Around Town
Two Local Women Found ‘Connecticut Stage Company’ in New Canaan
|
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.