This Week in New Haven (April 9-15)

R ead to a pooch, learn to work like a dog, and trot out your pup for a pet-friendly festival. Plus, some notable film screenings and the start of New Haven Restaurant Week.

Monday, April 9
Kids can read to a dog this afternoon at 4 p.m. in the Mitchell Branch of New Haven Free Public Library (37 Harrison St., Westville Village, New Haven; 203-946-8117, [email protected].). Therapy dog “Fenway” is apparently “a great listener and loves dog stories.”

Tuesday, April 10
Noted prestidigitator and recycling expert CJ May performs an environmentally minded magic show from noon to 12:45 p.m. at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History (170 Whitney Ave., New Haven; 203-432-5050). It’s part of a weeklong series of Celebrate Sustainability events at Yale.

Wednesday, April 11
Get to work! The Spring 2012 Entrepreneur Workshop Series at the New Haven Free Public Library (Main Library, 133 Elm St., New Haven, 5:30 p.m.) began last week and continues tonight with Art Mollengarden speaking on “Purple Marketing” (April 11). On April 18, it’ll be ChaChanna Simpson on “Social Media” and on April 25 you can hear Tom Mazzaferro’s thoughts on “Money & Finance.” Registration is requested: (203) 946-7431 or [email protected].

sponsored by

Knights of Columbus Museum in New Haven

Thursday, April 12
Fairhaven Furniture rocks a “Chillun With the Arts” benefit for the arts education organization Young Audiences. The “Chillun” in question is Boogie Chillun, the longlived local funk/R&B/soul band. There will also be mask art by Tim Latta decorating the store, Antonio Rocha spinning Brazilian folktales, yodeling cowboy Ernie Sites and mosaic artist Susan Rosano. $20 per person, $15 for Chamber members. Fairhaven Furniture is located at 72 Blatchley Ave., New Haven. To get details about the party, call (203) 230-8101.

Friday, April 13
Folk/pop legend Steve Forbert has taken a liking to New Haven’s Café Nine. He returns to the intimate club (250 State St., New Haven; 203-789-8281) for a journey through his 35-year career, which ranges from his ‘70s hit “Romeo’s Tune” to his 2009 full-band workout The Place and The Time.

Other legends of the ‘70s and beyond play an all-star jazz concert at Southern Connecticut State University’s Lyman Center (on the university’s campus at 501 Crescent St., New Haven; 203-392-61254). The line-up is anchored by guitarist Chuck Loeb and features drummer Harvey Mason, saxophonist Everett Harp and vocalists Michael Franks, Carmen Cuesta and Lizzy Loeb. $32, $28 SCSU faculty/staff and their guests, $16 SCSU students. For more information and to buy tickets, click here.

Saturday, April 14
NHFPL’s Mitchell Branch‘s monthly Second Saturday Cinema series is screening The 400 Blows. 2 p.m., 37 Harrison St., Westville Village, New Haven; 203-946-8117.

The Truffaut coming-of-age classic is not the only dark cinematic classic screening this afternoon. Yale Center for British Art has Richard Loncraine’s 1995 film of Richard III, which updates the play to 1930s Britain and stars Ian McKellen. 2 p.m. 1080 Chapel St., New Haven.

Sunday, April 15
Today’s the start of New Haven Restaurant Week, with nearly three dozen Elm City eating establishments offering special prix fixe menus, all priced at $18 for lunch or $32 for dinner. It’s the perfect time to try that place you’ve always wondered about, and to make sure you’re getting a nice range of the house specialties.  Participating restaurants, and their Restaurant Week menus, are listed here.

You can add another dozen eateries to the day’s food frenzy thanks to the 39th Annual Cherry Blossom Festival in Wooster Square. There’ll be everything from grilled food to kettle corn to pastries. If you’re full, there’s music (including jazz, salsa, swing, a steel band and a 3:30 p.m. “Opera on Stage” concert with tenor Daniel Juarez, soprano Christina Holms and pianist Laura Richling), exhibits, family activities, celebrated local artists and authors and—this is Wooster Square, after all—a “Four-Footed Area” honoring dogs and cats. Noon to 5 p.m. at Wooster Square Park (on Chapel St. between Academy St. and Wooster Place, New Haven). For full details—and there are many—see the complete Festival Program here.

Written by Christopher Arnott.

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Christopher Arnott has written about arts and culture in Connecticut for over 25 years. His journalism has won local, regional and national awards, and he has been honored with an Arts Award from the Arts Council of Greater New Haven. He posts daily at his own sites www.scribblers.us and New Haven Theater Jerk (www.scribblers.us/nhtj).

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