March 13, 2010, P.M.

The Tchaikovsky Ballet Theatre dances a sparkling production of Sleeping Beauty, often considered the finest achievement of classical ballet. From its marvelous cast of dancers to its glorious Tchaikovsky score, the production is simply magical in every way.

Saturday, March 13 at 3 & 8pm

Treasure Books: Selections from the Caroline M. Hewins Collection of Children’s Literature, is an exhibition developed by guest curator Leonard Marcus, leading historian on American children’s books.  His highly acclaimed books include Golden Legacy: How Golden Books Won Children’s Hearts; Minders of Make-Believe; Margaret Wise Brown: Awakened by the Moon; Dear Genius: The Letters of Ursula Nordstrom; and The Wand in the Word.  Caroline Hewins came to Hartford in 1875 as librarian of the Hartford Young Men’s Institute, the predecessor to Hartford Public Library.  She held this position for 50 years and earned a national reputation as an imaginative, spirited, and dedicated leader, especially well regarded for her library work with children.

Hartford History Center, 3rd Floor

December through May, Tuesday through Saturday, 1:00-5:00 p.m.

Opening Reception

Hartford History Center, 3rd Floor

Sunday, December 6, 2:00-4:00 p.m.

Free tax assistance to households with annual incomes of $50,000.00 or less.  Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) assistance also is available.

2^nd Floor

Tuesdays, January 19 through April 13

Wednesdays, January 20 through April 14

Thursdays, January 21 through April 15

4:00-7:00 p.m. and

Saturdays, January 23 through April 10

10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m.

Call 211 Infoline or 860-695-6295 to make an appointment, or walk-in – first come, first served.

Appointments recommended.

Connecticut State Museum of Natural History and Connecticut Archaeology Center present

Winter Escapes & Adventures

The Natural History of Health, Mummy Dearest, Stem Cell Research, Special Tours, Ancient Technologies, The Anthropology of Drug Use, Behind the Scenes with MysteryQuest, Eighteenth Century Medicine, Stories in Stone, Scientific Illustration, Forensic DNA Analysis, and the Mysterious World of Lichens and Mosses are just a few of the program topics being offered this winter and spring by the Museum and Archaeology Center. Don’t miss out on exciting fieldtrips, workshops, family activities, field learning, and notable presentations this season.

For a full listing of programs and registration information, visit http://www.cac.uconn.edu/mnhcurrentcalendar.html or call 860.486.4460

The Connecticut State Museum of Natural History and Connecticut Archaeology Center are part the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at UConn

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March 13, 19, 20, 26 & 27, 2010 at 8:00pm
March 14, 21 & 28, 2010 at 2:00pm

Music & Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by Burt Shevelove & Larry Gelbart

“Tragedy tomorrow, comedy tonight!” Broadway’s greatest farce is light, fast-paced, witty, irreverent and one of the funniest musicals ever written - the perfect escape from life’s troubles. FORUM takes comedy back to its roots, combining situations from time-tested, 2000 year old comedies of Roman playwright Plautus with the infectious energy of classic vaudeville. 

The result is a non-stop laugh-fest in which a crafty slave (Pseudolus) struggles to win the hand of a beautiful but slow-witted courtesan (Philia) for his young master (Hero), in exchange for freedom. The title derives from the line that vaudeville comedians often used to begin a story: "A funny thing happened on the way to the theatre..."

This is an original Yale Peabody Museum exhibition that investigates West Nile virus and Lyme Disease. These two diseases are "vector-borne" -- that is, the pathogen is transmitted to humans by an arthropod, and in both cases a blood-sucking one! Giant models of a mosquito and a tick help explain the puzzle that is the transmission, detection and treatment of these diseases. The exhibition explores the differences between the viral and bacterial pathogens, when they arrived in Connecticut, and how our changing environment is increasing the incidence of both diseases. The exhibition is on view through April 25.

Meet the artists. See art in the making. Stroll the boardwalk of 20 studio artists showcasing an incredible variety of artwork including: realistic and abstract drawings, prints and painting; functional and decorative clay pieces; jewelry; photography; kinetic sculpture, mixed media; bronze sculpture; and chair seat weaving.

Open studio is every first Saturday of the month from February to November at 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

For more information about Farmington Valley Arts Center artists, events, open studio, and educational programs, visit our website, www.artsfvac.org.

14th Annual Mandell JCC Hartford Jewish Film Festival The world comes to Hartford March 13-23, 2010 when the Mandell JCC’s 14th Annual Hartford Jewish Film Festival raises the curtain on a week on international romance, comedy, history, sports and fun for everyone…plus live concerts, parties, guest filmmakers and more. Thirty Hartford or Connecticut premiere films from eight countries over ten days in seven venues are presented with the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Maurice Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies and The Hartt School, University of Hartford. Get the hottest tickets in town, visit the festival website www.hjff.org or call the Box Office for a brochure or to order tickets: 860-231-6316.

