Another Busy Week in the Arts, Part 1 (9/30-10/02)

The 33rd Annual Navaratri Festival at Wesleyan begins its 5-day run with a Colloquium on Wednesday September 30. The program blends music and dance from different traditions of Indian culture plus movies, a dance party and a worship service.

Wednesday's event features Matthew Allen (Wesleyan Ph.D 1986), Associate Professor of Music and Coordinator of Asian Studies at Wheaton College. He'll give a talk at at 4:15 p.m. in the CFA Hall (the old Cinema) putting the Festival and its different components into perspective. Allen received both his M.A. and Ph.D from Wesleyan and went on to co-author a book with his musical mentor T. Viswanathan titled "Music in South India: The Karnatak Concert Tradition and Beyond" (Oxford University Press.) This event is free and open to the public.

Other events include "Vocal Music of South India" on Thursday (October 1) at 8 p.m. in the World Music Hall featuring Wesleyan faculty members B. Balasubrahmaniyan (vocals), David Nelson (mridangnam) and guest artist K.V.S. Vinay (violin).
On Friday, there will be an "Indian Dance Party" at 6 p.m.. in the World Music Hall. According to the press release, "You will be treated to a Bollywood style group dance by several youngsters, Kolattam (dance with sticks from South India), Dandiya (dance from the North Indian state of Gujarat using sticks performed during Navaratri) and Bhangra (Spring dance from the North Indian state of Punjab)."
Following the dance, head over to Crowell Concert Hall for a duo concert featuring the fine young sarod player Alam Khan (pictured above) and the world-famous tabla player Samir Chatterjee. Khan, son of the late Swara Samrat Ali Akbar Khan, has established his credentials as a master player in the past few years while Chatterjee has worked with a diverse group of artists including Ravi Coltrane, Branford Marsalis, the Dance Theater of Harlem, Boston Philharmonic and the Ethos Percussion Group as well as Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan. For ticket information about the events above, go to www.wesleyan.edu/cfa or call 685-3355.

Other events this week- Thursday Oct 1:
The Buttonwood Tree presents its monthly Open Mic at 7 p.m. Hosted by Bob Gotta, it's an opportunity for local artists to be "heard" in a non-judgmental atmosphere.

"Common Ground: Middletown International Film Festival" continues with a screening of "Offside", the 2006 film from Iran, at 7 p.m. at Middlesex Community College, 100 Training Hill Road. The story, inspired by director Jafar Panahi's daughter's attempt to attend a World Cup Soccer match in Iran (female attendance at sporting events is forbidden under current Iranian rule), tells of young girl flaunts the rules but not because she is such a big soccer fan. The screening is free and open to the public and is the result of a collaboration between the Middletown Commission on the Arts, MxCC, the Green Street Arts Center and Wesleyan University with the aid of Russell Library.

The Elia Kazan Centennial Celebration film series continues at Weseyan with an 8 p.m. showing of the 1951 classic, "A Streetcar Named Desire." Adapted from Tennessee William's 1947 Pulitzer Prize-winning play, the film stars Marlon Brando, Vivien Leigh (who won the Academy Award for her performace), Karl Malden and Kim Hunter. Joan Miller, Head Archivist, Elia Kazan Collection at Wesleyan, will introduce the film. The event, which takes place at the Goldsmith Family Cinema on Washington Terrace, is free and open to the public. For more information, call 685-2220.

The Middle City Stage Company, a new troupe headed by Kelly DiMauro, debuts with "TheWoolgatherer." The play, written by William Mastrosimone and first premiered in 1979, stars Anita Vlad and Michael Eck and is the story of 2 very different people who come together and manage to overcome their issues. Performances take place at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday and take place on the Main Stage of Oddfellows Playhouse. For more information, call 681-2141 or email tickets@middlecitystage.org.

Friday October 2:
MAC 650, the cooperative gallery located at 650 Main Street, celebrates the opening of "The Addams Family Gathering: A Collection of Macabre Artistry and Eclectic Oddities" at from 7 - 10 p.m. Finger foods, spirits and dirge melodies will be provided and you'll get the opportunity to meet the artists involved in the exhibition - they include Joseph Dinunzio, Joseph Galluccio, John McCormack, Shannon Gagne, Shelley & Katie Oswiecki, Jason May, Carrie Swider and Joey Marsocci. For more information, go to http://mac650.blogspot.com.



The Free-at-Last Players, a theater troupe organized by Connecticut Heritage Productions "dedicated to dispelling the myths and misconceptions that surround mental illness", is celebrating its 20th anniversary. The group starts its new season with a performance at 8 p.m. in The Buttonwood Tree. For more information, call 347-4957.

