Mid-July Goings-On (Part 1)

Tuesday July 13:

The Wesleyan Center for the Arts "CFA Days" series presents Bill Sherman (class of '02) at 12:10 p.m. in the CFA Hall (formerly the CFA Cinema.)  Sherman, a composer who created the orchestrations for classmate Lin Miranda's award-winning "In The Heights", also serves as music director for "Sesame Street."  His latest work, "Barrio Grrrl", was commissioned by the Kennedy Center and has been nominated for a Helen Hayes Award. The title of his talk is "From Vine Street to Sesame Street - A Musical Journey."  The event is free and open to the public. 

The Summer Sounds series, sponsored by the Middletown Commission on the Arts, continues this week on the South Green with Bange's Jazz Jents, a local musical ensemble that plays music from the classic "Big Band" era. The small yet powerful aggregation commences playing at 7 p.m.  In case of rain, the free event moves into South Church. 

The "Cary Grant & His Leading Ladies" film series continues at the Goldsmith Family Cinema inside the Center for Film Studies, Washington Terrace, with the 1938 screwball comedy classic "Bringing Up Baby."  Grant's co-star is Katharine Hepburn and they share the screen with "Baby", a leopard.  The movie, free and open to the public, is free and open to the public.  If you're one of the few people who have never seen this Howard Hawks production (or you have only seen it once), this is a very comfortable atmosphere to watch a movie.




Wednesday July 14:

The Music at The Mansion Concerts Series presents Ed Fast & Conga-Bop at 6:30 p.m.  The event, free and open to the public, takes place on the back lawn of the Wadsworth Mansion at the Long Hill Estate, Wadsworth Street.  Ed Fast (pictured left), based in Hartford, is a very busy musician.  A list of his gigs include that he was the drummer on the national tour of "Chicago", working with Chita Rivera on the national tour of "A Dancer's Life, in New York City, on Broadway as drummer for  "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang", Radio City Music Hall and a sub for "Chicago". He also performed with Broadway touring shows in Moscow, China, Korea, Japan and Taiwan and was Music Director of the Hartford-based youth group, Latin Flavor, at the Havana International Festival of Jazz (Cuba).  Conga-Bop, an ensemble with as many as 8 musicians, lives up to its name with an infectious blend of many different Latin rhythms, not to forget different genres of jazz. 
The grounds open at 5:30 p.m. for those who wish to picnic. In case of rain (we need it but not this week with all the different outdoor arts events), the concert is canceled.  For more information, go to www.wadsworthmansion.com.