New Canaan-founded nonprofit Connecticut Stage Company is launching its Broadway Concert Series with a one-night-only inaugural concert. On March 7, Broadway star Kara Lindsay (“Wicked,” “Beautiful,” “Newsies,” “Once Upon a Mattress”) will perform some of her hits and crowd favorites at the Carriage Barn Arts Center, with music directed by Dan Micciche (a recent member of the record academy of the Grammy’s and current music director and conductor of “Wicked” on Broadway, who has been with the show for more than 12 years). Seating is limited for the concert, which includes a pre-cocktail hour and Q&A with both luminaries (tickets here).
Kara Lindsay and Dan Micciche
We interviewed Lindsay and Micciche ahead of the show.
Here’s our exchange.
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New Canaanite: It was just a couple years ago that Lorah Haskins and Kate Simone started the Connecticut Stage Company, and part of what they said at the time was that they wanted to bring quality theatrical performances to a community that loves its arts, performing arts included. So here we are, a handful of productions later, and now they’re launching a new Broadway Series featuring you two. Like a lot of people in New Canaan, though I’ve been to Broadway shows, I’m not by any means like an insider. Could you tell us, each of you, how did you become aware of Connecticut Stage Company in New Canaan?
Dan Micciche: I grew up in Darien and I met Kate when we were teenagers. She studied with a voice teacher in New Canaan that I used to play classes for, and then the Libonatis, who own Summer Theatre of New Canaan, I was the music director for them a lot during college and after college, and Kate was in all those shows. So I’ve known Kate for, let’s see, 25 years. She reached out to me a couple months ago asking would you be interested in calling a couple of your friends and who do you think? And I mentioned Kara, and she said, ‘Oh my God, I’d die if Kara Lindsay would come here.’
Kara, what is it like for you to hear that?
Kara Lindsay: It’s so kind and so wonderful and I’m also thinking, oh gosh, I hope I don’t disappoint. No pressure! I’m so grateful for their kindness and for welcoming me there. And I’m really excited to play alongside my good friend Dan. We’ve known each other for a long time, since our beginnings at ‘Wicked’ … I was joining as Glinda in ‘Wicked’ and he was joining as keyboard three. And he ended up moving up and up and up, and is now the music director of ‘Wicked’ on Broadway, which is unbelievable, and so cool to watch that trajectory for him. I’ll never forget the first time Dan conducted. That was thrilling for me as his friend, and also the whole cast. We were just so excited for him and he killed it. He was amazing and it was very clear that he was going to do more than just that.
I’m wondering how unusual it is to have an organization like this, like the CT Stage Co. And I wonder what it’s like for you, for Broadway theater people. I don’t know how your lives work. It seems like Kate and Laura have a line on all this talent to bring to this small town north of New York. But again, I don’t know how unusual it is to have an organization like this. It sounds like you’ve traveled pretty far in your professional life to, to stages far from New York City. But for something like a nonprofit organization in a small community like this, how unusual is the Connecticut Stage Company from your point of view, as people who are embedded in this world of Broadway?
Dan Micciche: Something that’s so special, personally, about Connecticut, where I grew up, is that the arts are so appreciated here. And growing up, the Westport County Playhouse was in its heyday, and the biggest of the biggest names were there when I was a little boy. And so it, it was always kinda wild that Broadway was 50 minutes away, but you could go see enormous stars in Westport or way before my time, the Darien Dinner Theater. And that’s where everyone on Broadway performed in between their Broadway shows in Darien… Overall, there’s just much more accessibility now. I have always found, in Fairfield County, there’s always been these theaters popping up, equity theaters that are bringing Broadway stars to people’s backyards. That was not happening all the time when I was a kid. So it’s really special that Kate and Lorah have used their connections and also their own talents to bring this to a small town in Connecticut.
And what about from your perspective, Kara? Is this something that you look out for, this type of opportunity, when you’re between big shows?
