The Connecticut Stage Company, an organization launched last year by two New Canaan women, is putting on a production of “Little Women” on April 27 at New Canaan Library (tickets here). We put some questions to the organization’s co-founders—Lorah Haskins, owner of The Studio for Performing Arts, and actor and director Kate Simone—about the Connecticut Stage Company and upcoming show.
Our exchange follows.
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New Canaanite: The Connecticut Stage Company saw huge demand for its inaugural production here in town (“Into the Woods”). Tell us about how things are going since the nonprofit organization’s founding last year.
L-R: Kate Simone Lorah Haskins.
Lorah Haskins: Into the Woods was such a great kickoff for our company and gave us a really solid footing to build upon. We now have an incredible board who are dedicated to bringing this professional theatre to our community.
Kate Simone: We had so many supporters come out for our first fundraiser, a Cabaret Night at Pesca, with our CSC Broadway performers. People were so blown away by the talent and programming, we immediately knew we needed to continue down this path.
Lorah Haskins: We held auditions for our upcoming show, Little Women, and had hundreds of professional actors interested in being a part of our production; we were able to cast both Broadway veterans (and a two-time Tony nominee!) and up-and-comers as well. Having this level of talent coming to be a part of our show still has us in shock.
Kate Simone: Things really are going better than we could have hoped!
What has the feedback from the community been like?
Lorah Haskins: We were so blown away by the response to our production of Into the Woods, we still sometimes get stopped in public by people wanting to tell us how much they loved it.
Kate Simone: We knew that we had to ride that wave of interest and quickly put up a second production and the excitement has been palpable.
Lorah Haskins: We’re hoping to reach all corners of our community and be sure people know that theatre is for everyone. We’ve had meetings with folks in town who’ve been so thrilled for what we’re bringing to New Canaan and excited for the prospect of what it could grow to in coming years.
Tell us about your decision to stage “Little Women.” What went into it? What can you tell us about the production?
Lorah Haskins: As we were planning Into the Woods, we met with the New Canaan Library about bringing literary works to life on stage to correlate with their programming. Little Women is one of our favorite stories, we both grew up on that legendary 90s film and I absolutely wore thin my copy of the book. We love its powerful women, timeless story, and this musical has such beautiful music. The actors you will see in our production have not only some of the most beautiful voices you’ve heard, but are such extraordinary storytellers. Much like Into the Woods, we are doing this as a staged concert reading. This allows for the audience to truly be able to focus on the words and music, and let the actors use their skills to bring it all to life.
Kate Baldwin
Kate Simone: We have a truly incredible cast, our dream cast, in fact! Two time Tony Award Nominee and Broadway veteran Kate Baldwin will play Marmee and Broadway’s tour de force Kennedy Caughell will play the story’s protagonist, Jo March. And if you have a teen on TikTok they will definitely know Cara Rose DiPietro who is playing Amy. Cara is TikTok famous! The rest of our cast is also full of super talented professional actors, some from New York and some from Connecticut. We are also thrilled to share that Little Women lyricist Mindi Dickstein will join us after our Sunday matinee for a talkback about adapting the book into a stage musical. You won’t want to pass up seeing any of these professionals live on stage.
How will interested locals be able to get tickets to “Little Women”?
Kate Simone: Tickets are available on our website. We are asking for a suggested donation of $30 per ticket. Also if you or your business is interested in becoming a sponsor, or placing an ad in our playbill you can find all of that info on our website.
Kennedy Caughell
What else would you like to tell our readers about Connecticut Stage Company or the upcoming show?
Lorah Haskins: We are just so thrilled to be able to bring these incredible performers into town to tell this story and so grateful for the support we’re receiving from our community! We hope everyone comes out for what’s sure to be a most memorable show!
Kate Simone: We also want the community to know that we are here and so excited to be a part of the arts scene in town. We are committed to bringing in top level talent and producing high quality and accessible theatrical productions for our community.