CatholicTranscript.org ~ The Monthly Newspaper of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford, Connecticut

Christian Camargo (Photo by Joan Marcus, 2010)

NEW YORK – The Bridge Project, director Sam Mendes’s admirable effort that unites the finest American and British actors to tackle the best in classical theater, is back for a second season at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Harvey Theatre. Shakespeare’s “As You Like It” is its first show of the season.

BRISTOL – “Paul: Another Journey,” a one-man show on the life and work of Saint Paul, will be performed at 7 p.m. March 8 at St. Joseph Church at 33 Queen St..

The presentation will be part of the parish’s Mission Week, which will also include an Operation Rice Bowl event and a reconciliation service.

As Saint Paul, Dean Kyburz of Stratford converses with a 21^st- century audience using Paul’s own words. He challenges his modern-day listeners just as the original saint did, and preaches a message of love, generosity and forgiveness.

Father Joseph DiSciacca, Pastor of Saint Joseph, will open the performance.

Free-will offerings will be accepted.

HARTFORD – The Clare Gallery will present “Remembering Archbishop Oscar Romero,” an exhibit by Franciscan Brother Octavio Duran, a photojournalist, from March 4 to May 10.

The exhibit tells the story of a modern prophet and martyr. Thirty years since his assassination in 1980, Archbishop Romero continues to serve as one of the great Christian witnesses of our time.

HARTFORD– The Hartford Symphony Orchestra will present "Reunited Masterpieces," the second concert of the 2009-2010 Sunday Serenades Chamber Music series, at 2 p.m. Feb. 21 in Morgan Great Hall at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art. The program, is inspired by the Wadsworth’s latest exhibition, "Reunited Masterpieces: From Adam and Eve to George and Martha," will feature performances of works by Handel, Bach and Eisler.

NEW YORK – Stephen Sondheim, the composer lyricist extraordinaire and Renaissance man in all things theatrical, reaches a milestone birthday of 80 on March 22. Most theater people and critics agree he is the last genius from the American musical theater’s golden age.

HARTFORD – Led by HSO Music Director Edward Cumming, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra will give audiences the opportunity to experience one of two different Mozart concerti at 8 p.m.Thursday, Feb. 11; Friday, Feb. 12; and Saturday, Feb. 13; and at 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 14, in the Belding Theater at the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts. Joined by pianist Andrius Zlabys, the HSO will perform Mozart’s 9th Piano Concerto on Thursday and Saturday and Mozart’s 24th Piano Concerto on Friday and Sunday, allowing the public to pick the program they want to hear based on which day they attend.

Henry Hodges, left, as young Horace, and Dylan Rydley Snyder. (Photo by Gregory Costanzo)

NEW YORK – Horton Foote’s “The Orphans’ Home Cycle” is a prodigious work, nine biographical one-act plays, artfully divided into three three-play installments. They were successfully premiered at the Hartford Stage last fall and are playing in repertory at New York’s Signature Theatre on West 42nd Street now through the end of March. There has been talk of transferring the plays to Broadway later this spring in time for the awards season.

Mr. Foote was working on “The Orphans’ Home Cycle” in Hartford when he died last March 4 at age 92. Most of the plays included have been condensed from longer works previously seen on stage or screen. Final cuts were made by Michael Wilson, the skillful stager of “The Orphans’ Home Cycle” and artistic director of the Hartford Stage, and the playwright’s daughter, Hallie Foote, who acts a variety of roles in several of the plays.