If you love musical theater or want to introduce it to your kids or grandkids, here are three landmark shows that can be streamed.
“Oklahoma”
Rodgers and Hammerstein reinvented the musical in 1943 with “Oklahoma,” the first show to integrate the book — and a rather dark one — with the songs.
The 1955 film stars Gordon MacRae as Curly, a cowboy whose romance with a farm girl, Laurey (Shirley Jones), is violently interrupted by a disturbed farmhand, Jud (Rod Steiger).
Rodgers and Hammerstein oversaw the film, and few changes were made from the stage version. This was almost certainly a bad thing. What works on the stage can look oddly unnatural on the screen. Fred Zinnemann’s hands were tied and he never directed another musical.
There is also a 1999 film of the Royal National Theatre production directed by Trevor Nunn and choreographed by Susan Stroman. Watch this one if you can find it; it’s grittier and Hugh Jackman as Curly is a better actor than MacCrae.
While this book doesn’t match the brilliant plots of the other shows covered here, the songs are pure joy and all probably embedded in your mind. My favorite is “The Surrey with the Fringe on Top.” Ask YouTube or Spotify to play the covers by Jackman or Mel Torme. Stream on Disney, rent on Amazon and others.
“Cabaret”
It’s hard to think of a musical more inventive and ambitious than “Cabaret,” which opened on Broadway in 1966, about a singing star in a Berlin club during the beginnings of anti-Semitism and Nazism in 1931. The book is by Joe Masteroff (who also wrote the musical “She Loves Me”) with songs by John Kander and Fred Ebb.
Bob Fosse directed the 1972 film, and many changes were made from the stage version, all to the film’s benefit. The side romance between Fraulein Schneider and Herr Schultz was dropped, and Kander and Ebb added new songs including “Money Money” and “Maybe This Time.”
Although many talented actresses have played Sally Bowles, it’s hard to think of anyone in this role except Liza Minnelli, who won an Academy Award, as did Joel Grey as the master of ceremonies. The movie won eight Oscars but missed Best Picture; it was the year of “The Godfather.”
If you have only seen stage versions of “Cabaret,” this very different film offers an enjoyable surprise. Stream on HBO Max, rent on Amazon, Apple, others.
“West Side Story”
At age 25, Stephen Sondheim saw himself as a composer and did not want to write lyrics for this show. He was encouraged by his mentor, Oscar Hammerstein, who said, “You’ll learn something.”
And so Sondheim got together with composer Leonard Bernstein. They wrote “Something’s Coming” in one day in Bernstein’s apartment. Both were baseball fans: “Catch the moon, one-handed catch.” When the show opened on Broadway in 1957, their reimagining of Romeo and Juliet on the streets of Manhattan became an instant landmark musical.
The 1961 movie, directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins, won many awards, but it might be hard to watch today, with a miscast Natalie Wood, the Sharks in brown-face, and most songs dubbed by ghost singers.
You should watch the 2021 film, in which Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner update this classic in spectacular fashion. Rachel Zegler made her film debut as Maria; she won the role at age 16 in an open casting call. She looks lovely and has a thrilling voice. Ariana DeBose won an Oscar for her role as Anita.
The dance numbers are stunning and more realistic and suitable to the action than the choreography in the stage versions. In short, a great play renewed as a great movie. Stream on HBO Max.
Patrick L. Sullivan
TORRINGTON – Community Health & Wellness Center (CHWC) announced Monday, April 13 that dental services will be reinstated effective Monday, April 20 at the Torrington Health Center.
In February 2025, CHWC made the decision to suspend dental services indefinitely due to significant financial shortfalls, largely due to underfunding of its high-cost dental services by the state of Connecticut’s Medicaid program.
After negotiations, an agreement was reached in July 2025 to provide Connecticut’s 17 Federally Qualified Health Centers with $80 million in adjustments over the next three years to align to 2023 costs.
