Podcast: Summer Theatre of New Canaan 2022 Season Opens Friday

This week, on 0684-Radi0, our free podcast (subscribe here in the iTunes Store), we talk to Melody Libonati, artistic director of Summer Theatre of New Canaan. The nonprofit organization opens its 19th season this week, featuring productions of Broadway Tony-winning revival “Once On This Island” and, for Theatre for a Young Audience, “The Wizard of Oz,” both at the bandshell in Waveny Park. Sponsors of Summer Theatre of New Canaan include Walter Stewart’s, Karl Chevrolet, Bankwell, New Canaan Community Foundation, Performing Arts Conservatory of New Canaan, Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development and The Professional Associates, P.C. Media sponsors include Hearst, WSHU Public Radio and NewCanaanite.com. 

Here are recent episodes of 0684-Radi0:

Podcast: Melody Libonati of Summer Theatre of New Canaan



This week on 0684-Radi0, our free podcast (subscribe here in the iTunes Store), we talk to Melody Libonati, artistic director of the Summer Theatre of New Canaan, about the 2021 season which kicks off July 16 with a benefit barbecue and features a new venue in Waveny Park that many of our listeners likely have already spotted, with the big tent on the soccer fields. Summer Theatre’s big show this year is The Honky Tonk Angels, and we hear from Melody about that, as well as You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown and StoopKids Stories Live. 

Here are recent episodes of 0684-Radi0:

Local Businesses and COVID-19: Performing Arts Conservatory

For today’s Q&A with a local business owner, we hear from Melody Libonati, director of the Performing Arts Conservatory of New Canaan. 

Here’s our exchange. 

New Canaanite: Tell me about how the Performing Arts Conservatory is operating now. Melody Libonati: The Performing Arts Conservatory has not had classes at 70 Pine Street in New Canaan since March 12. The ten teachers at the Conservatory started teaching on FaceTime and Zoom on March 16. I was so proud of how quickly all of the teachers learned to teach the performing arts online. Private classes in voice, piano and guitar and group classes in music theatre, acting and dance are all being taught.

Summer Theatre of New Canaan Seeks To Run 2019 Season in Pocket Park Downtown

One of New Canaan’s favorite summertime entertainment venues is seeking to move closer to the downtown for its 2019 season. 

The Summer Theatre of New Canaan, a nonprofit organization founded by town residents Ed and Melody Libonati, is seeking a temporary special permit to run its acclaimed shows in New Canaan Library’s pocket park on the corner of Maple Street and South Avenue. Known as “Christine’s Garden,” the park would play host to popular Summer Theatre of New Canaan or ‘STONC’ shows—recent seasons have featured “Kiss Me, Kate,” “Singin’ in the Rain” and “West Side Story”—from the end of June into early August, under an application filed recently with the Planning & Zoning Commission. “For the past 15 years STONC has worked with multiple town departments and commissions to successfully present its theatre programs at Irwin Park and in Waveny Park,” the application said. “However, the Waveny location we have utilized for the past 10 years now presents significant issues that tend to inhibit our ability to deliver a season. This is largely due to recent major sports field construction and increasing programming/scheduling of these new adjacent sports fields.

Summer Theatre of New Canaan Wows with ‘Kiss Me, Kate’

Excited chatter filled the warm summer air Saturday night as more than 200 crowded under Summer Theatre of New Canaan’s large tent at Waveny for the opening night of ‘Kiss Me, Kate’. In its 15th season, the company founded by New Canaan’s Ed and Melody Libonati consistently delivers well-staged, professionally produced show that keeps audiences on their toes, and this year was no exception. A dazzling combination of catchy music, dramatic acting, and jazzy dances, ‘Kiss Me, Kate’ is a delight to see. The classic Cole Porter musical was brought to life by director Allegra Libonati. With a talented cast and singularly strong leads, the audience is truly transported to the Ford Theater and Baltimore ca. 1948 for the night.