S pring and other things spring after winter’s last last gasp.
Monday, March 28
From 4 to 7 p.m., the Arts Council throws a Spring Fling farewell party at pizza spot Next Door (175 Humphrey St, New Haven) for outgoing director Daniel Fitzmaurice, with “plenty of delicious pizza, salad, and soda and a cash bar.”
Also, New Haven Restaurant Week is underway.
Tuesday, March 29
[Ed. Note: We’ve since learned that this screening series is only open to the Yale community.] Starting at 7 p.m., Yale’s Poynter Fellowship launches a series of three in-person screenings and Q&As in three days. Featuring work by—and the presence of—Afghan filmmaker Sahraa Karimi, first up, in Luce Hall (34 Hillhouse Ave, New Haven), is Parlika (2016), a film that “tells the story of Suraya Parlika, an Afghan woman who dared to enter public politics, which is eminently a territory of men.”
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Wednesday, March 30
The next installment of the Lunchtime Chamber Music series, wherein Yale School of Music students perform free midday concerts, starts at 12:30 p.m. in Morse Recital Hall (470 College St, New Haven). Those who wish to attend in-person, rather than online, “must reserve tickets online in advance, due to capacity limits.”
A Puppy Love fundraiser for the Dan Cosgrove Animal Shelter from 6 to 9 p.m. at Lenny’s Restaurant (205 S Montowese St, Branford; $30 advance donation, or $35 at the door) promises live music from Airborne Jazz, a “light appetizer buffet,” a cash bar and a raffle.
Thursday, March 31
The Environmental Film Festival at Yale, “one of America’s premier student-run environmental film festivals,” returns today, tomorrow and Saturday with a parallel live and virtual format featuring films and panels spanning Burke Auditorium (195 Prospect St, New Haven), Whitney Humanities Center (320 York St) and Criterion Cinemas (86 Temple St). Among an especially refined-feeling schedule of 14 films are American River, in which the “amazing history, geology and ecology” of “one of the most polluted rivers in America”—the Passaic—are revealed as two kayakers travel “from its pristine source in a wildlife refuge to its toxic mouth in Newark Bay,” and El Naturalista Isleño (The Island Naturalist), “which explores a conservation photographer’s unique relationship with nature, revealing hidden stories on the Caribbean islands” from “a tour of one of the most important humpback whale calving-grounds” to “the discovery of a new flower.”
Friday, April 1
At City Gallery (994 State St, New Haven; 203-782-2489), 6×6: An Invitational—a monthlong “eclectic group show” in which six City Gallery members have asked six other artists “whose work we admire” to participate—opens today from 1 to 4 p.m., followed by two artist receptions tomorrow and Sunday, each featuring half the exhibitors.
Saturday, April 2
The Shubert Theatre (247 College St, New Haven; 203-562-5666) hosts back-to-back engagements. At 2 p.m., best-selling humorist David Sedaris “will be offering a selection of all-new readings and recollections, as well as a Q&A session and book signing at the event, courtesy of RJ Julia Booksellers” ($65-78, including fees). Then, at 8 p.m., Grammy-nominated jazz pianist Monty Alexander leads “a globe-spanning evening of melodic virtuosity informed by his individualized synthesis of jazz and Jamaican musical styles” ($29-94, including fees).
Meanwhile, at 7 p.m., the Strand Theater (165 Main St, Seymour; 203-888-2102) hosts a Comedy for a Cause night featuring four performers and raising funds for “a new educational pavilion” at Woodbridge’s Massaro Community Farm.
Written by Dan Mims. Image, © 2021 by Scott Morris Productions, features Mary Bruno and Carl Alderson kayaking the Passaic River in American River. Readers are encouraged to verify times, locations, prices and other details before attending events.