Heading the Dental Department at CHWC will be Dr. Ting Luo. Dr. Luo has an extensive career spanning from time served in the US Army as a dental officer, to hospitals and health centers, and most recently as the civilian dentist at the US Coast Guard Base in Boston for ten years.
CHWC will offer routine exams, cleanings, X-rays, fillings, simple extractions, fluoride treatments, scaling and root planning and sealants. More extensive procedures like bridges, root canals and denture care will be evaluated for referral to community partners.
Dental services will be available at the Torrington Health Center Monday through Thursday from 8:30a.m. until 7 p.m. to start. A date to resume dental services in Winsted is yet to be determined.
John Coston
Devin Grosso, left, Lisa Auclair, center, and April Carter founded a nonprofit Northwest Farm to Fork, a new farmers market that will run every third Wednesday starting May 20 at Norbrook Farm Brewery on the Norfolk-Colebrook line.
COLEBROOK – The Northwest Corner is getting a new farmers market next month. Three women who lamented the closing of the Norfolk Farmers Market last year have teamed up to start a new market at Norbrook Farm Brewery on the Norfolk-Colebrook border at 204 Stillman Hill Road.
Beginning Wednesday, May 20 from 5 to 8 p.m. the Northwest Farm to Fork will open under the pavilion at Norbrook, offering food and farm goods such as poultry and beef, produce, flowers, plants prepared foods, including sourdough bread – and live music. The market will run every third Wednesday through October.
“When Norfolk folded last year, we wondered if there was a way that we could bring back a farmers market,” said Devin Grosso, who moved to Norfolk a year ago from Los Angeles. She and April Carter, a fifth generation farmer from Torrington, and Lisa Auclair of Norfolk, who managed the Norfolk market, formed a nonprofit and started scouting for vendors.
To date, Grosso said 20 vendors have been signed. They include Ford Farm in East Canaan, Roy’s Bakery and Farm in Winsted and Jenny’s Greens in New Hartford.
“Anyone who attends can take advantage of what Norbrook has to offer,” Grosso said. “And we picked a day when people are often there for dinner.”She imagines people coming to eat and shopping for weekend groceries.
Norbrook Brewery opened in 2019 and quickly became a popularvenue for young and old with its farm-brewed beers, food offerings and outdoor activities, including hiking and biking trails, bike rentals and disc golf, plus farm animals. A recent expansion has added seating and a tasting room, and a pavilion is nearly complete just beyond the parking lot.
Farmers markets are a staple in the Northwest Corner. Markets in Cornwall and Kent have long-established traditions of drawingregulars for weekend shopping on Fridays in Kent and Saturdays in Cornwall. Millerton also offers a market on Saturdays and there are markets farther afield in Torrington and Collinsville and in Massachusetts in Great Barrington, West Stockbridge and Pittsfield.
Patrick L. Sullivan
FALLS VILLAGE — Following a quiet public hearing without questions, the Region One Board of Education voted on Thursday, April 9 to send a $19.5 million 2026-2027 budget proposal to a referendum vote in all six towns. The budget marks a 5.67% increase from last year, and towns will have an opportunity to vote on Tuesday, May 5.
The hearing took place at Housatonic Valley Regional High School (HVRHS) and online.
Flora Lazar, the regional board member from Salisbury and a member of the budget committee, said the budget process had been “meticulous.”
Lazar said the committee started with a considerably higher figure and worked to bring it down.
“What we arrived at is what we must do,” she said.
Sam Herrick, the Region One Business Manager, delivered the presentation, noting that it was developed through a detailed and collaborative process involving board members, administration and department leaders.
The Region One budget has three components: HVRHS, Pupil Services –which includes special education – and the Regional Schools Services Center (RSSC), also known as the Central Office.
The HVRHS budget proposal is for $9,408,838, an increase of $273,260 or 2.99%.
The Pupil Services budget proposal is for $8,111,086, an increase of $588,530 or 7.82%.
