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The Arts are Alive and Well in Connecticut!

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I’ve been to Connecticut many times in my life. It’s a beautiful state, full of thriving cities, picturesque small towns, a beautiful shoreline and lovely countryside. Now that I live in New York state, I have the opportunity to visit Connecticut more often. And this year, through my work as a Voice, Speech & Dialect coach, I have been privileged to work at two of Connecticut’s premiere regional theaters. Through working in Hartford and New Haven, I was able to see and experience the thriving arts communities in both these cities.

I just got back from spending 5 weeks in Hartford working at the Tony Award winning Hartford Stage. The Hartford Stage was founded in 1963 by Jacques Cartier (who I was privileged to work with years later at Boston University) in a former grocery store warehouse. It has grown to become one of the leading regional theaters in the country. The productions are consistently excellent, the staff is wonderful and the new Artistic Director, Darko Tresnjak, is someone I’m proud to call a friend.

One of the great things about working out of town is the chance I get to explore the city I’m in. Hartford is a wonderful mixture of modern office buildings and beautifully restored historic buildings. It has a gorgeous park – Bushnell Park – right in the middle of the city.

It’s a great walking city. I was able to get to most of my destinations quite easily. And if I couldn’t walk, I could hop on a bus – the bus system is great. If you don’t have a car, a quick bus ride will take you to the Mark Twain House, where Samuel Clemens lived from 1874 -1891 and where he wrote The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Prince and the Pauper, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Right next door is the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center. Imagine, Stowe (the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which was a ground-breaking abolitionist novel) and Samuel Clemens were next door neighbors! She lived in this residence for the last years of her life.

I spent a lovely afternoon at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, founded in 1842, a gorgeous museum filled with art, sculpture, antiquities and decorative arts. This is the perfect-sized museum, not so big that it becomes overwhelming, but big enough to make the visit more than worthwhile. The museum has an incredible collection of Hudson River School landscapes. While I was there, there was an Andrew Wyeth exhibition going on as well as an exhibition on the Civil War.

This is a museum that I will go back to again and again. Their collection is vast. The gift shop is wonderful and there is a lovely cafe that is open for lunch Wednesday through Sunday.

Last January found me in New Haven working at the Tony Award winning Long Wharf Theatre. This amazing theater, founded in 1965 in a food terminal building by the New Haven harbor, has long been a leader in regional theater, presenting classic and contemporary theater. Over 30 of the Long Wharf’s productions have transferred to Broadway and off-Broadway. When I was just out of college, one of my first regional theater experiences as an audience member was at the Long Wharf. My husband, an actor, worked there a few years ago and loved the experience. My experience this past January was equally rewarding.

New Haven has a long history of exciting theater; for many, many years plays and musicals heading to Broadway had an out-of-town tryout in New Haven. If you go to New Haven, try to schedule a visit to the Long Wharf. You’ll see cutting edge, exciting theater. There’s also the famous Yale Repertory Theatre – another Tony Award winning theater – that is linked to the well-known Yale School of Drama. That’s two Tony Award winning theaters in one town!

Yale University’s beautiful campus is in New Haven, and a host of museums, as well. There is the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, the Yale Center for British Art, and the Connecticut Children’s Museum.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the famous Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, the home of Goodspeed Musicals. This wonderful theater’s mission is to “preserve and produce musical theatre of the highest quality.” And they do.

There’s so much more! Connecticut is a beautiful state and I know you’ll love exploring it.

Which Connecticut destination would you like to visit? Leave a comment below and you will be entered into a sweepstakes from BlogHer to win $1,000 to help you plan your trip!Advertisement
For travel information and inspiration, visit CTVisit.com!
Visit BlogHer.com to read other Connecticut travel stories.
Sweepstakes Rules:
No duplicate comments.
You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.
This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
The Official Rules are available here.
This sweepstakes runs from 6/14 to 8/8.

Comments

  1. I can’t enter because I live here!.. thank you for highlighting some of our wonderful places. Did you happen to see the awesome housing that has just been completed at the Goodspeed for actors and others involved in productions there? Amazing….

  4. Brenda,
    I would love to visit New Haven because my sister Janet works at the Yale Repatory Theater. I have not seen her in a couple of years and would love to have the opportunity to visit her.
    Shari

  5. I would definitely love to see that museum, Claudia. And a visit to any of the theaters for a performance would be a treat! Thanks for a wonderful overview. Ann

  9. I’ve never had the opportunity to go to Connecticut but if I did, I’d choose Hartford based on what you said about the history and the museums. That is all right up my alley.

  12. Didn’t Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore live in New Haven in their TV show many years ago?? I believe it was (amazingly called) The Dick Van Dyke show??? I’d love to visit… I’ve never been further east than Michigan… What a great chance to make the trip..

    xo
    Spencer

  13. What a fun post! I am a Suffield, CN. yankee, landlocked in Texas!!! I loved seeing a lot of places that I am familiar with, and I forwarded a link to my Texas husband. I am trying to convince him that we need to go there to visit :^). I think I need to go and sign up for the sweepstakes ;^)
    Thank you,
    J

  16. In 6th grade I wrote a time travel story about the arch in Bushnell park (I lived nearby in South Windsor at the time), and won a prize in a local kids’ writing competition. I still have the award :) I’d love to visit Hartford after all these year’s for a little of my own time travel!

  17. Girlfriends in Heaven escape sounds awesome – I would love to hit Westport’s Born of Earth Spa!
    nuthouse(at)centurytel(dot)net

  20. I would love to visit Connecticut, you described it so beautifully. I’m a fine artist and blogger and would find so much inspiration for both.

  24. I live here, too (Stamford), and write about my home state all the time for newspapers and magazines. This post was a great overview of just two cities and there’s so much more. Did you know that Pez candy is manufactured here? They just opened a Visitor’s Center (in Orange – outside of New Haven). I haven’t been, but you can be sure I’ll go soon!

  29. I’d love to visit Mystic. I think my family and I would enjoy Mystic.
    Thanks so much.
    rickpeggysmith(at)aol(dot)com

  33. Woodbury – Carole Peck’s Good News Café – creatively prepared dishes using organic, locally farmed ingredients – yum!
    tvollowitz at aol dot com

  40. I think I’d like to visit the Essex Steam Train and Riverboat but it sounds like there are a ton of great things to do everywhere!

    sksweeps (at) earthlink (dot) net

  43. I love that you are holding this contest because I am moving to CT tomorrow! No friends or job yet, but I’m excited for a new life adventure!

    I’d love to visit Yale’s campus and I REALLY want to spend a day at Mark Twain’s house! I’m from the south so it is going to be so fun explore a new state I’ve never been to!

    Alec

  46. I went to Wesleyan in Middletown for a year…didn’t like it so I transferred, but I’d love to visit the campus again. I also love to visit the northeast part of the state for hiking since it’s so close to where we live. Last time we went, the dog may have had the best day of his life.

    wolverina401 at gmail dot com

  47. I would love to take my girls on the North Pole Express at the Essex Steam Train. thank you!!

    crystalfaulkner2000 at yahoo dot com

  49. I’m so intrigued by Bushness Park. It looks so pretty. So I guess Hartford right now, but I’m sure there is no end to the beauty to be found in CT.

  51. I would love to visit Connecticut! It’s beautiful, historical, full of arts and culture. I have always wanted to visit Westport and Mystic, as well as Yale.

  54. Who new Hartford was so cool? I’d love to visit. HOwever, I really want to get to Mystic or another cool little seaside town.
    dmarie824 at aol .com

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