REVIEW: Hartford Stage, "Native Gardens"

Hartford Stage, Hartford, CT 

www.HartfordStage.org 

April 17 – May 10, 2026 

by Nechama Katan

In a cultural moment when conversations about race, class, and identity too often flatten into competing slogans, Karen Zacarías' "Native Gardens" arrives at Hartford Stage like a breath of fresh air from an overgrown garden.

 

T. Charles Erikson (photo credit)

Directed by Nicole A. Watson, this sharp contemporary comedy follows two neighboring couples in Washington, DC whose shared dream of replacing an old chain-link fence spirals into something far more revealing than a property dispute. What looks like a comedy of manners turns out to be one of the most layered, humane, and deeply funny explorations of how those with diverse backgrounds relate, especially in recent years.  

 

At the heart of the conflict are young couple Tania and Pablo, newly arrived in the neighborhood, and their established neighbors Virginia and Frank, guardians of an aspiring to be prize-winning English garden. When a fence replacement on a tight deadline goes wrong, the audience watches in anticipation to see what happens between the two couples. 

 

Playwright Karen Zacarías is too skilled to let this remain a simple, unfriendly neighborhood issue. Race, class, age, gender, and entitlement all take root in the soil of this story, and what grows is a portrait of four complicated, fully realized people. Nobody here is entirely right, and nobody is entirely wrong, and that recognition alone makes the play remarkable.

Alina Collins Maldonado is deeply authentic as Tania, a very educated woman of firm conviction still tethered to her roots. Bradley Tejeda's Pablo radiates the polished confidence of a man building his future in a new country by any means necessary. Judith Lightfoot Clarke's Virginia is a revelation, every chip on her shoulder earned and visible, yet softened by unexpected depth. Greg Wood's Frank, old school and garden-devoted, anchors the production with quiet wit and a love for his garden, sprinkled with a lot of old-fashioned competition. Lawrence E. Moten III's split-yard scenic design is a delight, and there is not a bad seat in the house.

What sets "Native Gardens" apart is its refusal to take sides. Every scene carries layers beneath layers, and when you are not laughing you may find yourself crying, sometimes both at the same time. In a world that has largely forgotten how to let neighbors be complicated, this play insists on exactly that. The insistence feels necessary and deeply hopeful.

Hartford Stage follows with "Sweeney Todd," a historic partnership with Theater Works Hartford.

Review: Majestic Theater, “Come From Away”

Majestic Theater, West Springfield, MA
https://www.majestictheater.com/
by Shera Cohen

Canadians are the nicest people in the world. Everyone knows this. The musical “Come from Away” proves it.

Photo by Kait Rankins

Imagine 7,000 uninvited visitors arriving, all at the same time, in your tiny town whose own population numbers are nearly the same. The initial response might be, “Get the heck outa’ here.” Yet the folk of Gander, Newfoundland emerge as an ensemble of 12 amazingly talented actors/singers who not only open their doors wide, set up dormitories, cook up meals, pour on the beer, and install as many phones as Gander can find.

The plot starts on 9/11/2001 and the days that follow when 38 planes were diverted to Canada. With horrific challenges in the world beginning on that fateful day, these passengers were not initially aware of the terror in the U.S.

The stirring opening number, “Welcome to the Rock,” features the full cast singing, hooting, ‘n foot-stompin’. While there are no hummable tunes for the drive home, most of the music is atypical from musicals “back in the day”—here we have country meets ballad meets sea-shanty.

Director Russell Garrett doubles an already immense role with that of choreographer. Movement is seamless from one vignette to another. There is purpose in every encounter between characters. Each actor’s role is essential to create the relationships among passengers, and more importantly between the homespun Canadians and the strangers embarking on Gander.

Garrett creates an atmosphere of hope and camaraderie and gifts the audience a piece of humanity, made more poignant because it depicts an honest point in human history.

The actors take on at least two roles; one as a townie and the other as an airplane passenger. Each actor changes his or her character instantly. A hat, a small prop, a gesture transforms one distinct personality into another. Never for a moment is the audience confused. Canadian accents also trade off with Texan, British, or Middle Eastern, and then back again.

For the most part the set, too, transposes from numerous locations as actors essentially play musical chairs in the townies’ café “where everybody knows your name” and then to seats on the plane where no one knows you, or care.

Throughout the performance, many of the musicians are visible onstage, blending within the action. They are a fun, talented group, playing on an eclectic collection of instruments: pipes, mandolins, and bouzouki, and bodhran (a stringed instrument and a drum, by the way).

Many theatergoers have never heard of "Come From Away”. These two-hours at the Majestic are joyful. What is special about this show is that; it is incredibly inventive in style, music, and staging, it manages to be deeply affecting and moving -- true account of people simply being nice to each other when needed most.

 

REVIEW: Hartford Symphony Orchestra, "Brahms’ Third"

Bushnell, Belding Theater, Hartford, CT

www.hartfordsymphony.org

April 10-12, 2026

by Michael J. Moran

For the seventh weekend in its 2025-26 Masterworks series, HSO Music Director Carolyn Kuan led the orchestra in four pieces by three composers, including two HSO premieres, one featuring the composer as soloist.

The concert opened with the first HSO premiere, the rarely heard 1831 concert overture inspired by French composer Hector Berlioz’s take on Shakespeare’s tragedy, “King Lear.” In an engaging spoken introduction, Kuan asked sections of the HSO to play segments of the piece, with themes depicting Lear, his three daughters, and his descent into madness. The full orchestra gave a fiery version of this rousing mini-drama.

Photo by Jim Henkel

The second HSO premiere was Brazilian-born composer Clarice Assad’s colorful 2024 “Flow, Suite for Piano and Orchestra.” Commissioned by the Albany Symphony for the bicentennial of the Erie Canal between Albany and Syracuse, New York, its three short movements depict “the flow of ideas” across time and space, Assad comments in a program note. She proved a virtuosic pianist, also playing a small drum in the mercurial “River Tide,” relaxed and sensitive in the jazzy “Last Song,” and dazzling in the energetic “Rhapsodic Dances” finale. Kuan and the orchestra were supportive accompanists. The well-filled house gave Assad a standing ovation.

Next came a vibrant performance of Johannes Brahms’ 1883 third and shortest symphony. An alternately energetic and reflective “Allegro con brio,” including the often-omitted repeat, was followed by a flowing “Andante” that surged forward to a magical hushed ending, an exquisitely melancholy “Poco allegretto,” and a robust closing “Allegro,” fading to a quiet close. Standing out among the many players who took bows for their work in solo passages was HSO principal oboe Erik Andrusyak, who also excelled in the Berlioz.

As a sort of “orchestral encore,” Kuan spoke again to introduce “the fun-loving, beer-drinking side” of Brahms with a rip-roaring rendition of his popular 1869 “Hungarian Dance No. 5 in G minor,” based on a folk-like melody for piano four hands, arranged for orchestra by conductor Albert Parlow, which ended the program on a festive note. 

The HSO’s next Masterworks program (May 8-10) will feature Kuan leading music by Clyne and Mendelssohn, with HSO principal clarinet Sangwon Lee as soloist in Mozart’s clarinet concerto.