The RSSC budget proposal is for $2,013,716, an increase of $186,642 or 10.22%.
The total is $19,533,640, an increase of $1,048,431 or 5.67%.
Herrick said a little over 98% of the overall increase comes from health insurance costs, salaries, and Pupil Services.
On the latter, Herrick said $449,230 of the $588,530 increase at Pupil Services is for tuition and transportation for out-of-district placements.
Following the presentation, moderator Sara Woloszyn asked for comments or questions.
Receiving none, the hearing was closed.
Town assessments
Assessments by town if the Region One budget proposal passes on Tuesday, May 5.
Canaan/Falls Village: $1,752,589 an increase of $208,904 or 14.89%.
Cornwall: $2,168,169, an increase of $163,895 or 8.87%.
Kent: $2,783,359, an increase of $171,360 or 7.48%
North Canaan: $6,140,112, an increase of $519,526 or 9.11%.
Salisbury: $4,798,928, an increase of $17,835 or .43%.
Sharon: $1,890,486, a decrease of $33,356 or - 2.07%.
Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.
Lakeville Journal
Remembering and praying for our towns
Preparations for this summer’s Bisesquicentennial, 250th, anniversary remind me of our Bicentennial celebrations in the summer of 1976.I was a child living on the Green in Sharon with my family.
The whole town had a picnic on the Green — we sewed bonnets and ribboned badges, had special quarter dollars in our hands, and speeches in words long gone told a message of hope, dedication and pride. Also the Clothesline Sale on the Green set a lifelong standard for craft and artistry.
Memorial Day we wove ribbons in our bike wheels and carried banners while marching around the Green together. From then on I discovered a longing to return to Sharon.
It wasn’t just the beauty and the color of that summer, it was who we were. There was a generosity to the way we treated each other that goes back to the timeless “one anothers” of the Bible.
A sense of hospitality in the welcoming front porches, with each dwelling’s unique gifts blossoming alongside an orderly, conscientious community rooted in the laws of a gracious and loving God. Do right even when no one is looking. Don’t hold grudges. Forgive. Remember we share one maker. Love one another.
The villages I love are full of churches which hold a sweetness and peace that is a big part of what I treasured. Through prayer we have access to God’s help, guidance, correction and hope. Through prayer, and praying together, we can bring these beautiful truths to full flower in our own lives, in our community, and across the nation. And we can share prayer with a new generation. Let’s pray together! The National Day of Prayer will be celebrated for the 75th time this May 7th at 6 p.m. at the Salisbury Town Hall.
Sarah Davis Hughes
Lakeville
Bill Schmick
By now, everyone understands rising beef prices are a never-ending story. Fewer consumers complain about seafood prices. That may change as sticker shock hits the fish counter.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that fish and seafood prices increased by 3.89% so far in the first quarter of 2026 compared to prices in 2025. During the same period, the overall inflation rate was 1.19%. Of course, that was small potatoes compared to the price of beef, which surged 13% amid strong demand and tight supplies.
For the rest of this year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture expects seafood prices to rise faster than the historical average of 4.60% per year. For as long as I can remember, seafood in the U.S. has been a luxury item that, year after year, has climbed in price. Prices for fresh fish and seafood are 133.51% higher in 2026 than in 1997. In 2024, seafood had the highest average retail price among protein sources, surpassing beef and veal.
Beef, on the other hand, remained low and within the means of most Americans until recent years. Part of the price difference is attributable to growing demand for seafood in the U.S., one of the world’s largest seafood markets. However, 90% of the seafood consumed is imported from other countries.
It was not until I began traveling the world in my teens that I realized that, in many countries, seafood was both cheap and plentiful. China, Indonesia, and Vietnam are the top suppliers of our fish, and all of them have been slapped with high tariffs thanks to Donald Trump. But don’t just blame Donald Trump for the rising prices.
