Summer Stages: BWW's Top Summer Theatre Picks - Connecticut!

Connecticut Rep’s Nutmeg Series offers three fun-filled offerings this summer on the UConn campus at Storrs. Broadway’s Terrence Mann (Beauty & the Beast, Cats, Les Mis) returns to kick off the series as Don Quixote in Man of LaMancha, the Mitch Leigh/Joe Darion tale of a knight chasing windmills, June 7 to 16. “Wheel of Fortune” host Pat Sajak will give his spin on neat freak Felix Unger opposite “Hawaii Five-0” star Joe Moore’s Oscar Madison in Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple June 21-July 7. Gilbert & Sullivan’s comic opera Pirates of Penzance features Bistro and MAC award winner Steve Hayes as the Modern Major General and closes out the series July 12-22. Performances are 7:30pm Tuesday-Thursday; 8pm Fridays and Saturdays and 2 pm Saturday and Sunday. Subscription packages range from $30 to $93; single tickets are $10 to $45. Subscribers can add dining and dessert packages. All performances are in the Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre with free parking in Lot 9. Info: 860-486-2113. www.crt.uconnn.edu.

Musicians Stew (Passing Strange) and Heidi Rodewald team up to create original music and songs for Director Joanna Settle’s re-envisioned dinner-party Romeo & Juliet for Shakespeare on the Sound, starcrossing at two waterfront venues, Baldwin Park in Greenwich (June 26 to July 8) and Pinkney Park in Rowayton (July 18 to July 29). Bring a jacket, a picnic and a blanket for the front section or lawn chairs (chairs higher than 26 inches, rear section only). Admission is free; A donation of $20 adults / $10 students and seniors is suggested. Reserved seats are available for $50 with an advanced reservation. The parks open at 4pm; performance at 7:30, weather permitting. Parking in nearby train stations. Info: 203-299-1300. www.shakespeareonthesound.org. No dogs. 

East Haddam’s Goodspeed Musicals is reviving Carousel, perhaps Rodgers & Hammerstein’s most challenging show. Always innovative in how they manage to telescope large musicals into their intimate space, Goodspeed is entrusting this magical musical into the hands of award-winning director Rob Ruggiero. Running July 13 through September 23, Wednesday and Thursday at 2 and 7:30pm, Friday at 8pm, Saturday at 3 and 8pm; Sunday at 2 and 6:30pm Tickets $31.50 to $73.50. Info: 860-873-8668. www.goodspeed.org.

What goes into the creative process is part of the one man show, Just Jim Dale. Don’t miss the opportunity to see the English performer who wowed Broadway audiences with Barnum, Scapino, Joe Egg, Me and My Girl, Candide and Three Penny Opera, wrote the lyrics for “Georgy Girl,” appeared in 11 Carry On films, recorded the seven Harry Potter books (and won a record 10 Audie Awards), and was the narrator for the television series, “Pushing Up Daisies.” Just Jim Dale is directed by Tony Award winner Richard Maltby, Jr. Performances are at the Long Wharf Theatre Stage II from June 14 to 16 and June 21 to 23 at 8pm and June 17 and 24 at 2pm. Tickets are $32. Call 800-782-8497or visit www.longwharf.org.

It is always fun to watch a rich fool and his money parted by a pious fraud, especially in Molière’s classic comedy, Tartuffe, at The Westport Country Playhouse from July 17 through August 4. It is one of those rare plays that can be staged anywhere and in any costume style yet still seem fresh and saucy, but with David Kennedy as director, we expect this version of Richard Wilbur’s translation to be the definitive one for this decade. Performances are Tuesday through Saturday at 8pm, with matinees on Wednesday at 2pm and Saturday and Sunday at 3pm. Tickets are $30 to $50. Call 888-927-7529 or visit www.westportplayhouse.org.