At 10 p.m., The Buttonwood presents Tommy Monaghan and Sean Frenette for a late evening of improvisational music. Monaghan (percussion) and Frenette (guitar), both graduates of the New England Conservatory of Music, have studies and worked with numerous musicians (including Joe Maneri, Billy Hart, Bob Moses, Zakir Hussein, Frank Carlberg, and Hankus Netsky) and bring an intensity to their duet explorations. Call the number above for more information.

The Frank Varela Project provides the music at 8:30 p.m. in Boney's Music Lounge - call 346-6000 for more information.

Movie Night & More

Remember when politicians worked for the good of man (and woman) kind? When a person could go to the Senate or House of Representatives (in the national or local arenas) with ideals and ideas as well as promises and logical compromises that meant something? Neither do I but, in the movies, that plot line makes for good box office.

CineFare in Middletown continues its 4-Tuesday night run in Middletown with the 1939 Frank Capra masterwork "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington." Starring James Stewart, Jean Arthur, the versatile Claude Rains, and Beulah Bondi (among others), the movie casts Stewart who "represents the powerful forces of American freedom, democracy and morality over oppression and evil in his emotional portrait of a naive, idealist, patriotic young politician who, after being sent to Washington (a symbol of liberty and democracy) as a junior senator from an un-named state, matures in wisdom, fights political corruption within his state's political machine, and guards American values as a moral hero." Sounds like a surefire winner (and it was - the film was nominated for 11 Academy Awards but only won 1) yet critics lambasted the movie as "anti-democratic" and "propagandistic" in the months leading up to World War II.

It really is a fine film and well worth your time. The screening takes place at 7:30 p.m. in the Goldsmith Family Cinema inside the Center for Film Studies at Wesleyan, Washington Terrace. Introducing the movie will be Assistant Professor of Film Studies Steve Collins - the event is free and open to the public. Click here for more information and to learn more about the restaurant discounts and free transportation from Main Street.

The ARTFARM production of "The Taming of the Shrew" returns to the Grove behind Wheaton Hall on the campus of Middlesex Community College for 4 more performances Thursday July 23 through Sunday July 26. Each show is preceded by a 6 p.m. concert. This week, the performers include Rani Arbo & Mark Erelli (Thursday), Noah Baerman (picture by Kate Ten Eyck) & Friends (Friday), Dr. Dennis Waring (Saturday) and Carlos Hernandez-Chavez (Sunday.) Also, the Eco-Festival will take place Sunday from 4 - 6 p.m. and will feature live entertainment as well as vendors and information. To learn more, go to www.art-farm.org.

Special "Shout-out"to the "Shrew Orchestra", the trio of Joseph Getter (composer, music director, woodwinds), Mick Bolduc (guitar) and Tim Gaylord (drums, percussion) for its fine work during and after the show.

Reel fun, but whither Fishbones?

The CineFare events of this month are an opportunity to enjoy a great evening on the town. My wife and I had a lovely stroll, even in the light drizzling rain, from a good meal downtown to one of the nicest venues you can find anywhere to see a movie. As commented elsewhere, the movie was a great one to see projected through film on a big screen.

The dinner component of the program was perfect for us to explore a downtown eatery we have not yet tried. Restaurants give a 10% discount, but they in turn get diners sitting down for early dinners. We decided to try Fishbones, having

heard great things about it. Unfortunately, despite appearing in all the promotional literature for the CineFare program (which are all on Tuesdays), they were closed. Their sign says that they are routinely closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.

We walked north to Firehouse Steakhouse, and had a great meal with excellent service. The Porterhouse steak was tender and cooked to a rare perfection, and the fried fish platter was overflowing with crispy fresh seafood. Since we had a stroll and a movie coming before we would be getting in the car, we also thoroughly explored their cocktail menu.

Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl!

I've just come from the screening of It Happened One Night at Wesleyan's summer film series. What a blast - watching this great Frank Capra film surrounded by people from the community. We tsk tsked when the hero missed his first chance to kiss the girl, cheered when she came to her senses and left her "stuffed suit" finacé at the altar, and hooted and hollered when the should-be lovers -- Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert -- finally took the plunge. Before the movie started, local film expert Marc Longnecker set the stage with juicy bits of ancient gossip, like how the studio had to bribe Colbert with overtime pay just to do the movie.

Don't miss next week's showing of Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, with Gary Cooper. The free films will continue each Tuesday in July, with a lecture/commentary that starts at 7:30. You probably already know that several downtown restaurants are offering special deals on movie nights, and you can ride a shuttle from Main Street to the Goldsmith Family Cinema on Washington Terrace. By curtain time tonight, there were very few seats left, so come early and enjoy the slide show of still photographs from the university's collection, like this shot of Capra behind the lens (shown above). See you at the movies!