Kara Lindsay: Oh yes, and I think more so now, you know it, so Disney was the gateway. I do a lot of concert work for Disney, whether it’s on the Disney cruise or in Orlando at Epcot, they have a ‘Disney on Broadway’ concert series. And I think as a mother, now, having that flexibility with concert work is really appealing to me. And it’s also so wonderful, as an artist that lives close to the city… to have a place like this to come to in New Canaan that’s close to home but still a small town outside of the city to bring some of their Broadway favorite songs. It’s amazing and wonderful and I’m so grateful that I get to come and do this with Dan. And it’s really neat that it’s brand new too, and this Broadway concert series is brand new, launching it. So it’s really an honor. I’m excited that they’re going to bring a lot of my Broadway friends to do these concerts. We are always looking for these opportunities between gigs, because we need to sustain between shows or these eight shows a week that we do. But a lot of Broadway performers sometimes eventually choose to do concert work as a full-time job. And they will do it all over the country or internationally because of the flexibility. So there is a great appeal and I think, as Dan was saying, bringing these Broadway favorite songs to your backyard, even though you live in proximity to New York City to go and see a Broadway show, it’s expensive. And sometimes people aren’t able to come all the way into the city, so it’s so neat that the Connecticut Stage Company is doing this, that they’re doing ‘Little Women’ and so that people can just go to their backyard and see a Broadway caliber show. I’m so excited for them and also just thrilled to know it’s there and to see it grow.
Talk to us about the night itself. Kara. Without giving away just what you’ll be doing on March 7th, can you give us a sense of what attendees can expect to hear? To see and hear?
Kara Lindsay: It’s not just a resume concert—it’s some of the tunes that shaped me, and also some of my favorite songs that I’ve done in my career. And also just shaping it with Dan, he and I are good friends, so we want to be able to play off each other also. Maybe some expected songs and maybe some unexpected songs. They will be recognizable tunes, but some that you’re like, oh, I forgot about that one.
Dan, what would you tell people who are maybe hearing about this—whether they’re Broadway visitors or devotees or not—what would you say to people who are hearing about this event for the first time and are maybe on the fence about signing up to go?
Dan Micciche: It’s an intimate evening of Broadway music and stories. What’s so special about Kara is she’s able to play such a big presence, but can get so intimate with material and also the stories, and so it makes you feel like she’s just talking to you. And so what’s really awesome about it is, yes, like Kara said, there’s songs that you’ll know and songs that you don’t know, but you’ll also hear the backstory of these songs as well as backstage stories that you don’t really ever get to hear. So it’s a really special experience.
Kara Lindsay: For me, growing up in Rochester, if this was available to me—and Susan Egan, who is my person, came to Rochester and did a solo show, I would want to know how she got there. I’m not comparing myself to Susan Egan, but I would want to know how she got there and hear her story. And everybody’s trajectory is different. Everybody’s journey to Broadway is entirely different. Like Dan said, it’s this unique, intimate space to get to hear those kinds of things and I want it to feel like a dialogue between us. Not like what we say in theater, that there’s a fourth wall, meaning there’s no real engagement with the audience. But in the cabaret space, there can be. It’s a little more back and forth.
Well, you’re going to have an actual dialogue, because you’re going to be doing a Q&A as part of the event. And you two have you have such a good rapport between you, I can just hear it, and I’m sure that’s going to end up being a real highlight of the night.
Dan Micciche: Oh yes, lots of banter back and forth.
Kara Lindsay: You’re going to have to reign Dan in.
Dan Micciche: I can get a little overzealous.
We like that. We like people like Dan in New Canaan. They’ll go home with stories. This sounds like this is going to be such a special event. Everything that Kate and Laura have done has been wonderful, from the shows to fundraising events. I feel like our readers are going to have a good idea based on everything that we’ve already heard from you about what the night is going to be like. Is there anything else you’d like to say about March 7th, about the inaugural Broadway series event?
Dan Micciche: It’s just a special evening of Broadway songs and backstage stories. And if your kid loves theater, that’s the perfect thing for your kid to see.
Kara Lindsay: I just think it’s really neat that this is just the beginning of this concert series. So you don’t want to miss the first one to see what’s in store, and then you’ll be able to say you were there for all of those concerts. It’s just really cool that this is just the beginning and to see where it will end up.