A s the weather turns strangely hot, other sources of heat include a filmmaker who won an Oscar this year, a musical that’s “back by popular demand” and hundreds of candles flickering inside a smoky church.
Monday, September 25
With a runtime of well over seven hours, the Academy Award-winning and otherwise critically acclaimed documentary OJ: Made in America (2016) is screening in sections over the next three days, culminating in a Q&A with the director, Ezra Edelman. The first two screenings happen in Yale’s Linsly-Chittenden Hall (63 High St, Room 101, New Haven) today and tomorrow at 7 p.m., while the third, along with the Q&A, happens Wednesday at 7 in the Whitney Humanities Center (53 Wall St, New Haven). Free.
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Tuesday, September 26
Two cross-town concerts each combine novel and familiar cultural experiences. At 8 p.m. at College Street Music Hall (238 College St, New Haven; 877-987-6487; $40-45), the Brazilian performer Seu Jorge is performing the songs he recorded for the soundtrack of the 2004 Wes Anderson flick The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou—so, covers of David Bowie songs stripped down to their musical and emotional cores and translated into Portuguese.
Also starting at 8 (if you count a prologue set by DJ Jahoctopus), Lyric Hall (827 Whalley Ave, New Haven; 203-389-8885) hosts a two-act bill headlined by Nigerian Tuareg guitarist Mdou Moctar, making his first appearance in Connecticut. The lead-in is local act the Mountain Movers, whose distorted guitar-driven psychedelia presents quite a counterpoint to Moctar’s cleaner, more percussive and often meditative finger-picking. $12.
Wednesday, September 27
White short-sleeved button-ups, boyish smiling faces and improbable degrees of naivete are back at the Shubert (247 College St, New Haven; 203-562-5666) thanks to the return of the hit musical comedy The Book of Mormon. “[Following] the misadventures of a mismatched pair of missionaries, sent halfway across the world to spread the Good Word,” the production’s eight-show run began yesterday and ends Sunday, with tickets to tonight’s 7:30 performance costing between $34 and $116.
Thursday, September 28
At 5:30 p.m., author Kathryn Aalto comes to the Peabody Museum (170 Whitney Ave, New Haven; 203-432-8987) to discuss the contents of her book The Natural World of Winnie-the-Pooh: A Walk Through the Forest that Inspired the Hundred Acre Wood (2015). “[Presenting] her story as part travelogue, part biography and part natural history to discover the places that inspired Winnie-the-Pooh stories, along with the flora and fauna of the real Hundred Acre Wood,” organizers predict a “delightful look at what we can learn from studying the intersection of nature and culture.” Free.
The New Haven Symphony Orchestra opens a new season in Woolsey Hall (500 College St, New Haven) with a program including “Beethoven’s Triple,” a.k.a. his Concerto for Violin, Cello and Piano; Arturo Márquez’s “fiery” Danzón No. 2; and a “‘surround sound’ experience with musicians in the balcony” for Giovanni Gabrieli’s Sonata pian’ e forte. $15-$74.
Friday, September 29
Featuring live music, carnival attractions, craft vendors and a menu mixing country fair standards with apple stuff—cider, donuts, crumbles, candy and, of course, pies—the First Congregational Church of West Haven (1 Church St, West Haven) hosts the annual West Haven Apple Festival this weekend, from 6 to 10 tonight, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. tomorrow and noon to 6 Sunday. Free to attend.
Saturday, September 30
At 9:30 p.m., the next Ideat Village Rock Lottery hits Cafe Nine (250 State St, New Haven; 203-789-8281), where “a few dozen fearless musicians step forward for an unforgettable one-off gig.” Assigned into bands by lottery, then “given challenging and confounding musical tasks to master,” these one-night bands are then “‘judged’ by an esteemed panel of Rock Lottery participants from previous years.” Free.
Sunday, October 1
Sundays during the school year, at 9 p.m., Christ Church (84 Broadway, New Haven) hosts an ecumenical Compline service, when “candles offer the only illumination, and the [Christ Church Choir] sings from an unseen loft at the north end of the crossing.” It’s dark and magical, with silhouettes, frankincense and angelic voices drifting about, and it’s also free to attend.
Written and photographed by Dan Mims. Readers are encouraged to verify times, locations and prices before attending events.