Cine-Fare Shuttle Schedule

For those planning to dine in downtown Middletown before the free showing of It Happened One Night Tuesday evening at the Goldsmith Family Cinema on the Wesleyan campus, here is the shuttle schedule between restaurants and cinema. The shuttle is sponsored by the Middlesex Chamber of Commerce

6:00 p.m. - Arriving in front of TUSCANY GRILL, 120 College Street

6:10 p.m. - TAVERN AT THE ARMORY (Inn at Middletown), 70 Main Street.

6:13 p.m. - OSAKA JAPANESE STEAKHOUSE, 130 Main Street

6:17 p.m. - FISHBONE CAFÉ, 106 Court Street

6:20 p.m. - TYPHOON RESTAURANT, 360 Main Street

FORBIDDEN CITY BISTRO, 335 Main Street. - please cross street to catch the bus in front of Typhoon Restaurant

6:22 p.m. - FIREHOUSE STEAKHOUSE & HALLIGAN TAP ROOM, 412 Main Street

6:27 p.m. - NIKITA’S BAR & BISTRO, 484 Main Street

6:42 p.m. - Arrive at the GOLDSMITH FAMILY CINEMA at Wesleyan University

The Shuttle Bus will circle around this same route after leaving passengers off at the Goldsmith Family Cinema, so there will be two opportunities to board the bus. At the conclusion of the film, passengers will be transported back to their pick-up location on Main Street.

"Leave Your Troubles On the Doorstep"

This is part 2 of my look at this very busy first week of December (part 1 is here.) Before we dive into Thursday, there's one change and one addition. This Tuesday's "Jazz at the Public" has been postponed and will return next Tuesday (12/09) from 5 - 9 p.m. On Wednesday, The Russell Library presents the CT Concert Ballet in "A Nutcracker Sweet Evening" at 6:30 p.m. in the Hubbard Room. Children ages 4 and older will hear the story of "The Nutcracker" and see excerpts from "The Nutcracker's Land of Sweets." Doors open 30 minutes before the performance and seating is limited. Call 347-2528, ext. 135, for more information.

On to Thursday.

The Friends of the Davison Art Center at Wesleyan presents its Annual Holiday Print Sale from 12noon - 7 p.m. Curated by fine print dealer Charles M. Young, the sale has an impressive selection of prints in all price ranges (including the lovely Keiji Shinohara color woodcut at the top of the posting.) It's open to the public and a portion proceeds from each sale goes to fund acquisitions for the DAC's collection. The DAC is located at 301 High Street and there's no admission charge. For more information, call 685-2500.

The Russell Library continues its "Dangerous Dreams and Wet Pavement" free film series at 12noon with the 1958 classic "Touch of Evil." Directed by Orson Welles, the "film noir" thriller stars Charlton Heston and Janet Leigh and features a number of cameo appearances by Welles' friends, including Joseph Cotten, Marlene Deitrich and Zsa Zsa Gabor. It's considered the ultimate "B-movie." Bring your lunch to the Hubbard Room and the staff will supply the drinks.

At 4:30 p.m., the Mansfield Freeman Center for East Asian Studies at Wesleyan, 301 Washington Terrace, welcomes Linda Rosenfeld Pomper who will deliver a talk titled "Chinese Porcelain: The Ubiquitous Artifact." The talk is free and open to the public. Call 685-2330 for more information.

There are 3 separate "Open Mics" taking place on Thursday. At 6 p.m., Javapalooza, 330 Main Street hosts one for singers and musicians. At 7 p.m., Bob Gotta hosts the monthly "Acoustic Open Mic" at The Buttonwood Tree, 605 Main Street. At the same time, the Green Street Arts Center of Middletown hosts "Writers Out Loud: A Literary Open Mic."

There will be a concert of Javanese Gamelan Music & Dance at 7 p.m. in the World Music Hall at Wesleyan, Wyllys Avenue. Performing will be beginning students in gamelan, the Wesleyan Youth Gamelan and students of Javanese Dance.The program is free and open to the public.

The bells of der bingle

The final installment of the Ingrid Bergman film series runs Wednesday evening at the Goldsmith Family Cinema at Wesleyan, featuring Bergman with Bing Crosby in Bells of St. Mary, the sequel to Going My Way.

Historically speaking, the film was made in a time when movies about Catholic priests were big box office - and Crosby's Father Chuck O'Malley wasn't performing any exorcisms. And, oh yeah, Bergman plays a nun (not like any nun who taught me).

The film will be introduced by Crosby historian Martin McQuade, who will hopefully talk about Crosby as one of America's finest singers, an innovative recording pioneer, and of course, as a popular actor.

