Reader's Theater Back in Action This Sunday

The two actors pictured on the left are acting out a scene from "Better Late" – they are, in fact, John Mahoney and Linda Kimbrough from a 2001 production of the play in Chicago, IL.  This Sunday, Readers Theater returns to the Hubbard Room of the Russell Library for a 2 p.m. reading of the Larry Gelbart play.  Gelbart, best known for his work on the "M*A*S*H" television series, originally wrote the piece in 2006 – the version you'll see and hear is the 2011 revision.  Either way, it's a comedy with dramatic overtones, about end-of-life issues, old age, love, lost love, and more.  The cast, directed by Naomi Kamins, features Pat Farrell, Henry Coe, Ben Werblow, and Richard Kamins.

The event is free and open to the public.  Doors open at approximately 1:30 p.m.

Readers Theater returns to the Hubbard Room on November 17 for a reading of "Mary Jane", a play by Amy Herzog ("4000 Miles").

Jazz Up Close August 22: Bass Clarinet & Baltimore

We are lucky people living in Middletown Connecticut in that we have a vibrant arts scene, we have Wesleyan University and its concerts spaces, galleries, and theaters, we have the Russell Library, and we have Noah Baerman (pictured left).  Mr. Baerman is a composer, educator, pianist, author, and the creator of Resonant Motion.  Resonant Motion is a record label, a place for visual artists, for writers, for performance artists, and for collaborations.  Noah is artistic director and the producer of Jazz Up Close, a series of concerts presented in the Hubbard Room of the Russell Library, 123 Broad Street in Middletown.  Now in its fifth season, the series has brought world-renowned artists to perform, talk about their work, and to answer questions from the audience.  The artists usually are joined by the pianist/curator along with his longtime collaborator, bassist Henry Lugo.

This coming Thursday August 22, Jazz Up Close welcomes bass clarinetist, composer, and social activist Todd Marcus.  Mr. Marcus, a native of New Jersey, has lived in Baltimore, MD, for over two decades and works tirelessly in the Sandtown-Winchester/Upton section of the city to bring about positive change.  You may recognize that area because it's where Freddie Gray died in police custody in 2015 and where massive riots followed in the wake of the event.  Mr. Marcus, who is half-Egyptian, had moved to Baltimore to go to college but left after two years, settled down in the community and went to work with the non-profit organization Intersection of Change – click on the name to see all that the organization does to help its community.

In early 2018, Todd Marcus released "On These Streets (a Baltimore Story)", an instrumental recording interspersed with audio clips from those very streets.  While some clips present a neighborhood in the midst of exploding and trying to deal with the eruptions of emotions, the music has a power and stories to tell on its own.  At one time, the community's main thoroughfare, Pennsylvania Avenue, was alive with nightclubs, concert halls, theaters, and businesses, a hub of and for the African American families and working people.  Many Black artists played there, influencing generations of musicians and artists.  Mr. Marcus takes his compositional cues from the socially conscious music of Max Roach, Charles Mingus, Sonny Rollins, and Duke Ellington.  On previous recordings, he has explored Middle Eastern music, especially on his 2014 Jazz Orchestra recording "Blues For Tahrir", and he will play several of those compositions during the concert.

The program starts at 7 p.m. and is free and open to the public.  This event is supported in part by the Middletown Commission on the Arts and the CT Department of Economic and Community Development, Office of the Arts, which also receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency, along with the Shoreline Arts Alliance.  Bring open ears and a curious mind, Jazz Up Close will do the rest.

Here's one of the audio clips and the musical story that follows:

Ben Butler Encore at The Russell Library

Readers Theater, in association with Russell Library, presents "BEN BUTLER" in the HUBBARD ROOM 1:30 pm Saturday afternoon February 23rd. 

The Civil War Comedy/History comes back to Middletown in celebration of Black History Month and offers those who missed the June 2018 performances another chance to enjoy this fascinating work by Richard Strand.  

New Haven actor Rodney Moore returns to perform the memorable role of runaway slave Shepard Mallory.  Richard Kamins carries on in the celebrated titled role of the Major General, and Daniel Ayotte adeptly portrays the Lieutenant. New to the cast will be Durham's Henry Coe as Major Cary of the Confederate Army, returning to the "stage" after many long years. 

