P ay tribute to a life. Then learn to save a life. Then make the most of life this week in New Haven.
Monday, January 20 – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
The second day of the Peabody Museum’s 24th annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Legacy of Environmental and Social Justice event runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. But in light of preparations for the museum’s forthcoming renovations, it’s not actually happening at the Peabody. Instead, a world stage concert, which starts with West African dancing and drumming at 10:30 a.m., happens in the Yale Science Building’s Marsh Hall (260 Whitney Ave, New Haven); a poetry slam and community open mic happens on the third floor of Kroon Hall (195 Prospect St, New Haven), also beginning at 10:30; and, as it has in the past, a family-oriented lineup of storytellers, alongside “other hands-on activities for children and families,” happens at the New Haven Museum (114 Whitney Ave, New Haven; 203-562-4183) starting at 11.
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At 2 p.m., Music Haven and the St. Luke’s Steel Band get together for their 10th annual MLK Day concert. This one, titled No Hate/No Fear: A Celebration of Togetherhood and held at First and Summerfield Church (425 College St, New Haven), features special guest Thabisa. Free.
Tuesday, January 21
From 6 to 7 p.m. at the Yale Bookstore (77 Broadway, New Haven), Yale School of Music career advisor Astrid Baumgardner discusses and presumably signs her book Creative Success Now (2019), which aims to help readers “identify and overcome ‘creativity killers,’ the powerful thoughts that crop up to tell us that we simply do not have what it takes to succeed in our creative goal pursuits.” Free to attend.
Wednesday, January 22
MakeHaven (770 Chapel St, New Haven) is about making, but it’s also about maintenance. You can even learn how to maintain a life during Stop the Bleed—“a one-hour course which includes a presentation and hands-on training designed to deliver the medical knowledge and the confidence to stop life-threatening bleeding.” 6:30 p.m. Free; registration requested.
Thursday, January 23
Starting from the new Graduate New Haven hotel (1151 Chapel St), where attendees can check in from 4:30 to 7 p.m., the biannual wine, food and downtown shopping crawl Flights of Fancy returns for its wintertime edition. In exchange for $20 advance tickets (or $25 at the door, if they don’t sell out), organizers promise “25 sipping and shopping stops, up to 10 food tasting stops, souvenir wine glasses, stuffed event bags, deep discounts and promotions, raffle prizes, giveaways and more!” The wines, which tend to be diverse but highly drinkable and also reasonably affordable, are curated by local concern The Wine Thief.
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Friday, January 24
From 5 to 7 p.m., the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library (121 Wall St, New Haven; 203-432-2977) holds an opening reception for Subscribed: The Manuscript in Britain, 1500-1800, which asks, among other things, “Was the pen ever mightier than the sword?” Free.
Like its titular character, the Yale Cabaret’s next production, Elon Musk and the plan to Blow Up Mars the musical, exudes ambition and innovation. “Elon is a real-life Tony Stark,” producers say. “He has all the money, all the technology, and all the influence a human could hope for, but is it enough to save the world? How far does great power’s great responsibility extend? Is the price of another planet worth saving our own? Join us for a music-filled romp through humanity’s greatest existential threat.” Tickets to the three-day run—with shows at 8 p.m. yesterday and 8 and 11 p.m. today and tomorrow—go for $25, with discounts for Yale students, faculty and staff. 217 Park Street, New Haven. (203) 432-1566.
Saturday, January 25
A “powerful, passionate evening of song” is promised at the Shubert Theatre (247 College St, New Haven; 203-562-5666), where Mandy Patinkin in Concert: DIARIES—starring, of course, Mandy Patinkin, “a bonafide Broadway legend” who’s still probably best known for his television and film work (The Princess Bride, Chicago Hope, Homeland)—begins at 8 p.m. $46-79.
Sunday, January 26
Common Ground (358 Springside Ave, New Haven; 203-389-4333) hosts its next monthly Nature Playdate from 2 to 4 p.m. Welcoming children of all ages (attended by supervising adults), the event is themed around a seasonal staple, offering the chance to “excavate treasure out of big blocks of ice,” “go on a hunt to find ice gems scattered across our campus” and dig through a “mud kitchen… full of ice cubes” which can then be “mix[ed] up into icy creations.” That’s in addition to more consistent activities, which include chicken-visiting, fort-building and “zooming down the giant yellow slide.” Free.
Written by Dan Mims. Readers are encouraged to verify times, locations and prices before attending events.
