Jared Reynolds

When it comes to a show like A Christmas Carol, you need to have heart and soul, and the cast and crew of Connecticut Theatre Company’s production of A Christmas Carol got my holiday season off to a great start.

Where to even begin? Brookfield Theatre brought together a stellar cast and crew who bought into the vibes and committed to the comedy that Mel Brooks laid to paper. The success of the humor in The Producers comes from the authenticity of the absurdity, and it's the cast's commitment to the absurd that sells it to the audience!

Nothing ever goes according to plan, but you make do with what you have, and you make it work. Written by a local playwright through New Milford’s Playwriting Group, Oat Squares is jam packed with jokes, irony, and visual gags, leaving the audience falling in love with every character.

What do you get when you cross a stage director, a burgeoning film industry, exotic plants, and time-travelling characters? Why, you get Shakespeare in Hollywood! This play is a riotous time for Shakespeare nerds and People-Who’ve-Never-Read-Shakespeare alike.

'Wait Until Dark' plucks the strings of your anxieties one by one until your muscles are screaming for the inevitable crash of expectation that comes at the end of a thrilling work of art. But a script can’t do it on its own. It needs the right cast, the right crew, and the right moment to come to life and enrapture an audience in the way that only live theater can.

Nostalgia is a powerful tool. It can bring back memories that you had long forgotten, and it can make you smile with fondness. Everyone experiences nostalgia differently, but at its core, its job is to make us feel. The cast and crew come together to bring the joy of the Peanuts to life at Brookfield Theatre with You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.

The dramas of my childhood years seem so small now, so insignificant, like a trivial problem today felt like the end of the world back then, and that’s exactly what the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee dug out of the depths of my brain like a repressed memory.

We all have those shows that cut you to your core in a way that few other things can, and based on the opening night audience at the Brookfield Theatre for the Arts, Fun Home is that show for a lot of people. From the moment the band walked on stage, the cast and crew of Brookfield Theatre’s Fun Home had the audience caught: hook, line, and ring of keys.

The Brookfield Theatre of the Arts’ 3X3 Festival continues with August Wilson’s 'How I Learned What I Learned.' Following in the footsteps of Jay Presson Allen’s Tru, How I Learned What I Learned finds August Wilson- played by Jeramie Gladman- reflecting on his upbringing, his friends, and his career through a series of stories and events that shaped his life, his relationships, and his professional development. Jeramie's passion is infectious in this exploration of Wilson's life.

There is so much more to Theatre than just musicals and full-length plays. For a single actor in a solo show to stand on that stage and create a work of art by themselves is bold and can be just as thrilling as a 30-person dance ensemble. 'Tru' set the bar high for the rest of the Festival.

Under the watchful eye of Director Jocelyn Beard, the cast of TheatreWorks New Milford’s production of Scotland Road took the audience on a voyage from 1993 to explore the sinking of the Titanic, way back in 1912. The show's authenticity contributed to the immersion of the entire production, creating an unforgettable and thought-provoking night.

What do colored socks, fountains, and random head injuries have in common? Did you guess Shakespeare and hilarity? Because that’s exactly what Brookfield Theater has for their current production of Twelfth Night; an iconic comedy that, like all Shakespearean plays, provides as many opportunities as obstacles for production.

The cast and crew of Brookfield Theatre's 'Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play,' creates a resourceful new world for the audience to explore, all stemming from a campfire retelling of The Simpsons.

Brookfield Theater of the Arts’ production of Urinetown was fresh and unique and brought joy to every single member of the audience, whether it was their first time or twenty first time.

Like a heart racing during a marathon, the pacing of a show can make it or break it. Pacing is one thing that TheatreWorks New Milford got absolutely right in their production of 'Cash on Delivery', by Michael Cooney. To put it simply: Sit back and enjoy.

What does 12 Angry Men and The Extremists have in common? Did you guess politics? Because if so, you would be right. On the set of a politics talk show, “Issues in Focus,” Dick Hedgerow brings on a guest, Norman Krieger, to discuss his upcoming book on battling extremism in the world. What was set up to be a dry, lengthy discussion turned into a frantic introspection of who the extremists really are.

The village came together to raise a child, putting all of their skills to the stage to blow the audience away with a light-hearted, uplifting, and hilarious story that brought us all to the sunny shores of Greece; or, at least how we imagine that would feel.

The best part of reviewing shows is that I have the opportunity to see shows that I have never heard of before. I entered Brookfield Theater to see Night of the Assassins, and I settled in for what promised to be an intense afternoon; an intensity that surpassed all expectations.

Not every Christmas is a happy one- that’s just the reality of growing up- but that doesn’t mean that the holiday season can’t still be special. You must make the most of every moment you can because you never know when those moments will run out. This lesson rang loud and true on stage at the Brookfield Theater during their production of 'Dot,' by Colman Domingo.