Dawn Holder: The Idea of This Perfect Edenic Place

“The Idea of This Perfect Edenic Place” is a site-specific installation created for the ArtWalk Gallery by Dawn Holder. The upcoming exhibition will be a dynamic and fantastical garden set against the backdrop of the Hartford city-scape. The setting of the ArtWalk Gallery, with its expansive windows, hints at the complex relationship between the natural world and humanity's desire to cultivate it. The show will at first be installed with a minimal collection of porcelain and mixed-media plants and flowers. Throughout the course of the exhibition, the landscape will grow and change as the artist adds and constructs additional pieces, “planting” them in the garden.

The Silo Gallery at Hunt Hill Farm begins 2010 with an evocative and diverse range of themes for its Winter Exhibition.  The show’s opening reception will take place on Saturday, February 20th from 3 to 5 p.m. at 44 Upland Rd., New Milford, CT.  Abstract acrylic paintings by Frederick Velardi and Joyce Conlon willbe on display in The Silo’s main gallery.  Velardi, a specialist in color-field painting, will show his Jazz Series, while Conlon will exhibit her Fence Series, inspired by nature and the passing of time.  In the same gallery, figurative sculptor Anthony Antonios will put on view his series of classically executed plaster portraits.  In The New Talent Gallery the works of New Milford High School Art Studentswill be featured.  Gallery Talks by each of the displaying artists will take place on Sunday, March 7 at 2 p.m.  The entire exhibit will be on display through March 28.  The reception and exhibit are free and open to the public. 

Pulp magazines were a popular form of leisure in America from the 1920's to the 1940's. Their covers were carefully designed with bold colors and dramatic compositions to seduce passers-by with a glimpse into the sensational stories within. This exhibition features over fifty oil paintings on which these flashy covers were based on.

Benton Hours:

Thursday & Friday 10AM-4:30PM

Saturday  & Sunday 1-4:30PM

"A pen warmed up in hell" is the phrase Twain used to describe his more acerbic writing on social and political matters. The Mark Twain House and Museum welcomes two of the most topical and critical writers working today- Rolling Stone's acerbic political columnist Matt Taibbi and author Charles P. Pierce (Idiot America). Both have been guests on some of today's HOTTEST current events programs such as Real Time with Bill Maher, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Rachel Maddow and Wait, Wait...Don't Tell me. Certain to be a scorching, hilarious, and unforgettable night !

The Connecticut Spring Antiques Show is the premiere show for pre-1840 American furniture and decorative arts. Over 60 of the country's most respected antiques dealers feature outstanding examples of furniture, porcelain and pottery, American silver and pewter, fine art, brass and ironware, textiles and much more. Serious collectors and dealers consider the Spring Show one of the very best for 18th and early 19th century American furniture and accessories.

Go deeper into the art of ensemble playing while honing your skills, exploring improvisation and arranging.

12:30-1:30pm

Youth Drama Workshop, March 13 and 20, 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m., culminating in a performance of an original children's musical, BUTTERFLIES 'R ME by Long Island author and musician, Mary Agria, at the Cutchogue United Methodist Church, Main Road, Cutchogue.  The Workshop, sponsored by the Mattituck-Cutchogue Clergy Association, is open to "budding" artists, musicians, actors in grades K and older.  Participants will act, sing, construct sets, etc. and learn that greed is bad and we must all care for the Earth, the theme of the Musical. The public performance is Sunday, March 21 at 3 pm.  All events are at the United Methodist Church, Main Road, Cutchogue.   The Workshop and admission are free.  To enroll children--enrollment is limited--or to volunteer as a helper, contact Pastor Mary Crump, (631) 734-6033, mhcrump@yahoo.com.

 Volver

With Penelope Cruz Nominated for an Academy Award Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

Synopsis

Raimunda, her daughter Paula and her sister Sole travel from Madrid to the windy and superstitious village of Alcanfor de las Infantas to visit the grave of their mother and aunt Irene, who died years ago in a fire with her husband. Then they visit Irene's sister Paula, an old senile aunt that raised Raimunda after the death of her parents that insists to tell them that Irene is alive and living with her; later, they go to the house of her neighbor and friend Agustina, who gives a support to Paula. They return to Madrid, and after a hard day of work, Raimunda meets her daughter completely disturbed in the bus stop waiting for her. When they arrive home, Paula tells that she killed her unemployed father Paco, who was completely drunk and tried to rape her. While Raimunda is hiding his body, Sole calls her to tell that their beloved aunt Paula had died. On the next morning, Sole travels alone to the funeral, and when she returns to Madrid, she finds her mother hided in the truck of her car. She brings Irene to her apartment, where secrets from the past are disclosed. Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Explore classical and contemporary figure drawing techniques and approaches to developing the human form.Artists wishing to use time with the model without instruction may drop-in for $8 at 10:30am.

