Capital Classics Theatre Company will stage ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ for the 2022 Greater Hartford Shakespeare Festival Production at the University of Saint Joseph, West Hartford-based Capital Classics will release ‘Love’s Labour’s Won,’ a 30-year retrospective book in conjunction with the summer production.

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Capital Classics Theatre Company has announced the complete cast and artistic team behind “Much Ado About Nothing,” the centerpiece of the company’s 2022 Greater Hartford Shakespeare Festival. The production will run for three weekends, July 14 through July 31, 2022, on the grounds of the University of Saint Joseph (1678 Asylum Avenue in West Hartford, CT).

In conjunction with the production of “Much Ado About Nothing,” Capital Classics will be releasing a brand new book, “Love’s Labour’s Won: Capital Classics Theatre Company – The First 30 Years.” This retrospective book, written by Kathleen Fischer and Edwin Thrower, is written in the style of a play and features copious images drawn from the Company’s three-decade history.

About “Much Ado About Nothing”:

“Much Ado About Nothing” is a play of wits and wills featuring one of Shakespeare’s most iconic (and argumentative) couples: Beatrice and Benedick. Witty banter, false accusations, broken promises, and romance feature in this popular comedy that will be directed by Capital Classics Artistic Associate and Company Co-Founder, Geoffrey Sheehan.

Sheehan states, “’Much Ado About Nothing’ is one of Shakespeare’s best-loved comedies, and it’s been a surprisingly long time since Capital Classics has performed it. We’re looking forward to bringing it to our stage again and spending the summer laughing and loving with our audience.”

The cast includes a mix of Capital Classics’ favorites and new faces including Eliza Carson (Margaret/Seacoal), Joshua Eaddy (Antonio/Verges), Joslyn Eaddy Meléndez (Hero), Sebastian Nagpal (Borachio), Nick Fetherston (Don John/Sexton), Megan Gwyn (Beatrice), Nick Luberto (Don Pedro), Remy McCoy (Conrad/Sister Francis), Mauricio Miranda (Benedick), George Page (Leonato), Nathan Podziewski (Claudio), and Laura Sheehan (Ursula/Dogberry).

Sheehan, who is also a theatre professor at Housatonic Community College, will be joined by longtime collaborators David Regan (scenic design), Robyn Joyce (lighting design), Vivianna Lamb (costume design), Christine Simoes (choreography), Jaeme McDonald (musician), Jonathan Kane (violinist), Milla Riggio (dramaturgy), and Heather Auden (stage manager).

Friday evenings will feature pre-show and intermission performances by vocal group Elizabethan Consort. Sunday performances feature pre-show educational lectures as part of the Professor Series. Guest speakers include authors Edwin Thrower and Kathleen Fischer discussing their new book “Love’s Labour’s Won” (July 17); Central Connecticut State University Shakespeare professor Kara Molway Russell (July 24); and Production Dramaturg and Trinity College Professor Milla Riggio (July 31).

All 2022 performances of the Greater Hartford Shakespeare Festival will be held outdoors at the University of Saint Joseph (USJ), 1678 Asylum Avenue in West Hartford, CT. Tickets are $20 for adults, $14 for students/seniors, and $14 for discounted tickets for groups of 10 or more and “Let’s GO Arts!” members. Prices include a $2 USJ fee per ticket. Tickets are available online at HartfordShakespeare.org. Seating is limited, so be sure to reserve your tickets in advance. Guests are encouraged to bring their own picnic dinners, lawn chairs, and blankets.

In the event of inclement weather, the performance will move indoors to USJ’s Hoffman Auditorium. Capital Classics will continue to follow recommendations from the CDC and the State of Connecticut for COVID-19 safety protocols.

About “Love’s Labour’s Won”:

Covering the troupe’s scrappy beginnings presenting Shakespeare in Hartford’s Bushnell Park to the creation of the Greater Hartford Shakespeare Festival at the University of Saint Joseph, “Love’s Labour’s Won: Capital Classics Theatre Company – The First 30 Years” is a 213-page retrospective written by Kathleen Fischer and Edwin Thrower. A project two years in the making, the book includes highlights from more than 40 interviews with the co-founders, past cast members, and past and current members of the production staff. Co-founders Geoffrey and Laura Sheehan’s 30-year history with the Company is explored in the book – and it even includes interviews with their four children on what it was like growing up in a home so deeply connected to staging Shakespeare productions. The book is composed as a play, with a prologue, five acts, epilogue, and even an intermission. The book also includes production photos from the Company’s first production in 1991 to today. 

The book will be sold at the Greater Hartford Shakespeare Festival, starting July 14, as well as at future productions. “Love’s Labour’s Won” will also be sold online via Capital Classics’ website and social media pages. The book costs $20 with the net proceeds benefiting the non-profit.

Capital Classics Board Member Herb Emanuelson states, “Fans of Capital Classics and the Greater Hartford Shakespeare Festival will love it. Love’s Labour’s Won is also a master class on the theatrical process with sections that cover inspiration, casting, production, and more. There are also plentiful interviews with the co-founders, actors, designers, and musicians. We’re incredibly proud of the work done by Kathleen and Edwin and we can’t wait to share this labor of love with everyone.”

Kathleen Fischer is an education writer, editor, and publisher, and secretary of Capital Classics Theatre Company. She is the co-author of several books of Readers Theatre plays and has created Pre-K through college curriculum materials in the fields of literature, language arts, social studies, and reading. She currently resides in West Hartford, CT, with her husband, Ben.

Edwin Thrower, Ph. D., CMPP is a Scientific Director at the Lockwood Group, Stamford, CT, and vice president of Capital Classics Theatre Company. He is originally from England, where he studied biochemistry and obtained his Ph. D. at the University of East Anglia. He currently resides in South Glastonbury, CT, with his wife, Rachel, and daughter, Christi.

About Capital Classics:

As Connecticut’s oldest continuously running outdoor Shakespeare festival, Capital Classics has a 31-year reputation for making Shakespeare accessible and affordable. Over its three-weekend run, the Greater Hartford Shakespeare Festival attracts theatre fans who gather each summer with family, friends, and picnic baskets on the grounds of the University of Saint Joseph to enjoy outdoor Shakespeare under the stars. 

“Much Ado About Nothing” and the Greater Hartford Shakespeare Festival are produced by the Capital Classics Theatre Company, in partnership with the University of Saint Joseph. Capital Classics is committed to providing job opportunities and training to Connecticut’s professional and student theatre artists.

The Festival is supported by passionate Shakespeare fans, local businesses, and generous foundations, including Cipher Creative; Connecticut Office of the Arts, with the support of the Department of Economic and Community Development; Ensworth Charitable Foundation; Hartford Distributors, Incorporated; Hartford Foundation for Public Giving; John & Kelly Hartman Foundation; The Horton Team, Merrill Lynch Wealth Management; George A. and Grace L. Long Foundation; Matthew & Evelyn Morgan; Rheumatology & Allergy Institute; Edward C. & Ann T. Roberts Foundation; TCMRO / Turbine Controls, Inc.; and University of Saint Joseph.

Learn more about Capital Classics and the Greater Hartford Shakespeare Festival at HartfordShakespeare.org.

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