The doors to Russell Library's Hubbard Room (in rear of Library building) will open after 1:00 pm---enter from Library's Court Street driveway.  Seating is limited.

Readers Theater, "Buyer and Cellar", Monday 3/12

Readers Theater returns to the Hubbard Room of The Russell Library, 123 Broad Street, in Middletown on Monday March 12 to present "Buyer & Cellar."  The 2013 play, written by Jonathan Tolins, takes place (mostly) in the basement of Barbra Streisand's home in Malibu, California, where the mega-star keeps a mall in her basement.  No, really, she does - there are pictures to prove it (see below - there is no "fake news" in the EYE).  The one-person play tells the fictional story of an out-of-work actor who gets the job of managing the mall and his relationships with his boyfriend, Ms. Streisand's personal secretary, James Brolin, and the STAR!!  It's a delightful premise and a very funny "What if?" story.

For the Readers Theater production, co-directors Anne Cassady and Richard Kamins decided to create a five-person cast instead of one actor playing all the parts.  To that end, the staged reading features the talents of Robert Donahue, Julie Greeman, Elizabeth Dougan, Michael D'Agostino, and Jerry Rankin.



Doors to the Hubbard Room (not pictured) open at 6:30 p.m. and the play commences at 7.  Since the Library closes at 6 p.m., you just enter from the Court Street doors in the parking lot.  The play is free and open to the public.

At 5:30 p.m. that day, the City of Middletown and its Commission on the Arts celebrates Arts Advocacy Day by honoring the works of Vintage Players and artist David Schulz.  The event takes place in City Hall on DeKoven Drive and should leave you enough time to get to the Library.  You can and should do both - I understand the next snow storm starts later in the evening.

Jazz Up Close "Spanning Generations"

Pianist, composer, educator, and author Noah Baerman hosts the Jazz Up Close series at the Russell Library in Middletown approximately four times a year.  This Thursday (June 16) as part of the "Spanning Generations Up Close", Noah and bassist Henry Lugo will perform with guest artist guitarist  Monnette Sudler, the Philadelphia, PA native and still a resident.

Here's how the pianist described his guest in his promotional material. "Forty years after recording "Time for a Change", her debut as a bandleader for SteepleChase Records, Monnette Sudler is still a potent force in music. Adept at straight-ahead jazz, avant-garde music and R&B, she has collaborated with a comparably diverse cast of musicians, including Grover Washington, Jr., Hugh Masekela, Sam Rivers, 'Philly” Joe Jones, Kenny Barron, Khan Jamal, Cedar Walton, Shirley Scott, Byard Lancaster, Steve Turre, Sunny Murray, and rapper Erik Honesty (Ms. Sudler’s son). Her current projects include Sisters in Poetry (in collaboration with poet Trapeta B. Mason), the Ladies Night Out quartet, and the Monnette Sudler World Music Ensemble featuring Liberian vocalist Fatu Gayflor, as well as serving as the organizer of the annual Philadelphia Guitar Summit. Ms. Sudler is a graduate of Temple University and is active as an educator, having recently authored the instructional book "Motif Mojo Jazz Guitar."

Ms. Sudler has issued six CDs since her debut, the latest being 2012's collaboration with Ladies Night Out titled "First Born."  The album is a delightful blend of vocals and instrumentals, with a clean sound  all around and several gospel-flavored tracks.  

If you are a regular attendee of these concerts, you know that the artists take time to answer questions from the audience.  It's .amazing what one can learn and how the artists give a glimpse into the creative process.

The concert begins at 7 p.m. and takes place in the Hubbard Room.  As always at the Library, the show is free and open to the public. For more information, go to resonantmotion.org/jazz-up-close/. 

To learn more about the guitarist, go to www.monnettesudlermusic.com. 

Here's a view of the guitarist at play from 2010:

(This post also appears on steptempest.blogspot.com.