10am-12pm
 

Visitors to the Museum from February 27 through April 25, 2010, will have the rare opportunity to witness the creation of a major museum diorama, one day at a time. It is an evolving exhibition featuring the work of Peabody and New Haven area scientists and artists in addition to that of the master Wilson. Dioramas combine three-dimensional foreground material with a curved background wall and domed ceiling to tell the story of an ecosystem. They are brought to life by the artists who create them. James Perry Wilson was a master of this unique art as this exhibition will reveal.

Join the Elmwood Senior Center to see the acclaimed extravaganza of Riverdance at the Oakdale Theater in Wallingford. This is their farewell tour and promises to be an event to be remembered. We have excellent orchestra seats. Depart the Lower Parking Lot of the Elmwood Senior Center at 12:45PM and return approximately at 5:00PM. Cost is $84 for members and $87 for nonmembers. Call Elmwood Senior Center at 860-561-8180 to register and for more details.

The Wallingford Symphony Orchestra will present "On Your Toes" on March 13 at 8 pm. at the Paul Mellon Arts Center, located on the campus of Choate Rosemary Hall, in Wallingford, CT.  This concert will feature dancers from the New Haven Ballet performing scenes from "Swan Lake", "Sleeping Beauty" and "Cinderella" as well as musical selections by Mozart and Rota.
Ticket prices are $27 for adults, $22 for seniors, and $10 for students and tickets are available at the door, by calling 203-697-2261, by visiting the Gallagher Travel at 369 Center Street in Wallingford or by visiting the website of the Wallingford Symphony Orchestra which is   www.wallingfordsymphony.org 
 

Precious

BASED ON THE NOVEL PUSH BY SAPPHIRE

March 13 at 7:30pm

 Starring:

Gabourey Sidibe, Mo’ Nique, Paula Patton, Mariah Carey

Directed by Lee Daniels

Rated R

Synopsis

Set in Harlem in 1987, it is the story of Clareece “Precious” Jones, a sixteen-year-old African–American girl born into a life no one would want. She’s pregnant for the second time by her absent father. Precious may sometimes be down but she is never out. She finds her answer when she is asked to join a special school that will lead her from darkness to light.

Featuring 40 works ranging from landscapes of Southwest China's countryside to strong and intense self portraits from China´s densely ethnic Guizhou and Yunnan provinces, Connecticut College, Shain Library, Charles Chu Asian Art Reading Room, 270 Mohegan Avenue, New London, free and open to the public during library hours, visit http://www.conncoll.edu/Libraries/hours.html for hours, (860) 439-2581

Capital Classics Theatre Company Presents “Women Writers Series: New Play Readings” at Saint Joseph College Capital Classics Theatre Company, in partnership with The Carol Autorino Center at Saint Joseph College, will present professional staged readings of two new plays by Connecticut women writers: The Woman Behind the Man Behind the Podium Making the Apology by Laura Sheehan and Code Red or The Last Day at Dick High by Jeanne Zaino. Audience members are invited to contribute to the development of the plays by offering feedback during a post-reading discussion. The Women Writers Series will take place on Saturday, March 13, 2010 at 6:30 p.m. in The Carol Autorino Center at Saint Joseph College. The readings are free and open to the public. A wine and cheese reception will take place during intermission. For more information, contact Capital Classics at www.capitalclassics.org or 860.218.0300.

The Elmwood Senior Center is having a trip to see Riverdance at the Chevrolet Theater in Wallingford on March 13, 2010.  This is their farewell tour and promises to be an event to be remembered.  Leave the lower parking lot of the Elmwood Senior Center at 12:45PM and return at 5:00PM.  Call to register at 860-561-8180 and for more details.  Cost is $84 members and $87 nonmembers and preregistration is required. 

The Windham Textile and History Museum hosts "Dollhouses: A Miniature World" through June 13th. 

Museum Hours: Fri., Sat., Sun. 10:00 - 4:00

All-Star Driver, Connecticut's leader in driver education, is offering hands-on demonstrations on the dangers of impaired driving to schools, parent groups and local prevention organizations. These presentations are FREE of charge, in an effort to raise awareness on the dangers of underage drinking during the month of April, Alcohol Awareness Month.