We'll always have Washington Terrace

After the showing of Casablanca last night, I bumped into Barrie Robbins-Pianka who told me she had scored a hat trick last night in Middletown, attending three important events in a very busy Wednesday evening. Barrie had run in the Not Your Typical 5K Road Race on and around Main Street. She had attended a part of the contentious informational meeting about the proposed construction of an Army Reserve Training Center in Westfield, and she made it to the Goldsmith Family Cinema to see Casablanca.

I only made two out of three (knowing the Westfield contigent was a powerful voice in City Hall - and it was - the room overflowed despite the traffic issues downtown because of the road race).

At the Wesleyan film center, actor, and friend of Wesleyan, Edward Herrman gave some interesting insights into the film we were about to see. Herrman, who first saw the film in New York City in 1971, at a time he described as "most cynical" and full of antipathy for anything that was associated with "the establishment." To his own astonishment, in a revival movie house filled with marijuana smoke, he was among an audience who fell in love with a film that is admittedly romantic, idealist and, in fact, patriotic. Herrman read from screenwriter Howard Koch's book on the film (and who better than Herrman to read in his sonorous baritone), which seems to indicate that the film that emerged from a chaotic film process has turned into a classic which still works its magic on an audience.

And while this is one in a series of Ingrid Bergman films, Casablanca is undeniably Bogey's movie.

On this evening, laughter and applause filled the room. I sat rapt, thinking once or twice in amazement, that this old relic once again had me by the neck.

Here's looking at you kid.

The fundamental things apply

Casablanca is one of the best stories ever told.

And it will be told again Wednesday evening, July 16, at 8 pm at the Goldsmith Family Cinema on Wesleyan's campus. It's part of a series honoring and featuring Ingrid Bergman. Actor Edward Herrman will provide an introduction before the film is screened.

I've loved the film since I first saw it, chopped to shreds and interrupted by commercials for the Veg-o-matic, or Wonderbread, on some afternoon movie series on TV.

The casting, including the magnificent supporting players (Sydney Greenstreet, Claude Raines, Paul Henreid, Dooley Wilson), is perfect. The story that Ronald Reagan was being considered as the original first choice for the role of Rick, is apocryphal, and was a fiction created by Reagan's publicity agent. George Raft was apparently considered, because he was lobbying Jack Warner for the role, but reliable sources say the rights to the script were purchased for Bogart. Ingrid Bergman was "borrowed" from David O. Selznick for the role of Ilsa.

The film was directed by the underrated Michael Curtiz (The Adventures of Robin Hood, Angels With Dirty Faces, Yankee Doodle Dandy, Life With Father, Mildred Pierce and many others), who reportedly traded directorial assignments with Howard Hawks. Curtiz was scheduled to shoot Sergeant York, and Hawks, Casablanca, and they agreed to take on each other's assignments.

And of course, there's the script. Originally written as a stage play (which was never produced) by high school teacher Murray Bennett, and called Everybody Comes to Rick's, it was purchased for a record $20,000. It was reworked simultaneously by the team of Julius and Philp Epstein (twin brothers), and Howard Koch. All the writers worked on the film, particularly the ending (which was in question until late in shooting), as it was being shot.

My favorite scene, still, is the "dueling anthems" scene in which drunken German officers begin singing Die Wacht Am Rhein and French expatriates stand to sing La Marseillaise, drowning the Germans out, and raising the hair on my neck, each time.

And then, there's that other song, As Time Goes By, a favorite of original writer Bennett, and lobbied against by the film score composer Max Steiner, it became a hit for Rudy Vallee, who had recorded his version in 1931.

The film will be shown, as are all others in the series, on archival 35mm prints.

Notorious

It was a busy night in Middletown. At the Wadsworth Mansion, Rani Arbo and Daisy Mayhem held off anticipated thunder showers to the delight of a crowd.








Downtown, Middletown's newest tavern, Public, held a sneak preview opening for dignitaries.

And at the Goldsmith Family Cinema in Wesleyan's film studies program, it was the first of four classic films featuring the ethereal beauty of Ingrid Bergman.

It's great that Wesleyan, the city of Middletown and the Middlesex Chamber of Commerce has found a way to share the collected treasure Jeannine Basinger, head of the film studies program, has assembled as Wesleyan.

Basinger and staff assembled a slide show of rare family items, showing Bergman from the time she was a child in Sweden. Basinger also provided an insider's account of how the Bergman collection landed at Wesleyan, along with many anecdotes about Bergman's life as an actress. Finally, the film of the night, Hitchcock's Notorious, was preceded by home movies shot by Bergman's father early in the 20th century.

Next Wednesday it's Casablanca, introduced by actor Edward Herrman.

(Wadsworth photo by Paul Zakarian)