Indra Rios-Moore at Russell Library Thursday

This Thursday (1/14), the Russell Library, 123 Broad Street in Middletown welcomes the fine vocalist Indra Rios-Moore and her band for a 7 p.m. concert in the Hubbard Room. Indra, a long-time friend of Middletown resident Rani Arbo, issued her 3rd CD in 2015, the lovely "Homeland" - produced by Larry Klein (Joni Mitchell, Melody Gardot), the CD came out in August and is filled with fascinating tunes, including great covers of songs by Dock Boggs (see below), David Ruffin ("What Becomes of the Broken-hearted"), Pink Floyd ("Money") and David Bowie ("Heroes").  The album includes stunning versions of Duke Ellington's "Azure" (lyrics by Irving Mills and "Solitude" (the words were composed by Eddie De Lange).

The concert will feature her "working band" (all of whom appear on the CD) - they include Benjamin Traerup (saxophones), Uffe Steen (guitars) and Indra's husband Thomas Sejthen (bass). Anyone who attended her previous shows know how powerful a singer/interpreter Indra is and how well the band's sounds complements her vocals. Also, the intimacy of the Hubbard Room is a perfect fit for the intimacy of the music. The show is free and open to the public.

For more information about the concert, call 860-347-2528 ext 171.  To learn more about the singer and her music, go to www.indrariosmoore.com.  

Here's the Dock Boggs tune to whet your appetite:

Jazz Up Close (and pleasantly personal)

That's Noah Baerman in that "serious" pose on the left.  That makes sense as he is serious about his music, about his teaching, and about the ability to reach people through music and have them lead positive lives.  To that end, Mr. Baerman has started a program at Russell Library in Middletown he calls "Jazz Up Close" - it's a concert but the musicians talk to and with the audience, explaining what they are attempting to do with their music, why they do what they do and more.  Playing jazz is more than playing the notes; it's about teamwork, about communication, and about creativity (and much more).

This Saturday at 2 p.m. (March 28), the 2015 season of "Jazz Up Close" commences with Mr. B (piano) leading at quartet with with bassist Henry Lugo, drummer Willard Dyson and special guest, guitarist Freddie Bryant (pictured left). Besides his busy solo career, Mr. Bryant has worked with the great vocalist Salif Keita, trumpeter Tom Harrell and the Mingus Big Band. He and drummer Dyson have worked together on a number of occasions as well as recording together on 2 of his 7 CDs.  His latest, "Dreamscapes: Solo, Duo & Trio" (self-released), was issued in 2014 and features saxophonist Chris Potter and bassist Scott Colley. Mr. Bryant is equally versed in jazz, pop, and classical music and has a fluid style that swings, often with unabashed glee.


To find out more about the series, go to www.russelllibrary.org. To find out more about Freddie Bryant, go to www.freddiebryant.com.  Check out all the good work of Noah B at www.noahjazz.com.

(This post also appears, in an edited version, on my blog, at steptempest.blogspot.com.)

Author & Professor Victor Triay in The Hubbard Room 2/18

Story of Cuban Underground Freedom Fighters to be Topic of Historical Society Program

Havana, Cuba, 1960. The euphoria following the nation’s successful revolution the previous year has waned among large sectors of the population.  Cuba’s new leader, Fidel Castro, after having promised to restore democracy to the troubled island, is moving the country toward a Communist dictatorship.  In response, democratic forces launch an anti-government insurgency to save Cuba from totalitarian darkness.  This struggle forms the basis of the trilogy of historical fiction that is The Unbroken Circle series.  The story centers on the middle class Leon family who is caught up in a world of warfare, betrayal, and separation during the early years of the Cuban Revolution.

In Book I, The Struggle Begins, Goyo Leon, a devoted teacher and family man, is recruited into the anti-Castro underground after his father is killed at the hands of Castro’s henchmen.  He and other family members subsequently become more deeply involved in the pro-democracy struggle every day.  Told with heart-pounding suspense of a Cold War saga and the poignancy of a family drama, The Struggle Begins sets the stage for Book II, Freedom Betrayed, the story of the Goyo’s and other family members’ participation in the Bay of Pigs invasion.  After the invasion, the two youngest members of the Leon family are separated from the family after being sent away on an airlift of Cuban refugee children.

In a program sponsored by the Middlesex County Historical Society, Victor Triay, the author of these spellbinding books, will speak about how he came to write the series, about the characters, and about the history behind the fiction at a program to be held on Tuesday, February 18 at 7:00 pm in the Hubbard Room at Russell Library.  He will also recount his experiences researching the many events depicted in the books.  

