annual Women’s Theater Festival (affectionately known as “WTF!”) are on May 3 and 17 at 7:30 p.m. at HartBeat’s Carriage House space, 360 Farmington Ave., Hartford. The plays’ titles hadn’t yet been announced at press time. The fest is open to “theatrical works by women, trans and non-binary artists of color from New England, New York and New Jersey.” 860-548-9144, hartbeatensemble.com.
He Said She Said
“Actually” by Anna Ziegler is the kind of play you want to plan ahead for, since you’ll want to go to a coffeehouse or bar immediately afterwards to debate and discuss it. It’s the tale of a collegiate one-night stand that becomes a dialogue that brings up questions of consent, racial stereotyping and gender politics. While TheaterWorks’ home theater is undergoing renovations, it is using the theater at the Wadsworth Atheneum, 600 Main St., Hartford. May 23-June 23. 860-278-2670, thewadsworth.org.
WRLD Peace
The rapper Juice WRLD’s Death Race for Love Tour on May 24 at Xfinity Theatre in Hartford joins the “Lucid Dreams” hitmaker with Ski Mask the Slump God (“Babywipe”) and the Lyrical Lemonade All-Stars (an aggregation endorsed by the hip-hop website Lyrical Lemonade). 61 Savitt Way, Hartford. 860-548-7370, livenation.com.
