This Week in New Haven (January 1 – 7)

W elcome to 2018, whose first week offers chances to burn holiday calories and celebrate local dramatic, aural and visual artistry. 

Monday, January 1 – New Year’s Day
Benefiting the Elm City Parks Conservancy, the annual Plunge for Parks and First Day New Haven Festival at Lighthouse Point Park (2 Lighthouse Rd, New Haven) starts with a dip in the frigid Long Island Sound at 11 a.m. and a well-earned brunch until 2 p.m. Programming also includes “tours to the top of the lighthouse” and kids’ activities. Registration for both the plunge and the brunch costs $25, while brunch alone costs $10.

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Peace on Earth - 2017 Christmas crèche exhibit at the Knights of Columbus Museum

Tuesday, January 2
Organized by the city parks and recreation department, Wexler-Grant Community School (55 Foote St, New Haven) hosts its next weekly pick-up game of co-ed indoor soccer. Lasting from 5:30 to 8 p.m., you can just show up, with no fee and no registration required. The only catch is an age requirement: 14 and up.

Wednesday, January 3
Take an early lunch and the Shubert Theatre’s next backstage tour, happening from 11 a.m. to noon. Meeting at the main lobby doors, a guide brings you behind the scenes—the green room, the loading docks, the stage itself—while offering logistical and historical insights about the theater that debuted some of the most important and famous productions of all time, like Oklahoma!, My Fair Lady, The King and I, A Streetcar Named Desire and The Sound of Music. Free. 247 College Street, New Haven. (203) 562-5666.

Thursday, January 4
At Cafe Nine (250 State St, New Haven; 203-789-8281), it’s an evening of “dirty blues” and rock. The headliner, Joe Miller & The Hipshakers, features New Haven native Miller’s finely rasped vocals and confident guitar work. The opener, Bronson Rock, seems to have a lot of fun onstage during sets of original songs mixed with “cool, danceable covers of obscure soul, rockabilly and garage rock classics.” 9 p.m. $5.

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Office Hour at Long Wharf Theatre

Friday, January 5
Organized by CT Folk, the Brother Brothers, a.k.a. identical twins Adam (vox, five-string fiddle) and David Moss (vox, cello, guitar), perform a 7:30 Folk Fridays concert at First Presbyterian Church (704 Whitney Ave, New Haven). Whether playing clever, upbeat ditties or “leaning towards the darker, moody elements of Appalachian folk and bluegrass traditions,” the Mosses top off their obvious musical skill with equally apparent vulnerability and authenticity. Adult tickets cost $20 at the door or $15 in advance, while child and student tickets cost $10.

Saturday, January 6
Aftermath, a joint exhibition about the psychological and environmental effects of violence, gets an opening reception at Giampietro Gallery (1064 Chapel St, New Haven; 203-777-7760). Featuring work by painter (and New Havener) John Keefer and sculptor Kurt Steger, the party lasts from 6 to 8 p.m. Free to attend.

Sunday, January 7
Chapel Haven, a local nonprofit that aims to “[provide] lifelong individualized services for people with developmental and social disabilities, empowering them to live independent and self-determined lives,” is throwing an adult doubles round robin tennis tourney fundraiser in Yale’s Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center (279 Derby Ave, West Haven) from 2 to 5 p.m. Registration to compete costs $75, and if you don’t have a teammate, Chapel Haven will pair you up with another single.

Back at Cafe Nine (250 State St, New Haven; 203-789-8281), the late Elvis Presley can be heard, if not seen, as “local musicians pay tribute to Elvis spanning his entire career from Sun Records right up to the Las Vegas years” starting at 4 p.m. The occasion? An early celebration of the King’s birthday, which falls tomorrow, January 8. Free.

Written by Dan Mims. Photographed by Anne Ewbank. Readers are encouraged to verify times, locations and prices before attending events.

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Dan has worked for a couple of major media companies, but he likes Daily Nutmeg best. As DN’s editor, he writes, photographs, edits and otherwise shepherds ideas into fully realized feature stories.

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