In recent years, consumers worldwide have begun paying more for fish. Climate change, despite deniers, has had a profound impact on the world’s oceans. Rising temperatures and acidification are impacting the distribution and abundance of many underwater species. Just look at the Gulf of Maine as an example. The warmer water has led to a decline in the lobster population to the point where I paid $49 for a lobster roll last weekend in Martha’s Vineyard.
Over the last six years, Maine’s lobster catch has declined from 121 million pounds to 79 million. This drop reflects a broader regional shift, as the Gulf of Maine has been leading the oceans in warming driven by climate change. As a result, the codfish industry has been decimated, while shrimping has gone nowhere as marine life fled to cooler waters. Similarly, salmon populations in the Pacific Ocean are experiencing the same trend.
On a trip to visit relatives in Norway a few years ago, I also learned that many species are affected by pollutants such as plastics, pesticides, and industrial waste. Thanks to ocean currents, much of the world’s ocean trash is winding up in the Scandinavian region. This has led to increasing regulation and certification as governments try to reverse this trend. The costs are passed on to consumers through higher prices and a smaller supply of fish.
Beyond production, the costs of catching fish are steep: harvesting is more labor-intensive, product spoilage occurs faster, and loss rates are higher at every stage from ocean to plate.
A pound of ground beef might cost $6.75 per pound, but a comparable portion of fresh salmon or cod will run you anywhere from $8 to $14 per pound. A whole chicken is even cheaper, about $2/pound. The difference between catching fish and raising cattle, pigs, and chickens is that ranchers and farmers use a controlled environment to optimize feed, breeding, and growth timelines. Wild-caught fishing offers none of the above.
Commercial boats depart with a fully paid crew, fuel accounting for 5-10% of their earnings, ice, and refrigeration units, and face increasingly uncertain weather, shifting fish populations, regulations, and seasonal closures. There is no guarantee of a full catch, whereas a rancher can be certain of how many pounds of beef he will produce in a month.
At the supermarket, beef and chicken have much longer shelf lives as well. Fresh seafood is one of the most perishable items on a grocer’s shelves. Anywhere from 8 to 20 percent of seafood is spoiled before it reaches consumers (the shrink rate). Supermarkets know this and mark up their fish to account for that spillage rate. Frozen seafood has a near-zero shrink rate, which is why it is much cheaper than fresh fish.
And keeping fish cold is expensive. Most commercial fishing takes place far from supermarkets. Many products, such as wild salmon, Atlantic cod, and imported shrimp, may travel thousands of miles by boat, truck, and air before hitting your local grocery shelf. At every step in the chain, keeping fish cold requires energy, specialized equipment, and speed. Unlike beef, which spoils more slowly, fish spoils quickly if it is not handled precisely.
Another difference between fish and a steer is that you get a greater yield from the beef carcass. About 63% of its live weight is boneless beef. A whole fish yields far less. No more than 30-50% of the fish is edible. If demand for wild-caught fish picks up, you can’t just catch more. Harvests are constrained by quotas, seasonal availability, and the sheer biological limits of fish populations.
It is the reason aquaculture has exploded worldwide, with fish farms popping up everywhere. Today, roughly half of all seafood consumed globally is farmed fish. Fish farms can scale up like livestock if demand rises. That’s why tilapia and catfish, for example, are much cheaper than wild salmon, cod, and shrimp. When it comes down to it, you may have noticed that not all fish are expensive. Canned tuna is practically a loss leader, with cans going for a dollar or less. The price differential between fish and meat is really a gap between industrialized livestock production and wild-caught fresh seafood. The more you consume farmed fish that is frozen for transport or canned, the cheaper it becomes.
Bill Schmick is a founding partner of Onota Partners, Inc., in the Berkshires.Bill’s forecasts and opinions are purely his own and do not necessarily represent the views of Onota Partners, Inc. (OPI).None of his commentary is or should be considered investment advice.
Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.
Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.
