Mary Poppins and The Addams Family Coming to Connecticut

Casting Comedy: Next up at Seven Angels Theatre in Waterbury is Centennial Casting from Feb. 16 to March 11. It's a romantic comedy/farce. The main character, Vincent Dedonato, runs a metal casting shop that for some reasons starts receiving résumés of actresses who think it is another type of casting organization. So he, a bachelor, sets up an audition with one irresistible candidate. You can bet confusions will abound and a happy ending is probable. For tickets, call 203-757-4676 or check out sevenangelstheatre.org.

The Addams Family Is Coming: The Bushnell Theatre in Hartford is hosting the national tour of the Broadway musical-it just closed in January-of The Addams Family, Feb. 21 to 26. Yet what you see will not be exactly what opened on Broadway. After the show opened, the creators (book writers Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice and composer/lyricist Andrew Lippa) with director Jerry Zaks, who was brought into the Broadway production late in the process, continued to work on the show. The "new" show features changes in plot, characters, and both adds new songs and deletes others. If the show had run longer in New York City, the changes would have been put in there. We look forward to seeing the new version; we had many reservations about the original production despite a fine cast. For tickets, call 860-987-5900 or visit www.bushnell.org.

Westport Casting: Casting is completed for the Mark Lamos-directed production of Into the Woods, which opens the Westport season, March 7 to April 15. Playing the role of the Baker's Wife in this co-production with Baltimore's Center Stage is Stratford native Danielle Ferland, who originated the role of Little Red Ridinghood in the original Broadway production. The rest of the cast is equally top notch. This production was announced a year ago; recently New York's Public Theatre announced the musical will be one of its two productions in Central Park this summer. For tickets to Westport, call 203-227-4177 or visit www.westportplayhouse.org.

Goodspeed News: The directors have been announced for Goodspeed's up-coming season. Ray Roderick directs the opening show Mame, which runs April 20 to July 1. Rob Ruggiero directs Carousel running from July 13 to Sept. 23. Casey Hushion, a newcomer to Goodspeed, will direct the third production, Something's Afoot, which runs Oct. 5 to Dec.9. This musical, which originated at Goodspeed in the '70s and had a brief Broadway run, is a spoof of Agatha Christie-type mysteries. For tickets, call 860-873-8668 or visit www.goodspeed.org.

Mary Poppins at Bushnell: The 2012-13 Broadway series at The Bushnell in Hartford features not only Mary Poppins (Sept. 14 to 23), but also Million Dollar Quartet (Jan. 8 to 13, 2013) about a meeting of Elvis, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis; American Idiot (Feb. 26 to March 3, 2013); Sister Act (April 16 to 21, 2013); Catch Me If You Can (May 28 to June 3, 2013); and Billy Elliot (June 18 to 23, 2013). One more show is yet to be announced. How the Grinch Stole Christmas will be in Hartford Nov. 20 to 25, but is not part of the Broadway series. Subscription renewal information will be announced soon. New subscriptions will be available in the spring and tickets for individual shows will go on sale in the summer.

New York Notes: Ring of Faith, a musical about a flim-flam preacher and starring Raul Esparza, is taking the theater vacated by the recently closed On a Clear Day. Steve Martin and Debra Winger starred in the original movie. Tickets are now sale via www.telecharge.com or 800-745-7250 for performances beginning April 3. The London musical Rebecca, based on the film was cast and had a theater announced, but the producers had difficulty raising the money, so the opening has been postponed until at least the fall. Clybourne Park, the Pultizer Prize-winning play that is a riff on the famous A Raisin in the Sun, almost had to cancel its Broadway opening when a major producer pulled over after a falling out with the author. The details are too complicated to bother with, but the theater owner stepped in and has assured everyone the production will go on. Peter and the Starcatcher, the prequel to the tale of Peter Pan, will begin performances March 28; the show, based on a novel, had an imaginative staging Off-Broadway last season.

Tickets on Sale: Tickets go on sale Feb. 18 for the limited engagement revival of A Streetcar Named Desire starring Blair Underwood, Nicole Ari Parker, and Daphne Rubin-Vega, which begins previews on April 3. You can also purchase tickets for Magic/Bird, a play about Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, which begins previews mid-March. The NBA is among those supporting the show, following up on the NFL's involvement with Lombardi last season. Also on sale, tickets for the all-star revival of The Best Man directed by Michael Wilson, which begins previews March 6. Tickets for all these shows are available through Telecharge at 800-432-7250 or www.telecharge.com. You can get tickets now for the London musical version of Ghost, which begins previews in March through Ticketmaster at 800-745-3000 or www.ticketmaster.com.

Bob and Karen Isaacs are North Branford residents with a five-minute radio show, Two on the Aisle, and a DJ Memory Lane show every Monday from 8 to 10 a.m. Both shows are broadcast on University of New Haven's radio station, WNHU 88.7 FM, and online at www.wnhu.net.