Great venue for a play or concert. Approx 1500 seating capacity. Good acoustics. Orderly entering…read moreand exiting. Free on-street parking in the area after 5 PM. Well staffed concessions. We were serenaded in a vestibule by the New London HS choir prior to the show.Awesome performance. Main attraction, 6-time Grammy winner, Dionne Warwick, still has "it" after all these years. Two hours w/o intermission soloing, dueting w her granddaughter or son, trueting w both. One complaint. Not enough leg room for a tall boy like me. 5 stars! Trueting? Did I coin a new word?

This was our first time at the Garde. It's just two years shy of being 100. It's been saved and…read morerecto its original Moroccan motif. It's laid out well with somewhere around 1500 seats. With a balcony I doubt there is a bad seat in the house. Great sound and lights. Getting in was quick and efficient with either phone or paper tickets. Easy on and off the highway with ample free parking. Felt secure walking to the theater.

The owner never replied to my emails. My daughter was attending a couple of classes prior to the…read morepandemic and had paid $120 towards costumes she never received. We received no emails regarding their reopening but instead received an email that she needs to re-register for classes and pay the fees. I'd like to know where my $120 went.

Best dance and performing arts school around! Teachers are highly educated in their field and very…read moretalented -- never thought my kids could be so great in a show! And the shows are so much more than kids shows. Totally recommend

I was fortunate enough to have one of my plays included in the 2008 Playwrights' Conference, and…read moresince the playwrights are asked to stay for an entire month (even though our own workshops are only 1 week), I got to have the full-on O'Neil experience. While in Waterford I saw an extremely diverse batch of plays (in terms of style, content, and execution), a handful of so-new-they-wrote-the-music-yesterday musicals, and all kinds of special panels and events -- all worth the price of admission. The staff at the O'Neill were beyond friendly, and the creative team we worked out for my play were top-notch. My room in the cottage did what it needed, and a bit more by being a mere 50 feet from Blue Gene's Pub. The productions at the O'Neill are workshops, meant to help their creators refine and develop the work. Consequently, the actors have scripts in hand and the design is only sketched out. I thought this meant things would be pretty rudimentary, but I was surprised time and again at how there were just enough elements present to allow me to imagine a full production. The work they do is truly remarkable. I haven't a negative thing to say. If you can make it up, catch a show. You won't be disappointed.

Want to see theater no one has seen before? Check out the O'Neill Center. New plays, new…read moreplaywrights, musical readings, dramatic readings, a host of programs. Saw a terrific reading there today. They've got all kinds of programs running through the summer. There's a cute little cabin on the property where you can get a drink and a snack, and you can walk beautiful grounds right down to the water. They have indoor and outdoor theater settings and there's more than one thing going on at the same time. Very cool.

Pretty amazing to catch a hardcore show that's walkable from home. It's all ages (ie no alcohol)…read morebut the shows I've caught so far have been awesome with great energy, plus they provide free earplugs for the elder emo's like myself. Parking is down the street behind Del's/Barre Coastal/Corner Thai- don't park at The Pantry in front of the venue. Looking forward to more shows here as it warms up!

Had my sons birthday there. Is such a large space set up games, artist, popcorn bar,dj, and lots of…read morespace for kids to run around. You can use the restaurant type kitchen which makes it super easy. Makes it affordable we did all the food and brought in drinks/beer/wine. Or use caterer if you want. They have a bar area with cooler, lights, and ac. Part of the deal is you set up and then put back tables/Chairs. The best part is working with the staff they are super helpful and accommodating. John is the manager and will help you out with anything. What a great venue!

Townspeople cooperated to preserve this building occupied by the national guard among others. It is…read morefilled to the brim with artifacts and memorabilia from all wars and has a section about the history of the community and its events. The volunteer docent was very enthusiastic and knowli

Excellent live theatre! Make a point to check them out this summer!…read more Flock's Summer Shakespeare Festival includes A Midsummer Night's Dream running in the Connecticut College Arboretum July 16-Aug 2; Romeo and Juliet running on the Custom House Pier August 6-16 and Richard III running in the Connecticut College Arboretum August 20-September 6 www.flocktheatre.org

