Sharon Playhouse issues ticket scam warning ahead of season debut

The Sharon Playhouse is alerting theatergoers to purchase tickets directly through its website or box office, as the venue responds to a rise in third-party scams.
Aly Morrissey

The Sharon Playhouse is alerting theatergoers to purchase tickets directly through its website or box office, as the venue responds to a rise in third-party scams.
SHARON — The Sharon Playhouse is warning theatergoers ahead of its 2026 season to avoid third-party ticket sellers after scams surfaced during last year’s record-breaking run.
Officials said tickets for MainStage and YouthStage shows are only available through the Sharon Playhouse website or box office and will not cost more than $55.
The issue extends beyond Sharon. Regional venues, including the Warner Theater in Torrington and Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, report similar problems with third-party sellers inflating prices or distributing fraudulent tickets.
Scams have typically taken two forms, Playhouse officials said, including legitimate tickets resold at inflated prices – sometimes up to five times the face value – and entirely fake tickets.
“We’re on the radar now,” joked Artistic Director Carl Andress, pointing to the theater’s surge in attendance in recent years. The Playhouse saw the highest overall attendance in its history last year, a factor leaders believe is contributing to scam activity.
Michael Baldwin, the Playhouse’s Education and Community Director, said the consequences fall hardest on customers.
“We’re thrilled that we are selling more tickets – and even selling out,” Baldwin said. “But if someone purchased a fraudulent ticket last year, there were times when we didn’t have another ticket to offer them.”
To combat the issue, the Playhouse will begin scanning tickets for the first time in its history. Previously, ushers looked at tickets and directed people to their seats.
The problem is exacerbated by third-party ticket sellers with larger marketing budgets, often dominating online search results through paid ads.
“It’s a constant challenge we’re working on from a marketing standpoint,” said Lynette Shy of Confluence Arts Solutions, the Playhouse’s marketing partner. She noted that patrons frequently believe they are purchasing directly from a venue when they are not.
Despite efforts to counter misleading listings, the Playhouse said its budget simply can’t keep up.
“These people have a lot more resources than nonprofit performing arts groups,” Shy said.
Some resellers purchase tickets in bulk and relist them at higher prices, she said, adding that efforts to monitor suspicious sales are ongoing but scammers are “getting smarter and smarter.”
At Bushnell, Chief Operating Officer and Vice President of Marketing Stephanie Fried said the impact can deter audiences entirely.
When theatergoers see prices inflated far beyond what they should be, Fried said, many simply walk away without realizing affordable tickets are available directly from the venue. In some cases, she said, seasoned scammers use tactics like countdown clocks or misleading inventory lists to create a sense of urgency.
“In every one of these scenarios, the patron trusted a process, acted in good faith, and was harmed,” Fried said. “Every Connecticut consumer deserves honest, transparent access to tickets for the events they want to attend.”
Early signs suggest the problem is continuing into the upcoming Sharon Playhouse season, prompting staff to get ahead of the problem. Warnings are being posted on the Sharon Playhouse website, e-mail communications and social media.
“We want to keep selling out,” Andress said. “But we want our customers to have the best experience and pay the prices that we actually charge.”
Tickets for the 2026 season can be purchased at sharonplayhouse.org or in person at the box office.
Sharon Playhouse 2026 Season
The Playhouse has aligned its 2026 MainStage programming to coincide with America’s 250th anniversary.
“The 2026 season reflects the heart of America,” Andress said. “Stories of hope in hard times, generosity in moments of crisis, and joy created through music, laughter, and community.”
The season kicks off with the high-energy star-spangled musical hit, Swingtime Canteen on June 19, followed by the ultimate Broadway fairytale, 42nd Street, and continues with the Tony Award–winning musical Come From Away through September 27.
The theater’s YouthStage lineup is not to be missed, with dozens of local children and familiar faces taking the stage in Pooh’s Parade, Matilda, Jr., Big Bad, Shrek Kids, and Zombie Prom, the second annual pre-professional Launchpad Company production featuring local teens.
Riley Klein
Ryan Segalla wins the 400-meter race in 50.5 seconds.
FALLS VILLAGE – Berkshire League track and field began the regular season Tuesday, April 21, with a meet at Housatonic Valley Regional High School.
HVRHS hosted athletes from Nonnewaug High School and Gilbert School for an afternoon of competition. In total, 18 events were held for both boys and girls.
Gusting winds and overcast skies made for chilly conditions, about 49 degrees, but that did not deter contenders.
Nonnewaug’s large team performed well and accumulated the most team points of the day.
HVRHS athletes succeeded individually in several events.
Ava Segalla won the 100-meter race in 13.2 seconds. Freshman Lainey Diorio finished right behind her with a personal-best time of 13.3 seconds.
Ava Segalla also won the girls high jump by clearing a height of 4-feet 10-inches.
Peter Austin tied for first in the boys high jump. He cleared 5-feet 0-inches, along with Nonnewaug’s Shemaiah Savage.
Ryan Segalla won the 200-meter race in 22.4 seconds, a new personal best for him. He was more than a second ahead of Nonnewaug’s Edward Longo with a time of 23.9 seconds.
Ryan Segalla dominated the 400-meter race in 50.5 seconds, nearly five seconds ahead of the second-place finisher, Nonnewaug’s Chance Salisbury, who ran 55.1 seconds.
HVRHS’s 4x100-meter girls relay team of Ava Segalla, Lainey Diorio, McKenzie Lotz and Olivia Brooks won the event in 54.3 seconds. Nonnewaug’s team ran 56.3 seconds and Gilbert finished in 59.7 seconds.
Finian Malone won the 3200-meter run in 11:24.3 minutes. He was more than a minute ahead of second place, which went to Nonnewaug’s Corbin Fretz in 12:30 minutes.
Full results available at athletic.net.
Riley Klein
Jaxon Visockis takes the fourth singles match.
FALLS VILLAGE – Housatonic Valley Regional High School’s boys tennis team won 6-1 over the co-op team from East Granby High School and Canton High School Tuesday, April 21.
HVRHS’s second win of the season came on a chilly, overcast afternoon. It was about 49 degrees when service began at 4 p.m.
Gustavo Portillo played first singles for HVRHS against Red Cassotto. Portillo didn’t drop a game, winning the match 6-0, 6-0.
HVRHS’s Jonas Johnson defeated Kavin Jayaganesh in the second singles match, which went 6-2, 3-6, 10-1.
Lorenzo Policella defeated HVRHS’s Adam Hock 6-3, 6-1 in the third singles match.
Jaxon Visockis took the fourth singles match against Liam Smith. Visockis won 6-1, 6-0.
HVRHS won all three doubles matches.
The first doubles team of Baxter Hayhurst and Peyton Bushnell defeated Sean O’Connor and Nehemiah Victor 6-3, 6-2.
Paul Losch and Angel Gonzalez beat Spencer Namnoun and Alan Joby 6-3, 6-0.
Carter Finney and Justin Sorrell defeated Marte Roth and Zach Smith 6-0, 6-1.

