Young performers to stage ‘School of Rock’

By Ashley P otter apotter@repub.com

AS PART OF

IT’S

Summer Theater for Young Performers series, the Opera House Players are staging “School of Rock” at the Enfield Annex, 124 North Maple St.

Featuring a cast of actors ranging from ages 10 to 22, the play is based off of the 2003 film of the same name. It boasts a script written by “Downton Abbey” creator Julian Fellowes and features the original songs from the movie, along with 14 new songs penned by Broadway’s Andrew Lloyd Webber.

The Opera House production is directed by Tim Reilly, with assistant director Nate Ferreira, musical director Graham Christian, and choreographer Courtney Normand.

Showtimes are weekends through Aug. 20, Fridays at 7:30 p.m., Saturdays at 2 and 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.

Tickets — which are available online at operahouse- players.org/tickets and at the door before each performance — are $25 for adults and $21 for seniors, students and children under 12.

Special “School of Rock” sunglasses also will be on sale for $10 during each performance, with proceeds benefitting United Sound, a new, inclusive, peer-mentoring program at Enfield High School that provides access to ensemble music education to students with learning and developmental disabilities.

Also playing:

• The Carriage House Theatre in Hartford will play host to award-winning playwright and actor Jesús I. Valles on Aug. 18 and 19.

• Valles (they/them) will stage their one-person play “(Un)Documents,” a tale of their Mexican family’s experience of undocumented immigration into the United States. The autobiographical play follows Valles’ early childhood in Mexico, their migration to the United States, and their early life as an undocumented person

SEE THEATER, PAGE E8 been to heaven. It’s beautiful.”

The Middlefield Fair is one of the oldest agricultural fairs in the nation.

Dating back to the mid 1800s it has kept tradition alive with traditional produce displays, horse and oxen pulls and more.

“The fair stays alive because of the hard work of the small dedicated committee that supports it. We work hard, we are creative and, like all small fairs, fight hard to survive,” Basile said. “We hold fundraisers all year long to be able to fund the fair. We work on our buildings and grounds year round. … It’s hard work but our members are dedicated and work hard.”

The Middlefield Fair opens tomorrow at 4 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday at 8 a.m. Tickets are $8. For more information, go to middlefieldfair.org.