Long Day's Journey Into Night…read more Reviewed by Edmond Chibeau Flock Theatre at Monte Cristo Cottage, New London 28 April 2018 Derron Wood, director With: Christie Williams as James Sr.; Anne Flammang, as Mary; Victor Chiburis, as Edmund; Eric Michaelian as Jamie; Madeleine Dauer as Cathleen. Monte Cristo living room This production takes place in the actual living room of O'Neill's childhood home at Monte Cristo Cottage in New London. Seeing the play in the room where the events actually took place give us an uncanny feeling of eavesdropping on the family. The room is small, so the audience is limited to 26 people. The performance I attended started at 9 in the morning and ended at about 9 at night. Director Derron Wood wanted the light to be entering the room at the angle it would have been when these events took place in the life of the O'Neill family. Stage directions in the script list Act 1 at 8:30 a.m., Act 2 at around 12:45 p.m., Act 3 at around 6:30, and Act 4 at around midnight. There was only one great performance in the production; it was given by all the actors working together. Every performer on stage played their part to perfection, and more importantly, they were all acting in the same play. Often when we go to the theatre we see as many different versions of the script as there are actors.In this case the cast was united in their interpretation. No grandstanding, no upstaging! To achieve that kind of unity, we need both a director who is able to communicate his particular understanding of the script to the players, and actors who are willing trust each other. Actors must listen to each other and live in the moment that is happening on stage. They must live the moment and allow the audience to see it, hear it, and share it. The actors must also trust the audience to stay with them. When they fail to trust the audience the performers "indicate" what they are feeling rather than live it. Each actor must be generous with the other actors and with the script they are performing. To be an actor you need a strong enough ego to be able to put up with rejection at auditions, and still believe you can share your insights with a large number of people. At the same time you need to be self-sacrificing enough to bend your personality to the character you are attempting to portray, and to share the stage with your fellow actors.The actor must decide if the script is to be a vehicle for pyrotechnic display of thespian prowess, or if that actor is to be the interlocutor who helps the audience feel the play. To achieve this higher calling, as this cast does, the actors must be yoked together in a kind of emotional performance-yoga where each harnesses and enlivens the energy and intelligence of the other. (The words yoke and yoga have the same Indo-European root) That performance-yoga must link the energy of the whole team. The script is full of transitions that take place in the middle of a speech. The characters emotions are whipsawed back and forth in a matter of moments. To try to do this on stage in a thousand seat theatre would require a kind of broad-gesture melodramatic acting that is anathema to Eugene O'Neill's vision of the dramatic art, but is the cornerstone of his father's approach. There are no stars in the play written by O'Neill, nor in this production directed by Derron Wood. But there is a constellation of integrity to be found in both the characters and the actors. Preston Whiteway, Executive Director of the Eugene O'Neill Center took a chance in allowing this production to take place in Monte Cristo Cottage. He was rewarded with a great production that should be repeated as a yearly event.

The little theater with a big heart is located in downtown Westerly Rhode Island. This theater…read morehosts musical and dramatic performances all year long and pulls talent from the local region. We saw Shrek! The Musical here as our first show and thoroughly enjoyed it. The theater itself is small (holds less than 200 people) and is located on the second floor. Bring a jacket, or something to cover up with because it's kept very cold (for the benefit of the performers). The stage is small but usable. The live music added a cozy touch that made you feel fully immersed in the production. Sometimes it was hard to hear the singing over the musicians, but that's a tech crew issue. The concessions sold soda, water, and Jonathan Edwards wine, and beer with cookies, chips, and crackers. The food and beverages were reasonably priced. Overall, it was an enjoyable experience and would consider attending other shows.

I've seen a few productions at Granite. What a nice place to go. It's so important to support local…read moreestablishments-not to mention we a friends with one of the actors. The building is very charming and seems to take you back in time a little, without being stale or old feeling. Ample seating and every seat is close! Refreshments at a good price are a nice feature and being able to bring them into a show is a huge plus. Great place for a night out of any kind. Younger people need to go more! I notice every time I go, the average age is 70-75 years old with only a handful of younger folks like ourselves.

Chose this recently opened to the public private club for a special holiday lunch with friends. We…read morearrived for our reservation on a blustery cold day. Door still locked...rang bell and were admitted....first to be seated and to order. The entire menu consisted of two soups, two salads and four entrees. Toasted cheese sandwich, chicken salad sandwich, a fried rice dish and pasta with shrimp. Not much to pick from but we were enjoying the architecture and decorations so decided to stay. Both couples split a very nice beet salad. After we finished them our waitress came and told us that the two of us that had ordered the pasta dish had to pick something else as they were out of shrimp! Did they not plan well or was the shrimp bad? Were they saving what they had for the members that came in after us? First lunch order of the day and 25% of entrees were cancelled? That did it...we announced we were leaving. They nicely comped the salads but it was so disappointing. Not the way to start a practice to try to woo new members. Out into the wind, moved the cars and had a fabulous two hour lunch down the street at Tony Ds.

The Thames Club is one of the oldest social clubs of this type in New England. Members enjoy great…read moredining and numerous social events made available each month. Reciprocity is also available at numerous private clubs throughout the United States. A limited number of memberships are available. Contact the Club at 860-443-5504 for more information, or to arrange a tour of this New London landmark .