Patrick L. Sullivan
Wreckage from the 1943 plane crash is kept at Great Mountain Forest.
NORFOLK – More than half a century after a 25-year-old WWII pilot fatally crashed his plane into a ridge on Great Mountain Forest in Norfolk, the circumstances remain a mystery – but artifacts preserve the soldier’s legacy.
On March 31, 1943, First Lieutenant Daniel Henry Thorson of the United States Army Air Force took off from Mitchell Field on Long Island at 3:34 p.m. His destination was what was then known as Bradley Field at Windsor Locks, Connecticut.
Thorson was flying a P-40E-1 fighter plane with three and a half hours of fuel, and what should have been a routine, 30-minute flight somehow went disastrously wrong.
According to records, the plane crashed at 4:10 p.m. in a remote area on Great Mountain Forest (GMF), killing Thorson. The Connecticut Western News edition of April 29, 1943 reported the details weeks later.
“The mysterious and unsolved death three weeks ago of Aviation Lieut. Daniel H. Thorson, age 25, of South Worth, Pas., in the deep jungle recesses of Canaan Mountain while on a routine flight from Mitchell Field, New York to Bradley Field, Windsor Locks, is one that is puzzling the brains of our military forces,” the article noted.
It went on to share that Thorson’s body and his plane were found high up on the mountainside one Saturday morning by two students of the Yale School of Forestry, William Holmes and F.J. Turner. The duo was running a surveyors’ line through the 4,000 acre estate of S.W. Childs, a founder of GMF.
“Had these men not been surveying in the mountainous territory,” the article said, “there is no telling when the body of the intrepid flier might have been discovered.”
Present-day GMF property manager Russell M. Russ made artifacts of the crash available, including a large chunk of the aircraft itself and a .50 caliber machine gun round.
Russ said when the Army came to the crash site, the salvage team recovered everything they could find, including thousands of .50 caliber rounds.
Thorson was honored, and a marker installed near the scene of the accident on June 25, 2003.
The memorial service included a presentation of awards and decorations to Thorson’s relatives, a proclamation from Governor John Rowland, the reading of memorial letters from military officers – including Capt. Howard Tuman, Thorson’s squadron leader – and a flyover with A-Warthogs from the Connecticut Air National Guard.

