Around Town

‘Everyone Seems Very Happy’: 3rd Annual Waveny Park Arts Festival a Big Hit

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Tom Kretsch, dedicated to photography since he retired in 2004 after a 37-year career as a schoolteacher, travels throughout New England to show and sell his pictures in shows and exhibitions. A Westport resident and member of the Carriage Barn Arts Center, Kretsch has participated in the organization’s Waveny Park Arts Festival since it launched three years ago. “I like the fact that it’s not too big and the town really comes out to support it,” he said Sunday afternoon from his bustling booth at the festival on a clear, sunny day. “You get really good crowds here and there’s a mixture of different crafts and things. They’re not overloaded in one thing.

Around Town

CT Stage Company’s ‘Spelling Bee’ Set To Run April 5 and 6 at New Canaan Library 

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A live theater nonprofit organization founded by two local women is readying for its next widely anticipated production at New Canaan Library. The Connecticut Stage Company is running “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” at 7 p.m. on Saturday April 5 and 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 6. Founded by Kate Simone and Lorah Haskins, the CT Stage Company has already put on well-known shows in “Into the Woods,” “Little Women” and, most recently, “Hair.” They chose “Spelling Bee” this time “to introduce our community to one of our favorites that they may not have seen before,” according to Simone. “Spelling Bee also brings a bit of levity to our stage, after having three shows that dug deep and pulled at our heartstrings,” Simone said in an email. “This show is pure joy and comedic genius.

Around Town

New Canaan’s CT Stage Company Opens Season with ‘Hair’

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Connecticut Stage Company, a nonprofit theater production company based in New Canaan, is nearing the start of its second season. Founded by Kate Simone and Lorah Haskins, it didn’t take long for the experienced duo to see success. Their inaugural season, which began in October of 2023, featured productions of “Into the Woods,” and “Little Women,” with both selling out weeks before each show. Simone and Haskins said they hope to keep that momentum going with their next production, “Hair,” showing Nov. 23 and 24.

Around Town

Connecticut Stage Company’s Production of ‘Little Women’ Set for April 27 [Q&A]

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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. ***

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. Lorah Haskins: Into the Woods was such a great kickoff for our company and gave us a really solid footing to build upon.

Around Town

Two Local Women Found ‘Connecticut Stage Company’ in New Canaan

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Lorah Haskins, owner of the The Studio for Performing Arts on Forest Street, had been trying for 10-plus years to pull together a teacher concert —a difficult task with so many of the Studio’s instructors coming up from New York City. Then when actor and director Kate Simone came on staff as a voice and acting instructor in the fall of 2019 with a desire to see it done, the pair thought, “Let’s pool all of our resources and use all of these incredible actors that are Broadway performers who come up to New Canaan all the time and teach our kids,” Haskins recalled. “And the kids want to see them perform, and we thought New Canaan should get to see them perform,” she said. So the pair devised the idea of launching their own nonprofit theater company and now, on the 20th anniversary of the Studio, Haskins and Simone are announcing the launch of the Connecticut Stage Company. Based in New Canaan and dedicated to producing quality theatrical performances with and for its community, the new organization will bring more theater productions to a community that loves the arts, its co-founders say.