Triay, the son of Cuban exiles, was raised in Miami, a center of the Cuban exile community.  He received his PhD. in History from Florida State University in 1995 and has been a professor in history at Middlesex Community College since 1992.  His first book, Fleeing Castro: Operation Pedro Pan and the Cuban Children’s Program, was followed by Bay of Pigs: An Oral History of Brigade 2506, which received the 2001 Samuel Proctor Oral History Prize of the Florida Historical Association.  Copies of Books I and II in the Unbroken Circle series will be available for purchase and inscription.  Russell Library, located at 123 Broad Street, Middletown, is handicap accessible.  This program is free and open to the public.  For further information, contact the Historical Society at 860-346-0746.

For Adam's Sake at Russell Library

The Middlesex County Historical Society is pleased to present Allegra di Bonaventura who will discuss her book, For Adam’s Sake, in the Hubbard Room at Russell Library at 7:00 pm on Tuesday, November 19. For Adam’s Sake has been described by John Demos, the author of Unredeemed Captive, as “A work of astonishing ingenuity, intellectual and emotional depth, and (most of all) brilliant writing.” It is the story of two families: Joshua Hempstead, a well-respected farmer and tradesman in New London, Connecticut and his slave of thirty years, Adam Jackson. Hempstead’s remarkable diary—kept from 1711 until 1758—is the basis of this engrossing narrative of family life and the slave experience in the colonial North. Significant primary documents from churches and various civic and private archives also serve as source materialdescribes the complexity of this master/slave relationship and traces the intertwining stories of two families until the eve of the Revolution. Slavery is often left out of our collective memory of New England’s history, but it was hugely impactful on the central unit of colonial life: the family. In every corner, the lines between slavery and freedom were blurred as families across the social spectrum fought to survive. In this enlightening study, a new portrait of an era emerges.

For Adam’s Sake describes the complexity of this master/slave relationship and traces the intertwining stories of two families until the eve of the Revolution. Slavery is often left out of our collective memory of New England’s history, but it was hugely impactful on the central unit of colonial life: the family. In every corner, the lines between slavery and freedom were blurred as families across the social spectrum fought to survive. In this enlightening study, a new portrait of an era emerges.

Allegra di Bonaventura is Assistant Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Science at Yale University. She received a Ph.D. in History from Yale as well as a Juris Doctor.  She also holds a B.A. in History and an M.A. in German from Middlebury College. Her responsibilities include the academic affairs of the graduate programs in the Humanities, African American Studies, East Asian Studies, European and Russian Studies, International Development & Economics, and International Relations. She will have copies of the book for purchase and inscription.


 

Russell Library, located at 123 Broad Street in Middletown, is handicap accessible.  The program is free and open to the public.  For more information, contact the Historical Society at 860-346-0746.

 

 

The Russell Library Presents Guitar on Saturday, Theater on Monday

On Saturday March 26, the Russell Library presents the excellent British guitarist Adrian Legg at 2 p.m. in the Hubbard Room.  The concert, free and open to the public, is sponsored by the Friends of the Russell Library.

Legg has been on the contemporary music scene for over 4 decades.  A native of London, he began his career playing in a country music band based in Liverpool.  For the better part of his professional career, Legg has concentrated on the acoustic guitar, winning numerous awards and creating 15 recordings.  His repertoire, all instrumental, is a broad one, drawing from folk, bluegrass, jazz, blues, classical, Cajun, rock and pretty much whatever strikes his fancy.

The Hubbard Room opens at 1:30 and the Library staff  expects a good crowd.  

On Monday night (3/28) at 7 p.m. in the Hubbard Room, Readers Theater presents "Love Letters", the 1989 award winning play by A.R. Gurney.  Carolyn Kirsch and Myron Gubitz (founder and producer of Readers Theater) play Melissa Gardner (an artist) and Andrew Makepeace Ladd (a lawyer), whose poignantly funny friendship and ill-fated romance takes them from second grade through adolescence, maturity, and into middle age.  The 2-person play tells the couple's story through their written correspondence and is filled with humor as well as heart-felt emotion.

The reading is free and open to the public.  For more information, call 860-347-2528, extension 135.