Category: Good Times

Check your gut and laugh with ‘Leading Ladies’

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By MIKE CHAIKEN EDITIONS EDITOR Time to strap on your girdle to keep your side from splitting this weekend as Southington Community Theatre tackles a comedy from laugh-meister Ken Ludwig, “Leading Ladies.” We caught up with director Peter E. Pristic…

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The intimate examination of family in the musical ‘Fun Home’

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by MIKE CHAIKEN EDITIONS EDITOR The musicals that most of America knows is created with broad strokes. They are big entities with big stories. The nuances of a character’s motivation are glossed over for the larger picture. Think “Wicked.” Think…

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Toto isn’t in Kansas but is right at home in Connecticut

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By MIKE CHAIKEN EDITIONS EDITOR The band Toto likes performing in Connecticut. After all, the Nutmeg State is in the group’s genes. As David Paich, the band’s keyboardist and one of several vocalists in band, explained it, when Toto comes…

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Gina Sicilia knows how to evoke the blues

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By MIKE CHAIKEN EDITIONS EDITOR Gina Sicilia has been singing the blues since she was 19. The blues, as the genre’s name suggests, is about gut-wrenching emotion. Evoking the emotions necessary for the blues is easy enough in a studio,…

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The assistant takes up the baton at symphony’s evening of Masterworks

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By MIKE CHAIKEN EDITIONS EDITOR The assistant is becoming the chief this weekend at Hartford Symphony Orchestra. Adam Boyles, the assistant conductor at HSO, is taking up the baton this weekend to lead the ensemble through “Choral Fantasy and Mystical…

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1992 has come and gone, but Mr. Big keeps rocking

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By MIKE CHAIKEN EDITIONS EDITOR To the casual listener, Mr. Big is best remembered for their chart smash, the ballad, “To Be With You.” That was back in 1992. But the band has kept rocking since that time. And with…

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Concert June 24 honors Val Johnson’s memory

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Redeemer’s A.M.E. Zion Music Ministry & Queen Ann Nzinga Center will host the 28th Annual Val Johnson Memorial Summer Concert on Saturday, June 24 at 4 p.m. at Redeemer’s A.M.E. Zion Church, 110 Whiting St., Plainville. Val Johnson served as…

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Festival celebrating 30 years of films, community

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By MIKE CHAIKEN EDITIONS EDITOR The Connecticut LGBT Film Festival is celebrating its 30th anniversary, starting this Friday night. At first blush, it would seem as the need for a LGBT event like the festival, which is organized by Out…

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Slinging that outlaw instrument, Eric Johnson coming to town

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By MIKE CHAIKEN EDITIONS EDITOR When Eric Johnson first picked up the electric guitar as a youth, the instrument was still a relatively new addition to the musical canon. There was something new and fresh about the instrument, said Johnson,…

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