C ompetitive mocktails, momentous sounds and two free lunches promise novelty, while a fall kickoff festival hits the nostalgia button dead-on.
Monday, September 23
As of 3:50 this morning, fall has fallen. But you won’t be stumbling home as a result of New Haven’s first annual Non-Alcoholic Cocktail Competition. Held from 7 to 10 p.m. at Sherkaan (65 Broadway, New Haven; 203-405-5808), “entrants will be shaking and stirring craft mocktails in the hopes of winning the awe and respect of the New Haven bartending community” (and cash prizes).
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Tuesday, September 24
Acclaimed documentary filmmaker Penny Lane is on hand to present both her earliest and latest features. First up, in Linsley-Chittenden Hall (63 High St, New Haven) at 7 p.m., is Our Nixon (2013), an “all-archival documentary” built around a “unique and personal visual record” of Richard Nixon’s presidency as recorded by his closest aides. Second, in the Whitney Humanities Center (53 Wall St, New Haven) at 7 p.m. tomorrow, is Hail Satan? (2019), which follows American Satanists as they challenge the line-blurring that so often occurs between church and state. After both screenings, Lane will take the stage to answer questions. Free.
Wednesday, September 25
Comedian and actor Hannibal Buress—whom you might know from Broad City, The Eric Andre Show, Tag or any of the many other ways he’s appeared on the big or small screen—is doing a 7:30 standup set at College Street Music Hall (238 College St, New Haven; 877-987-6487). $29.50-39.50.
Thursday, September 26
Free noontime talk “Permission to Feel”—which also involves permission to lunch, offering a complimentary boxed meal to the first 100 attendees—focuses on “strategies to address the mental and emotional well-being of children and adults.” The primary speaker is Marc Brackett, founding director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, who’s joined in conversation by author and former publishing executive Joanne Lipman.
The 125-year-old New Haven Symphony Orchestra, America’s fourth-oldest, opens its first season helmed by new music director Alasdair Neale (pictured above). The program, featuring Rachmaninov’s Symphony No. 2, Abels’s Delights and Dances and dual takes on the national anthem—first the anthem itself, then “Jessie Montgomery’s Banner, her tribute to the tradition and contradictions” of the original—“celebrates classical music’s legacy while ushering in its next generation.” That next generation is represented in part by the acclaimed and well-traveled Catalyst Quartet, which aims to “reimagin[e] and redefin[e] the classical music experience.” $15-74, or $10 for college students, with KidTix—free for the first child accompanied by a paying adult and $10 for each thereafter—available.
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Friday, September 27
From 5 to 7 p.m., the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library (121 Wall St, New Haven) hosts the opening reception for its fall exhibition, Beyond Words: Experimental Poetry & the Avant-Garde. It should be a nice chance to nibble, sip and mingle around Beinecke’s majestic, golden central stack—and, of course, to peruse the new show. Free.
Then New Haven experiences a listeners’ dilemma, with three strong jazz acts performing at overlapping times. Earliest, at 7:30 p.m. in Morse Recital Hall (470 College St, New Haven; 203-432-4158; $10-34), is the Ignacio Berroa Trio, whose venerable leader has drummed with Dizzy Gillespie, Chick Corea and McCoy Tyner. A little later, at 8 in the John Lyman Center for the Performing Arts (501 Crescent St, New Haven; 203-392-6154; $35), “contemporary jazz superstars” Kirk Whalum and Jonathan Butler take the stage with their tenor sax and guitar, respectively. And a little after that, at 8:30 inside Firehouse 12 (45 Crown St, New Haven; 203-785-0468; $20; there’s also a 10 p.m. set for $15), the Ingrid Laubrock Sextet performs highly experimental jazz that manages to feel both random and meticulously planned.
Saturday, September 28
The 20th annual Brooksvale Fall Festival, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Brooksvale Park (524 Brooksvale Ave, Hamden; 203-287-2669), promises “pony rides, a tractor-drawn hayride through a haunted forest, [a] Bird of Prey show, and a climbing wall”; “a Kid’s Zone with free activities and nature crafts”; “demonstrations by Hamden Police Department’s K-9 unit, a pumpkin patch, and [a] Friends of Brooksvale Bake Sale”; “live local music including Steve Rogers & Friends, great food, and displays on time-honored crafts”; and, believe it or not, more. Free to attend.
Sunday, September 29
Offering a true farm-to-plate experience, Common Ground High School, Urban Farm and Environmental Education Center (358 Springside Ave, New Haven; 203-389-4333) invites you to “make your own pizza from scratch,” including “harvest[ing] your choice of herbs and toppings from the garden.” The event lasts from 1:30 to 4 p.m. or so, with the last call for baking at 3:15.
Written and photographed by Dan Mims. Image features Alasdair Neale during the 2019 International Festival of Arts & Ideas. Readers are encouraged to verify times, locations and prices before attending events.