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Patrick L. Sullivan
SALISBURY — Voters will consider Salisbury’s proposed 2026–27 municipal and education budgets at the annual town meeting May 13, with officials indicating the mill rate is likely to remain unchanged at 11.0, meaning no increase in property taxes if the budgets are approved.
The Board of Finance reached that preliminary conclusion following a public hearing April 27, after which it voted to send both budget proposals to the town meeting.
The Board of Selectmen’s budget totals $9,617,825, an increase of $412,723, or 4.40%.
The Board of Education’s proposed budget for Salisbury Central School (SCS) is $7,213,515, up $316,367, or 4.59%.
The town’s Region One assessment is $4,798,927, an increase of $17,834, or 0.37%. The Region One budget will go to referendum May 5.
Assuming the regional budget is approved, total education spending for 2026–27 would be $12,012,442, an increase of $334,201, or 2.86%.
If the municipal and SCS budgets are approved May 13, total town spending would reach $21,630,267, an increase of $746,924, or 3.58%.
The hearing was attended by members of the Board of Finance, Board of Education and Board of Selectmen, along with Town Hall and SCS staff and one reporter.
No questions were raised for SCS Principal Stephanie Magyar or First Selectman Curtis Rand following their presentations.
Board of Finance Chair Pari Forood said the preliminary scenario assumes the mill rate would remain unchanged.
Vote Details
May 13, 7:30 p.m.
Salisbury Town Hall
27 Main St.
Christian Murray
NORTH CANAAN — North Canaan will hold its town meeting on May 13 to act on its proposed municipal and education budgets for the 2026–27 fiscal year, contingent on approval of the Region One school budget on May 5.
Unlike the Region One budget, which is decided by referendum across six towns, residents must attend the town hall meeting in person to weigh in and vote on the local budgets.
While the proposed budgets do not list a mill rate, First Selectman Jesse Bunce said the property tax rate — currently 24.75 mills — is expected to remain roughly unchanged. For a homeowner, that means a property assessed at $350,000 would result in about $8,663 in annual property taxes. In Connecticut, property is typically assessed at 70% of market value.
The proposed budgets total about $14.6 million, including a $3,351,583 municipal budget and an $11,238,600 education budget, the latter reflecting a 7.92% increase over the current year.
Of the education total, about $5,098,488 is allocated to North Canaan Elementary School, a 6.73% increase, driven in large part by rising medical insurance premiums. Those same healthcare costs are also a factor on the municipal side of the budget.
Meanwhile, $6,140,112 represents the town’s share of the Region One budget, which covers high school tuition and shared services.
Regional costs are driving the bulk of the increase. North Canaan’s share of the Region One budget is projected to rise by about $503,679, or 8.94%. The jump marks a notable shift from last year, when North Canaan’s Region One assessment rose by just over 1%. The town is budgeting for 106 students to attend Housatonic Valley Regional High School.
The proposed municipal budget is up 3.45% from last year.
A public hearing on the budgets was held on April 20 and lasted only three minutes. It drew no questions on the education budget and a single question on municipal healthcare costs.
The Board of Finance is reviewing the budget proposal and will set the final tax rate before it goes to the town meeting.
Bunce said after the meeting he was surprised by the lack of public comment, attributing it to a stable mill rate and multiple prior budget discussions.
If approved, the budgets will take effect July 1.
Vote Details
Wed., May 13, 7:00 pm
North Canaan Town Hall
100 Pease St.
Alec Linden
SHARON — Sharon will hold a town meeting on May 8 at Town Hall to act on its proposed municipal and education budgets for fiscal year 2027, following a late Board of Finance review prompted by resident pushback on school spending cuts.
Residents must attend the May 8 meeting in person to vote. The meeting will follow the Region One school budget vote on May 5.
Sharon’s budget plan was revisited this week after a two-hour public hearing on April 24 where residents urged officials to restore funding to Sharon Center School. The current proposal reflects a Board of Finance directive to cut $70,000 from the elementary school budget, bringing it to $4,165,513, flat from the current year and marking a fifth straight year with no increase.
Sharon’s contribution to the Region One high school totals $1,890,487, a 1.73% decrease. Combined education spending stands at $6,026,012, down 0.64% overall.
Following the hearing, the Board of Education discussed using savings from the regional side to offset cuts to the elementary school budget, an idea supported by residents.
The proposed municipal budget totals $5,446,187, a 5.78% increase, and has drawn little pushback.
If approved, the Board of Finance will set the mill rate. The current rate is 11.15, with no projection yet for the coming year.
Town Meeting
Friday, May 8, 6 p.m.
Sharon Town Hall
63 Main St.

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