Change is nearly constant this week. A major new railroad station officially opens as the field of women’s tennis stars at the New Haven Open at Yale narrows daily. Long Wharf hosts a radical reimagining of a classic play in the midst of freshman orientations at colleges around the city, and a music festival that’s sure to set tongues wagging sees its first annual staging.
Can you spare some change? No? That’s okay. New Haven’s got plenty.
Monday August 19
The long-awaited West Haven Railroad Station, located on Sawmill Road between Hood Terrace and Railroad Avenue, opened for Metro North service yesterday, but the pomp and circumstance happens today during a ribbon-cutting ceremony at noon. The new station’s arched roofs and abundance of tinted glass windowing promise an appealing spot to wait for a train, or to ogle while passing by. For West Haveners and plenty of others, regional rail travel just got a lot more convenient.
The New Haven Open at Yale, which culminates on Saturday, proceeds today at the Connecticut Tennis Center following the start of the main draw yesterday. Tonight’s evening session on the stadium court, beginning around 7 p.m., is being billed as a “Champions Night,” with four-time winner Caroline Wozniacki and defending champion Petra Kvitová competing in back-to-back matches. Since returning New Haven Open crowds have gotten a chance to know these two in the past, expect spectators to be clapping and cheering, and expect to want to join them. 45 Yale Avenue, New Haven; (855) 464-8366.
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Tuesday, August 20
The New Haven Jazz Festival hit a lot of right notes during its 25 official shows last week, but Palmeira Brasil’s jazz-and-dine Tuesdays have been grooving all summer. Tonight from 6 to 9 p.m., father and daughter Michael and Michaela Coppola serve up a double of jazz guitar while the Latin restaurant serves up $6 sangrias (normally $8) and other drink specials. 56 Orange Street, New Haven. (203) 691-9918.
Wednesday, August 21
The Outer Space (295 Treadwell Street, Hamden; 203-288-6400) hosts its weekly Open Mic tonight. The featured artist this time is solo act Brother Paul, a.k.a. Paul Rosevear, who says, “I write simple songs and try to put my heart into them when I sing.” Want to pour your heart out too? Signup commences at 7 p.m. $3.
Thursday, August 22
You’ve likely seen a performance of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, but probably not one that incorporates musical arrangements of modern songs into the storytelling, or that switches out the original’s pair of feuding Italian families in favor of a “Gatsby-esque” house of patricians and a clan of poor folk from Appalachia. Tonight through Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m., the Shake-It-Up Shakespeare Summer Youth Ensemble (pictured above during rehearsal) performs its wires-crossed version of the star-crossed tale in Long Wharf Theatre’s Stage II space. 222 Sargent Drive, New Haven; (203) 787-4282. $10.
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Friday, August 23
Wide-eyed freshmen begin moving into Yale today and many of them will be thinking about getting some furniture. For inspiration, they can fix their eyes on “more than 1,000 works” from the 1600s to the 2000s during the Yale University Art Gallery’s free Furniture Study Tour at 12:30 p.m. today. The rest of us can, too; the tour’s not limited to Yalies. 1111 Chapel Street, New Haven; (203) 432-0600.
In Newhallville, city project WRAP—the Winchester Revitalization Arts Project—holds an outdoor “End of Summer Celebration” in the lot at 535 Winchester Avenue. The initiative has been hosting arts-focused events in the once-abandoned lot on Wednesdays and Fridays since July 12, and today is its summer 2013 swan song. Or songs, rather: there will be live music, plus “arts activities and light refreshments.” The CitySeed Mobile Farmers’ Market will drop in from 4 to 5 p.m.
Saturday, August 24
The relatively peaceful martial art of tai chi is even more enlightening when it’s done on a terrace. At 11:30 a.m. today, instructor and accomplished practitioner Kathleen Brenner hosts an $8 beginner/refresher class on the terrace at the Ives branch of the New Haven Free Public Library (133 Elm Street, New Haven; 203-946-8130).
From 12 to 8 p.m., the Branford Green (1019 Main Street, Branford) really goes to the dogs. It’s the first Woofstock, “a day of peace and music” to benefit the Dan Cosgrove Animal Shelter in Branford. Make a $5 donation to listen to five bands, with the money going straight to the shelter.
Sunday, August 25
The “Movies and Mimosas” series on Saturdays and Sundays at Criterion Cinemas (86 Temple St, New Haven; 203-498-2500) is mostly what it sounds like, though you wouldn’t be able to infer from the name that the films are usually older classics. This weekend, the 1957 fantasy/adventure flick The 7th Voyage of Sinbad is up on the screen. Drink some Vitamin C-infused bubbly and marvel at the special effects that were considered revolutionary for their time.
Written and photographed by Dan Mims. Readers are encouraged to verify dates, times, locations and prices before attending events.
